Chapter 252: The Sea, Snow, and Forest Collide!

Chapter 252: The Sea, Snow, and Forest Collide!

The absolute silence that followed the catastrophic imagery on the tablet screen was suffocating. The horrific realization that their ancestral homes were now nothing more than burning craters of ash broke the minds of every single master from the Forest and Snow Temples.

Sect Master Betty staggered backward, her ancient fingers trembling so violently that her delicate jade Jian sword clattered against the cracked asphalt. Her eyes looked completely bloodshot, fixed entirely on the cheerfully smiling magical girl standing on the dusty roadside.

"My... my temple," Sect Master Betty shrieked, her voice cracking with a mixture of absolute despair and raw, unadulterated venom. "Three thousand years of legacy, wiped out by cowards using metal tubes from the sky!"

Grandmaster Foo did not scream, but the absolute aura of death radiating from his rugged frame caused the heavy tour bus to vibrate violently behind him. His thick black Fu Manchu mustache twitched as he slowly drew a massive Chinese broadsword from beneath his pristine white robes, the heavy steel gleaming under the hot highway sun.

"You think you have won, you insolent little child?" Grandmaster Foo roared, his booming voice vibrating the very air as his murderous gaze fixed entirely on Ling Ling. "I will personally skin you alive and paste your flesh across this highway before I march to the Central Capital to tear your precious husband to pieces!"

Logan Chen didn't even wait for the old bird to finish his dramatic villain speech, casually crushing his third empty beer can between his fingers and letting out a heavy, alcohol-scented belch. The sweet, burning sensation of the cheap lager was finally circulating properly through his blood, making his vision slightly blurry but his internal energy flow like an untamed ocean current.

"Hey, you old senile bastards, you're looking at the wrong enemy!" Logan barked, his legs forging an unpredictable line as his body began to sway dynamically from side to side. "The Sea Temple is right here, and our Sea Snake Drunken Style is itching to turn your pretty white robes into bloody burial shrouds!"

With a sloppy, staggering step forward, Logan completely threw off his neon construction worker's jacket, exposing his bare, heavily muscled chest which was already flushed a deep red from the surging alcohol heat. Behind him, his ten elite Sea Temple masters all synchronously popped the tabs on their own tallboy cans, chugging the golden liquid down their throats in massive, synchronized gulps before tossing the aluminum aside.

"Kill the girl first!" Sect Master Betty screamed, her face contorting into an ugly mask of rage as she gestured toward Ling Ling. "Seize that magic slut! Slaughter every last one of these drunken degenerates!"

In an instant, the highway exploded into a chaotic warzone as a dozen Forest Temple masters and eight remaining Snow Temple fighters drew their weapons, charging directly toward the roadside. The sheer weight of their collective Advanced and Master level footwork caused the loose gravel along the roadside to dance and scatter like miniature pebbles in a storm.

Logan let out a loud, drunken laugh, his body tilting backward at an impossible, physics-defying angle as the first Forest Temple master lunged at him with a gleaming Jian sword. The sharp tip of the blade missed Logan's throat by a mere millimeter, the wind of the thrust rustling his hair as he dynamically spun on his left heel like a spinning top.

"Too slow, you sober prude!" Logan yelled, executing a fluid, low-profile sweeping motion with his right arm.

His fist, moving with the deceptive, unpredictable trajectory of a strike from an aquatic viper, slammed directly into the side of the master's knee with the heavy force of a tidal wave. A sickening crack echoed through the bottlenecked traffic as the joint completely inverted, sending the attacker crashing face-first into the dusty gravel with a pathetic, gurgling groan.

Right beside him, the Sea Temple fighters were already putting in work, their movements completely erratic and unpredictable as they ducked under broadsword slashes and counter-attacked with devastating open-palm strikes. One of the Sea Temple masters used the hood of a gridlocked civilian Honda Civic as a springboard, launching himself into a double flying kick that smashed two Snow Temple masters straight through their own defensive stances.

Meanwhile, three elite Master-level fighters from the Forest Temple completely bypassed the front line, their cold eyes locked dead onto Ling Ling's crimson gothic-lolita dress. They leaped through the air simultaneously, their heavy broadswords raised high above their heads to split the eccentric young woman completely in half.

