Chapter 480 - 11: Armored Encirclement

PHEW!

In the concrete room, Lu Chao exhaled a breath of stale air.

The data on his panel changed once more. He nodded inwardly, feeling his physique strengthen yet again.

"Finally, I’ve broken through to the Peak Exploration Level."

points of Life Energy. Strength, speed, neural reflexes, maximum endurance... every physical aspect had undergone a minor transformation, boosting his overall power by a full fifty percent.

Furthermore...

BUZZ!

His Qi Flame materialized solidly, resembling a brown fire. Lu Chao could clearly feel that its quality had elevated once more. The [Heavy Pressure] and [Massive Weight] traits hidden within it had increased by several margins, simultaneously enhancing his destructive and defensive capabilities.

"Combined, it equates to nearly a twofold difference.

"As expected, every breakthrough within the Superpower Level brings a significant enhancement."

Nodding, a glint of light flashed in Lu Chao’s eyes.

A Peak Exploration Level fighter was already considered a top-tier powerhouse. Take this Fortress Mountain City, or even the entire northwest wilderness region, for example—aside from Lu Weilong and Xiao Chen, it would be no exaggeration to call him the apex. If placed on the Dark Web, he would be strong enough to rank in the top hundred of the entire Earth Star assassin leaderboard. He might even break into the top forty like the Hidden Streamer, or perhaps even higher.

CRACK!

Lu Chao abruptly clenched his fists. The Peak Exploration Level was already this formidable for an ordinary person. With multiple talents buffing him, the enhancements he gained were naturally far greater.

Even more so...

"Transcendence Level..." A trace of anticipation surfaced in Lu Chao’s eyes.

This was only at 220 points of Life Energy. If he could continue to improve and comprehend the Qi Manipulation Skill of retracting his Qi Flame and gathering it into a Qi explosion, he would be able to break through the upper limit barrier of 240 points. At that point, he would truly set foot into the Transcendence Level.

"I wonder how long that will take," he pondered inwardly, the sense of urgency still lingering in his heart.

Although he possessed the combat power of the Transcendence Level, he had not actually reached that realm. Not to mention, he still had things to do. Those past grievances could only be truly settled once he genuinely stepped into the Transcendence Level. By then, even those at the Non-human Level would have to show him respect.

PHEW!

Calming his mood, Lu Chao forced himself to suppress his extraneous thoughts.

Cultivation breakthroughs could not be achieved overnight. Whether it was the nutritional resources used for nourishment, or the Qi Manipulation Skills and tempering methods required to break through the realms of Martial Arts, a massive amount of private accumulation was necessary. Otherwise, even with abundant resources, breaking through would be difficult. Possessing only the methods and realms without the proper foundation would render transformation impossible.

Thinking of this, Lu Chao’s gaze gradually cooled. He glanced at the panel, his eyes pausing on the Potential Progress column.

[Potential Progress: 8%]

"Just as I thought." His eyes flickered; he wasn’t surprised by this.

With the awakening of the [Barbarian] talent, the difficulty of accumulating energy for his Potential Progress had increased by several margins. However, Lu Chao wasn’t overly worried. Before he knew it, he was already a true Biological Alchemist. As long as he had enough materials, he could produce [Biological Serum], [Life Essence], or other Basic Nutritional Potions. He could always accumulate enough energy to reach maximum capacity again—not to mention he still had tens of millions of Alliance Coins on hand.

Besides that...

"I already have two mid-level talents in the violence dimension." Lu Chao looked at the expertise information on the panel, his eyes burning with a hint of anticipation.

"If I can obtain mid-level resources, will it cause a change in my [Potential Fission]?

"Can I awaken a High-level Talent in the violence dimension through this?" he pondered inwardly.

He naturally remembered the awakening conditions for a High-level Talent. First, the energy of his [Potential Fission] had to be at maximum capacity. Second, he needed two mid-level talent expertise in the same dimension to serve as anchors. Right now, he had already satisfied one of the two conditions; all he lacked was the Potential Fission.

"It’s a pity there hasn’t been any news regarding resources of this nature.

"Something even more advanced than Biological Serum and Essence of Qi, or even surpassing basic high-quality Magic Blood Crystals..."

Lu Chao frowned, considering certain circumstances. Up until now, even though he had started making contact with the higher-ups of the Alliance Country and possessed the extremely high Dark Web authority of [Celestial Hunter], he still hadn’t been able to find resources of this level. Even relevant information was few and far between.

"Could it be that the Earth Star doesn’t have any mid-level nutritional items?" he wondered, feeling uncertain.

After thinking for a few moments without an answer, he shook his head. He could only make more inquiries through various channels later to see if any news turned up. For now, he needed to consolidate his strength.

...

...

RUSTLE!

By the cobblestone street, several Mountain City residents had returned from scavenging. They carried torn, blood-stained animal skins or oddly shaped, multicolored ores on their shoulders. A dull atmosphere shrouded the streets as merchants from the Alliance Country haggled with them inside the recycling station.

Meanwhile, the hum of engines rang out. Looking over, one could see several pickup trucks carrying warlord soldiers weave through the crowd, returning fully loaded from outside the high city walls.

"HAHAHA! We’re eating meat tonight!"

Excited voices echoed from the pickup trucks. The carcasses of two saber-toothed wild boar Mutant Beasts could be seen loaded in the back as the vehicles headed straight for a stone building not far away.

This scene drew envious looks from many pedestrians on the street, who subconsciously licked their lips.

The Mountain City didn’t have any meat factories that bred Mutant Beasts; most of their meat came from the wilderness. The majority of ordinary people lacked the talent and resource support for Life Energy development. Too afraid to hunt, they could only try their luck scavenging for Mutant Beast corpses, or work in the city and use their earnings to buy the few expensive cuts of beast meat available for sale. As for synthetic meat, the merchants from the Alliance Country had limited stock and didn’t sell it every day. Besides, its taste was terrible, falling far short of the deliciousness of real beast meat.