Chapter 108

"Here goes nothing!"

The very next second, Alex launched himself upward with so much explosive force that the street behind him cratered instantly.

In less than a second, he appeared right above the airborne Chinese man. And before the man could even react, Alex raised both of his hands together, then he brought them down with all the strength he could muster in that brief time span, smashing the Chinese man back toward the earth like a falling star.

The moment he hit the ground, the entire street trembled violently. A massive crater exploded outward instantly, causing concrete to shatter, rainwater to be blasted away from the impact zone in a gigantic circular wave, and finally, dust and chunks of earth to be erupted into the air.

Then Alex landed calmly near the crater. Looking inside, he saw the Chinese man struggling to push himself up while violently coughing thick blood mixed with tiny chunks of internal organs.

His glowing blue arms flickered weakly and his entire body kind of looked battered and utterly broken.

"This... this can’t be happening!" He growled angrily while struggling to stand. "I’m enhanced! My physical strength is the highest at the same rank! How can I lose to a brat who just entered the Vanguard Realm not too long ago!"

Alex clutched his cracked ribs slightly before sighing.

"Honestly? You’re really stronger than I expected."

The Chinese man’s eyes flickered with hope briefly. But then Alex pointed two fingers toward him like a gun and continued.

"But unfortunately for you, I’m stronger."

Black icy energy instantly began gathering around Alex’s fingertips, causing the surrounding temperature to drop down.

The Chinese man’s expression changed drastically the moment he saw the dark icy energy on the tips of Alex’s finger. But then he bit his lips fiercely, drawing blood. He would not die like a damn dog to some newly Awakened Vanguard Realm piece of shit!!!

Just as he was about to burn every single drop of his primordial essence to activate the forbidden skill that could temporarily push an Awakened into the next Realm, he suddenly had an epiphany.

"Normally, I don’t want to kill you because if I do, the feud between me and the Kades will become completely irreconcilable."

Dark frost slowly spiraled around his fingers.

"But even if I spare you... they’ll still try to kill me eventually."

Just as he was about to shoot the Deathfrost Bloom, the Chinese man’s pupils suddenly turned bright blue, and a thick gust of wind immediately pushed Alex some step back.

[Oh No!!!]

[He is breaking through to Ascendant Realm!! Alex kill him now!!]

Alex’s face turned pale. He immediately fired a barrage of Deathfrost Blooms toward the figure of the Chinese man... but a green forcefield with three layers suddenly appeared blocking him.

The shards easily broke the three layers like butter, but their speed had decreased a bit, still it was enough for the job. Suddenly another six layers of green forcefield appeared.

The sturdy man was burning his entire essence like crazy, and had even learnt the same forbidden skill that could push him temporarily to Vanguard Realm, but just as the effects were good, the side effects were equally bad.

The shards continued breaking the forcefield, but they stopped at the sixth layer. Alex cursed heavily, but he couldn’t attack the sturdy man, he had to make sure that the Chinese man dies before he completes his breakthrough.

So, just as Alex was about to fire the rest of his Deathfrost Blooms and launch forward with a punch, a booming sound like the clap of thunder instantly reverberated across the street.

From the thick dust, the Chinese man walked out slowly with his blue eyes turning back to their original color. He looked at his palms with disbelief, before clenching them tightly, and bursting into a loud maniacal laughter.

"Good! Good! After twelve long years of being stuck as a vanguard Realm Awakened, I have finally entered the Ascendant Realm!" He then calmed down, and looked at Alex with a cold smile. "And I suppose it’s all thanks to you, for pushing me to the absolute brink...."

As the man was absorbed in his newfound strength, and was still chatting casually, Alex took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Now that the idiot was a bit distracted, then it was the perfect opportunity to end things quickly.

Forcing all the muscles in his legs, he dashed forward with everything he had, and punched the Chinese man in the chest. The moment his fist made contact with the man’s chest, he felt his fist cracking with a sickening crunch, and jumped back immediately with a horrified face.

’Dammit! Just how insanely durable is this bastard!’

The Chinese man stared at Alex’s horrified face for a moment before slowly letting out a mocking smile.

"I guess now you’ve finally seen it." He said calmly, with his voice carrying a newfound arrogance. "The overwhelming gap between Ascendant Realm and Vanguard Realm."

Rain poured heavily around them while a light blue essence flickered faintly around his body like flowing currents of light, before it disappeared.

"Now for hitting me earlier..." His smile widened coldly. "Let’s see whether you can withstand even a quarter of my strength without me even activating my ability."

Alex’s pupils contracted violently. A quarter?! Even without using that damn enhancement ability?!

The moment those thoughts crossed his mind, Alex immediately crossed both arms in front of his chest while every cell in his body screamed danger.

The next second...

BOOOOOM!!!

A terrifying sonic boom exploded across the street as the Chinese man’s figure vanished instantly. Alex’s eyes widened. It was too fast! Before his brain could even fully process what happened, the Chinese man had already appeared directly in front of him.

Then he punched forward. The movement looked casual, maybe even almost lazy. But the moment the fist touched Alex’s crossed arms.

KRAAAAAAASH!!!

Alex felt an unimaginable force erupt through his entire body. Both of his arms shattered almost immediately, followed by the cracking sounds of his ribs snapping, his spine cracking, and his muscles rupturing across his body.

