Phantylia: That Little Bug, Jiyuan, Has Made Me Even More Curious!

Two astonished faces collided.

"Tail, control him!"

Even now, Huohuo was still ordering Tail around.

Then, under the control of the Suiyang Subjugation Art, Tail entered the enemy's body. Following Huohuo's command, he controlled the enemy's body, immediately turned the gun around, and fired at the other enemies.

At the same time, the Cloud Knights who had been pinned down by enemy fire all charged forward and knocked the enemies down.

"I-I really defeated the enemy?"

Looking at the fallen enemy, Huohuo seemed somewhat stunned.

I can defeat enemies too?

Tail flew back at that moment and said irritably to Huohuo, "Yeah, you launched me out. In all my years on the Xianzhou, I've seen countless ways to use Suiyang energy. You're the first one to directly throw a Suiyang at someone."

Ji Yuan, however, disagreed with Tail. He encouraged Huohuo, saying, "This is perfectly fine. As long as you can win, any method is a good one. Besides, if you weren't going to subjugate Suiyang, why would I teach you the technique to subjugate them?"

"Kid, are you provoking me?"

Tail said, unable to suppress his anger.

"Is that so? Then shall we have a talk?"

Ji Yuan replied, rolling up his sleeves.

"Then... forget it."

Tail suppressed his temper.

"Huohuo, don't listen to Tail. You did very well today. You even managed to handle such a huge enemy. If you encounter other enemies later, you'll be able to handle them too."

"Mhm, mhm."

Hearing Ji Yuan's words, Huohuo shyly lowered her head, though the corners of her mouth unconsciously rose. She had finally done something right. That 'terrifying' enemy had been defeated by her.

I really can do it...

Looking at Ji Yuan, Huohuo could not stop smiling.

Huohuo was happy that she had finally managed to accomplish something. It was all thanks to her teacher.

Though he was a little forceful.

Huohuo was happy, but Ji Yuan was even happier than she was.

You fought side by side with Huohuo, Chief Adjudicator of the Luofu Starfaring Vessel, against a powerful enemy. You helped the Chief Adjudicator, whose heart had already become like steel, cast off the lingering fear in her heart. Reward: Sun-Stealing Technique.

Seeing the first half of that sentence, Ji Yuan's face immediately showed a speechless expression.

A heart like steel, lingering...

Ji Yuan looked at Huohuo, who was terrified of everything around her, and sighed inwardly. How had she changed so much in just a hundred years?

Then, after reading the second half, his expression became even more speechless.

What the hell is this Sun-Stealing thing?

Does this world have some kind of Hehuan Sect too?

After carefully studying the technique, Ji Yuan finally let out a sigh of relief.

This was not some Hehuan Sect technique. It was an art specifically meant to absorb energy from Suiyang. The "sun" it stole was the energy of Suiyang, using it to strengthen one's own energy.

The Xianzhou had indeed made extensive use of Suiyang energy, but there had never been a case of using Suiyang as something to absorb into one's body. Generally speaking, once a Suiyang entered someone's body, it would possess them.

Ji Yuan's technique, however, treated Suiyang as heavenly treasures for cultivation, directly absorbing them into his body to strengthen himself. Combined with his Suiyang Subjugation Art, as long as there were enough Suiyang, he could rapidly level himself up.

If Ji Yuan were a little more evil, he could even find a group of Suiyang, let them go out and wreak havoc by possessing others, then absorb them back into his body afterward. His power would rise dramatically in an instant.

"What a pity my strength isn't enough. Otherwise, I could absorb some of Phantylia's energy right now."

Ji Yuan thought regretfully.

Even if he could not obtain all the power of a Lord of Destruction, Ji Yuan felt that he would still grow much stronger.

He looked at Huohuo and patted her shoulder.

"Let's go. We should head back."

"Mhm, okay."

Huohuo followed behind Ji Yuan.

The two returned to headquarters.

As soon as they arrived, Ji Yuan saw Phantylia, disguised as Tingyun, sitting in the hall with her legs crossed.

When she saw Ji Yuan, she immediately approached him with a beaming smile.

Trying to throw herself at him, trying to throw herself at him. Whenever I see Ji Yuan, I have to find a way to throw myself at him. What exactly is going through Tingyun's mind when it comes to love?!

Phantylia smiled as she thought to herself.

"What happened to you two?" Phantylia sniffed, catching the heavy scent of gunpowder smoke on him.

Seeing Phantylia like this, Ji Yuan secretly felt fortunate.

"I took Huohuo outside for combat training."

"I see. Huohuo, you need to train seriously." Hearing that, Phantylia reached out and rubbed Huohuo's head as well.

Tail sensed that something was off, but he could not detect what it was.

Phantylia tilted her head as if recalling something, then said to Ji Yuan, "Oh, right. Lord Genyi asked you to identify whether there are any Buli Ren disguises among the latest batch of prisoners and spoils."

"Alright, I understand."

The moment he heard that, Ji Yuan clenched his fists.

