Li Wei's death

Night fell.

Dongguan returned to the Oasis Residential Complex.

He no longer lived in Yang Bei's villa, but in another one-the villa he had lived in for ten years before leaving twenty years ago.

He had been gone for twenty years, and the house had stood empty for twenty years. That was the privilege of a War God.

He had only stayed at Yang Bei's place because his own home needed cleaning first.

After returning to the villa, he put on the Consciousness Sensor Helmet out of habit and entered the War God Palace.

He took his usual seat, but neither Yang Bei nor Lu Gang was there. Guo Ruinian and Zhong Yang were absent as well.

Yang Bei and Lu Gang had gone to the Wilderness Zone.

Guo Ruinian and Zhong Yang had gone to carry out a mission for the Military. Apparently, another beast tide had broken out near Jiangnan Base City.

Sitting alone, he had no interest in ordering a whole table of dishes. He ordered just a few small plates and enjoyed them with some fruit wine.

He had to admit that although the virtual food in the War God Palace offered no real nourishment, its taste was truly something to savor.

At the same time, he listened to the other fighters' conversations.

Some were discussing the bounty issued by Northern Frontier Base City, their eyes drifting toward him.

Others were discussing the beast tide at Jiangnan Base City.

There was also talk of events elsewhere, in Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

Two figures appeared in the War God Palace's main hall, a man and a woman, one Asian and one white: Li Yao and Vina.

Both wore frighteningly grim expressions.

"What happened?" Quite a few people in the hall knew them.

Vina was the president of the Polenas Family's operations in Huaxia. Li Yao was her husband, a High-level War God who also owned a Black God Set.

Even if their personalities made them unpopular with quite a few people, they still knew plenty of War Gods.

A young white man stepped forward to ask.

"Yao, what happened?"

Li Yao did not answer. Spotting Dongguan eating and drinking, he walked straight over.

"Dongguan, don't you have anything to say?"

"Anything to say? About what?" Dongguan looked bewildered.

"My son, A Wei, is dead."

As he spoke, Li Yao watched Dongguan's expression closely.

"Your son died?" Dongguan raised an eyebrow. "What does your son's death have to do with me?"

The plot hasn't changed. Did Li Wei still die at Luo Feng's hands?

"Did you do something behind the scenes?" Li Yao had found nothing suspicious in his expression, but he sensed a hint of satisfaction at his misfortune. Anger flared inside him, and he pressed the question.

"Did I do something behind the scenes?" This time, Dongguan was genuinely confused. Even if Li Wei had died at Luo Feng's hands, what did that have to do with him?

Was he being suspected simply because he was a Psychic? He was still in Northern Frontier Base City. How could he possibly have done it? By making a clone or teleporting?

Another War God nearby spoke up in his defense. "I can vouch for him. War God Dongguan was at the Limitless Martial Arts Hall in Northern Frontier Base City this afternoon, and there are no records of him taking a flight. He couldn't possibly have gone to kill your son."

It was Zheng Yuqiao of the Limitless Martial Arts Hall in Northern Frontier Base City.

"Of course I know he didn't kill him himself. I'm asking whether he did something behind the scenes, like planting a Psychological Suggestion. After all, he's a Psychic, and he had contact with A Wei before," Li Yao said.

"Do you have any evidence for that suspicion?" Dongguan grew angry too. Even if he wanted to plant a Psychological Suggestion, he had no idea how.

At present, he only knew two ways to use Spiritual Force: direct perception and manipulating objects. Recently, he had been studying those two rat eyes, hoping to develop something akin to Psychological Suggestion, but he had yet to succeed.

If he developed it later and used it, wouldn't that leave him looking guilty no matter what he said?

"Then why didn't that Long-Armed Ape King go after anyone else? Why did he specifically kill A Wei?" Vina demanded shrilly.

"Li Wei died at the Long-Armed Ape King's hands?" Dongguan looked at Zheng Yuqiao.

Zheng Yuqiao nodded. He had just checked the information. There was even satellite footage, and although he had not examined it closely, Li Wei had indeed died because of the Long-Armed Ape King.

To be precise, Li Wei had died in the aftermath of a beast tide triggered by a battle between the Long-Armed Ape King and another King-level Monster in City 003.

Li Yao wanted to say more, but Dongguan cut him off.

"When I say I didn't do anything, I mean it. If you don't believe me and insist I killed him, then come at me. I'll be waiting in Northern Frontier Base City." As he spoke, Dongguan rose and looked the two of them straight in the eye.

Li Yao faltered, seemingly wanting to say something else. In the end, he let out a long sigh and gave up.

If Dongguan really had been responsible, he would not have needed any mental suggestion. He could simply have lain in ambush in the wilderness and struck when Li Wei left the city.

In fact, he would not even have needed to target Li Wei. Even Li Yao himself, with his Black God Set, was not confident he could withstand the ninth layer of the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade unleashed by a peak High-level War God, never mind that Dong Guan was also a spirit reader.

After Li Yao and his wife left, Dongguan continued eating and drinking, but his mood had undoubtedly been spoiled.

What a load of nonsense. So Li Wei died. He was just a spoiled brat, yet even his death had to ruin my good mood.

Dongguan also asked Zheng Yuqiao for information about the beast tide at Jiangnan Base City.

First came the satellite surveillance.

The satellites had actually been tracking the Long-Armed Ape King. A King-level Monster roaming wherever he pleased was far too dangerous.

Fighters had already been assembled to hunt him down, but the Long-Armed Ape King's ability to change his size at will made hiding all too easy. This time, a fighter had only discovered him by chance.

Zheng Yuqiao dug deeper.

