183: Chapter 183: Let's hear about the 1,700-ton iron fist!

The moment the [Sky-Breaking Thunder Pillar] descended, the air in the entire basin was sucked dry.

The terrifying ionization effect tore all oxygen molecules to shreds, forming a momentary vacuum zone within a hundred-meter radius.

Night Crow's pupils reflected only that pillar of light reaching toward the heavens.

His mind went blank.

"Force through the formation!" Instructor Lin Yan shouted sharply.

Twelve identical figures leapt out simultaneously, each holding a short dagger imbued with Shadow Origin.

Twelve strikes of Early Stage Tier 6 assassination power converged at a single point, stabbing together toward the weak energy point on the west side of the lightning net.

The lightning net erupted with a violent counterattack, and scorching white electric arcs surged back up the daggers, reducing the Shadow Clones to ash one after another.

Twelve, eight, four... In less than a second, eleven Clones were completely annihilated.

Only the last Clone remained, carrying Instructor Lin Yan's full-strength strike, slamming viciously into the lightning net's node.

"Riiip...!"

Accompanied by a harsh tearing sound, a half-meter-wide temporary crack was finally ripped into the lightning net.

However, the lightning threads at the edge of the crack writhed madly, healing at a speed visible to the naked eye; it wouldn't last more than half a breath.

"Don't resist!"

Instructor Shen Yuee didn't hesitate for a second. She retracted all her remaining Domain power, condensing it into a dense shadow cocoon three meters square... This was her trump card for survival... [Shadow Funeral]!

She shoved Night Crow and Instructor Lin Yan's true bodies into the cocoon, while she herself clung to the outside wall, using her Physical Body and remaining shadow power as an outer buffer.

The shadow cocoon shot toward the crack like an arrow released from a bow, brushing past the closing lightning threads as it burst through.

The moment the lightning net on both sides closed, an arm-thick electric arc lashed fiercely against Instructor Shen Yuee's back.

Her left arm was instantly shredded, bones and tendons shattered by the lightning energy.

The entire person, along with the shadow cocoon, was sent flying seven or eight meters, spraying a mouthful of blood mist in mid-air before crashing heavily into a pile of rubble.

The dark purple shadow cocoon shattered. Night Crow and Instructor Lin Yan stumbled as they landed, without even a single lightning mark on them.

But Instructor Shen Yuee, outside the cocoon, had her left arm bent at an eerie angle. Her face was as pale as paper, and she had lost most of her strength to even remain standing.

"Teacher!" Night Crow's pupils shrank, and he rushed over to support her.

Instructor Lin Yan gripped his short blade tightly and looked back at the lightning net, which was still slowly contracting, his back already soaked in cold sweat.

Twelve Clones annihilated, Teacher Shen with a broken arm and severe injuries, and they had only barely managed to tear a gap to escape...

This life-bound killing move of the Peak Tier 6 Source Beast was several times more terrifying than estimated.

On the other side, Young Master Gu Lingfeng's situation was equally precarious.

The sand-dust barrier above was the first to take the hit. The top layer of Profound Gold sand particles melted into bright golden liquid metal in the blink of an eye, dripping down the wall and causing it to collapse layer by layer.

What was even more fatal was that the lightning net was closing in from all directions. The electric arcs on the left and right were also constantly scouring the wall.

The sand wall was being attacked from both sides, and it was disintegrating at an extremely fast speed.

"Zhao Lei, Zhao Yue, hold the sides!" Young Master Gu Lingfeng roared.

The two Tier 5 guards immediately stepped forward, slamming their person-high Profound Iron heavy shields into the black stone ground.

Both of them bit their tongues at the same time!

[Profound Iron Shield Sealing Technique]!

[Earth Vein Force-Discharging Art]!

Their life-bound Source Energy poured madly into the shield's inscription patterns, and the earthy-yellow halo surged to its limit...

This was the Gu Family death squad's life-burning shield technique, which sacrificed their Origin to temporarily raise the shield's defense by a major tier.

"Bang!"

The electric arcs slammed into the shields one after another. Although the Earth Vein discharged a third of the force, two cracks still spread rapidly from the center of the shields, covering the entire Profound Iron shield in the blink of an eye.

Accompanied by two muffled groans of pain, Zhao Lei and Zhao Yue were sent flying backward simultaneously, their heavy shields shattering into countless iron shards with a boom.

Their chests were heavily caved in, and as they landed, they vomited blood mixed with visceral fragments. Their Qi Seas were damaged on the spot, and they completely lost their combat power.

It was this one second of buffering that bought Young Master Gu Lingfeng the time to activate his ultimate defense.

"Profound Gold · Origin Return Armor!"

He slammed his hands together, and all the Profound Gold iron sand scattered around him instantly swirled back, forcing out the sand-core Origin within his bones and blood along with it, compressing it to the extreme into a layer of dark golden armor clinging to his skin.

