Before Lu Luo's words even faded, his body erupted with astonishing speed. Chen Mo gripped his twin blades, first shocked, then furious, and finally, he watched Lu Luo with cold eyes. "Although this environment isn't ideal for my combat style, there's still wind. In the wind, do you think you can be faster than me? You will die, Lu Luo. You *must* die." Just as Lu Luo's greatsword thrust toward Chen Mo, Chen Mo's body astonishingly dissolved with the wind, turning into particles that scattered in the breeze. A sword glowing with Holy Radiance pierced Lu Luo's back. The immense power behind it sent him flying, crashing heavily against the wall. Chen Mo pressed Lu Luo down, a skeptical look on his face. "It didn't pierce through? Is this the defensive power of a treasure? This effect is truly outrageous!" Lu Luo patted his hair and emerged from a pile of rubble. Your brain got "DINGED" again. That's the second time. Too bad there's no system notification. Turning to look at the rubble behind him, he saw that the Nightmare Power had already begun repairing the damaged castle. So the castle even has self-repair capabilities! Truly outrageous. While Lu Luo was momentarily distracted, Chen Mo seized the initiative, appearing before him. "Getting distracted during a fight... How could someone like that have survived this long?" Chen Mo, wielding Gale Force, was incredibly fast, but the current Lu Luo was even faster! Even though he wielded the Fenrir Greatsword, and even if he reacted a step slower than Chen Mo, he was still faster. The reason? Higher attributes, stronger amplification! He reacted later but struck first. The Fenrir Greatsword and the twin blades clashed heavily. Steam erupted suddenly, and the powerful pressure instantly bent the twin blades. However, Chen Mo's twin blades were clearly no ordinary weapons. Even under such immense pressure, they withstood the Fenrir Greatsword's heavy blow. "What kind of monstrous strength is this?" Chen Mo had already unleashed nearly eighty percent of his Holy Radiance. Yet Lu Luo, before him, merely swung his sword single-handedly, completely suppressing him with a nonchalant air. Such power, such speed... How was it possible? Hunter's strength? No, that's not right... his steam should be from Qi He, shouldn't it? As Chen Mo analyzed Lu Luo's combat capabilities, Lu Luo rapidly closed the distance, their faces almost touching. Lu Luo threw Chen Mo's earlier words back at him. "Being distracted during a fight is a very foolish act, Mr. Chen Mo." Lu Luo thrust his sword, missing again. This was quite irritating. Can't hit him? Is it an ability to briefly elementalize and become physically immune? Chen Mo's figure reformed at a distance. Although he could merge with the wind, if Lu Luo's strength was as impenetrable as just demonstrated, he would have no way to defeat him. "You possess both strength and speed, along with defensive protection. Truly impressive. Ordinary people would indeed be helpless against you. But I'm sorry! I am no ordinary person." Chen Mo's figure vanished again, reappearing only for 0.2 to 0.3 seconds at a time. This rapid succession of movements made it difficult for Lu Luo to keep up. The Fenrir Greatsword blocked multiple Slash Strikes in succession, but Lu Luo still couldn't land a hit on Chen Mo's elusive figure. However, Lu Luo remained unflustered, steadily parrying Chen Mo's attacks while contemplating a way to finish him off in one go. Lu Luo released a puff of toxic gas, but Chen Mo's fierce wind immediately dispersed it, completely neutralizing its effect. "Damn it! Someone who can control wind... that's just too evasive." As Lu Luo grumbled, Chen Mo's figure instantly materialized before him. His blades spun, Holy Radiance gathering. "This is the Shock Sword I learned from Master Qiao Xing, a technique I've modified! I've always kept this move as my trump card, rarely using it against others. This time, I'll let you witness it!" "Twin Blades—Spiral!" Lu Luo watched the spinning twin blades with a peculiar expression. This application of a spiral blade technique... Wasn't it just like when he first used the Spiral Sword to assassinate Wu En? Crude, unrefined, and utterly amateurish! This time, Lu Luo neither dodged nor evaded; he met the Twin Blades—Spiral head-on with his chest. The blades pierced flesh, then began to twist and shred. Just as Chen Mo felt a surge of elation at wounding Lu Luo, he suddenly sensed something was wrong with the blades in his hands. The sound of the blades tearing through flesh, PFFT! PFFT!, gradually changed to CLANG! CLANG!, and then SQUEAK! CREAK! His sharp twin blades were actually stuck in Lu Luo's body! This was an attack imbued with Holy Radiance and spiral force—how could this be possible? As Chen Mo hesitated, wondering whether to release his twin blades, Lu Luo was already upon him. "Finally caught you!" Lu Luo's fist slammed into Chen Mo's chest. The unparalleled force instantly tore through all of Chen Mo's defenses. "Cough!" Chen Mo violently spewed a mouthful of blood. At this point, it was highly unlikely he could merge with the wind. Chen Mo's ability was indeed special. However, Lu Luo had encountered similar individuals before, like that Blue Sky Pharmaceuticals member who could manipulate shadows. They all possessed