Joining Forces

After leaving Ji Yun to rest at the Supply Base, Ji Shan returned to Jiangnan Base City and went straight to the Limit Dojo. He found the manager in charge of evaluating battle records and, under the supervision of the Supervisor of Jiangnan Base City, passed the strength assessment.

Less than three days later, he returned to the Supply Base.

Ji Shan was now a bona fide War God. No matter his exact rank, entering this circle meant standing at the pinnacle of humanity.

He had learned that Ji Yun had gone into the Wilderness Zone alone, with Vanke Dream City—the place they had passed earlier—as his destination. There were only a few Lord Monsters in Vanke Dream City, making it fairly safe. With Ji Yun's strength, he would be fine as long as he was careful.

Meanwhile.

Ji Yun found a residence in Vanke Dream City and planned to practice against some High-Level Beast Generals.

It was winter, and the weather was somewhat chilly, around four or five degrees below zero. But to Ji Yun, who had grown up in Kyoto Base City, it was nothing to worry about.

Early in the morning, Ji Yun lifted one corner of the curtain and looked out over the desolate city.

To the southeast was the lair of an Iron Armored Dragon.

This was the core area of Vanke Dream City. It had once been a Carrefour supermarket, but now an Advanced Lord-level monster had taken up residence there. Under its command were two Elementary Lord-level monsters, along with a large number of Beast General Rank and countless Beast Soldier Rank monsters. It was the undisputed overlord within a radius of twenty or thirty li.

But the closer one got to the core area, the more high-ranking monsters there were. There were even plenty of High-Level Beast Generals—more than enough for Ji Yun to hone himself against at this stage.

Ji Yun began his training.

Five days later.

On the ground floor of a large warehouse, several enormous pig-like monsters roared as they surrounded and attacked a young man in the center. Their roars echoed through the building, and some of the racks had already been smashed to pieces. The monsters were completely crazed, attacking without restraint!

The weakest of them were Mid-Level Beast Generals, and two were even Bloodthirsty Tanks, ranked second among their kind!

The young man wielded only a long spear. As he swung it, gusts of wind swirled around the weapon, and the fierce blades of wind even cut the scales of several pig-like monsters. The spear tip darted about like a falcon, leaving several blurred afterimages in its wake.

Ji Yun's spear technique called for light, swift movements, while each thrust was heavy and powerful. He had developed it by combining insights from the Fierce Wind spear technique with his own eighteen years of experience along the Spear Path. It still had flaws, but only a monster with no martial arts experience would fail to spot them.

His feet never stopped moving as he used Wind Motion footwork, constantly searching for the rhythm of his footwork and spearwork. Ji Yun had yet to unleash his full strength, relying only on his body's natural physical power to contend with them.

These monsters were quite intelligent and had gradually figured out the pattern of Ji Yun's movements. With a roar, they suddenly formed up and charged at him in unison. Their immense momentum seemed to tear through the air, the sound reverberating through the empty warehouse.

Ji Yun's gaze sharpened. The Wind Lifter in his hands moved in an instant. The roar of the wind mingled with the crack of air bursting apart. The spearhead spun, whipping up a wild gale as it swept across the necks of several Mid-Level Beast Generals. Without losing any speed, the tip of the spear then shot toward the two High-Level Beast General Bloodthirsty Tanks.

"Splurt!"

The spearhead pierced one monster's skull. The other Bloodthirsty Tank panicked. It had just seen Ji Yun kill its companion, and now it roared and fled toward the core of Vanke Dream City, where two Elementary Lord-level Fire-Scaled Three-Trident Pigs dwelled.

Ji Yun had lured these monsters out by venturing deep into the core area, so he knew there were terrifying creatures farther in.

"This one's no good. It's only a Mid-Level Beast General—not worth much." Among the dead monsters, Ji Yun selected three and carefully cut off their valuable materials, placing them in his backpack.

