Chapter 400: Electromagnetic Master

Chapter 400: Electromagnetic Master

Thunder rumbled as Ji Xinghuo sped through the ruins like a lightning bolt, his passage creating explosive sound waves. Ancient, decaying structures crumbled under the force of the sound waves, causing a chain reaction of collapsing debris that echoed through the caverns.

However, after flying for over ten minutes, the energy monster still hadn't appeared.

"Where did it go?"

Ji Xinghuo hovered in mid-air, his eyes scanning the surroundings. With the advancement of his "Electromagnetic Oscillation" ability, his electromagnetic sensing range had not only increased but also become more acute. The dark energy interference that shrouded the ruins, which had previously made his senses fuzzy, now allowed him to perceive his surroundings clearly once more.

Although his sensing radius was still suppressed to around one kilometer, it was more than sufficient for his needs.

It was a vast improvement from before.

While the Myriad Star Pupils could see through the shadows, Ji Xinghuo couldn't find any trace of the monster. Instead, he discovered numerous Shadow Eaters.

"Is it that smart?" he wondered. Perhaps his loud and aggressive actions had made the monster suspicious, causing it to refrain from attacking.

"This guy is more cunning than I expected," Ji Xinghuo immediately changed his strategy, no longer flying randomly about. He landed and began hunting the Shadow Eaters, thinking, "I don't believe you can keep hiding and refrain from showing yourself."

With the partial recovery of his electromagnetic sensing, he was now even more efficient at finding the Shadow Eaters.

Ji Xinghuo quickly locked onto a group of about a dozen Shadow Eaters lurking beneath the ruins of a cluster of dilapidated buildings.

Whoosh!

He flew straight towards them and raised his plasma pistol, firing without hesitation.

After shooting down two Shadow Eaters, the rest of the monsters surrounded him from all sides, some near and some far, darting and leaping through the shadows.

As they launched their simultaneous assault, Ji Xinghuo's eyes sparkled with electric light.

Boom!

Nine spiritual lightning bolts struck down from the heavens, each with varying intensities. From their formation to the moment they struck, it was but an instant. Each Shadow Eater was hit by a lightning bolt, the timing and angle unique to each, but the result was the same.

The nine Shadow Eaters that had surrounded him were almost instantly fried.

Their heads exploded, their bodies charred and blackened, their flesh seemingly incinerated by extreme heat. They were utterly dead.

The lightning bolts dissipated simultaneously.

Each bolt was precisely enough to kill its target, neither excessive nor insufficient, striking true without the slightest waste.

Ji Xinghuo breathed a sigh of relief.

This was the new height of his electrical attacks, achieved by combining his spiritual power with his initial mastery of electromagnetic waves after advancing his "Electromagnetic Oscillation" ability.

Faster release, stronger power, and complete control.

Within the 300-meter range of his electromagnetic wave control, he was the undisputed king of lightning!

"This feels amazing..." Ji Xinghuo exclaimed, before beginning the process of collecting the exotic species from the Shadow Eaters' corpses. Despite their grisly appearance, he had finely controlled his attacks to ensure the exotic species remained undamaged.

Once the collection was complete, he continued his hunt.

Ji Xinghuo's hunting efficiency in the ruins had increased significantly. In less than half an hour, he had eradicated three groups of Shadow Eaters.

The spiritual source energy he had just used up had now increased to over 600 points.

The Shadow Eaters he had slain so far were only a tiny fraction of the total within the ruins. Ji Xinghuo estimated that there were over 15,000 Shadow Eaters in the entire ruins!

The spiritual source energy of the Shadow Eaters was two to three times that of ordinary monsters.

On average, each one provided about 20 points of spiritual source energy.

If he were to clear out the entire ruins, he would obtain a total of 300,000 points of spiritual source energy, or possibly even more.

"300,000!"

"That's almost enough to upgrade Electromagnetic Oscillation by another level!"

Ji Xinghuo's heart raced with excitement, and he immediately threw himself back into the hunt.

