Chapter 281: Soaring to New Heights

Chapter 281: Soaring to New Heights

The exotic ability, Winged Human Feather, manifests in the form of a single feather on a winged human's wing, empowered by stellar energy and enduring even after the host's death.

Ji Xinghuo quickly located it.

Among the dense and orderly white feathers at the end of the Soundwave Stringer's wings, there was one that was transparent.

Plucking it out at the root, it measured about fifteen centimeters in length and was as light as a feather. As the transparent feather moved through the air, it disturbed the airflow, creating a faint disturbance. Ji Xinghuo released his grip, and the feather floated in mid-air of its own accord, hovering without falling—a curious sight.

Ren Mian, witnessing this, grew curious as well.

"Is that the Winged Human Feather?" She was no stranger to this exotic, but she had never seen one in this form before.

Ji Xinghuo nodded.

When he had touched the transparent feather earlier, information had popped up in his vision.

[Exotic: Turbulent Shockwave]



[Grade: Super Limit]



[Fusion Success Rate: 91%]



[Upgradable: Yes]



The name of this exotic was quite different from "Winged Human Feather," but judging from its form, it was likely a variant of the ability, still related to flight.

Ji Xinghuo speculated that it had something to do with the Soundwave Stringer's ability.

As for the exact effects, he would have to fuse with it first to find out. Currently, he didn't know how to respond to Ren Jie, so he simply said that it was indeed a Winged Human Feather.

"Are you going to fuse with it?" Ren Mian asked.

"Yes, so I want to give it a try," Ji Xinghuo replied.

Ren Mian was not surprised. "Flight is one of the most desired abilities for anyone. However, the 'flight' exotic is rare, and ordinary 'flight' is extremely difficult to train and control. Most mutants are unable to use it in actual combat, and they just end up becoming easy targets when they try to fly."

She examined the transparent feather in his hand. "It seems different from an ordinary Winged Human Feather. There must be something unique about it."

Ji Xinghuo admired her insight and asked, "Don't you want the ability to fly, Ren Jie? There are several more Winged Human Feathers here."

Including the one he already had, he now possessed a total of six.

"I'm not interested," Ren Mian shook her head and smiled.

"Alright," Ji Xinghuo said as he put away the exotic and continued to inventory their spoils.

They had gained a lot, but aside from the Fire Feather Bow, the rest were of no use to him. Even the Fire Feather Bow was only being kept as a backup option.

This super-powered, two-star bow was exquisitely designed. Its bow body was fiery red, and its bow limbs resembled spread-out wings. With a draw weight of about 700 kilograms and a range of nearly 500 meters, the arrows it fired were incredibly fast and had a precision effect, allowing the archer to infuse the arrows with scorching flames by channeling stellar energy into them.

The longer the archer drew the string, and the more stellar energy they invested, the higher the temperature of the flames would be, resulting in devastating damage.

Using the specially crafted "Fire Feather Arrows," the power of the bow could be taken to even greater heights.

These arrows were crafted using the techniques of the Winged Humans, but they had long since spread beyond their race, and one could purchase them in both Skyfall Cliff and the City of Eternal Day.

As for the rest of the weapons and equipment, Ji Xinghuo intended to sell them all.

Of course, he wouldn't try to sell them in the City of Eternal Day right away. It would be safer to wait for some time or to offload them in Skyfall Cliff.

Ren Mian waved her hand after seeing that he was done.

Roots sprouted from the garden's soil, churning the earth and pulling the Winged Humans' corpses underground to be used as fertilizer for the flowers.

Ji Xinghuo's heart skipped a beat at the sight.

While this wasn't unusual, the idea of using corpses as fertilizer still felt somewhat unsettling.

"What's wrong?"

Noticing his expression, Ren Mian teased, "You're not going to tell me that seeing a few Winged Human corpses being used as fertilizer makes me heartless, are you? They were killed by you, after all. During battle, you're more ruthless than anyone, killing without batting an eye. And now you're showing mercy?"

