Translator: CinderTL
That day, outside the cement street.
The deceased Tai Tuo lay on the ground as a convoy of vehicles quickly approached from a side road.
Chen Feng and Yang Wudi stood facing each other, separated only by a street.
Both had more or less sensed the abnormality of the recent conflict. Chen Feng frowned, while the other shook his head and spoke.
"It seems both of us have been affected."
As he spoke, he voluntarily dispersed the Essence of the Pinnacle Realm.
Chen Feng narrowed his eyes, pondering for a moment. Looking at Tai Tuo's corpse on the ground, he could confirm that the cause of death was more due to the mental collapse caused by the Illusion Seed.
In other words, even if Yang Wudi hadn't appeared, Tai Tuo would have inevitably died.
Thinking about the abnormality of this conflict, a thought flashed through his mind, and he finally dispersed the Wrath of the Storm.
Beep beep beep!!
The convoy stopped, and He Jian and others quickly approached.
"They're from the Lango Group," he explained.
Soon, someone stepped out of the convoy.
At first, they frowned, seemingly displeased with Tai Tuo's death.
But when they faced Chen Feng's gaze and the man in the brown trench coat leading a little girl, they suppressed all their thoughts, not daring to show any hint of dissatisfaction.
Such destructive power was something even an Advanced Titanium Cyborg couldn't withstand.
Not to mention the coordination between the Red Nation's military and the embassy.
"It seems you must be the Flame Tiger Grandmaster," Yang Wudi said calmly as he led the little girl forward.
His appearance and face suggested he was in his forties, but his actual age might be older.
Chen Feng nodded indifferently.
He had already determined that their recent collision was likely influenced by the Illusion Seed left by Demon Moon and the Power of the Dead.
Too many coincidences, too much chance.
Yang Wudi didn't say much more and soon turned to the people from the Lango Group, stating his purpose: he was looking for a woman taken by the Shark Gang.
"Please wait, sir. We've already found her and will bring her to you shortly," a man in a suit from the Lango Group quickly said.
But Yang Wudi shook his head, his tone calm.
"You know how to handle those involved in this matter."
"Additionally, I hope you can convey to Duo Langge that I want to see the best outcome of this situation."
At these words, the man's expression changed slightly.
Duo Langge was the founder and chairman of the Lango Group.
If an ordinary person dared to address him so casually, he would surely be angry, but now...
"Has Mr. Yang been to Suro?" He Jian asked.
Masters of the Pinnacle Realm were rare, each with their own unique traits, and the military paid close attention to them.
"I've been there twice," he replied flatly.
The little girl from Suro, whom he was leading, hid behind him the entire time, clutching the hem of his trench coat, her big eyes nervously watching Chen Feng and the others.
Deep in thought, He Jian didn't ask further.
Chen Feng stood beside the black car with its shattered window, looking at Tai Tuo's corpse, his mind racing.
The trail had gone cold. Although he knew it was a bait, he still felt somewhat disappointed.
"It seems you're also looking for someone," Yang Wudi said, having lit another cigarette and exhaled a puff of smoke.
Chen Feng met his gaze, his impression of the man not entirely negative.
Yang Wudi had once killed a Fifth-Tier Cyborg from Skyway Shipping at the foot of Xiangshan, indirectly helping Chen Feng once.
After a brief exchange, Yang Wudi raised an eyebrow.
"The Divine Martial Alliance, huh..."
"It seems the several psychological hints I've encountered along the way were all this person's doing," he explained briefly, finally looking down at Tai Tuo's corpse on the ground.
"Fine, since she wants to die, I'll help her once."
"By tomorrow at the latest, you'll see her appear."
Chen Feng was surprised upon hearing this, realizing that Yang Wudi actually had a way to force Demon Moon out.
"Senior, have you met Demon Moon?" Zhou Wuren stepped forward and asked respectfully.
This was the third Pinnacle Realm expert he had seen in his life, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration as a martial artist.
"I haven't."
However, Yang Wudi shook his head, puffing out a cloud of smoke from his cigarette.
"People from the Divine Martial Alliance are all the same, sneaky and well-hidden."
"I just have another method."
From his tone, it was clear that he held the Divine Martial Alliance in great disdain. Chen Feng thought of the elusive Divine Martial Alliance Leader.
When he asked about it, the other man nodded lightly.
"We exchanged a couple of moves."
"Oh?" Chen Feng was surprised.
"He has some skills, but that's about it."
"The Divine Martial Path is just a side path, not the true way. Going further, it's no longer martial arts."
His tone was calm, but Chen Feng sensed something deeper in his words.
"It seems Senior Yang came to Suro to find a path?"
He probed, wanting to know if the other man was aware of Transcendence.
"Oh?"
Frowning slightly, Yang Wudi looked at Chen Feng, holding the little girl's hand and puffing out smoke from his cigarette.
"It seems you're also exploring the future of martial arts?"