Soon, he noticed that the Shadow Eaters in the ruins were trying to avoid him, but their efforts were in vain. No matter where they hid—underground, in the sky, within the shadows, or in some obscure corner—he could find them and easily catch up to eliminate them.

Gunshots reverberated through the ruins like rolling thunder.

Three hours later...

With his relentless onslaught, Ji Xinghuo's spiritual source energy had accumulated to nearly 4,000 points. Any Shadow Eater that came within his sights met its demise.

Just as he finished off another group and began collecting their exotic species, Ji Xinghuo's eyes twitched slightly.

"It's here!"

"It finally couldn't hold back any longer!"

He pretended to be unaware and continued cutting, but his attention was now locked onto a spot in the air about 700 meters away. There, a fist-sized silhouette had suddenly appeared, stealthily moving through the shadows.

If it weren't for his improved electromagnetic sensing, Ji Xinghuo wouldn't have been able to detect it, only becoming aware of its presence when it launched its attack and his Myriad Star Pupils warned him.

Now, however, it had nowhere to hide.

And it didn't even know it was being watched.

As the monster stealthily approached through the shadows, Ji Xinghuo finished collecting from one corpse and stood up, turning his back to the monster and walking towards another Shadow Eater. With his body blocking the monster's line of sight, he secretly gathered a spherical lightning bolt in the palm of his right hand.

A large amount of starlight was converted into electrical charges and channeled into the sphere, and Ji Xinghuo focused his attention on controlling the size of the lightning ball, keeping it from growing too large.

The energy fluctuations were also constrained and concealed.

Even the electric light was dimmed.

All of this was accomplished in just two or three seconds, completely unnoticed by the monster. As it drew closer from behind, it soon entered the range of his electromagnetic wave control.

When it was only 200 meters away, the monster's body suddenly swelled, revealing a human-like silhouette as it prepared to attack. Ji Xinghuo was faster, however, and he suddenly disappeared, using a short-range teleport to close the distance. His empty left hand reached out and grabbed at the monster.

However, this was merely an illusion.

Ji Xinghuo couldn't truly manipulate all things; at most, he could create an extremely brief restraint, but it consumed a large amount of spiritual energy, causing his head to pound.

Ignoring his side effects, he pointed his right hand at the monster.

Crackle!

A bolt of lightning burst forth.

This lightning bolt was initially faint, but in an instant, its brightness increased a thousandfold, taking on a spherical form as it slammed into the energy monster's body and immediately exploded. A thunderous roar shook the entire city ruins, as if an earthquake had struck.

Countless sparks of electricity erupted, illuminating the dim cave.

The explosion's shockwave swept through, clearing a circular area of several hundred meters and creating a crater with a diameter of over a dozen meters.

Ji Xinghuo closed his eyes, unable to bear the glare of the explosion, but his electromagnetic perception allowed him to observe the entire process. The energy monster's body instantly disintegrated, its black energy form dissipating into nothingness.

Ji Xinghuo was not surprised.

This monster was immune to physical attacks, and only energy damage could harm it. However, its lack of defensive abilities made it extremely vulnerable.

This was its biggest weakness, and Ji Xinghuo had already grasped this knowledge.

Even so, it seemed that he still couldn't kill it.

"It's not dead!"

Ji Xinghuo did not receive any spiritual source energy prompt, and he immediately felt troubled. If he couldn't kill it with such an attack, then he had no other means.

He transformed into a bolt of electricity and flew to the explosion site, with the lightning's aftereffects still raging.

With a thought, he manipulated the surrounding electric currents, causing them to rush back towards his palm like moths to a flame, contracting from all directions and reforming into a ball of lightning, albeit with reduced energy and volume.

The ball of lightning transformed back into stellar electric charges, flowing from his palm into his body, replenishing some of the star power he had expended.

Ji Xinghuo scanned the area and found no trace of the monster.

It was also absent from his electromagnetic sensing range.

He waited at the site for several minutes, but the energy monster did not reappear. However, he could be certain that it was still alive.

"This is troublesome," Ji Xinghuo sighed inwardly.

