Life's Leap

In the quiet, deep, dark cave, Ji Yun sat cross-legged on a raised stone platform. He held a white, translucent crystal in his palm, feeling out the method of absorption.

This white crystal was clearly different from the Vegetation Spirit at a glance; crystals generally couldn't be ingested. Ji Yun knew well that if a treasure was used carelessly, it could bring serious consequences.

As he carefully sensed the vast, surging energy inside the white crystal, Ji Yun couldn't help but be deeply shocked. The energy within this tiny white crystal was extremely immense, even far greater than the Vegetation Spirit he had taken before. Consuming the Vegetation Spirit had already pushed his physical fitness into the High-Level War God realm. Using this?

Ji Yun dared not imagine.

"Got it!" Ji Yun rejoiced.

He had successfully guided the energy within the white crystal to begin flowing, faintly drawing it into his body.

"Boom"

The vast energy burst forth from the white crystal, transforming into a mighty river that surged straight into Ji Yun's meridians. This energy came so abruptly that Ji Yun almost couldn't withstand it.

His body shook violently, and it took a long while to stabilize.

The river of energy flowed freely through the meridians in his body, constantly expanding and extending them. After extending, this energy then burrowed into every cell of Ji Yun's body, where it was absorbed and devoured, transforming into pure Genetic Origin Energy.

"That's it?"

Ji Yun frowned slightly. He had originally thought he would make some breakthrough, but he hadn't expected that this massive energy would merely be absorbed into his cells, and now there was no movement at all.

Ji Yun gently moved his arm, even shifted his leg, and couldn't help feeling somewhat disappointed.

Right now, it seemed like nothing was happening at all.

"Could the absorption method be wrong? Impossible, I clearly absorbed the energy from this crystal, and the white crystal has already shattered." Ji Yun looked at the dim, broken white crystal in his hand.

Suddenly!

A swelling sensation erupted in the cells inside Ji Yun's body.

Every cell felt as if it were being pricked by needles. This swelling was extremely intense and painful, causing Ji Yun to cry out in pain.

"Ah."

Ji Yun felt his whole body begin to heat up. He quickly adjusted his sitting posture and calmed down again. This might be the precursor to improvement. His experience from taking the Vegetation Spirit told Ji Yun that at times like this, he should focus his mind and try to prevent any accidents.

Every cell in Ji Yun's body seemed to boil. The cells that had absorbed a massive amount of energy earlier now all expelled equally vast Genetic Origin Energy. The Genetic Origin Energy released from each cell began to gather like drops of water, merging into streams, then into creeks, then into rivers...

A surge of heat came from his entire body, spinning and gathering, finally converging at the dantian in his lower abdomen.

"Boom!"

Ji Yun only felt as if a certain spot in his dantian had been opened. Energy poured in torrentially.

Inside the dantian.

It was like Pangu splitting heaven and earth. The dantian, which had never existed before, burst open in an instant! The spinning Genetic Origin Energy accelerated its rotation, expanding and contracting endlessly. With each expansion and contraction, its volume shrank further! Ji Yun felt as if even his consciousness trembled, and his body shuddered!

This spinning Genetic Origin Energy continuously converged, finally forming a sphere.

Suddenly, the sphere collapsed inward, as if a black hole had appeared in its center. Endless energy was drawn into the black hole, absorbed, seemingly becoming a singularity.

"Hum," the dantian vibrated.

In the vast dantian, a miniature planet appeared! This miniature planet was cyan! The entire Cyan Micro-Planet was actually a unified whole, with currents of energy wind flowing, solidifying, dispersing, and recombining in a constant process of evolution!

The Cyan Micro-Planet spun continuously, emitting waves of strange fluctuations!

Ji Yun moved his mind, guiding the Genetic Origin Energy to surge out of his dantian and flow through his entire body.

The cyan Origin Energy flowed along his meridians, constantly transforming Ji Yun's body, even producing a "crackling" sound. Ji Yun felt as if his bones were being forged by fire, crushed, restored, crushed again, and restored. This process repeated.

At the same time, mysterious cyan lines began to spread across Ji Yun's body, forming an eerie Secret Pattern design all over him.

"Phew." Ji Yun, who had just endured the intense pain of bone forging, let out a long breath and opened his eyes.

Although the bone forging had been painful, the wonderful sensation after success left Ji Yun intoxicated.

When the Genetic Origin Energy successfully forged his bones, triggering a transformation of his body, Ji Yun felt an unprecedented shock. It was as if his body, which had reached its limit and could no longer grow like a strong man, had instantly become a 'baby.' His bones, muscles, and internal organs had all changed in essence!