His tone was serious, and he asked with curiosity.
Zhou Wuren, standing beside them, was visibly shaken by the question, and Chen Feng hadn't expected the other man to be so direct.
"I have some thoughts."
Chen Feng gave a vague answer, but Yang Wudi wasn't surprised.
"The end of martial arts has been reached. At our level, it's not strange to have some thoughts."
He didn't mention the reason for his visit to Suro, but his brief words left Chen Feng deep in thought.
It seemed that the Pinnacle Realm was indeed the end of martial arts on Earth.
At least, Transcendence hadn't appeared yet.
"You don't seem to have reached your limit yet, do you?"
Yang Wudi's gaze was profound as he asked, cigarette in hand.
The smoke curled up, and Chen Feng hadn't expected to be seen through.
However, he now had some considerable strength and wasn't worried about revealing some of his special traits.
"Interesting. The rumors say you have the Innate Tyrant Bone."
"But from what I see, it's more than that."
Yang Wudi nodded with a smile, and Chen Feng faced him calmly, neither explaining nor responding.
Soon, a vehicle from the Lango Group arrived again, and a pale Suro woman in her thirties, dressed in a plain black sweater and coat, was helped out of the car.
"Mom!"
The little girl behind Yang Wudi shouted excitedly and ran to hug her.
The woman nodded with tears in her eyes, but Yang Wudi just stood by the roadside, silently watching the scene, lighting another cigarette.
Aware of his presence, the woman led the little girl over to express her gratitude.
Shaking his head and waving his hand, one hand in his pocket and the other holding a cigarette, Yang Wudi exhaled smoke and simply said,
"Alright, the debt is settled. I'm leaving."
With that, he turned and walked away alone.
His figure was carefree, but Chen Feng faintly sensed that his aura seemed to have grown slightly stronger.
"Legend..."
Chen Feng's eyes flickered, feeling as if he had grasped something.
Moreover, from Yang Wudi, he confirmed one thing.
There were indeed differences in strength within the Pinnacle Realm.
For example, when Yang Wudi had used the Pinnacle Realm earlier, he had inadvertently revealed his aura. From what Chen Feng could sense, it was likely that Yang Wudi had already touched the threshold of the sixth stage.
As for Suro's Mountain Ancestor, though Chen Feng hadn't met him, based on various descriptions, he was likely only at the fifth stage.
"Grandmaster Chen, look."
He Jian suddenly spoke up, tilting his head to see that the people from Lango Group were still waiting here.
"Let's go." Shaking his head, Chen Feng decided not to linger any longer. He knew that someone of Yang Wudi's caliber wouldn't make promises lightly.
With that, he strode away, and the others followed. The business car slowly drove off.
The cyborgs and genetically enhanced humans from Lango Group finally breathed a sigh of relief, as did the nearby pedestrians and gang members.
In contrast, in a hotel several kilometers away.
"That damn guy, he actually came!"
"Pei Pokong is really lucky, and Yang Wudi too. They actually discovered my methods and didn't continue the fight. Damn it all!"
The woman in black gritted her teeth, cursing venomously, clearly feeling the backlash in her body and the pain in her spirit.
She had thought she could use this opportunity to eliminate Grandmaster Flying Eagle, but in the end, that guy showed up in person.
And to make matters worse, he blocked Yang Wudi's Essence of the Pinnacle Realm, completely ruining all her plans!!
"Master Protector, what should we do?"
"The entire city is on a manhunt. Should we leave Suojia City?"
The female subordinate in a jacket was also in the room, her expression grim, even somewhat lost.
"What are you afraid of!"
Demon Moon scolded, her eyes cold. "Suojia City is so big. How could they possibly find me?"
"Once the maritime ban is lifted, we'll disguise ourselves and wait for the right moment to leave!"
Her face was grim. She knew the situation in Suro was becoming increasingly complicated, with unrest everywhere and city defenses tightening.
With time running out, she didn't have much time to change her route.
And Suojia City, unknowingly, had become her last option.
That night.
Chen Feng returned to his bedroom, looking out at the night view of Suojia City, where he could see the wide river at the outermost edge.
More and more cargo ships were docking there. Following the line of sight, near the city's port, there was a dam made of steel and concrete.
The lights were bright, never turning off, and helicopters could be seen flying overhead from time to time, along with some local official fleets quietly departing.
That was Suojia City's maritime checkpoint, where all merchant ships passing through had to dock for inspection.
Pei Pokong was still there, keeping watch, worried that Demon Moon might disguise herself as an official and leave on an official ship.
Cao Tong and Xu Tingxiao were spread out separately, working with the military's fourth-tier cyborgs and security teams, along with the support of over a hundred patrol officers from the local Toran Sect, searching all over Suojia City for any trace of Demon Moon.
No one knew where she was, and Chen Feng didn't entirely trust Yang Wudi's promise.
Even if the other party didn't act, he was confident.
