Chapter Seventy-Four: Challenging Meteor Chain, Chen Heng

After admitting defeat, Peach Immortal stroked the little mustache on his lip, then bowed and said, “Since I’ve lost, I acknowledge you as my master. Should you ever require my service, I shall do everything in my power for you and never shirk my duty!”

At that moment, the Dream Badge delivered a prompt: “You have defeated Peach Immortal, the second-ranked character from the Kung Fu Scenario Summon Card. In future mission worlds, you may spend points to summon him.”

“Peach Immortal: Strength: 17; Agility: 12; Stamina: 17; Intelligence: 36 (+3). Life: 85, Spirit: 195. Current level: 1. Can level up through combat, maximum level 20.”

“Profession: Yoga Master, trained in ancient secret arts of yoga, adept at all postures—standing, sitting, kneeling, lying, and lotus—and capable of applying these to martial arts in battle, master of the secret technique of Yoga Fire.”

“Skills: Basic Endurance: LV3, Basic Technique Control: LV5, Basic Resistance: LV7.”

Like Wang Long, Peach Immortal had no special skills. Wang Ling had expected him to possess the “Yoga Fire” skill, only to realize it was included in his profession.

“So, he’s an intelligence specialist. It seems Yoga Fire counts as an energy spell attack. But among his basic skills, there's Basic Endurance to boost physical defense, and Basic Resistance to enhance magic defense. While his overall life isn’t high, he could serve as a magic tank. After all, intelligence correlates with magic defense, and a score of 39 is nothing to scoff at.”

While Wang Ling pondered this, a beam of white light suddenly swept him out of the Kung Fu Scenario Card.

“Ugh, looks like I’ll have to spend more points to challenge Chen Heng next time…”

Shaking his head, Wang Ling began to analyze the fight with Peach Immortal. This Yoga Master’s combat experience clearly surpassed his own, and his reactions to attacks were impressive. Unfortunately, the gap in attributes between them was enormous—only intelligence was comparable, but in strength, agility, and stamina, Wang Ling had a huge advantage, and his hidden defense stats were formidable. Even direct blows to his temples, a vulnerable spot, hadn’t caused much harm.

Moreover, he had the Dream Equipment “Heart of Peach” and the Trouble Maker talent, whereas Peach Immortal had not a single piece of equipment and could only rely on his own abilities. Defeating him with relative ease was no surprise; given the overwhelming advantage in attributes and equipment, it would be strange not to win.

“My power has really improved… Wahahahaha…”

Thinking back to his first challenge against Wang Long, when he’d been instantly defeated, then the second attempt where he had to use clever tricks and expend one Sliding Turtle Shell and one Tracking Turtle Shell, and after a desperate struggle finally won—this time had been so simple that he couldn’t help but throw his head back and laugh. However, remembering he now had only a little over 8,300 points left, and would have to spend more to continue, his laughter faded.

After resting for a short while in his private room, his confidence greatly boosted, Wang Ling activated the scenario card again and entered the Kung Fu Tower. After greeting his old subordinate Wang Long and new subordinate Peach Immortal, he ascended the wooden stairs to the next level.

Last time, on the second floor, he’d been stunned by Peach Immortal’s yoga poses. This time, upon reaching the third floor, his shock only grew. In the center of the arena, a burly man with a shaved head, dark skin, full beard, thick body hair, and fierce, rough features—clearly not a gentle soul—was lying in a great “X” on his back, sound asleep…

Unlike Wang Long and Peach Immortal, who were bare-chested, this man wore green clothes, though one arm was still exposed. Even as he lay relaxed, the muscles of his arm bulged impressively. Wang Ling could tell at a glance that this was a strength specialist.

Stepping into the center of the arena, Wang Ling helplessly looked at the still-sleeping giant and nudged him with his foot. The man slept on like a dead pig, unmoved. After kicking him harder a couple more times, the big man shuddered all over, sprang up with a loud cry, and grabbed the long steel chain lying beside him.

“Blast it! The soldiers are attacking again?”

The man looked around in confusion, saw only Wang Ling, blinked in surprise, then slapped his shiny forehead in realization. “You’re the one here to subdue us Bullies, aren’t you?”

Wang Ling knew this must be the identity the space had assigned him, one already imprinted in these characters’ memories, so he nodded. “That’s right, you must be Chen Heng?”

“I’m Chen Heng…” He looked Wang Ling up and down, shook his head, and said, “With your scrawny build, you’d better go home. I hit hard, and if I kill you by accident, it won’t be good. I don’t like hurting children.”

