Chapter 103: Battle Against Silver

Excitement flashed in Su Mu's eyes. The physical enhancement granted by the Great Force Bombardment Punch was on full display. His legs surged with power as he lunged backward, instantly opening the distance between himself and Mu Cheng as the Silver-White Rose in his hand roared to life.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Mithril Bullets howled through the air in flashes of cold light. Each one flew at a viciously precise angle, aimed squarely at the joints of Mu Cheng's armor.

Mu Cheng dropped low, effortlessly dodging the Mithril Bullets. In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Su Mu. He didn't draw a firearm; he opted for close combat.

The earlier explosion had scrambled the electronic circuits within his body, causing several of his built-in precision weapons to malfunction.

However, his gleaming silver metal arm didn't punch toward Su Mu. Instead, it smashed into a fractured wall to Su Mu's right.

Crash!

The wall instantly exploded. A dark shadow pushed lightly off the rubble and darted back several meters like a bat in the night, narrowly dodging the lethal blow.

Mid-retreat, Su Mu narrowed his eyes, catching sight of the red glow in Mu Cheng's prosthetic metal eye. He recognized it as infrared night vision—imaging based on body heat. With equipment like that in play, Myriad Phenomena was completely useless.

Yet he wasn't panicked in the least. His heart hammered with pure excitement. As expected of an expert comparable to Silver! To survive that tonnage of explosives and still see through Myriad Phenomena—it was absolutely spectacular!

He might actually get killed this time!

In the next second, Mu Cheng closed the gap. His eerie, red-glowing prosthetic eye reflected in Su Mu's eyes as he threw a straightforward, unadorned punch. Su Mu didn't try to block it head-on; instead, he unleashed a display of astonishing combat skill.

These were the killing techniques he had painstakingly honed for years in the dreamscape. Restricted by his weak body in reality, he had never been able to perform them.

Now, he finally had the chance.

Dropping his center of gravity, Su Mu let the metal fist brush right over his hair. Then, carrying tremendous force, his uppercut struck Mu Cheng's jaw with the precision of a scalpel.

However, the explosive impact of the Great Force Bombardment Punch only caused Mu Cheng's head to snap back slightly. It didn't inflict the slightest damage.

Su Mu seemed to have anticipated this. The moment his strike landed, he shifted his stance, narrowly evading Mu Cheng's downward smash. Planting one hand on the ground, he unleashed the strength of his arm and core in unison. His body spun like a top, and his right leg whipped out in a vicious sweep, slamming straight into Mu Cheng's knee joint.

That area had already been damaged by the explosion, exposing a dense tangle of wiring.

The heavy kick instantly threw Mu Cheng off balance. He fell out of control, but bizarrely, right as his body tipped sideways, some unseen force seemed to steady him. Completely defying the laws of physics, he stood back up.

Su Mu's eyes flickered. Seizing the opening, he planted a foot on Mu Cheng's chest and used the leverage to backflip away, opening the distance once more.

"Are you a Transcendent?" Su Mu asked, though his tone rang with absolute certainty. It wasn't just that the man had defied physics to stand up; during their clash, Su Mu had attempted to hypnotize him, only to encounter strong mental resistance. If Mu Cheng were merely a cyborg, he couldn't possess that kind of mental strength.

Now steady on his feet, Mu Cheng sneered. "Feeling a little despair? But the real despair is just getting started."

Su Mu smiled faintly. "Not despair. Excitement."

Swish!

His figure abruptly vanished, melting into the surrounding darkness. The red light in Mu Cheng's eyes flared as he immediately gave chase, but the moment he stepped into the shadows, a furious tiger's roar erupted right beside his ear.

It was Xie Quan, his entire body covered in yellow-and-black fur!

The heavy, powerful tiger claw swung ruthlessly at Mu Cheng's head. Faced with the ambush, Mu Cheng didn't panic in the slightest. He didn't even bother to defend himself, simply letting the strike land squarely on his skull.

Screech!

The tiger claw collided with the Mithril skull, grinding out a teeth-aching screech of friction.

Following the impact, three of Xie Quan's tiger claws snapped off. Mu Cheng, however, remained entirely uninjured; the blow had left nothing more than a few white marks on his head.

A defense on par with a Follower of Strength was perfectly displayed in that moment. Or rather, his defense was even stronger than that of a Follower of Strength—because while the latter still had internal organs and could be injured by concussive force, Mu Cheng had none of those vulnerabilities.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out from the darkness. Su Mu's final Mithril Bullet blasted forward, leaving a searing trail through the air as it shot straight toward Mu Cheng's eyes.

If he could just destroy the man's eyes, he would still have a chance.

However, Mu Cheng's eyelids—forged from Mithril and resembling metal plates—snapped shut, blocking the bullet dead in its tracks.

The Mithril Bullet pierced half an inch deep, wedging itself into the eyelid. But as soon as the eyelid blinked open, the bullet swiftly dropped out.

By this time, Mu Cheng had grabbed hold of Xie Quan. Exerting just a slight amount of force in his metal arms, he directly snapped both of Xie Quan's hands.

Su Mu's eyes flickered. He instantly manipulated Xie Quan into another transformation. In a flash, it was as if every bone in Xie Quan's body had been drawn out. His form turned entirely boneless and elongated, his eyes shifting into cold, dark-yellow vertical pupils as a dense layer of serpent scales surfaced across his skin!

Now in his serpent form, Xie Quan coiled around Mu Cheng, attempting to restrain him. But as Mu Cheng exerted his strength, countless scales burst apart. The skin beneath tore open, exposing the thread-like muscle tissue underneath.

It looked exactly like tearing a piece of meat off a fried chicken, with all the sinewy shreds still attached.

"Bubai."

Su Mu gave a low shout. The shadow beneath his feet instantly elongated, stretching out to Mu Cheng's position. The darkness churned upward like a fountain, swiftly taking the shape of a gaunt, two-meter-tall shadowy figure. It reached out toward Mu Cheng with a black hand that split apart like dead tree branches.

A distinct sense of strain radiated from Bubai. Su Mu quickly realized that Bubai couldn't force Mu Cheng into the Shadow Dimension at all. The two sides were locked in a struggle of strength, and Mu Cheng clearly had the upper hand.

Su Mu had never expected Bubai to directly kill a Silver-level expert anyway. All he needed was to restrain the man for a short period of time.

"Su Mu, I have to admit, for a lowlife from the Lower District, you certainly have a few tricks. You must be a Nightmare Apostle, right? You've picked up some bizarre abilities from the Nightmare World. Unfortunately... that's all they are."

Mu Cheng sneered and suddenly unleashed a burst of power. Xie Quan's body began tearing apart inch by inch, and Bubai's shadowy form shuddered violently, as if on the verge of dispersing.

Right at that moment, the silver mark between Su Mu's eyebrows bloomed with a mysterious silver light. A second later, the mark tore open, revealing the Silver Vertical Pupil hidden within!

Cold and indifferent—it was like the eye of a god!

The moment that silver eye appeared, Mu Cheng's sneer vanished in a jolt of alarm. He actually felt the pressure of death bearing down on him from it. He frantically increased his force, desperate to break free, but it was already too late.

A beam of resplendent silver light blasted out like a bolt of lightning, tearing through the void in an instant. Carrying a heart-palpitating power, it struck Mu Cheng.

Before this beam of silver light, the Mithril Alloy—once as tough as dragon scales—was as flimsy as paper. It was instantly pierced clean through!

Mu Cheng's entire upper body practically vaporized, completely disappearing—along with the torn remnants of Xie Quan and one of Bubai's arms.