44: Chapter 44: Official cheating, the most outrageous.

It was a literal armor break.

The fourth stage of Qi Manipulation already belongs to the intermediate realm, allowing one to condense Spirit Astral to protect the body.

This kind of defensive capability is an almost insurmountable chasm for martial artists at the third stage and below.

That is why Mu Dayong was easily killed, and why he could suppress Lu Xiaohu, even if his attributes weren't much stronger.

However, that was just a moment ago.

At this moment, Lu Xiaohu had not only broken through his Spirit Astral, but also clawed three long wounds into the inside of his right arm, from which blood was flowing continuously along with intense pain.

While he was stunned, Lu Xiaohu had actually unwound several coils of chain from his body, whipped them out, and wrapped them around one of his legs.

Hou Qiang was even more terrified, but he had already been violently yanked over by Lu Xiaohu, and a storm of attacks followed immediately.

The attacks were chaotic and lacked technique, but they were exceptionally powerful and swift.

Hou Qiang barely managed to block a few hits before he began to be beaten unilaterally, and was soon beaten until flesh and blood flew everywhere, leaving him unrecognizable.

Even Lu Pingan was stunned by his brutality at this moment.

He felt that his grandson had completely turned into a half-human, half-beast monster and had completely lost his humanity.

At the very least, slaughter between humans shouldn't be this bloody.

But Tang Long gasped inwardly.

"Slaughter has increased Lu Xiaohu's awakening level! Mission enters the third stage: Current progress 1%!"

"Lu Xiaohu learned the special skill: Ancient Protection LV1! When receiving a fatal attack, immunize against instant death judgment, immediately recover 20% HP, and increase all attributes by 20% as well as 200% HP recovery speed, lasting for 20 minutes. Can prevent death up to three times every 24 hours, and the buff effects can stack."

Regarding this kind of special skill, Tang Long could only sigh in envy.

Official cheats are the most abnormal.

Awakening three super-strong special skills in three stages, adding HP, adding attributes, adding critical hits, and then preventing death three times—it's an almost all-around, no-blind-spot enhancement.

Compared to these special skills, his own Tyrant Body and Aurora Phantom Sound didn't seem as appealing anymore.

Forget it, I won't get angry!

Now, I guess it's my turn to make a move.

But just at this moment, Lu Xiaohu, who had just freed himself from the chains, suddenly clutched his head and roared wildly, appearing extremely painful, and even started rolling on the ground.

Even his face began to twist violently, constantly switching between tiger-form and human-form.

Lu Pingan asked in extreme panic: "Young Brother, what is wrong with him!"

Tang Long was also a bit bewildered, because another message had suddenly appeared before his eyes.

"Special mission triggered: Lu Xiaohu is being gazed upon by some unknown existence, which has caused his soul to fall into pain and confusion. Help Lu Xiaohu dispel that unknown gaze to allow him to achieve perfect awakening and return to his true self."

"Mission reward: ???"

This...!

A special mission with an unknown reward, a gaze from some unknown existence?

Tang Long activated Fire Eye again to scan the surroundings, found no abnormalities, but felt even more shocked in his heart.

Two possibilities!

Either the opponent is too powerful, to the point where his Fire Eye cannot detect them at all.

Or... the opponent is in a distant place beyond his sight, watching this place from afar, and doing something to Lu Xiaohu.

Based on experience, Tang Long was inclined toward the latter.

But regardless of which one it was, it was enough to show that it was a big shot he definitely couldn't afford to provoke.

No wonder Lu Xiaohu's awakening was so swift and bizarre; it seemed the three question marks in his status bar were this unknown existence's gaze.

If he ruined that big shot's affairs, would it bring about a great disaster?

But after only a moment of hesitation, he quickly made a decision.

As the saying goes: Wealth is sought in danger.

He had been busy for so long, and the mission reward was right before his eyes; why wouldn't he take it!

Anyway, he wasn't going to kill Lu Xiaohu.

Thinking of this, he immediately used Aurora Phantom Sound again and shouted at Lu Xiaohu.

"Lu Xiaohu, wake up!"

The Lu Xiaohu opposite him gradually calmed down, but his eyes turned blood-red, and he stared at Tang Long and Lu Pingan as if a wild beast were eyeing its prey.

Tang Long frowned inwardly, because he was certain that the Phantom Sound just now had no effect on Lu Xiaohu, or rather, it had been blocked by that mysterious big shot, and waking him up would likely be very difficult.

"Xiaohu! Wake up~~ I am your grandfather!"

Lu Pingan took a step forward and called out loudly.

Lu Xiaohu's expression was slightly dazed, but it was quickly replaced by a trace of indifference.

He lunged forward violently, his right claws swiping toward Lu Pingan.

Lu Pingan was stunned in place for a moment and actually didn't dodge.

But just as Lu Xiaohu was about to grab him, a great force instantly yanked him backward.

Without a doubt, this was naturally Tang Long making a timely move to save his life.

And he cursed, "Old man, are you f*cking tired of living!"

Lu Pingan fell to the corner of the room, and when he climbed up, his face was covered in old tears, "Why did you save me again? How can I face his parents now that he has become like this? If killing someone is the only way to make him wake up, then he might as well kill me."

"Stop acting like a saint! This matter has nothing to do with you, and besides, you still owe me blood spirit stones. Who am I supposed to collect my debt from if you die..."

Before he could finish, Lu Xiaohu had already locked onto Tang Long and swiped with his claws again.

Tang Long wouldn't be polite to him; anyway, this kid could revive three times, so he would just beat him to death.

Perhaps if he hit him hard enough, he could break the big shot's influence.

So he swept away Lu Xiaohu's claws with a kick, followed by a liver-exploding left hook. As Lu Xiaohu's body bent, he slammed another uppercut into the tiger-face.

This punch was a max-level Heavy Strike; the powerful force sent Lu Xiaohu's body flying, smashing into the roof beam before falling back down.

Two punches, and he had knocked off over two thousand of Lu Xiaohu's HP.

However, this tiger-boy, who was in the Blood Tiger Berserk state, was completely unaffected by the damage, and as he fell, he pounced on Tang Long again.

Heavy Strike entered cooldown. Tang Long's strength and speed were still far superior to Lu Xiaohu's. After a round of grappling, Lu Xiaohu took another brutal beating and was firmly pinned to the ground, unable to get up at all.

Just like how he had beaten Hou Qiang before, Tang Long continued to output a barrage of fast punches, pushing his HP directly to the bottom.

Then he stepped back to rest for a moment, and Lu Pingan hurriedly approached.

"Young Brother..."

"Don't talk nonsense, your grandson is very durable; he won't die for a while!"

"I wanted to remind you that you are bleeding."

Tang Long's left rear rib had indeed been accidentally clawed by Lu Xiaohu, leaving three bloody gouges; although they were only surface wounds, blood was seeping out.

He had HP recovery, so losing this little bit of blood was nothing.

However, he might as well use this reason to make the old man bleed a little more.

However, before he could speak, Lu Xiaohu actually swung the chains toward the two of them.

Tang Long shoved Lu Pingan away and dodged.

After this resurrection, Lu Xiaohu's attributes had increased again, his Agility leaping over 20 points, and the gap in speed with Tang Long was no longer large.

But in terms of Strength, he was still at an absolute disadvantage.

But this guy's special skill was too strong; if he killed him a second time in a short period, Ancient Protection would stack another 20% attribute buff.

By then, his Agility would surpass Tang Long's, and things would become troublesome.