Luo Feng

"Hello, Hall Master Hong. I plan to exchange for some items," Lin Qingyu said as he spoke with Hong.

"Of course, no problem. Though I didn't expect you to stay in seclusion for so long in one go," Hong said.

"Haha, my battle with you, Hall Master, also brought me quite a few gains." Lin Qingyu smiled. "This time, my domain has advanced another step."

"Oh? That's wonderful news." Hong revealed a happy expression. "Next time, I'll bring that fellow Thor over to spar with you. With two domain experts as opponents, I think he should be able to comprehend the mysteries of a domain sooner."

"Alright, but next time, I'll bring someone along as well. If you don't mind, Hall Master Hong, I hope you two can give him a little guidance too," Lin Qingyu said.

"Oh? Is there actually a genius you consider worth nurturing?" Hong said. "Then bring him over. Anyone who can catch your eye should have considerable talent."

The person Lin Qingyu meant was naturally Luo Feng.

Since he had already decided to properly nurture Luo Feng, he naturally would not pass up the opportunity to have Thor and Hong guide him.

Lin Qingyu's own method of advancement was rather difficult to replicate. After all, not everyone possessed a Will Space and could observe the formation of a domain at the microscopic level while still at the Planetary level.

Of course, sparring was only a minor matter. The main reason Lin Qingyu had sought out Hong was to exchange for some treasures.

With Bata this time, Lin Qingyu no longer had to worry about making a bad choice. Very quickly, he exchanged for a series of items from the list Hong provided.

The Limitless Martial Arts School was also highly efficient. By that afternoon, all the items Lin Qingyu had exchanged for had been delivered to the Huaxia Genetic Force and Mental Power Research Institute where he was located.

"Other than this gravity chamber, there are a few fairly decent Mental Power Weapons among this batch of items." Bata said. "The best one is this Sky-Piercing Shuttle, a low-grade Tier 3 item. There are also several Tier 2 and Tier 1 Mental Power Weapons, which can be considered extras. By the way, why aren't you exchanging for some spacecraft wreckage? Only with wreckage can we build a spaceship and enter the universe."

"No need to rush, Bata. Look at this." Lin Qingyu pulled up a file.

"Oh, I didn't expect Earth to have something like this. Not bad, not bad. A Class C spaceship. It doesn't look too badly damaged. If I work hard, I should be able to repair it within a year. That's much easier than building a spaceship from scratch. When are we leaving to retrieve this spaceship?" Bata asked as he looked through the information on one of Earth's Deadly zones that Lin Qingyu had provided.

"Soon enough." Lin Qingyu said, "In a few days, I'll make a trip to Jiangnan Base City, then go retrieve this spaceship."

"Jiangnan Base City? Oh, that talented little brat you mentioned is there, right? If it weren't for you, he would have had a good chance of becoming Teacher's personal disciple. After all, among Earthlings, his talent is quite good." Bata said.

Lin Qingyu did not rush to search for the spaceship within the Ruins of Civilization No. 12. Instead, he stayed with his family for three days.

Only after three days did he tell his parents that he needed to go out for a while.

Lin Meng and Zheng Xinyi understood Lin Qingyu's strength. Though they were still somewhat worried, they ultimately agreed to let him leave.

After leaving Kyoto Base City, Lin Qingyu first arrived at the Southeast Military Region in Jiangnan Base City.

This time, Li Dawei came out to receive him again. The moment he saw Lin Qingyu, he gave him a warm hug.

"Uncle Li, why are you being so enthusiastic?" Lin Qingyu felt a little unaccustomed to Li Dawei's behavior.

"Xiao Yu, you and your research institute were truly a tremendous help during the last Beast Tide." Li Dawei said happily. "The equipment made from the materials you provided, along with the venom researched by Academician Zheng, reduced the casualties caused by this Beast Tide by a full forty percent compared to previous years!"

Forty percent might not seem like much, but every Beast Tide launched by sea monsters that the Southeast Military Region had to resist resulted in anywhere from over a thousand to several thousand deaths.

That additional forty percent survival rate meant saving the lives of hundreds, or even thousands, of soldiers!

"It was what I should have done." Lin Qingyu nodded, then asked, "By the way, where is Luo Feng?"

"Luo Feng? He should be in the training room right now. Come on, I'll take you over to have a look." Li Dawei walked ahead to lead the way.

Before long, the two arrived outside the Southeast Military Region's training room.

Lin Qingyu looked inside and saw a twelve-year-old child covered in weights, wielding a war blade as he slashed. Several throwing knives circled around him like birds, sometimes gathering together and sometimes scattering apart.

Luo Feng was training both his body and Mental Power at once. The high-intensity training had exhausted him, and beads of sweat the size of soybeans constantly dripped from his forehead. Yet he did not utter a single complaint, still gritting his teeth and persisting.

Lin Qingyu noticed that Luo Feng's eyes contained greater determination and persistence, as though he were a soldier tempered by war. He was clearly different from when they had first met.

"Uncle Li, you didn't throw Luo Feng straight onto the battlefield, did you?" Lin Qingyu looked at Li Dawei.

