Chapter 128 - Double Quest
In an instant, Meng Chao felt a numb and unbearable feeling fill his limbs.
The spirit energy circulating in his branch meridians surged to his damaged main meridians and infiltrated them.
It was like spring rain had rained down into a stream that was filled with refreshing sweet water and that water had flowed into a dry river.
Just as he expected, main meridians and branch meridians were inseparable and interconnected.
If his branch meridians were filled with spirit energy, he could slowly nourish his main meridians, and it would naturally allow his withered main meridians to see life again.
This was the most effective way to repair main meridians based on the memory fragments from his previous life. It was now verified.
‘Huh? After I awakened to supernatural powers, Kindling leveled up too. Now, it has a remark system.
‘I remember that when this quest was given to me, the reward was eight thousand contribution points and the repair of ten of my main meridians. But now, the reward has increased. Does it mean that I completed the quest beyond what I needed to?
‘Looks like, from now on, not only do I have to complete the quests at high quality, if possible, I have to complete the quests perfectly and get a five star rating!
‘If that’s the case, not only will my 1,024 branch meridians be as strong as dragons, even my 108 main meridians might end up fully awakened, right?’
Meng Chao thought about it, and the strange flame flickered before his eyes to show him new information.
[Fight for the Ultimate Style: Second segment.
[Quest Details: Use the Ultimate Style to win against at least three hundred fighters of various styles, including, but not limited to, Beast Soul Style martial artists, Machine Armor Style martial artists, Gun Fighting Style gunslingers, Overkill Style martial artists, monster controllers, machine masters, and heroic spirit users.
[Quest Description: Figures are not everything. How will you search for the best fighting model that is a match to the figures? How will you spread this brand new martial art to the citizens? This is the key to the Ultimate Style’s rise to prominence. Please use the truth to persuade the citizens and spread this martial art!
[Quest Reward: If you win against three hundred people, you will be considered to have completed the quest. Based on the number of people you win against and your performance, you will get at least 10,000 contribution points and ten of your main meridians will be healed.
[Five-star Achievement Unique Reward: Method to create spirit energy magnetic field—Mind Lightning.
[Mind Lightning: Your spirit energy will pulsate at a certain frequency to impact your brain cells, and you will release brainwaves as powerful as lightning, which will allow you to disturb the minds of intelligent creatures around you. The time necessary that intelligent creatures accumulate power, stiffen up, and cool down will increase by at least 10%, and they will reveal even more openings that are a danger to their lives.]
‘Wow…’
Meng Chao kept staring at the notifications.
He could vaguely remember that Mind Lightning was a very domineering skill, and it was especially suited for the Ultimate Style.
When the lightning created by the brainwaves started crackling, the user could basically kill people with their eyes. No matter who they directed this gaze at, they would die.
Mind Lightning had not been created yet in this era.
Meng Chao could get it ahead of others, but the requirement was a five-star achievement.
Even though he did not have the specific details, the general gist behind it should be that he needed to win against as many people at the same level as him as possible, right? For example, he might need to use the truth to persuade from five hundred to one thousand people that the Ultimate Style was the way to go.
‘Eh, it’s okay. There are around seven hundred new students in Agricultural University’s martial arts course, and there should be even more in the monster controller course. There should be enough if I beat up all the freshmen.
‘Hang on. By “same level”, does it mean that I can only beat up one-star superhumans? If that’s the case, the number isn’t high enough anymore.
‘Ah, it’s fine. The University of Technology, Medical University, and the military school are nearby. Once I beat up everyone in Agricultural University, I can go next door and play with Feixiong. Then, I can also persuade the military school, which should be enough.’
Meng Chao blinked, but the strange flames at the corner of his eyes were still burning.
New information popped up in his sight.
[Fight for the Ultimate Style: Third Segment.
[Hunt at least one thousand normal monsters and one hundred Grade One superbeasts.
[Quest Description: Dance beautifully among the jaws and fangs of monsters!
[Quest Reward: When you kill the minimum number of monsters required, you can declare the completion of the quest. You will be rewarded at least 10,000 contribution points and ten of your main meridians will be healed.
[Five-star Achievement Unique Reward: Method to create spirit energy magnetic field—Monster Blood Combustion.
[Monster Blood Combustion: Stimulate the dormant parts residing in the depths of your genes with spirit energy and release an ancient power. Your maximum output will increase above 10%.]
‘It’s a double quest!’
Meng Chao could not help but whistle in his heart.
Monster Blood Combustion and Mind Lightning were both very practical skills.
If he could create these two spirit energy magnetic fields ahead of their time, not only would he be able to bring out the full power of the Ultimate Style and use it to provide guidance to more citizens, he could also increase Dragon City’s fighting power.
He had to get those two five-star achievements!
“Meng Chao, please stop. You’ve been hugging me for a full three minutes,” Gu Jianbo whispered.
Meng Chao quickly let go.
“Sorry, Big Brother Bo, I was too excited.”
“I get it. I’m very excited too. But you’ve been working for three days and three nights straight. Do you want to go back and rest so that you can recover a little?”
“Don’t need to. I’m filled with energy right now, and I can cultivate for another three days and three nights. I really want to go and look for a few opponents and test the power of the Ultimate Style and figure out how I’m supposed to fight in a real battle!”
“About that…”
Gu Jianbo remembered Meng Chao’s performance at the punching force gauge and the treadmill. It did seem like he was perfectly fine.
He looked at Ma Hong and the other students.
Ma Hong’s eyes lit up. He rubbed his fists and stepped forward.