After all, the pressure of a city-wide manhunt and the blockade of the city.
Plus, the greatest hope for the lifting of the maritime ban.
"Let's wait."
"A hunter needs patience, after all."
His gaze was profound, a hint of hidden aggression flickering briefly.
Finally, Chen Feng closed his eyes and lay down again.
One second, two seconds, three seconds... Buzz! The mist dispersed, and Chen Feng opened his eyes.
He was still in the hotel, but the world had once again become just him alone.
"Indeed, Suojia City is strange."
Narrowing his eyes slightly, Chen Feng quickly pushed open the window, leaping up to the hotel rooftop.
The mist-dispersed Suojia City was eerily silent.
The lights were still on, and the vehicles were parked.
He raised his gaze, looking toward the river's surface where the strange noise had emerged the day before.
At some point, several cracks had appeared in the space, and a black hole the size of a fist materialized out of thin air.
Wispy mist drifted out from it, carrying an eerie and unsettling aura.
"What on earth is that?"
Chen Feng narrowed his eyes, sensing something ominous in that presence.
After a moment of contemplation, he activated his Azure Armor and flapped his Blood Wings, soaring toward the anomaly.
The mist around the black hole was unusually dense, and faintly, he could feel an invisible force flowing behind it.
On high alert, he didn't venture too close.
But as he amplified his perception, he keenly detected an unstable energy barrier surrounding the black hole.
It was as if it were a "Space Barrier?"
Chen Feng frowned, feeling that it bore a striking resemblance to the Space Barrier in Qinggang City.
The only difference was the presence of a fist-sized black hole and the spreading spatial cracks here.
To confirm, he immediately amplified his perception and traced along the barrier.
As time passed, Chen Feng's heart sank as he arrived at a startling conjecture.
Nearly half of Suojia City was enveloped by the spatial barrier, centered around the Suro River.
"This isn't right."
Chen Feng's mood turned grave, feeling that this was far too abnormal.
He wanted to investigate the black hole further, but in the next moment—
Buzz! The world before him shifted, with overlapping skyscrapers and flickering shadows.
Qinggang City appeared, while Suojia City vanished.
"So, that Energy Node didn't disappear but changed its location due to its unstable nature?"
Hundreds of kilometers away, deep within the Dowa Snow Mountain.
A young man with a crystal badge on his left chest, marked with a sword and shield, returned to the tent camp after concluding a pursuit.
A senior officer hurriedly informed him of the situation, his eyes filled with deep reverence.
"That's correct, Royal City Flying General."
"We've now detected the movement direction of that node. It's still shifting, but the speed has slowed."
"Initial speculation suggests it might briefly linger near Suojia City."
At these words, Wang Cheng frowned slightly.
"Suojia City?"
That location was highly peculiar, and opening a Secret Realm there would be exceedingly difficult.
"What are your thoughts?" He looked at the other senior officers around the command table.
"I suggest we first seal off the information. The Platinum Federation is ruthless. If they learn of this, they might act again."
"Agreed. While we're not afraid of them, we absolutely cannot let them succeed this time."
"This matter is too significant. I think we could try reaching out to the Toran Sect. There are those among them who are friendly to us."
"Hmm, after all, this is Suro..."
Opinions varied, and after a moment of contemplation, Wang Cheng asked a question.
"Don't you think this Secret Realm is too abnormal?"
At this, everyone was taken aback.
"Previous Secret Realm ruins had fixed node locations. Even if some were unstable, they were never this extreme."
"Think about it this time—a shift of hundreds of kilometers. How did it move?"
The expressions of the group grew solemn. By the end, Wang Cheng even ventured a bold conjecture that even he found audacious.
"Is it possible that the crucial node of this Secret Realm has always been in Suojia City?"
As his words fell, the atmosphere in the tent grew inexplicably still.
An eerie feeling spread among them, and as they exchanged glances, their brows furrowed, sensing something amiss.
Although Meng Anran and the others in the other tents were unaware of their discussions, they still gathered privately.
The howling sound of wind and snow continued. Lin Hao lowered the tent flap, draped in a thick black fur coat, and walked over to sit beside Meng Anran.
"Big Sister, do you think what we saw yesterday was real?"
The energy node seemed to still exist, but it wasn't on the snowy mountain—it had followed the Suro River instead.
No matter how they thought about it, it was strange.
Could it be that the energy node had its own consciousness? Without an answer, Meng Anran also found it quite eerie.
She had seen several ancient civilization ruins and had read countless documents.
But never before had she suddenly paused, her gaze sharpening.
It seemed she had thought of something.
"Big Sister, do you know something?"
Lin Hao noticed something was off and asked curiously.
Old Gu and Yuan Yueshan also turned their eyes toward her.
Under the collective gaze, Meng Anran's expression turned grave.
"Old Gu, immediately gather the information on the Ancient Taiduo Civilization Ruins in Radiant Light City."
"Hurry!"
(End of the Chapter)
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