Beast General Rank monsters were already enormous, and Ji Yun had collected their materials quite thoroughly. After five days, his backpack was full, and he had even discarded a batch of Mid-Level Beast General materials that were relatively less valuable.

"Retreat!"

Ji Yun knew very well that if he delayed any longer, he would likely face an Elementary Lord at the peak of its strength. He was completely incapable of contending with one right now—especially when that Lord was the Fire-Scaled Three-Trident Pig, the strongest of the pig-like monsters.

After quickly harvesting the materials, Ji Yun turned and sprinted toward the outskirts. Before long, he had vanished from sight.

"Roar!"

The Bloodthirsty Tank that had just fled returned with a giant monster in tow. Its terrifying aura silenced every monster in the surrounding area. The sight of the beast, as if engulfed in flames, was enough to make anyone's heart tremble. Its entire body was covered in bright red scales without a single mark of another color! Most striking of all was its enormous head, bearing three tall, curved horns that pointed forward!

It was the Fire-Scaled Three-Trident Pig!

The Lord Monster surveyed the area. When it realized Ji Yun was gone, rage filled its ferocious eyes. It smashed through several residential buildings before finally retreating to the depths of the core area, where a heart-shaking dragon's roar rang out.

Ji Yun bounded from building to building at high speed. Many monsters lost sight of him before they could even react. Before long, he reached the outskirts. He planned to return to the Supply Base, sell the materials, and decide what to do next.

But trouble came looking for him first.

At a residential building in the distance, moss and vines covered the corners of the walls. Yet now, a giant python more than twenty meters long and as thick as a person's waist was coiled among the vines. Its body bore a series of almost parallel black lines, which grew thicker the closer they came to its head.

No book title came up when I searched. Maybe try searching for the author instead; it might have been renamed!

At the very front of the giant python's body, its neck split into two triangular heads, each with a slight bulge on its forehead.

The python flicked its forked, scarlet tongue, its aura faintly locking onto Ji Yun as he approached.

Suddenly, it shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, jaws open as it lunged to swallow Ji Yun whole.

Caught off guard, Ji Yun had been focused on getting back. Besides, he was already on the outskirts of Vanke Dream City, so he had let down his guard a little. He hadn't expected to find a mutated Black-Line Snake here—a Double-Headed Black-Line Snake, and one that was nearly growing horns and transforming into a dragon.

In the blink of an eye, Ji Yun twisted in midair. The muscles in his arms bulged as he let out a shout.

"Boom!"

He suddenly unleashed 3.2 times his normal strength and collided with the snake's head. The impact made Ji Yun cough up blood, but he used the force to propel himself away from the Double-Headed Black-Line Snake.

Ji Yun leaned against the broken wall and caught his breath, forcibly swallowing the blood that had risen to his mouth. A fierce determination surged within him.

"Damn it, if I don't kill this beast today, I'm not going back!"

Ji Yun temporarily suppressed the blood in his throat, then sprang forward and charged at the Double-Headed Black-Line Snake again.

But the clash between Ji Yun and the Black-Line Snake seemed to have alerted a squad.

Ji Yun quickly reached the corner of a residential building. Peering around it, he saw the Double-Headed Black-Line Snake fighting three men several dozen meters away. Judging by their appearances, they seemed to be from the Middle East or South Asia. Their hair was slightly curly, and their skin somewhat dark.

The leader was a burly, bald man holding a dark gold staff more than three meters long.

The staff moved in his hands without leaving any openings. Whenever one of the Double-Headed Black-Line Snake's triangular heads shrieked and darted toward him, the staff would swiftly smash toward it. Even when he failed to hit the head, he still managed to knock the snake back. Sometimes, a quick jab with the staff made the Double-Headed Black-Line Snake shriek in fury!

The other two each carried a square shield in one hand and a giant curved blade in the other. They stood close together, attacking in tandem with excellent coordination.

Damn, why are they here to steal my kill?

