Chapter 122: The Asura Path

The wind blowing from the front stirred his pitch-black hair, and his trench coat snapped violently in the gale.

Lu Mingfei sat cross-legged on the head of Clark Athena. Behind him, Ye Sheng, a new recruit to the Sweeper Squad, was clutching an antique longsword, his expression tense as he mentally prepared himself.

Two years ago, after enduring a month of Liu Tian’s brutal, hellish special training, Lu Mingfei—whose talent had continued to grow over time—quickly mastered the "Asura Path," a secret martial art tailored specifically for him. He had even surpassed his master.

The Asura Path was a secret martial art created by Liu Tian, drawing inspiration from the "Transformation of the Heavenly Demon's Carefree Arts," the "Heavenly Martial Path," the "Heavenly Martial Killing Path," and the personal experiences and personality of Lu Mingfei himself.

By integrating the essence of the "Transformation of the Heavenly Demon's Carefree Arts," this technique placed even greater emphasis on the expression and fluctuation of emotions than the "Heavenly Martial Killing Path." Its core philosophy was: "Only those who reach the extreme of emotion can reach the extreme of the Dao."

This characteristic became especially pronounced after breaking through to the level of a Fighter. The practitioner’s combat strength would constantly fluctuate with their mindset; at its peak, it could erupt to ten or even a hundred times its base power, while at its weakest, they might struggle to exert even thirty percent.

To maintain this characteristic, the practitioner’s normal combat strength was only seventy percent of an equivalent practitioner of the "Heavenly Martial Killing Path" or fifty percent of the "Heavenly Martial Path." It was a divine technique that traded consistency for explosive potential.

Such unstable performance was far from Liu Tian’s personal habits. While he acknowledged the power of emotion, Liu Tian preferred absolute, omnidirectional dominance—a flawlessness that allowed him to adapt to any scenario. His own specialized technique, the "Heavenly Martial Path," reflected this.

It ensured that while maintaining the highest comprehensive physical attributes among secret martial art practitioners, it also possessed the ability to reflect an opponent’s attacks back at them. Moreover, while a practitioner of the "Heavenly Martial Path" could also be affected by emotions, their peak eruption would never exceed ten times their original strength, and as long as their will remained intact, their combat power would never drop below ninety percent of normal.

It was the quintessential divine technique for a villainous boss.

Consequently, Liu Tian had only practiced the Asura Path briefly, used his "Source Points" to refine it, and once he confirmed the path he had deduced was sound, he abandoned further practice.

After finishing his training under Liu Tian, Lu Mingfei spent a few days in a daze before finding his true calling within the rich mission system of the "Heavenly Kingdom"—killing.

After all, it was clear that after his training, Lu Mingfei was a formidable fighter. As time passed and his secret martial arts improved, his "Asura Blood Reversal Technique" continuously converted dragon blood from his dragon heart into human blood, further enhancing his overall physical attributes. It was evident that he was only going to become more dangerous.

Thus, Lu Mingfei played to his strengths and specifically took on combat-related missions. With Liu Tian and Chu Zihang as prominent examples, and given that the Heavenly Kingdom prioritized ability above all else, this was not difficult.

Gradually, as his strength grew, the difficulty of the missions Lu Mingfei completed increased, and his efficiency improved. A year ago, he was appointed by Chu Zihang as the leader of the Sweeper Squad, with a new regulation: anyone in the Heavenly Kingdom aspiring to be a professional combatant had to serve a stint in the Sweeper Squad.

***

To ensure the efficiency of Lu Mingfei’s squad, Chu Zihang reported to Liu Tian, who then assigned a young dragon he had grown bored of to serve as transport for the Sweeper Squad.

Clark Athena was the name of this young dragon. Although she had been a hatchling two years ago, the growth rate of the dragon race is quite fast given sufficient resources and a safe environment; it takes little time for them to reach maturity. After all, they were dragons that had already grown once before, so they were well-versed in the process.

Although Clark Athena served as transport for the squad, she still earned credits for every mission performed. The Heavenly Kingdom never treated any sentient being as a slave.

Since the days of Laozi, equality for all had been Liu Tian’s requirement. According to his rules, as long as Clark Athena followed orders and accumulated enough credits to atone for her sins, she would naturally be classified as an official member of the Heavenly Kingdom.

"Lao Tang," Lu Mingfei said, covering one ear with his hand as he spoke to his gaming friend while en route to the next mission site. "Your understanding of the game is behind the current patch. Listen to me: don't worry about advantages or disadvantages. Base-trade. Base-trading is the ultimate strategy."

"When you have the advantage, trade bases to expand it. When you're tied, trade bases to break the deadlock. When you're at a disadvantage, trade bases for a desperate gamble. As long as you dare to trade, you'll never lose out."

"Trade your head!" The sound of a keyboard clacking came through the headset. The man known as Lao Tang roared with his uniquely rich, deep voice. "Who was the one hammered by my tower-defense style last time? Always thinking about base-trading, rushing in with your whole family! You need to play it steady, brother."