Thick spurt of blood sprayed out of his mouth before his body shot upward like a canonball, tearing through the rainstorm and flying nearly one hundred meters into the air.

As for the damage below... Well, let’s just say It was nothing short of horrifying.

The shockwave from that single casual punch overturned several parked cars, destroyed the walls of nearby buildings, and sent all the people nearby screaming in terror and frantically running for their precious lives.

Even dozens of meters away, Jade and the thin man she was fighting were both violently knocked back by the residual force.

Jade’s expression turned serious for the first time, after stabilizing herself. Meanwhile the thin man looked utterly horrified.

"What kind of monster...?!"

High above the ground, Alex’s body continued flying uncontrollably through the rain. Pain! Every part of him hurt like hell! It felt like his entire body had just been fed into an industrial crusher, and spat out after an hour inside the contraption. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Right now his appearance looked nothing short of terrible. His arms hung unnaturally. Several of his bones had pierced through his flesh, and blood continued to spill out of his mouth.

The Chinese man down, casually cracked his neck, then bent his knees slightly before launching up with a terrifying speed. In less than a second, he appeared directly above Alex.

"Whatever goes up," he said while calmly twisting his waist. "Must come down."

The exact moment he said that, he delivered a casual kick toward Alex’s abdomen. At that moment Alex felt something cave inward inside his body. Then his entire body smashed straight toward the earth below.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A gigantic crater nearly fifteen meters wide instantly formed upon impact, causing rainwater to erupt upward like a tidal wave and several cars nearby were blown away from the impact zone.

The earth itself trembled violently. And for several seconds, only dust, rain, and smoke filled the destroyed street.

Slowly, inside the massive crater, Alex groaned painfully while coughing out a mouthful of blood filled with tiny pieces of his internal organs. His once exceptional vision was beginning to blur and every breath felt like knives were stabbing into his lungs.

He could barely even feel his body anymore. But still... His fingers twitched, then slowly but painfully, Alex began forcing himself up. If anything inside the system’s brutal training realm had taught him something... it was that a man couldn’t just lie there and wait for death like a weakling. Even if the odds were stacked against him!

The chibi system who had at some point appeared beside him, had already begun crying profusely, with snot dripping out of her nose.

[Alex!! Please stop fighting him!!]

[Your entire bone structure is almost destroyed. At this rate you’ll die!!]

Tears streamed down the chibi’s face as she panicked desperately.

[Quick, find Jade!]

[Then have her teleport you guys away using her ability!]

[That is y-your mission!! And if you don’t do it... I’ll double kill you!! Please!!]

Alex breathed heavily while forcing himself to remain conscious, and even though his entire body hurt with each little movement, he forced his head to turn toward Jade’s side of the battlefield.

There, blue lightning flashes repeatedly through the storm. Jade was currently fighting both Early Realm Awakened alone. The thin man looked heavily injured already, with burn marks covering most parts of his body.

Meanwhile the sturdy man was even worse. Blood covered his face, while his forcefields would occasionally fluctuate chaotically from overusing his forbidden skill, causing more and more blood to spill out of his mouth and nose.

But despite that, the two of them were still barely managing to pressure Jade together, thanks to her teleportation. As for Jade herself... Let’s just say it was clear as day that she was close to draining her primordial essence, due to the way the lightning she had been shooting out was beginning to get weaker than the last.

’...I can’t.’

The chibi froze. Alex wiped blood from his mouth weakly while continuing to stare at Jade’s side.

’I noticed earlier... Her teleportation only works within tens of meters, which is not enough to escape a monster who can cover such distance in a second.’

He coughed painfully again.

’Besides, facing two opponents has already drained most of her energy... same as theirs.’

His fist clenched weakly.

’So even if I were to go there now... he’ll catch us before we escape.’

The chibi bit her lips while trembling helplessly. Because deep down... She knew Alex was right.

Several meters away, the Chinese man stared at the bloodied Alex with surprise written all over his face. Then slowly, a trace of admiration appeared in his eyes.

"You know..." He sighed softly while walking forward through the rain. "You’re honestly incredible. Most Vanguard Realm Awakened would have died instantly from that first punch."

He looked directly into Alex’s eyes.

"But you still stood back up using nothing but pure willpower alone."

The Chinese man shook his head slightly.

"Just what kind of monster are you, kid?"

Alex remained silent while struggling to stay conscious. It wasn’t easy in the slightest bit, but still he persisted.

The man sighed again with regret.

"Ah... It’s too bad you offended the Kade family, otherwise... I would have genuinely loved to have someone like you as a friend."

Then his expression gradually turned cold.

"But unfortunately, you’re destined to die today."

After saying that the Chinese man’s figure vanished instantly with the familiar sound of a loud sonic boom, caused from breaking the sound barrier.

Alex’s eyes widened. It was too fast!

Even injured, he still reacted instinctively and attempted moving backward. But a horrifying pain suddenly erupted inside his chest.

"GUHKK---!!!"

Alex violently spat out a mouthful of blood. His body froze completely, and he felt something warm wrapped around his heart.

Then slowly, with trembling eyes, he looked down.

A hand was inside his.... chest. The Chinese man stood directly before him, with his hand inside Alex’s chest.