A Journey to Australia

Jiangnan Base City, Jiangnan Shanshui Residential District, Huayao Peak Villa.

Li Yao and Vina stared intently at the screen before them.

But they were not watching Luo Feng. They were watching a gray ape in a satellite image.

"That beast is still in City 003. It hasn't left," Li Yao said through gritted teeth.

For certain reasons, the circumstances of Li Wei's death had changed, but Li Yao and Vina's love for their son had not.

They had suspected Dongguan, but after his denial and the explanations from Catlan and Ister, Earth's foremost Psychic, they understood just how implausible it was to kill someone through so-called "Psychological Suggestion."

After Dongguan's breakthrough, they had even apologized and offered compensation.

They took their anger out on Luo Feng, but since he was in the Limitless Martial Arts Hall's Elite Training Camp, they merely asked Candace to make trouble for him by stealing his monster kills and the like.

As for targeting Luo Feng's family, their misplaced anger was not enough to make them take such a great risk.

But they truly hated the real killer, that Long-Armed Ape King, with a vengeance. They had even spared no expense to keep searching for him by satellite, and after all this time, they had finally found his trail.

"Yao, he's shown himself. That could mean his injuries have healed," Vina said worriedly.

He was a king-level monster with an exceptional ability to stay alive. If he was fully recovered, Li Yao was no match for him.

"We'll use a Laser Cannon. Once I tie him down, we can fire the Laser Cannon. Most importantly, I've spoken to Councilor Yan Hai. He agreed to act, as long as I keep the ape occupied," Li Yao said.

The Long-Armed Ape King was not particularly strong among king-level monsters, but he was extremely good at surviving and fleeing.

As long as someone could keep him occupied, Councilor Yan Hai was willing to intervene.

Unlike attacking Luo Feng, killing monsters served humanity's greater cause.

The risk instead fell on Li Yao, who would have to track down the Long-Armed Ape King and keep him engaged.

"Yao." Vina was still worried, and she also resented those Councilors for refusing to act themselves. They would face far less danger than Li Yao in holding the ape down.

"Don't worry," Li Yao reassured her. "I have the Black God Set. Even if I can't beat him, I'm confident I can survive. Not even a Councilor can break through the Black God Set's defenses."

That was a lie. A Councilor indeed could not break through the Black God Set, but could still kill the person inside with the force transmitted through it.

"Yao, then I'm counting on you."

"Don't worry."

As Li Yao walked away, his figure looked angelic in the sunlight.

At least, that was how Vina saw him.

The Australian Continent.

Near the Limitless Martial Arts Hall's aircraft, Dongguan and Iceberg stared at each other.

Iceberg was one of Hong's three personal guards in the Limitless Martial Arts Hall, and he was also at the Councilor Level.

"Iceberg, why are you watching me? Don't you have anything to do?" Dongguan spread his hands helplessly.

After the trainees left, Dongguan had been about to depart when Iceberg stopped him.

"I can't let you interfere with the trainees' life-and-death trials," Iceberg replied flatly.

"How am I interfering with their trials? I just want to explore the Australian Continent and kill some monsters. Is that not allowed?" Dongguan explained.

"I don't believe you."

By now, who in the entire War God Palace did not know how Dongguan "doted" on Zhang Gui?

"Then what do you want to do? Surely you're not making me sit here on the aircraft with you. You must have a mission."

"My most important mission is watching you."

Dongguan's fists clenched.

With someone this impervious to reason watching him, how was he supposed to search for Fog Island properly?

"Whatever." The vertical eye beneath Dongguan's forehead protector opened, and he flew straight off. As a Planetary Grade Psychic, he could fly faster than Iceberg.

Once he flew away, Iceberg could not catch him.

After comparing their speeds and realizing he could not keep up, Iceberg wore a helpless expression beneath his golden mask and switched on his Communicator.

"Curator, Dongguan has left. I can't catch him."

Watching Dongguan had actually been Hong's order.

"If you can't catch him, let it go. Send him the decision."

That was Hong's response.

High in the sky, Dongguan looked down over the Australian landscape, searching for the supposed Ape Mountain Range, rivers and lakes, and that mist-shrouded island in the middle of a lake.

Holding his Communication Watch, he pondered whether to contact Zhang Gui first or go find Luo Feng.

A message popped up.

"From Iceberg? What does he want to say?" Dongguan frowned.

He opened it, and his expression immediately darkened.

It contained three points.

First, before coming here, Zhang Gui had been required to change his contact number and keep it secret from Dongguan. The other trainees had also been strictly forbidden from telling him Zhang Gui's location.

Second, if he was ultimately found to have taken any actual steps to seek out Zhang Gui, or if anything about Zhang Gui's circumstances seemed "unusual," Zhang Gui would lose his place in the Elite Training Camp.

Third, the Limitless Martial Arts Hall's Elite Training Camp no longer welcomed him. Once he returned from this trip, he, their "unofficial instructor," would no longer be allowed into the Training Camp.

"Damn," Dongguan muttered. Do they really have to single me out like this?

But he also began reflecting. Have I really been spoiling Zhang Gui too much?

Thinking back over his actions during the past six months, he realized that, as an inexperienced first-time father driven by a desire to make up for the past and worries over safety, he had indeed gone overboard.

Toward the end, even Zhang Gui himself seemed to have objected to this "doting."

That was also why not a word about his changed contact number had leaked.

