Chapter 121: Chapter 97: Chaos Emerges, Capturing Qiu Shan

THUD! THUD!

That evening, Lu Chao walked out of the hall with a steady gait.

He’d made up a quick excuse for the shattered wooden barrel and the mess on the second floor. Luo Qianshan didn’t press the matter; instead, he found a disciple to clean it up for him.

’I didn’t expect to break through today.’

Slightly clenching his fist, Lu Chao headed straight for the platform, a rare sense of satisfaction filling his heart.

At first, he felt it was a bit unexpected, but after some thought, he realized it was a natural progression.

Having trained day and night for a full six months, this Martial Skill was only a step away from mastery. Even if it hadn’t happened today, he would have had another chance in a little while.

A faint smile touched his lips, but he soon felt a slight discomfort and raised an eyebrow.

The reason was simple.

An aching soreness pulsed through his right arm from time to time, accompanied by sharp, stabbing pains.

It was the strain from stacking his power a second time—a load far more brutal than a single application. It felt as if it had torn muscle fibers and ruptured capillaries.

According to his rough estimate, if he used this Martial Skill at full power, he could only do so twice in a short period.

Between his left and right arms, four times at most.

’That’s more than enough.’

His eyes bright, Lu Chao walked onto the platform and waited calmly for the tram to arrive.

Although the strain from stacking his power a second time had increased significantly, the corresponding seventy-percent boost was enough to shake any enemy within the Professional Level.

After all, since breaking through to the veteran Professional Level, his base strength had already exceeded 650 kilograms.

In other words, by using this Martial Skill at full power, his strength had reached the threshold of the Elite Level.

’Unless someone has a similar Martial Skill or a powerful defensive Secret Technique...’ Lu Chao thought of Zhou Lin, the man who had provoked him during their last spar. Now, a single punch would be enough to seriously injure him.

’If I stack [Adrenaline] on top of it, it’ll be even more terrifying. And even...’

’Truly contending with the Elite Level!’

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. Lu Chao felt a surge of confidence well up within him.

It wasn’t blind arrogance, but a confidence born from an objective assessment of his power data.

’I just wonder if other peak Professional Level fighters who’ve mastered Secret Techniques are like this too.’

The thought flashed through his mind, but Lu Chao remained calm.

The tram slowly pulled into view and stopped at the side of the platform.

As the doors slid open, he stepped inside and found a corner to stand in.

Figures of various people subconsciously flashed through his mind, such as Zheng Wu, Captain Yang, and Qin Guangrong from the black market. They had all reached the peak of the Professional Level a long time ago. Their strength was certainly not weak; they had mastered at least one or two Martial Skills.

He even thought of one more name.

’Ruan Hui.’

After making some comparisons, an unreadable look entered Lu Chao’s eyes.

’I wonder if I could win against him now in a life-or-death battle?’

Lost in thought, the tram slowly moved forward, passing by blocks of buildings.

His thoughts drifted, and he casually glanced out the window at the street below.

Potholed concrete roads were the true face of the Iron Ring District. Pedestrians came and went on streets hung with neon signs, and the air was often filled with noise.

In a daze, he saw figures appear, holding banners.

Protesting... Condemning...

Waves of roaring shouts rose from the street corner, mostly from middle-aged men and women in worn-out clothes, their faces haggard and their eyes bloodshot.

As if swept up by some force, they followed numbly. Some even tried to chase after the tram, shouting to vent their frustrations.

The scene quickly receded from view. Lu Chao vaguely glimpsed Patrol Officers from other divisions hurrying over to stop the chaos.

His gaze wavered, and he sighed silently.

The satisfaction of mastering the Martial Skill dissipated again, leaving only calm in its wake.

WHOOSH!!

The tram finally pulled away from the district, its wake kicking up old newspapers from the ground.

The gray clouds in the sky were as heavy as lead, gradually swallowing the last rays of the setting sun.

...

「For the next several days.」

Lu Chao was constantly balancing his time between Jinshi Boxing Hall and the Patrol Department.

Because personnel were being transferred from the inner city circle, the Patrol Department’s workload grew heavier and heavier.

He had temporarily lost any opportunity for compensatory time off and could only hurry to the hall each day after his evening shift ended.

BAM!

Smashing a fist against an iron post, Lu Chao stood in the first-floor area, training by himself.

Once again, after a busy shift, he had rushed over in the evening.

Gritting his teeth against the searing, reverberating pain, he continuously threw punches and palm strikes. He restrained the instinctive flow of his Martial Arts Power, relying purely on his muscles, bones, and flesh to strike the iron post, trying to exhaust his stamina and thus maintain a faster pace of Martial Arts progression.

Every so often, Lu Chao would glance toward the backyard of the training building.

Several figures could be seen walking out from there, most of them injured—some with bruised and swollen faces, others with their heads wrapped in gauze.

"I can’t believe even Senior Brother Sun got hurt."

"Those bastards from Thunder Extreme Martial Arts Hall aren’t even pretending anymore. They’ve teamed up with several other halls to target us."

"I know, right? Even Junior Brother Luo and his group were targeted on their way home. It didn’t matter that they refused to spar; the others just kept provoking them, forcing them to fight."

The surrounding whispers reached his ears. Lu Chao wasn’t surprised, but his heart grew a bit heavier.

It wasn’t just him and Lin Qingxue.

People like Senior Brother Sun and other fighters had also been provoked by other martial arts halls over the past few days, forced to fight, and sustained some injuries.

But their opponents were very restrained, always holding back just enough. It seemed to be more about humiliation.

This left them unable to retaliate. The excuse of "it’s just a friendly spar" and "fists have no eyes" shut down any counter-attack, and they would even be mocked for their lack of skill.

’What exactly is Thunder Extreme Martial Arts Hall trying to do?’

Lu Chao frowned, puzzled.

’Are they trying to force the other disciples of Jinshi Boxing Hall to quit?’

’Or are they trying to force Master Luo to make a move?’