173: Chapter 173 Next! The Trump Card of Technology! Mechanical Titan!

"Next."

Lin Qi's voice was not loud, yet it seemed to carry a strange magic, piercing through the deafening cheers and echoing clearly in every corner of the arena.

The amplification equipment faithfully magnified these three words, spreading them throughout the venue, like a resounding slap accurately delivered in the direction of the VIP seats.

That was the exclusive box of the Li Family.

Inside the box, the atmosphere was oppressive to the extreme.

Li Qingcang sat in the main seat with a blank expression; his dignified and deep face revealed neither joy nor anger, yet the expensive purple clay teacup in front of him emitted an unbearable "crack" sound under his unconscious exertion of force.

Fine cracks instantly covered the cup's body.

The next second, the entire teacup silently turned into a pile of powder in his palm.

Scalding tea mixed with powder dripped through his fingers, yet he seemed not to notice.

He had failed.

He had personally laid out the plan, mobilizing the Family's connections to tailor a death trap for Lin Qi, only for it to be broken just like that.

And it was broken in a way he could least understand and least accept.

A furnace of blood and Qi, the Physical Body breaking Spells.

A rudimentary Protective Aura, tearing apart Spells with bare hands.

These things had completely exceeded their understanding of "Ancient Martial Arts," that backward gimmick.

In their data models, Ancient Martial Arts were just a set of calisthenics; so-called force-exertion techniques were as fragile as a joke in the face of absolute Rank and Law.

Yet today, this joke had vividly evolved into their nightmare.

"Ahhh! Lin Qi!!"

Li Pojun could no longer maintain that arrogance and coldness; he slammed his fist onto the alloy tabletop in front of him, producing a loud "thud."

His eyes were bloodshot, and his handsome face was twisted with extreme anger and humiliation.

"I want to kill him! Dad! Let me go in the next round! I want to crush his bones with my own hands!"

Lin Qi's strength and arrogance were like steel needles, piercing deeply into his proud heart.

That "Next" had completely ignited the flames of "jealousy" and "murderous intent" within him.

He could not stand that a Blank Slate he viewed as trash, a waste with no data, could actually stand in the center of that stage which should have belonged to him, enjoying the attention of everyone.

Li Qingcang finally moved.

He slowly raised his hand and used a snow-white handkerchief to unhurriedly wipe the tea stains and powder from his palm.

His movements were slow and elegant, as if what he had just crushed was not a teacup, but a speck of dust.

"You go?"

He didn't even raise his head, asking coldly in return.

"Are you going up there to die?"

Li Pojun's roar came to an abrupt halt; he looked at his father's terrifyingly calm profile, and a chill rushed from the soles of his feet straight to his scalp.

"I..."

"Can you use your Physical Body to withstand a minus 150-degree freezing Domain?"

"Can you tear open a Chief Mage's Repelling Fire Ring with your bare hands?"

With every question Li Qingcang asked, Li Pojun's face grew paler.

He could not.

His S-Rank talent, which he took pride in, and his lightning power seemed so powerless in the face of that unreasonable physical Spell-breaking ability.

Li Qingcang threw the handkerchief he used to wipe his hands onto the table, his eyes cold and dark.

"To deal with a madman, you must use means even more unreasonable than his."

"The plan for elemental suppression is already useless."

He stood up and took out a metal communicator from his embrace; it had an archaic design, no electronic screen, but was covered in complex mechanical patterns.

"Since magic can't defeat him, then we will use technology."

Li Qingcang dialed an encrypted communication channel.

"Beep..."

After a slight crackle of static, the communication connected.

From the other end came a mechanically synthesized voice, processed through multiple electronic layers, devoid of any emotional color.

"Family Head Li."

Li Qingcang walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the figure standing in the center of the arena below like a peerless fierce soldier; his voice was as cold as a Siberian cold front.

"The plan has changed. For the semifinals, have 'Titan' enter the fight."

The mechanical voice on the other end was silent for a moment, seemingly performing some high-speed calculation.

"'Titan's' appearance fee is very high. Moreover, its data model is too violent; participating directly might trigger an investigation by the tournament organizing committee."

"Money is not an issue."

Li Qingcang coldly interrupted him.

"I will take care of the organizing committee."

His voice carried an unquestionable dominance and determination.

"I have only one request."

"On the arena, tear him apart into parts completely!"

"Received."

The mechanical voice responded without any fluctuation, and then the communication was cleanly and decisively hung up.

Li Qingcang put away the communicator, and the temperature in the box seemed to drop a few more degrees.

Li Pojun looked at his father's back, his heart shaken.

Titan!

That was not a name, but a codename.

The supreme masterpiece of another great mysterious organization in the Federation, the "Mechanical Cult"!

It could not even be called a "person."

It was a pure war weapon armed to the teeth with cold technology, a mechanical cyborg whose entire body was composed of the most cutting-edge alloys and power cores!

Its existence was aimed at those top-tier biological powerhouses whose Physical Bodies were monstrously strong.

It was the final answer of technology against life!

To deal with one Lin Qi, his father had actually resorted to such a trump card!

The heat of the arena tournament had not yet dissipated, and the matchup list for the semifinals had already rapidly appeared on the giant light screen in the center of the stadium.

When everyone's gaze focused on Lin Qi's name, the scene erupted in another round of exclamations.

Beside Lin Qi's avatar, a strange codename had suddenly appeared.

[Titan]

Competitor Affiliation: Mechanical Cult.

There was very little information about this competitor, only a line of introduction so simple it was suffocating.

[Entire body forged from anti-shock alloy, immune to 80% of physical impact.]

The short sentence was like a basin of ice water, poured over the heads of all the audience members who had just been cheering for Lin Qi.

The noise at the scene once again fell into an eerie silence.

"Immune... to 80% of physical impact? What the hell is this thing?"

"You've got to be kidding! How is he supposed to fight this? All of Lin Qi's attacks are purely physical!"

"Mechanical Cult? That madman organization that never participates in any official tournaments? How could they send someone?"

"It's over, it's really over now; this is simply a natural enemy tailored specifically for Lin Qi!"

The commentator looked at this information and was also stunned, stammering: "Dear audience, this... this might be the most bizarre competitor we have encountered in this tournament. Immune to 80% of physical impact means that all the power and techniques that competitor Lin Qi has prided himself on, when hitting him, might have less than 20% effectiveness!"

Zhang Wei, who had just been wildly ecstatic, had his smile freeze on his face; he stared fixedly at that line of text, muttering to himself.

"An... an iron turtle?"

The smiles on the faces of Instructor Su Qing and Elder Mo also disappeared, replaced by unprecedented gravity.

The direction of public opinion once again took a 180-degree turn.

Posts that had just been praising "physical Spell-breaking is invincible in the world" were instantly drowned out by comments that "technology is the final destination."

Everyone believed that this time, Lin Qi had truly hit an iron plate he absolutely could not overcome.

In the Longya Academy lounge.

Zhang Wei rushed in with the freshly printed matchup information, his face miserable.

"Brother Qi! It's bad! It's a huge problem! Your next opponent is an iron lump!"

Lin Qi was sitting cross-legged on the ground, regulating the Qi and blood in his body that were somewhat boiling from activating the "Blood Moving Technique."

He slowly opened his eyes and took the thin piece of paper.

His gaze fell on the line of text [Immune to 80% physical impact].

Far from having any worry on his face, he instead revealed a playful smile.

"An iron lump, huh?"

Lin Qi tossed the information aside, stood up, and stretched his muscles and bones, emitting a series of crisp cracking sounds.

"Perfect, let me test my hand strength to see if it's hard enough."