I will be stronger after the remake

Ling Chong had already placed seven or eight parts of his trust in Tang Ping's wisdom, and asked, "What should we do next? Should we follow the normal procedure for exploring mythological ruins and solve the puzzles?"

"We absolutely cannot do this!" X2

Tang Ping and Zhao Yeman spoke at the same time, exchanged a glance, and smiled knowingly.

Considering her status as a guest, Zhao Yeman chose to back down. Tang Ping explained, "Since the mythical ruins have already been tampered with by the other party, we cannot act according to their wishes. Moreover, we have already decided to prioritize saving people, so let's just ignore the treasures and use brute force to destroy them along with the mythical ruins—besides, the treasure basin has most likely already fallen into their hands."

Ling Chong nodded, went to the riverbank, took a deep breath, and then activated his spiritual energy, "Vajra Lion's Roar".

In an instant, a sound wave that seemed to be tangible burst forth from his mouth, causing the air to tremble violently and huge columns of water to erupt from the surface of the water.

The roar, brimming with pure Yang energy, was like a sharp sword, piercing straight into the school of eels filled with evil aura. Under the impact of the pure Yang energy, the eels' bodies began to dissolve rapidly, constantly emitting black smoke and emitting a nauseating burnt smell. One by one, they floated belly up on the water's surface, and the riverbank was soon covered with the corpses of eels.

Suddenly, a tiny crack appeared in the air above the water ahead.

Ling Chong keenly noticed this, and immediately a majestic and solemn phantom appeared behind him. He entered a state of spiritual resonance and once again unleashed the "Vajra Lion's Roar". This time, the roar was even more powerful, and the golden sound waves transformed into several huge golden lions, which flew in all directions.

The turbid river surface was instantly rippled with spiderweb-like patterns. The river water surged and boiled violently like boiling soup. The pure yang energy collided violently with the yin energy in the water, accompanied by crackling and popping sounds, and bursts of white water mist rose up. The eel carcass was shaken high into the air and then smashed back into the river.

The cracks that had appeared earlier expanded rapidly, like a mirror falling to the ground. With a crisp sound, the surrounding scenery shattered like glass.

A dazzling light burst forth from the crack, and everyone instinctively raised their hands to shield their eyes. When the light dissipated, a small city appeared before their eyes.

The city was enveloped in a hazy golden halo, like a giant treasure floating on the water. Below the city, a basin-shaped phantom emitted a soft light, like a golden sun supporting the entire city. The shimmering light surged and flowed through invisible veins into every corner of the city, coating the city walls, pavilions, and streets with a mysterious halo.

The pavilions and towers within the city are arranged in a well-organized manner, with beaded curtains made of luminous pearls hanging between the eaves and brackets. They sway gently in the breeze, emitting a pleasant tinkling sound that echoes the ethereal hum emanating from the basin-shaped phantom.

Yu Shujiang exclaimed excitedly, "This is Changde City, built from the land created by the treasure basin in the story, and the treasure basin is located beneath the city!"

Ling Chong shared the same assessment and showed interest. He was about to step forward and take the treasure basin when he heard Tang Ping say, "Ignore the basin below and destroy the entire city."

"Ah, are you serious?"

Ling Chong turned his head, confirming that Tang Ping was not joking. After a moment's thought, he decided to do as he was told. He immediately shouted, and his spiritual power surged out like a volcanic eruption. Golden light shot straight into the sky, condensing into a golden Dharma image that was a hundred feet tall.

The Dharma Image, clad in gilded armor and wielding a vajra, possessed a majestic countenance. It slowly raised the vajra, and a massive golden sphere of light condensed at its tip, containing earth-shattering power.

With a swing of his arm, Ling Chong's close-range Dharma form swung the Demon-Subduing Pestle and smashed it fiercely into the city. Accompanied by a deafening roar, the golden sphere of light exploded, and a powerful shockwave spread outwards from the point of explosion.

The city walls began to collapse under the impact of the shockwave, the jade stones engraved with runes shattered and turned into dust, and the pavilions and towers inside the city also collapsed under the impact of the aftershocks. A huge crater was blasted open in the river below the city, and the river water overflowed, forming a huge whirlpool.