Ling Ling didn't even flinch, her grey-blue eyes sparkling with sheer amusement behind her dark-rimmed cosmetic glasses as she held her heavy gilded staff in a classic anime pose. To anyone else, she looked like an Advanced-level martial artist who was completely out of her depth, but her secret strength as a hidden golden Core cultivator meant she was effortlessly tracking every movement.

"Oh no! The scary bad guys are trying to ruin my beautiful dress!" Ling Ling squealed in a highly exaggerated, high-pitched voice, twirling her body around on her sharp spiked heels. "By the absolute power of the dark underworld, I cast a high-tier destruction spell on you evil villains! Starburst Explosion, boom!"

She struck a dramatic V-sign over her eye, pointing the heavy demonic crest of her staff directly at the three mid-air attackers to signal her hidden forces.

The instantaneous, deafening roars of three synchronized anti-material rounds shattered the atmosphere, the sound waves so incredibly massive that they literally blew out the side windows of a nearby stranded delivery van. The high-caliber .50 BMG bullets, fired from the ten hidden God Squad snipers concealed perfectly in the distant treeline, traveled at supersonic speeds.

The three mid-air Forest Temple masters never even had a chance to realize what was happening before the massive kinetic energy of the sniper rounds tore through their chests. Their bodies were violently ripped apart in mid-air, scattering blood and shredded white fabric across the hot asphalt before their lifeless remnants crashed heavily onto the road.

"Kyaaa! My magic is just so incredibly destructive today, fufu!" Ling Ling cheered, completely ignoring the absolute carnage around her as she playfully hopped on one foot.

Grandmaster Foo's eyes widened to the size of saucers, his jaw dropping as he stared at the absolute annihilation of his top disciples. He looked up toward the distant hills, instantly realizing that high-powered military snipers were controlling the perimeter, yet the bizarre girl was acting like she did it with a toy stick.

"You absolute witch!" Grandmaster Foo howled, his ancient internal energy exploding outward so violently that the white robes around his torso began to tear at the seams. "I don't care what kind of hidden weapons you have! No mundane bullet can track the speed of a true Grandmaster!"

With a single, explosive stomp that completely shattered a two-meter section of the highway asphalt into fine powder, Grandmaster Foo vanished from his position. He moved like a literal white ghost, his speed so incredibly immense that he left a blurry afterimage on the road as he bypassed the frontline fighters entirely, heading straight for Ling Ling's throat.

Logan tried to step in to intercept him, but Sect Master Betty suddenly appeared at his flank, her jade sword thrusting toward his liver with venomous speed.

"Your opponent is me, you drunken dog!" Betty hissed, her blade vibrating with a sharp, piercing whistle.

"Get the hell out of my face, old hag!" Logan roared, his drunken state instantly turning aggressive as he threw his weight backward, executing a savage, horizontal back-fist strike.

His forearm collided directly with the flat of her jade blade, the sheer kinetic impact forcing the old woman to skitter back across the gravel, her boots leaving deep tracks in the dirt. But the delay was enough; Grandmaster Foo was already right on top of Ling Ling, his heavy Chinese broadsword swinging downward in a brutal, vertical arc meant to decapitate her.

Suddenly, a massive, imposing figure intercepted the strike out of nowhere.

The nervous tour bus driver from before moved with a level of terrifying, legendary speed that defied his simple uniform, his wrinkled face set into a stern, completely no-nonsense expression. It was Kris Lee, the legendary ex-SDF Commander of Eurasia and Rick's biological grandfather, finally revealing his peak Grandmaster power to protect the girl he assumed was still in her advanced or master level of her shadow spy training.

Kris didn't even use a weapon; he simply raised a heavy, calloused hand wrapped in a thick aura of blue internal energy, catching the razor-sharp edge of Grandmaster Foo's broadsword with his bare palms.

A massive shockwave of compressed air rippled outward from the collision, shattering the remaining windshields of the surrounding civilian cars and sending a cloud of dust billowing into the sky. Grandmaster Foo's eyes filled with absolute horror as he felt his downward momentum completely halted by a man who looked like a simple transit worker.

"Who the hell are you?!" Grandmaster Foo demanded, his muscles straining against the blade as he tried to push down. "A peak Grandmaster hiding as a lowly bus driver?!"

