Translator: CinderTL
"What's going on?"
"Isn't that the Pinnacle Realm Martial Artist?"
The sudden commotion startled the entire Fla Tiger Sect.
Celine, who had been explaining the Divine Soul thod to the Giant Elephant Grandmasters, froze, her expression turning serious. She instantly flashed to the Mountain Gate steps.
A long flight of gray stone steps descended straight to the foot of the mountain, stretching hundreds of ters in a straight line.
A figure clad in blue robes and silver boots lay collapsed on the gray stone ground.
Blood had soaked through their clothing, as if a sharp weapon had pierced their abdon. Blood continued to seep from the wound.
Their face was pale and bloodless, their frail breathing barely stronger than that of an ordinary adult.
In such a vulnerable state, it was hard to believe this was a Pinnacle Realm Martial Artist.
"Iphia?!" Celine's expression darkened, finding the scene utterly inconceivable.
The Giant Elephant Grandmasters who had followed her also paled, their faces betraying disbelief.
Who could have wounded a Pinnacle Realm Martial Artist this severely?
And what about Kagor?
The thought flashed through their minds, and they all turned to look back along the path from which the injured martial artist had co.
Bloodstains marred the gray bricks and lush green fields of the Greenfield Suburb, a scene of carnage.
A chill ran down Celine's spine as she swiftly moved to investigate.
"C-Celine..."
"P-please... beg Chen to help. Save Kagor..."
Noticing Celine's arrival, Iphia, pale and slumped on the ground, pleaded weakly, her voice barely a whisper.
Celine's expression turned complex. Though she barely knew Iphia, witnessing a Pinnacle Realm Martial Artist in such a dire state stirred a pang of empathy.
A fleeting flicker of pity crossed her eyes, but before she could respond—
Zzzzt!
A bolt of azure lightning flashed into existence. Chen Feng landed on the gray bricks, his brow furrowed at Iphia's wretched condition. His Perception told him she was on the brink of death.
While he had no personal connection to Iphia, he felt responsible for bringing them to the unfamiliar Nanjiang through the Dharma Transmission Assembly. In a way, they were his guests. Now, this sudden crisis...
"Who?"
Chen Feng narrowed his eyes, scanning the surroundings with suspicion. Sothing felt amiss.
He amplified his Perception to its maximum range, like an invisible biological radar sweeping across a radius of nearly a kiloter.
An invisible ripple spread out, and Chen Feng vanished from his spot in an instant.
Boom!!
The earth trembled, and a thunderous roar echoed through the air.
He shattered a massive gray boulder with a single punch, sending fragnts flying in all directions.
Then...
Buzzing!
The invisible ripple expanded, splattering blood.
Light twisted and bent, shattering his invisibility. A werewolf cyborg materialized abruptly.
His towering, three-ter-tall fra looked as if a semicircular blade had cleaved through it. A gaping, fan-shaped wound tore through his chest and abdon, leaving a massive void. His right arm and leg had been completely pulverized.
His wide eyes were filled with terror as his Bio-Armor visibly fluctuated, gradually retracting from its werewolf form of fur and claws.
"Gah..."
Blood gurgled from his throat as he collapsed to the ground.
Sensing his life force completely extinguished, Chen Feng frowned, letting his right arm, still smoking from the impact, slowly drop.
The power surge from his breakthrough was growing exponentially with each passing mont, making it difficult to perfectly control his strength.
But more importantly...
"Too weak."
Ignoring the death of this peak Fifth-Tier cyborg, Chen Feng glanced in another direction.
A similar invisible ripple was rapidly receding, and Chen Feng's Perception ticulously tracked every fluctuation.
Buzz!
A bolt of Thunder Light flashed into existence, propelling him forward like a low-flying missile.
Simultaneously, nearly a kiloter away in the Greenfield Forest, a humanoid lizard-like figure dove into the earth, vanishing without a trace.
"Monster!"
"That guy's the real monster!!"
The brown-yellow vertical pupils of his transforming Bio-Armor were wide with terror. The stranger paid no heed to his fallen comrade or the mission's failure.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Dark brown soil parted continuously as he burrowed deeper, pushing his Earth-Rock Subrsion ability to its absolute limit.