“Meng Chao, this time, I’m not going to hold back!” The Red Dragon Army scout’s eyes burned intensely.
In the cultivation room, seven built men surrounded Meng Chao.
The other students watched nearby.
“Isn’t that too many people? Among the seven of us, three of us are currently serving in the Red Dragon Army, and the other four have survived through hundreds of battles in the fog. We might be broken-star superhumans, and even if we add up all the main meridians we’ve cleared, it’s only around thirty of them, isn’t this a little too much? Won’t it be bullying you?” Ma Hong frowned.
“It’s fine. Practitioners of the Ultimate Style have shapened senses and few openings. Our endurance in a fight is high, so we’re in our element when fighting against many people.” Meng Chao smiled. “We’re going to be fighting in the fog in the future, and it’ll be normal for us to be surrounded by monsters. Are we supposed to not fight just because there are a lot of monsters?”
“Makes sense. Then, let’s start!”
Ma Hong threw a punch at Meng Chao’s face.
He had also gone through a lot of experimental cultivation, so even if he did not improve as quickly as Meng Chao, he was still a completely different person compared to a month ago.
When Ma Hong pushed his fingers together, his hand was like a drawn saber. It whistled with the wind and attracted Meng Chao’s eyes.
In the past, he would have either moved back or dodged.
Then, it would be very easy for the other six students to surround him.
But now, Meng Chao did not retreat. Instead, he moved forward and used his enhanced sight as well as enhanced senses to instantly determine Ma Hong’s attack trajectory.
He turned his neck to the side by 9.5 degrees, and the price he paid was that Ma Hong’s fingernails cut into his cheek slightly, but he managed to ram his shoulder violently into Ma Hong’s chest.
In an instant, his spirit energy exploded from him. It charged out from every pore like invisible needles.
Ma Hong looked like he had been struck by lightning. His body trembled.
Two of the other students roared and launched a pincer attack.
But Meng Chao acted as if he was weightless. He tapped against the ground and slid behind one student, where he jabbed his armpit. Because of it, the student had to raise his arm in spite of himself, which blocked the other student’s attack.
The other students saw that the situation was bad for them. They put on their stances and created their spirit energy magnetic fields to release their killing moves.
This fit into Meng Chao’s plans. His spirit energy flowed through his branch meridians, and his spirit tattoos shone even more brilliantly. As if he had turned into a Lightning Saber, he attacked them by targeting their openings. He seized the moment they switched from accumulating power to stiffening up to kick them, because that was the moment they were at their weakest.
It was as if there was electricity in his limbs. Every hit he delivered caused great pain, and the students were unable to get up even after a long time had passed.
When Ma Hong registered what had happened, Meng Chao had already drifted to a corner and watched him while completely unharmed.
The other students groaned on the floor. The spirit energy magnetic fields they had created were forcefully destroyed by Meng Chao, and now, they suffered a backlash. The spirit energy charged about their flesh and nerves, causing great pain.
“Again!” Ma Hong swung his fist.
“Is there a need for that?” Meng Chao asked. “If we were in a real fight, I wouldn’t have come empty-handed. I’d have a dagger, and I’d have put a steel plate in my combat boots as well as a sharp knife. Its blade, of course, would be coated in poison. I’d never let my enemies have a chance to get up.”
“Then what about me?” Ma Hong’s fierceness and unrelenting spirit started burning. He glared at Meng Chao and said, “I haven’t lost! Again!”
“But I don’t want to.” Meng Chao crossed his arms and smiled. “Judging by how you want to fight against me no matter what, if you were a monster I ran into in the wild, you’d be the type that’s incredibly fierce and wouldn’t mind dying with me. Why should I fight head-on against that?
“The greatest advantage of the Ultimate Style is an endless supply of spirit energy, which leads to high endurance. And when it comes to fighting spirit, it doesn’t mean simple and crude fighting. It means the ability to leave the battlefield at any time I want. I can make decisions in a flexible manner.
“If I met fierce ‘monsters’ like you, I’d choose to run away, and while I run, I’d look around at the landmarks to toy with you while kite you. Then, I’d go back and report your existence, get hundreds of artillery or hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles, and turn you into mince meat. That’s the way humans should fight.”
Ma Hong fell into deep thought.
He was part of the Red Dragon Army, so he did not mind using a steel army to turn monsters into mince meat.
“Makes sense,” he mumbled. “In the past, regardless of whether it was the Overkill Style or the Beast Soul Style, we’d only pay attention to fighting with our lives on the line and facing death fearlessly. There were many times when even if we ended up killing the monsters, we had to pay a devastating price for it.
“There are only so many people in Dragon City, and we can’t bear the loss of manpower. Even if we sacrifice one human for the lives of ten monsters, we’re still the ones with the losing deal.
“If a fight broke out in the city and we were supposed to fight to protect our homeland, everyone would naturally face death with a smile.
“But as the defense line gets stronger and we gradually gain strategic initiative, more humans will take the initiative to fight, and the flames of war will reach the depths of the fog and the wild.
“We’re going to be in a brand new war, and the dull way of taking a stance and delivering our attacks will no longer be a suitable way to fight. Instead, the Ultimate Style’s flexibility will give us a higher chance of survival. It’s beneficial to obtain the final victory in terms of strategy.”
“That’s right.” Meng Chao looked around and swept his gaze over the students before his eyes landed on Gu Jianbo. “We need to be able to see the advantages and disadvantages to develop a martial art, and we also need to figure out what the future will need. When Dragon City switches from defense to offense, I believe that the Ultimate Style will definitely rise to power!”