The fighter was named Luo Feng. No one knew what he had done, but the Long-Armed Ape King had chased him all the way from City 024 to City 003, triggering a battle between the two kings.

The beast tide was merely a side effect of the battle between the two King-level Monsters.

The outcome of the battle was already known as well. City 003's original ruler, the Blood Moon Azure Wolf King, had won, while the Long-Armed Ape King had disappeared once again.

As for Li Wei's death, it was merely an insignificant detail in the incident. The only reason it had drawn attention was because of his parents.

"Huh, this Luo Feng is actually a Psychic too?" Zheng Yuqiao examined Luo Feng's file.

It was quite impressive. He had become a fighter midway through the previous year, reached Intermediate Warrior on his very first attempt at cultivating genetic Origin Energy, and then joined the Fire Hammer Squad.

He had trained alone in County 0231, killing more than ten thousand beast soldiers in a single month before cutting his training short because of news of the Rat Tide.

He had accompanied the Fire Hammer Squad to City 024 to hunt monsters, then stayed behind alone after the other squad members returned.

Finally, there was a newly added line.

He had discovered the Long-Armed Ape King hiding in City 024 and revealed his Spiritual Force while escaping.

"Luo Feng was the one who discovered the Long-Armed Ape King?" Dongguan was curious. Did that mean Li Wei had still died indirectly at Luo Feng's hands?

"By the way, how did Luo Feng escape?" he asked.

Even he had struggled to escape from the Long-Armed Ape King last time. How had Luo Feng managed it? He should still have been at the Warrior General level, with his Psychic abilities at Low-Level War God at most.

"Luo Feng's method of escape..." Zheng Yuqiao used his access privileges to investigate further. "Was Earth Burrowing. As a Psychic, he escaped underground. Once he went deep enough, the Long-Armed Ape King needed time to dig a passage, which allowed him to keep running. During the pursuit, the Long-Armed Ape King entered the Blood Moon Azure Wolf King's territory. The wolf king is a relatively savage King-level Monster, so the two started fighting immediately."

"Earth Burrowing? That works too?" Dongguan was a little stunned.

Last time, he had only thought of how Psychics could fly. His flying speed was faster than the ape king's, and Earth Burrowing had never even occurred to him.

Now that he thought about it, it really would have worked.

If he had used Earth Burrowing too, he would not have needed to fight a desperate battle against the Long-Armed Ape King and devise a way to escape.

Still, every loss had its gains. It was precisely because he had failed to think of Earth Burrowing and ended up in such a desperate situation that he had successfully reached the artistic conception level.

"By the way," Zheng Yuqiao called out as Dongguan was about to leave, "the rewards for your earlier mission in County 0231 were just finalized. Are you satisfied with them?"

"What?"

"They should have been sent to your Communicator. Haven't you checked?"

"I've been in here for a while and didn't notice. What are they?"

He could have checked, but with Zheng Yuqiao right there, he simply asked.

"One admission slot for the Limitless Martial Arts Hall's Elite Training Camp, and a personal guidance session with the Curator."

Dongguan was a little bewildered. The Elite Training Camp? What did that have to do with him?

At first, he had not been eligible to enter-or rather, the Two Great Dojos had only just been founded back then, and there had been no Training Camp yet. By the time he could have entered, he was already a War God.

As for the Curator, that should have meant Hong. Guidance from him was indeed a decent reward.

He would have to organize his questions about cultivation and ask them all at once.

Among all the humans on Earth, there should have been no one better suited to guide him.

"That admission slot isn't for you to use yourself. It lets you recommend someone else," Zheng Yuqiao explained.

In truth, if it had only been a matter of dealing with the Rat Tide, a monetary reward would have sufficed. But the subsequent appearance of a King-level Monster required additional compensation.

Their intelligence analysis had also indicated that the King-level Monster might have been coming for Dongguan. Even if he had not been carrying out the mission, the monster would still have found him.

But it had, in fact, happened during the mission, and Dongguan had drawn the monster away alone, saving the other three, including the Military's two War Gods.

As a result, deciding on his reward had become troublesome.

Things like jade marrow and dragon blood, regardless of their value, were no longer useful to Dongguan, who was already a peak High-level War God.

As for treasures that would actually help him, such as those that aided a breakthrough to the Planetary Grade, their value was far too high.

In the end, they had decided to ask Hong to give him a guidance session.

Since the results of such guidance were uncertain, they had added an admission slot for the Elite Training Camp. As it happened, their intelligence showed that Dongguan had just found his children.

"Your information certainly travels fast." Dongguan sounded somewhat displeased.

As an Invincible War God-or even as the High-level War God he had once been-he attracted a great deal of attention.

His contact with Zhang Gui had been discovered immediately. Once they investigated, the relationship between him, Zhang Gui, and Zhang Yu had naturally come to light. After all, even Yang Bei had been able to uncover it.

Still, having his private life scrutinized left him rather unhappy.

"When?" Naturally, he was asking about Hong's guidance.

He could use the recommendation slot whenever he wanted.

But although Hong's guidance was his mission reward, it still depended on whether Hong had time.

"The Curator has already been informed. Once the time is confirmed, you'll be notified three days in advance. It should be within the next two months, so don't travel too far from the base city for now." Zheng Yuqiao sounded a little envious. Even as a member of the Limitless Martial Arts Hall, he had never received guidance from Hong.

"By the way, how is Luo Feng doing now?" Dongguan asked in passing.

"After Luo Feng's identity as a Psychic was confirmed, he left for Hongning Base City this afternoon. Unless something unexpected happened, he should already have joined the Elite Training Camp."

Luo Feng had entered the Elite Training Camp a little earlier than in the original story.