In Ji Yun's words, even the aura of life felt different.

Before, it still carried the breath of a human. Now, it felt like that of a deity.

"What level am I now? Beyond the War God realm? A Councilor-level powerhouse?"

Ji Yun had seen strong individuals other than Hong before, but aside from Hong, no one else had given him a great sense of pressure.

"I should be no less than those Inspectors now."

Ji Yun clenched his fist excitedly. Just a wave of his hand seemed to slice through the air, producing a piercing, low-pitched shriek.

"Councilors can all fly, so the test for me is also whether I can fly! Also, Councilors all have their own special abilities. What is my special ability?"

With a thought from Ji Yun, a figure shot upward, instantly crashing into the cave rock above. Ji Yun had nothing under his feet, yet he simply floated in the air, motionless.

It really was flight!

If the High-Level War God Ji Yun was considered the pinnacle of Earth's human warriors, then Ji Yun now was the tip of the pyramid, a figure who could influence national situations.

"Special ability?" Ji Yun carefully examined his body and the miniature planet within. However, even as he communicated with the miniature planet, the Secret Patterns that had appeared on his body earlier slowly emerged. Suddenly, Ji Yun moved. In the spacious cave, a figure was flickering continuously.

Looking closely, this figure left a trail of afterimages, and could even go faster, like teleportation. But it wasn't true teleportation—just an illusion created by extreme speed.

"This is a special ability I've never heard of." Ji Yun thought silently. He hadn't heard of any Councilor being known for Phantom God Blink.

Inside the blood-red spacecraft underground.

The demonic, diminutive figure exclaimed in surprise, "This is actually a very rare 'Wind Phantom Body' among wind-type attributes. This Wind Phantom Body is naturally sensitive to the Law of Wind, providing no small help in comprehending the laws." After pondering for a moment, the figure added, "Could this be the reason for that kid's extraordinarily high realm? Because of his affinity with the Law of Wind?"

Ji Yun advanced rapidly through the cave. In the blink of an eye, he burst out of the underground river, stepped onto the air, and surveyed a portion of the island from above.

"So this is the power of a Councilor-level expert!"

Ji Yun moved his hand slightly, and a cyan light surged from his body. Genetic Origin Energy condensed and continuously transformed around him. Then, Ji Yun swept past in a long arc, leaving several afterimages in the air.

"Damn it, why is he going farther away?"

Inside the blood-red spacecraft underground, the demonic figure was furious. Logically, anyone who discovered a treasure that could help someone break through would be consumed by greed, wanting to obtain more. But Ji Yun was an exception.

Because Ji Yun believed that such treasures were probably extremely rare. Finding one was already a huge stroke of luck, so he turned and left without hesitation, having no intention of searching further.

Ji Yun was flying through the air when his eyes suddenly shifted, looking toward another side of the island.

On the other side of the island, a martial artist in a black Combat Suit charged like lightning straight at a willow tree. His speed was so fast that he was less than ten meters from the tree in the blink of an eye. The willow tree angrily launched an attack... a sky-covering mass of willow branches wildly besieged the martial artist, and pale golden branches quickly joined the fray.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Three people beside this martial artist quickly joined the battle, working together to kill the willow tree, which was about 1.8 meters in diameter. Two of them had black streams of light extending from their bodies, covering them entirely.

"So this is the Black God Set that Hong mentioned," Ji Yun said with interest, watching the actions of the underground people.

Ji Yun had already realized that these were Vegetation Spirits, but Vegetation Spirits held no appeal for him now. Even if they did, it would only be to help his father and friends recuperate. With his current strength, obtaining one would be a piece of cake. Even if he couldn't, he could still snatch one by intervening now.

"Hmm? Someone is trying to snatch it? It's Luo Feng!"

Ji Yun immediately confirmed the person's identity and also overheard their conversation. "So that Asian-faced martial artist wearing the Black God Set is Li Yao, the one who has a life-and-death grudge with Luo Feng."

"Just watch. Once Luo Feng gets that Vegetation Spirit, he'll probably become a peak High-Level War God Psychic Master, comparable to an Invincible War God." Ji Yun was well aware of how much Vegetation Spirits could enhance a martial artist's physique, and given Luo Feng's rate of improvement, his Psychic Energy was likely substantial.

In less than thirty minutes, under Ji Yun's close observation, Luo Feng successfully absorbed that Vegetation Spirit and then pursued Li Yao and his group.