The sand power converged and returned to its Origin, its density increasing tenfold. This was the strongest defense he could muster!

The moment the armor formed, Young Master Gu Lingfeng didn't hesitate for a second. His left hand whipped out two threads of sand, tightly binding the waists of the other two guards, and with a stomp of his foot, he rushed toward the edge of the lightning net...

He knew very well that taking the central lightning energy head-on, even using his life-bound Imperial Sand, would mean death!

Only by breaking through to the edge was there a glimmer of hope.

One guard, already injured, was swept by the aftermath of the lightning net and went stiff, fainting on the spot; the other's mental barrier shattered instantly, blood spilling from his mouth, and he only managed to keep up because he was being dragged by the sand threads.

The moment he rushed past the boundary of the lightning net, the left arm of his Origin Return Armor was clipped by the aftermath of the [Sky-Breaking Thunder Pillar]. Fine cracks appeared on the armor's surface, and a burning pain shot from his arm throughout his entire body.

Young Master Gu Lingfeng let out a muffled groan, blood instantly spilling from the corner of his mouth.

He dragged the two people as they stumbled out of the lightning net's range, crashing heavily onto the scorching rubble.

The aftermath of a Peak Tier 6 life-bound killing move had this much power?

If it were a direct hit...?

He didn't dare to think about it.

And the main body of the thunder pillar, the position that was hit head-on... was where Su Ming was standing.

Everyone saw it.

That pillar of thunder, over ten meters in diameter, accurately enveloped the entire body of the young man in black.

The blinding lightning turned the entire basin as bright as day, and the terrifying high temperature caused the ground to caramelize!

"He's dead!" This was the first thought that popped into Night Crow's mind.

"Serves him right!" This was the first thought that popped into Young Master Gu Lingfeng's mind.

Both sides exchanged a glance, seeing lingering fear in each other's eyes.

How had they dared to challenge this Source Beast alone before?

They had truly been courting death!

The thunder pillar continued its bombardment!

Three seconds, five seconds, seven seconds...

Both parties were already thinking of retreating.

This Source Beast was too outrageous!

But just as they were preparing to run, from the center of that blinding lightning, a highly discordant, comfortable sigh could be faintly heard.

The dark golden Star Core membrane on Su Ming's body flashed slightly, and the System interface scrolled frantically:

[Detected ultra-high intensity lightning energy impact!]

[mass points + 10000]!

[mass points + 10000]!

...

Su Ming twisted his neck, feeling warm all over, as if soaking in a hot spring.

He even had the leisure to shout toward the center of the thunder pillar:

"Teacher, the water temperature is a bit cool, add some more fire!"

...

The thunder pillar lasted for a full ten seconds before slowly dissipating.

Dust and smoke billowed.

The ground had been blasted into a charred crater nearly twenty meters in diameter and five meters deep.

The rock at the bottom of the pit had been burned into a glass-like state by the high temperature, glowing with an eerie dark red luster.

In the very center of the pit.

Su Ming stood there.

His black combat suit had been evaporated clean once again, leaving only a pair of pants that had barely survived due to their special material and the dual protection of the gravitational field and Kinetic Siphon.

But the person... was unharmed.

Not even a single hair had been singed.

"Tsk, clothes have become consumables again." Su Ming complained internally, "I must get a combat suit made of Tier 9 Materials from Teacher Lin Qinyin when I get back, otherwise I'll have to carry a box of underwear every time I go out."

Ten seconds.

Total income of mass points + 1000!

Su Ming slowly opened his eyes, an indescribable sense of satisfaction on his face.

It really was like taking a high-level energy bath.

This thing was much more potent than 500,000 volts of extra-high voltage!

The voltage from the power bureau was just foot-washing water compared to this!

He looked inside his chest. The Star Core Embryo was operating stably. After absorbing a massive amount of lightning energy, the silver-blue halo on its surface seemed to be a bit brighter.

Awesome.

So, so awesome.

Su Ming took a spare set of clothes from the System Space and put them on. With a light leap, he jumped out of the deep pit, raised his head, and locked his gaze once again on the Thunder Horn Rhino in the distance, which was completely dumbfounded.

He revealed a sincere smile.

"Is there any more? Add more time!"

The entire scene was deathly silent.

The watching hunter guards and the people from the Shadow Academy in the distance all gasped, their eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

Night Crow had just helped Instructor Shen Yuee up, and the moment he saw Su Ming's condition, his brain crashed on the spot.

He was ranked sixth on the heavenly pride ranking. Peak Tier 4.

If that strike just now had hit him head-on, even with two Tier 6 teachers desperately protecting him, he would have been evaporated in a single breath.

And this young man, who looked about the same age... was unharmed?