Kris Lee glared at him with his bright-blue eyes, his salt-and-pepper hair rustling slightly in the wind as his grip on the sword tightened like an iron vise.

"I am just an old man who hates seeing arrogant fools try to murder young women," Kris stated, his voice incredibly deep and carrying the hardened authority of a military commander. "You have dishonored the martial arts world today, Foo. Now, face your judgment."

With a brutal twist of his wrists, Kris Lee literally snapped the heavy steel blade of the broadsword in half with his bare hands, sending the broken tip spinning into the dirt. Before Foo could even recover his balance, Kris delivered a devastating, straight military palm strike directly into the center of the old grandmaster's chest.

The impact sounded like a literal cannon firing. Grandmaster Foo gasped out a massive mouthful of dark blood as his ribs completely collapsed inward, his body flying backward through the air like a broken ragdoll. He crashed heavily into the front grill of the tour bus, denting the thick metal frame before sliding down into a lifeless, crumpled heap on the bumper.

Seeing their invincible leader utterly destroyed in a single exchange, the remaining Snow and Forest Temple masters completely lost their will to fight.

They dropped their weapons in absolute terror, falling to their knees or scattering into the nearby woods like frightened rabbits.

Logan let out a low whistle, stumbling over to Kris Lee while wiping a trickle of sweat from his forehead, his drunken state slowly starting to mellow out into a pleasant buzz.

"Holy hell, old man," Logan chuckled, slapping him heavily on the shoulder. "You certainly know how to pack a punch for a guy who drives tourists around for a living."

Kris Lee didn't even crack a smile, turning his stern gaze toward Logan before looking over at Ling Ling, who was casually cleaning her glasses with the hem of her crimson dress. He sighed heavily, dusting off his uniform trousers with a quick, efficient swipe of his hands.

"The Central Capital is currently a powder keg, and my grandson Rick is right in the middle of it," Kris said, his tone deadpan as he walked over to the side of the bus. "We don't have time to waste celebrating. All of you Sea Temple boys, get your luggage on the vehicle right now."

Logan blinked, tilting his head in confusion. "And do what exactly?"

"You are going to put on the white robes of these fallen Forest Temple masters on them and in their luggage," Kris commanded, pointing at the scattered garments on the road. "We will use this tour bus to bypass the security checkpoints leading directly into the Lee faction's territory. I will drive you straight into the heart of the action."

Logan turned to look at his remaining men, who all nodded in immediate agreement; it was a brilliant, tactical move that only a veteran military commander could dream up on the fly.

Kris Lee then walked over to Ling Ling, his expression softening just a tiny fraction as he looked down at the short woman in the wildly elaborate gothic outfit.

"Miss, the road ahead is going to be incredibly dangerous and filled with active military personnel," Kris said seriously, offering her a polite, protective nod. "You should board the bus with us. I can guarantee your safety until we reach the inner sanctuary."

Ling Ling placed her cosmetic glasses back onto her nose, her grey-blue eyes flashing with a highly mischievous, playful light as she let out a delighted, melodic giggle.

"Nop, my personal jet is waiting to fly me directly to my lovely Rick!" Ling Ling cheered, twirling her heavy gilded staff one last time before resting it casually over her shoulder. "Oh, and don't die out there, old man! You still haven't met Rick and my adorable little son, Tim Sun! So see you later, fufu~!"

Before the legendary ex-SDF Commander could even process the absolute bombshell she had just dropped, Ling Ling turned on her heel and sprinted gracefully down the roadside embankment. She hopped flawlessly over a small wire fence, landing directly into the driver's seat of a customized, hot-pink Lamborghini Diablo convertible that was parked hidden behind a large billboard.

With a deafening roar of a modified V12 engine, she slammed her foot on the gas, throwing up a massive cloud of dust as the vibrant sports car drifted wildly onto the open shoulder of the highway, speeding away toward a private airstrip.

Kris Lee stood completely frozen on the side of the road, his arm still half-raised in an offer of assistance, his mouth slightly open as he stared at the vanishing pink speck on the horizon. The peak Grandmaster, who had survived decades of brutal geopolitical warfare, was left entirely speechless by his own granddaughter-in-law.