Returning After Leaving

Inside the seven-colored bubbles floating in the sky were a full three hundred thousand medicinal herbs, along with materials containing Spirit Machines from nearly a hundred thousand monsters.

There were no ores or metals containing Spirit Machines, though.

Ultimately, it was because Earth was too impoverished.

Chu He also remembered Babata saying that the best metal on Earth was only A6 grade: Blue Gold, which had been discovered on the moon.

With a thought, most of the medicinal herbs, which he had picked with their roots intact, descended to places suited to their growth and took root again.

Of course, under Chu He's control, all the places where these herbs landed had been designated as the Herb Garden.

Some of the herbs he had picked without their roots remained suspended in the seven-colored bubbles.

The rest—the herbs that could be combined to brew Spirit Wine—gathered together with the corresponding monster materials, merging into enormous bubbles.

At once, white mist descended from the sky. As soon as it touched the bubbles, it rapidly transformed into Dissolving Spirit Liquid inside them, enveloping all the materials within.

During the brewing process, wisps of white mist occasionally appeared on the surfaces of the enormous bubbles.

"So that's how it works!"

Chu He's Spiritual Force "looked" at the white mist drifting all around the world.

That endless white mist... If it was all this universal Dissolving Spirit Liquid, didn't that mean it was perpetual?

"Good! Good! Good!" Chu He exclaimed several times.

Although the World in the Pot did little to boost his strength, it was incredible news for his logistics.

Even if he used this place solely as a Medicinal Herb Cultivation Base, it would still be immensely valuable.

However, just then, Chu He suddenly sensed seven or eight people entering the valley outside and closing in around him.

The seven or eight people surrounded him. Leading them was the Advanced War General, Adams Whiteman.

"Whiteman?" Chu He stood and swept his gaze over them, finally settling on Whiteman, who had stepped forward. "I had a feeling there might be something wrong with you, but..."

As he spoke, Chu He shook his head. "You've already seen what I can do. You still think these people are enough to take me down?"

"Mr. Chu, you're a good person. If I had a choice, I wouldn't do this either." Whiteman's voice carried a hint of helplessness.

"Ha!" Chu He let out a cold laugh.

By now, he was no longer the kind-hearted model young man he had been in his previous life.

"You wouldn't? Then what are you doing now?"

Adams Whiteman glanced back at the seven people beside him.

But before he could speak, a red-haired, burly man in a black S-grade Combat Suit stepped out from among them.

"Enough, Whiteman. Why waste your breath on a dead man?"

The red-haired man held a Wolf Tooth Mace and looked at Chu He brazenly as he spoke in a loud voice. "You keep going on about your strength, but you couldn't even move just now—you were sitting on the ground! What, all better already?"

"Hahahaha! Boss, I think he was just putting on an act!"

"Exactly! Before that Mountain Giant Ape showed up, we used that cave to lure War Gods to their deaths plenty of times. Which one of them ever got away?"

"Right! Chu, I'll give you this much credit—you're a War God, after all. We're all grateful to you!"

"Hahahaha, thanks for killing that Mountain Giant Ape. This place is back in the hands of our Blood Flame Mercenary Group!"

Listening to the red-haired man and his companions chatter back and forth, Chu He managed to piece together what had happened.

They were all members of the Blood Flame Mercenary Group. The Lingzhi in that cave seemed to be one of their traps.

Chu He had picked that Lingzhi himself, so he knew its attack range was limited.

All they had to do was lure a War God there, let the Lingzhi's spores infect their target inside the cave, then wait at the entrance to collect the body.

As for the Lord Rank Mountain Giant Ape, it hadn't evolved after consuming the Spirit of Vegetation in the cave. It had simply appeared from who knew where two years ago and taken over the valley.

But...

Chu He turned to Adams Whiteman and asked in confusion, "You didn't tell them?"

Chu He was sure Adams knew he was a Spirit Reader and could probably guess that he wouldn't be infected by the Lingzhi's spores.

So why hadn't Adams told them?

"Mr. Chu, I told you: if I had a choice, I wouldn't do this either." Whiteman shrugged. "Besides, you're a good person."

"Wait!"

At last, the red-haired man realized something was wrong.

Why was this War God still alive?

"Adams! What did you do?" The red-haired man pointed his Wolf Tooth Mace at Adams Whiteman, panic on his face.

"Boss, what's wrong?"

"Boss, Adams has been with us for years. There's no need to treat him like that, is there?"

The group once again treated Chu He as though he weren't there and started chatting among themselves.

But now that he understood what was going on, Chu He had no interest in listening any longer.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Seven Flying Daggers shot out from Chu He, turning into seven black streaks of Flowing Light that flew toward the necks of the red-haired man and the others.

When the red-haired man saw the daggers, he seemed to realize something. He glared at Adams, eyes wide with rage.

"Adams, you..."

Pfft!

The seven Flying Daggers pierced the throats of all seven men except Adams Whiteman without the slightest hitch.

Fountains of blood burst forth.

The red-haired man was the only Elementary War God among them. The others weren't even War Gods. Under Chu He's Advanced War God-level Spiritual Force, they had no chance of dodging.

Swish, swish, swish!

The seven streaks of Flowing Light returned to the Flying Dagger Pouch.

"Whiteman, tell me. What were you trying to do?"

When Adams saw Chu He kill all the others without a word, his face turned deathly pale.

As his companions' blood sprayed across his face, he shuddered, his legs nearly giving out.

It seemed... he'd misjudged the situation!

"Mr. Chu... I want to make you my boss! I brought them here to give myself a chance to stay alive." Adams answered with a tremble.

"I thought... I thought you'd only kill Burns..."

"Using one side to kill the other? Or setting the wolf to catch the tiger?" Chu He raised an eyebrow. "You dared to do this because I'm a good person?"

Whiteman continued to tremble without answering. Chu He used his Spiritual Force to make a dagger hover beside him, then shook his head.

"Ha! You haven't learned Chinese culture very well!"

A black streak shot through the air, and a flower of blood bloomed.

Looking at Whiteman lying on the ground, eyes wide and filled with fear, one hand stretching out as he clutched his throat, Chu He asked in confusion:

"You know, if you didn't want to die, you could've just left. I wouldn't have hunted you down. Why did you have to come back?"

In his final moments, when he heard the question, Adams Whiteman's eyes were finally free of fear. Blood bubbled from his mouth as he spoke, one word at a time:

"Str...ength...!"