"I didn't get too close. He couldn't possibly still detect ..."
"Even if he did, he wouldn't dare pursue this deep underground."
He told himself, his mind a whirlwind of fear, doubt, and self-reassuring mantras.
The Ancient Creature's thermal sensing ability silently activated, but the surrounding ground remained undisturbed.
Until the very end.
Just as he thought he was about to escape the danger zone, a flash of white-gray rock caught his eye, almost making him think it was an illusion.
Before he could react—
Boom!!
The ground exploded, and a figure crackling with blue arcs of electricity shattered everything in its path.
Clods of dirt and debris pelted his face as the stranger gaped upward. He found himself at the bottom of a colossal crater, the azure sky reflected in his wide eyes.
But then—
Tap!
A leather shoe landed nearby. The black-robed youth stood before him like a demon.
"Start talking," Chen Feng commanded, his gaze impassive, crimson flas and blue arcs flickering in his eyes.
"Who are you?"
The air froze.
The stranger felt as if the clouds in the vast blue sky had stopped drifting. His breathing turned rigid, and a chilling fear slowly enveloped his body.
"I..."
He opened his mouth, desperate to stamr out an explanation or find a reason.
But then—
Crack!
As if his very core had shattered, blood gushed from his orifices, and his half-lizard body instantly disintegrated.
Chen Feng narrowed his eyes, watching as the Bio-Armor of the fallen enemy lost its energy support, transforming into a black tallic battlesuit riddled with cracks. All signs of life were rapidly draining away, as if his very genetic foundation was collapsing beyond repair.
Lost in thought, he glanced back at the cloud layer high above. It appeared calm, but in that fleeting mont, he had detected an anomalous fluctuation in electromagnetic signals.
"Were they silenced?"
His eyes flickered with speculation as nurous possibilities surfaced in his mind. A Fifth-Tier Biological Modified Human, eliminated with such ease. This ruthless approach reminded him of the Platinum Federation. After all, only a global superpower like them, or a ga-corporation with vast resources, could afford such drastic asures. Moreover, the faces revealed upon the deaths of the two Biological Cyborgs bore an unmistakable resemblance to Platinum Federation citizens.
"Still..."
His gaze turned enigmatic as he extended his Perception into the distance.
His figure vanished, reappearing monts later at the steps of the Mountain Gate. Iphia, critically injured and on the verge of death, had already lost consciousness. Celine supported her, looking up in surprise as he approached.
"She said she was ambushed on the outskirts of Luohe," Celine stated gravely. "And," she continued solemnly, "a Flying General-class ch-Augnted Human was involved."
Chen Feng's eyes narrowed slightly as her words sank in. A question quietly surfaced in his mind: Would the Platinum Federation suddenly attack their own Martial Artists?
"Dongbo, what's the situation?" A deep voice crackled through the comm unit.
A figure sped through the Greenfield Forest, a silver-gray mask concealing his face. Upon closer inspection, one could see he was carrying a two-ter-long zippered black bag slung over his shoulder. Despite its apparent weight, he moved across the rugged terrain with effortless ease.
"One of the targets escaped," the cyborg reported in a monotone voice, its gender indistinguishable. Find the newest release on novel(ꜰ)ire
The person on the other end of the line fell silent for a mont before asking for details.
"She used a life-burning Secret Art and carried a specialized pulse device that temporarily restrained . The other one was highly skilled in speed and seized the opportunity to flee."
"Was she captured?"
"Failure," the cyborg replied solemnly, his chanical voice tinged with severity. "She escaped to the Fla Tiger Sect."
The communication module fell silent as the cyborg's words hung in the air.
The figure on the other end seed to be suppressing their emotions, taking over ten seconds to regain composure before asking for specific details in a deep voice.
"We nearly exposed ourselves, but the Gene Controller erased all traces in ti."
"Besides, they were all unfamiliar faces. No one could possibly suspect it was us."
The silver-gray cyborg replied calmly, exuding complete confidence.
