Chapter 486: Returning to the Eastern Emperor Island

Chapter 486: Returning to the Eastern Emperor Island

Over ten thousand kilometers away, Ji Xinghuo and Qinghong emerged from the void, appearing above the vast ocean.

He immediately turned to look back.

The Macrocosmic Eye quickly locked onto the speeding beam of light, observing for a few seconds and noticing that her trajectory remained unchanged, still heading towards the island where the solar eclipse had occurred.

The sense of impending danger gradually faded, leaving only a faint trace.

"Good, she only sensed the solar eclipse," Ji Xinghuo breathed a sigh of relief, but he continued to create distance.

Instead of star realm jumping again immediately, he flew within the abyssal ocean depths, recalling Qinghong.

Boom...

Ji Xinghuo transformed into a lightning bolt, ripping through the sky and thundering in the clouds.

The Rain Sword surrounded his body, forming electric current coils, while the Turbulent Flow Engine roared with power, his stellar force constructing an electromagnetic field to propel him forward.

As he flew, Ji Xinghuo's thoughts stirred.

Electromagnetic polarization was instantly triggered, polarizing his stellar force electromagnetic field. The repulsive force generated by the polarity reversal intensified, and from within to without, from the Magnetic Spirit Star Core to the current coils, the rate of operation increased tenfold.

His speed skyrocketed!

Ji Xinghuo's body became a phantom, shooting thousands of kilometers in an instant, breaking through twice the speed of sound in the star realm.

This was equivalent to six times the speed of sound on Earth.

"I can go even faster!"

He opened the interface of the Myriad Images Star Pupil and poured spiritual source energy into "Acceleration," an ability that hadn't been upgraded in a long time.

[Ability: Acceleration (Level 3, 5042/127321)]



Investing over 120,000 points of spiritual source energy, he quickly upgraded "Acceleration" to (Level 4, 1/757271).

Ji Xinghuo's speed immediately increased.

Gradually, he broke through his usual speed limit, eventually reaching three times the speed of sound in the star realm before stabilizing once more.

"Almost at 10 Mach," Ji Xinghuo exclaimed, relishing the exhilarating flight speed comparable to a shuttle.

Even with the help of the Yeta Linglong Heart to conserve stellar force, such high-speed flight would not be sustainable in the long run. However, whenever his stellar force ran low, he could simply allow Jiu You to possess him and restore his stellar force through the King of Darkness.

With this method, he could fly indefinitely!

Ji Xinghuo flew at full speed without any reservations, frequently glancing back to check on the Herder Saint, confirming that she wasn't gaining on him.

It took him just about six minutes.

To fly over a thousand kilometers, and then star realm jump over ten thousand kilometers again.

After the second jump, Ji Xinghuo was more than 25,000 kilometers away from the island, while the Herder Saint was still heading towards it.

The sense of danger from the Myriad Images Star Pupil had completely vanished.

"I should have shaken her off by now."

Ji Xinghuo was finally relieved.

The previous two jumps had been to the south. If he headed southeast, he would enter the sea zone restricted area of the Royal Thunder Snake, but he dared not lead the Herder Saint there. It was too risky to leave any trace of his whereabouts.

Even if the Herder Saint reached the island, she would only witness the aftermath of the solar eclipse, and any inquiries with the nearby Abyss Hunters would yield little information.

To lure her to the Royal Thunder Snake, he would need to offer bait.

That would undoubtedly be walking into a trap.

It was best to avoid any contact and leave no information behind—that was the safest option.

Ji Xinghuo did not star realm jump again but instead turned southwest and flew at full speed, putting more and more distance between them while keeping a close eye on the Herder Saint's movements.

Half an hour later, he had traveled over 30,000 kilometers away from the island.

Suddenly, the Herder Saint disappeared.

"Star realm jump!"

Ji Xinghuo's heart skipped a beat. As expected, she had mastered star realm jumping. The Macrocosmic Eye scanned and tracked her, locking onto a beam of light speeding at a shocking velocity over ten thousand kilometers away. It was indeed the Herder Saint.

