There was no ntion in Lan Chen’s ssage about his strength or the incident of him disappearing from the "duo team." It’s likely that the Shock Phase had already passed. Now, there was an urgent matter he needed to discuss with him.
[Lu Yuan, be careful. The news that you have obtained the Phoenix Feather has been announced. People from many factions are currently in search of you. I even heard that the Distant Star Federation is preparing to temporarily launch a satellite within the Secret Realm of Ash Mountain to help lock onto your location!]
[But the higher-ups have already sent people to support you. Try contacting them.]
Launching a satellite to pinpoint my exact location on the map, so ruthless?
Lu Yuan felt that he had underestimated the value of a single Phoenix Feather. Most importantly, the Phoenix Feather had not been successfully claid by him. The public assud he wanted to "privately keep" this Phoenix Feather, so in a certain sense, this Phoenix Feather was still an "unclaid item."
Of course, it’s also likely that the Distant Star Federation has long wanted to do this. They just used my situation as an excuse... This thod of launching a satellite in the Secret Realm to monitor the entire map seems sowhat like cheating...
Since the Distant Star Federation chose to launch a satellite in the Secret Realm, it obviously couldn’t be the kind of common satellite from the Old City Circle that could easily be blocked by Evil Energy fluctuations. Lu Yuan had heard of such advanced technology: by transmitting a special signal capable of evading the effects of Evil Energy fluctuations, it was possible to obtain relatively clear and complete images to a large extent. The only issue was its exorbitant cost; he hadn’t expected the Distant Star Federation to be willing to deploy it.
Did they realize that top-tier rare materials like the Phoenix Feather had appeared rely in the outer areas of this expedition? Is that why they’re willing to pay any price to beco the biggest winners of this joint exploration?
Lu Yuan felt his speculation wasn’t entirely unfounded.
He saw several friend requests in the background, glanced at them, and accepted none.
After thinking about it, Lu Yuan simply took out his Flying Bear Identity Card, along with its auxiliary computer, and crushed it to powder in his hand. This identity card was equipped with an Ash Value collection chip developed by the Distant Star Federation, and it likely had a Distant Star Federation positioning signal implanted within it.
Yes. Lan Chen had told him before: the thod to conceal Treasures obtained in the Secret Realm without reporting them was to directly destroy one’s identity card. That way, the chip couldn’t capture one’s actions in the Secret Realm, and one’s Ash Value naturally wouldn’t change. Of course, this also ant completely withdrawing from the Ash Ranking and giving up the additional reward at the final settlent.
Lu Yuan naturally wasn’t interested in any additional rewards. He had wanted to do this for a long ti, but with Lan Chen around previously, it hadn’t been convenient. Acting alone now, he could finally, and logically, free himself from this restraint.
"The communicator can only contact people inside the Secret Realm. Instead of waiting for backup, it’s better if I act alone."
This should slightly delay the Distant Star Federation’s satellite from finding ...
Lu Yuan’s eyes flickered. Actually, it didn’t really matter. He hadn’t planned on laying low from the beginning; he just wanted more ti to operate freely.
GUGU—
The urging call of the Gugu Bird ca from ahead. Lu Yuan suddenly realized that, at so unknown point, he and the bird had ventured deep into the prival forest. The ancient trees beside him seed to be at least twice as old as those in areas he had previously traversed. Each one was at least fifty ters tall and at least fifteen ters thick. The dense branches and leaves completely blotted out the sky above, allowing not a sliver of daylight to penetrate.
But there were other light sources in the forest: it was the cold light emitted by vast quantities of planktonic microorganisms, deposited over countless years, slowly oxidizing. Luminous points, many tis smaller than fireflies, dotted the entirety of Lu Yuan’s field of vision. The sight before him gave Lu Yuan a myriad of sensations—desolate, cold, magical, and beautiful—as if he had accidentally entered an ancient, dust-sealed, mystical kingdom.
Lu Yuan silently absorbed the dense, free-floating Evil God factors in the air, continuously strengthening the Blood Pill in his body that had just undergone a tamorphosis. Lu Yuan nad it "First Turn Blood Pill." Mainly because he had a premonition that the current Blood Pill was not yet at its limit; it would probably have to expand and shrink several more tis.
GUGU—
The Gugu Bird flying ahead chirped again, urging him on.
Lu Yuan frowned slightly and couldn’t help but speak out, "We’ve traveled such a long way without finding a single Treasure? Are you playing with ? I’m not seeing any sincerity from you. I want to terminate our ’cooperation’..."
GU!—
Before Lu Yuan could finish speaking, the Gugu Bird in front of him swooped closer. Its two mung bean-sized black eyes stared at Lu Yuan unblinkingly, emitting intense ntal fluctuations conveying its exasperation—
"Right ahead, GU! This ti, GU! Definitely, GU! Will make! You! Satisfied! GUGU!"
"Er..." Lu Yuan sensed an unprecedented determination from the Gugu Bird, as if it would fight him to the death if he dared to turn back now. After thinking about it, he finally chose to trust it one more ti.
"Alright." Lu Yuan nodded, "But let’s agree on this: if it doesn’t work out this ti, you’ll have to give your golden feather. Hmm... If you don’t want to give it, letting touch it a couple of tis would also work..."
GUGU—
The Gugu Bird chirped a casual assent and then sped forward.
