The Beginnings of Shi Fen's Domain

"Why did it go quiet? Bro, don't scare me. I'm almost at your location."

Luo Feng's anxious voice came through the Communication Bracelet.

Luo Feng had heard the entire battle. He'd heard all kinds of monster roars, the sound of throwing knives piercing monsters' bodies, their pained howls, their desperate cries, and the kingly roar of the King-Level Crocodile Dragon.

Listening to it had made Luo Feng's scalp go numb.

Realizing Shi Fen was in danger, Luo Feng had given up competing for the Spirits of Vegetation and flown toward the sounds of battle, searching desperately for Shi Fen and trying to rescue him.

Along the way, Luo Feng had seen so many Lord-level Monster corpses and such terrifying traces of battle that he'd grown frantic. He wished he could fly faster than the speed of light to save Shi Fen. The voice coming through the Communication Watch had grown quieter and quieter, and Luo Feng was about to go mad with worry.

Hearing Luo Feng's voice, which sounded on the verge of tears, Shi Fen instinctively raised his hand and spoke into the Communication Bracelet. "I'm fine. I killed all the monsters."

"Ah?"

Hearing Shi Fen's calm voice, Luo Feng cried out excitedly, "Share your location quickly. I'll get there right away!"

"Okay."

Shi Fen's consciousness had recovered somewhat. He hurriedly turned on location sharing, then immediately slipped back into that state of enlightenment. Almost as if possessed, he sent half his consciousness into the Image World to comprehend the final Secret Pattern Diagram.

Shi Fen kept his hand raised, his consciousness sinking deep into enlightenment.

The final Secret Pattern Diagram, which had made no progress at all, suddenly began to yield rapidly in this state. He had started to understand it.

Following the location signal from the Communication Bracelet, Luo Feng raced along and finally reached Shi Fen. When he saw the enormous King-Level Crocodile Dragon corpse in front of Shi Fen, he was so shocked that he nearly felt his soul leave his body.

Over a hundred Lord-level Monster beasts and one King-level Monster.

All slain by Shi Fen in a single hour.

This...

It was absurd!

Still reeling from the shock, Luo Feng noticed Shi Fen's strange pose and immediately understood, clever as he was. Shi Fen must have gained a great deal from the battle and was now immersed in enlightenment.

Luo Feng immediately shut off the Communication Bracelet, readied his weapons and equipment, and stood guard at a distance to keep Shi Fen safe.

After a brief hesitation, Luo Feng called the number for claiming his reward.

"Hello, this is Luo Feng. I have something important to report."

A low voice came through. "Go ahead."

Luo Feng hurriedly explained what had happened, speaking so fast that the words tumbled out like beans from a pod. "Here's the situation. I was on a trial in Australia, being hunted by Li Yao, when I found a special place. There are a lot of Spirits of Vegetation here, including at least eight Millennium Willow Hearts. The largest one is a Willow King."

Before the person on the other end could speak, Luo Feng continued, "Later, I asked my brother Shi Fen to come help. But after he got off the aircraft, he was attacked by a swarm of monsters. Shi Fen killed a King-level Crocodile Dragon and over a hundred Lord-level Monster beasts all by himself.

"Shi Fen is now immersed in enlightenment, and I'm guarding him. The terrain here is complicated, and I'm worried a monster might show up that I can't handle.

"I know Shi Fen is close to Hall Master Hong. Could you contact Hall Master Hong and send some people over to protect Shi Fen as soon as possible?"

The voice on the other end was no longer low; it was urgent. "The Shi Fen you're talking about—is he the chief master smith in the Extreme Martial Arts Hall's elite forging division?"

"Yes," Luo Feng hurriedly replied.

"Good. Keep Shi Fen safe. I'll notify the Hall Master right away." The person on the other end hurriedly ended the call.

Luo Feng anxiously stood guard beside Shi Fen, as nervous as an ant on a hot pan.

