Show Some Strength, Snatch!

"I... I'll hand it over, please spare us."

A stuttering voice rang out from the mouth of that European Union Councilor.

"Hmm."

Li Qingxu nodded indifferently, and instantly, the golden ocean dissipated.

It was fortunate that he was not the type of person with a heavy thirst for slaughter; otherwise, the golden domain formed by the divine power of his Sacred Body could have crushed these four people to death in an instant.

"This is the Wood Bud Crystal."

The European Union Councilor tremblingly took the Wood Bud Crystal he had seized from his backpack and handed it over.

Li Qingxu waved his hand, and from a distance of a hundred meters, he drew the Wood Bud Crystal into his sleeve.

Afterward, his figure merged into the void, as if he had never appeared at all.

"Hoo!"

Following Li Qingxu's departure, the four European Union Councilors instantly let out a long sigh of relief.

While submerged in that golden ocean, they had felt as if they were drowning on the seabed under thousands of times the gravity; had it lasted any longer, they likely would have been crushed to death alive.

"Let's go, let's look elsewhere."

"Should we send out the information about this Wood Bud Crystal?"

"Send it! It's already come to this anyway."

After sending the message, the four Councilors immediately left together.

"Dojo Master, this is Luo Feng."

After leaving, Luo Feng connected to the Dojo Master via his communication watch to report what had just happened.

"So, the killing has finally begun."

"Luo Feng, this is only the beginning. You must also be careful; this is a struggle between nations, and even between dojos—it is naked and incomparably cruel."

"If you discover a Wood Bud Crystal on your own and cannot outcompete those teamed-up Councilors, you may immediately send a message to me, or to Councilor Li."

"Especially Councilor Li; his true strength far exceeds what you see on a daily basis."

Hong's voice came through the communication watch, with the final sentence carrying a hint of emotion.

"Understood."

Hearing this, Luo Feng responded thoughtfully, his gaze shifting to the silver bracer on his left arm.

This was one of the reward items he had obtained in Ruins No. 9: an Auxiliary Optical Computer. As long as one pointed it at someone, it could detect their strength.

Back in the cave, he had pointed it at Li Qingxu.

He was very curious to know what realm Li Qingxu was in—the man who could casually address the Dojo Master by his name in daily life, and who could render four Councilors completely unable to resist with nothing more than a golden radiance.

But when Luo Feng looked at the text appearing on the surface of the Auxiliary Optical Computer, he was instantly stunned.

Combat Power: Spiritual Force (?) Genetic Energy (Suspected Planetary Level, First Tier)

"Hiss!"

Luo Feng gasped, unable to believe what he was seeing.

This Auxiliary Optical Computer was actually unable to detect Li Qingxu's specific combat power; even what it could display was merely a suspicion.

The strangest part was the Spiritual Force, which was actually just a question mark.

"It really is true that comparing oneself to others only leads to frustration."

Luo Feng smiled helplessly.

Everyone's age differed by no more than a year or two, yet the gap in strength was actually this vast.

No wonder Hong, the world's strongest, was so approachable when mentioning Li Qingxu.

He then suppressed these thoughts; finding Wood Bud Crystals was more important now.

11:47 PM, the third Wood Bud Crystal discovered was initially obtained by the European Union side, but it was snatched away halfway by the suddenly appearing Councilor Li of the Limit Dojo.

This time, it was also the first instance of death. From then on, the various parties, who had previously been somewhat restrained, no longer held back, and things became even bloodier!

12:12 AM, the fourth Wood Bud Crystal was discovered. Under the watchful eyes of six Councilors from America and Soviet Russia, it was taken away by a white-robed youth shimmering with golden light.

1:56 AM, after an interval of nearly two hours, the fifth and sixth Wood Bud Crystals were discovered simultaneously.

In the massive cavern blasted open deep underground, over ten Planetary Level powerhouses were staring at Thor, who was dressed in white robes, in the center.

At this moment, he was reaching out, just about to grasp those two Wood Bud Crystals in his hand.

But suddenly, a blurry golden light flashed around one of the Wood Bud Crystals.