As the two of them continued deeper, Lu Yuan suddenly noticed—the Evil God factors, or what could be called the legendary aura, within the forest were rapidly diminishing.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!—
He heard what sounded like a giant beast roaring ahead, accompanied by a thunderous barrage, like continuous artillery fire.
How can there be the sound of heavy tech cannons deep within Ash Mountain?!
Lu Yuan was taken aback, doubting whether he had misheard. But soon the sound rang out again, and this ti he heard it clearly. It was indeed the noise of an Energy Cannon firing. He even heard the roaring of superpower engines, identical to what he’d heard during his battle with the Distant Star Federation’s Earth Armant. The roar of the superpower engines was very distinctive; Lu Yuan couldn’t possibly mistake it.
What on earth is going on?
Lu Yuan’s mind tensed slightly. Without needing the Gugu Bird to urge him on, he quickened his pace, rushing towards the source of the sounds.
A few minutes later, Lu Yuan brushed aside layers of dense foliage and was presented with an incredibly shocking sight.
He found himself on a high peak. Below him was a vast, deep valley surrounded by dense jungle. A colossal combat Fly Shuttle was floating above the valley. Beneath it, a dish-like object protruded, hungrily absorbing the Evil God factors and legendary aura from the air.
Below the Fly Shuttle, nurous powerhouses from the Modification System and New Martial Series, clad in battle suits, hovered and moved about. The laser guns and Energy Cannons in their hands fired relentlessly downward, as if ammunition were free. Additionally, several strategic-level Super Energy Cannons, ford by groups of them working in concert, unleashed small, red mushroom clouds in the deep valley with each blast.
Three giant chas, each over ten ters tall, either pure black or bright blue, roared like beasts as they rampaged across the scene. Wherever they passed, they left trails of bloody fire and light in their wake.
Earth Level chas?!
Lu Yuan’s pupils shrank upon seeing these three chas. He had never seen an actual Earth Level cha, but he could discern it from their auras. It felt very similar to the Earth Armant he had torn apart with his bare hands, yet they were much more advanced and complete. Their energy fluctuations were more than ten tis greater than that of the Earth Armant!
If these weren’t actual Earth Level chas, what else could they be? Three Earth Level chas!? What are they doing here?
Lu Yuan didn’t see any obvious organizational insignias on these Fly Shuttles, powerhouses, and chas, as if they belonged to so gray, unaffiliated power. However, upon closer inspection, he was able to differentiate that this group was divided into several factions. It seed to be a temporary alliance for this operation.
As for the opponents they were besieging....
Lu Yuan cast his gaze downwards to see various buildings of a primitive and rugged style scattered throughout the deep valley. What stood out more were the strange natives, each exceeding three ters in height, with snow-white skin, yet covered in nurous crimson patterns.
Phoenix Bloodline!
The term popped into Lu Yuan’s mind. He had heard Lan Chen ntion them before but had never seen them in person. Now that he examined these so-called Phoenix Bloodline, he found their strength was... It was, well... The strength of an ordinary Phoenix Bloodline mber wasn’t particularly formidable, perhaps only a few tis stronger than a normal human. They were completely outmatched by the powerhouses from the unknown factions, whose strengths were generally SS-rank and SSS-rank or higher.
However, there were also powerful individuals within these Phoenix Bloodline. These individuals were likely the "warriors" of their kind. Their strength and speed were not inferior to those SS-rank and SSS-rank Modified Humans. Up close, they could shatter a fully modified SS-rank expert with a single blow. So of them were even capable of manipulating fire and had incredible vitality. Lu Yuan saw with his own eyes a Phoenix Bloodline mber blasted clean through by an Energy Cannon, yet it still fought on with incredible valor. Their wounds healed rapidly; the blood flowing out was like molten lava and would sear the ground, emitting white smoke where it fell.
Moreover, every Phoenix Bloodline mber that was killed would swiftly burn up, and from the corpse’s embers, a pitch-black figure resembling charcoal would rise again, shrieking as it lunged at its killer... Then, WITH A BOOM, it would explode like a bomb.
Among these Phoenix Bloodline, there were two "giants" almost fifty ters in height, made entirely of glowing-hot rocks and molten lava. These two Magma Giants were the true mainstays of the Phoenix Bloodline’s resistance against the technologically advanced army. Their strength was imasurable, and they were impervious to injury, tying down the vast majority of the enemy’s firepower on the battlefield.
Lu Yuan keenly observed that behind the two Magma Giants, two clearly very old Phoenix Bloodline mbers were being protected by a group of their kin. They clutched a human-head-sized red gemstone and were continuously chanting. Lu Yuan felt powerful ntal fluctuations radiating from them and guessed that these two Phoenix Bloodline mbers were likely controlling the movents of the Magma Giants on the field.
This ability seems quite interesting. I wonder if I could unlock a related Extraordinary profession if I got my hands on that red gemstone?
Lu Yuan’s eyes glinted, a flicker of interest appearing within them. Very few n could resist the temptation to beco a [Summoner], and Lu Yuan was no exception.
However, he soon ca to his senses, turning to ask the Gugu Bird perched on his shoulder.
"Why did you bring here? To watch a war? What happened to the Treasures you promised would satisfy ? I don’t see the slightest sincerity of cooperation from you!"
GUGU!
The Gugu Bird, exasperated, frantically pointed towards a specific spot with its wing for Lu Yuan to see.
Lu Yuan followed the direction it indicated with his gaze. The next second... his breath hitched!
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