After a thousand years of cultivation, he returns at the pinnacle!

Night falls.

As Jiang Chen and Wang Kai stepped out of the magnificent lobby of the Emperor Hotel, a cool night breeze swept over them, slightly dispersing the suffocating smoky atmosphere inside the private room.

Wang Kai was still reeling from what had just happened, feeling both relieved and vaguely uneasy.

He knew Jiang Chen had come today to do something, and he had to admit that everything that had just happened was incredibly satisfying, but... what would happen next? Brother Chen was just an ordinary person without any abilities; to be honest, he was someone even the lowest rungs of society would find hard to accept.

What will become of his future? Is it really a good choice for me to leave with him?

Wang Kai is merely an Awakened One with C-level talent, and his skills are limited to daily life. Although he can support himself in the future, he is ultimately not capable of achieving anything significant. He has angered the Lin and Liu families, and if they were to take their anger out on him, he would be powerless to resist.

but...

"That was awesome!!! Hahaha, Brother Chen, didn't you see the expressions on Li Haoran and the others' faces just now? They all stared wide-eyed in disbelief!"

Let's talk about the future later, shall we? Shouldn't we enjoy ourselves first?

"But Brother Chen, what exactly happened just now? Although Lin Feng only just awakened his S-level talent, he should be able to use some of it, so why was he completely fooled by you?"

Wang Kai was somewhat confused. Awakening power takes time to develop, so although Lin Feng had awakened an S-level talent, he might still be a bit weaker than Jiang Chen, who had been proficient in various combat techniques since childhood, because he had just awakened it. However, he had a promising future, but that was not enough to scare him like that.

"It's not over yet."

A faint smile appeared on Jiang Chen's lips, a smile that Wang Kai could not fathom.

And at that very moment.

boom!!!

A not particularly loud but unusually muffled explosion came from the upper floors of the hotel behind them, followed by shattering glass and short, terrified screams, which were still clearly audible despite the distance and the heavy building.

Wang Kai abruptly stopped in his tracks, turning back in horror. On the floor they had just left, where room 888 was located, a large, ornately decorated window, along with part of the exterior wall panels, had shattered. Thick smoke mixed with sparks of electricity billowed from the breach, starkly visible in the night. The hotel's alarms blared, and a commotion began downstairs.

"What...what...what's going on?" Wang Kai stared wide-eyed, his face pale, looking incredulously at Jiang Chen, who had stopped but didn't turn around.

His mind flashed instantly to Lin Feng's arrogant face in the private room, Liu Ruyan's cold eyes, and the gloating echoers.

"Brother Chen...could it be...could it be you??"

Impossible, impossible, absolutely impossible!

How could Brother Chen, who has no superpowers, do these things?

But isn't all of this too much of a coincidence? Moreover... there was no ripple in his eyes as he looked at Jiang Chen, as if he had already anticipated this would happen.

Jiang Chen turned around, his face still displaying the same calm and composed expression, as if the sudden explosion behind him had nothing to do with him. He even tilted his head slightly, squinting at the smoking breach, as if admiring an insignificant work of art.

"It's just a small punishment."

Jiang Chen spoke in a calm tone, as if he were discussing the weather.

"The lightning spirit within Lin Feng's body is restless and agitated; forcibly activating it will only backfire. I'm merely helping him to regulate it beforehand and also allowing the overly polluted air there to circulate."

He spoke casually, but Wang Kai felt a chill run down his spine.

Smoothing things out beforehand? Circulating the air? Jiang Chen clearly tampered with this! But how did he do it? When did he do it? Wang Kai didn't see Jiang Chen make any unnecessary movements!

Moreover, the power of this smooth flow and circulation was so great that it completely disrupted the private room, and those people inside...

"Brother Chen, those people inside...could it be...?"

"Who knows? Maybe it died, or maybe it was just lucky and survived?"

Jiang Chen spoke indifferently, which made Wang Kai feel somewhat unfamiliar with him.

Once upon a time, the top student in the entire school was gentle and helpful. That's why Wang Kai was willing to speak up for Jiang Chen even though he was powerless. But the Jiang Chen of today seems somewhat unfamiliar.

Brother Chen must have awakened some special talent somewhere without his knowledge. What kind of powerless person is he? How could such a situation, which has never occurred in thousands of years, happen to Brother Chen? And if it does happen, it only proves Brother Chen's specialness. So... maybe the power hidden within him is also unprecedented!

Jiang Chen's eyes showed indifference to life. For some reason, looking at Brother Chen like this, Wang Kai felt a faint excitement welling up inside him.

"Brother Chen, I absolutely will not tell anyone about this!"

