Lu Chen closed his eyes slightly, raised his hands, and placed them on his chest, his palms pressing down on the black pearl.
Suddenly, Zhuang Keluo asked curiously, "Brother Chen, are you praying?"
Lu Chen said irritably, "Focus on driving!"
"Yes!" Zhuang Keluo replied earnestly, "Understood!"
Lu Chen slightly activated his Healing God ability. His limited true energy entered the Healing God ability, which was like a furnace, transforming into a magical energy.
This energy flowed into Lu Chen's chest, indeed activating the black pearl, causing it to emit wisps of spiritual energy.
Lu Chen slowly inhaled, guiding the pearl's spiritual energy, guided by the Healing God energy, from his dantian (lower abdomen) into his heart, then flowing down the Ren meridian, circulating continuously through the Ren and Du meridians and the microcosmic orbit.
With each journey, the pearl's spiritual energy slowly merged with the body's essence and blood, giving birth to a foundation-strengthening true qi, which then gently flowed through the twelve meridians.
Then, a small portion was absorbed by the three fully revealed supernatural abilities—the Curse God, the Healer God, and the Chef God—as well as two other very obscure supernatural abilities; the majority sank into the dantian.
Lu Chen increasingly understood the reason for this state. Those supernatural abilities absorbed a portion of the true qi, much like a person needs three meals a day to maintain basic energy. But once they were activated, to make them effective, they required additional spiritual energy to convert them into the relevant energy.
It felt like raising many children. Although these children could help the adults with many things from birth, Lu Chen still felt somewhat overwhelmed.
Fortunately, there was this black pearl, brimming with the essence of the sea, which could provide a considerable amount of spiritual energy for Lu Chen to convert into true qi, and its effect was even better than the Living Dragon Elixir. The spiritual energy provided by the black pearl was closer to human true energy than the medicinal power of the Dragon Elixir, making it easier to convert.
Once he had almost returned to his original state, Lu Chen stopped absorbing it. Using his Medical God Energy to check the spiritual energy within the black pearl, he found it contained about 70%; he needed to absorb it completely sometime.
Lu Chen estimated that if this black pearl were priced according to the standards of the Dragon Elixir, it could probably sell for over three million. Yang Jiangyu's original intention was clearly not for Lu Chen to absorb its spiritual energy through the Medical God Energy, but rather to probe for other special abilities within the Seven Life Flowers. Unfortunately, Lu Chen had "wasted" that opportunity.
When Lu Chen slightly opened his eyes, he saw that the scene before him was no longer the city. They were out of the city, speeding along a city highway in the mountains. Ahead, the Wuling Rongguang was clearly speeding at full speed; it was shaking violently, the car appearing very unstable, and the Buick Regal was closing in.
At nearly 180 kilometers per hour, the Wuling Rongguang, with a speed limit of around 160 kilometers per hour, was almost at its breaking point. Meanwhile, the Buick Regal, with its speed limiter disabled, could reach 250 kilometers per hour, and it was going to be effortlessly capable!
Lu Chen turned to look at Zhuang Keluo. She seemed quite relaxed, pouting her bright red lips as if she was about to whistle. She turned back to Lu Chen with a smile: "Brother Chen, all rested? Don't worry, once we're out of the city, I reckon we can catch up with them in five minutes at most! Hmph, watch me!"
As she spoke, a hint of fierceness appeared on her pretty face.
She slammed on the gas pedal again!
Whoosh!
The speed instantly soared to 200 kilometers per hour and continued to climb.
Lu Chen even felt a slight sensation of floating backwards, a feeling that he found quite exhilarating.
In less than five minutes, about three minutes, they caught up.
But Zhuang Kelu muttered, "Strange, why are those guys slowing down? They know they're not as fast as me, and they'll catch up eventually, so they're giving up, right? Then they might as well surrender!"
Lu Chen's expression was serious: "They've probably given up and are just running away like this, but surrendering is out of the question!"
Zhuang Kelu chuckled: "Then let's ram them into a ditch, and then we'll go collect their corpses!"
Lu Chen rolled his eyes at her: "My little sister's in the car!"
"Oh yeah!" Zhuang Kelu stuck out her tongue.
Then, the car lurched slightly.
The front of the Buick Regal bumped into the rear of the Wuling Rongguang. Driving at high speed, the Wuling Rongguang jolted from the impact, almost bouncing off its feet.
However, the driver's control was excellent; with a twist of the steering wheel, the car swerved, instantly dissipating the impact. Moreover, the Wuling Rongguang suddenly slid back to the side of the Buick Regal, sitting alongside it.
On Zhuang Keluo's side, the burly young man sitting in the back seat of the Wuling Rongguang turned his head, grinned menacingly at Zhuang Keluo, and suddenly raised a replica of a Type 35 pistol.
Zhuang Keluo shouted, "Damn it! They have guns! Brother Chen, watch out!"
Then, bang!
The burly young man fired a shot through the open window!
A second bang followed immediately—the sound of a bullet shattering the Buick Regal's window.
Zhuang Keluo jerked back, as did Lu Chen. The bullet whizzed past them, striking the passenger-side window with another bang, shattering it.