In truth, Luo Feng was worrying too much. The area around them was absolutely safe.

Seriously!

So many Lord-level Monster beasts had died, and there was even a King-level Monster among them. The monsters' pitiful cries before they died had long since scared away everything nearby.

Monsters weren't mindless creatures. They knew fear, too!

About half an hour later.

A blood-red, triangular aircraft flew above Luo Feng. It hovered motionlessly in the air, its hatch opened, and four people stepped out.

They really did walk out, stepping down through the air one step at a time.

"Good Lord, Hall Master Hong came in person!" Luo Feng was dumbfounded. He'd never imagined that a single phone call from him would bring out the mighty Hong.

Though stunned, Luo Feng felt his anxious heart settle the instant he saw Hong.

Hong led the way, with the other three following close behind.

Hong walked up to Luo Feng, smiled faintly, and said, "Well done."

Then he turned to the three behind him and said casually, "The others must have hidden themselves because of Shi Fen's battle. You three, take Luo Feng to gather the Spirits of Vegetation. You can get there before them. I'll stay here and keep watch."

Luo Feng and the other three hurriedly acknowledged him.

Luo Feng's mind was finally at ease. He followed the three men away, thrilled at the prospect of gathering treasure. "With Hall Master Hong here, Shi Fen will be fine. Now it's my turn to make a fortune..."

After the others had left, Hong quietly walked up to Shi Fen and studied him, then inspected the traces of battle.

Hong raised his eyebrows and clicked his tongue in amazement. "He fought so many monsters alone and didn't even get a scratch. He must really be comprehending a domain now. My little brother's talent is far greater than my second brother's..."

Hong was very impressed by Shi Fen's performance.

His talent for forging was extraordinary, and he was just as formidable in a fight. That King-level Monster clearly had nearly reached the second tier of the Planetary Level, yet Shi Fen had managed to toy with it until it was dead. Shi Fen was only at the ninth level of an apprentice, yet he'd killed so many monsters. There was no better word for him than ferocious.

Aside from entering a state of domain comprehension during battle, Hong couldn't think of any other explanation.

And that was indeed the case. Hong wasn't the only one who thought so.

Before long, Luo Feng and the other three returned.

The four of them had come back with a huge haul, having collected over ninety percent of the Spirits of Vegetation on the island.

Luo Feng had basically just tagged along with the other three, doing little more than standing by. He'd barely lifted a finger. The three of Hong's personal guards—Wild Beast, Yaorao, and Iceberg—had taken action themselves, so naturally everything had gone smoothly.

Because of Shi Fen, Luo Feng hadn't gone to take the Millennium Willow Heart that Li Yao had "helped him" gather earlier. Luo Feng was still a mid-level War God Spiritual Master.

When Luo Feng went to gather the Spirits of Vegetation this time, fate's wheels turned, and he ran into Li Yao and his group attacking nine willow trees. Luo Feng launched a sneak attack and got his hands on two Millennium Willow Hearts. All of Li Yao and his group's efforts went to waste.

Once Wild Beast, one of Hong's personal guards, arrived, Li Yao and his group scattered like birds and beasts. Wild Beast gathered up all the remaining Millennium Willow Hearts and the Ten-Thousand-Year Willow Heart.

Yaorao had given Luo Feng information about the Spirits of Vegetation. Rather than consume the Millennium Willow Hearts right away, Luo Feng used his Spiritual Force to search for other Spirits of Vegetation. Though he'd mostly tagged along, he still managed to collect four in total.

When Luo Feng returned and saw Shi Fen was still immersed in enlightenment, he informed the three personal guards and found a place to quietly improve his strength.

Hong stayed beside Shi Fen, waiting quietly.

With nothing else to do, the three personal guards quietly gathered Shi Fen's spoils. Afraid of disturbing him, they moved all the Lord-level Monster corpses far away and helped butcher them, collecting and sorting the materials.

