Chapter 161 - 142: Trash Cao Zhenxing, Exotic Treasure, All-You-Can-Eat Lightning

Chapter 161: Chapter 142: Trash Cao Zhenxing, Exotic Treasure, All-You-Can-Eat Lightning

"It’s Ji Zhixing!"

"Are he and Xiao Mingyue hunting down Yu Mengdie?"

"How is that possible?"

Several Yun City University students gasped as they witnessed the distant scene, looks of pure disbelief plastered across their faces. Some even rubbed their eyes to make sure they weren’t seeing things.

The figure in the sky, unfurling scarlet-gold Flame Wings, was indeed Yu City University’s Xiao Mingyue. And the massive figure advancing across the ground was none other than Ji Zhixing.

"Didn’t Ji Zhixing just break through to Tier Three?"

"Yu Mengdie is a brilliant prodigy who fused with a Rank Five Radiant Moon-grade gene! She’s been a Tier Three Genetic Cultivator for ages. How on earth is she being chased down by those two?"

"Exactly how are they pulling this off?"

"This is way too insane..."

The group exchanged bewildered glances, their minds reeling.

Over the past few days, Ji Zhixing had built quite the reputation in the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land. Aside from the few elite geniuses who possessed Rank Five genes, Ji Zhixing was arguably the most famous.

Even so, the scene playing out before them was utterly shocking. After all, this was Yu Mengdie!

She was one of the four supreme geniuses in the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land, possessing the Rank Five Radiant Moon-grade Six Desires Nightmare Beast gene!

Meanwhile, amid their clash, Cao Zhenxing and Gongye Zhou had also noticed the commotion in the distance.

"What’s going on?" Cao Zhenxing forced Gongye Zhou back with a thrust of his spear. Turning his head, his pupils shrank violently.

He watched Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue hunting down Yu Mengdie in real time.

"Ji Zhixing? Xiao Mingyue? They’re hunting down Yu Mengdie?" Cao Zhenxing froze, the tip of his spear dropping to the dirt.

He knew Yu Mengdie’s strength better than anyone. He had crossed paths with her and Gongye Zhou several times, and every single encounter ended with him being suppressed by their combined might. Yu Mengdie’s mental attacks were eerie and unpredictable; the slightest lapse in concentration would spell disaster.

And what about Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue? The last time he saw them in the Blood Beast Secret Realm, he had snatched a Blood Wolf right out from under their noses. If he hadn’t been in a rush, he could have easily chased the two of them out of the Secret Realm with a few quick strikes.

Yet now, those same two were hunting down Yu Mengdie?

Even though it was a two-on-one fight, it still completely defied logic. He felt like his entire worldview had just shattered.

"Mengdie?" Gongye Zhou also halted his attacks. He glanced into the distance and instantly frowned upon seeing Yu Mengdie being chased by Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue.

At the same time, Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue had also spotted Cao Zhenxing and Gongye Zhou up ahead.

"Not good!" Seeing Gongye Zhou, Ji Zhixing instantly knew that capturing Yu Mengdie just got significantly harder.

If Gongye Zhou intervened, there was no way he and Xiao Mingyue could defeat him. In fact, Gongye Zhou alone could likely beat them both, considering he didn’t suffer from the same type disadvantage that plagued Yu Mengdie.

Taking a deep breath, Ji Zhixing glanced at the distant Cao Zhenxing and threw out a desperate hail Mary. "Cao Zhenxing! Hurry and help me block Gongye Zhou! Xiao Mingyue and I will help you get your revenge!

"If you side with outsiders, don’t call yourself Cao Zhenxing anymore—change your name to Cao the Coward!"

Having shouted his piece, he charged at Yu Mengdie once more alongside Xiao Mingyue. It was his only option; he just had to gamble that Cao Zhenxing would actually lend a hand.

In the distance, Cao Zhenxing’s face darkened drastically at Ji Zhixing’s provocation.

"What a bastard!" he cursed inwardly.

But despite his fury, with an audience watching from afar, he really couldn’t just stand back and do nothing. If he refused to help, that humiliating nickname might actually stick.