Both Zhuang Keluo and Lu Chen gasped.
Lu Chen, meanwhile, regretted not bringing his gun.
That gun was the one Lu Chen shot down from the female assassin Yu Menglan in Crescent Moon a couple of days ago. Shangguan Bei later said he wanted it for self-defense. It was a women's handgun, and Lu Chen's large hands weren't comfortable holding it. Plus, China has always strictly prohibited firearms, so he hadn't brought it.
At this moment, facing a handgun attack, Zhuang Keluo was a little flustered, but not too panicked. She released the accelerator, and the Buick Regal quickly reversed, clearly trying to back up behind the Wuling Rongguang.
The wild-blooded girl said angrily, "Damn it, you dare shoot me? I'll ram you!"
Lu Chen was both amused and exasperated. This girl really knew how to swear, calling herself "me"! But he didn't care. He shouted, "Watch out for the little sister in the car!"
Before he finished speaking, the front of the car jolted violently, with a loud bang. Zhuang Keluo screamed.
Both of them were nearly thrown out by the impact, thankfully they were wearing seatbelts! It turned out that as the Buick Regal rapidly reversed, the Wuling Rongguang suddenly swerved, then its tail slammed into the front of the Buick Regal!
The impact caused Zhuang Keluo to immediately lose control of the steering wheel, and the Buick Regal screeched towards the cliff.
Inside the Wuling Rongguang, the driver grinned maliciously, his arms, tattooed with a blue dragon, gripping the steering wheel tightly. He chuckled, "A little girl thinks she can outrun me just because she drives a decent car? Damn it! I'll ram her off the mountain!"
In the back, three other men laughed smugly, saying:
"Boss's driving skills are top-notch. Back in the day, when we raced, who could beat him?"
"Yeah, it's a shame this Wuling Rongguang isn't up to par, otherwise, Boss would have shown his prowess!"
"Even if the Wuling Rongguang isn't good enough, our boss is. Look, he's rammed that Buick Regal off the cliff. If that girl dares to come back, he'll ram her again, then we'll deal with her slowly!"
...
The arrogant laughter filled the car, while on the back seat, Gong Xiaoyi curled up motionless. Her eyes were tightly closed, her face deathly pale; she appeared to be in a deep coma.
Just as the Buick Regal went out of control and was about to crash off the cliff, Lu Chen intervened!
He abruptly grabbed the steering wheel and twisted it, simultaneously applying the brakes slightly, instantly bringing the car to a stop.
Zhuang Keluo, still shaken: "That guy driving is something else! He did that!"
Lu Chen nodded: "Indeed a master. Looks like I'll have to handle this. You sit in the back!"
With that, he gripped the steering wheel with one hand and, with a click, unbuckled his seatbelt.
"You can do it?" Zhuang Keluo was taken aback.
Lu Chen remained calm: "Let me try!"
This "try" was actually a bit of an understatement.
Back when he was a wealthy young master in Jiaying City, Brother Chen was used to driving sports cars, often racing at night. While not the absolute number one, he was frequently in the top five.
Judging from the current situation, the Buick Regal could handle the Wuling Rongguang, but Zhuang Keluo couldn't handle the driver, especially since the other party had a gun. Therefore, Lu Chen decided to take matters into his own hands!
Although somewhat reluctant, Zhuang Keluo was relatively obedient. With Lu Chen holding the steering wheel to stabilize the car, she hunched over and twisted around, climbing towards the back seat. At that moment, her ample, pert buttocks rose high, and her short skirt was almost completely lifted. The sight wasn't just limited to her two beautiful, snow-white legs!
Instantly, Lu Chen was stunned. He almost felt his nose bleed; the car jolted, and he nearly lost his grip on the steering wheel.
Fortunately, he knew the bigger picture was important and quickly got into the driver's seat.
The warm breath emanating from the seat made Lu Chen's heart flutter again.
He gritted his teeth, turned the car around, and the Buick Regal sped off, chasing after the Wuling Rongguang.
Zhuang Keluo, sitting in the back of the car, suddenly asked shyly, "Brother Chen, you didn't see it, did you?"
Lu Chen feigned ignorance: "Huh? See what?"
"Hmph, I know you saw it!" Zhuang Keluo said coquettishly, "I didn't wear anything because it was hot... so I didn't wear anything. If you saw it, fine, but don't tell anyone!"
Lu Chen could only sigh: "Hey lady, if you're wearing such a short skirt, why not wear nothing at all! It's so easy to get exposed! Don't you know there are a lot of perverts who like to take pictures of people on the street these days?"
Zhuang Keluo muttered, "Okay, I'll wear something next time. Actually, those thongs are only a couple of yuan, right? What do you say, Brother Chen?"
Lu Chen rolled his eyes, pretending not to hear.
Whoosh!
The Buick Regal had caught up with the Wuling Rongguang. Just as they were about to overtake, Lu Chen swerved the Buick Regal, using its heavy body to squeeze against the Wuling Rongguang, pushing it towards the cliff.
Clearly, the intention is to force it to stop.