Ji Xinghuo was at a loss for words. "I was just overthinking things."

"You're still too young. You'll get used to it," Ren Mian sighed. "Everyone who walks the path of evolution has their hands stained with blood. Every legend, every Titan, has countless bones paving their path. You'll be the same eventually."

"I understand," Ji Xinghuo said.

Although he said he understood, some doubts had formed in his mind. It was as if Ren Jie was speaking from experience.

If one ignored her youthful appearance, they might mistake her for a wise elder imparting wisdom.

"Don't overthink things," Ren Mian said, immediately realizing her slip of the tongue. However, she didn't explain further and instead changed the subject. "I'm going to prepare for the fusion with the Rubber Body. You can rest or cultivate as you see fit."

Then, she lightly touched the peach blossom mark between her eyebrows, causing a pink petal to fly out and stick to the back of Ji Xinghuo's hand, disappearing as it merged with his skin.

"This will allow you to enter and exit the fragment of the secret realm."

"Each entry and exit will consume one use. One petal can be used five times. Come to me when you've used them all, and I'll maintain it for you."

After finishing her explanation, Ren Mian returned to the wooden house and headed upstairs to her bedroom.

Ji Xinghuo watched as she hurried away, a smile playing on his lips. He vaguely guessed the reason for her behavior. Through electromagnetic induction, he could see that Ren Mian's bedroom was divided into two sections: one for sleeping and studying, and the other for cultivation. She sat at her desk, flipping through a book, her thoughts seemingly elsewhere.

He turned and entered the treehouse, sitting on the bed.

He took out the transparent feather and once again saw the exotic's information.

The 91% fusion success rate met his requirements. He took out another Winged Human Feather exotic, which had a success rate of only 82%. The difference between the two made it clear which one he should choose.

Additionally, Qinghong could also fuse with the Winged Human Feather, but her success rate was only 65%, which wasn't particularly high.

This hesitation in Ji Xinghuo's mind.

Qinghong was on a path of evolution related to gravity and space, so she would undoubtedly acquire flight abilities in the future. Spending a fusion opportunity on an ordinary Winged Human Feather didn't seem like a good investment.

"I should prioritize myself first," Ji Xinghuo thought.

Ji Xinghuo knew how to fuse with the Winged Human Feather.

He cut a wound on his palm and placed the root of the feather against it. Immediately, his blood was absorbed into the feather, turning it from transparent to a bloody red.

But this was no ordinary feather; it was Turbulent Shockwave.

Soon, Ji Xinghuo discovered that the exotic energy quickly merged with his stellar power, flowing throughout his body, and then re-emerging on his skin.

The flow-form barrier was automatically triggered.

A layer of transparent energy armor formed outside his body, resembling flowing water as it slowly moved, thin as paper.

But at this moment, this barrier underwent a wondrous transformation.

Ji Xinghuo observed closely as the less-than-one-millimeter-thick flow-form barrier, like a true fluid, generated countless tiny vortices within. As the flow accelerated, the distinct flow layers became turbulent, sliding and mixing with each other until they formed a churning turbulence.

It was both a turbulence and a highly compressed shockwave.

"Shockwave!" Ji Xinghuo suddenly understood why this exotic ability was called Turbulent Shockwave. In physics, it was a compression wave that existed in supersonic airflow.

The legendary Winged Human of the White Feather clan was a Soundwave Stringer, a master of spiritual energy who had command over sound waves and various applications related to them.

Soundwave Stringers also possessed flow-form barriers, so it was no surprise that they could master Turbulent Shockwaves.

As for the effects of this ability...

A few minutes later, the interface of the Myriads Star Pupil updated with new information, adding a new exotic ability.

[Exotic: Turbulent Shockwave (Level 1/239)]



Ji Xinghuo sat on the bed, and with a thought, the flow-form barrier generated on his skin. The thin layer of transparent barrier flowed rapidly, and any part of his body facing downward—the backs of his legs, his elbows, and his backside—generated a propulsive force that lifted him into the air.

Due to the speed, his head nearly hit the roof.

