Chapter Seventy-Seven: On the Nature of Power

On the mountaintop, they sat facing the sunlight. Beside them, a blanket was spread out with all kinds of food laid upon it.

The Thunder God picked up a bottle of wine, uncapped it, tilted his neck back, and drank it all in one go.

“Refreshing!”

He exhaled a breath of alcohol and, with a flick of his hand, hurled the bottle eighty thousand meters away, smashing a wolf so thoroughly that not a bone remained.

“You’re the Thunder God, and Hong is revered by martial artists worldwide as a divine being. I call you both my elder brothers, but I can’t help feeling uncertain!” Qin Ming sat nearby, took a bottle of juice, and sipped twice.

“You’re eighteen this year, aren’t you?”

“Eighteen and three months.”

“Look around—are there any other super-strong warriors this young anywhere? None! With your strength, aside from Big Brother and myself, you’re not weaker than any parliament member. In a life-or-death battle, you could slay nearly half of them,” Thunder God said. “Such talent—even Big Brother and I weren’t this gifted in our youth. Why shouldn’t you be our brother? Perhaps you’ll even surpass us in the future! Most importantly, you dare to fight, dare to kill, are ruthless and decisive—these are the qualities that matter most for a warrior. Some parliament members stand at the pinnacle of the mortal world, but have lost all ambition. Big Brother and I wouldn’t even spare them a glance. As warriors, if nothing else, we must at least have the ambition to subdue all the beasts of the world. Without even that drive, one's achievements will always be limited.”

“On my first hunt in the wild, I encountered a rat tide. Uncle Wang died horribly protecting me. From that day, I resolved to train hard and subdue every beast on earth!” Qin Ming looked up, his voice distant. “Do you think humanity can truly subdue all the beasts?”

“Why not?”

“I believe it too! But why haven’t we subdued even the land yet? Let alone the oceans, which are vast and teeming with sea beasts.”

“It’s not that we can’t subdue the land, but there are concerns!” Thunder God replied earnestly. “Take pseudo-beast kings like the Nine-Tailed Fox. Big Brother and I have the power to kill them, but two are problematic! One is the Snow Eagle, a pseudo-king living in the Arctic. Its speed is unmatched, even I can barely catch up—and with the harsh Arctic environment, slaying it is no easy task. The other is the Scorpion King in the desert, residing deep in the sands, nearly impossible to find. If it senses danger, it burrows even deeper, making it elusive.”

“Can’t you deal with the others first, then tackle those two?”

“All beast kings on land, especially pseudo-kings, are connected. If anything seems amiss, they might incite a beast uprising, creating the greatest beast tide!”

“Hiss! If that happens, it really is troublesome! Second Brother, you killed the Nine-Tailed Fox today—will that cause problems?”

“It was just one, so not too much trouble. Actually, we’ve long wanted to wipe them out, but always hesitated. You need to grow quickly—once you’re at our level, we’ll join forces to sweep the land, then conquer the seas!”

“Hahaha! Good! Within two years, at most two years, I’ll catch up to you both!”

“Excellent ambition!”

They chatted idly.

Thunder God was completely unpretentious—once he accepted someone, he treated them as his own.

Today, he shared many secrets with Qin Ming.

For example, the classification of pseudo-beast kings, which only a handful knew.

And things like certain ruins.

“Let’s go!”

Having enjoyed themselves, Thunder God boarded his war aircraft, taking away the Nine-Tailed Fox’s corpse, ignoring everything else.

Qin Ming didn’t rush to leave.

A King Kong Blast Ape and a Spotted Leopard would feed him for a long time.

This month, the weather was turning colder, and beast meat hardly spoiled.

Eating meat to train, Qin Ming discovered something exciting.

“My strength is still rising—seemingly without end!”

With this, he hardly wanted to leave Australia.

Eventually, he too boarded a war aircraft and returned.

By now, it was year’s end.

Beneath Mist Island, deep underground, lay the wreckage of a battleship. Inside, the intelligent life Babata muttered incessantly: “This human youngster, brain domain breadth 66, and lately, his progress is strange—his bloodline seems to have undergone a powerful evolution. His physical strength has reached two million kilograms of attack force, yet he hasn’t opened his dantian, condensed a stellar core inside, or stepped into the planetary level. Interesting, very interesting. If I hadn’t found a good candidate for awakening as a spirit master, I’d have taken him as my disciple this time.”

“No rush for him. First, find a suitable successor for my old master, then take this one!”

“Should I make arrangements ahead of time?” Babata hesitated.

The war aircraft flew at ten thousand meters altitude, not fast but utterly silent. In daylight, it was nearly invisible from the ground.

Qin Ming sat inside, brow slightly furrowed, pondering what lay ahead.

“Troublesome!”

A low sigh.