They left the terrifying King-level Monster corpse untouched, saving it for Shi Fen to deal with himself. The three of them processed the 145 Lord-level Monster beasts instead. Most of the 145 were sea monsters; only sea monsters could gather in such large numbers without anyone noticing.

If so many monsters had been spotted near a Base City, large numbers of aircraft and powerful fighters would have already descended on them.

They wouldn't have been given a chance to launch a beast tide.

The sight of so many Lord-level Monster corpses piled together was spectacular. They truly formed a small mountain. Butchering and sorting so many corpses all at once was exhausting work. The three men had no complaints; they were actually excited.

They were doing a favor for the master smith Shi Fen! All three hoped he would make them a custom-made set of SSS-grade equipment, too. They'd been coveting Hong's full set of custom-made SSS-grade equipment for ages.

At the moment, the only custom-made SSS-grade equipment they had forged by Shi Fen himself was the weapons in their hands.

When they found the complete set of custom-made SSS-grade equipment Shi Fen had left behind in his pack, along with the six exquisite SSS-grade throwing knives he used himself, which had been lodged inside the monsters' heads, their enthusiasm grew even greater.

If even Hong's three personal guards admired custom-made SSS-grade equipment this much, one could imagine how much the other council members and War God-level fighters wanted it.

If Shi Fen hadn't fought the monsters and had gone with Luo Feng to compete for the Spirits of Vegetation, Li Yao and the others wouldn't have dared to snatch them from him. They would have respectfully helped him gather them instead. It might even have been possible for Luo Feng and Li Yao to reconcile.

But that wasn't what had happened.

The Spirits of Vegetation on the island were all harvested. Li Yao and his group left Mist Island without ever seeing Shi Fen.

Only Hong, Luo Feng, the three personal guards, and Shi Fen, still immersed in enlightenment, remained on Mist Island.

After Hong and his three personal guards learned that Luo Feng had become an invincible War God-level Spiritual Master after consuming a Millennium Willow Heart, the four of them fell silent.

Given Earth's current environment, the odds of two brothers who were neighbors in the same residential complex both becoming invincible War God-level Spiritual Masters before the age of twenty—

Those odds were practically zero.

And yet, they'd witnessed a living example. One of the two had even killed at least 145 Lord-level Monster beasts here by himself, along with a King-Level Crocodile Dragon that had made even the personal guards' scalps tingle.

The monsters' corpses were all lying right in front of them. There was no way to fake it.

"It's practically a miracle." Hong was deeply moved. The three personal guards felt the same, especially Yaorao, the beauty, who was already thinking about how to get these two "young shoots" for herself.

When Shi Fen truly began to manifest the beginnings of a domain, Hong summoned Thor and his personal guards, too, to ensure everyone's safety.

When Thor arrived, he found that there wasn't even a drop left for them after their trip. He was terribly frustrated.

But the moment he saw the beginnings of a domain appear beside Shi Fen, Thor and the others immediately beamed with joy.

Thor hurriedly praised his big brother for his generosity.

Then the group eagerly surrounded Shi Fen and tried to comprehend the distinct aura of the domain taking shape around him. Thor and the personal guards all knew how powerful Hong was and why he held the undisputed number one position in the world.

It was because Hong had a domain.

The first time, no one knew domains even existed. Only after Hong comprehended one did they realize how miraculous domains were.

Now a living domain was slowly taking shape before their eyes. Naturally, they desperately tried to remember and absorb everything they could sense. They might be able to follow in Shi Fen's footsteps and embark on the path to mastering a domain.

The unintentional "favor" Shi Fen had done them was immense.

Thor gained a great deal from his insights, and at last, his own domain seemed within reach.

Only Luo Feng looked completely lost. Fortunately, he had an excellent memory and was quick to grasp things. After Hong prompted him, he immediately tried to memorize everything he could see.

As time passed, the beginnings of Shi Fen's domain grew more and more stable, and its range expanded farther and farther.