Chapter 29: Thunder and Lightning
Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Thunder and Lightning
Fang Chen shouted sternly once again as an extremely intense, fatal sense of crisis suddenly descended!
"Something’s wrong! Fall back!"
However, seeing the escape door so close at hand, the majority of the students, already dizzy with fear and hope, hesitated at Fang Chen’s command. Some even ignored him and continued to rush forward recklessly!
Only a dozen or so students who had absolute trust in Fang Chen, such as Xia Chu, Liu Rui, and Yuan Xiao, stopped dead in their tracks and followed him in a rapid retreat!
Fang Chen abruptly looked up toward the main gate. Sure enough!
The students there had long since scattered. Having lost its primary target, the massive tentacle monster had now locked onto the back door area!
Its enormous body leaped high into the air once again!
BOOM!
The earth shook and the mountains trembled!
The dense crowd at the back door was instantly smashed into minced meat, blood soaking the ground.
Immediately after, dozens of deadly tentacles extended, beginning a frenzied slaughter of all living things nearby!
"Follow me!"
Fang Chen growled at the remaining dozen students beside him. Instead of choosing to return to the main gate, he led them toward a section of the perimeter wall.
The Martial Arts School’s wall was indestructible. It was ten meters high with a smooth surface, making it completely impossible to jump over!
But there was no other way right now. Fang Chen could only try to smash open a gap!
"Rock-Breaking Fist—Ten Rings!"
He roared, channeling all his True Qi and a portion of his Telekinesis into his right fist, and smashed it fiercely against the wall!
BOOM!
Rubble flew in all directions. He had forcibly smashed a crater into the wall, sinking his entire arm up to the elbow into it, yet it surprisingly hadn’t pierced through!
"Damn it! Couldn’t this wall be built a little shoddier?"
Fang Chen cursed inwardly, but he couldn’t stop!
He threw punch after punch, ignoring the torn flesh of his hands, as his True Qi-infused attacks rained down madly on the wall!
At the same time, he fully unleashed his Twelve-Step Leg Springing Technique, his Leg Wind fierce and sharp!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Under his frenzied assault, a half-man-high gap was finally broken open in the wall!
"Go! Hurry!" he roared hoarsely.
However, at the exact moment he smashed open the gap—
A cold murderous intent locked firmly onto him!
This time, it wasn’t locking onto a specific area, but onto him!
"You’ve got to be kidding me... Damn it!"
Fang Chen’s heart sank. He violently pushed Xia Chu, who was next to him, toward the gap. "Go!"
"Chen! What are you doing?!"
Xia Chu looked back in terror.
Fang Chen didn’t respond. He looked at the tentacle monster, a trace of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes!
His Cultivation Technique operated at its absolute limit, the True Qi of the Peak of True Martial Realm surging wildly within his body!
"You’ve really caused enough havoc, you bastard!"
Instead of retreating, he advanced, charging straight at the massive monster. "Even if I can’t kill you, I’ll bite a few chunks of meat off you today!"
He spread out his Perception Power. Driven by the Gale Step Technique, his figure turned into a series of afterimages, narrowly dodging two crashing tentacles!
The Spiritual Power enhanced by his Telekinesis brought his anticipation of danger to its peak, allowing him to finally approach the tentacle monster’s main body!
Waiting for the right moment, Fang Chen leaped high into the air, pouring the True Qi from his body into the longsword in his hand!
The profound essence of the Lingxi Swordsmanship’s Perfection stage flowed through his mind. The blade drew a mournfully beautiful, cold glint as it thrust straight toward the deepest wound on the tentacle monster’s face!
Just as the tip of the sword was about to hit its target—
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
Several thick tentacles lashed out fiercely!
They completely sealed off all his attack routes!
Left with nowhere to dodge in mid-air, Fang Chen could only grit his teeth and change his move. He switched his broken sword from a thrust to a sweep, slashing with all his might at the incoming tentacles!
CLANG!
