Chapter 527: The Tan Family, Neat and Tidy

“Well then, I’ve had enough fun.”

As the deep voice echoed in his ears, Tan Shanzhong’s pupils constricted.

Before he could recover his wits…

BOOM!

His head was smashed into the wall!

A ring of white air waves exploded, sending countless fragments flying into the air. Lu Chao stood over him with bent knees, looking down at him with cold eyes.

“You…”

Tan Shanzhong’s eyes were filled with fury. He shielded his head with a silver Qi Flame, trying to struggle and resist.

However…

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Lu Chao gripped his head and continuously slammed it against the wall, delivering several heavy blows. Cobweb-like cracks spread outwards from the crater in the wall. The impact left Tan Shanzhong seeing stars, his vision blurring.

Before he could react again, Lu Chao stomped fiercely on the ground. Gripping Tan Shanzhong’s head, he charged madly towards the depths of the base.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

Tan Shanzhong was like a leaf in the wind. Only his head was firmly held in a death grip as it scraped against the metal walls, plowing out a trench-like fissure. Everything metallic along the way was destroyed by the Qi Flame, and his head smashed through countless pieces of equipment and screens.

Ultimately, he was dragged along the wall by Lu Chao, crashing straight into the base’s command center.

CRASH!

The explosion-proof glass doors at the entrance shattered violently, sending grey metal shards flying in all directions. Countless bio-armored soldiers along the way were smashed into bloody pulp, spraying crimson and bursting into mists of blood. The base’s command center instantly descended into chaos, filled with fleeing figures, flying documents, and screams of terror.

“Damn it!”

Furious to the core, Tan Shanzhong caught sight of the terrified expressions on the faces of many Rebel Warriors and researchers deep within the base out of the corner of his eye. His body could hardly maintain its balance under the high-speed movement and impacts, and a fierce gale battered his face. When he looked up and saw Lu Chao’s indifferent face, the anger in his heart grew thicker.

BOOM!

In an instant, the Tan family’s Secret Technique stimulated his acupoints, causing all his power to skyrocket rapidly. He took this opportunity to forcibly erupt his Qi Flame, and then, right as he was about to crash into a massive piece of equipment, he unleashed a Shockwave Impact.

“Haa!”

BOOM!

An air explosion blossomed, and the ground blew open. The metal wall on one side was shattered with dense cracks. This spacious base room looked as if it had been ravaged by a storm.

However…

Despite the countless pieces of equipment exploding and bursting into flames, and regardless of how the surrounding Rebel Warriors screamed in terror and fled in all directions, those large, thick hands still gripped his head.

“Boring.”

Lu Chao stopped in his tracks. Standing firmly in place, he forcefully withstood the so-called air explosion shockwave without wavering in the slightest. In his Rock Core state, the air explosion posed no threat to him at all.

Furthermore…

“Old ghost, you’re truly weak,” Lu Chao said breezily, staring at the bewildered Tan Shanzhong.

The Peak Transcendence Level, which had once seemed incredibly powerful in his eyes, was now this fragile. Compared to the geniuses of the Klar Civilization, Tan Shanzhong appeared exceptionally ordinary in every aspect.

“I originally thought you could give me a hint of a surprise and let me experience the joy of battle.” Lu Chao suddenly hoisted the man’s head out of the fissure in the wall, staring at the fading silver Qi Flame and his somewhat dazed, bewildered eyes.

“Looking at it now… I’m very disappointed.”

BOOM!

He suddenly smashed a punch into Tan Shanzhong’s chest and abdomen, sending his body flying backwards into the wall of the command center. He crashed through several large pieces of equipment along the way, sparking a shower of sparks, before finally slamming into the wall with a loud THUD. He left a massive, shallow crater in the surface before falling to the ground.

“Cough, cough…”

Tan Shanzhong coughed softly, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. The silver Qi Flame on his body was no longer solid, but rather exceptionally faint. He stumbled as he tried to climb up from the ground, feeling as if all his internal organs had been displaced. The pain was excruciating. As he looked at Lu Chao slowly walking over, his eyes were filled with doubt. He gradually began to sense that something was wrong.

“Who… exactly are you?”

He was only one step away from breaking through to the Non-human Level! Yet, he had been completely suppressed by his opponent from start to finish, powerless to fight back. Was this really the performance of someone who had just broken through the Transcendence Level?

STEP!

The moment his question fell, Lu Chao crossed a distance of over ten meters and arrived right in front of him. Even without using Titan’s Power, his current strength was enough to stand head and shoulders above the rest. Coupled with the Rock Core Barrier, his physique’s strength had already crossed the threshold of the Non-human Level.

“You don’t deserve to know the answer.”

SWISH!

He executed a sweeping kick, swinging his leg like a battleaxe. Tan Shanzhong blocked with both arms but was sent skidding backwards across the floor, crashing into the wall once again.

CRACK!

A crisp sound of bone fracturing came from his blocking arms, and his face visibly paled. Even with the Qi Flame protecting his body, it was impossible to disperse the entire impact. He thoroughly realized the disparity in strength between himself and Lu Chao.

“Strength, defense, speed… Your physique has actually reached the Non-human Level.

“It seems you are a physical-type Esper.”

He coughed softly again, blood spilling from his lips. He stared at Lu Chao with bloodshot eyes, as if he had realized something.

Lu Chao remained unmoved, simply approaching slowly like a Hunter.

Within his Life Sensing, the intensity of Tan Shanzhong’s magnetic field had indeed weakened considerably, but it hadn’t reached a heavily injured state yet. This surprised him a little.

At the same time, it reminded him of the warnings from Ji Lixian and his senior sister Grey Feather.

Every Peak Transcendence Level expert—especially those whose Life Energy was infinitely approaching the Non-human Level—had mostly spent a long time in this realm. Perhaps they hadn’t reached the Non-human Level, but in certain aspects like strength or speed, they could rely on Secret Techniques or other special methods to momentarily unleash a formidable power close to the Non-human Level.

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Lu Chao paused his steps.

“I don’t believe a state like yours can last for long.”