Seeing Ji Yuan's movement, Huohuo's face filled with fear.

Her teacher was about to do it again.

Phantylia put on a speechless expression, though she was curious as well.

Recognizing Buli Ren disguises was not difficult, because these Abundance Followers' disguises were absurdly crude. But being able to distinguish them using only one's fists—Phantylia could not imagine how he did it.

There were things even she did not know. As she continued imitating Tingyun's emotions—

The seeds of curiosity slowly began to sprout.

Phantylia: That Little Bug Ji Yuan Has Made Me Even More Curious!

Ji Yuan had Huohuo go rest first.

He was somewhat worried about leaving others around Phantylia. What if she did something else? What if Huohuo or Changchang ran into danger?

If he treated Phantylia like some kind-hearted woman, Ji Yuan could guarantee that he would not even know how he died.

It was enough for him to go with her alone.

He quietly kept some distance, preventing Phantylia from getting close to him, just as he had done when facing Tingyun before.

Phantylia tried to move closer in secret, but Ji Yuan quietly avoided her again.

However, he did not avoid her completely. Instead, he showed a somewhat hesitant expression.

He seemed to want to get close, yet also seemed a little afraid.

He was thoroughly whetting Phantylia's appetite.

The two walked like that to the place where the prisoners were being held. Ji Yuan discovered that both Genyi and Yanqing were there.

"Big Brother, Miss Tingyun!"

Yanqing waved at the two of them.

Seeing Ji Yuan and Tingyun approach together, Genyi could not help teasing them. "Oh, you two came together again. When you get married in the future, I'll be coming by for a celebratory drink."

Phantylia's expression turned 'shy.' She secretly glanced at Ji Yuan and said with a smile, "Lord Genyi, please don't joke around. Ji Yuan and I are only ordinary friends."

I don't believe that at all!

Even Yanqing, a child, could not help complaining inwardly.

"Alright, I'll treat you as ordinary friends. Then when I introduce other girls to Ji Yuan later, don't get jealous." Genyi pointed at the prisoners. "Come on. Another batch of prisoners has arrived. Verify them properly."

"Mhm." Ji Yuan nodded. As he swung his fists, he asked Genyi, "Lord Genyi, are we going to verify every prisoner on this planet?"

How many people were left on this planet? How long would it take if he had to punch them one by one?

"Don't worry, there aren't many left. This isn't an inhabited planet. The people here are mostly higher-ups from the Orion Trading Company and some service personnel, so there are far fewer people than usual. Besides, most of the troops are still putting up a desperate resistance, while those higher-ups and their families have either committed suicide or are still resisting. There aren't that many left to verify. As for these goods, we only need to take a few useful items. Once that's done, we'll begin an indiscriminate sweep of the planet's surface."

Completely wiping out a trading company capable of interstellar trade seemed rather cruel. But when Ji Yuan thought about how they had colluded with the Buli Ren, he felt no psychological burden whatsoever.

The Buli Ren were all lunatics. What kind of good people could cooperate with lunatics?

Ji Yuan thought for a moment, then began carrying out the identification work.

One punch, then another...

Ji Yuan began beating up prisoners again.

Regardless of gender, age, or anything else, he just punched and punched and punched...

Genyi watched from the side and waved his hand helplessly.

"My heart is too soft to watch this. I should go handle some work instead."

He quietly left.

Hearing Genyi's words, Ji Yuan complained inwardly.

Someone who could become Jing Yuan's deputy general could hardly be soft-hearted.

Whatever. Keep punching and punching and punching...

Phantylia observed carefully from the side, yet she still could not figure out exactly how Ji Yuan did it.

"Can he really tell whether someone is disguised as a Buli Ren just by beating them up?"

Phantylia thought to herself.

If an Emanator or someone from the Genius Society could do it, she would not feel much about it. The problem was that Ji Yuan was merely an ordinary civil official.

He was someone who, in her eyes, was like a bug, yet he had accomplished something even she could not understand. If she could not figure it out, it would stick in her throat like a thorn.

Seeing that one of the people farther back wore armor disguised by a Buli Ren, Phantylia's heart stirred slightly. She secretly attached energy to Ji Yuan's fist, placing a barrier between him and the next person he faced.

Let's see if you can still identify them now.

Phantylia thought, then watched Ji Yuan's fist strike the person.

Ji Yuan left without changing expression.

He didn't notice this time, did he?

Phantylia smiled inwardly.

I thought his abilities were something special.

That's all there is to it.

Just as she thought that, she sharply noticed that something was wrong with Ji Yuan's movements.

He was about to draw his sword.

It was not that he had failed to see through the Buli Ren disguise. He simply wanted to maintain a safe distance from himself.

Ji Yuan thrust his sword into the person's armor.

Crack!

The armor shattered, and the Buli Ren dropped its disguise, appearing before them.

Watching from the side, Yanqing swiftly swung his sword. He easily dealt with the Buli Ren.

"Huh?!"

Phantylia was even more shocked.

Even with the isolation barrier she had set up, Ji Yuan could still verify it?