Chapter 185 - 158: Making a Move Secretly

Chapter 185: Chapter 158: Making a Move Secretly

"Huh?" Ji Zhixing wondered.

Suddenly, just as he was preparing to sneak deep into the valley to steal the Mist Fruits, he spotted a massive, misty silhouette looming near the Mist Trees, thanks to the enhanced Clear-Sight Potion.

Clearly, it was a colossal mist monster. And in all likelihood, it was the exact same giant monster he had fought a few days ago.

"It’s guarding them," Ji Zhixing realized, coming to a sudden halt. He didn’t dare act rashly.

If he recklessly approached, the monster would definitely awaken and attack him, making this entire trip a waste of time.

"I can’t rush this. I need to wait," he told himself.

Taking a deep breath to suppress his impulsiveness, Ji Zhixing carefully hid himself behind a large boulder in the fog, holding off on making a move. In moments like this, patience was paramount.

Time ticked away, minute by minute.

The battle in the distance raged on. The fierce clash between Lu Xinghe’s group of four and the mist monsters grew increasingly intense, sending out constant booms of fluctuating energy.

Yet, the colossal mist monster remained completely motionless beside the Mist Trees, acting as if the battle outside had nothing to do with it.

Ji Zhixing stayed hidden behind the boulder without moving a muscle. With his body currently shrunk to a mere eighteen centimeters, he was completely invisible from the outside.

One hour.

Two hours.

Three hours.

Ji Zhixing had plenty of patience. He stayed hidden for hours, waiting from the early morning all the way until noon.

"ROAR!"

Right at noon, a deafening roar suddenly erupted from within the dense fog.

The sound was so deep and massive that it shook the entire valley, causing the mist to churn violently. Ji Zhixing could even feel the ground beneath him trembling slightly.

Narrowing his eyes, Ji Zhixing peered deep into the fog and saw the giant mist monster guarding the Mist Trees finally stand up. Unfurling from its crouched posture, its towering figure—well over ten meters tall—looked like a small mountain, radiating a terrifying aura.

Once it fully revealed itself, it took massive strides and charged straight toward Lu Xinghe and the others, who were busy fighting the ordinary mist monsters in the distance.

With every step it took, the earth quaked. The mist churned around it like subjects bowing to their king.

"An opening!"

Ji Zhixing’s eyes lit up at the sight. Without a second’s hesitation, just as the giant mist monster reached Lu Xinghe’s group, he flapped his Purple Gold Thundercloud Wings and flew close to the ground, darting rapidly toward the Mist Trees deep in the valley.

His frame was minuscule—only eighteen centimeters tall—and his wings were merely the size of a palm. Flying low, he used the mist for cover, weaving behind rocks and beneath blades of grass.

Very quickly, he arrived in front of the grove of Mist Trees.

A dozen or so Mist Trees stood quietly in the deepest part of the valley. Their trunks and leaves were condensed from fog, giving them a surreal, ethereal appearance. One by one, the Mist Tree Fruits hung from the branches, resembling cotton candy in both size and shape.

"I need to hurry!" Ji Zhixing’s heart raced.

He did a quick count. With a dozen trees and over a dozen fruits on each, there were at least a hundred fruits in total.

Not daring to delay, he flapped his Purple Gold Thundercloud Wings, circled behind the trees, and began plucking the Mist Tree Fruits one by one. He moved swiftly, tossing each plucked fruit straight into his Genetic Melting Furnace before immediately turning to the next.

His Purple Gold Thundercloud Wings beat rapidly against his back, carrying him smoothly between the trees.

One, two, three...

"Wait!"

Just as Ji Zhixing had harvested several dozen fruits, Gongye Zhou—who was fending off a mist monster in the distance—habitually cast a glance deep into the fog during a brief lull in the fight.

The moment he looked, his expression drastically changed.

"Why are there fewer Mist Tree Fruits?"

He clearly remembered that when they observed the grove this morning, the trees had been brimming with fruit. Now, a small section was noticeably bare.

"They really are decreasing!"

Hearing this, the others quickly looked up and peered deep into the mist. At a glance, they all noticed it too. The fruits on several trees that had originally been fully loaded were now visibly sparse.

"What’s going on?" Cao Zhenxing’s face darkened as his eyes darted through the fog, searching rapidly.

"Ji Zhixing!"

Right then, having sensed something amiss, Yu Mengdie extended her Spiritual Power, directing her senses toward the Mist Tree Fruits. Her Spiritual Power acted like invisible tentacles, swiftly stretching deep into the valley. A moment later, her pupils shrank as she cried out Ji Zhixing’s name.

"Ji Zhixing?"

Hearing this, Cao Zhenxing and Gongye Zhou both turned incredibly ugly expressions. They had been fighting tooth and nail here for days, and Ji Zhixing had just snuck in to steal the fruits?

Behind the Mist Trees, Ji Zhixing heard Yu Mengdie’s shout and knew he had been discovered. Deciding there was no point in hiding anymore, he swooped out from behind the trees and flashed them a grin.

Then, flapping his Purple Gold Thundercloud Wings, he accelerated and resumed harvesting the remaining Mist Tree Fruits. One after another, his movements were even faster than before.

"Ji Zhixing!"

Seeing Ji Zhixing shrunk down to a mere ten-odd centimeters, Cao Zhenxing, Gongye Zhou, and Yu Mengdie nearly cracked their teeth in rage!