In the moment before impact, Ji Xinghuo lessened the downward thrust, and the parts of his body that generated the shockwave, his head and shoulders, formed a balance, hovering in mid-air.

"That was close!"

Ji Xinghuo's heart raced as he narrowly avoided the collision.

Fortunately, his hyper-frequency thinking and quick reflexes allowed him to immediately control the direction of the thrust.

He hovered in mid-air inside the treehouse, carefully sensing his new ability, and soon grasped the principle behind "Turbulent Shockwave." Its flight principle was entirely different from that of an ordinary Winged Human's feather. Instead, it utilized the flow-form barrier to generate a shockwave on any part of his body, creating a propulsive force.

The action of force is mutual, and as long as it is controlled properly, it can make him fly.

"Similar to jet propulsion?"

Ji Xinghuo suddenly realized that he had become a human jet!

However, since the flow-form barrier consumed spiritual energy, using Turbulent Shockwave for flight would also deplete his spiritual energy.

"The spiritual energy consumption is a bit high."

Ji Xinghuo hovered in mid-air, motionless, watching as his stellar power gradually decreased.

Compared to magnetic field flight, Turbulent Shockwave had a significant advantage in that it allowed for faster and more arbitrary control of the flight direction. As long as his reflexes were quick enough and his body could withstand the changes in inertia, his movements could be nearly effortless.

Moreover, Turbulent Shockwave should be faster.

Magnetic field flight was limited by his stellar power, resulting in a relatively slow flight speed, even slower than running on the ground.

However, magnetic field flight had greater potential.

"The two flight methods should not conflict with each other; I can use them simultaneously."

Ji Xinghuo immediately tested his theory by controlling the magnetic pole orientation, and instantly, a repulsive force generated, causing his speed to surge. He was thrust out from the doorway and quickly reached the edge of the secret realm fragment, where the petal-like shadow on the back of his hand flashed, and he flew into the canyon.

He hovered above the ice lake, his face filled with delight.

"As expected, it's much faster!"

Ji Xinghuo removed the magnetic field repulsion and only formed Turbulent Shockwave under his feet, standing steadily in mid-air as if he were standing on an invisible platform.

He began to walk in the air; the first few steps were unsteady, but after ten steps, he moved smoothly and steadily, as if walking on flat ground.

And his speed continued to increase!

As Ji Xinghuo sprinted through the air, he abruptly changed direction, his body shooting straight up, leaving a silky smooth trail. He soared and dived like a low-flying fighter jet, with snowflakes brushing past him, some colliding with his body and disintegrating into snow powder.

"Still not fast enough."

He glanced at the interface and saw that the few minutes of flight had consumed over 300 points of stellar power, almost a tenth of his total.

And this was just level one Turbulent Shockwave.

"Time to upgrade!"

Ji Xinghuo flew towards the depths of Peach Blossom Gully and landed on an invisible lake in front of the wooden house, ready to invest his spiritual source energy. Turbulent Shockwave advanced to (Level 2/1299).

He hovered above the lake, circled around, and the increase in speed and agility was evident.

Then it advanced to (Level 3/6229).

It continued to rise to (Level 4/32359).

Ji Xinghuo pondered for a moment; with over 60,000 points of spiritual source energy remaining, he had more than enough to reach the next level, so he continued to invest.

Soon, Turbulent Shockwave reached (Level 5/158849).

In just a few minutes, he had used up over 40,000 points of spiritual source energy, upgrading Turbulent Shockwave to level five, but it was still a super-limit exotic, and further upgrades would be a distant prospect.

"Let's see how fast I can fly."

Ji Xinghuo took a deep breath, placed his palms facing down by his sides, and in the instant that Turbulent Shockwave unleashed its full power, he also activated magnetic field flight.

Boom!

A loud blast echoed as a large section of the ice surface caved in.

Ji Xinghuo soared into the sky like a rocket, leaving behind a violent wave of energy, and the explosive sound waves reverberated throughout Peach Blossom Gully.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end