Wang Kai seemed to have made up his mind. Those who died, were they really not deserving of death? That was indeed the case, but in this world, the strong prey on the weak, and he didn't think Jiang Chen's actions were wrong.

Looks like there are still people alive?

Looking at the smoke-filled private room, Jiang Chen did not linger.

"Let's go, there's no point in staying here."

After saying that, he and Wang Kai left the scene together.

Meanwhile, inside VIP room 888.

The thick smoke was gradually dispersed by the night wind, revealing a scene that resembled purgatory.

The ornate decorations were gone, replaced by charred remains, twisted metal, and shattered building materials. The round table that once held the delicacies was now broken into pieces, the exquisite tableware and food mixed with dark red stains, emitting a nauseating stench.

More than a dozen bodies lay scattered about, most of them lifeless, their faces blurred, some pierced by sharp fragments, others horribly charred and twisted, their deaths tragic.

Li Haoran lay face up beside the overturned chair, his eyes wide open, his face still showing terror, a broken table leg embedded in his chest. Chen Lu lay a little further away, half her body charred black, already lifeless.

Most of the other students were in the same situation; in the sudden explosion and the rampage of spiritual energy, the fragile bodies of ordinary people were simply no match for it.

There was only a faint commotion in two corners.

Liu Ruyan huddled in the corner of a relatively intact wall, covered in dust and abrasions. Her moon-white dress was tattered, her face was streaked with black and white, and her hair was disheveled. She seemed to have been knocked unconscious by the shockwave and had just regained some consciousness, emitting weak, painful groans.

She was lucky; she wasn't in the center of the explosion and the rampage of spiritual energy. The terrifying impact avoided her most vital organs, which saved her life, but her internal organs were damaged, and her injuries were not minor.

On the other hand, Lin Feng's situation was even more bizarre and worse.

He slumped amidst the chaos, his back against the shattered wall, blood gushing from his mouth and nose. His expensive clothes were torn and charred, and his exposed skin bore traces of scorching and fine, bloody gashes.

But he is still alive and even conscious.

However, his face was completely bloodless, his eyes fixed on his trembling hands, filled with extreme fear and despair. He could feel that the S-rank lightning attribute spiritual power he had once been so proud of, surging and active within him, had now... vanished.

No, it didn't completely disappear; rather, it became extremely weak and chaotic, and... carried a deathly stillness that sent shivers down his spine. It was as if some higher power had not only detonated his spiritual energy but also fundamentally corrupted or sealed away his innate talent!

He tried to mobilize even the slightest bit of power, even the weakest arc of electricity, but all he felt was a sluggish and painful sensation in his meridians. That power was like a venomous snake frozen in ice, lying dormant and instead constantly backfiring on him.

"I...I...my...my talent..."

Lin Feng's voice was hoarse and broken, filled with despair. Compared to the physical pain, the blow of potentially destroying his talent made him even more hopeless. He suddenly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes looking towards the door of the private room, his gaze filled with deep-seated resentment and bone-chilling fear.

"Jiang...Jiang Chen!!!"

He gritted his teeth, but his previous arrogance was gone, replaced by endless hatred and a fear of the unknown.

He just couldn't understand how someone without any abilities could have done this.

Judging from Jiang Chen's behavior just now, this was no accident at all; it must have been Jiang Chen who did it! But how exactly did he do it?!

Liu Ruyan regained some consciousness and struggled to look around. When she saw her familiar classmates lying dead on the ground in various gruesome ways, she let out a short, sharp gasp, then covered her mouth tightly. Her stomach churned, and fear and shivering swept over her.

She's still alive... Lin Feng seems to be alive too... but everyone else... are they all dead?

Liu Ruyan has awakened an S-level combat talent and is destined to fight against demonic apostles in the future, so witnessing the life and death of people is only a matter of time. But she never expected that all of this would happen at her own victory celebration!

Why? What exactly happened? Did Lin Feng's abilities go out of control? Or...?

Her gaze involuntarily drifted towards the doorway, and the image of Jiang Chen's indifferent and calm eyes as he left flashed through her mind. Her heart clenched, and a chill ran from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head.

Could it really be him?

This thought made her feel as if she had fallen into an ice cave.

Meanwhile, hotel staff and the first batch of rescuers rushed to this floor. Upon seeing the horrific scene inside the private room, even trained personnel couldn't help but gasp and exclaim in shock.

"Quick! There are still survivors here!"

"Watch out! There may be a risk of a secondary collapse!"

"Call for reinforcements! Call for the medical team!"

The noise echoed in her ears, and Liu Ruyan's consciousness gradually faded away. In a daze, she seemed to see Jiang Chen's gentle figure, and in a daze, she seemed to see Jiang Chen's indifferent eyes. He only whispered in her ear, "Serves you right."