137: Chapter 137 Physical Salvation! Does this guy even need us to save him?!

Deathly silence is not the end.

It is the prelude to a new symphony.

And Su Ming

was the madman holding the baton.

Like an emotionless hydraulic pile driver,

his hands clamped around the bony scorpion tail that was thicker than his waist,

and he exerted sudden force from his waist and hips.

The Scorpion King's massive, over two-meter-tall body was forcefully ripped out of the ruins by him.

"Boom!!!"

He slammed it onto the alloy floor to his left.

Rubble exploded. The Scorpion King's Face—a grotesque blend of human features and scorpion carapace—

plowed a deep trench into the ground.

Before he could even struggle,

"Boom!!!"

he was swung to the right.

Dark blood seeped from the joints of his purplish-black carapace.

His crimson compound eyes rolled back violently.

"Acting tough, are you?!"

"Boom!"

"Digging holes, are you?!"

"Boom!"

"Poisoning people, are you?!"

"Boom!"

"And interrupting my fucking college entrance exam!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Su Ming slammed him down with every curse.

The Tier 6 Beast Seal User who had once made Jiangcheng's Commander Qin Luo wary,

and had driven Tier 5s like Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng and Tie Moshan to despair,

was currently being treated like a tattered sack by a high schooler,

thrashed back and forth.

He didn't even have a chance to fight back.

In the entire Martial Arts Arena,

only this monotonous, rhythmic sound of slamming remained.

Everyone was utterly dumbfounded.

Chu Yao's mouth hung open.

She had completely forgotten to release the residual wind blade in her hand.

The lightning on Ye Xiao's body had long since flickered out.

He stared at the back of the figure swinging the Tier 6 old monster like a hammer throw,

his Adam's apple bobbing for a long while.

"I... I take back what I said earlier."

"That fight after the college entrance exam... let's forget about it."

Shen Qingci gripped her blade tighter.

Aside from shock and worry, there was an unusual gleam on her Face that even she herself hadn't noticed.

This guy is seriously fierce!

In the livestream room, the chubby kid's hands were shaking as if he had Parkinson's,

and the camera shook along with them.

But he gritted his teeth,

keeping the lens aimed squarely at that living hell.

The bullet comments weren't just flooding the screen.

They were frozen.

Only after five seconds did they burst forth like a broken dam.

[Holy shit... what am I seeing?]

[Physical deliverance? Is this what physical deliverance looks like?!]

[So this is how you kill a Tier 6 Source Beast... I've learned something today.]

[The Scorpion King being swung: Do I not get any Face?!]

Of course the Scorpion King wanted Face.

But Su Ming wasn't giving him any.

"Pretty sturdy," Su Ming muttered.

Simply slamming him around

could no longer satisfy the destructive urge within him.

His gaze focused.

His hands, gripping the scorpion tail, suddenly ripped outward!

"Ahhh—!!!"

A shrill, inhuman shriek

suddenly pierced the heavens!

Under the horrified gazes of the tens of thousands in attendance!

"Rip—"

The sound of tearing flesh and bone made everyone's teeth itch.

Su Ming had actually ripped one of the six venomous stingers from the Scorpion King's back,

straight out of its connection to the spine,

tearing it completely off!

Purplish-black blood spurted out,

nearly splashing all over his Face.

His expression remained unchanged

as he weighed the two-meter-long stinger in his hands.

"Can this thing sell for money?"

The entire crowd: "???"

Shen Qingci facepalmed.

Ye Xiao's lips twitched.

"Buzz—"

The natal stinger, shimmering with a faint blue venomous glow,

was directly stored into the System space by Su Ming.

Everyone's jaws dropped to the floor.

The examinees who had previously resented him for dragging them into this

now looked at him with eyes

filled only with the most primal awe and terror.

High up on the dome,

even the Mantis King's massive scythe-like bone blades were trembling slightly.

No wonder even the Council President had been alarmed by this operation!

This was absolutely not just a "Perfect First-Generation Gene."

This was a primordial Vicious Beast clad in human skin!

————

Outside Jiangcheng No. 1 High School.

Outside the dark purple barrier.

Dozens of military aircraft tore through the air and arrived.

Commander Qin Luo stood at the very front,

his black combat uniform rustling loudly in the wind.

Officer Lu Chen and several Tier 4 officers followed behind,

all carrying "Barrier Breaker-Type III" heavy obstacle-penetrating drills.

This device was originally meant to drill through Source Abyss contamination walls.

Now, it was temporarily brought in to break the Formation.

Commander Qin Luo landed, first noticing the barrier.

Second, he saw the battlefield inside the barrier.

