Austin and the others, having sprinted over three hundred meters away from the White Wolf King’s Ice Rock Technique range, turned back to see a sight that struck them dumb with shock! Centred on the White Wolf King was a massive crater, fifty meters in diameter, plunging some fifteen to sixteen meters deep, its surface encased in a thick layer of ice!

How potent was the innate combat skill of a Fourth-Tier Battle Beast! Watching the gouged earth, Grace felt a sudden, sharp sting in her heart, as if pierced by a needle.

She had been carried out by a Ninth-Tier Fighter; seeing that Chen Feng had not escaped the wolf’s attack radius meant only one thing: he must have been reduced to ash by such a ferocious assault! “Is he… dead?” Grace’s mind swam in a daze.

Logically, she should be glad that Chen Feng was dead, as he held her hostage, yet for some unknown reason, the memory of Chen Feng’s cold eyes, his composed features, and the unique aura of the youth brought a wrenching pain to her chest! “He won’t die!” Austin suddenly declared, “If he truly comes from ‘that place,’ he definitely won’t die!” ………… Chen Feng was encased in ice within the depression in the ground, completely unable to move, the biting cold around him causing him to shiver uncontrollably.

Because his body had been tempered under the Heavy Domain for three months, his resistance to impact and overall toughness were far superior to that of an ordinary person. Under such a forceful shock, he had only sustained minor injuries.

However, the ice layer was too thick to break through easily. Chen Feng tried several methods to no avail.

There was no oxygen within the ice, and his Arashi-ga strike couldn't shatter it. Now, his only recourse was to wait for the vortex energy to re-converge, building up a Qi Point so he could unleash the Orochi Tsumagi to break free!

Thinking this, Chen Feng surprisingly felt no urge to rush. He closed his eyes, mentally guiding the dispersed vortex energies within his body back toward his Dantian… ………… Little Tiger jumped up in alarm when he saw his boss frozen beneath the surface.

A Fourth-Tier Battle Beast’s Blood Droplet innate skill—no Fighter below the level of a Battle Master could possibly break it! What was to be done?

The Boss must have been profoundly affected by that Grayish-Blue Demon Wolf’s Fourth-Tier innate magic. He never imagined a Fourth-Tier innate skill could possess such devastating power!

“I should have told him sooner! If I had told him, this wouldn't have happened!

High-Level Illusory Beasts inherently carry an oppressive force over low-Tier Demon Beasts. The Grayish-Blue Demon Wolf’s innate magic that time was less than a tenth of its usual power.

And now, the White Wolf King unleashed its Blood Droplet innate skill…” Little Tiger regretted his inaction deeply. Watching the seconds tick by, if the Boss wasn't rescued soon, he would certainly suffocate inside.

Little Tiger glanced at the White Wolf King ahead, which looked weak and listless after deploying its innate magic, and fury ignited in his heart. He lunged forward in a single bound, raking a claw toward the wolf king’s head!

To save the Boss, he had to kill this thing first! That was the only thought dominating Little Tiger’s mind.

However, even in its weakened state, the White Wolf King was a peak Fourth-Tier Battle Beast, superior in rank to Little Tiger. Before Little Tiger’s claw could connect, the White Wolf King slammed its head into him, sending him flying dozens of meters away.

“Give my Boss back…” Little Tiger roared, preparing to charge again. “Rumble… rumble…” Just then, a deep, resonant roar echoed from beneath the earth.

Little Tiger felt the ground shake violently and immediately lost his footing, collapsing onto the ground. “What was that?” Austin and the others also turned pale.

“Could it be an earthquake?” “No, look at that!” someone suddenly cried out, pointing. Everyone followed the direction of the finger toward where Chen Feng was trapped.

All the ice layers began to vibrate incessantly! The heavy ice sheet, fifty meters in diameter, started to emit a creaking sound before a sharp crack formed a small fissure.

Following this initial fault line, the ice layer began to splinter with a multitude of crisp cracking sounds. The noise was agonizingly shrill, like the grinding of teeth, making everyone’s heart pound with sudden panic, an overwhelming sense of helplessness washing over them.

“Ah…” With a sharp cry, ten thousand beams of light suddenly shot out from the shattered fissures, appearing even more crystalline and brilliant as they refracted through the ice. This time, however, the onlookers were mentally prepared and did not suffer a blinding flash.

“Boom!” After the light subsided, the ice layer exploded violently. Shards of broken ice shot out in all directions, tumbling end over end in the sunlight, extraordinarily dazzling.

“Ah… Look! It’s Kusanagi!” someone yelled out in excitement.

The earth in the center of the crater suddenly flipped over, and a figure ascended step by step from within. His entire body seemed coated in a faint golden sheen, giving him an almost unreal appearance as he walked on the ground.

