Whoosh!
A deep-blue spectral glow streaked across the sky. Moments later, Shen Mu's King-Class Fighter hovered above Mist Island.
By the time Shen Mu arrived, quite a few people had already gathered on Mist Island. After the Inspector ceremony ended, Hong and Luo Feng had headed straight for the island.
The entire area around Mist Island was filled with forces from every faction. Large numbers of workers surrounded the lake, urgently constructing various facilities, setting up temporary bases, and installing large laser cannons as they prepared for battle.
"Hall Master, Speaker Thunder God."
Shen Mu turned into a streak of light and appeared beside Hong and Thunder God.
"It seems you've gained quite a bit these past few months." Hong sized Shen Mu up.
Others might not have noticed anything, but Hong and Thunder God both keenly sensed some changes in Shen Mu.
In the past, Shen Mu had cultivated desperately, as if he were constantly being driven forward under immense pressure. Now, however, he seemed more natural and clear-minded. His entire bearing had become steadier and calmer; evidently, his state of mind had improved.
Shen Mu smiled. "I've been contemplating heaven and earth and reading the classics of ancient sages these past few months. I truly have gained quite a lot."
As Shen Mu spoke with Hong, Luo Feng came over as well. The fluctuations of his Mentalist power were several times stronger than when he had first returned, clearly indicating that he had genuinely broken through to the Planet-Level.
"Brother Shen!" Luo Feng greeted Shen Mu.
Shen Mu chuckled. "Congratulations, Inspector Luo, on successfully breaking through to the Planet-Level."
Deep beneath the ground, within an underground cavern in the depths of the rock strata.
A crimson spacecraft with extremely sharp lines along its edges lay dormant there. Though tens of thousands of years had passed, the spacecraft remained as pristine as ever, as if time had never eroded it.
"Hehe, they really all came!"
Within the virtual space, a small demon-like figure excitedly rubbed his hands together.
"The birth of some so-called Beast Emperor really did draw all of you here!"
"What a dilemma. Luo Feng or Shen Mu, which one should I choose?"
There was no need to question Luo Feng's Mentalist talent. At the ninth level of the Apprentice rank, his brain domain breadth had already exceeded the standard of 20.
The "Heaven-Dodging" secret technique Luo Feng had acquired contained explanations regarding brain domain breadth. Brain domain breadth represented one's soul and Mentalist talent.
It specifically mentioned that at the peak of Yunmo Star, Apprentices with brain domain breadth above 20 were considered fairly outstanding.
"Shen Mu isn't bad either. He had a brain domain breadth of 17 at the Apprentice rank. Although that's far behind, his comprehension is stronger than Luo Feng's. He's already begun comprehending the mysteries of a domain at the Planet-Level... His future achievements may not be inferior to Luo Feng's."
"Ahhh, this is driving me crazy!"
"Boss, why did you only leave behind one inheritance back then?!"
Although Yunmo Star's various manuals could be taught to multiple people, there was only one Inheritance Soul Mark personally crafted by the master of Yunmo Star.
The Inheritance Soul Mark could transform mind power. Without converting it into Yunmo Star's unique mind power, cultivating Yunmo Star's exclusive secret techniques was virtually impossible.
"Forget it, better play it safe. It's not like he has terrifying comprehension like Hong!"
"The difference in comprehension isn't that great. Soul talent is what truly matters. Choosing Luo Feng is safer. Once he Body Snatches a high-bloodline race in the future, his potential will be limitless, fully making up for any shortcomings in comprehension."
"Mm, that settles it. Luo Feng will inherit Master's legacy, and then I'll find a chance to bring Shen Mu into Yunmo Star as well. Oh, Hong isn't bad either. He's a Planet-Level domain expert, so I'll take him too!"
After making his choice, Babata began dropping Mu Ya Crystals one after another.
As Mu Ya Crystals appeared, human society erupted into an uproar. Every Councilor-level expert began searching for Mu Ya Crystals.
Underground, Shen Mu controlled his flying knives as they swiftly traveled through the earth.
Rumble!
The rock strata shook violently as Shen Mu burrowed into an underground cavern.
"This is... Mu Ya Crystal? There are 145 of them?"
Not far from Shen Mu, over a hundred Mu Ya Crystals emitting faint glimmers of light were piled together on the rock wall.
Buzz!
Invisible Mentalist power swept outward, instantly covering the entire underground cavern. More than a hundred Mu Ya Crystals were immediately stored in the backpack on Shen Mu's back.
Shen Mu pondered slightly as he surveyed the entire cavern, yet he detected no sign of the Yunmo Star spacecraft.
Throwing out more than a hundred Mu Ya Crystals at once, Babata had definitely noticed him, but apparently had not directly chosen him.
Whatever. Let things take their course.
It would naturally be better if he could obtain the secret techniques of Yunmo Star's lineage in the future, but it did not matter if he could not.
After all, Shen Mu now possessed the foundation to rise. Even without Yunmo Star's legacy, he was confident he could still make his rise.
After collecting the Mu Ya Crystals, Shen Mu did not linger and turned to leave.
Aboveground, it was already late at night.
When Shen Mu flew out from underground, he instantly drew countless gazes.
"Councilor Shen Mu."
"Inspector Shen."
Most of those aboveground were War God-level fighters. As for the Planet-Level Councilors, they were still underground searching for Mu Ya Crystals.
Shen Mu nodded slightly, then looked toward a War God martial artist from Limit Martial Hall and asked, "Are the Hall Master and the others still searching for Mu Ya Crystals?"
"Yes, Inspector Shen. According to the latest intelligence, Inspector Luo has just discovered three Mu Ya Crystals, and the Hall Master has already gone over."
"Alright, I understand. Tell the Hall Master and the others that I'm leaving first. If anything comes up, summon me at any time."
After making those arrangements, Shen Mu flew directly back into his King-Class Fighter and returned to Kyoto Base City.
He would first use these hundred-plus Mu Ya Crystals to feed East Sea Azure Dragon. As a monster that would reach the Planet-Level upon adulthood, East Sea Azure Dragon would encounter no bottlenecks in reaching the ninth level of the Planet-Level as long as it had sufficient resources.
Therefore, Shen Mu planned to force-feed it, to see whether East Sea Azure Dragon could evolve to the ninth level of the Planet-Level before the Golden Horned Beast broke through to the Star-Level.
As for Shen Mu's main body, his primary focus still had to be contemplating heaven and earth.
With East Sea Azure Dragon's decades of understanding of the ocean, along with Shen Mu's accumulation over the past few months, his artistic conception was now not much weaker than Thunder God's.
Yet he had encountered the same problem as Thunder God. Even though he clearly knew where the road ahead lay, he did not know how to cross this barrier.
However, Shen Mu's situation was ultimately different from Thunder God's. He possessed an East Sea Azure Dragon avatar.
During this period, Shen Mu had read all kinds of ancient texts, including classics containing profound truths as well as fables and storybooks filled with philosophy.
He happened to come across a story among them, and it made Shen Mu feel that he might have found a path with hope of breaking through into the domain realm.
"It's January now. There are still more than four months until the southern flood season... The Golden Horned Beast will not evolve to the Star-Level until January next year. There's more than enough time."
Once May arrived and the southern flood season began.
Shen Mu planned to emulate the flood-dragons of myth and legend, riding the tides and moving with the waters, resonating with nature's greater momentum through Harmony of Man and Nature to comprehend a domain.
The second update came late. Brothers, please be understanding.
Before you continue