73: Chapter 73 Upgrade on the Spot

[Ding! Customer Iron Pillar Zhao opened a D-rank blind box and obtained an Alloy Combat Blade.]

[Ding! Customer Wang Dalei opened a C-rank blind box and obtained a Burst Fireball. Martial Dao Experience +5000!]

[Ding! Customer Li Si opened...]

The system notification sound in his mind was no longer a crisp "ding," but had merged into a high-pitched screech, like thousands of ducks screaming in his eardrums at once.

The data stream turned into a tangible golden torrent, pouring madly into Lin Fan's crown.

It felt amazing.

Mind-numbingly amazing.

Lin Fan's hands didn't pause for a second; he continued mechanically converting beast corpses into blind boxes, but a massive transformation was taking place inside his body.

Inside his blood vessels, his blood surged like liquid mercury, emitting a rushing, roaring sound.

His bones groaned and restructured, emitting crisp sounds like popping beans. "Crack."

It felt as if an invisible shackle within his body had been violently shattered.

Eight-star peak.

Break!

His aura didn't stall for an instant; it was like sitting on a rocket, skyrocketing all the way.

Nine-star.

Nine-star mid-stage.

Nine-star peak!

In just three minutes.

The causal feedback generated by thousands of soldiers frantically opening blind boxes had forcibly pushed Lin Fan's cultivation to the limit of the Martial Practitioner Realm; he was only one step away from the Martial Master Realm.

The air around him distorted due to the high temperature overflowing from Lin Fan's body.

Zhang Hao, the fatty standing closest to him, was handing a blind box to a wounded soldier when he suddenly felt like a furnace had exploded beside him. He was shoved by the terrifying shockwave, stumbling and nearly falling into a pile of corpses.

"Holy crap? Brother Fan, you..." the fatty turned back in horror.

He saw Lin Fan surrounded by a faint blood aura, golden light flickering in his eyes. That oppressive feeling was actually more terrifying than the elite-grade Ironclad Tyrannosaurus from just a moment ago.

"Don't stop." Lin Fan's voice trembled—a reaction to his strength increasing and his body reinforcing itself. "Keep distributing them."

He could feel that, besides the basic vitality and experience, something even more important was brewing.

[Ding! Detected a large amount of homologous talent fragments.]

[Source: Ironclad Rhinoceros (Defense), Black-Scaled Python (Scaly Armor), Rock Giant (Hardening)...]

[Performing automatic synthesis...]

[Synthesis successful!]

[Congratulations to the host, A-rank Talent [Glazed Golden Body] has advanced to S-Rank Talent Indestructible Golden Body.]

Boom!

A glazed, seven-colored halo instantly flowed across the surface of Lin Fan's skin, then immediately vanished.

It seemed unchanged, but Lin Fan clearly perceived that his muscle density had increased more than tenfold. Now, even if he didn't use any defensive techniques and just stood there letting a sniper rifle shoot him, the bullets would only leave white marks on his skin.

S-Rank physical talent.

Invincible among his peers, and far surpassing the foundation of those known for their thick skin and holy flesh.

"Hoo..." Lin Fan exhaled a breath of stale air. The breath shot against a ruined wall, actually blasting a shallow pit into it.

This was power.

Absolute power.

But this wasn't the end.

The high-intensity assembly line work, combined with thousands of system interactions, had put Lin Fan's mental energy into an extremely mysterious "overload" state.

The world slowed down.

The originally noisy battlefield gradually layered out in Lin Fan's perception.

The roar of artillery faded away.

Replacing it was a more microscopic, clearer stream of information.

He closed his eyes.

Yet he saw more clearly than when they were open.

Within a hundred-meter radius, the trajectory of every bullet, the pouncing action of every beast, and even the floating direction of dust in the air were clearly reflected in his mind.

Panoramic view.

God's eye view.

This is... the embryonic form of Divine Sense?

It is said that only after entering the Grandmaster Realm, when mental energy undergoes a qualitative change, can "Divine Sense" be born. He, however, had actually touched the threshold while still in the Martial Practitioner Realm.

Lin Fan immersed himself in the pleasure of controlling everything.

The speed at which he produced the blind boxes skyrocketed again, even creating afterimages.

[Production efficiency increased by 300%]

Just then.

On the black-and-white panoramic map in his mind, a discordant red dot suddenly appeared.

It wasn't in the front-line combat zone.

It was in the rear.

It was right at the core formation node fifty meters away from him.

That was the energy hub of the Jianghai defense formation. If it were destroyed, the light screen of the entire western defense line would be completely extinguished, and countless beasts would charge straight in.

That red dot was wearing the uniform of the City Defense Force.

But the aura on him wasn't hot-blooded; it was cold and sinister.

It was the smell of a rat in the gutter.

Lin Fan saw it clearly.

The person was using the cover of transporting ammunition to quietly approach the formation base, holding a disc emitting black fluctuations—a High-Explosive Spirit Energy Disruptor.

There was actually a beast infiltrator in the army.

At a time like this, was there actually someone who wanted to drag the whole Jianghai down with them?

Lin Fan didn't open his eyes.

Want to play?

Then I'll play a big game with you.

He casually grabbed a rusty steel ball from the ruins beside him.

This was a "Thank you for your patronage" consolation prize opened from a blind box earlier.

But under the terrifying monstrous strength granted by his S-Rank [Indestructible Golden Body], this scrap metal became the most lethal bullet.

"Fatty." Lin Fan suddenly spoke, his tone as flat as if he were discussing what to eat for dinner. "Move one step to the left."

"Huh?" The fatty subconsciously shifted one step to the left.

At that very instant.

Lin Fan moved.

His arm muscles tightened instantly, and a flash of light streaked by.

He bent his finger and flicked.

"Bang!!"

The air was torn apart.

The rusty steel ball, imbued with terrifying kinetic energy, instantly broke the sound barrier, dragging a visible white wake of air behind it.

Fifty meters away.

The traitor disguised as a logistics soldier was just about to stick the disruptor onto the formation base, a grin of impending success on his face.

The next second.

"Puff!"

A mist of blood exploded on his right shoulder.

His entire right arm, along with the disruptor, was blasted into smithereens.

"Arghhhh!!" The shrill scream instantly drowned out the surrounding gunfire.

The infiltrator clutched his severed arm, rolling on the ground in pain, looking around in terror. "Who?! Who is it?!"

He had clearly done it perfectly.

Everyone around was busy fighting; no one was paying attention here.

How could this be?

"Over there!" The nearby patrol finally reacted, and a dozen guns were instantly pointed at the infiltrator on the ground.

When they saw the black disruptor dropped on the ground, everyone's expression changed.

"It's a formation disruptor! He's a spy!"

"Damn it! Kill him!"

The angry soldiers rushed up, their gun butts raining down like raindrops.

Fifty meters away.

Lin Fan was still sitting on top of the off-road vehicle with his eyes closed, playing with another steel ball in his hand. It was as if that strike just now had been nothing more than casually swatting a fly.

The fatty looked at the half-dead traitor being dragged away in the distance, then looked at Lin Fan's still-smoking fingertip, and swallowed hard. "Brother Fan, did you... did you just do something?"

"No." Lin Fan opened his eyes, the golden light in his pupils slowly receding, returning to that typical shifty smile of a Shrewd Merchant.

He brushed the dust off his hands and pointed to the new batch of blind boxes he had just finished.

"Don't just stand there; the customers are lining up."