However, this figure was several times more powerfully built than Kusanagi, his exposed musculature taut and brimming with raw strength. “He’s alive!

Haha…” Everyone burst into cheers. Although he didn't look exactly like Kusanagi, their instincts told them it had to be him.

Humans are, fundamentally, strange creatures. When life is peaceful, they enjoy fighting amongst themselves, but when faced with true peril, they cast aside all grudges to unite against a common foe.

This is much like a story reported once: two families of fishermen were bitter enemies, each wishing the other dead. Once, while out at sea, they encountered a rare, massive storm.

Meeting in the raging sea, their only chance of survival was to work together. They fought side-by-side like inseparable comrades, eventually escaping the storm and returning home safely.

This could be seen as the good side of human nature, or perhaps, the ugly side. Chen Feng and the others were, by all accounts, not on the same path.

But during the assault by the Ice Rock Wolf Pack, if he hadn’t made the final move to seek out the White Wolf King, everyone present would likely be dead by now! Filled with gratitude, they naturally hoped Chen Feng would not perish.

Seeing the ice shatter and him emerge was cause for immense excitement! The emotions the crowd held for Chen Feng were no longer the resentment and jealousy felt upon first meeting him; those feelings had been replaced by awe and deep gratitude!

………… “Bursting Qi?” The word echoed in Chen Feng’s mind. While trapped beneath the ice, his mind had been utterly clear, focused only on gathering the vortex energy.

His potential, tempered by the Crimson Flame, suddenly erupted, causing both his Battle Qi cultivation and physical muscle mass to more than double! He finally understood why Elder Flame Dragon once said he possessed one hundred percent Battle Qi cells, yet could only utilize fifty percent.

The reason was Bursting Qi! Once he utilized one hundred percent of his Battle Qi cells, he would enter the Bursting Qi state!

However, fully releasing one hundred percent of the Battle Qi cells placed an enormous strain on the body. Given Chen Feng’s current physical conditioning, he could only maintain this state for a mere minute!

This meant that mastering this method of Bursting Qi allowed him to instantly double his strength for sixty seconds! What an insanely powerful method!

But it seemed the strongest technique in The King of Fighters wasn't Bursting Qi, but Berserk Mode… Bursting Qi, conceptually, was quite simple: igniting the vortex energy within every single Battle Qi cell, causing them to swell temporarily, allowing them to hold significantly more vortex energy, achieving an increase in both power and speed. Doubling both strength and speed naturally resulted in a geometric increase in attack power… Of course, each muscular expansion could only last one minute; to use it again, the muscles would need to recover, the duration of recovery depending directly on the quality of the muscle tissue!

Even with Chen Feng’s current physique, he could only endure one instance of Bursting Qi every three days! Chen Feng emerged from the deep pit and fixed a cold gaze on the White Wolf King nearby.

The White Wolf King looked listless after deploying its innate skill, and the collision with Little Tiger had left it even more dazed. Seeing that its innate combat skill had failed to kill its opponent—and that the opponent seemed even stronger—it tucked its dark tail (the white fur had been scorched black by Chen Feng’s Orochi Tsumagi) and prepared to flee.

As a Fourth-Tier Battle Beast, the White Wolf King was confident in its speed, and indeed, its escape speed was astonishing. “Oh no!

Boss, don’t let that beast escape!” Little Tiger, overjoyed that his Boss was safe, hadn't even managed to greet him before seeing the White Wolf King escaping with its tail tucked. Little Tiger shouted, used the force beneath his feet, and charged after the White Wolf King.

“Hurry up! Boss, if you don't move, it’ll get away!” Little Tiger called out anxiously as he ran, noticing Chen Feng remained stationary.

Little Tiger knew Chen Feng’s speed was inferior to his own, so he didn't hesitate, instantly manifesting Wind Element magic to reach his maximum velocity. If I can catch up to this White Wolf King and slow it down for just a moment, the Boss can catch up, and together we can finish this thing off!

Little Tiger thought as he ran. Unexpectedly, even in poor condition, the White Wolf King was still a Fourth-Tier Battle Beast skilled in sprinting.

Little Tiger found the distance between them actually increasing! “This is bad…” A sense of powerlessness crept into Little Tiger’s heart.

This creature’s speed was too great… Before Little Tiger could despair further, his vision blurred. A hazy shadow suddenly materialized directly in front of the White Wolf King, delivering a sharp thud of a kick that sent the wolf soaring into the air!

ps: I recently heard that posts in the comment section are often deleted without reason. Since The King of Fighters was first uploaded, Old Ya has never deleted a single thread, nor am I the sort of petty person to do so—you can find posts that insult Old Ya have even been specially marked.

Why the posts are disappearing, I truly don't know. My apologies!

If they disappear again, please repost them, several times if necessary! It might be an issue with Qidian's updates.