“Wang Long and Peach Immortal have both lost to me.” Wang Ling smiled slightly, sensing that Chen Heng meant no mockery—he was genuinely concerned about accidentally killing him. This man was clearly slow-witted and blunt, the straightforward type like Li Kui or Zhang Fei.

“You beat Fourth and Fifth Brother?” Chen Heng’s mouth fell open; then he suddenly smacked his bald head. “Blast it! Of course, if you’ve made it to this floor, those two must’ve been defeated. Well, I’ll be! Who’d have thought my brothers would lose to a kid like you?”

Wang Ling glanced at the meteor lock in Chen Heng’s hand—a weapon combining a chain and a meteor hammer, made of steel rings linked together and coiled around his arm, its length indiscernible. At the end hung a metal hammerhead the size of a pumpkin. Compared to swords, spears, and staves, such a weapon was much harder to wield.

“In that case, let’s fight!” Chen Heng spat twice into his palms, rubbed his hands, and swung the meteor lock overhead. The metal hammer spun with a chilling whoosh—if struck, it would hurt more than Wang Long’s coiling staff, since Wang Long specialized in stamina, but this man specialized in strength and gained bonuses to physical damage.

Wang Ling dared not let his guard down. At once, he activated the Pink Shield, summoning a circle of heart-shaped pink light around him.

The sudden appearance of the Pink Shield startled Chen Heng, but he merely swung the spinning meteor lock, sending the hammer whistling through the air toward Wang Ling. Seeing its momentum, Wang Ling raised his hand and sent a surge of spirit energy to meet it.

The white energy ball was smashed apart by the metal hammer, just as Wang Ling expected. He then spat out a pink heart from his mouth—an energy blast equal to a full-force punch—and sent the hammer flying back. Stepping forward, he reached out to grab the chain.

When fully extended, the chain was five meters long, its steel links gleaming. As Wang Ling lunged for the chain, Chen Heng gave a pull, instantly retracting it—showing off his excellent control.

With a flick, the hammer swung back at Wang Ling, but instead of blocking with energy, Wang Ling let the meteor lock strike his Pink Shield, then darted in, grabbing the chain as it dangled.

Even then, Chen Heng didn’t panic. With his natural strength, he could swing the meteor lock with ease—Wang Ling trying to snatch the chain was sheer folly in his eyes!

He dropped his hips, bent his knees, and braced himself—a wrestler’s core strength was immense. Stabilizing his body like an ancient tree rooted deep in the earth, he wrenched the chain with all his might, the muscles on his arms swelling and bulging as he tried to haul Wang Ling over.

Yet to his astonishment, the force pulling back on the chain was incredible!

Though Wang Ling’s arms weren’t muscular, his body had been reforged by dragon soul spirit energy, his bloodline purified, and with equipment bonuses, his strength was an astonishing 46! Even as a strength specialist, Chen Heng gained no advantage in this contest of brute force.

The two strained for a while, each exerting their utmost, the meteor lock’s steel chain stretched taut and trembling under the pressure. Suddenly, Wang Ling relaxed his grip. Chen Heng, yanking with all his might, found his opponent’s resistance vanish—he tumbled backward, landing hard on his rear, his breath knocked out of him.

Wang Ling brandished the meteoric iron spearhead, dashed forward, and stabbed the sharp weapon into Chen Heng’s chest as the big man struggled upright.

Chen Heng’s muscles were dense and tough; the spearhead met resistance after piercing the skin. But with Wang Ling’s strength, the weapon drove deep, leaving only a short length of shaft protruding.

Chen Heng’s health bar plummeted!

Enraged by the wound, Chen Heng roared and lunged headfirst at Wang Ling—a classic wrestling headbutt. But he hadn’t counted on Wang Ling’s passive skill “Iron Skull” and high defense; the result was a bleeding head for himself, while his opponent merely saw stars.

Taking blow after blow, the straightforward giant was furious. Ignoring the spearhead in his chest, he pivoted, grabbing at Wang Ling’s shoulder with his left hand and wrapping his right arm around Wang Ling’s waist—employing a close-combat wrestling hold. If he managed to seize his opponent, he could slam him down and follow up with a series of crushing moves!

However, his left hand found the shoulder unyielding, and his right arm couldn’t budge Wang Ling’s waist. In his wounded state, his attributes had dropped, and even in his strongest area—raw power—he was suppressed.

At that moment, Wang Ling placed both hands on Chen Heng’s shoulders. A blinding white glow burst from him—the skill light of a C-rank ability:

“Plum Blossom Grand Seat!”