"Damn it!" Cao Zhenxing gritted his teeth, sucked in a deep breath, and immediately raised his spear to charge at Gongye Zhou.

"Your opponent is me!" he roared, thrusting his spear forward. A watery-blue spear gleam shot straight toward Gongye Zhou.

"You think you can stop me?" Gongye Zhou sneered at the incoming attack.

With a flap of the illusory horse wings on his back, his figure blurred into a streak of silvery-white lightning. He easily bypassed Cao Zhenxing’s strike and hurtled toward Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue.

His speed was simply too immense. Cao Zhenxing couldn’t even attempt to give chase.

"Useless!" Ji Zhixing cursed upon seeing Cao Zhenxing fail so thoroughly.

Hearing the insult, Cao Zhenxing’s face grew even blacker. But his hands were tied; his main strength lay in defense.

Relying on his formidable defenses, it would take both Gongye Zhou and Yu Mengdie teaming up a considerable amount of time to defeat him. However, when it came to sheer speed, he genuinely stood no chance against Gongye Zhou.

Among the four geniuses wielding Rank Five genes who had entered the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land, Gongye Zhou was undeniably the fastest thanks to his Flowing Cloud Celestial Horse gene. Even Lu Xinghe couldn’t outpace him.

"Forget it, let’s go," Ji Zhixing sighed, shaking his head as he watched Gongye Zhou rapidly closing in. He knew it was no longer possible to force Yu Mengdie back to the Dead Wood Regeneration Forest.

"Lord Azure Sky Divine Wood, please teleport us back to the Dead Wood Regeneration Forest," he called out respectfully to the empty space before him.

The moment his words fell, a pulse of spatial fluctuations enveloped him and Xiao Mingyue. A second later, both of them vanished.

"They sure run fast." Grasping at thin air, Gongye Zhou stopped at the exact spot where the two had disappeared, his brow slightly furrowed.

"Mengdie? What happened?" Gongye Zhou turned around to ask. "Are those two really that strong?"

Yu Mengdie shook her head, her expression grim. "While they aren’t weak, their combat strength is only on par with ordinary genius class students.

"The main reason I couldn’t beat them is that their mental defense abilities are overwhelmingly strong. My abilities were virtually useless against them."

Understanding dawned on Gongye Zhou. Still, knowing the reason didn’t make the outcome any less surprising. He hadn’t expected Yu City University to harbor figures like Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue.

Two Cultivators wielding Rank Three genes had somehow rendered a genius with a Rank Five gene utterly helpless, to the point of forcing her to retreat. Even factoring in a type advantage, it was an astonishing feat.

"Forget them," Gongye Zhou finally said. "This is the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land. If they want to leave, there’s nothing we can do to stop them.

"If you don’t have any pressing matters, just travel with me from now on."

"Alright," Yu Mengdie nodded.

After being ruthlessly chased by Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue, she had developed a genuine wariness toward them and dreaded the thought of running into them alone again. Gongye Zhou smiled at her agreement.

Just then, he noticed Cao Zhenxing preparing to leave in the distance. His eyes flashed as he suddenly called out, "Hey, Cao! There’s no way you can conquer that Twisted Forest treasure land all by yourself.

"Do you want to cooperate with us?

"If the three of us join forces, we might just be able to secure it."

"You want to cooperate with me?" Cao Zhenxing paused and looked at the two. "How do we split the treasures if we do?"

"How do you think?" Gongye Zhou sneered. "Finders keepers, naturally.

"This is the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land. If you grab the treasure and teleport straight back to the Dead Wood Regeneration Forest, there’s nothing we can do to you anyway."

Cao Zhenxing pondered this for a moment before nodding.

"Fine. In that case, I’ll tag along."

He was quite confident in his own strength. The Twisted Forest was incredibly treacherous, and his specialty was defense. Once inside, Gongye Zhou and Yu Mengdie would inevitably find their movements restricted. When that happened, it was still anyone’s guess who would actually claim the treasure.