While his surprise attack had succeeded, the monster would now be on its guard, making it difficult to catch it off guard again. But after suffering such a loss, it probably wouldn't dare to hinder him from hunting the Shadow Eaters so easily.

"Forget it," Ji Xinghuo thought, knowing that while he was interested in the monster's exotic species, the chances of defeating it were slim.

As long as it didn't interfere with his spiritual source energy harvesting, he would let it be.

He continued his hunt for another six or seven hours.

His spiritual source energy had now surpassed 10,000 points, and Ji Xinghuo was delighted. At this rate, he estimated that he could clear out all the Shadow Eaters in the ruins within 20 days of being on Black Ring Star.

Twenty days on Black Ring Star was less than half a month in the Star Realm.

Outside the ruins, in the Everdark Chasm, there were countless other monsters, though their spiritual source energy was not as high as the Shadow Eaters, and they were more dispersed. Nevertheless, before returning to Titanium Ring City to participate in the Doomsday Dragon Festival, he was confident that he could accumulate several million points of spiritual energy.

Ji Xinghuo felt invigorated.

"Hmm?"

As he searched for his next hunting target, his electromagnetic perception detected a lurking shadow—the energy monster.

"As expected, it's still alive!"

Ji Xinghuo clicked his tongue inwardly.

The monster observed him from a distance, maintaining its distance and showing no signs of attacking, evidently fearful.

"If you don't attack me, I'll attack you," Ji Xinghuo said to himself as he immediately changed direction and accelerated to his fastest speed, zipping towards the monster like a lightning bolt. The monster hesitated for a moment before leaping through the shadows in an attempt to escape.

With each shadow leap, it teleported hundreds of meters away.

However, it wasn't true teleportation, and it took time.

Ji Xinghuo's body was surrounded by electric current coils, and his speed increased even further. In less than ten seconds, he caught up to the monster. No matter which direction it jumped, whether it turned invisible or created areas of complete darkness, it couldn't escape.

The Myriad Star Pupils had locked onto it, and his electromagnetic perception tracked its every move.

Rumbling...

As soon as it entered his electromagnetic wave range, spiritual lightning bolts rained down, thick as arms, each one striking the energy monster with pinpoint accuracy.

Ji Xinghuo's palm also condensed a ball of lightning.

Boom!

The energy monster suddenly self-destructed as it fled, its body transforming into a black wave that exploded outward, destroying everything in its path.

Ji Xinghuo reacted just in time, coming to a sudden stop.

Even from a distance of over two hundred meters, he could feel the destructive power of the black wave, but he didn't stop there. He immediately backtracked to avoid the wave of darkness.

"It even used a self-destruct move. It seems that I really can't kill it," Ji Xinghuo said helplessly.

He turned and walked away, continuing his hunt.

Over the next ten days, Ji Xinghuo hardly rested, only leaving the ruins every three days or so to take a break in the Everdark Chasm above.

He opened the interface for his Myriad Star Pupils.

[Spiritual Source Energy: 163,349]



Ji Xinghuo felt a great sense of satisfaction as he looked at the six-digit number.

This was the most spiritual source energy he had ever possessed, setting a new record. However, he hadn't decided how to allocate it yet and was keeping it in storage.

Over the past ten days, the energy monster had appeared multiple times.

It would secretly observe, launch sneak attacks, engage in direct combat, flee, and even self-destruct to escape—this cycle played out several times almost every day.

Most of the time, the encounters ended with the monster self-destructing.

However, no matter how many times it died, the monster would reappear after five or six hours, unscathed.

Neither side could do anything to the other.

Ji Xinghuo could only focus on harvesting spiritual source energy, treating the monster as if it didn't exist.

He had thought about finding out why the monster couldn't be killed and eradicating it once and for all. He searched the city ruins several times but found nothing, so he eventually gave up.

"Once I clear out the Shadow Eaters, I'm leaving," Ji Xinghuo decided.

On the eleventh day, as he was searching for his next target, he suddenly heard the sounds of battle coming from the other side of the ruins.