"Just like me, she's a level-five star realm jumper," Ji Xinghuo concluded.

Subsequently, the Herder Saint jumped continuously.

She held nothing back, using up her total jump distance for the cycle, covering over 40,000 kilometers in one go and arriving at the island.

The beam of light descended upon a solitary peak on the island, which had already collapsed by half. As the light faded, a woman appeared.

She wore a streamlined light armor under a plain-colored long skirt. Her appearance was not outstanding, but she possessed a middling allure, with a pair of narrow, long phoenix eyes that exuded a cold and indifferent aura. The most striking feature, however, was the pair of massive light wings extending hundreds of meters behind her.

Each feather on the light wings was composed of energy, the ends resembling gentle, fluttering ribbons that moved without wind.

Ji Xinghuo did not recognize this woman.

But he knew those dazzling energy wings. They were a sign of the solar eclipse ability—Eternal Light! One of the seven God Dragon species, the Light Cone Dragon, had a representative ability called "Light Wings," granting them the fastest flight speed. If this ability further evolved into a solar eclipse ability, it became "Eternal Light."

This ability was not unique to the Light Cone Dragon, as it was said to have multiple origins.

Eternal Light not only granted an Other an unparalleled speed in the star realm but also bestowed abilities related to strong interaction forces. It was a core ability of the extremely powerful and renowned ultimate profession, the "Nuclear Angel."

"Who is she?" Ji Xinghuo wondered curiously.

There were only three families of Light Cone Dragon Vein, just like the Titanium-Cobalt families, and this Herder Saint must have come from one of them. Moreover, her strength far surpassed that of a typical Herder Saint, and she was likely a Light Cone Dragon King from one of those families.

Under the observation of the Macrocosmic Eye, she stood atop a solitary peak, her gaze sweeping over the island ravaged by the electromagnetic field, but she found nothing.

Her eyes glinted sharply.

Then, her figure flickered, and she flew away in the direction Qinghong had taken when she left through the void, once again transforming into a beam of light speeding away.

Soon, she reached the location over a thousand kilometers away where Ji Xinghuo had first star realm jumped.

Ji Xinghuo was startled.

This Light Cone Dragon King's perception was far sharper than he had anticipated. Fortunately, it had been almost an hour since the jump, and the ripples in the void had long since dissipated. The direction she was searching in was slightly off from the actual location, making it challenging for her to track him.

Even if she could track the direction of the jump, she wouldn't be able to jump after him and catch up.

The next jump location was also over a thousand kilometers away.

"Hehe..."

Ji Xinghuo chuckled at his own cleverness, although the most crucial factor was the Myriad Images Star Pupil, which had alerted him to the impending danger in advance.

The Herder Saint couldn't track the jump, so she turned back toward the island.

She lingered on the island for a moment but gained nothing.

Ji Xinghuo watched her, thinking that she should have left by then or interrogated the Abyss Hunters in the nearby waters, which might have yielded some clues. However, she didn't do either of those things and instead stood atop the solitary peak, expressionless.

It was only then that Ji Xinghuo finally had the opportunity to activate his microscopic perception, revealing everything that was happening within a hundred meters of her.

However, as the information from that area entered his mind, the Herder Saint seemed to sense something.

Ji Xinghuo immediately discontinued the Macrocosmic Eye.

"That was close!"

Only then did he understand what had happened.

Apparently, the Herder Saint could feel that someone was secretly observing her but couldn't pinpoint the source, so she lingered in the same spot. If he had been any slower to react and had watched her for a few more moments, she might have detected his location and chased after him.

Ji Xinghuo immediately changed direction and flew southward at full speed.

The Myriad Images Star Pupil didn't issue any warnings, and after flying wildly for over a thousand kilometers, he turned back and used the Macrocosmic Eye to look toward the island, but the Herder Saint was nowhere to be seen.

He scanned the nearby waters with the Macrocosmic Eye but still couldn't find her.

"She must have left," Ji Xinghuo concluded.

