Chapter 2686 - 48th Floor

’What a tremendous presence! It almost rivals the Void Hunter from when I fought it!’ Yuan cried inwardly after sensing the overwhelming aura.

The next moment, the owner of that presence appeared before him, and to Yuan’s surprise, it also took the form of the Void Hunter.

Shortly after appearing, the Void Hunter made its first move.

Yuan expected it to try to kill him immediately, just like the entity on the 46th floor had. Instead, however, it closed the distance and engaged him in close combat.

’Is this just a coincidence, or is it preparing for my fight with the real Void Hunter?’ Yuan wondered to himself as he fought the fake Void Hunter.

The battle lasted for several hours before Yuan inevitably fell to the Void Hunter. Despite his defeat, however, he was confident that he could overcome it.

After taking some time to review his fight with the Void Hunter in the waiting room, Yuan went in for the second attempt.

Meanwhile, Supreme General Tian updated General Gu and Mei Feng on the situation through the phone.

"After speaking with her, we’ve decided to see how the others react first. Any questions?"

"I have a few, but they’re mostly regarding Sergeant Yuan."

"Meet me in my office in an hour," said the Supreme General.

"Okay."

An hour later, Mei Feng entered the Supreme General’s office.

"So, what questions do you have?"

"As I said earlier, it’s regarding Sergeant Yuan. I asked him how we could assist with his training, but he insisted that we wouldn’t be able to."

Mei Feng elaborated on the situation with the Unknown Ores and Crystals.

"Instead, he wants us to let him go into level 2 Black Zone to train."

Supreme General Tian raised an eyebrow at Yuan’s request and asked, "How does that help with his training?"

"I’m not too sure myself, but it has something to do with defeating Void Specters."

Supreme General Tian fell silent to ponder.

"If he wants to enter level 2 Black Zone, let him. Especially if it’ll strengthen him."

"But didn’t you say we should protect him? Sending him into a level 2 Black Zone sounds like the exact opposite of that."

Supreme General Tian chuckled before responding, "I don’t blame you for worrying about him, but if you had seen his fight with the Void Hunter, you’d realize there’s little reason to be concerned. When I said to protect him, I meant from the other cities."

"I understand..."

"Make sure you send a few capable soldiers with him, just in case."

"Actually, I already suggested that, but he said that would only put those soldiers at unnecessary risk."

Hearing this, Supreme General Tian recalled what the black-haired woman had said.

"So he knows that his Perfected Heavenly Refinement protects him not just from the Void Hunter, but from Void Specters as well, huh?"

"In that case, instead of sending soldiers to protect him, send them to monitor him. I’m willing to bet that guy is still hiding plenty of secrets, so we should observe him and learn as much as we can. There’s no need to be discreet about it, either," Supreme General Tian said.

"In that case, why don’t we just ask him?"

"Do you really think he’d be willing to tell us everything if we asked? It’s not like we haven’t questioned him, either."

Mei Feng sighed before responding, "That was before the assembly, but I guess you’re right."

"Anything else?" Supreme General Tian then asked.

"Well, do you remember that incident when he was arrested by the Extactors? He was trying to increase his credentials before getting arrested, and he asked if he could increase his Credential Rank."

"Does he even realize that in order to increase his Credential Rank, he’d need to be trustworthy...?" Supreme General Tian shook his head.

"If you didn’t know, Sergeant Yuan is actually afflicted by several powerful curses. I believe he’s trying to remove them through Gaia’s System, which requires him to reach certain Credential Ranks."

"I’m well aware."

Supreme General Tian fell silent with a pondering expression on his face.

Eventually, he spoke, "I’ll approve it. Also, promote him to Captain. We can’t let him wander as an ordinary soldier anymore."

Mei Feng nodded.

"I was already intending on doing that since he’d earned more than enough merit from the drill."

Their meeting ended shortly afterward.

At the same time, Yuan managed to defeat the Void Hunter on the 47th floor after 33 attempts.

<You have cleared the 47th Floor>

<You have received 500,000 Gaia Points as a reward>

<You have received Limitless as a reward>

<Your cultivation has reached Fourth Level Sixth Ascension>

<You have received Eternal Essence>

<Proceed to the 48th floor?>

Yuan closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his Eternal Essence skyrocketing by another two trillion years.

In just two floors, he’d managed to double his total Eternal Essence from three trillion years to six trillion years.

"I am now only four trillion years away from being able to fight Eternals..." he muttered.

Some time later, he proceeded to the 48th floor. Although he was well aware that he likely had no chance of defeating the 48th floor, he still wanted to see how big the difference was and how much he needed to improve before having a chance of clearing it.

Shortly after arriving on the 48th floor, an unfathomable presence descended on him, rivaling the real Void Hunter he’d fought.

"No... this Void Hunter even surpasses the one I fought!" Yuan swallowed nervously.

While it wasn’t drastically stronger, the Void Hunter on the 48th floor was still far beyond what Yuan could hope to defeat at his current level.

In just a few minutes, Yuan was killed and sent back to the waiting room.

After the fight, he finally realized just how much the real Void Hunter had been holding back when they fought. Had it truly fought with the intent to kill, Yuan likely would have been defeated within minutes, and it was still barely using its true strength, considering that even Tian Yuchen, who cleared the 49th floor, couldn’t defeat it.