Gold-Severing Thread

Guan Chenglong's words had deeply shaken Feng Qingmo, and he spent the whole night thinking about the path his future should take.

He had joined Huashan and the Military largely because of his parents. Another reason was that he felt joining the Limit Dojo might not get him any more than joining Huashan would.

Although he trained hard, he had no great ambition to worry about the country and its people or to embrace the world. More than anything, he wondered whether he might one day hitch a ride into the universe with Luo Feng and the others. But he had no clear plan or goal for his future, or for what kind of person he wanted to become.

But Guan Chenglong's words had made him reconsider the stance he should take in this world.

City 0312 was about 300 kilometers from Kyoto Base City. Before the Great Nirvana Era, it had been the southern gateway to the capital. As a prefecture-level city, it covered a vast area.

A figure raced along the highway on the outskirts of the city.

"I set out in the middle of the night and traveled for most of the day. I'm finally almost there." Fully armed, Feng Qingmo glanced up at the sun. It was hazy, but he could still feel the warmth of early spring.

His Spiritual Force swept over the area. After checking the map, he said, "I'm about to reach the suburbs. So far, I've only run into lone Beast Soldiers. I haven't seen a single Beast General..."

"The Training Camp's mission is to bring back materials from at least two Intermediate Beast Generals." He continued along the ruined highway. "To hunt an Intermediate Beast General, I'll have to enter the urban districts on the outskirts. I might even have to go into the city center..."

As he traveled, his Spiritual Force spread out over a wide area. He hadn't detected anyone following him. Clearly, the people at Huashan Training Camp understood the abilities of a Spiritual Master and knew there was little point in sending someone after him. They hadn't sent any experts to protect him in secret.

"I wonder how Zuo Mingkun and the others are doing." The thought crossed his mind, then he focused again. He had reached the suburbs and spread his Spiritual Force out.

"That's a herd of Iron-Armored Bulls. Judging by the one leading them, it should be an Elementary Beast General. Hmm, there are too many Beast Soldiers. I'll go around..."

He stayed out of sight of the herd and quietly detoured through a side alley.

A flying knife stayed close by, killing the lone Beast Soldiers he encountered along the way. Before long, he reached his destination: Cloud Center.

It was a freestanding, high-rise office building, one of the city's upscale office towers before the Great Nirvana Era. It stood dozens of stories tall.

He had picked it out on the map before setting out as a place to rest temporarily. It was on the edge of the city. There might be some Beast Soldiers inside, but Beast Generals rarely ventured so far from the city center.

He had just climbed the stairs to the third floor when a furry head suddenly appeared around the corner. Before it could roar, a black flying knife flashed with a soft swish and pierced its brow. The Lion Mastiff Dog collapsed dead.

Feng Qingmo probed the area with his Spiritual Force, then stopped. His black flying knife shot out, and the monsters on that floor dropped one after another.

After spending some time clearing the entire building, he found a relatively clean room on the fifth floor to use as his temporary home for the next few days.

He sat cross-legged and first cultivated his Genetic Energy. Then he took out a circular device and fastened it around his left wrist.

He had bought it from the Mall before setting out. It was called the Gold-Severing Thread. Inside was a hundred-meter-long alloy wire. The wire was mixed with high-grade Kro Alloy, so its toughness and strength were both astonishing.

It could withstand a pull of more than a thousand tons, and it was incredibly resilient. A barb was fitted at its tip. Even the basic strength of a peak High-level War God was only a little over five hundred tons. Once bound by this wire, anyone below the Planetary Level would find it almost impossible to break free.

A typical peak High-level War God could produce several times their normal force with their Force Amplitude, but only if they had room to move. Usually, that force was added to an attack. While bound, they couldn't rely on their muscles to snap the wire; Force Application Technique wouldn't help much.

Besides, the alloy wire was very thin. Even if they managed to snap it, they would certainly tear their own skin to shreds in the process.

The wire and its launcher had nearly drained the last of his savings.

The Gold-Severing Thread had several uses. First, it allowed high-level warriors to move quickly through a city, much like Spider-Man in the movies of his previous life. With a hundred meters of wire, they could zip rapidly between the city's tall buildings.

Second, it could be used to capture rare monsters. Only some of a monster's materials were valuable, but certain monsters were worth more alive than their parts alone.

Third, it could be used for rescue. Used well, its hundred-meter reach could cover a hundred-meter radius of the battlefield and help teammates in danger. Whether he pulled a teammate out of harm's way or dragged the source of the danger away, the effect would be immediate.

As soon as Feng Qingmo saw the device for sale in the Mall, he decided to buy one. In his previous life, he had envied Spider-Man's ability to swing through the city. Now, even though he could fly with his Spiritual Force, it could run out. In an emergency, the device could prove invaluable.

More importantly, many War Gods had Black God Sets. In the original story, even Luo Feng, a peak High-level War God and Spiritual Master, had seemed helpless against Li Yao in his Black God Set.

Later, he had even bought a net-like item from the War God Palace to use against Li Yao. He never ended up using it, but the idea had certainly been sound.

Among War Gods of the same level, having a Black God Set almost guaranteed that you would remain undefeated. But if a War God wearing one was trapped, he would be like a fish on a chopping board, at the mercy of his enemy to be steamed or braised.

However, the Gold-Severing Thread was extremely difficult to use. At more than a hundred meters long, it took extensive practice to control it as naturally as one's own arm. It was also very expensive, so few people actually bought one.

Feng Qingmo's advantage was his Spiritual Force. Using it to assist him made the thread much easier to control, and he could wrap his Spiritual Force around the entire length, making its movements more flexible and unpredictable.

Sitting on the floor, he first practiced wielding the Gold-Severing Thread using only the strength of his wrist and fingers. It was indeed extremely difficult, and his aim was poor. In the end, he added his Spiritual Force, and the difficulty of using the thread immediately dropped by leaps and bounds.

After practicing for several hours, he had more or less learned to control it as deftly as his own arm. He stood up.

"I'll go find some monsters to test it on..."