Chapter 213 - 178: The Skill’s Wind-up is Too Long

Chapter 213: Chapter 178: The Skill’s Wind-up is Too Long

"To summarize, this is a new world filled with new resources and wealth. I’ve already conducted a preliminary investigation and brought back some resources, proving its potential for development. Moving forward, in addition to our development on Origin Star, we also need to establish a presence in the Celestial Essence Realm to acquire its resources. The current plan is for one of the Saint Kings to accompany me, along with a group of elite fighters and researchers..."

Zhang Ji gave them a general overview of the Celestial Essence Realm and stated his intention to take a Saint King and some fighters to pioneer this new territory.

"So, you secretly went on a trip to an Otherworld behind our backs?" Giles said.

"That’s clearly not the point," Zhang Ji said. "If you enjoy being a Scout, I’ll let you go next time. I guarantee there will be plenty more places for you to explore. This time, things happened suddenly. It wasn’t a matter of not trusting you all; it was just easier for me to conduct the initial exploration alone."

"That was a bit reckless," Cyril said. "As the Supreme One, you should be presiding over the Supreme Capital. If something happened to you, the stability we’ve worked so hard to achieve would be thrown into chaos again."

"On Origin Star today, I am the only one who has mastered the technology to travel between worlds. If I don’t go, no one can. As for being reckless... with our current power structure, the concept of ’playing it safe’ doesn’t really exist. If a powerful being tore through a spacetime rift and came here to kill the few of us, our entire system would collapse instantly. Hiding wouldn’t help." Zhang Ji shook his head, then added, "But it shouldn’t be a problem going forward. With the resources from the Celestial Essence Realm, we can quickly master the technology for traversing spacetime rifts. At least then I won’t have to personally lead the initial explorations."

Cyril thought about it and realized he was right.

The principle of a great leader not taking unnecessary risks only applies when power is derived from political maneuvering, not personal might.

But their current power structure was built upon their own overwhelming individual strength.

Essentially, they as individuals were the symbol of their entire civilization.

Everyone else was just support staff. For now, at least, there were many things they couldn’t rely on others for and had to handle themselves.

This is what happens when individuals far surpass their civilization, while the civilization as a whole lags behind.

"Let me go. There isn’t much here on Origin Star that requires my presence," Ferguson said.

Crossing between worlds, seeing the sights and facing the experts of other realms, pioneering new territories—every one of those things was enough to make his blood boil with excitement.

Zhang Ji was thinking the same thing.

’Cyril is reliable; he needs to hold down the fort.’

’As for Tran, he’s a family man. It wouldn’t be right to have him leave Origin Star.’

’And Giles... he’s too much of a wild card. Put him in charge of guarding a base, and he’s guaranteed to cause trouble.’

’He’s great for a fight, but for construction and planning? Better not.’

Zhang Ji nodded. "Then it’s settled. I’ll make a trip over in a couple of days. Ferguson, you’ll accompany me. Also, I’ve upgraded Shen Xi, and you all should have access. You can try using it to refine our combat system. Don’t be too proud. While the fighting styles we’ve created are excellent, learning to use tools is also a form of wisdom. Its ability to summarize and deduce information is far stronger than ours. Give it a try. It’s much better than just brainstorming blindly..."

The discussion was going well. Zhang Ji was about to talk to them about Spirit Roots and introduce concepts like Spiritual Qi when he suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

An aura was rapidly approaching the Supreme Capital.

’Very strong. Peak A-rank, for sure.’

In terms of sheer volume, Zhang Ji’s current Spirit attribute surpassed that of many S-rank individuals.

He could easily perceive a great deal of information.

This included more subtle things like energy levels.

So, he instantly gauged the opponent’s strength.

Right after Zhang Ji sensed it, Giles, Tran, Cyril, and Ferguson also detected it, one after another.

Giles’s beastly bloodline instincts were even faster than the psionically-powered Tran. Cyril’s perception was a bit stronger than Ferguson’s, whose senses were primarily focused on magnetic field changes. For a member of the Celestial Thunder Sect, if he didn’t activate his magnetic field, his normal spiritual perception offered no significant advantage.