"Someone else has come in?"

Ji Xinghuo stopped flying and turned invisible.

He looked in the direction of the sounds, and although they were faint and coming from a great distance, he could tell that someone was engaged in a fierce battle with the Shadow Eaters.

There were many entrances to this ruin, hidden deep within the Everdark Chasm. Although it was very well concealed, over the past few hundred years, numerous hunters and exotic beings had discovered this place. However, he didn't know how many had made it out alive.

Ji Xinghuo thought for a moment and then flew towards the source of the sounds.

Before long, he drew closer to the battle. He was still a few kilometers away, but he could hear the gunshots and explosions. Once he entered the radius of his electromagnetic sensing ability, he hovered invisibly in mid-air, looking down at the scene below him. His eyes widened in surprise at what he saw.

Three people were engaged in battle.

The most eye-catching among them was an exotic being clad in powered armor.

This set of silver-blue armor was extremely powerful, nearly two meters tall, with sleek and streamlined contours. A miniature fusion reactor sat at the chest, powering the armor's engine, and the transparent helmet revealed the face of a man with handsome features, emerald green eyes, and an extraordinary aura that betrayed his identity as a True Dragonborn.

The True Dragonborn hovered in mid-air within his powered armor.

He controlled eight electric flying swords with his mind, slicing and killing the distant Shadow Eaters with graceful, dancing movements.

Four laser hover cannons floated alongside the True Dragonborn, and each volley of shots could take down a Shadow Eater.

From time to time, he would also fire a guided missile to bombard the enemies.

Ji Xinghuo's eyes narrowed slightly.

This True Dragonborn was a Legend Tier 2 being, and his luxurious equipment, a combination of physical and etheric technology, gave him strength far beyond his tier. He was the most powerful Legend that Ji Xinghuo had ever seen.

Furthermore, his profession was quite rare; at least, Ji Xinghuo had never seen one like it on Earth.

"A Star Armor Master!"

An advanced profession of the Mechanic and Kinetic Stringer, Star Armor Masters crafted weapons and armor using physical and etheric technology. In the Star Realm, they used spiritual energy to power their armor, excelling in both offense and defense, and their specialty was long-range firepower suppression.

The Star Armor Master's two teammates were also Legend-level beings.

They were both female.

Although they were not human, their light blue skin, curved horns on their foreheads, three-segmented legs, black hooves, and tails gave them an exotic appearance. Despite these features, their figures were voluptuous and alluring, with seductive and beautiful faces.

Ji Xinghuo had seen this race in Titanium Ring City; they were Breidasson, an extraterrestrial race.

Most importantly, they were a pair of twin sisters.

One wore gorgeous light armor and moved with the speed of the wind, wielding a long spear as she charged into the midst of the monster group, each strike imbued with overwhelming power. She held back the majority of the monsters single-handedly yet remained unscathed.

The other twin held two matte black curved blades, her translucent figure flitting through the shadows like a ghost, effortlessly reaping the lives of the Shadow Eaters. She was elusive and unpredictable.

They were a God-Walk Warrior and a Phantom Assassin, respectively.

At a glance, Ji Xinghuo could tell the relationship between the three. The True Dragonborn Star Armor Master was the leader, and all three were Legend Tier 2, working together seamlessly. Even when surrounded by hundreds of Shadow Eaters, they faced no real threat.

With their combined strength, they could traverse the city ruins as they pleased.

Unless, of course, that energy monster took an interest in them.

Ji Xinghuo quietly watched as they hunted the Shadow Eaters, close enough that he could absorb spiritual source energy from the slain monsters.

Prompt messages kept popping up.

He was happy to let someone else do the hunting for a change.

Suddenly, Ji Xinghuo sensed something and glanced past the three combatants, toward a shadow behind them.

The energy monster had arrived!

Just as he was considering whether to warn the trio, the monster sprang into action, leaping out from the shadows and raising its hands to create a large area of darkness that enveloped both the Star Armor Master's team and the Shadow Eaters.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end