Leaving the Pass! Crushing Power, World-Shaking

Night.

The two moons that had appeared in the early stages of the mutation had now returned to normal, leaving only a single moon hanging in the sky, casting faint silver light.

The December weather was biting cold, perhaps made even colder by the global mutation.

When Lu Yuan left the villa, he found himself surrounded by a stretch of connected mountains.

Weeds grew wildly, towering trees stood firm, as if this were a completely uncivilized primeval wilderness—not a single trace of modernity could be found.

The place where he had been living was originally flat ground, but now it had turned into a mountain, hundreds of meters tall by his estimate.

Under his perception, the aura was chaotic, and in the distance, various beasts seemed to be lurking.

This was only natural.

Now that the world had undergone a great upheaval, every region was affected.

Familiar places would become strange, no longer as they once were.

In the truest sense, overnight, heaven and earth had turned upside down, seas had shifted into mulberry fields.

For ordinary people, this might be hard to accept.

But Lu Yuan was completely different.

He had already lived for a full ten years in the new era—that was a real experience. For him, this situation had no impact at all.

"Almost here."

Lu Yuan walked several hundred meters from the villa, gazed into the distance, and a brilliant divine light surged in his eyes.

The pitch-black night was no different from daytime in his vision; it couldn't hinder his sight at all.

So now he could see ahead.

A squad of people was slowly approaching, moving with great caution, not making a single sound.

From the aura of these people, none of them were ordinary—they all carried an unusual power within them; they were Awakened.

But very weak.

Lu Yuan didn't move. He stood in place, waiting for the squad to draw near.

As for hiding in the shadows and striking them with a fatal blow when the moment came?

Sorry, that simply didn't exist.

On the other side, the Ninth Elite Squad of the Chang Sheng Gene was groping forward under the cover of night.

"Captain, it should be up ahead," a team member reminded.

"Good. When the time comes, follow my orders," Captain Wang nodded, reiterating, "Remember, capture them alive if possible. If they resist, bring the corpse back."

"Yes!" the team members replied.

They had spent a lot of time on the road, and now they had finally arrived.

But they remained cautious—not because they feared being discovered, but because they didn't want to alert any nearby mutated beasts.

After all, mountains that suddenly appeared after a mutation like this were very likely to harbor mutated beasts.

Most of those beasts had embarked on the path of evolution and were extremely troublesome.

So they had to be as careful as possible.

But soon, the captain at the front, Wang Xing, stopped in his tracks, staring ahead and suddenly freezing.

The others were puzzled and were about to ask, but when they followed his gaze, surprise immediately appeared on their faces.

Because not far from all of them, a person was now standing.

Tall and slender, holding a bow in his hand.

But there were no arrows.

That person stood under the moonlight, his bright eyes coldly fixed on them.

"Everyone's come to my home—is there something you need to take care of?"

Lu Yuan spoke, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

His voice was not loud, and it was very calm, giving off an unhurried, composed feeling.

"Captain, it's that Lu guy. It's him," a team member said at that moment, pulling out a photo to compare and confirm the identity.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Captain Wang snapped back to reality and spoke directly: "Are you Lu Yuan? Did you go to that farm on the outskirts of Wuzhou before? Tell me, what exactly happened on August twenty-first?"

His tone was harsh, carrying an interrogative edge.

Since they had found the man, there was no need for useless words.

At the same time, Wang Xing gave a slight wave of his right hand, and his teammates immediately understood.

They scattered at once, drawing the guns holstered at their waists and aiming at Lu Yuan from various angles.

In their eyes, he looked like an ordinary person, but with a bow in hand, he might have some unexpected tricks up his sleeve.

Though these men had already stepped onto the path of evolution, they weren't about to be careless.

This was the fruit of years of training.

"You're from the Chang Sheng Gene people, aren't you?"

Lu Yuan spotted the patterns on their arms and couldn't help frowning. "Why can't you people just leave me alone?"

He'd predicted earlier that the Chang Sheng Gene faction wouldn't let things go, but he hadn't expected them to arrive this quickly.

As for their goal—

Wasn't it just the meteorite containing the Great Luo Sword Embryo?

"Hmph. Looks like you definitely know something."

Wang Xing immediately caught the meaning in those words, drew his pistol, and continued, "Now, I'll give you two choices. One: don't resist, come with us quietly. Two: die!"

The moment he finished speaking.

The surrounding teammates immediately chambered rounds in their guns.

These were hot weapons—enough to make even an Awakened think twice.

"Truly, the ignorant are fearless."

Lu Yuan shook his head. He hadn't even said anything yet.

These men before him wouldn't even listen to an explanation, intent on dragging him away directly.