Ling Chong did not stop, and continued to command the golden body Dharma image to launch attacks, causing the city walls of Changde to collapse one after another, and to teeter on the brink of collapse.

"stop!"

A shout came from the center of the city, and a figure appeared.

This man's brow bones protruded like mountains, his thick eyebrows resembled two unsheathed swords slanted into his temples, and his eyes gleamed with a cold light that sent shivers down one's spine more than a poisoned hidden weapon.

Tang Ping noticed that the opponent's burly figure resembled an iron tower cast in steel, with a slight shrug on his right shoulder that seemed to conceal a mountain, and his arms hanging down like iron chains sinking into a river. The slightly bent elbows subtly corresponded to the starting stance of Xingyi Quan's "Eagle Catch".

Ling Chong's eyes widened as he revealed the other party's identity: "Cao Poshi, you've finally decided to show yourself. I thought you would always be a coward and refuse to show your face!"

"Chen Zengfu, you are as reckless as ever, completely disregarding the consequences, and you actually summoned a Dharma body to destroy the city..."

Cao Poshi was so angry he gritted his teeth. He then threatened, "I suppose you already know that the Changde Armed Forces Department has fallen into my ambush and all of its personnel have been captured. Their lives are in my hands. If you want to save their lives, you'd better get out of my way."

Now that things had come to this, how could Ling Chong not understand that Tang Ping's suggestion was correct? He immediately followed this line of thought and said viciously, "Kill all those who attempt to take hostages!"

Chapter 229 Monster Spirit

The more you want to save people, the less you should show that you care, because the more you care, the more the other party will threaten you with hostages.

Ling Chong understood this basic principle a long time ago: prioritizing saving lives and launching a forceful attack regardless of the safety of hostages are not actually contradictory.

In movies and TV shows, it's truly irresponsible for the protagonist to obediently lay down his weapon when the villain points a gun at the hostage. Without the protagonist's plot armor, doing so would most likely result in both the protagonist and the hostage being killed. After all, the reason the villain didn't kill the hostage is because the protagonist is armed. The greater the danger to the protagonist, the higher the value of the hostage.

The principle that peace is achieved through struggle and perishes through compromise is the same.

However, it is important to strike the right balance. If the pressure is too great and the other party is forced to kill the hostage, then the person who made the decision will inevitably have to bear the responsibility.

This is why Ling Chong personally spoke up; as the leader, only he could shoulder this responsibility.

Seeing Bai Zhang Faxiang continue his attack, unleashing a flurry of wild punches that shook the city, Cao Poshi was furious but helpless. He had not yet captured the group from the Changde Armed Forces, and he could not even take a hostage to use as a blood sacrifice to intimidate them.

Indeed, Cao Poshi successfully set up a trap in advance with the intelligence provided by Jin Tao, who was parasitized and controlled. However, the people from the Changde Armed Forces Section were not to be underestimated. In particular, Director Xiahou himself was a third-level psionicist and possessed the spiritual rank of "Spiritual Official." The moment he discovered that his group was ambushed, he immediately summoned a large number of heavenly soldiers as cannon fodder to withstand the first wave of attacks. Then, he led his subordinates to form an array on the spot and put up a stubborn resistance.

Jin Tao took the initiative to receive Ling Chong and his group for two reasons. First, he wanted to try to outmaneuver them, since psionicists cannot use their powers in the real world. If they were to encounter a serious car accident, such as colliding head-on with a large truck, only a very few would survive. Second, if he could not find an opportunity, he would try his best to delay the time so that Cao Poshi's side could eliminate the resistance of the Changde Armed Forces.

To Cao Poshi's surprise, Ling Chong and his group discovered Jin Tao's unusual behavior shortly after arriving and took him down, cutting off his intelligence source. Without hesitation, they rushed to the Yuanjiang River, leaving Cao no time to make arrangements. He had to resort to the same old trick and bring out the traps he had used against the Changde Armed Forces.

But then, Ling Chong's response surprised him again. He completely disregarded the mythical ruins and did not follow the conventional methods to solve the puzzles. Instead, he launched a direct assault, forcing him to intervene.

