Chapter 136: Ultimate Finishing Move (Bonus Chapter for Snowy Night Scenery)

Possessing a vast reservoir of hyper-energy does not mean one can squander it all in a single burst. It is much like the strongest boxer, who cannot exhaust all his stamina in one punch.

Within the plasma mist, the dense charged particles gradually dispersed, forming a visible electromagnetic field. Bai Yuxi, who had never unleashed his hyper-energy at full capacity, was astonished to discover that as the electromagnetic field formed by the plasma mist enveloped him, a peculiar sensation washed over him—as if he had absolute control over the space encased within that field.

A flash of inspiration struck Bai Yuxi, and he instinctively associated this feeling with the Transcendent Combat Technique Xia Youyou had mastered: controlling the magnetic force within a "strong biological magnetic field" through super-magnetic sensing. Although Xia Youyou’s magnetic control relied on her specialized magnetic gloves—differing from the state he was currently experiencing—the underlying principles were remarkably similar.

This made Bai Yuxi subconsciously want to test whether he could manipulate metal remotely. However, the hyper-energy injected into his alienated arm had already fully converted into charged particles, and the sheer magnitude of the energy was so restless that he could barely contain it. In his haste, with no time for careful thought, Bai Yuxi had no choice but to release the accumulated energy by throwing a punch.

A long bolt of electric light, like a swimming dragon, surged from his arm and, after a brief tremor, slammed into the space before him.

"Huh?"

The moment he struck, Bai Yuxi noticed something unusual. The charged particles, which were typically difficult to integrate with the "Particle Strike" technique, had triggered a collision reaction similar to a particle bombardment under the influence of the unique electromagnetic field. Countless charged particles seemed to collide with something invisible, and after a momentary lag, they erupted outward.

It was a "wall" formed by the invisible matter particles and the intangible X-particles within the space, which had obstructed the charged particles and triggered the collision.

The miraculous happened! A brilliant light suddenly flared in front of Bai Yuxi, and the invisible space suffered a visible depression. A blinding orb of light manifested out of thin air, converging into a pillar of light with a diameter as wide as Bai Yuxi’s outstretched arms, which then tore through the space and blasted outward!

Amidst the shrill, agonizing cries of the Mutant Rat Boss, the detection radars worn by the members of the Seventh Squad—who had retreated to a safe distance—collectively erupted with harsh buzzing alarms. These were the reactions of the personal information terminals detecting an incredibly high energy fluctuation. In other words, the moment Bai Yuxi threw that punch, an unimaginable, super-high energy reaction had occurred directly in front of him!

The group stared blankly at Bai Yuxi’s rigid back in front of the cave, completely stunned. Before him, the previously narrow cave fissure had been transformed into a perfectly circular tunnel about two meters in diameter. The once jagged rock walls had turned a dark, magma-like red, and molten lava even dripped from the ceiling of the cave from time to time.

*Gulp.*

A loud sound of someone swallowing hard broke the silence, awakening the group from their stupor.

"Xiao Bai?" Luo Fei walked over cautiously, first glancing at the heat-radiating tunnel, then at Bai Yuxi, who was clutching his trembling arm with a vacant expression in his eyes. She couldn't help but ask, "What did you just do?"

"Uh..." Bai Yuxi snapped out of his daze, looking bewildered. "I have no idea what I did."

He had only thought that a weakened Particle Strike punch might not be enough to kill the Mutant Rat Boss in one blow, and that increasing the multiplier of the strike would exceed the limits of his body’s durability. He had intended to use a full-power output of his high-damage, high-consumption "Plasma Punch" to test it out. Who could have known that a saturated output of the "Plasma Punch" would result in such an incomprehensible phenomenon?

"Is that giant rat dead?" Xia Youyou stepped up, peering into the tunnel, and nodded. "Even the rock walls have melted. It must be dead, right?"

"Holy cow!"

"Xiao Bai, what kind of move was that?"

"Was that a plasma-infused Particle Strike?" Willy’s eyes were as wide as bull’s eggs, and he said in disbelief, "Or is it some kind of hidden ultimate technique?"

"Although I can roughly deduce what happened..." Su Xiaoke suddenly spoke up, "Don't you think that after causing such a massive commotion, we should leave this place immediately?"

The group froze. They looked at the crestfallen Bai Yuxi, and everyone felt a headache coming on. After all their careful, cautious planning over this period, were they finally going to be exposed? However, they had all anticipated that such a day might come; after all, they couldn't keep their Transcendent Combat Techniques hidden forever. Whenever they encountered high-risk, extraordinary creatures that could not be dealt with through conventional means, the techniques they had mastered would inevitably be revealed. No secret was more important than their own lives.

Fortunately, Bai Yuxi was no longer the rookie who understood nothing about the extraordinary world. Combined with his "mysterious constitution," which even biometric detection equipment couldn't fully analyze, and the inherent stealth of his "Particle Micro-manipulation," he didn't need to worry too much about others noticing his abnormal physical signs. At most, they would only expose the fact that they had mastered Transcendent Combat Techniques—a skill that was intuitive and impossible to teach. If others wanted it, they could try to learn it themselves.

Regardless, they had caused such a scene here that it was indeed inappropriate to remain in this cave, which had become a dead end. Even if they weren't afraid of the mountain collapsing and burying them alive, they had to guard against another boss-level mutant rat emerging from within. Bai Yuxi himself had been just as confused by that last strike; he had no confidence that he could replicate it. Moreover, they had only succeeded because the Mutant Rat Boss had been wedged by the rock walls. In an open space, a free-moving Mutant Rat Boss would never allow him the time to charge up such an "ultimate move."

Once the lava in the tunnel cooled slightly and solidified into charred rock, the group braved the intense heat radiating from the walls and quickly passed through the tunnel toward the core area.

Yet, in their shock, everyone overlooked one detail: the Mutant Rat Boss, which had been blasted into oblivion by Bai Yuxi’s "ultimate move," had not yielded even a shred of increased extraordinary energy for them.

By the time the members of the Seventh Squad had vanished from sight, the surviving members of the Qu Yi squad, who had been cowering in the corner of the cave, finally appeared before the tunnel, leaning on one another for support.