Before anyone present could react, one Wood Bud Crystal vanished into thin air.

Even Thor had not reacted in time; in his tightly clenched left hand, only one crystal emitting a white halo remained.

"You even robbed me!"

Thor roared in a fit of rage.

He didn't even need to guess; that fleeting flash of golden light was undoubtedly the monstrously powerful Li Qingxu.

Previously, when he went to the Limit Dojo headquarters to find Hong, he had sparred with Li Qingxu once.

The result was that Li Qingxu had stood there holding a teacup without moving, while he himself felt as if he had been imprisoned by the surrounding space, unable to move a muscle.

"Haha, he still left you one, didn't he? That's enough."

Hong, who had just arrived and witnessed the situation, understood instantly and burst into laughter.

He had originally thought Thor's haul would exceed his own, but looking at it now, everyone was the same—one crystal each.

"He really is a freak. Let's go!"

Thor grumbled helplessly before instantly taking his leave.

There was no helping it; he truly couldn't beat that man.

"Haha, let's go too and continue searching for Wood Bud Crystals."

With a smile on his face, Hong turned and left.

The members of the Limit Dojo who had arrived, Beast and Luo Feng, also immediately turned to continue their search.

About half an hour later.

Deep underground, at a depth of over four thousand meters, Luo Feng smashed through a rock. Beside a thin subterranean stream within the rock layer in front of him, three white specks of light were bobbing up and down, suspended in the air.

But in an instant, a dim golden light swept by, and two of the white specks vanished.

"Three..."

Luo Feng's eyes had just lit up before they instantly filled with astonishment.

Without time to think, he waved his hand, and his invisible spiritual force acted like a giant, unseen hand, quickly coiling around the remaining Wood Bud Crystal twenty meters away and pulling it back.

"No way, why are you robbing your own people too!"

After tucking the lone survivor into the inner pocket of the vest formed by his Black God Set, Luo Feng felt like crying but had no tears.

At this moment, he finally understood how Thor had felt earlier—surprised, yet helpless.

"At least he left me one, thank goodness."

Luo Feng sighed.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, a thunderous roar echoed.

Three figures appeared in the distance, one after another, having smashed through the rock. They had only barely caught a glimpse of a Wood Bud Crystal's shadow before it was already in Luo Feng's hands.

"This one is mine!"

Luo Feng's gaze was sharper than ever before.

If they wanted to try and snatch it, he would be more than happy to use the opportunity to vent his inner frustration.

After a standoff lasting several seconds, Luo Feng swept his icy gaze over them, then instantly transformed into a streak of black light and burrowed into the rock.

"What do we do?"

"Pass the word out. We can't let Luo Feng have it so easily."

The three councilors exchanged glances before quickly departing.

Almost in an instant, every faction knew that the seventh Wood Bud Crystal to appear had been acquired by Luo Feng.

Deep in the dark underground, the scent of decay permeated the air.

"Luo Feng."

A voice came from his wrist-mounted communicator. Upon hearing it, Luo Feng immediately replied, "Dojo Master."

"You obtained a Wood Bud Crystal?"

The Dojo Master's voice came through the communicator.

"Heh, there were originally three, but Councilor Li snatched two of them away."

Luo Feng said with a bitter laugh.

"This... sigh, just protect the one you have. As for him, there's nothing to be done."

Hearing this, Hong was left speechless for a moment before reminding Luo Feng to stay safe and ending the call.

This was a frantic excavation and struggle that had driven every faction on Earth to madness!

Soon, it was the evening of the second day.

By now, the event had lasted nearly 20 hours, and humanity had discovered a total of 16 Wood Bud Crystals.

Except for one that had been eaten by a King-level monster, the other 15 had all been claimed. Of course, this count of 16 referred only to publicly known information.

There were individuals who had discovered a Wood Bud Crystal on their own and quietly tucked it away, with no one else being any the wiser.

Except for one person—no, it wasn't even a person.

Inside the spaceship more than ten thousand meters underground, Babata was so angry that it didn't even want to speak anymore.