Level Up in Martial World

Lu Zhen attacked the barrier again with full force, delivering a powerful right hook punch.

With a "boom" sound, it created ripples, but the barrier still stood tall.

His face contorted into a sneer.

"No matter how strong it is, as long as I keep attacking it, nothing can be infinite," Lu Zhen declared, preparing for another assault.

"Wait, fellow martial artist."

Suddenly, Lu Zhen heard a hoarse voice that seemed to have been silent for ages.

"What is it?" he inquired.

"Could you stop attacking the barrier, and let's sit down and talk?"

Lu Zhen's eyes narrowed when he heard this.

"No," he firmly responded. As he prepared to attack again, the red-haired man was stunned.

"Alright, fellow martial artist, we can talk things out and gain some benefits together. It won't be advantageous if we both fight and someone else reaps the rewards."

Lu Zhen still didn't halt his attack as he gathered his qi in his hands.

Sensing this, the man gritted his teeth.

"What do you want? I'll give it to you. Just stop attacking."

Lu Zhen hesitated for a moment before he reluctantly ceased his attack.

"I can ask for whatever I want, correct?"

"Yes, but don't go too far." Suddenly, Lu Zhen felt an aura pressing down on him, causing him to blank out for a moment.

Secretly, he sneered in his mind, knowing that he could easily counter that aura using his aura control ability. Still, he remained silent while his eyes widened.

The man inside nodded, his once-strong demeanor deflating slightly. "Sure, I won't go too far. I just want your life," Lu Zhen declared as he immediately launched an attack.

He punched with all his wood qi, focusing on his fist.

"Verdant Grove Fist."

His form resembled a sturdy tree as he punched with full power, and the wood qi in his body circulated in the shape of a tree with thousands of small branches branching out of the trunk.

It was like a hammer striking glass.

With a "crack" sound, cracks spread in the dome from the point Lu Zhen punched, extending in all directions like a spiderweb before shattering it entirely within seconds.

Lu Zhen swiftly destroyed the door by punching it again.

He quickly entered the room, greeted by the dimly lit space, with 11 statues and a grand throne at the front. The red-haired man was circling the room, holding a tube filled with red liquid.

"You…" the red-haired man appeared stunned when Lu Zhen barged in without warning.

The man made a hasty attempt to defend himself, but Lu Zhen appeared in front of him within seconds. A left hook punch was coming at him.

"Don't underestimate me, you bastard," Lu Zhen roared in his mind as he calculated numerous ways to escape from Lu Zhen's fist in an instant, quicker than the punch itself.

The man swiftly turned to the side, narrowly avoiding the punch.

Boom!

Lu Zhen's punch generated such air pressure that it grazed the man slightly, and the ground beneath him caved in. Blood gushed from the graze, and he experienced pain that he hadn't felt in centuries.

The pain sharpened his senses, and his sea-like blue eyes began to clear. His pupils turned red, revealing deep anger toward himself.

"You know what, screw it…" he muttered, his eyes reflecting his madness. "Hahaha, if you want to fight so badly, you bastard, then a fight you shall get!"

He took a step back, but before he could regain his footing, Lu Zhen didn't give him a chance. Lu Zhen attacked with full strength, quickly reaching him and delivering a powerful kick with his right leg aimed at the man's knee.

"Light Armour."

Suddenly, the entire room was engulfed in a blinding, bright light. Lu Zhen closed his eyes in response to the intense illumination, and upon making contact with his kick, he felt as if he had struck a solid, metallic object. His leg throbbed with pain.

As he side-stepped in the dazzling light, he heard a swishing sound pass by him.

"Do you think I'm soft meat? I earned the title 'Combat God' for a reason during the mage era," the man's shrill laughter echoed in the room as he grabbed Lu Zhen by the waist.

As the confrontation unfolded, Lu Zhen began to perceive soft whispers in his ears. Strangely, the language of these whispers seemed strangely familiar, as if his mind held a vague understanding of them, but they appeared too intricate and multifaceted for him to truly grasp.

The complexity of these whispers began to baffle him, and he felt as if his own cognitive abilities were inadequate to decode their meaning.

Gradually, these enigmatic utterances began to exert an unusual influence on him. His thought processes started to slow down, almost as if a fog had descended upon his brain, obscuring his mental faculties. His ability to think and react with his usual precision was compromised, making him vulnerable to any assailant.

The red-haired man overseeing this oddity seized the opportunity and wore a triumphant smirk.

"I've got you now, you barbarian bastard," the man jeered with a slight grin. With a swift motion, he leaned forward, using his centre of gravity to lift Lu Zhen from the ground and held him aloft, bending backward with his captive.

The world seemed to move in slow motion as Lu Zhen's face barely contorted into a frown, a futile gesture in the face of his captor's strength. He hung helplessly in the man's grip, like a rag doll, as they descended.

Boom!

Their fall culminated in a thunderous collision with the ground, causing shockwaves to ripple outwards. The impact reverberated through the earth, sending clouds of dust into the air, marking their tumultuous encounter.

The red-haired man released Lu Zhen and rose from the ground, wearing a self-satisfied smirk.

"This should make yo..." he began to say, but suddenly, Lu Zhen vanished from his previous position. A sense of dread gripped the red-haired man, causing his instincts to go haywire.

He lifted his head just in time to see Lu Zhen's fist hurtling towards his face.