ACSP: Chapter 183: Every Technique Has Its Weakness
"Xiao Tu, are you absolutely sure your intel wasn't compromised? Is that Inoue Gessui guy really completely immune to all damage?" Yuan Danqing snapped his head around, fixing a sharp, doubting gaze on the boy.
Xiao Tu nodded fervently, his expression dead serious. "It's impossible for it to be wrong! Earlier, when their squad was ambushing Sister Xiaolin and the City Lord, I was suppressed in the shadows. I watched his ability activate with my own eyes. Physical blades just passed right through him."
Lin Ye's brow furrowed into a tight knot. "But if his physical form is entirely immune to incoming attacks, then how on earth did Jiang Chen erase him so effortlessly?"
Realizing how his words might sound, Lin Ye's face paled slightly, and he quickly turned to Jiang Chen to clarify. "Jiang Chen, don't misunderstand—none of us are questioning your monstrous strength. I just think the intelligence Xiao Tu gathered must have been flawed or exaggerated."
"His information is perfectly accurate," Jiang Chen stated calmly, his voice cutting through the rising debate. "Contractors who inherit the bloodline of the Hōzuki clan all possess the [Hydrification Technique]. At any given microsecond, their molecular structure can liquefy into pure water, granting them total immunity against physical strikes and standard kinetic skill damage."
Wang Shanshan stepped forward, her eyes wide with burning curiosity. "Then how did you bypass that immunity to kill him? And to do it that damn fast?"
A faint, cold smile played on Jiang Chen's lips. "If a person could truly be immune to every form of destruction, they would be invincible. Unfortunately for him, there is no such thing as an absolute, flawless technique in this world. To borrow a well-known proverb from our ancestors: everything in nature has its natural counter. And the absolute predator to the Hōzuki clan's Hydrification Technique is Lightning Release."
The revelation hit the group like a physical shockwave. Enlightenment washed over their faces.
So that was the hidden vulnerability. Inoue Gessui's celebrated, untouchable defense could be shattered instantly by high-frequency electricity.
"Damn it... if we had only unearthed this critical piece of intel sooner, maybe... just maybe City Lord Li Hongfei wouldn't have fallen in battle!" Xiao Tu's fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned white, the words forced through his violently gritted teeth.
At the sudden mention of City Lord Li Hongfei, Li Yanran's shoulders trembled slightly, a wave of profound, suffocating sorrow washing over her features.
Before the group could sink into mourning, Jiang Chen's voice rang out again, sharp and unyielding. "Do you honestly believe that simply having a Contractor on your side who can wield Lightning Release guarantees a kill? Don't be so naive. Battles between high-level Contractors change in the blink of an eye. Possessing an elemental counter merely hands you a theoretical advantage. If you grow arrogant and underestimate the enemy because of it, the ones crying over a corpse in the end will be yourselves."
He wasn't spinning a grim tale just to terrify Li Yanran and the survivors.
Inoue Gessui's combat vigilance had been exceptionally high. Just now, the absolute second the man witnessed the crackle of Lightning Release, his immediate, unhesitating instinct was to abort the mission and flee. He didn't possess an ounce of foolish pride; he hadn't even attempted to test Jiang Chen's depth.
It was glaringly evident that the division captain had been an extremely cunning, pragmatic predator. If Jiang Chen hadn't deployed a calculated Shadow Clone feint from the start to lock down the perimeter, capturing that liquid shadow would have been an entirely different story.
If he hadn't held back an ace just now.
Using [Shadow Clone] to mislead the opponent's attention first.
And then using Earth Release to launch a surprise attack from underground.
Perhaps the opponent would have already run away by now.
Jiang Chen's words taught Li Yanran and the others a harsh lesson, from which they benefited greatly.
Everyone took Jiang Chen's words to heart and immediately ran over to Zhang Xiaolin.
Zhang Xiaolin's condition at this moment was not optimistic.
Not only had she suffered severe external injuries.
But also, previously, when Inoue Gessui used the [Tailed Beast Extraction Seal] to extract her Tailed Beast.
She had also suffered great mental trauma.
If she didn't receive timely treatment and rest, there was a fear for her life.
"I can preserve her life for now, but if she wants to recover as soon as possible, you must find a Contractor proficient in medical skills to treat her."