“If I can’t conceal it, then I’ll display it openly!”

“What if…?”

“There’s no ‘what if.’ I can only move forward!”

Qin Ming made up his mind.

He now had a rough plan for the future.

“Beep! Master, your classmate Luo Feng has been spotted below!”

Xiao Qiang suddenly spoke in electronic synthesized voice.

“Luo Feng? Pause!” Qin Ming was startled. “Show me the display!”

“Yes, Master!”

As the voice faded, a three-dimensional projection appeared before him, clearly revealing the scene below.

In the wilderness, Luo Feng was confronting four people.

One was a youth, one an elder, one a white man, and one a burly fellow. Qin Ming noted that the other three centered themselves around the young man.

“Looks familiar!”

Qin Ming’s heart stirred, and the following scene made him smile.

Luo Feng suddenly struck, unleashing terrifying psychic power, sending the four instantly to hell. He then fled at high speed.

“That young man…!”

“Master, that is Li Wei, intermediate warlord. His father is Li Yao, high-level war god of the Underground Alliance. His mother is Nina Polenas, high-level war god known as Scorpion, from Europe and America! Her family is one of the nine core clans of the Underground Alliance—the Polenas clan. Her sister is the clan head and also serves as executive president of the Underground Alliance for the Greater Hua District.”

“Got it!”

Qin Ming nodded, keeping the details in mind.

Li Wei was born into privilege. At a young age, thanks to his parents’ training, he reached intermediate warlord status, but had never fought in the wild.

This time, he hired others to accompany him in hunting beasts for self-improvement.

The squad he hired happened to include Luo Feng’s enemies. On meeting, he planned to kill Luo Feng, but Luo Feng, left with no choice, decisively struck and eliminated them all.

“Next comes Li Yao’s hundred-billion bounty, and Luo Feng heading to the elite training camp!”

Qin Ming mused, letting the aircraft continue on its way.

Returning home was naturally lively.

Meanwhile, Li Yao had learned of his son’s death and, together with his wife, frantically activated satellite access, searching for strong individuals nearby.

“Two high-level warlords were protecting little Wei, both with vast combat experience. To kill them instantly without resistance—it must have been a war god, even an entry-level war god couldn’t do that!”

“And a psychic master at warlord level!”

“Tell me, in that time frame, which war gods were present in the area?”

Li Yao’s eyes were bloodshot.

He had only one son, whom he adored.

“No matter who it is, I’ll make them pay an unbearable price!”

Scorpion Nina Polenas was nearly mad herself.

The electronic voice rang out: “At that time, a Qiankun-class war aircraft passed by and paused overhead. Its owner was Qin Ming of the Extreme Martial Arts School—Invincible War God, Inspector!”

“Qin Ming? Him!” Li Yao exclaimed.

“But it shouldn’t be him. Were there any other war gods or psychic masters around?” Nina Polenas asked urgently.

“Within a hundred-mile radius, none!”

“How is that possible? Check, check, check! Did little Wei have any past grievances with Qin Ming?”

“No contact recorded!”

“This…” Li Yao’s face twitched. “I’ll ask Qin Ming myself. Even if it wasn’t him, he probably knows who the killer was.”

That day, Li Yao came to visit directly, asking bluntly: “My son Li Wei—did you ever interact with him?”

“Li Wei? Never heard of him.” Qin Ming shook his head, though he knew the truth.

“My son died today, right below where your aircraft paused!” Li Yao’s eyes were bloodshot. “Qin Ming, you’re sure you don’t know my son? Look!”

He waved his hand, projecting an image.

“Never seen him!” Qin Ming glanced at it, then shook his head again, sneering. “You don’t think I killed your son, do you? Not just your son—even you mean nothing to me!”

“You…!” Li Yao was furious but held himself back. “Your aircraft was there at the time, so you should know what happened below. Tell me—who killed my son?”

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t know?” Li Yao’s voice sharpened. “You definitely know—tell me!”

He stepped forward, eyes blood-red, seeming ready to devour someone.

“Who do you think you are, daring to command me? Get out!” Qin Ming snorted coldly. “If you keep pestering me here, I’ll kill you on the spot!”

He had no good impression of this man.

Nor of his wife, Scorpion, whose ruthlessness had eliminated countless rivals in secret.

“You…!” Li Yao raged, fists clenched, nostrils flaring hot breath, but finally turned and left.

Qin Ming shook his head.

This man was destined to become Luo Feng’s driving force.

And, certainly, his stepping stone.

Opposing the child of destiny? Besides, being a villain who secretly committed countless dirty deeds—the outcome was already sealed.

Qin Ming paid no further attention to the matter.

A few days later, he announced his seclusion, forbade interruptions, entered his war aircraft, sealed the hatch, and sat cross-legged inside.

The war aircraft hovered silently a thousand meters above the villa.