No matter how ingenious the maze design, it can only be helpless against those who start by digging the foundation.

"Ling Chong, do you really not care about the lives of your colleagues?"

Cao Poshi's eyes were bloodshot, and he made one last attempt.

Upon hearing the threat, Ling Chong immediately increased his spiritual power and commanded his Dharma Avatar to fight even more vigorously, because he understood one thing: if the other party really had a means to threaten him, they would have revealed it long ago, instead of just spouting empty words!

Cao Poshi regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth, realizing he had made a basic mistake. Without further hesitation, he entered a state of spiritual resonance, unfurled divine bird wings on his back, each feather flowing with lava-like patterns, and pounced towards Ling Chong with his hands in claws. The air was instantly ignited, turning into rolling heat waves.

Ling Chong snorted coldly. Although he really wanted to compete with his opponent in martial arts, this was not a duel in the arena, and the competition was not about personal victory or defeat. He could not act on impulse. He immediately controlled his golden body dharma form to swing the demon-subduing pestle and smash it at Cao Poshi.

Even though Cao Poshi knew the technique of using softness to overcome hardness, he did not dare to confront the hundred-foot-tall Dharma image head-on. He flapped his wings and dodged the Demon-Subduing Pestle with agile movements. At the same time, he used the airflow from the impact to accelerate his sprint. His right hand, carrying the immense power to split mountains and shatter rocks, went straight for Ling Chong's face.

"If you want to catch the thief, catch the king! You've got the wrong target!"

Ling Chong lowered his stance, his feet remaining stationary, and his spiritual energy "Immovable Vajra" was immediately activated, creating a protective aura around his body. At the same time, his abilities were greatly enhanced, and he unleashed a powerful punch.

The two sides clashed head-on, instantly generating a strong residual shockwave that sent the river water soaring high into the air, forming a massive water curtain.

"You've actually advanced to the third rank!"

Cao Poshi originally intended to use his eagle claw to restrain Ling Chong's fist, and then unleash his hidden strength to cripple one of his opponent's arms. However, the opponent's strength was too great, far surpassing his own. He was defeated the moment they made contact, his blood and qi boiling, and he didn't even have a chance to use his hidden strength. He could only deflect the force and retreat.

"My promotion to the third job advancement was announced at the sports meet a while ago. It seems your intelligence work wasn't up to par."

Ling Chong shouted and unleashed a series of palm strikes from a distance.

Cao Poshi was experienced in combat and realized that he would be difficult to win in a head-on confrontation. He immediately changed his fighting style. He flashed and transformed into a dark red streak of light, dodging the palm strike at an extremely fast speed. Then he flew around Lingchong at high speed, and the wings on his back tore through the air as he moved at high speed, emitting a piercing shriek.

Sometimes he would swoop down from above Ling Chong's head, his claws aimed straight for his face; sometimes he would skim along the ground, his fists sweeping towards Ling Chong's lower body; or he would suddenly conceal himself and launch a sneak attack from behind, targeting vital points.

Although the protective aura was strong, it could only hold off a third-level spiritual energy user for a short time. Ling Chong dared not let the opponent attack him. He guarded his vital points and kept punching to defend. With his mind focused, he had no time to control the golden body dharma form.

On the other side, although Yuan Ji really wanted to go and test the strength of "Snake Shadow Eagle Feather", she was also attacked.

A blonde woman with typical Western features, but an ugly appearance, emerged from Changde City, dressed in a black robe. She raised her hands, and jet-black spider silk shot out like a torrential rain, each strand gleaming with a corrosive, eerie light. At the same time, the ground suddenly cracked open, and countless vines wrapped with sharp thorns burst forth from the soil, intertwining with the spider silk to form a deadly web of death.

"Everyone, be careful!"

Zhao Yeman stepped forward, her longsword drawing a silver arc, severing all the spider silk coming her way.

The blonde woman was slightly taken aback when she saw it. Her spider silk was infused with divine power, making it not only extremely sticky but also exceptionally flexible. Ordinary sharp blades could not cut through it at all; they would only be wrapped up layer by layer and formed into a cocoon.