Third,

he saw Su Ming holding the Scorpion King's tail,

slamming the Tier 6 old monster onto the ground.

Boom!

Another slam.

The murderous intent on Commander Qin Luo's Face froze.

Officer Lu Chen opened his mouth.

"Commander... is that the Scorpion King?"

Commander Qin Luo fell silent for two seconds.

"Probably."

He wasn't entirely sure either.

The Scorpion King?

That Tier 6 Vicious Beast that had put the entire Jiangcheng on high alert?

Why did he...

look so incredibly weak and easily defeated?

Officer Lu Chen took another look.

"That youth... what is he doing? It looks like he's training a dog."

Commander Qin Luo's lips twitched.

"He's... conducting ground-intimacy training for the Scorpion King."

The officer next to him swallowed hard.

"Do they even need us to save them?"

Commander Qin Luo glared at him.

"Cut the crap! There are still tens of thousands of people inside!"

"Don't let that kid mislead you, the Scorpion King won't die that easily!"

Though he cursed,

a thought popped up in his mind.

Anyone who saw this scene would be completely dazed.

Master Shen,

this kid next to your daughter,

what on earth is his breed?

Commander Qin Luo immediately suppressed his thoughts.

"Set up the Barrier Breakers! Lock onto the Formation eye in the southeast corner!"

"Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng and the others are holding the line inside; we will break the Formation from the outside!"

"Attack from both inside and out! Tear open a gap for me!"

The officers immediately went into action.

The heavy obstacle-penetrating drills were secured to the outer layer of the barrier.

The drill bits were aligned with the dark purple light screen.

A roaring sound arose.

Dense runes surfaced on the barrier's exterior.

The Mantis King instantly sensed the external pressure.

Turning his compound eyes, he shrieked in a sharp voice,

"Qin Luo is here! The outer Formation is under pressure! All Blood Disciples, protect the Formation eye!"

Dozens of Blood Disciples changed direction, lunging toward the testing machine Formation eye.

Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng immediately identified the critical point.

"Don't let them repair the Formation! Tear down the testing machines!"

Lang Qingyun's eyes lit up.

"I'm good at this!"

He rushed toward the nearest [Heavy Hammer-Type 5].

Their Source Energy was suppressed, but his fists still worked.

With one punch, the outer casing dented.

With a second punch, the dark purple light flickered wildly.

With a third punch, the entire machine began to spew black smoke.

The Formation's light screen shuddered once more.

Instructor Ying Wuhen targeted the wiring of the Formation eye specifically.

Chu Yao used her remaining wind blades to sever the power supply tubes.

Principal Ma Aiguo shouted anxiously over the broadcast.

"Don't tear down too many! The school's finance department is going to jump off a building!"

Morale instantly exploded.

The elites of the City Defense Force dispersed, lunging at the Blood Disciples.

The instructors and examinees who had been suppressed and beaten

saw Commander Qin Luo outside the barrier,

and their eyes turned completely red with emotion.

"Reinforcements are here!"

"Kill!"

"Kill these bastards!"

And Su Ming's brutal thrashing of the Scorpion King

was like a barrel of aviation fuel

poured over the hearts of all the defenders.

"Good lad! Beautifully done!"

Tie Moshan sent a beastman flying with a punch,

roaring at the top of his lungs.

"Everyone! Push them back!"

Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng recovered from his shock,

his gaze resolute.

So what if they were suppressed? Even a Tier 6 old monster was being used as a punching bag by a high schooler.

Why should they, Tier 5 soldiers,

be afraid of anything?

Principal Ma Aiguo pushed away the people supporting him,

grabbed the microphone,

and shouted until his voice cracked.

"Combat Department! Hold the defensive line!"

"Medical Department! Drag the wounded to the back!"

He looked at the trembling students,

roaring with bloodshot eyes.

"Who dares to desert, I'll personally tear up your graduation certificate!"

These words were more effective than military orders.

A crowd of students with weak knees

howled and shrieked,

bracing themselves to use their meager Source Energy,

cooperating with the instructors to stabilize the defensive line.

A duel of vastly disparate strength

had miraculously stabilized.

At the center of the ruins.

Su Ming stood at the edge of the collapse,

looking down at the Scorpion King at the bottom of the pit.

The five remaining venomous stingers were still trembling frantically.

But the Scorpion King's gaze had changed.

He was one of the Tongyuan Society's Ten Great Beast Seal Users.

A Peak Tier 6 who had transplanted a Tier 7 Source Beast Bloodline!

Today, by a brat who didn't even have Source Energy,

in front of tens of thousands of people,

he had been beaten into this state.

It was an absolute humiliation.

"You... must... die..."

The Scorpion King squeezed out a few words from his throat.

"Good, good, good..."