Having reached an agreement, the trio set off directly toward the Twisted Forest.

Further away, the Yun City University students looked disappointed watching Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue leave, only for Cao Zhenxing, Gongye Zhou, and Yu Mengdie to group up.

"What a shame. Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue left, so we didn’t get to see a big fight."

"It really is a shame. Mostly because Cao Zhenxing is entirely useless and couldn’t even hold off Gongye Zhou. Otherwise, we might have found out exactly how Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue managed to hunt down Yu Mengdie."

As they gossiped, they noticed Cao Zhenxing’s group heading in the direction of the Twisted Forest. Exchanging glances, they decided to follow and see what happened.

They had tried to enter the Twisted Forest before, but every attempt had ended in failure. Even Lu Xinghe had tried and failed to fully breach its depths.

Now, with three top-tier geniuses joining forces, there might actually be a chance of success. If they trailed behind, they might just be able to reap some leftover spoils.

Meanwhile.

With a flash of spatial fluctuations, Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue appeared in the Dead Wood Regeneration Forest.

The moment his feet touched the ground, Ji Zhixing let out a long sigh of relief.

"What is this?"

With a thought, he retrieved the Ice Pearl he had just acquired from his Genetic Melting Furnace, inspecting it closely in his palm.

The pearl was the size of a fist, crystalline and perfectly transparent. Holding it, he could feel an aura of extreme cold radiating outward. However, it was much milder than the freezing winds on the ice plains, no longer biting to the bone.

Xiao Mingyue took the Ice Pearl and examined it for a moment before saying, "This should be a special, naturally born extraordinary treasure. Treasures like this usually contain special abilities and can be used as Genetic Equipment.

"Items of this caliber generally fetch a high price.

"However, an ice-attribute treasure like this can only show its true potential in the hands of a Cultivator who has fused with an ice-attribute gene. For us, its usefulness is fairly limited."

"If it isn’t very useful, we can hand it over to the university. How many points do you think this is worth?" Ji Zhixing asked Xiao Mingyue, feeling slightly regretful.

"That depends on the university, but I feel it should be worth at least five million points." She handed the pearl back to him.

"Five million points? Not bad!" Ji Zhixing’s eyes lit up.

He had been exploring the Spirit Ruins Treasure Land for a few days now. This item was undoubtedly the most valuable treasure he had harvested so far.

"Come on, let’s go find Mr. Bai Yuan and ask him about the price," Ji Zhixing said.

SWISH!

Suddenly, just as the two were about to set off, spatial fluctuations rippled before them, and a figure materialized by their side.

"Xu Cheng?"

Ji Zhixing was slightly taken aback when he saw who it was.

Xu Cheng’s hair stood straight up on end as if he had been struck by lightning, and his face was smeared with streaks of black soot. His black martial arts outfit was severely scorched. He looked exactly like someone who had just escaped a burning building—evidently, he had run into yet another disaster.

"Did you stumble into that dark cloud and the Thunder Pool again?" Ji Zhixing asked hastily, raising an eyebrow.

Spotting Ji Zhixing and Xiao Mingyue, Xu Cheng chuckled. "Yep! That exact dark cloud and Thunder Pool!"

He shot Ji Zhixing a teasing look. "How about it, Ji Zhixing? Do you want to go check it out?

"Don’t you have an ability that absorbs the power of lightning? The lightning over there will absolutely let you eat your fill!"

"I do want to." Ji Zhixing nodded. "But didn’t you say the dark cloud and the Thunder Pool are constantly moving? Can you still find them?"

"There’s hope!" Xu Cheng replied. "The spot where I ran into them this time isn’t too far from here.

"If we travel at top speed, we should be able to get there in half an hour. Once we’re in the area, we can search around. We might just find it."

"Is that so?" Ji Zhixing’s eyes instantly lit up.

He truly desired to comprehend a lightning-attribute gene ability.

If he could somehow evolve his Five-Colored Willow Mutant Tree gene into a Thunder Silence Willow Mutant Tree gene, his combat strength would definitely soar to an entirely new level.