Ever since he obtained the second fragment of the Myriad Images Star Pupil and activated the Macrocosmic Eye, he had been using it frequently and had mastered its usage, as well as its limitations.

Although it allowed him to see very far, even observing phenomena three million kilometers away, it was challenging to lock onto moving targets.

The greater the distance, the more difficult it became.

To lock onto a moving target, there must be a powerful enemy that posed a threat, like the one earlier, which was enough to trigger the warning of the Myriad Images Star Pupil. Then, the Macrocosmic Eye would automatically focus on the enemy, making it easy to track them.

Once the threat was gone, however, they would disappear from the Macrocosmic Eye's view, unless they were close enough, making it challenging to find them again.

Even though he was only about 30,000 kilometers away from the island at that moment, the Macrocosmic Eye's field of view was only three kilometers, like viewing the world through a pinhole—extremely limited and narrow.

Moreover, the Herder Saint's speed was so fast that trying to find her would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

"Forget it," Ji Xinghuo muttered, scanning the area around the island for a long time before finally giving up.

Since the Myriad Images Star Pupil didn't automatically focus on her, it meant that she no longer posed a danger and wouldn't threaten him again.

Wherever she had gone was none of his concern.

His attention returned to the interface.

He had a little over 600,000 points of spiritual source energy left, and after considering, he allocated 300,000 points to "Spirit Energy."

Electromagnetic polarization required spirit energy assistance.

And then there was Hyperthinking.

[Ability: Spirit Energy (Level 5, 2816/303299)]



As the upgrade progressed, Ji Xinghuo felt his spirit energy soar like a rocket, increasing the distance of his spirit energy projection. It expanded outward from 1500 meters, and when his spirit energy reached Level 6, the effective radius was approximately 3,000 meters.

Spirit Energy (Level 6, 1/909899). Reaching Level 7 would require 900,000 points of spiritual source energy, which he didn't have enough of.

Level 6 Spirit Energy further enhanced the efficiency of converting stellar force into spirit energy.

It also amplified the effects of electromagnetic polarization!

However, Ji Xinghuo would need some time to figure out how to develop the practical applications of electromagnetic polarization.

He invested all the remaining spiritual source energy into Hyperthinking (Level 7, 512/108533). This ability had a high level, and the amount of spiritual source energy required for each upgrade was not much, allowing him to upgrade it twice in a row.

"Hmm?"

When Hyperthinking reached Level 9, it unexpectedly triggered a falling star phenomenon.

Ji Xinghuo looked up at the reflection of the Milky Way in the sky, and a shooting star fell from it, plummeting toward him.

At that moment, the ability information on the Myriad Images Star Pupil also updated, and after Ji Xinghuo finished reading it, he was astonished.

[Ability: Hyperthinking (Cannot be Upgraded)]



"It actually upgraded to its limit." This was the first time Ji Xinghuo had seen an ability change from being upgradable to unupgradable.

Initially, it was just a superior ability called "High-Frequency Thinking," which then evolved into an ultra-limit ability, "Hyperthinking." Now, it had evolved into a star-falling ability, "Hyperthinking," similar to Gene Recombination, and could no longer be upgraded using spiritual source energy.

Previously, he had thought that there was no limit to ability upgrades, but now he realized his mistake.

Hyperthinking did not undergo any qualitative changes.

Its effect remained the same, allowing his brain to operate at a high frequency, increasing the speed of his thoughts and reactions. It could easily reach ten times the normal speed, up from the previous limit of five times.

Furthermore, as long as his brain could withstand the pressure, the hyperfrequency multiplier could be further increased.

Twenty times, thirty times...

It could even go up to a hundred times without any issues, depending on the individual's brain endurance. There was no upper limit to Hyperthinking.

"Let's give it a try."

Ji Xinghuo experimented slightly, and his brain immediately started operating at high speed. His thoughts accelerated tenfold, making the passage of time feel slower, and his perception of the world became much richer and more delicate. Even while flying at three times the speed of sound in the star realm, he could still clearly see everything around him.

He slowly increased the hyperfrequency multiplier and reached twenty times.