Ji Yun followed Luo Feng from a distance. With his Wind Phantom Body, he had no trouble keeping up with Luo Feng's speed.

Suddenly, A fiery red streak of light flew from the horizon in the distance, like a meteor. In the darkness of the night, this fiery red streak was very conspicuous.

The fiery red streak stopped in front of Luo Feng. It turned out to be a brown-haired white man in a Combat Suit. The white man hovered in midair, the space around him seeming slightly distorted. Traces of flames rippled on his surface. The man in the flames looked at Luo Feng from afar and said in English, "Who are you?"

Ji Yun watched from a distance, frowning.

"A Councilor-level expert? Why is he here so fast? Didn't Luo Feng notify the dojo?"

In Ji Yun's view, Luo Feng had discovered the Vegetation Spirit much earlier than he had, so he must have notified the dojo. Ji Yun hadn't bothered to inform them himself. How could he have known that Luo Feng hadn't done so, not because he didn't want to, but because he hadn't even recognized the Vegetation Spirit before?

Ji Yun watched from afar.

After the man in the flames spoke with Luo Feng, he nodded slightly and then suddenly shouted, "Katlan, all four of you, come out!" His deep voice spread rapidly, echoing across the entire Mist Island.

Immediately, a series of airbursts sounded across Mist Island. Soon, four people gathered below—the same four Ji Yun had seen earlier, including Li Yao and his companions, who had been attacking the Vegetation Spirit.

It seemed the negotiations had failed. Luo Feng turned and fled, and the Councilor-level expert transformed into a fiery red streak and chased after him. However, the result surprised Ji Yun. The Councilor, now a flame, was being left behind. He increased his speed again, but instead of closing the distance, he fell further and further behind Luo Feng.

Silently and soundlessly.

Ji Yun appeared in front of the Councilor.

"What?!" The Councilor's face changed. To appear in front of him instantly without him noticing—this kind of speed, he had only seen in the Second Speaker.

"Who are you?" the Councilor asked in a low voice.

"Ji Yun of the Limit Dojo," Ji Yun said with a smile.

"I have no interest in the Vegetation Spirits, but don't chase Luo Feng. Also, the Limit Dojo's people will be here soon. You'd better think about how to protect the remaining Vegetation Spirits."

"Ji Yun? The Ji Yun who ranked first in the Elite Training Camp?" The Councilor wasn't ignorant. He immediately guessed Ji Yun's identity, but he found it hard to believe that Ji Yun had already become a transcendent, surpassing the War God level.

"Ji Yun, my name is Fal." Councilor Fal's expression shifted briefly before returning to normal. He nodded and said, "Alright, I won't make things difficult for you. I hope the Limit Dojo won't make things difficult for me either." With that, Councilor Fal turned and descended.

"Hurry, split up and quickly gather the Vegetation Spirits. If you encounter any you can't handle, notify me immediately," Councilor Fal ordered.

Luo Feng returned, hovering beside Ji Yun, his expression complicated.

He had always believed that as a Psychic Master, his talent was outstanding. But Ji Yun had already broken through to a transcendent existence, surpassing the War God level, while he himself didn't know when he would break through.

"Boom"

The air suddenly trembled. A purple-red streak of light stopped in front of Ji Yun and Luo Feng in the blink of an eye. It was a purple-red triangular fighter jet. In terms of appearance, this streamlined triangular fighter jet was almost identical to the one Hong had ridden before, except for the color difference.

"Whoosh!" The hatch opened automatically.

Two figures flew out. The fighter jet's hatch closed automatically, and it hovered in midair.

"Are you Luo Feng?" one of them asked. Ji Yun, hovering beside him, made the two cautious.

"Greetings, two Inspectors," Luo Feng said, bowing.

The two figures hovered in front of Ji Yun. One had long, flowing hair and always wore a faint smile. His presence felt like a gentle breeze, calming the heart. The other, hovering beside him, was as cold as a mountain, with a golden mask on his face.

"And this is?" the long-haired man asked with a smile.

He already had some guesses, given the stir Ji Yun had caused earlier, but he was reluctant to believe that Ji Yun had broken through so quickly.

"Ji Yun," Ji Yun said succinctly, saying little. Then, as if remembering something, he added, "The Ji Yun from the rankings."

"Hiss," the two drew in a sharp breath.

It was one thing for Luo Feng to be a Psychic Master, but why had Ji Yun suddenly become a Councilor-level expert?