Top-Tier Perception Starts From Basic Fist Techniques

Crack!

Suddenly, the charcoal figure moved. Cracks spread rapidly across its surface, and pieces of the blackened outer layer began breaking away, revealing pale, uninjured skin underneath.

Senior Sister Xiang jerked her head up as the charred shell covering the figure's face cracked apart, revealing a face she knew all too well.

"Master!" Relief and disbelief surged across her face. "It really is you! You're alive?"

Lu Changsheng looked down at her, then he quickly compressed his enormous body until he returned to a normal human size. He gave himself a slight shake, and the remaining pieces of charred layers broke loose and scattered across the ground.

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"That was close," muttered Lu Changsheng with a faint smile. "A nuclear bomb really can't be underestimated. If I hadn't reached Fourth Growth and gained its tremendous defense and regenerative ability, I probably wouldn't have survived."

When he took the nuclear explosion directly, the tremendous heat of the blast had nearly burned him to ashes, while the shockwave had struck him with equally terrifying force. Thankfully, his Fourth Growth physique had kept him alive through the initial blast, and his extraordinary regenerative ability had immediately begun repairing the damage afterward.

Senior Sister Xiang's voice caught in her throat. "Master, I thought you were..."

"There is nothing in this world that can kill me," Lu Changsheng said, shaking his head. "Let's go. We should leave this place first."

He led Senior Sister Xiang back toward the Extreme Martial Dao Center.

The others were still searching through the ruins for survivors, but there was little hope of finding anyone. The Extreme Martial Dao Center had been extremely close to the epicenter, and only those who had reached the air-raid shelters before the explosion had survived.

Just as everyone was discussing whether they ought to evacuate farther from the ruined capital, the Jade Dragon Kingdom's military arrived.

Several high-ranking officials came with them, along with a group of news reporters. None of them understood the danger posed by radiation yet. They had survived the explosion by sheltering underground, and once the blast passed, they headed straight for the Extreme Martial Dao Center.

"Where is Mr. Lu?"

"Is Mr. Lu all right?"

The officials were clearly anxious. Lu Yuan had become far more than just a powerful evolver. With the Flame Dragon Federation now in possession of an apocalyptic weapon, he had become one of the Jade Dragon Kingdom's few remaining hopes of resisting them. If something had happened to him, they would not have anything left to stand against them.

At their questions, the disciples of the Extreme Martial Dao Center fell silent. Several lowered their heads, their expressions grim.

"Master went out to investigate the strike," one of them finally explained. "He never entered the air-raid shelter. When the explosion occurred, he was only about a hundred zhang from the epicenter... I'm afraid there may be nothing left of him."

The officials' expressions changed instantly.

"What?"

"Mr. Lu is dead?"

"He was only about a hundred zhang from the epicenter? Based on the damage we've seen, anyone within several kilometers who wasn't protected underground couldn't possibly have survived..."

The news struck the officials like a hammer. Even though the destruction of the capital was already a national catastrophe, with Lu Yuan, the Jade Dragon Kingdom still had some hope of fighting back. But if he was truly dead, that hope was gone.

Until now, the officials had held out hope knowing how powerful Lu Yuan had been. Blades and bullets could not harm him, and he could endure ordinary explosives with his body and destroy a warship weighing over ten thousand tons with his bare hands.

"I suppose this weapon was just too much for him to handle," one official sighed. "No one could survive an explosion of this scale."

Tap, tap, tap.

Just then, the clear sound of footsteps came from the ruins—the very heart of the blast zone, the one place nothing should have survived.

Whoosh!

Every head turned toward the sound and saw two figures coming out from the wreckage. The first was Senior Sister Xiang. Anyone familiar with the Extreme Martial Dao Center knew that she handled most of its day-to-day affairs. But when the crowd saw the person walking beside her, they cried out in disbelief.

"Lu Yuan!"

"It's Mr. Lu!"

"Mr. Lu is alive?"

"But how is that possible? He was at the center of the explosion. The temperature there reached several thousand degrees, and there was that terrifying shockwave..."