At that moment, he twitched his fingers, ready to test the power of the Sky Shaking Bow.

Though it might be overkill.

"Cripple him."

But this elite squad had trained for years, their vigilance razor-sharp.

They judged that Lu Yuan was definitely about to resist, so as their captain, Wang Xing didn't hesitate for a second and gave the order directly.

Bang bang bang!

The next instant, the teammates opened fire.

Dozens of bullets, avoiding vital spots, streaked toward Lu Yuan's arms, shoulders, and legs at breakneck speed.

Clearly, they wanted to keep him alive to hand over to the company.

But at that moment.

Facing the incoming bullets.

Lu Yuan didn't dodge or evade. He just stood there.

Is this guy scared stiff?

That thought flashed through everyone's minds, but soon, they were stunned.

They saw the bullets strike Lu Yuan's body, only to produce a sound like metal clashing, then bounce straight off—piercing several nearby trees instead.

As for Lu Yuan, he didn't budge an inch.

How could this be?

Those were bullets!

The men's faces filled with shock, their eyes going wide.

"Not good—this guy might be an Awakened too. No holding back, kill him!"

Wang Xing reacted instantly, realizing the man before him was no simple foe.

He pulled a grenade from his belt, yanked the pin, and tossed it.

The power of a grenade was nothing like bullets.

Even steel plates would be scarred.

He was confident that even an Awakened couldn't withstand it—most would be blown to bits.

But what happened next once again defied everyone's imagination.

Lu Yuan simply reached out, caught the grenade midair, held it in his palm, expression unchanged, and squeezed hard.

Boom!

A deafening roar and blinding flash of fire erupted, shaking the very ground.

Yet Wang Xing and his men saw him standing calmly within the blaze, casually dusting off his palms, not even a corner of his clothes singed.

"Not bad."

Lu Yuan assessed it. The grenade's power? Far from harming him—it couldn't even pose the slightest threat.

The reason he hadn't struck earlier was precisely to test the strength of his current physique.

Now it was clear—he was absolutely impervious to conventional firearms.

The Shackled Realm.

Truly more powerful than he had imagined.

"He... he's not human?" one of the team members was completely dumbfounded.

They had thought this mission would be simple, but who could have expected to run into a monster like this? A grenade exploding right in front of him had no effect at all—even the company's strongest Awakened couldn't do that, right?

"Stay calm, we're Awakened too!"

Wang Xing, as the captain, barked out a shout.

Emerald light immediately flared in his eyes.

The muscles in his arms swelled in an instant, tearing through his combat suit. His entire body grew to three meters in height, exuding a savage aura.

At the same time, the remaining six team members snapped back to their senses and unleashed their own Awakened abilities.

But their powers were all similar.

They all grew in size, their strength amplified dozens of times over.

Soon, seven giants three meters tall stood there, their faces twisted, green patterns glowing across their bodies, veins bulging on their foreheads—a terrifying sight.

They all struck at once, uprooting trees that would take two men to wrap their arms around, wielding them as weapons.

Such destructive power was indeed beyond what ordinary people could match.

This was the strength an Awakened possessed.

Whether in physique or speed.

Every aspect of their ability increased dozens of times over—terrifyingly powerful, and their greatest reliance.

"I won't waste any more time with you."

Lu Yuan shook his head and took a step forward. His expression didn't even look serious.

But inside his body, a vast power surged forth like a volcanic eruption.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

His entire being radiated an overwhelming aura, forming a storm on the spot. The soil beneath his feet sank.

At the same time, behind him, an eleven-story Blood Qi Futu suddenly manifested.

Lu Yuan released the power within him, no longer choosing to hide or suppress it.

He wanted to stretch his limbs a little.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Thump! Thump! Thump!

A tremendous booming sound rang out.

And the moment he moved, the Blood Qi Futu abruptly trembled, radiating rings of blood-red light that rippled outward like water. Wherever those blood-red waves touched, weeds were pulverized, giant trees shattered, reduced to dust.

With Lu Yuan at the center, within a radius of dozens of meters, the earth collapsed, and not a single blade of grass remained.

It was as if a meteorite had struck, creating devastating destruction.

Not good!

On the other side.

That seven-man squad.

Only felt as if the person before them had suddenly transformed into some primordial beast.

The aura he emitted made their bodies tremble, their souls quake, desperate to flee.

But it was too late.

After the blood-red light swept over them.

The seven men's proud, powerful bodies instantly cracked. Their bones let out a crunching sound as they were crushed directly.

Blood gushed from every part of them, drenching the ground. Their faces were twisted in terror, as if they had seen a ghost.