The ear-piercing sound of clashing metal rang out!
The tentacles were unimaginably tough. The immense force shattered the sword in Fang Chen’s hand!
"Not good!"
Fang Chen reacted extremely fast. His right foot stomped fiercely on a lashing tentacle. The Power of the Twelve-Step Leg Springing Technique erupted, and he used the momentum to retreat backward like a cannonball!
He thought, "I must create some distance! I’m too passive in the air!"
However, the tentacle monster’s attacks were like a violent storm, giving him no chance to catch his breath!
Several other tentacles had already woven a web of death in the air, stabbing down viciously from above and the sides, completely blocking his retreat!
It looked as though he was about to be skewered in mid-air!
"Damn it! You’re not going to give me a chance to land, are you!" he cursed inwardly.
A surge of ruthlessness welled up in his heart.
He thought, "I can only try that!"
His eyes instantly locked onto the massive wound on the tentacle monster’s face. Forcibly clearing his mind of all distractions, he pushed his newly acquired Telekinesis to the absolute limit!
He needed to "imagine" it!
Just like in the Time Stop Domain, where he used pure "imagination" to snap a tree branch!
He focused all his intent like an invisible awl, concentrating fiercely on that wound!
He thought, "Next, the wound here will suddenly burst open and be completely pierced through! Dark red, viscous blood will gush out wildly from it! There will be a ’PFFT’ bursting sound and a ’SIZZLE’ splattering sound!"
...
Fang Chen envisioned the scene and details as vividly and realistically as possible. The more closely it matched what could actually happen next, the higher the chance of success.
His Spiritual Power was depleting rapidly, and a needle-like stabbing pain pulsed from his temples!
RUMBLE!
A blindingly pure white Thunder Light, like divine punishment falling from the highest heavens, tore through the dim sky without any warning and blasted onto the tentacle monster’s colossal body!
CRACKLE!
The terrifying Thunder Power erupted instantly, blinding lightning snakes darting wildly about!
The tentacle monster let out an agonized shriek. Its massive body was entirely swallowed by the Thunder Light, and the foul stench of charred flesh permeated the air!
"???"
Landing steadily on the ground, Fang Chen wore a look of sheer bewilderment. "I didn’t imagine this lightning bolt... Wait, something’s wrong?!"
He whipped his head around, looking in the direction the Thunder Light had come from.
There, standing quietly atop the back door’s perimeter wall, was a slender silhouette who had appeared at some unknown time.
The person was clad in a dark purple Star Patterned Robe, holding a slender Magic Staff inlaid with a deep blue gemstone. The hood drooped slightly, obscuring most of her face.
He thought, "Is this... the rescue?"
He thought, "Are we finally saved?"
...
Even though all the phantom shadows, along with the tentacle monster, had been completely wiped out by that mysterious purple-robed Mage, none of the surviving students dared to set foot on the campus again.
They squatted or sat, huddled together in the open space outside the school gates. Most had hollow eyes, their bodies covered in blood and dirt.
The school administrators and surviving teachers began taking a headcount of the survivors.
Wang Mang brought over a box of boxed meals. Walking over to Fang Chen, he handed him one and took one for himself, though he had absolutely no appetite.
Looking at the now much sparser crowd before him, he said in a low voice, "Out of the entire school... over fifteen hundred students, only a little more than seven hundred survived."
These words plunged anyone who heard them into an even deeper silence.
Just a short while ago, the school was still broadcasting good news, celebrating the birth of eleven Superpower Users.
Who could have imagined that a few hours later, it would turn into such a tragedy.
Fortune and misfortune are two sides of the same coin.
If so many Superpower Users hadn’t awakened this year, perhaps... this series of nightmares wouldn’t have occurred.
Xia Chu held her boxed meal, taking small, tentative bites.
The sky had long since returned to normal. It was exactly noon with the scorching sun hanging high, but the hands holding her lunchbox still couldn’t stop trembling slightly.