Jiang Chen injected a stream of Six Paths Chakra into Zhang Xiaolin's body, then handed her over to Li Yanran.
Li Yanran glanced at the unconscious Zhang Xiaolin, her expression grim as she said, "Our Jinghai City's most formidable medical Contractor is Sister Xiaolin. Trying to find someone to treat her now is probably not realistic."
Wang Shanshan also said with a worried face, "That's right, and with the city in such chaos, let alone finding a medical Contractor, even finding recovery-type medicine is very difficult."
Jiang Chen said indifferently, "I will send you to Kang City now. After you arrive there, go immediately to the General Chamber of Commerce in the East District and look for a person named President Xia Qianning. She will help you."
Li Yanran was stunned upon hearing this, "Wait, your friends are still in the city fighting those Dongdao Contractors. Is it really okay for us to leave now?"
She thought for a moment, then added, "How about you give us a map to Kang City, and we will take Sister Xiaolin there ourselves?"
Jiang Chen shook his head, "No need. I have a way to send you directly to Kang City, but you must come with me to find someone first."
...
Meanwhile, high above the frantic skyline of Jinghai City.
Li Dala hovered in the open air, a manic gleam in his eyes as he continuously molded and rained down waves of [Clay Spiders]. He was orchestrating a relentless, indiscriminate bombing campaign, deliberately targeting the pockets of Dongdao Contractors and the invading "Eastern Coalition Army" scattered across the streets below.
The deafening, earth-shattering roars of detonations rose and fell in a chaotic rhythm, never pausing for even a single second.
Wherever his explosive payloads landed, the enemy lines were instantly obliterated. The invading Dongdao forces and their coalition lackeys were either blown into unrecognizable pieces or left violently crippled, bleeding out in the rubble with no one left to save them. Shrill wails of agony and the thunderous shockwaves of detonating chakra echoed through every alleyway of the ruined town.
These two sounds intertwined into a horrific symphony of war, but to Li Dala, it was pure adrenaline. The sheer destruction made him feel exceptionally, wildly ecstatic.
"Hahaha! The feeling of art blowing up is simply wonderful!" he roared, his laughter echoing over the wind. "And when it comes to blowing up these absolute animals, the satisfaction is indescribable!"
As his manic laughter rang out, Li Dala's hands didn't slow down for a fraction of a second. The hidden mouths in his palms greedily chewed through his remaining explosive clay, churning out an endless swarm of automated spiders that he ruthlessly hurled into the air currents below.
In a strict, high-stakes one-on-one duel against an agile Kage-level specialist, his [Explosion Release] clay artistry might not hold the absolute advantage.
But in a chaotic, dense group battle like this? His individual destructive output was a walking tactical disaster. Standing alone, his personal clay reserves were more than enough to rival, suppress, and utterly dismantle an entire army of hundreds—or even thousands.
...
On the other side of the district, the shattered remains of the Commercial Building stood tall against the smoke.
Lei Li and Cai Kun had finally completed their brutal clearing operations inside the complex. Through their flawless, lethal cooperation, every single insurgent committing atrocities within the rooms, alongside the Dongdao Contractors lurking on the perimeter and the reinforcements who attempted to storm the barricades, had been completely and cleanly wiped out.
Yet, despite their absolute tactical victory, an exceptionally heavy, suffocating silence hung over both men.
The grim reality of what they had found during the room-by-room sweep weighed like lead on their chests. While fighting to rescue the survivors trapped inside the building, they had discovered that a tragic number of civilians had already chosen to take their own lives, unable to bear the horrific humiliation inflicted upon them by the invaders. Even worse, a massive portion of the building's occupants had already been tortured to death by those absolute animals before help could arrive.
Out of the hundreds who had sought refuge in the complex, only a pathetic fraction had been pulled out alive by the two fighters.
Staring at the horrific, blood-soaked scene decorating the ruined corridors, Lei Li's blood boiled with an uncontrollable, white-hot fury.
Boom!
He threw a savage, unbridled punch straight into the structural support beside him, the raw kinetic force instantly smashing an entire brick wall into a spray of pulverized dust and flying debris.
"This group of damned Dongdao animals..." Lei Li growled, his voice trembling with a terrifying, murderous rage as he stared at his bleeding knuckles. "I will make them pay for this. Every single one of them... I will make them pay the ultimate price."
...