Attraction

Ji Yun had been on the Australian Continent for seven or eight days.

After taking care of that kangaroo herd, Ji Yun rested briefly in the town and prepared to head for his next target.

Ji Yun was naturally after High-Level Lord Monsters, but they weren't exactly common. Each had a strong sense of territory. There were plenty of High-Level Lords near King Rank Monsters, but Ji Yun would never provoke a King Rank Monster.

Inside a villa in the town.

Ji Yun was making adjustments in the basement.

The air circulated well upstairs, but some monsters had keen enough senses to pick up his scent. Ji Yun wasn't afraid of them, but having to deal with one wave of trouble after another was still a nuisance.

"Beep, beep." Ji Yun called home.

"Hello?"

Ji Shan's voice came from the other end.

"A-Yun, what's up?" Ji Shan knew Ji Yun was risking his life on an adventure, but he also knew Ji Yun ranked first, so he wasn't too worried about his safety.

"Nothing, Dad. I'm just calling to let you know I'm safe." A smile spread across Ji Yun's face.

His family had always been the steadfast support he could rely on and the safe harbor he could return to.

"Nothing's going on at home, so don't worry," Ji Shan said with a smile. "When you get back, you'll probably graduate in a couple of years. Luo Yue did well on her college entrance exams, but for some reason, she insists on going to Jiangnan University. Oh, right, I mean the Jiangnan University in Jiangnan Base City. I don't understand it. She could've gone to Kyoto University, but instead she has to go all the way south..."

Ji Shan rambled on and on, nothing like his usual concise self.

"Mm-hmm." Ji Yun listened patiently. Maybe this was just how fathers were with their children. No matter how they usually acted, after a long separation, they always became much more talkative.

After chatting with his father, Ji Yun called Luo Yue.

"Hello, Xiao Yue."

"Ah, is that Ji Yun?" A delighted voice came from the other end.

"Brother Yun, what made you call me?" Luo Yue sounded excited. Ever since Ji Yun had entered the Elite Training Camp, they hadn't spoken very often, and Ji Yun felt he'd neglected the girl.

"Xiao Yue, Dad told me you went to Jiangnan University. What, were you tired of staying in Kyoto Base City?" A faint smile appeared at the corner of Ji Yun's mouth. With his strength, he was confident he could keep Luo Yue safe for the rest of her life, wherever she was.

"Mm, how do I put it?" Luo Yue replied playfully. "I guess I got tired of staying in Kyoto Base City. There's nothing fun to do there. I've made lots of friends in Jiangnan Base City. More importantly, so many people in Kyoto know who I am, and some of them even bother me... Anyway, it just wasn't fun."

"But Jiangnan Base City is different. Basically, nobody knows me here. I asked Uncle Ji to buy me an apartment at Jiangnan University ahead of time, and I'm already here."

"I've also met a senior student with the surname Xu. She's so elegant. I heard she has a boyfriend, but I wonder what he looks like..."

Luo Yue had plenty to say, and Ji Yun listened quietly. Life wasn't only about fighting, training, and getting stronger. There was also peace, family, and everyday life.

"Xiao Yue, I don't mind you living in Jiangnan Base City. I'm just worried someone might bully you."

Ji Yun thought for a moment, then said, "I'll get in touch with a friend of mine who's also from Jiangnan Base City. His girlfriend goes to Jiangnan University too. You can ask her to look out for you."

"Mm-hmm!" Luo Yue nodded happily.

"If that's all, I'll hang up. It's dangerous here on the Australian Continent." Ji Yun ended the call, then dialed another number.

"Luo Feng."

"It's me." A brief, firm voice came from the other end.

"How are things? Any trouble?" Ji Yun asked.

"Li Yao has figured out roughly where I am, but he doesn't know I've found out he's here. If he dares show up, he's dead." Luo Feng's voice brimmed with confidence.

"I've been hunting Lord Monsters these past couple of days too, but they all got away. How about you?"

"Not bad. I killed a High-Level Kangaroo Lord," Ji Yun said casually.

"A High-Level Lord? Damn, nice!" Luo Feng swore. He'd had some doubts about what Ji Yun had said earlier, but now they were gone. Anyone who could kill a High-Level Lord alone was undoubtedly a High-Level War God.

"By the way, Luo Feng, you mentioned your girlfriend goes to Jiangnan University. My family's there too. Could you ask her to look out for them?" Ji Yun then sent Luo Feng some basic information about Luo Yue and asked him to forward it to his girlfriend.

"Oh? Ji Yun, you into younger girls?" Luo Feng teased.

"I call it love at first sight. Still better than having a crush on someone since childhood like you," Ji Yun said, cocking his head and rolling his eyes.

"Haha."

Ji Yun spent some time talking with his family and friends. After sorting through his spoils, he got ready to set out.

Once his backpack was in order, Ji Yun came up from the basement and leaped onto the second-floor balcony. He'd already cleared out the area, and the town was small, so there shouldn't be any powerful monsters around.

He opened his electronic map and studied it carefully.

"Hmm? There's a river to the north?"

There were usually plenty of monsters near water, and the stronger ones were more common there too.

"This river flows north, all the way to a mountain range in the north." Ji Yun studied the map, thinking it over.

"I'll follow this river until I reach the mountains. There should be plenty of High-Level Lords in that range." Having made up his mind, Ji Yun wasted no time. He set off at once, heading for the river a few kilometers away, then followed it upstream.

On an island shrouded in mist to the north of the river.

Deep beneath the bottom of a huge lake at the island's center, fifty kilometers underground, sat a crimson triangular spaceship hundreds of meters across.