Night Crow suddenly felt that his sixth-place ranking on the heavenly pride ranking was like a joke.

Young Master Gu Lingfeng was even more shocked than Night Crow.

He had seen powerhouses. His father was Tier 8.

But if his father had to take this strike head-on, he would also have to use full-power defense; it was absolutely impossible to be this nonchalant, and still demand more time!

"Impossible..." Young Master Gu Lingfeng muttered, "He cannot be harder than me..."

If it were a Tier 7 Source Beast, it would be terrified right now.

But the not-so-smart Tier 6 Thunder Horn Rhino only felt anger!

It had unleashed its life-bound killing move.

[Sky-Breaking Thunder Pillar]!

The ultimate trump card it had condensed after eating three Tier 5 Source Beasts and Cultivating for sixty years!

As a result, that short human without any Source Energy fluctuations had stood in the very center of the thunder pillar, and all the lightning energy it released had disappeared.

It wasn't deflected, it wasn't neutralized.

It had been swallowed clean by that body.

This human... was he here specifically to suck its Origin essence?!

Anger overwhelmed reason. The Thunder Horn Rhino's eyes turned blood-red, and it fell into a complete frenzy.

It abandoned its ineffective Source Energy attacks, pawed the ground with its four hooves, and carrying its massive body weighing over a hundred tons and its indestructible thunder horn, it launched the most primitive meat-missile charge toward Su Ming, determined to smash this weird creature into meat paste!

"Watch out!" Night Crow shouted instinctively.

But Su Ming, facing this earth-shattering death charge, only slowly raised one hand.

The next second, a muffled, thunderous sound made everyone's eardrums ache.

The air visibly twisted and collapsed.

Su Ming grabbed that two-meter-long thunder horn with one hand!

The ground under his feet instantly cracked and sank, forming a shallow pit with a radius of three meters, but his body remained as immovable as a needle pinning the sea, nailed firmly to the earth!

The terrifying kinetic energy of the Thunder Horn Rhino, enough to smash through a mountain, crashed into him and was actually brought to a hard stop!

Its massive body hung eerily in mid-air for an instant due to the huge inertia!

A powerful shockwave of air rippled outward in a ring, blowing the distant Young Master Gu Lingfeng and the others until they couldn't stand steady.

And Su Ming hadn't retreated an inch!

Young Master Gu Lingfeng, Instructor Lin Yan, and the others felt their scalps tingle.

"Stopping a Tier 6 Beast King's charge with bare hands?! How the hell is this possible!"

"Is that all the strength you've got?" Su Ming grinned, revealing a bandit-like smile.

"You dare to commit crimes without even a bit of brute force!"

He grabbed it with his other hand as well, the muscles in his arms bulging slightly, and his waist exerted force suddenly!

With 1,100 tons of True Mass as his chassis, combined with pure, extreme physical strength, he actually swung the hundred-ton Tier 6 Thunder Horn Rhino up from the ground!

"Moo...!"

Amidst the Thunder Horn Rhino's desperate wails, Su Ming swung it around in the air like a hammer throw, then slammed it down viciously with both hands.

Boom!

The entire giant beast was smashed heavily in front of Su Ming.

The five-meter deep pit that had just been blasted out by the thunder pillar instantly expanded and deepened to dozens of meters.

Half of the Thunder Horn Rhino's bones were shattered, and its shrill wails resounded through the sky!

Giving it no chance to breathe, Su Ming pressed forward, a sonic boom exploding behind him.

He didn't use any fancy skills.

[Mass Mastery] activated!

1,100 tons of True Mass, amplified by 1.5 times the kinetic energy, equated to a terrifying impact force of 1,700 tons, all concentrated into a single punch!

This punch slammed heavily onto the Thunder Horn Rhino's pride-and-joy armored skull.

Accompanied by a teeth-gritting sound of bone cracking, the mountain-like Thunder Horn Rhino's body sank another meter deeper!

The ground kicked up a tsunami-like wave of soil.

The Tier 6 Source Beast died on the spot.

Brain matter mixed with electric arcs flowed all over the ground.

The battle ended.

Su Ming stepped on the Thunder Horn Rhino's massive head with one foot, grabbed the thunder horn that could be used to siege a city with both hands, and exerted sudden force!

With a "squelch," he actually pulled it out by the root!

The entire basin fell into a deathly silence.

Whether it was the arrogant hunters or the hidden assassins, they stood frozen in place, cold sweat soaking their backs.

Everyone present had their worldview completely shattered by this primitive violence.

Su Ming didn't feel much about this; he only knew...

this trip was another huge profit!

He patted the dust off his hands, faced the two groups of people in the distance, and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Alright, the case is closed!"

"The electricity thief has been brought to justice! This Captain is leaving first!"

"You guys wait for the next one to respawn...!"

...