Chapter 854: Rising Flame Kick
And at this critical moment—
Ling Zhan finally moved.
He calmly took a step forward, arriving beside the staff member, and casually raised his hand to grab the centaur captain's wrist.
"You're courting death!!"
As a level 187 powerhouse, the centaur captain naturally sensed this human's movement clearly.
When he saw that the other party dared to try to block his slap, he clenched his teeth, veins bulging instantly on his arm!
Power surged—activated!
Valor of the Warlord—activated!
The power of this slap instantly skyrocketed!
No need to imagine the outcome now.
If the slap landed, not only the staff member, but even this punk would be sent flying with serious injuries.
Pa!!
However—
Reality seldom goes as expected.
The audience didn't get the bloody scalp or cracked skull they were hoping for.
Instead, they saw the handsome young man effortlessly clamp the centaur captain's wrist with ease.
Blocked...
Blocked it!?
He actually blocked the centaur captain's empowered slap!
Woah!!
A fresh wave of uproar rolled through the crowd.
The eyes of many Professionals were filled with shock and disbelief as they stared at the scene.
Quite a few of them silently admitted—if they'd tried to block that slap, there's no way they could've done it so effortlessly.
Most likely, they'd be sent flying!
"Holy crap! He really caught it!"
"You can tell—this guy, whose aura is so deeply restrained, clearly has serious skills. Otherwise, he couldn't have blocked it so casually."
"True. If it had been me, I'd probably be in the wall already…"
The crowd exclaimed while gossiping excitedly.
"Thank you…"
The staffer had actually closed her eyes already.
When she opened them, she saw a slender arm shielding her, stopping that brutal slap in her place.
Ling Zhan didn't respond. He simply gave the centaur captain's arm a gentle push, sending the slap right back.
Then he spoke blandly, "I came here today to run a dungeon quickly. I don't want to waste time here. So kindly move aside. Otherwise, bear the consequences yourself."
His tone was exceedingly calm.
There wasn't a hint of threat in his voice.
When he spoke, it sounded as casual as someone saying, "I'm going to have lunch."
But naturally, that didn't work here.
The centaur captain gave Ling Zhan a long, deep look, then sneered coldly, "Bear the consequences? You tell me—what consequences could I possibly suffer?"
"Boss, seriously, stop wasting time. Just have him take us into the dungeon. If he doesn't want to, drag him outside and teach him a lesson!"
At that moment, the centaur swordsman behind him yawned as he spoke.
He was clearly growing impatient.
As for his captain's slap being blocked, he didn't seem very surprised.
After all, he could block it too. The slap didn't use any skills—just raw strength. He was nearly the same level as the captain, so he wouldn't lose.
It could only mean—
This kid had some strength, but not that much.
To make them feel fear or give up their goal? That was obviously impossible.
"Hmph! Don't need you to remind me!"
"Hey, brat!"
With that, the centaur captain turned to Ling Zhan, dark skin twitching with veins, his eyes filled with savage intent like a beast choosing its prey.
He gave a low warning, "Kid, don't mistake kindness for weakness. Since you've got dungeon tickets, let us join you. We'll help you clear it and get you the XP rewards."
As expected—
They weren't targeting Ling Zhan himself, but the dungeon tickets he held.
The tickets for the ten hardest dungeons cost more than a dozen billion Holy Crystal Stones.
And that's just the starting bid at auction.
With bidding wars, it could rise to hundreds of billions, even trillions.
Exaggerated?
Yes, absolutely.
But that's the price of top-tier dungeon resources.
After all, most people in this world were bottlenecked by lack of dungeon access.
So high-level dungeon tickets were outrageously expensive.
Hearing this, a flicker of impatience crossed Ling Zhan's eyes.
He had kept a low profile.
He hadn't used his authority as the Demon-Slaying Legion's Chief Instructor to cut in line, nor had he shown off or caused any trouble.
He just wanted to quietly run a dungeon, get some XP and rewards.
Yet even that was enough to attract trouble. Ling Zhan couldn't help but sigh—was this the fate of a protagonist?
Unbelievable. Even trying to run a dungeon gets you mobbed by brain-dead clowns.
"Master, leave it to me."
"There's no need for you to act here."
At that moment—
Yun Man's cold voice rang out.
Dressed in a striking crimson feathered gown, her frosty, delicate face stepped up to the centaur captain.
Her slender, graceful figure stood in stark contrast to the towering, four-to-five-meter-tall centaur.
Moreover—
In terms of power aura, the centaur captain completely overwhelmed this young girl.
She seemingly had no chance of victory.
But just as the crowd was preparing to laugh—
Yun Man's fiery red vertical pupils suddenly turned fierce!
Whoosh!!
She suddenly raised her long right leg and launched a rising kick directly at the centaur captain!
Fwoosh!
As her long leg rose, terrifying divine flames wrapped around it.
Turning this simple kick into a Blazing Rising Flame Kick!
"Hmph! You think you can hurt me!?"
The centaur captain snorted coldly. Of course he noticed the attack.
He raised one of his horse legs and stomped down toward Yun Man's rising kick!
He wanted to snap that slender leg of hers clean in half!
This was his punishment for her.
He was even looking forward to her desperate, pained scream.
But...
Things didn't go as he wished.
Crack!!
A crisp sound of bone shattering echoed in the air.
And then—
"Awooo!!"
A shrill, pained scream rang through the entire hall!
Boom!!
A shockwave exploded outward, knocking the crowd back several steps. Even the magic-tiled floor cracked under the force of the blast.
Looking back—
The once-proud centaur captain was now clutching his horse leg, staggering backward while howling in pain.
That leg was completely twisted. Yun Man's powerful kick had slammed directly into his body, and divine flames of the mythical bird Bi Fang had scorched his lower body fur into pitch-black ash.
He should count himself lucky.
The centaur's anatomy was quite different from a human's.
The vital area wasn't where Yun Man kicked.
Otherwise, along with the bone-cracking sound, there might've also been an egg-cracking one.