The middle-aged figure in the communication module nodded grudgingly, offering a few final instructions before disconnecting.
As the call ended, the figure abruptly stopped walking and glanced at the black bag in their hand. A single strand of brown hair was caught in the tightly sealed zipper.
They raised a finger and instantly incinerated it.
Confirming that no traces remained, they quietly slipped out of the Greenfield Suburb.
Thud! Thud!
Ten minutes later, a flying car slowly descended and landed on the outskirts of the Greenfield Suburb, near the Luohe border.
A quick glance revealed several massive craters, each dozens of ters wide, dotting the landscape, as if carved by so devastating artillery bombardnt.
Charred earth mingled with shattered trees.
Fragnts of rock and churned soil ford a chaotic mix, clear evidence of a fierce battle.
"Looks like... this is the place."
Celine spoke in a low, solemn tone as she hopped out of the passenger seat.
Chen Feng didn't respond, silently striding toward the edge of the deep pit.
This was the last piece of information Iphia had conveyed before losing consciousness—a desperate plea for them to rescue Kagor, even if it ant kneeling in supplication.
A secret art that burned one's life force to defend a martial artist's dignity.
In his final monts, this top-tier martial artist from the Platinum Federation had displayed a unique courage unlike any other.
It was precisely this courage that had allowed Iphia to escape the ambush and reach the Fla Tiger Sect for help.
"They really dared to trust ," Chen Feng remarked calmly, a flicker of complex emotions crossing his mind.
He wasn't particularly close to Kagor, and he'd even had so disagreents with Iphia.
Yet, when faced with imminent death, they had chosen to entrust their lives to him.
"If I were in their shoes, I would have made the sa choice," Celine said earnestly, tilting her head to look at him. Her right arm, wrapped in gauze, hung in a sling across her chest.
She vaguely understood Iphia and Kagor's reasoning.
Selflessly imparting knowledge, setting aside past grievances.
This single act spoke volus, requiring no further explanation to demonstrate their character.
Hearing this, Chen Feng fell silent.
He shook his head, unwilling to say more, mindful that these two were his guests. He had to finish what needed to be done.
His gaze swept across the area.
Amplifying his Perception, he began searching for traces.
Celine, beside him, also looked around, occasionally picking up clods of dirt to examine.
Silence stretched between them as ti ticked by.
Until finally...
A soft click made Celine turn her head.
Chen Feng had slightly raised his hand, a wisp of crimson-gold Force coiling around a blood-stained clod of dirt he lifted from the pit. Scattered fragnts of internal organs clung to it, leaving no doubt as to their origin.
"We were too late," Celine said, her voice heavy with complex emotion—the unspoken understanding between Pinnacle Realm Martial Artists.
"Perhaps... he died shortly after Iphia escaped," Chen Feng murmured.
He shook his head. The life-burning Secret Art couldn't have lasted long, especially against a Flying General-class cyborg. Saving even one of them ant they shouldn't feel guilty.
Celine understood his unspoken aning. She nodded and sighed softly.
But quickly, her gaze swept across the surrounding pits, her mind racing back to the earlier battle.
A Flying General-class cyborg and two Fifth-Tier Biological Modified Humans—such a formidable force to ambush two Pinnacle Realm Martial Artists?
"Chen, who do you think was behind this?" Celine asked, puzzled.
"It looks a lot like the Platinum Federation's usual tactics," Chen Feng replied, gently raising his hand as Force slowly gathered the blood-stained soil.
Arriving at the scene, he could confirm one thing: there was absolutely no trace of Evil God Power. It was likely a sudden attack by so faction, possibly orchestrated by enemies of Iphia and Kagor.
But...
"Let's wait until Iphia wakes up before jumping to conclusions," Chen Feng said. His eyes flickered montarily, but he ultimately kept his sudden suspicion to himself.
Anyone daring to attack Iphia and Kagor would have needed to track their movents ticulously. And recently, only his Dharma Transmission Assembly had provided such a massive opportunity to track them.
His mind drifted back to the Federation eting he had convened. During that eting, soone had subtly steered the conversation toward their whereabouts.
(End of the Chapter)
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