the power to merge with elements, making them incredibly tricky opponents in certain situations. However, the Lu Luo of today was not the Lu Luo of old. For the current him, figuring out how to counter elementalization was merely a matter of a little thought. Lu Luo grabbed Chen Mo's arm and twisted it forcefully. URGH! Chen Mo gritted his teeth, enduring the pain without a sound. But then, Lu Luo kicked him squarely in the knee. This time, Chen Mo finally couldn't bear it. But Lu Luo's assault hadn't ended. He was the type who, once he had an enemy in his grasp, would ensure they were taken out completely. The Fenrir Greatsword arced towards Chen Mo. With his arm firmly gripped by Lu Luo, escape was impossible. Blood splattered, but Lu Luo's blade had missed its mark—Chen Mo's body. Lu Luo stared at the severed arm in his hand and couldn't help but curse. "Damn it! What a pain in the ass." The wind blades, an extension of the gale, sliced off Chen Mo's own trapped arm. With this desperate act of self-amputation, Chen Mo finally escaped Lu Luo's control. However, this did nothing to change the enormous disparity in strength between them! "How can you be this strong? Why are you so powerful?!" Lu Luo ignored him, having already devised a way to snatch Chen Mo directly from the wind. He bent slightly. "Steam—Fourth Gear!" Violent steam began to flood the entire corridor. Even Chen Mo's gale was gradually suppressed by Lu Luo's steam. When the steam had compressed the gale to the far end of the corridor, Lu Luo finally moved. "Spiral Sword—Air Wave!" This move combined the Deliberate Bombardment Fist with the Spiral Sword. The spiraling Sword Qi unleashed by Lu Luo began to tear apart the last corner of the room. The floor, walls, decorations—everything was shredded by the spiraling air wave. Chen Mo finally reappeared in the corner. The fierce Sword Qi instantly ripped his upper body open, wounds so deep his bones were nearly visible. At the last moment, Chen Mo extended an arm forged of light. He brought his hands together, surprisingly abandoning the use of the gale to resist Lu Luo's steam. "Dawn is with me! Holy Resurrection Light!" The brilliant Holy Radiance—Lu Luo had seen this move before, in Gu Fangyi's dream, where it was used by the dream version of Qi Xinzhu. A major technique of the Dawn Church? So it actually exists. Under the illumination of the Holy Resurrection Light, the potent Holy Radiance resisted Lu Luo's Sword Qi while simultaneously healing Chen Mo's injuries. The combat strength of top-tier Believers of Light is truly commendable. Among those of the same level, there truly weren't many who could contend with me for this long! However, after executing this, Chen Mo was already kneeling, gasping for breath. He barely had any strength left to fight Lu Luo. Lu Luo wasted no words. He charged directly at Chen Mo, not even bothering with a finishing line. This time, he intended to crush Chen Mo's head. If he destroyed Chen Mo's head, he refused to believe Chen Mo could survive! Duorang's foot intercepted Lu Luo's greatsword. This block naturally gave Chen Mo a chance to breathe. Chen Mo, dragging his mangled arm and leg, tumbled down the stairs. "Like hell you're going anywhere!" Duorang blocked Lu Luo again. An energy grenade then exploded in front of Lu Luo, finally forcing him back. "You're really courting death!" But Lu Luo's speed in Fourth Gear far surpassed his expectations. In the blink of an eye, Lu Luo was before Duorang. Duorang's abilities were vastly different from Chen Mo's; he practiced a Hunter's Cultivation Technique. "Qi He—Round Table Force!" This defensive method was completely different from the East Ring's Qi He, but Lu Luo had to admit, Duorang's defense was indeed commendable. So, he grabbed Duorang and slammed him hard into the wall. "Sorry, I forgot I'm Fourth Tier too." Swinging his fists, every punch Lu Luo threw was a Deliberate Bombardment Fist. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The walls cracked, the corridor deteriorated, and Duorang's body began to break down piece by piece! Blood continuously trickled from the corner of his mouth, but Lu Luo showed no sign of stopping his assault. His fist, swollen with steam, finally smashed into Duorang's chest. The immense force shattered Duorang's entire sternum, caving it inward. His acute physical senses told Lu Luo this blow was fatal. Yet, he didn't stop. He wrenched the Fenrir Greatsword from the floor and lopped off Duorang's head. When he looked back, Chen Mo was nowhere to be seen. "Doesn't matter. I'll kill him next time!" At this moment, a few candidates emerged from a nearby room, their faces etched with horror as they looked at Lu Luo. They had initially believed Duorang and Chen Mo to be the strongest in their group. But upon exiting, they witnessed Duorang being brutally slaughtered by Lu Luo. This dealt a severe blow to their fragile minds. They wanted to flee, but their speed was laughably inferior to Lu Luo's. Lu Luo reached them in an instant and snapped their necks. After killing the three, Lu Luo searched their bodies but found no tokens, which disappointed him slightly. Did Duorang already give his things to Chen Mo? What exactly is the relationship between those two? Ride-or-die friends? Was it really worth all that? ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕·𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎·𝚗𝚎𝚝 What Lu Luo didn't know was that Duorang never intended to sacrifice his life for Chen Mo. Lu Luo's attacks were simply too ferocious, leaving Duorang no opportunity to defend, counterattack, or even attempt an escape. He had planned to block Lu Luo's initial onslaught and then coordinate an escape with Chen Mo. But he had grossly underestimated Lu Luo's terrifying strength. His Qi He Round Table Force was utterly incapable of blocking Lu Luo's fists. He was brutally slammed into the wall and beaten to death. What a truly unjust end. Several others, hiding in their rooms, listened fearfully to the sounds outside. Eventually, they chose to pay some price to exit through another door on the fourth floor, successfully avoiding Lu Luo. Meanwhile, Lu Luo searched around but found no stairs or doors on the fourth floor leading upwards. This was very strange. Could it be in one of these rooms? Lu Luo tried several doors. The locked ones wouldn't budge, no matter how he attacked them. If a door was unlocked, the room beyond was invariably empty. After a thorough search yielded nothing, Lu Luo grew somewhat irritable. "Observer, found anything?" Lu Luo paced the hallway several more times, but still found nothing. He decided to wait there for a while, to see if anyone else would emerge. He took a pack of cigarettes from Duorang's belongings, intending to light one and take a break. But just as he placed the cigarette to his lips, Observer suddenly sent a notification. There's someone behind you. She appeared very suddenly—so suddenly that I didn't even register when she arrived. Reading Observer's notification, Lu Luo's fingers stiffened for a moment. Then, he slowly turned his head. "You're about to get married, and you still want to smoke now? If you reek of smoke, the bride certainly won't like it," a little girl's voice said from behind Lu Luo. She was a little girl dressed in a red wedding gown, looking very pretty and playful. Lu Luo attempted to use Observer to scan her, but Observer returned the following information: Grade S-11 Observer is attempting to detect the target. Target's nature is special, or some force is obstructing Observer's perception. Unable to obtain information. Lu Luo squinted. Normally, even if the other party possessed a Sequence that could conceal their abilities, Observer would still retrieve some very basic information. But this little girl was a complete blank slate to Observer, which in itself was the most significant piece of information. After all, only a Grade S Sequence could counteract another Grade S Sequence. Therefore, this little girl either possessed powerful Sequence particles or an Essence of Life capable of contending with a Grade S Sequence, or she herself possessed a Grade S Sequence. Lu Luo looked at the cigarette in his hand. He didn't light it but gestured with it. "It's precisely because I'm about to get married that I'm smoking! The pressure on a man after marriage is immense." "Oh, why is it that the pressure on a man becomes greater after marriage?" Hearing this, Lu Luo immediately perked up and began counting on his fingers. "Because before marriage, if a man eats his fill, that's all that matters. But after getting married, considering the current situation in the Wasteland Alliance, a betrothal gift of at least 30,000 is unavoidable. Then you need a house, and you have to think about children. Let's say, conservatively, two kids. The living expenses, school fees, and miscellaneous costs for just one child come to around 50,000..." Lu Luo rattled off this litany of marital and child-rearing expenses as if chanting a sutra, making the little girl's scalp tingle. "Stop, stop, stop! Don't say any more! My head is spinning!" Lu Luo raised the cigarette in his hand again. "See? These are all the pressures a man faces after marriage. It's immense. So I might as well sneak a few smokes before I'm married. Once I tie the knot, life won't be so carefree anymore." Lu Luo spoke with such dismal tragedy that Da Tian was momentarily at a loss. "But shouldn't getting married be a very happy thing?" "Marriage is happy, yes, but life is mostly about the daily grind—the mundane realities of providing for a household. There will be ceremonial moments, sure, but they won't be that frequent." Lu Luo lit his cigarette, then patted the spot beside him, gesturing for the little girl to come over. Da Tian raised an eyebrow but didn't seem to mind. She floated over and sat down beside Lu Luo. Her method of movement—flying—clearly startled Lu Luo for a moment. "Are you an Exotic Species or a human?" "Of course I'm human. Can't you tell?" Da Tian's eyes held a hint of pride and excitement. "I..." Lu Luo wanted to say that his Observer was blocked, so he truly couldn't tell. But then he reconsidered. Is there really such a huge difference between humans and Exotic Species? Take me, for example. Many people think I've become an Exotic Species, but I've always considered myself human, pure-blooded at that. "Well, actually, whether someone's human or an Exotic Species... it's not really that important. By the way, little girl, what's your name?" "My name is Lu Xiaotian, but everyone calls me Da Tian."