Though he had taken a hard hit, the Double-Headed Black-Line Snake had definitely been injured as well. The blow, nearly as powerful as an attack from a Beginner War God, had struck its head and left it badly shaken.

Ji Yun shot forward and slammed his spear into the snake's tail, sending the Double-Headed Black-Line Snake skidding away. At the same time, he shouted, "Don't steal my kill!"

Wounded, the Double-Headed Black-Line Snake went berserk. Its two enormous heads fixed him with a chilling stare, and it opened its cavernous jaws to bite at him again and again. Under its attacks, the three men retreated and began talking among themselves. Hearing them speak, Ji Yun realized—they were Indians!

"Let's work together. We split it half and half." The burly bald man spoke in awkward Mandarin. Just then, the Double-Headed Black-Line Snake turned and spotted Ji Yun, the one who had injured it. It roared and charged toward him.

Before Ji Yun could thrust his spear, a heavy hammer came crashing down on one of the snake's heads, slowing it for an instant. Then two people appeared behind him. They were Luo Feng and Gao Feng of the Fire Hammer Squad, whom he had met some time ago.

Luo Feng nodded at Ji Yun. A black throwing knife was already in his hand, and he flicked his wrist with the speed of lightning!

The knife became a streak of cold light as it shot toward the Double-Headed Black-Line Snake's left head. As a creature on the verge of becoming a dragon, the snake was highly intelligent. The moment it saw a human suddenly throw a knife, its left head swerved rapidly aside. A snake's head was already incredibly quick to move!

But it didn't know that, the moment Ji Yun saw Luo Feng throw the knife, he had smirked and thrust his spear several times in an instant, cutting off the Double-Headed Black-Line Snake's escape routes. The moment Ji Yun saw Luo Feng, he knew there was no chance of hunting the snake alone. Luo Feng was a High-Level War General and a Psychic Master, his strength on par with Ji Yun's—and he also had teammates.

The throwing knife was still a meter away from the Double-Headed Black-Line Snake when it changed course ever so slightly. That tiny shift sent it straight toward the eye on the left side of the snake's head.

At the same time, Ji Yun's spear struck the spot where the snake's head was about to dodge. In other words, the Double-Headed Black-Line Snake would either be pierced by Ji Yun or have its eye pierced by the knife!

The Double-Headed Black-Line Snake reacted incredibly quickly. In that fleeting instant, its nerves registered the threat, and it managed to dodge! Of course, with so little time, this was the limit of what it could do.

"Pfft!" The throwing knife struck the Double-Headed Black-Line Snake near its mouth, piercing through the upper palate of its left head and breaking through its scales.

"Hiss—" The Double-Headed Black-Line Snake turned both heads toward Ji Yun and Luo Feng in fury. A gaping hole had opened in the mouth of its left head, and dark green blood poured out.

The bald man holding the long staff laughed, then called out as he retreated, "Work together? Split it half and half?" He looked at Ji Yun and Luo Feng beside him.

Clearly, he thought the two of them were a team. Ji Yun and Luo Feng had coordinated so well that anyone unaware of the situation could easily mistake them for teammates.

Luo Feng looked at Ji Yun, as if asking what he thought. He could also sense a power around Ji Yun that was hard to put into words. It reminded him of the thunderbolt he had encountered the day he comprehended his blade technique.

Ji Yun nodded slightly. "Agreed."

The three Indians had firearms and a High-Level War General among them. They weren't a team that could be dealt with easily. Besides, there was a Psychic Master beside him. There was no way they could refuse to cooperate.

"Haha." Gao Feng grinned and made an OK sign. He knew he was only there to provide support and couldn't afford to get in the way of Ji Yun and Luo Feng.

The three Indians, Ji Yun, and Luo Feng agreed to work together in an instant. They acknowledged the bald man's strength, while the Indians acknowledged that Ji Yun could fight the Double-Headed Black-Line Snake alone and that Luo Feng's throwing knife was powerful. Only the truly strong earned other people's recognition.