But he obviously wouldn’t keep his magnetic field active during a meeting. In this kind of setting, having a magnetic field swirling around would be somewhat disrespectful.

At this moment, however, he couldn’t care less about respect. He instantly deployed his electromagnetic field.

"Coming from above. An alien?" Giles’s eyes went wide.

"I don’t know. We can’t let them get any closer. If a fight breaks out, the Supreme Capital will probably need to be rebuilt," Tran said first.

Zhang Ji’s Spirit had already gotten a clear look at the two figures. He said, "Ignore the one in front. Just stop the one behind it!"

Creatures like fairies, though they might play the occasional prank, would often provide compensation afterward. They were, after all, fundamentally good and lawful creatures.

Even if you had once tried to eat one, as long as you told it you had repented, it would try to forgive you, no matter how many times it happened.

’It was a rather naive sort of kindness.’

But their innate talents protected them. No matter how pure and kind these creatures were, they would never suffer too many calamities, which gave them the luxury of maintaining their goodness.

They were the darlings of heaven and earth.

Receiving Zhang Ji’s order, the four Saint Kings ignored Andi and went straight for Balder.

’Even Demonal Creatures are showing up. Is the Spacetime Anomaly version of reality about to begin?’

Zhang Ji muttered to himself, then activated Half-Elementalization and flew out.

Although he was the last to take off, Zhang Ji outpaced the others and intercepted Balder.

The man was flying through the air. Seeing Zhang Ji and the others approach, he immediately halted and stopped advancing toward the Supreme Capital.

He had an aquiline nose and wore glasses. His hair was messy but not dirty. He wore clothing of indeterminable quality, but it looked respectable—some kind of uniform resembling a long robe, giving him the look of an ancient scholar.

He held a short, black metal Magic Staff in one hand and wore a distinctive purple metal ring on his right.

His style was very strange; it was impossible to tell who he was.

Zhang Ji didn’t recognize him either. He didn’t seem like a famous NPC.

But with a peak A-rank energy level, he couldn’t possibly be a nobody. He was probably one of those figures lost to history.

Balder was also completely baffled. Although he couldn’t tell Zhang Ji’s exact strength, he seemed to realize something: this place probably wasn’t Lan’er anymore.

"Identify!"

He chanted the spell, and the Magic Staff discreetly swept over Zhang Ji. Balder received some information.

’A powerhouse. An absolute powerhouse!’

SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH~!

Giles and the others arrived at that moment. Ferguson and Cyril tried to communicate, speaking several languages, but he didn’t respond.

After a standoff, Balder was the first to act.

"Comprehend Languages!"

With the incantation chanted, Balder gained the ability to communicate with Zhang Ji’s group.

It was a very basic Magic that allowed intelligent beings to temporarily communicate, roughly understanding the meaning of each other’s words.

"Have any of you seen a fairy? It’s my pet. I’ve come looking for it!" Balder said.

"Hey, I can understand him, but that language doesn’t exist on Origin Star, does it?" Giles said in surprise.

"A fairy? That little person from before was a fairy?" Ferguson frowned and asked, "And where have you come from, sir?"

"The Arcane Federation," Balder replied. "May I ask, what place is this?"

"Origin Star," Zhang Ji said.

He already knew which world this man was from.

He also had a rough idea of the situation.

’Another fool trying to catch a fairy.’

’Even a super S-rank Demigod would find that thing troublesome. An A-rank trying to catch a fairy? In his dreams!’

’And "my pet"?’

He had never heard of anyone keeping a fairy as a pet.

They were intelligent beings with their own personalities who valued freedom above all else. At most, you could befriend one; they would never accept being treated as a pet.

"Origin Star?"

Balder murmured. He had never heard of this place.

He had a feeling he had crossed dimensions.

This time, he might have really ended up in the wrong place.

Still, he had to catch the fairy.

Without that fairy, he was genuinely worried he wouldn’t be able to find his way back.