"Chen," her voice choked with lingering fear, "tell me... why doesn’t the Superpower Bureau centralize and control these newly awakened Superpower Masters? Just one person losing control almost cost the lives of over a thousand people!"
Fang Chen shook his head. Instead, it was Wang Mang beside him who sighed and explained, "The Martial Arts Academy and the Magic Academy are, in a sense, places for centralized control and instruction. Moreover... sigh, in a fifth-tier small city like ours, it’s considered good if the Jinchuan Three Greats produce one or two Superpower Users in previous years. Sometimes there aren’t even any for a whole year, so major incidents rarely happen."
He paused, his tone carrying helplessness and the cruelty of reality. "In the Martial Arts Schools of those big cities, there are high-level Martial Artists or Mages permanently stationed there. Even if someone’s superpower goes out of control, it can be suppressed and handled in a timely manner. It wouldn’t be like here... where the slow reaction resulted in a tragedy."
"Oh..."
Xia Chu responded softly, her emotions complicated.
Right at that moment, intense clamoring suddenly broke out from the other side!
The crowd, having just survived a life-and-death ordeal, was like a flock of startled birds. They immediately tensed up and gathered around to see what was happening.
Surrounded in the center was none other than Zhu Hao, bound by thick iron chains and kneeling on the ground.
Even though he was restrained, he was still struggling to defend himself. "I... I didn’t do any of this! I was just playing around! I just wanted to take a look, it had no real impact on you guys! Besides, the perspective from those flying bugs didn’t even look that aesthetic! Hurry up and untie me!"
However, at that exact moment, Fang Chen sensed an extremely intense, pure, and icy emotional fluctuation coming from behind him.
It was murderous intent!
"Xia Chu, come over here. I need to tell you something."
Fang Chen immediately grabbed Xia Chu’s wrist.
"Huh? Oh, okay."
Although puzzled, Xia Chu followed him to a spot slightly farther away from the outer edge of the crowd.
"What is it, Chen?"
Just as the words left her mouth—
SLASH!
Immediately following was a sudden outburst of gasps and screams from the crowd!
Zhu Hao, who had been shouting loudly just a second ago, abruptly went dead silent.
Xia Chu whipped her head around. Through the gap in the crowd that had opened up when Fang Chen pulled her away, she witnessed the scene.
A young woman—Tian Menglian’s sister—was gripping a large, still-dripping machete in her hand.
And rolling at her feet was none other than Zhu Hao’s head, still wearing an expression of utter astonishment!
She had taken advantage of the gap left by the two of them leaving to squeeze into the crowd and make her move!
"Ah?!"
Xia Chu covered her mouth in shock and looked at Fang Chen. "Chen, you... you saw that coming?"
Fang Chen didn’t shy away from the question. He nodded calmly. "Does a person like him not deserve to die?"
"He does!" Xia Chu replied without hesitation, her tone filled with resentment.
"Right," Fang Chen added, pointing out the crux of the matter. "He’s a Superpower User. Didn’t you hear the people from the Martial Arts Association earlier? As long as he doesn’t die, the Superpower Bureau will find some other excuse to protect him. His life was basically guaranteed."
It dawned on Xia Chu, but she quickly asked in concern, "Then... will Tian be in trouble?"
"No," Fang Chen said with certainty. "She is a family member of a direct victim of this incident, and the victim herself was also a Superpower User. A life for a life is perfectly justified. It couldn’t be more appropriate for her to be the one to do it. Legally and morally, neither the Superpower Bureau nor the authorities will pursue the matter too harshly."
"Oh."
Xia Chu didn’t say anything more after hearing this, lost in her own thoughts.
Meanwhile, Fang Chen’s gaze shifted toward the spot where the tentacle monster had previously dissipated.
He thought, "Sure enough, in the real world, after these dream monsters are destroyed, they don’t dissipate into those black particles that can be absorbed and refined."
In other words...
He thought, "This Telekinesis I’ve obtained... means I’m highly likely its only possessor in the world today."