Wasn't this supposed to be an ordinary mission? How had they run into a monster like this?

That was the thought in Wang Xing and the others' minds. Beyond shock.

There was only boundless fear.

Why had they provoked this person?

At this point, they couldn't even make a move.

Before they could even get close.

Just the pressure Lu Yuan radiated had already severely wounded them, crippling their combat ability, leaving them collapsed on the ground, barely breathing.

This was the overwhelming suppression of a higher-order evolved life form over a lower-order one.

They were not even on the same dimension.

Completely crushed.

Because the gap was truly too vast.

Witnessing this, Lu Yuan slowly withdrew his aura, and the Blood Qi Futu vanished.

He stood stunned, then looked at the large swath of destroyed land and vegetation nearby.

Is this my current strength?

But... I haven't even attacked yet!

Lu Yuan fell silent.

These people... how are they even worse than paper?

Soon, however, he understood.

He had now reached the third stage of evolution, the Shackled Realm, and combined with the various divine items he had fused, his strength was beyond imagination.

Moreover, even in that situation just now, he had been deliberately holding back; otherwise, the destructive force would have been even more astonishing.

As for the seven before him.

Though they were also Awakened.

Lu Yuan knew clearly that these people were merely products of the Chang Sheng Gene, having taken special drugs to walk the path of evolution.

Indeed, in his previous life, he had heard that the Chang Sheng Gene extracted mysterious substances from certain exotic fruits and rare herbs, capable of creating Awakened. Of course, the quality varied, and sometimes experiments failed, resulting in deaths.

Just like these seven—at best, they were first or second tier Initial Realm, and they would never reach the Awakening Realm in the future.

Because they were forcibly manufactured, their potential was extremely low.

But to ordinary people, they were still astonishing enough to make one willing to try.

After all, the world after the mutation was brutal, and power was the foundation.

Now.

Lu Yuan looked at the seven severely wounded people not far away, his expression calm as he finished them off.

He knew this would bring consequences, but he didn't care.

Thinking back, in the past, a dominant force like the Chang Sheng Gene was an untouchable behemoth to him.

But things were different now.

If they continued to pester him.

Lu Yuan wouldn't mind paying a visit to the Chang Sheng Gene himself later.

Having done this, he sighed slightly and gripped the Sky Shaking Bow in his hand.

He had thought he could test its power, but it seemed there was no need for now. His strength was too overwhelming; his physique alone could dominate, let alone the many trump cards he still held.

"Let's head back first."

Lu Yuan shook his head, ignoring the corpses.

He returned directly to the villa, tidied up the yard roughly, and opened his phone.

Earlier, he had wanted to check the outside situation, but was interrupted. Now that it was resolved, he could focus.

Soon.

One news headline after another appeared.

Three months had passed, and the outside world had turned upside down.

Major events were happening everywhere—expanding territories, surging mountains and rivers—all of which had become commonplace.

What attracted the most attention now were the Awakened. A group of people had seized the opportunity, gained extraordinary power, and become the center of focus.

According to statistics, at least hundreds of thousands of people had embarked on the path of evolution during this time. The number was astonishing and still growing.

The internet was in an uproar. Everyone wanted such an opportunity to become the darling of the new era.

But because the number of Awakened had increased dramatically.

Various incidents had occurred in many places.

Some people, after gaining immense power overnight, became extremely irritable. Ordinary people were envious, realizing that great power might be the capital for survival in the coming era.

"A new era has arrived—the weak are prey, wildness returns, and the law of the jungle will manifest."

Seeing such news, Lu Yuan couldn't help but shake his head.

He had experienced it himself and knew the cruelty.

The path of the Evolution of All Spirits was an opportunity, but it also came with disaster and chaos.

Not only that, but deep in the mountains and old forests, mutated beasts had appeared, rampaging, devouring humans, and showing no mercy.

And along the coasts.

Kilometer-long octopuses, winged sea snakes—these sea beasts churned the seas, sank ferries, and combined their efforts to form tsunamis, causing countless people to suffer.

Beasts.

They are the equivalent of Awakened among humans.

After embarking on the path of evolution, they become like the great demons of myth and legend.

If we speak of humans, even the cruelest among them might show some restraint toward their own kind.

But beasts are different—they are a separate species. Add to that years of human destruction of nature and the indiscriminate slaughter of certain animals for profit, and the beasts have developed a deep hatred for humanity. If this continues, they might charge into major cities to hunt and feed. The consequences would be unimaginable.

"Any time now, the authorities will step in."

Lu Yuan pondered, knowing this situation couldn't last forever.

Sure enough.

He soon saw the relevant news.