Zhao Yeman sneered inwardly. When she learned that one of the enemies possessed the unique spiritual personality "Arachne", she guessed that the other party must have the ability to spit spider silk. After all, Arachne was eventually turned into a half-human, half-spider monster by Minerva. Therefore, she had long ago come up with a way to deal with it, which was to apply ice-type spiritual magic to the sword and use the cold air to freeze the spider silk, making it lose its flexible properties, so that it could be easily cut by the blade.

Tang Ping glanced at the screen and activated "Three-Eyed True Radiance" to obtain information about the blonde woman.

[Character: Sofia]

[Lingge: Monster Arachne]

[Psionic Powers: Evil Creatures, Environmental Adaptation, Monster Lineage, Spider Silk Parasites]

[Evil Energy: You exude an evil aura, which will cause infected beings to fall into a state of chaos and absorb energy containing negative emotions.]

[Environmental Adaptation: Able to adapt to various harsh environments and change physical constitution according to the environment]

[Monster Bloodline: One of your abilities will be greatly enhanced; your flesh contains toxins, and beings outside the evil alignment will be hostile towards you]

[Spider Soul Parasite: Consumes one's own soul power to summon a ghost spider. When it attaches to the target's head area, it can control the target's brain.]

Monsters are a common type of spirit in Western mythology, such as harpies, sirens, and minotaurs. They are generally portrayed as evil villains.

Tang Ping quickly scanned the effects of the four spiritual powers and knew that Zhao Yeman was strong enough to win, so he stopped paying attention to them and instead looked for Qian Jiajun, the former member of the Armed Forces Section who had defected with Cao Poshi. However, no matter how hard he looked, he still couldn't find him.

He didn't believe the other side could evade the detection of "Three-Eyed True Radiance".

If Tang Ping still hasn't realized that "Three-Eyed True Radiance" is a high-level spiritual energy, it can only mean that he has been brainwashed.

Therefore, Qian Jiajun must not be on the battlefield, but is still hiding in Changde City, performing remote spellcasting.

What are you spacing out for!

A sharp halberd shadow pierced through the air, its blade flashing coldly, severing the vines that were binding Tang Ping's feet.

Yuan Ji, wielding his Green Dragon Halberd, stood in front of Tang Ping, sweeping and slashing with powerful, sweeping movements that created an impenetrable defense. He even had the leisure to ask, "Have you come up with a plan?"

Tang Ping said, "It's very simple. Whatever the enemy wants to protect, we destroy. Just do the opposite."

“What the enemy is protecting…” Yuan Ji looked up and glanced at the city. “It is undoubtedly that city, but only Captain Ling Chong among us has the ability to destroy large buildings.”

“Okay, so I’ll go and distract Cao Poshi to free Ling Chong. You’ll be responsible for dealing with any other possible psychic accomplices, and be ready to rescue people at any time.”

After Tang Ping finished speaking, without waiting for Yuan Ji's response, she immediately rushed towards Ling Chong's direction.

"Ah! He's so cunning. I want to fight him too."

Yuan Ji was unable to stop him and looked unwilling, but for the sake of the overall situation, he had no choice but to stay and deal with the increasingly rampant growth of the plants.

Tang Ping chose to go himself not because he wanted to fight against the former invincible opponent in the country, but because he obtained information about Cao Poshi through his psychic abilities.

[Character: Cao Poshi]

[Spiritual Attribute: Garuda]

[Psychic Power: Buddha Kingdom General, Feeds on Poison, Calms Waves, Perfect Wishes]

[Buddhist Kingdom General: In an environment filled with Buddhist energy, one's abilities will be greatly enhanced, and one can summon a small Buddhist kingdom world.]

[Feeding on Poison: Before exceeding your own tolerance limit, poison will not harm you in the slightest. You can slowly dissolve poison and convert it into spiritual energy.]

【Suppressing Waves and Calming the Floods: Possesses the divine authority to suppress floods, can restrain waters, making them stagnant, and is immune to water-based magical arts】

【Perfect and Auspicious: When the mind is always in a state of perfection, it is not invaded by external evils. When focusing on thinking, it enhances understanding and makes it easier to generate inspiration】

Garuda's first spiritual power, "Buddha Kingdom General," is undoubtedly very powerful, but Cao Poshi's reason for not using it is simple: summoning the Buddhist Kingdom world would certainly greatly enhance his own abilities, but Ling Chong's spiritual rank also belongs to Buddhism, and he would also be strengthened in the Buddhist Kingdom world, at most by a lesser extent than him. This advantage is not enough for him to reveal one of his trump cards.