He crawled out of the pit, his voice hoarse.

"You forced my hand..."

He raised his hand covered in purplish-black scales,

and ruthlessly crushed the Tongyuan Society badge on his chest.

The badge shattered,

and dark purple energy erupted,

spreading throughout his body along his blood vessels.

At the same time, his other hand reached into his robe,

pulling out a palm-sized jade bottle.

Inside the bottle, a drop of essence blood emitting a faint blue glow

was pulsing frantically.

"That is..." Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng's pupils shrank abruptly.

"A Tier 7 Source Beast's essence blood!"

The Scorpion King laughed wildly toward the sky.

"That's right! The Origin essence blood of the Purple Prison Poison Scorpion!"

"I have waited thirty years for this day!"

He popped the cork,

and poured the drop of essence blood directly into his mouth.

"This is...?"

The Mantis King in the distance seemed to realize something,

letting out an exclamation.

"With my broken body as a sacrifice..."

The Scorpion King's voice suddenly became grand and eerie,

as if another ancient entity was speaking through him.

"With my Soul as fuel..."

The life force within his body was ignited frantically.

"I welcome... the descent of the Ancestor's Shadow!"

Crack!

A shackle somewhere inside his body shattered in response.

That drop of Tier 7 Purple Prison Poison Scorpion blood he had refined

as his source of power

went completely out of control at this moment!

Boom—!!!!

A terrifying aura far exceeding Tier 6

exploded from within the Scorpion King!

Su Ming looked up,

staring at the colossal entity,

feeling the terrifying pressure that could crush mountains.

He narrowed his eyes.

He could feel

that the energy inside the Scorpion King was skyrocketing at a crazy speed.

Late Stage Tier 6...

Peak Tier 6...

Breakthrough...!

Crack.

The Scorpion King's body began to swell.

Bones twisted, muscles tore,

and purplish-black scales grew wildly.

His spine arched backward,

and bone spikes burst through his flesh.

Two meters, five meters, ten meters, twenty meters...

In the blink of an eye,

a giant, terrifying purple scorpion nearly thirty meters long,

its entire body covered in hideous bone spikes and dark purple carapace,

appeared atop the ruins!

It no longer possessed any human characteristics.

Two massive pincers were raised high,

like two city gates swinging wide open overhead.

Their serrated edges interlocked, glinting with a bone-chilling light,

each snap sounding like the chewing of steel.

Eight giant legs stabbed into the alloy floor,

the metal groaning beneath them,

as cracks spread outward like spiderwebs.

The five scorpion tails on its back were as thick as tower cranes,

and the venom pooling at the stingers was as deep as a black hole,

swallowing even light!

The space at the tips of the stingers warped slightly,

emitting a sizzling corrosive sound.

Could that venom actually evaporate air?!

The destructive aura belonging to a Tier 7 Source Beast

swept across the field like a tsunami!

Tier 7.

Enough to easily flatten a B-grade base.

The defensive line that had just stabilized began to collapse!

The morale that had just ignited was also completely extinguished!

Everyone stopped in their tracks,

staring in utter despair at the colossal, terrifying beast towering between heaven and earth.

It was over.

This time, it was truly over!

Sensing the aura coming from the Martial Arts Arena,

Commander Qin Luo's Face turned deathly pale.

"King-class, Tier 7..."

Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng's hand holding his military bayonet was trembling.

Tie Moshan slumped onto the ground.

Lang Qingyun's lips twitched.

"How the hell do we fight this?"

The entire arena was dead silent.

Tier 7 was a Realm that human Martial Artists dreamed of.

The strongest person present, Commander Qin Luo,

was only at the Middle Stage of Tier 6.

Facing a Tier 7,

they didn't even have the right to resist.

The Scorpion King...

No, he should now be called the Tier 7 Purple Prison Poison Scorpion King.

The thirty-meter-tall giant beast lowered its head,

its crimson compound eyes locking onto Su Ming.

"To force me to reveal my true form..."

Its voice sounded like grinding metal, exceptionally grating.

"You all... must die!"

As its words fell, it opened its bloody maw.

A purplish-black toxic mist erupted like a volcanic explosion,

instantly blotting out the sky!

Wherever the toxic mist passed,

the air warped,

and craters were corroded into the alloy floor.

Several Blood Disciples nearby who were capturing examinees didn't have time to flee;

they collapsed screaming, their skin festering.

"Su Ming!!"

Shen Qingci cried out in alarm.

Everyone froze.

Tier 4 against Tier 7!

How could a Mortal body contend with a Dominator of the Source Abyss!

This was simply an unequal battle.

This was a difference of three major Realms—

the most despair-inducing dimensional strike!

...