Babata

The Black God Suit he wore was the one he had obtained in the No. 9 Ruins.

Xiao Yang's Black God Suit was black, covered in gold and red patterns.

He had designed those patterns himself.

The Black God Suit's appearance could change according to its owner's wishes.

Soon, something like a helmet formed over his head.

For now, though, it left his face uncovered.

Covering it would ruin the look.

Besides, Xiao Yang was a Psychic with quick reflexes. He could cover his face when it mattered.

Looking good was a lifelong commitment!

He slowly flew downward.

He had studied the map earlier.

He was probably directly above the island in the lake.

Xiao Yang appeared relaxed, but his Psychic Power had spread out all around him.

At the slightest sign of trouble, he would run!

Several flying daggers circled him, too.

They were ready to intercept any sneak attack.

As Xiao Yang slowly descended, the scene below came into view.

A small forest lay beneath him.

The vegetation was not especially dense.

The island itself was not very large, either.

Visibility was poor in the thick fog.

Xiao Yang spotted a beach along the island's edge.

The surrounding lake water kept lapping against the sand.

The whole island was quiet, almost without a sound.

Now and then, a breeze rustled the leaves.

Apart from that, there was only the sound of water washing against the beach.

A flicker of delight crossed Xiao Yang's face as he looked at the silent island.

Quiet was exactly what I wanted!

Ordinarily, a forest like this would have monsters in it.

The silence made it all the more likely that this was Mist Island.

Mist Island was full of spirits of plants and trees.

And they were hardly plants that sat there doing nothing.

They could attack monsters!

Baili Huanxiang, which Xiao Yang had seen before, was one example.

Other spirits of plants and trees might use different methods, but many could absorb the flesh and blood of monsters.

The remains of monsters lay beneath the roots of many such spirits.

Xiao Yang landed on the island with great care.

This time, he did not leave his face exposed just to look good.

Mist Island was dangerous, after all.

He started toward the forest on the island.

Three SS-Grade Flying Daggers swept back and forth ahead of him, clearing the way.

The other seven stayed close to his sides.

As he walked, something ahead caught his eye.

Not far away stood a strange, towering tree.

Its bark was black!

Xiao Yang knew it had to be a Millennium Black Crow Tree!

The Millennium Black Crow Root it produced was an excellent spirit of plants and trees!

The Millennium Black Crow Root was gentle enough that even ordinary people could use it gradually by steeping it in water or medicinal wine.

Over time, it could turn an ordinary person into a Martial Warrior.

Weaker Warlords could consume it directly.

Many spirits of plants and trees, by contrast, could only be consumed by Gods of War.

Their effects were too violent. A Warlord would not only fail to absorb them but might even be injured.

Only spirits of plants and trees with gentler effects could be taken by weaker people.

Before leaving Hong, Xiao Yang had asked him for information on the spirits of plants and trees found on Earth.

Hong's records were far more complete than those on the Warrior Forum.

He had information on practically every spirit of plants and trees ever found on Earth.

Xiao Yang did not approach immediately.

He activated his Black God Suit, covering himself completely—even his eyes!

He relied solely on his Psychic Power to sense his surroundings.

As Xiao Yang drew near, a branch of the Millennium Black Crow Tree lashed straight at his head.

Xiao Yang casually raised an arm to block it.

Bang!

The branch struck Xiao Yang, but he did not budge.

With a thought, his ten flying daggers flashed past.

Slash!

Slash!

Slash!

In an instant, they cut the Millennium Black Crow Tree in two.

Its branches went limp.

Only then did Xiao Yang retract the Black God Suit from his face.

He began digging beneath the Millennium Black Crow Tree.

Before long, he unearthed a Millennium Black Crow Root!

He put it straight into the backpack on his back.

He had brought the backpack along specifically for this trip.

After stowing the root, Xiao Yang headed off in another direction.

Whenever he came across a spirit of plants and trees, he dug it up and carefully stored it away.

With his current strength, Xiao Yang did not fear even someone who had just reached Planetary Level, let alone these spirits of plants and trees, whose strength was at most comparable to a God of War.

Besides, he remained cautious and kept his Black God Suit on.

Even a sneak attack could not inflict the slightest injury on him.

Roughly fifteen thousand meters beneath Mist Island stood a Spaceship!

Inside it, lights suddenly came on in a dark hall.

A holographic projection appeared in the hall.

It showed a small figure, barely one and a half meters tall.

He looked like a child.

Two horns rose from his forehead. His eyes were bloodred, and he wore a black robe.

Another projection suddenly appeared before him.

A closer look revealed that it showed Xiao Yang as he was now!

If Xiao Yang had been there, he could have guessed the black-robed child's identity—Babata!

Babata watched Xiao Yang in the projection, delight flashing through his bloodred eyes.

"Wonderful!"

"Someone finally came to this godforsaken place!"

"Let me see. This kid's Brain-Domain Width is..."

"Hm? Thirty-three!"

"And he's a Psychic!"

Babata's face lit up with elation at the data projected before him.

But his expression soon turned hesitant.

"Should I choose him?"

"Let me look at his records first."

"Xiao Yang, seventeen years old, at the peak of the ninth stage of Apprentice Level. He only became a Martial Warrior a few months ago."

"Hm? Why does his Optical Computer have this information?"

"This is... the information the intelligence overseeing the outer disciple assessment gave him?"

"By Earth's standards, his talent is quite impressive!"

"But there might be someone better."

Hesitation crossed Babata's face.

As an Intelligent Life, he had little trouble infiltrating Earth's networks.

Testing the Brain-Domain Width of Earth's geniuses, however, was another matter.

Earth had very few devices capable of measuring Brain-Domain Width, and nearly all of them were in ruins.

The detector aboard the Meteor Ink Star Ship could measure Brain-Domain Width.

But its range was only twenty kilometers.

With the ship fifteen thousand meters underground, the area it could test was much smaller.

That was why he had released Wood Bud Crystals in the original story: to lure Earth's strongest people here for testing.