Tang Ping is also a Buddhist spiritual being, so he doesn't care if the other party summons a Buddhist kingdom. But if it were Yuan Ji instead, he would inevitably suffer a great loss.

He quickly arrived at Ling Chong's side, his spiritual energy surging around him. He split his palms into yin and yang, blocking Cao Poshi's claw attack, and then switched to a silk-entwining hand, trying to stick to his opponent.

Such an obvious Tai Chi move caused Cao Poshi to exclaim in surprise. His knuckles immediately exploded, and both hands transformed into eagle claws, trying to shake off Tang Ping's hands and seize her in the opposite direction.

Tang Ping flicked and flipped her sleeve, neutralizing the opponent's shockwave. Then, the two of them clasped hands together.

Tang Ping's expression remained unchanged. His feet moved like horseshoes, unleashing a hidden force as he stomped forward, striking both the calves and the toes, ready to change targets at any moment.

Cao Poshi also wanted to test his opponent's strength, but he refused to back down or give way. He kicked his feet up, unleashing his hidden power, and clashed with them twice with a loud bang. The violent impact and shockwaves caused both of their shoes to be kicked to shreds, breaking into pieces that scattered outwards.

"You also know hidden strength!"

Cao Poshi was taken aback. His wings suddenly unfurled, creating a scorching gust of wind. Countless flaming feathers shot towards Tang Ping like arrows. He took the opportunity to pull back and dodge Ling Chong's attack.

Tang Ping quickly said, "Ignore this guy, continue the assault on the city and break it down as soon as possible."

Ling Chong did not inquire about the reason, but chose to unconditionally trust Tang Ping and resumed commanding the close-combat Dharma Form to attack Changde City.

However, just as the Vajra Pestle was about to strike the city, a loud cry resounded through the heavens and earth. A huge golden rooster phantom soared into the sky from the city, its wings forged like crimson gold, its sharp beak gleaming with a cold light, radiating a powerful pressure that directly knocked the golden rooster back several steps.

"Now that the eel is here, the golden rooster will surely appear as well."

Ling Chong had anticipated this and remained calm. He manipulated his Dharma form to launch another attack, and the Vajra Pestle smashed towards the golden rooster with earth-shattering power.

The golden rooster, undaunted, raised its head and crowed, spewing out a golden beam of light that collided with the Vajra Pestle. The powerful energies collided, bursting forth with dazzling light, causing the entire world to tremble.

"It's no use, I was already on guard against you!"

Cao Poshi was eager to break free from Tang Ping's entanglement and support Jinji's attack on Lingchong, so his moves became even more ruthless, with each strike aimed at vital points.

Tang Ping, however, did the opposite. His movements were unhurried and slow, and he tightly entangled Cao Poshi. His hands were outstretched like swimming dragons, his palms were loosely clenched, and the round Tai Chi energy condensed into a semi-transparent energy shield in front of him.

Cao Poshi's fist slammed heavily onto the air shield, and the air wave spread out like ripples. Tang Ping used the momentum to deflect the force, and as she spun around, she redirected the opponent's fierce power to the side. The stone slabs on the ground were lifted several feet away by this deflected force.

"You brat...you're despicable!"

Cao Poshi was unaware of Tang Ping's spiritual intelligence and immediately decided to take a gamble, activating his spiritual energy to summon the Buddha Kingdom to descend.

Chapter 230 My Martial Arts Are Above Yours

As spiritual energy surged, the sky was torn apart by golden light, auspicious clouds churned, and a Buddhist world, with a golden lotus platform floating above and echoing with the sounds of Sanskrit, slowly descended. Boundless Buddhist light shone down from the Buddhist world, and the Garuda phantom behind Cao Poshi instantly swelled, the flame patterns on its wings transforming into golden Buddhist script, and every feather exuding a terrifying pressure.