Yi Tenglong's Remaining Followers

AB356 Planet.

Under Federation rules, planets beginning with the letter A were all planets within the Milky Way controlled by the Human Race.

Those beginning with only a single A had all been terraformed and were suitable for human habitation.

Those beginning with two letters, on the other hand, were all Resource Planets of various kinds.

AB356 Planet was one such Resource Planet.

Its total volume was a thousand times that of Blue Star.

It contained extraordinarily abundant metal deposits.

Its mining rights had been carved up among three mining industry giants.

Southern Hemisphere.

Deep underground.

Inside a secret base.

At its center was a room resembling a prison cell.

All manner of terrifying torture devices could be seen everywhere in the room.

At that moment, a burly old man with white hair and beard sat in a torture chair.

Sharp spikes continuously extended from the chair's backrest and pierced into his back.

Blood streamed down.

Numerous tentacles also extended from the armrests, sticking to his ten fingers.

Currents of electricity continuously passed through the tentacles, stimulating his fingertips.

Piercing pain constantly surged from his back and fingertips into his brain.

It twisted the old man's face.

Beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down in streams, and whenever they touched the wounds on his back, they brought another indescribable burning sensation.

Yet the old man clenched his teeth tightly and did not so much as grunt.

His gaze was fixed ahead.

There stood an enormous virtual screen.

It was broadcasting Yi Chen's scene of comprehending the icy wind of heaven and earth on the Exile Planet.

Within the old man's clouded eyes, still carrying authority and forcefulness, flashes of fervor belonging only to devout believers appeared from time to time.

"Grandfather!"

A tall, stunningly beautiful girl walked in.

"Speak!"

The intense pain brought by the torture made even uttering a single word extremely difficult for the old man.

"Subjects Number Sixty-Five through Number Seventy all ended in failure. According to news from our informant, the Military's secret Research Institute has likewise not produced a single successful case. They have not even made the slightest progress."

The girl explained.

The old man said nothing, but a smile actually appeared on his pained face.

For the investors of the major Cultivation Method Research Institutes, repeated experimental failures were clearly not good news.

It not only meant the enormous sums they had invested had gone down the drain, but also meant they could not gain powerful personal strength and long lifespans through the Research Institutes.

The old man before her was the sole exception.

He hoped even more that the experiments would fail.

Because experimental failure meant that, in the entire Human Race, only Yi Chen could create cultivation methods.

"Besides that, all kinds of signs indicate that the spies cultivated among our Human Race by the Myriad Races seem to be brewing some sort of operation."

The girl added.

The old man said nothing.

Because at that moment, he no longer had the strength to speak.

The girl clearly understood this as well and merely stood at a distance, waiting.

As she looked at the old man's pained face and blood-soaked back, a trace of pity flashed through her eyes.

Beep, beep, beep...

A crisp series of sounds came from the torture chair.

The execution time was over.

The spikes in the backrest and the tentacles on the armrests all retracted.

The old man slumped in the chair, gasping heavily.

The girl hurried forward, helped him up, and supported him into a medical pod nearby.

The injuries on his body began to heal.

The old man also recovered some of his energy.

After considering matters for a moment, he spoke. "Mobilize all the hackers. Find a way to infiltrate the AI Brain of the unmanned Large Warship on the Exile Planet and sabotage the warship's operating system."

"Once it is done, have the parliamentarians under our control find a way to push through a proposal to send a Large Warship to the Exile Planet, exile a new batch of Serious Criminals there, and repair the operating system at the same time!"

The girl was somewhat stunned. "Grandfather, do you want to rescue the Young Master from the Exile Planet?"

"We do not have a Large Warship, so we cannot rescue the Young Master. Besides, comparatively speaking, the Young Master is actually safer on the Exile Planet."

The old man shook his head. "We need to send people to the Exile Planet to protect the Young Master!"

"Mobilizing hackers to sabotage the warship's operating system will not be a problem, but we control very few Federal Parliament members. It is impossible for us to push through a proposal to send Serious Criminals to the Exile Planet ahead of schedule."

The girl reminded him.

"Our family alone cannot control the Federal Parliament's decisions. But do you think ours is the only family?"

The old man asked in return.

The girl was clearly extremely intelligent. After only a second or two of stunned silence, she understood.

Those towering figures of immense power, those top tycoons who had established Cultivation Method Research Institutes, those spies recruited and cultivated among the Human Race by the Myriad Races...

After confirming that the Cultivation Method Research Institutes had made no progress whatsoever, they likely also wanted to send people to the Exile Planet to approach Yi Chen.

Only their purposes differed.

"Make the arrangements. Select a group of people with extraordinary intelligence and unwavering loyalty to go to the Exile Planet and protect the Young Master!"

The old man continued.

The girl was somewhat surprised. "If we want to protect the Young Master's safety, shouldn't we send out the strongest Gene Warriors?"

"No. Given the Young Master's rate of growth, he does not need our protection in terms of strength. Sending brilliant minds is to ensure that no one who wants to kill him infiltrates his side."

The old man said calmly, "All kinds of forces have different goals. Some merely want to obtain the newest cultivation methods the Young Master creates as quickly as possible. That sort poses the least threat."

"Others want to use every possible means to control the Young Master. The spies cultivated by the Myriad Races, in particular, want to approach the Young Master and assassinate him, cutting off all future trouble."

"I understand!"

The girl nodded.

"Go!"

The old man waved his hand.

The girl hesitated. Looking at the old man's exhausted, aged face, she could not bear it and said,

"Grandfather, the Young Master has risen like a comet. Even the Exile Planet cannot conceal his radiance. As long as we welcome the Young Master back, we will surely return to our peak under his leadership. There is no need for you to keep blaming yourself and punishing yourself every day."

"Back then, I did not die alongside my comrades, all so I could avenge the General. To live is the greatest torment for me."

The old man waved his hand again. "These punishments are only meant to stimulate my nerves, to rouse me, to make me endure the torment in my heart and keep living."

A fervent light flashed in his eyes. "The day we welcome the Young Master back will be the moment my soul finds release."

The girl fell silent and could only leave the prison-like room.

Across the entire world of the Human Race, beneath the calm surface, winds and clouds were surging.

A new era, a new struggle—the heavens and earth stirred once more!

At the center of every vortex.

The Exile Planet.

Flame Mountain.

The icy wind howled.

Snow blanketed the ground.

After spending more than a month.

Relying on his powerful comprehension and his unyielding spirit.

Yi Chen had finally gained a deep understanding of the characteristics of wind and the traits of birds and beasts.

He had reached the point where he could begin researching movement technique cultivation methods.