"How could that be? I may be strict, but I'm not crazy enough to send a twelve-year-old child directly onto the battlefield." Li Dawei shook his head. "However, before the Beast Tide arrived, I did have Luo Feng do some logistical work alongside his training. Because of that, he got to know some of the soldiers in the military. But during this Beast Tide, one soldier he had been quite close to was killed."

"I see." Lin Qingyu fell silent as well.

At least for now, in the war between humanity and monsters, sacrifice was unavoidable.

Soon. It won't be long before I can eliminate the threat of monsters! Lin Qingyu silently vowed.

Luo Feng, wholly absorbed in his training, did not even notice Lin Qingyu and Li Dawei arriving outside the training room.

Naturally, Li Dawei and Lin Qingyu were not going to stand there waiting. The two entered the training room directly.

Luo Feng, who had been training, saw them as well. He immediately stopped his current set of movements and jogged over to Lin Qingyu.

"Brother Lin, long time no see," Luo Feng greeted Lin Qingyu.

"Long time no see, Luo Feng. Seeing you work so hard makes me very happy as well," Lin Qingyu said.

"I want to become strong! Only by becoming strong can I better protect my family and protect Human civilization." Luo Feng looked at Lin Qingyu and spoke firmly.

"It's very good that you have such awareness. By the way, how strong is your body now?" Lin Qingyu asked.

"Because of that potion Brother Lin gave me, my Mental Power awakened very quickly, and it also drove an improvement in my physical fitness. My body alone should have already reached the beginner Warlord level, while my Mental Power is at the high-level Warlord level," Luo Feng said.

"Very good. You've improved greatly." Lin Qingyu offered a word of praise.

Over these past few months, Luo Feng had grown even stronger than in the Original work. On one hand, this was because of the Spirit of Plants and Trees potion Lin Qingyu had given him. On the other hand, Luo Feng no longer needed to go to the Wilderness Zone.

Although experiencing life and death could speed up cultivation, that depended on the situation. Luo Feng was still in a period of rapid growth and had not reached a bottleneck that required life-and-death tempering. Thus, simply accumulating progress through arduous cultivation was still quite useful.

"I need to work even harder," Luo Feng said.

During his time in the Southeast Military Region, he had also heard Li Dawei speak about Lin Qingyu.

Upon awakening, he could rival a Planetary-level fighter. His rate of improvement was practically heaven-defying; not long after awakening, he was already able to trade blows with Hong, the world's strongest fighter at the time. After that, he directly became the Third Speaker of the War God Palace.

One had to know that Lin Qingyu was only fifteen years old!

Although he had never expected to catch up to Lin Qingyu directly, Luo Feng had always regarded Lin Qingyu as his goal.

"Mm, you have what it takes to become a true powerhouse. Don't waste your talent." Lin Qingyu nodded. "Oh, right. In a while, I'll be going to exchange pointers with Hall Master Hong, and Thor will be there as well. I'll take you along when the time comes, so you can receive their guidance too."

"Hong and Thor!" Luo Feng's eyes widened. Although Lin Qingyu's strength was no weaker than Hong's, his rise had been rather recent. Hong and Thor, meanwhile, were powerhouses who had suppressed the Monster Kings and led humanity into the Base City era.

Luo Feng had grown up listening to the legends of those two.

"Do... do I need to prepare anything?" Luo Feng asked nervously.

"Don't be too nervous. Just get yourself into your best condition." Lin Qingyu said. "Have confidence in yourself."

"Yes!" Luo Feng nodded, though the surprise and excitement in his voice remained impossible to hide.

After telling Luo Feng that he would take him to meet Hong and Thor sometime later, Lin Qingyu chatted with him for quite a while longer before leaving.

"You really do care about that little fellow," Li Dawei said.

"Luo Feng has the potential to become a super powerhouse. Once he truly grows up, humanity will naturally gain another pillar-level expert." Lin Qingyu said. "By the way, how is that plan to conduct physical examinations for younger children progressing?"

"The results have been pretty good." Li Dawei said. "We haven't found any more geniuses like you or Luo Feng, but we have indeed found several people with the aptitude to become Mental Masters. If the pressure from the monsters lessens next year, perhaps this plan can continue."

Lin Qingyu nodded. "As long as it's producing results, that's good. All right, I should be leaving soon. When I return, I'll give you the distribution of the sea monsters."

"I understand, but don't push yourself too hard either." Li Dawei said. "You're already among humanity's strongest. The sea monsters may very well try to surround and kill you."

"Don't worry." Lin Qingyu said. "I'm a Mental Master, after all. Group attacks are what I fear least. Besides, if I can't beat them, can't I just run?"

Lin Qingyu himself knew his own situation best. After his domain reached the sixth level, no one on Earth could match him except for the slumbering Zerg Queen and her subordinates. That was why he dared to head so openly into the territory of the sea monsters.

Of course, he also knew that his parents' earlier warnings and Li Dawei's reminder now both came from good intentions. Naturally, he would not disregard their kindness.

After repeatedly stressing that he was completely confident, Lin Qingyu finally flew toward the sea.