Everyone fell silent, staring at Lu Changsheng as though they could not trust their own eyes.

"What, did you all think I was dead?" Lu Changsheng asked, calm as ever.

A Jade Dragon Kingdom official stepped forward with unmistakable excitement. "No, we just... couldn't believe anyone could survive something like that."

"Mr. Lu, it's wonderful that you're unharmed!" another official exclaimed. "The Flame Dragon Federation unleashed something monstrous this time. They're clearly trying to wipe out our entire kingdom."

"At a time like this, the people of the Jade Dragon Kingdom need you more than ever..." a third official said.

Lu Changsheng understood exactly what they were asking of him. They wanted him to take on the Flame Dragon Federation.

"I was planning to wait a while longer, but I guess there's no point in waiting now," he said evenly. "I'll go to the Flame Dragon Federation myself. Have the Jade Dragon Kingdom prepare to take it over once I'm done."

The officials froze.

"D-Did you say take over the Flame Dragon Federation?" one official asked.

The officials of the Jade Dragon Kingdom were stunned by Lu Yuan's declaration. They had never imagined that he intended to completely wipe out the Flame Dragon Federation, much less hand its entire territory over to them afterward.

However, Lu Yuan's intent was clear—he wanted the enemy utterly eradicated, with zero chance of revival. Crushing their military was only the first step. To ensure no remnant forces or underground rebellions could ever rise again, the land needed to be immediately occupied. And giving it to the Jade Dragon Kingdom was the surest way to lock down the region permanently.

"Make your preparations," Lu Changsheng repeated. "Once I deal with the Flame Dragon Federation, I want you ready to take control as quickly as possible."

With that, he turned toward the direction of the Flame Dragon Federation.

Bang!

The ground cracked beneath Lu Changsheng's feet as he launched himself into the air and rapidly disappeared into the distance.[1]

***

Beach City was a coastal city and one of the Jade Dragon Kingdom's most prosperous ports. Now, however, the once-bustling city had become a battlefield choked with smoke.

Half an hour after launching its nuclear strike on the Jade Dragon Kingdom's capital, the Flame Dragon Federation confirmed that the attack had destroyed its target and immediately sent ground forces across the border. Beach City, unfortunately, was one of the first cities they entered.

The disparity in military strength was simply too great. Beach City's defenses offered little effective resistance before the Flame Dragon Federation seized control, and countless civilians were now fleeing through streets littered with bodies. Armed Federation soldiers occupied key intersections and patrolled the ruined city with loaded weapons.

For the people of Beach City, there was little left but fear and despair. No one wanted war, but once it began, ordinary people had no control over how far it would spread or how many lives it would consume.

"Look! Who's that?" Several Flame Dragon Federation soldiers suddenly noticed a man approaching at astonishing speed.

With every leap, the man launched himself more than thirty zhang[2] into the air before crashing back to the ground and immediately leaping again.

Each landing sent up a burst of dust as he made a beeline for the Flame Dragon Federation's headquarters.

Bang!

Before the soldiers could make sense of what they were seeing, the man slammed into the ground directly in front of them.

"You—" The soldiers instinctively raised their guns and opened fire.

Bullets flew toward the newcomer, but every round simply bounced away without leaving so much as a scratch. Within moments, spent shell casings covered the ground around his feet.

One of the soldiers finally recognized the man standing before them.

"You... You're Lu Yuan! The Jade Dragon Kingdom's number one evolver, the founder of the Extreme Martial Dao!" His face went pale with disbelief. "You're still alive?"

"Take me to your headquarters," Lu Changsheng said, calm as ever.

The soldiers exchanged uneasy looks. They had just emptied their guns into him without causing the slightest injury, and every one of them had heard stories about what Lu Yuan was capable of. They knew perfectly well that continuing to resist would accomplish nothing.

One of the soldiers lowered his weapon. "All right. We'll take you there."

The others followed suit and began leading Lu Changsheng through the occupied city.

1. I thought he couldn't fly? Maybe he's just jumping like a kangaroo. ☜

2. About a hundred meters ☜