Long Vine

Just as Inspector Liu and the Golden Masked Man began to sense this.

Councilor Fal, who had been in a brief standoff with Ji Yun earlier, also shot up from the island and joined Ji Yun and the others.

"Councilor Liu." Fal looked at Inspector Liu, then at the Golden Masked Man beside him, and showed a hint of surprise.

"Councilor Fal, all the Vegetation Spirits on Mist Island belong to our Limit Dojo. You have no objections, do you?" Inspector Liu said calmly.

Flames surged around Fal as he said angrily, "Councilor Liu, don't push it! We were the ones who discovered Mist Island first..."

"You?" Ji Yun shook his head. "I've been on this island for quite some time. I discovered the Vegetation Spirits first, of course. I simply didn't want to collect them. How can you say you found them first?"

"This..." Fal was at a loss for words.

"Haha, did you hear that?" Inspector Liu said with a smile. "Our people found them first."

"Hmph." Councilor Fal sneered. "Mist Island belongs to no one. Why should it go to the Limit Dojo? If you have what it takes, let's compete fairly. Whoever gets the Vegetation Spirits can keep them!"

Inspector Liu thought it over, then nodded. "All right. Ji Yun, what do you think?"

"I won't bully him." Ji Yun hovered in midair.

"Good." Inspector Liu smiled, then looked at the Golden Masked Man beside him.

"It's up to you."

The Golden Masked Man nodded slightly.

He then flew quickly into the distance and hovered above Mist Island. The mysterious Golden Masked Man spread his arms and closed his eyes. A strange, invisible force radiated outward from him in every direction, like a detection radar emitting waves.

Only five or six seconds passed.

As though he had discovered something, he shot into the island at lightning speed.

"Heh, not bad," Inspector Liu said with a faint smile.

"Councilor Fal, stay here with us. That way, you'll have an easier time, and so will we." Inspector Liu glanced at him. Fal only sneered and continued hovering in midair. He had no special way of locating Vegetation Spirits, so he might as well stay here and keep Inspector Liu occupied.

"Ji Yun, what's your special ability?" Inspector Liu asked curiously. A newly risen Councilor-level fighter was already enough to change the balance of power on Earth.

Fal pricked up his ears and listened carefully too. Ji Yun had appeared like a ghost just moments ago, giving him quite a fright. He suspected Ji Yun's ability had something to do with speed.

"I've never seen an ability like mine before, but I've named it Phantom Body," Ji Yun said after a moment's thought. "I've never heard of this ability, but it has definitely made me much faster."

Phantom Body? What was that? Neither Councilor Fal nor Inspector Liu had heard of it.

"Then we'll have to ask the Dojo Master." Inspector Liu smiled. "Ji Yun, you've given us a huge surprise this time. Luo Feng is impressive too. How strong is your Psychic Energy now?"

Inspector Liu raised his hand, stirring up a gust of wind that seemed to block out the surrounding air and enclose Ji Yun and the other two.

"It's just a little trick. I didn't want Fal to hear us." Inspector Liu smiled. "First, let me introduce myself. I'm Liu He. The Dojo Master thinks very highly of you, Luo Feng. He says you're one of the world's very best Psychic Master talents. You consumed a Millennium Willow Heart this time... How strong is your Psychic Energy now?"

"I'm a peak High-Level War God Psychic Master," Luo Feng said.

"A peak High-Level War God Psychic Master at nineteen. Tsk, tsk. You're not much inferior to Ji Yun," Liu He said with a couple of sighs.

***

Below them, the island lay pitch-black beneath a blanket of dense fog. From time to time, muffled explosions and the sounds of something striking plants rang out. It was obvious that the Golden-Masked Man was responsible for them.

"Rumble!"

The entire Mist Island suddenly trembled in the darkness, startling Ji Yun, Liu He, Luo Feng, and the others hovering above it.

"Get out of there!" someone shouted.

The Golden-Masked Man came flying back in disarray. "Whoosh!" A Black-Purple Vine, twenty centimeters thick, shot toward him from the distance. It stretched so far that the eye couldn't see its end. Even under Councilor Fal's flames, they could see five or six hundred meters of it, while the rest vanished into the distant fog.

The Long Vine whipped through the air toward him, as if it meant to crush the Golden-Masked Man.

"What is that?" Ji Yun stared, stunned. He thought it was a Vegetation Spirit, but how could a Vegetation Spirit have such powerful attacks?

"Let's go!" Liu He barked. He pulled Luo Feng into the dark red fighter jet as its hatch opened. Ji Yun hesitated briefly, then followed them inside.

He wanted to watch from outside, but a strange sense of unease made him decide to play it safe. Staying alive mattered most.

The triangular fighter's interior was dim. Ji Yun stood by the open hatch, watching the battle from afar.

"Show me Iceberg's battle," Liu He ordered.

A video instantly appeared in the dim cabin, displaying the ongoing battle above Mist Island. The footage was much clearer than what the naked eye could see. It showed the Golden-Masked Man alone above the island, under attack from a single Long Vine!

The Golden-Masked Man was as fast as lightning as he fled at full speed!