A figure suddenly appeared inside the spaceship. He wore black, and blood-red horns grew from his head. In appearance, he resembled a demon from European religious imagery.

Though he'd lost his body in the great battle fifty thousand years ago and was now only a virtual being without a physical form, he still instinctively liked projecting his image inside this crimson ship, even though there was no one to see him. It made him feel as if he'd returned to the days when the ship had been full of people.

"An interesting young man has come to the Australian Continent. He hasn't even reached Planetary Level, yet he's already extremely close to forming a domain. His Brain Domain Width is remarkable too—34. With a Brain Domain Width like that, how could he not be a Psychic Master?"

The figure murmured to himself. "What a pity he isn't a Psychic Master. Still, with such a high Brain Domain Width and such excellent comprehension, he's perfectly capable of inheriting the legacy of Marquis Wind Walker, one of my master's subordinates."

"I need to lure him here."

The figure abruptly vanished.

******

Ji Yun continued along the river, though he'd slowed down. His course shifted with the river's bends, but anyone watching from a satellite would have seen him move in a perfectly straight line.

In other words, under some unknown guidance, Ji Yun kept heading in the same direction even as his path veered this way and that.

He'd fought several battles along the way, killing a High-Level Lord Lightning Eel and several Intermediate Lord Monsters. His backpack was much fuller now. Ji Yun planned to return from the Australian Continent, register as a High-Level War God, and graduate from the Training Camp, so he could spend some time with his father and Luo Yue.

After following the river for more than three hundred kilometers, Ji Yun slowed down. He'd noticed something strange about the monsters in the area.

There were fewer of them, but they seemed different. Even monsters of the same species had some distinguishing features. Yet they all had one thing in common: they were Lords, and they were powerful.

Ji Yun had no choice but to be cautious. This didn't look like a good sign. A gathering of Lord Monsters meant there had to be a King Rank Monster nearby, but King Rank Monsters were usually sheltered by plenty of Beast Generals and Beast Soldiers. That didn't fit what he was seeing here.

Gradually, Ji Yun followed the river onto an island.

The island was perpetually shrouded in mist, obscuring everything from view. Ji Yun chose to enter during the day, but even with his keen eyesight, he could only see a few hundred meters ahead.

For a War God, seeing several thousand meters was simple. That gave some idea of how thick the mist was.

The island was blanketed in mist.

"This is strange." Ji Yun had already drawn Wind Lifter. He crept through the island's wooded hills, studying the surrounding trees and vegetation with growing confusion. "I've gone two or three miles into the island, but I still haven't seen any sign of monsters. Could this island have none?"

"And something else is even stranger..."

"It's the end of winter here on the Australian Continent, but it's warm on this island. The trees and flowers are as lush as they'd be in spring or summer." Ji Yun was baffled.

"Hmm? What's that smell?"

Ji Yun gripped Wind Lifter and kept his guard up.

"Could it be some kind of plant trap?" Ji Yun had heard that some plants gave off a fragrance to lure animals in, then killed them for food.

"Is that... the smell of rice?" Ji Yun was stunned.

"Can plants give off a rice-like aroma?" Ji Yun wondered if something was trying to draw him in.

Following the fragrance, Ji Yun moved forward slowly until he reached the entrance to an underground river.

Ji Yun sniffed the air and confirmed the rice-like aroma was coming from inside, but he hesitated. He didn't know what lay in the underground world. If he went in rashly, he could run into trouble.

As Ji Yun hesitated, far below, in the underground world...

Sixteen kilometers beneath the surface, inside a damaged spaceship, a figure with two horns on his forehead, blood-red eyes, and a black robe watched Ji Yun. He was only about a meter and a half tall, with the appearance of a child.

"Foolish Earthling! He's afraid to go in?" The childlike figure couldn't help cursing, but there was nothing he could do. He had no body and couldn't leave the spaceship unless someone carried him out.

"The scent is getting stronger!" Ji Yun sensed the fragrance growing more intense, and its pull was powerful. He'd also checked the surroundings and found no danger.

"Let's go in!" Ji Yun gritted his teeth.

Once he'd made up his mind, Ji Yun plunged into the underground river and swam through it like a fish. Every so often, he surfaced to sniff the air and determine which way the aroma was coming from.

"Is it here?"

Ji Yun stopped and carefully climbed ashore.

It was a natural cave, and there were no monsters inside.

Ji Yun cautiously entered the cave and switched on his watch's light, carefully exploring the passage. He'd relaxed a little. He couldn't sense the presence of a King Rank Monster, and even if there were a High-Level Lord, he wasn't afraid. The translucent white crystal gave off wave after wave of rice-like fragrance, making his mouth water.

"What is this?!"

Ji Yun spotted the translucent white crystal and was deeply shaken.

"Is this a treasure? Some kind of treasure?" Ji Yun asked himself, though he already had a suspicion.

"Something like a Vegetation Spirit?"

Ji Yun's breathing quickened. This was a chance to greatly increase his strength again. The energy stored in his body from the Blood Ginseng had nearly run out during his three months of training in the Gravity Room.

And this crystal's energy clearly surpassed the Blood Ginseng's by far.

Should he consume it?

Ji Yun looked around. The cave was incredibly deep. He'd already traveled a considerable distance into it, and the passage twisted and turned. An ordinary person—or even a monster—could easily get lost.

"Then I'll eat it." After a moment's hesitation, Ji Yun made up his mind. Whether or not it made him stronger, the rice-like aroma would eventually attract something. There was no way to mask the scent, and someone would discover it even if he carried the crystal away.

He might as well consume it now.