They had fought exhaustingly for days, depleting countless amounts of Genetic Source Power, and this bastard Ji Zhixing was sneaking in to reap the rewards?

Even Lu Xinghe revealed a look of absolute fury. The goal he had been working toward for days was being hijacked for someone else’s benefit?

"You’re courting death!" A cold glint flashed in Lu Xinghe’s eyes as his aura suddenly erupted.

BOOM!

The next instant, the phantom of the Red Flame Lava Flood Dragon behind him swelled massively. The Flood Dragon roared at the heavens, its voice shaking the entire wilderness.

Lu Xinghe shot straight into the sky. Thrusting his spear forward, he charged directly at the largest mist monster, enveloped by the massive phantom of the Flood Dragon and carrying an overwhelmingly tyrannical momentum.

"Flying Dragon in the Sky!"

The full eruption of a six-star quality ability was horrifyingly powerful. In a mere fraction of a second, Lu Xinghe pierced straight through the giant monster’s body, blasting a massive hole through its chest before continuing his murderous charge right toward Ji Zhixing.

ROAR!

Behind him, the mist monster let out a terrifying bellow and instantly spun around, intent on attacking him again.

"Hold it off!" Lu Xinghe shouted to Cao Zhenxing and the others. Then, picking up even more speed, he continued his straight dash for Ji Zhixing. His speed was astonishing. With the Flood Dragon phantom swirling around him, his aura was monstrous.

"Azure Sky Divine Wood!" Ji Zhixing shouted at the top of his lungs when he saw this.

Hearing the shout, Lu Xinghe’s figure stalled. His face turned ugly, knowing he wouldn’t be able to stop Ji Zhixing in time.

"You!"

But after that brief pause, he saw that even after calling the Azure Sky Divine Wood’s name, Ji Zhixing hadn’t stopped at all. He had snatched up several more Mist Tree Fruits in rapid succession. Meanwhile, the Azure Sky Divine Wood hadn’t actually teleported him away.

"You really are courting death!" Lu Xinghe raged.

Realizing he had been tricked, Lu Xinghe took a deep breath and immediately lunged at Ji Zhixing again. This time, he was even faster. The Red Flame Lava Flood Dragon phantom roared behind him, its aura far more terrifying than before.

"My Lord!" Ji Zhixing shouted again.

Lu Xinghe’s face twitched. He felt like Ji Zhixing was insulting his intelligence.

With a sigh, Ji Zhixing could only swipe five or six more Mist Tree Fruits. Then, just before Lu Xinghe’s attack could land, he shouted the final few words.

"Please teleport me back to the Dead Wood Regeneration Forest!"

The next instant, a spatial fluctuation flashed. His figure vanished completely from the Mist Valley. Lu Xinghe’s attack smashed into the exact spot where he had just disappeared, blasting open a massive crater and sending crushed rock flying in all directions.

"Damn it!" Lu Xinghe’s face was ashen, the veins bulging on the hand gripping his spear.

He turned around and looked at the Mist Trees. Across the dozen or so trees, out of the original hundred-plus fruits, only twenty or thirty remained. The vast majority had been swiped by Ji Zhixing.

...

In the Dead Wood Regeneration Forest.

A spatial fluctuation flashed, and Ji Zhixing’s figure appeared in a clearing.

"Safe." Ji Zhixing let out a long breath, his face full of excitement.

He glanced at the Mist Tree Fruits inside his Genetic Melting Furnace. A quick count confirmed that he had managed to snatch over a hundred of them this time.

"A hundred Mist Tree Fruits. I wonder how many points I can exchange these for?" he muttered to himself, unable to suppress the smile on his face.

He had originally just wanted to test the waters; he hadn’t expected to actually succeed. The shrinking effect of his Size Manipulation ability was even more useful than he had imagined. As long as he made himself small enough, combined with the cover of the fog, Lu Xinghe’s group simply couldn’t detect him.

"The only pity is that my current Size Manipulation ability can only shrink me down to one-tenth of my original size, at most. I can’t get any smaller," he thought. "If I could shrink myself down to the size of a fly or a mosquito, the utility would be even greater.

"Also, I wonder if I’ll ever be able to develop the Seventy-Two Transformations ability in the future?"

He shook his head, pushing the thought away. That kind of ability was still too far out of reach; there was no point dwelling on it now.

"Time to find Teacher Bai."

Taking a deep breath, Ji Zhixing strode off in Bai Yuan’s direction.

"Teacher Bai." Arriving in front of Bai Yuan, Ji Zhixing pulled a Mist Tree Fruit out of his Genetic Melting Furnace and handed it over. "I’d like to ask, how many points can I exchange for one of these fruits?"

Seeing the Mist Tree Fruit Ji Zhixing was offering, a flash of surprise crossed Bai Yuan’s eyes. He looked up at him and asked, "How did you get your hands on this?"

Of course, he knew exactly where the fruit came from. In the entire Spirit Ruins Treasure Land, this fruit only grew in that specific Mist Valley. And that valley had been consistently occupied by Lu Xinghe’s group of four. He never expected that Ji Zhixing would actually manage to snatch this item right out from under Lu Xinghe’s nose.

"Just got lucky," Ji Zhixing smiled, not offering any further explanation.

Bai Yuan gave him a look but didn’t press the matter. Taking the Mist Tree Fruit, he said, "This is a Mist Tree Fruit. One can be exchanged for one hundred thousand points.

"How many do you have? If the quantity is small, it probably won’t be of much use to you."