Otherwise, if Zhang Gui had wanted to, all he needed to do was leave some unusual sign to draw Dongguan's attention. With Dongguan's abilities as a Psychic, passing along the information would have been easy.

If they talked it through and cooperated, he could have made everything utterly seamless.

He could leave his Communication Watch somewhere, burrow underground, and use his Spiritual Force to help. Who would discover him?

"Perhaps this is the right way." In the end, Dongguan smiled.

It was a good thing for a child to become independent.

Perhaps he could look after Zhang Gui for a while, or even for his entire life in a world like this, but Zhang Gui would have long since lost his sense of self.

Too much care became another form of stifling him.

After letting go, Dongguan gained a different insight.

He looked at the sky and the earth again. Nothing had changed, yet they seemed so much more expansive.

Finally, he sent Iceberg a message, then sent another to Luo Feng.

Inside the aircraft, Iceberg checked the message on his Communication Watch, and his expression grew even more helpless.

"I won't go looking for Zhang Gui anymore. If you don't believe me, go watch him yourself."

If he went to watch Zhang Gui, could he really refrain from intervening if the boy was on the verge of death?

Although the Training Camp was supposed to be fair, a Councilor's only son was still somewhat different.

He could only report to Hong again.

There was no reply for quite a while. Dongguan's response had left even Hong Du speechless.

"In that case, go watch him."

All that mattered was that Dongguan did not help. Iceberg knew where to draw the line. After all, they did not actually want Zhang Gui to die.

On the grassland.

After killing a mutant rabbit monster, Luo Feng hid in a cave to rest.

Checking his messages, he found one from Dongguan.

He had not intended to read it at first. After all, they had been strictly forbidden from letting Dongguan learn Zhang Gui's location.

But on second thought, he was not with Zhang Gui, nor did he know where Zhang Gui was.

So Luo Feng opened the message.

"If you discover a mountain range with large numbers of ape monsters, or a mist-shrouded island in the middle of a lake, let me know."

"Ape monsters? An island in a lake?" Luo Feng was somewhat puzzled.

Still, he decided to notify Dongguan if he found either.

After all, over the past six months, besides teaching Zhang Gui and working on his own cultivation, Dongguan had also given lessons to others, including Luo Feng.

And Dongguan had mastered the Ninefold Thunder Blade to its utmost extent and was also a Psychic. His instruction in both areas had benefited Luo Feng greatly.

Over the Australian Continent.

An enormous azure avian monster streaked across the sky.

A figure could just barely be seen sitting on its back.

He wore a black Combat Suit and a forehead protector over his medium-length, tousled hair. In each hand, he held an egg-sized, ruby-like red sphere.

The same scarlet light gleamed in the bird's eyes.

The avian monster's aura was at the lord level, yet it seemed remarkably docile.

"It seems I can take this a step further," Dongguan murmured.

Putting away the rat eyes, he looked down.

There were rivers and mountains, but where was Fog Island?

At first, he had thought he could find Fog Island using the clues he remembered. Later, he realized he had been far too naive.

The Australian Continent was enormous, with plenty of mountain ranges and rivers.

There were not many large lakes, but there were plenty of small ones, and no shortage of islands in them.

Many mountain ranges had ape monsters. After all, those monsters had more of an advantage in the mountains than on the plains.

Searching thoroughly would take far too long, while searching superficially would make it easy to miss the place.

So Dongguan stopped worrying about it.

He simply resumed his research into the two rat eyes.

As it happened, his research into the rat-eye secret pattern had genuinely yielded results.

After reaching the Planetary Grade, his Spiritual Force had advanced further, allowing him to observe the secret pattern more clearly and faintly discern deeper mysteries.

On that foundation, by tracing out the secret pattern with his Spiritual Force, he had developed a secret art-the Beast Taming Secret Art.

Among the Psychic secret arts currently available on Earth, the only method of taming beasts involved "communicating mentally with monsters and befriending them."

Dongguan's Beast Taming Secret Art, however, could forcibly control monsters.

There was a limit to how many he could control, and at present, he could only control lord-level monsters at most.

But the new secret patterns he had deciphered after reaching the Planetary Grade made him feel he could take it further still.

Perhaps, once he severely injured a Planetary Grade monster and knocked it unconscious, he would be able to forcibly control it.

Of course, mental control was not enslavement. If the target possessed a strong enough will, it could break free.

The drawback was that a tamed beast could betray him. The advantage was that even if it died, he would not permanently lose anything; instead, it would free up some of his control capacity.

Soul Enslavement was a higher-order secret art of this type.

Strangely enough, an ordinary rat monster lord had brought Dongguan such gains.

The Beast Taming Secret Art itself was nothing exceptional. What truly delighted Dongguan was that, during his research, the maximum number of Flying Daggers he could control had increased.

It had risen from seven to ten, meaning his mental power amplitude had increased from seven to ten.

And it was still improving.

He had originally intended to see whether other monsters had any secret patterns, but after confirming this unexpected benefit, Dongguan decided to first develop a Beast Taming Secret Art that could mentally control monsters at his own level.

He sensed that he was already very close.

Absorbed in cultivation, he lost track of time until he received a message from Luo Feng.

"I found a mountain range full of apes. Its location is..."

A set of coordinates followed.

"Let's go." Dongguan used his Spiritual Force to transmit the flight route to his mount beneath him.

The avian monster let out a shrill cry and streaked across the sky.