At the request of our readers, VIP members can now enjoy an ad-free experience.

Click to view

"Such a long vine, and it can whip someone like a lash?" Liu He's expression turned grave. "If Iceberg gets hit, it's over."

Suddenly!

Liu He's expression changed dramatically.

In the live footage, Mist Island trembled all over as another Black-Purple Vine, its end nowhere in sight, rapidly emerged from the fog. Now there were two Black-Purple Vines... no! The entire island was shaking as a third Black-Purple Vine, stretching across the sky, emerged.

More Long Vines kept appearing: three, four, five.

Then six!

All six purple-red Long Vines were a thousand meters long, whipping through the air and filling the sky.

"This is bad. Iceberg is in serious trouble!" Liu He exclaimed. But there was nothing he could do. If he went out now, he would only get in the Golden-Masked Man's way. Still, he couldn't just watch him die.

"Read the sensor data," Liu He ordered.

"According to the computer system, the six Long Vines are over 1,600 meters long. Their speed when extending, retracting, and moving exceeds 1,000 meters per second." Liu He's expression was grim. "Their toughness is about equal to that of an ordinary King Rank Monster, but their recovery ability is terrifying. Their wounds heal instantly."

"Open the hatch. I'll bring him back." Ji Yun assessed the Long Vines' speed and length. "If there are only six of them, I'm confident I can do it."

"You? You've only just broken through. No!" Liu He rejected the idea without a second thought. It was absurd. In his eyes, someone who had only just broken through couldn't compare to the Golden-Masked Man.

While they were arguing, something unexpected happened.

Surrounded by the six Black-Purple Vines, the tiny Golden-Masked Man suddenly transformed into a streak of white light. He was so fast that he escaped the encirclement almost instantly. The streak of white light shot toward the triangular fighter at an incredible speed.

The streak slowed sharply and turned back into a human figure, which crashed straight into the cabin. The hatch immediately closed.

"Back to headquarters!" Liu He shouted.

The purple-red triangular fighter instantly became a streak of purple-red light and vanished beyond the horizon. Only the Black-Purple Vines remained above Mist Island, tearing through the sky and lashing about wildly, as if enraged.

At Yanjing Pavilion in the Elite Training Camp, Hongning Base City.

After they returned, Liu He arranged for Luo Feng to stay at the Training Camp, then asked Ji Yun what he planned to do. Naturally, Ji Yun had only one place to stay in Hongning Base City: the Elite Training Camp.

Ji Yun didn't waste any time. Watching the six Long Vines earlier seemed to have brought him close to a breakthrough. But the feeling was vague and hard to put into words; for now, he couldn't quite grasp the key to it.

He only felt that the six Long Vines seemed to form a zone. Within that zone, if they worked together properly, they could unleash several times their individual strength. That explained why each vine alone had only the strength of an ordinary King-level Monster, while the six of them together had nearly stopped the Golden-Masked Man from escaping. After all, the Golden-Masked Man was far stronger than an ordinary King-level Monster.

At dusk, Ji Yun went to Luo Feng's residence.

Only the two of them were official students at the Training Camp now. The other students had gone on life-or-death adventures, along with various War God instructors and others. But Ji Yun and Luo Feng's return had caused no disturbance.

As before, two young men in black coats arrived to notify Ji Yun and Luo Feng to go to headquarters.

Soon, their car reached the entrance to headquarters.

"Phew!" Luo Feng was just as astonished as Ji Yun. He stared at the immense, spaceship-shaped headquarters building in awe.

Good heavens!

Although Ji Yun had been here before, he still couldn't help feeling awed by the magnificent headquarters.

The lounge.

"This is the lounge. Please wait here, and the Dojo Master will summon you shortly," said a blue-robed staff member with a smile and fluent Mandarin. Then he took his leave.

Two people were already in the lounge: Liu He and the Golden-Masked Man from earlier.

"Iceberg, the Dojo Master is ready to see you." It was the same red-robed Black man as last time.

***

An hour later, after Luo Feng—the third person summoned—came out, Ji Yun was finally able to go in.

Luo Feng looked delighted, clearly having gained a lot from the meeting. When he came out, he said with a smile, "Ji Yun, that trip to the Australian Continent was a huge windfall for me."

"Yeah." Ji Yun smiled back. "I probably won't get any reward this time. I just watched the whole thing from start to finish."

"Haha, I think becoming a Beyond War God is the greatest reward of all," Luo Feng said cheerfully.

"Ji Yun, I still have to thank you!" Luo Feng suddenly said, his expression serious.

"I was really afraid you'd expose me. Back then, I couldn't even protect myself, and my family would've suffered too. But you didn't. You even helped me get into the Elite Training Camp, so I didn't have to fear Li Yao anymore after just a short while. You did me a huge favor!"

Luo Feng spoke earnestly. "From now on, we're brothers. If you ever need help, just ask. I'll do anything for you."

"Sure. Then we're brothers."

Ji Yun smiled too.

No one could have foreseen that, countless years later, two figures as dazzling as the sun would emerge in the boundless universe.

At the request of our readers, VIP members can now enjoy an ad-free experience.

Click to view