The spatial turbulence was truly terrifying. He was still shaken from the experience and didn’t dare to enter it recklessly again.

"Could you please return that fairy to me?" Balder said.

"Sir, your origins are unknown. Please cooperate with our investigation. If your information turns out to be true..." Zhang Ji began, but at this point, he couldn’t help but chuckle. He dropped the pretense and said directly, "Seize him."

"I’ll do it!"

Ferguson seized the chance to show off. He immediately activated Half-Elementalization, and a bolt of lightning tore through the void as he charged at Balder.

CRACKLE~!

As the lightning flashed, Balder’s expression turned ugly.

Demon Energy surged from the Magic Staff in his hand. He instantly cast a spell, triggering an elemental resonance.

However, this world had no Demon Elements, and he hadn’t studied the elemental energies here. He could only use his own Mana, which greatly reduced his Magic’s power.

BOOM~!

The lightning bolt collided with a Demon Barrier.

Ferguson’s lightning fist was momentarily blocked by the Demon Barrier, but in the next instant, a thunderous explosion erupted, and Balder’s Demon Barrier was shattered.

Indeed, compared to Zhang Ji, Ferguson’s strength was relatively average.

But it all depended on who you compared him to.

In the Celestial Essence Realm, the four Saint Kings were at least at the Late-stage Nascent Soul level, on par with someone like Cui Wei.

With his Demon Barrier shattered, Balder didn’t even try to counterattack. It was one against five, and his Identification Magic had revealed Zhang Ji as a ’legendary’ figure. He’d have to be insane to pick a fight.

Of course, he was going to run!

Space distorted around him. The spatial data here was a bit difficult to calculate, but creating a folded-space passage for a short-distance jump wasn’t a problem.

However, just as his figure flickered and vanished, a fist appeared right in front of him in the next moment.

Cyril’s fist looked old, withered, and utterly devoid of power.

But Balder didn’t dare let it hit him.

"Barrier of Light!"

He converted his Mana into Light Element, and a shimmering white light formed a Shield.

BAM! CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—POP!

The barrier held for a moment before shattering.

Fortunately, he managed to cast another defensive Magic just in time as he was sent flying several hundred meters away.

Tran unleashed a condensed beam of light, blasting toward Balder from a distance.

"Refract!"

A series of crystalline energy shields appeared, trying to refract the Energy Particles. But when the beam hit the shields, Balder discovered his crystalline energy shields were being annihilated, disintegrated through interference at the micro-particle level.

’This is a technique that not even an ordinary legendary-tier individual could pull off, right?’

"Sacred Spear!"

A golden spear materialized and shot out from the tip of his Magic Staff. It was incredibly fast, instantly piercing through the beam and heading straight for Tran’s face.

This single strike perfectly showcased the streamlined, practical nature required of Magic.

Just as the golden spear was about to reach him, Tran acted. He caught the energized spear with a hand reinforced by Telekinesis, crushed it in his grip, and gave it no chance to explode.

Balder screamed internally, ’This is absurd!’

He had never even heard of the current Sword Saint being able to crush a Sacred Spear with his bare hands.

CRACKLE~!

Lightning flashed through the air. A fist descended, shattering several of Balder’s magical shields and sending him plummeting toward the ground.

At the same time, he found himself imprisoned. Cyril’s Spiritual Cage had suddenly contracted, trapping him inside. The surrounding space seemed to be temporarily sealed, making it extremely difficult to teleport away.

’No more hesitation. I have to use a forbidden spell!’

"Rejoice! Exult! Seethe! O spirits of the elements, long dormant..."

BOOM~!

A giant hand descended from the sky, slamming Balder straight into the ground. His shields shattered, and he was pressed into a crater. He couldn’t even finish chanting his spell, as the blow left his head spinning, shattered his glasses, and knocked the Magic Staff from his grasp.

Giles reverted from his Gigantification state, lifted Balder by the scruff of his neck with one hand, and said, "Your skill has such a long wind-up. Are the fighters where you come from that polite? Do they all just wait for someone to finish casting their skill without trying a sneak attack?"