The consumption of stellar force surged.

All the matter he saw decomposed into countless large and small electromagnetic fields, revealing the essence of the world before his eyes.

Ji Xinghuo even glimpsed microscopic molecules.

Vaguely, he gained a fuzzy understanding of how to polarize molecules to alter the state of matter.

At the same time, his brain felt an immense amount of pressure, as if it were at the bottom of a deep sea abyss, with gravity increasing a thousandfold. While the rest of his body was unaffected, his brain, being the most fragile, experienced extreme discomfort, akin to suffocation.

This feeling was somewhat similar to the Myriad Images Star Pupil, but far more strenuous. His heartbeat also accelerated wildly.

Each time his heart beat, it was like the pounding of a war drum.

Whoosh...

Stellar force and blood flowed rapidly, infusing Ji Xinghuo's brain, but it gradually started to overload.

"Twenty-five times hyperfrequency should be my current limit." Ji Xinghuo endured for about ten minutes before he stopped increasing the multiplier and reduced the hyperfrequency state slowly to avoid dizziness, carefully pulling himself out of it.

Everything returned to normal.

"That feeling..." Ji Xinghuo shook his head.

While in the hyperfrequency state, not only did his thoughts become incredibly fast and sharp, but his mind also brimmed with brilliant insights that were clear and profound, leaving a lasting impression. Things that were once difficult and abstruse now seemed understandable with just a thought.

However, he always felt that if his brain remained in a hyperfrequency state for an extended period, would there be any side effects?

Ji Xinghuo pondered this question but couldn't be sure.

"2 million points of spiritual source energy, gone in the blink of an eye." He glanced at the depleted value and immediately felt motivated again.

In the following dozen or so days, Ji Xinghuo continued hunting monsters in the abyssal ocean but didn't hoard spiritual source energy like before. Instead, he would immediately convert his earnings into strength whenever he accumulated a batch.

He spent spiritual source energy to upgrade abilities such as Holy Scale Armor, Flow-Shaped Barrier, Turbulent Shockwave, Stellar Force, and Overload, each of which required between 120,000 and 160,000 points. In total, he invested less than 800,000 points, upgrading each of these abilities by one level.

After reaching level seven, Myriad Spirit Bodies didn't progress further and became unupgradable.

There was also Instant Step.

Ji Xinghuo didn't upgrade it.

After integrating "Acceleration," he could accelerate during instant movement and change directions at will, completely replacing the effect of Instant Step. He intended to use the Dissolving Pearl to erase Instant Step and retain the expansion slots for fusing other exotics.

However, as he didn't currently have suitable exotics, he decided to keep it for the time being.

Ji Xinghuo began accumulating spiritual source energy again.

When the first month of the Cold Season, "Night Moon," was more than halfway through, Ji Xinghuo, who had been hunting in the abyssal ocean for a long time, was now close to the Tianxu Territory, the dragon territory of the Xuankong Family, at the easternmost edge of the Bipo Dragon Domain, less than 50,000 kilometers away.

He often encountered other abyss hunters in this area and would proactively avoid them. However, through the Macrocosmic Eye, he secretly observed and learned some news from these hunters.

Among the pieces of information he gathered, one caught his attention.

"There's going to be an auction on Eastern Emperor Island?"

Ji Xinghuo immediately thought of something. The Chaoge Whale Dragon Family would occasionally put a magnetic pole potential-cutting exotic up for auction on Eastern Emperor Island. If he could buy it directly, even at a high price, it would be acceptable.

With his current wealth of over 100,000 ether crystals, he could afford it.

"Even if I don't buy it, I should take the opportunity to get in touch with the Chaoge Family."

Ji Xinghuo pondered, "Through the Macrocosmic Eye, perhaps I can find the source of the magnetic pole potential-cutting exotic."

"Also, I need to find someone to repair the Reverse Dragon Armor."

"I'm getting bored of the abyssal ocean, too."

After some thought, Ji Xinghuo decided to return to Eastern Emperor Island. Thus, he immediately flew in the direction of the Bipo Dragon Domain.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end