"You’re famous in the channel now as the 'Reckless Berserker Who Rushes with His Whole Family.' Everyone knows that if they play against you, all they have to do is play steadily and build defenses, then wait for you to throw yourself at them. They’ll have an eighty percent win rate."

"Your ranking in the channel has dropped from second to last. If you drop any further, there’s nowhere left to go! You should be ashamed! Ashamed!"

"Damn it, I was only using the red dot and keyboard to play with you guys before. Now, for the sake of your dignity, I’m not even using the keyboard, just the red dot, and you’re still acting like you’ve won?" Lu Mingfei retorted. "Fine, it seems you’ve forgotten the fear of being dominated by me. Once I finish this mission, I’ll show you the essence of a full-force rush, and you’ll be the first to taste that fear."

"Pah, keep dreaming!" Lao Tang said. "I bet you’re just peeking at the channel and saw that I’m broke, so you know I have to take jobs and don't have time to play. That’s why you’re bragging so hard. If you really want to show your strength, play now. I’m free."

"Damn. I’m out here sweeping up trash and training a rookie. The environment has been getting worse lately, and there’s more naturally generated garbage every day, along with more recruits wanting to join. I’m swamped," Lu Mingfei snapped back without hesitation. "Let’s set a time. I’ll probably be busy for another two or three months. When things stabilize, it won't be this hectic. We can play then, yeah?"

"I’ll even let you pick the race and restrict mine, and I’ll still hammer you into the ground."

"Fine, fine, fine!" Lao Tang said. "I’m done talking nonsense with you. Someone else is inviting me to play. You go back to your missions, you trash collector, always so busy."

With that, without waiting for Lu Mingfei’s reply, the person on the other end hung up, leaving only a long, droning tone.

Lu Mingfei put away his phone and looked into the distance. With Clark Athena’s supersonic speed, the target location was drawing ever closer.

Leveraging the ubiquitous wind elements and the wind-control secret martial art Liu Tian had tailored for her, combined with her racial advantages, Clark Athena was qualified to be the fastest supersonic transport of the era.

***

"You have the heart to chat at a time like this; you really are confident, Senior," Ye Sheng, the rookie who had been unable to contain himself any longer, couldn't help but grumble once Lu Mingfei finally finished his call.

"What do you know?" Lu Mingfei glanced at him sideways. After saying that, he suddenly started laughing for some reason—in two years, he had also become a "Senior" who could use such clichéd phrasing to lecture others.

"Ahaha! Ahahahaha!"

As the thought struck him, Lu Mingfei let out a loud laugh, laughing until tears streamed down his face.

"Se-Senior?" Ye Sheng asked cautiously. "What’s wrong with you?"

"Uh, he’s having another one of his habitual fits. Don't worry, you’ll get used to it. He’ll stop once he’s had his fill," Clark Athena’s voice came from beneath them. "Little Ye Sheng, don't worry. This is just routine garbage cleaning. As long as you’re willing to do the work, there’s no risk."

As Lu Mingfei’s long-time partner, Clark Athena was, in fact, the true captain of the Sweeper Squad, serving to fill the gaps in Lu Mingfei’s theoretical teaching abilities—earning her the title of "Deputy Captain Clark Athena." After all, an excellent squad member meant extra credits for her, speeding up her release from "prison."

"I-is that so? Thank you for your concern... Deputy Captain Clark Athena." Ye Sheng’s expression was a bit twisted as he expressed his gratitude with difficulty. Unlike Lu Mingfei, who was also human, Ye Sheng had spent two years at Cassel College being educated that humans and dragons were irreconcilable enemies. Even after long-term mental preparation, the fact that he was now working with a dragon still felt awkward.

After all, Ye Sheng had previously sworn an oath at school to join the Secret Party, dedicated to the irreconcilable war against the dragon race, and to devote his life and everything he had to the great cause of dragon-slaying. Yet, the moment he went home for the holidays, he was told not to return to school and that they were now enemies of the Secret Party—his family had defected to the Heavenly Kingdom.

It had taken days of his father’s care to finally prepare himself mentally to work under the Heavenly Kingdom, only for them to inexplicably dig up pure-blooded dragons from ruins and put them to work as members.

This sudden turn of events had shattered Ye Sheng’s mindset, which was why it had taken him this long to officially start working.

"Sorry, sorry." After a long while, Lu Mingfei wiped away his tears and said, "Sorry, sorry. I just had a breakthrough in my martial arts realm to 'Century King' and my power surpassed 300,000 volts of 'Current Propulsion.' The overlay of the power required by both breakthroughs caused my emotions to get a bit out of control."

"But like Clark Athena said, it’s just cleaning up some trash, don't worry too much. By the way, were you just saying I was having a fit?" After apologizing, Lu Mingfei narrowed his eyes, a flicker of coldness flashing through them. "I think I’ll change your dinner from A5 Wagyu beef to cat food tonight."

"If you dare try that, I’ll lie on top of you while you sleep next time and roast you to death," Clark Athena retorted. "And I’ll record a video of you drooling in your sleep to share with everyone."

"Then you’ll only be eating pig slop from now on," Lu Mingfei said calmly.