146: Chapter 146 I'll Beat You Until You Submit

Shi Lei looked at Wang Pingan's eyes, which were so calm they didn't have a single ripple, and felt an inexplicable panic in his heart.

Although he had a fiery temper and an upright personality, he wasn't a fool.

He certainly knew what a terrifying monster this seemingly harmless youth standing before him really was.

The scene at the spaceport where he suppressed Long Aotian with a single finger was still fresh in his memory.

That was an absolute power that completely transcended their level!

"Cap... Captain... W-what are you trying to do?"

Shi Lei's voice was a bit dry.

The soaring heroic spirit he had just felt leaked away unconsciously under the gaze of Wang Pingan's calm eyes.

"Nothing."

A gentle smile appeared on Wang Pingan's face.

"I just want to have an 'in-depth' 'exchange' with you."

"To let you understand what 'tactics' are, and what 'the big picture' means."

As he spoke, he slowly walked towards Shi Lei.

He walked very slowly, very casually.

But with every step he took, it felt as if he were stepping on the hearts of everyone present.

An invisible yet terrifying pressure, heavy as a mountain, began to silently permeate the air.

Shi Lei felt his breathing become somewhat difficult.

He felt that what he was facing was not a youth.

But a terrifying beast about to devour someone!

"I... I..."

Fine, cold sweat seeped out on Shi Lei's forehead.

He wanted to retreat.

But his pride as a genius and his unyielding personality kept him firmly nailed to the spot.

He could not retreat!

If he retreated, he would never be able to hold his head up again in the shadow of the man before him for the rest of his life!

"Fight!"

A silent roar erupted in Shi Lei's heart!

He transformed all the fear and anxiety in his heart into the most primal, most violent fighting spirit!

Boom—!

An incomparably thick, earth-yellow aura of blood and energy filled with the breath of the earth erupted from within his body!

Fourth Grade Late-Stage!

After more than half a month of bitter cultivation and the piling up of massive resources, his cultivation had successfully stepped into this level!

"Earth Guardian!"

Shi Lei slammed his hands onto the ground!

Rumble!

The ground beneath his feet trembled violently!

Countless soil and rocks, as if receiving some invisible guidance, rapidly gathered and compressed around his body!

In just a few seconds.

A massive suit of rock armor, several meters thick and shimmering with an earth-yellow halo, firmly wrapped around his entire body!

That wasn't all!

"Rock Dragon Shield!"

Shi Lei roared again!

The ground in front of him split open with a roar!

Three massive shields, each over ten meters high and made of the hardest obsidian, rose from the ground!

They formed a triangle, firmly guarding him in the very center!

Defense!

Extreme, absolute, flawless defense!

This was what Shi Lei was most proud of, and it was his strongest means, the one he relied on to make a name for himself!

He believed that with this absolute defense, which could be called a 'tortoise shell',

even if he were facing a Fifth Grade Early-Stage powerhouse, he could withstand a few moves!

He didn't believe that Wang Pingan could really break through his defense in one move!

All the team members off the stage widened their eyes when they saw Shi Lei's smooth, textbook-like defensive operation.

"Damn! This guy Shi Lei has gotten stronger again!"

"Yeah! I feel like his 'Triple Rock Dragon Shield' is at least twice as thick as it was during the ranking tournament!"

"This defensive power is incredible! Even if a Fifth Grade powerhouse came, they'd have a headache, right?"

A trace of gravity also flashed in Lei Qian's eyes.

He asked himself, with his own attack power, it would likely take at least a dozen full-strength strikes to break through Shi Lei's defense.

Wang Pingan... could he really do it?

Everyone's gaze turned in unison once again to the youth who was still walking unhurriedly toward that 'rock fortress.'

His face still wore that lazy, as if he hadn't fully woken up, expression.

It was as if that 'tortoise shell,' which would make any opponent feel despair, was just like a paper lantern in his eyes.

"Are you ready?"

Wang Pingan stopped in front of the 'rock fortress.'

His voice remained calm.

"Come on!"

From inside the fortress came Shi Lei's confident, muffled roar!

"I want to see how you can break my defense in one move!"

"Sigh."

Wang Pingan sighed again.

"Why do people always like to force my hand?"

He shook his head and then slowly raised his right hand.

Clenched his fist.

Threw a punch.

There was no earth-shattering momentum.

No dazzling special effects.

It was just a seemingly ordinary, even somewhat soft, slow-moving punch, like an old man doing Tai Chi in the park.

It gently pressed against those three massive, incomparably thick obsidian shields.

In that moment.

The whole world seemed to go quiet.

Time seemed to have been pressed to slow motion at that moment.

In the eyes of everyone, filled with astonishment and confusion.

The moment those three indestructible obsidian shields, capable of withstanding artillery fire, made contact with Wang Pingan's fist.

They didn't make a single sound.

Just like that, silently, without a sound...

They turned into...

The finest, purest...

Powder.

Yes.

Powder.

It was as if they had been directly decomposed and annihilated at the most fundamental material level by some incomprehensible, higher-dimensional power.

A breeze blew by.

Those three once-indestructible giant shields just drifted away with the wind.

As if they had never appeared.

"..."

The whole world was deathly silent.

Everyone's faces were filled with extreme shock and fear that could not be described in words.

Their brains had completely crashed.

This... this damn... what kind of power is this?!

And Shi Lei, hiding inside the rock armor, the moment he saw his proudest 'Triple Rock Dragon Shield' turn to dust so nonchalantly.

His heart, once full of confidence, shattered along with it.

He wanted to run!

But it was too late.

Wang Pingan's seemingly ordinary fist did not lose any power after annihilating the three giant shields.

It continued forward.

It gently pressed onto the layer of rock armor on his body, which was several meters thick and incomparably hard.

Crack.

A crisp sound, like glass shattering, was so piercing in the silent jungle.

The next second.

Under the gaze of countless eyes that had completely petrified.

That indestructible rock armor, which had once made countless opponents feel despair, began to shatter inch by inch from the point of contact with Wang Pingan's fist!

Fine, spiderweb-like cracks spread rapidly and crazily across the entire armor at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Finally.

Boom—!

That massive, imposing rock armor shattered with a roar!

It turned into a sky full of earth-yellow gravel.

Shi Lei's burly body tumbled out from the sky-filling gravel.

He stood there blankly.

His whole body was icy cold.

Cold sweat instantly soaked his clothes.

He looked down at his own body, which was unscathed yet felt as if all its strength had been drained away.

Then he looked up at the youth not far away, who was slowly withdrawing his fist, not even panting.

His mind was a blank slate.

He had lost.

Lost completely.

He lost so thoroughly that he couldn't even summon a single thought of resistance.

"Now."

Wang Pingan's voice rang out leisurely.

"Do you understand what 'tactics' are now?"