113: Next steps

Feeling a sense of toughness emerging within his cells, Qiao Yu felt a wave of satisfaction.

Every cell was brimming with vitality; together, they produced an explosive power.

"Phew—!"

Qiao Yu let out a long breath and used his Psychic Power to guide a flying knife across his skin. Initially, he only used Warlord Level strength and found that the flying knife didn't even leave a scratch on him.

He then gradually increased its power until he ramped up his Psychic Power to the Advanced War God Level, which finally left a faint white mark on the surface of his skin.

Although he could immediately heal any injuries, he wasn't so perverse as to ignore pain entirely; he didn't want to end up accidentally hacking off his own hand.

While there was no change in his outward appearance, his skin already possessed the defensive capabilities of a black god set.

Next, he needed to test his vital points.

Qiao Yu's heart pounded. He forced his eyes wide open and controlled a flying knife to fly straight toward them.

However, he still underestimated the subconscious reactions of an Advanced War God Level Physical Body. Just 0.01 millimeters before the flying knife reached his eye, his eyelid snapped shut, and the flying knife was deflected away without causing him any harm.

By the time Qiao Yu regained his composure, his back was already drenched in a cold sweat.

After a quick wash, Qiao Yu turned on his communication device and found two messages.

The first was from Luo Feng, telling Qiao Yu that he had returned from the Wilderness Area. After this period of tempering, Luo Feng's strength had significantly improved. The Dojo of Limits placed great importance on Luo Feng's potential and intended to have him join the Elite Training Camp. In the early stages, Luo Feng's strength had grown somewhat too slowly; it wouldn't see a massive explosion until after the trip to Misty Island.

The other message was from the organization, inviting Qiao Yu to undergo a trial at Ancient Civilization Ruins No. 9, along with relevant information regarding the site.

Ruins No. 9 was located deep within the Amazon Jungle. For ordinary War God Level Martial Artists, it was considered a relatively dangerous area, with a death and disability rate exceeding seventy percent.

However, data comparisons suggested that this ruin was quite friendly to Psycher Masters, with a lower mortality rate and most injuries being only moderate external trauma.

Since Qiao Yu had reported his strength level to the organization after his advancement—even though he had reached it so quickly thanks to the thousand-year willow heart—this news had left the high-level officials within the organization very satisfied.

With his strength increased, Qiao Yu could allow the organization to see a quick return on their investment, contributing his efforts to their cause.

But they were unaware that Ruins No. 9 was actually a trial ground for the Yun Mo Planet Legacy, used to screen members. Those who qualified could receive rewards, which was how the black god set was obtained.

However, one could not wear a black god set when entering the trial; only ordinary combat suits were allowed. Since Qiao Yu had already absorbed the black god set into his cells and genetic level, he wasn't entirely sure if he would still be able to enter Ruins No. 9.

Humans originally believed the trial was only divided between Martial Artists and Psycher Masters, but there was actually a hidden death mission that would only trigger if one's brain width reached the qualifying threshold.

Once the mission began, one needed to learn the secret techniques of the Psycher Master's Controller branch within three years inside a secret chamber. Then, by increasing their spirit amplitude to 16 times, they could break out of the chamber and obtain massive rewards.

These included a black god set, an intelligent auxiliary optical brain (Babata), the Controller attack secret technique "Soaring Sky," and a token to enter Yun Mo Planet.

Qiao Yu had a massive reserve of fungus as a mental pool, so his Psychic Power was essentially inexhaustible. Furthermore, relying on the fungus's mental reserves, his spirit amplitude had reached 36 times during these two months of cultivation. Breaking out of the secret chamber would be child's play.

The Controller's "Basic 312 Styles" would be a more Advanced Psycher Master Cultivation Technique for Qiao Yu; once mastered, his Psychic Power would likely increase several times over.

However, the trial at Ruins No. 9 wouldn't open until the end of September. It was only March now, so it was still early. Accumulating more strength in the meantime would allow him to participate in the trial with more peace of mind.

"Hmm? To participate in the ruins, I need to join the War God Palace first?"

Qiao Yu noticed a note regarding the War God Palace assessment at the end of the message.

He had been using the military's internal information System during this time. For security reasons, the military System's data was not synced with the Dojo of Limits or the Thunderbolt Martial Arts School. Therefore, these two dojos were unaware of Qiao Yu's current true Realm.

Additionally, since Qiao Yu had been operating alone after leaving the Fire Hammer Squad, he hadn't sold any monster Materials or provided any actual battle records. Consequently, in the dojo's database, he was still listed as only an Elementary Warlord.

No wonder the dojo had remained silent; their background assessment likely categorized his talent as that of an ordinary Martial Artist.

"Then I'll just join the War God Palace through the assessment. I can also take the opportunity to show off a bit so the dojo knows my current strength."

Qiao Yu replied to the military, applying for the War God Palace assessment.

What Qiao Yu didn't know was that because he had been too immersed in cultivation and hadn't kept track of the original timeline, Luo Feng had killed the son of the God of War, Li Yao, during that time. Li Yao was now searching the world for the killer and was already starting to suspect Luo Feng.

Even if Qiao Yu knew, it wouldn't matter. With his current strength, he could take down Li Yao even without relying on the fungus. It wouldn't necessarily be effortless, but it wouldn't be too difficult either. No matter how strong Li Yao was, could he really break through a fungus-enhanced black god set with no blind spots?

After replying to Luo Feng saying they could meet now, Qiao Yu left the cultivation room.

When Qiao Yu stepped out of the villa, he felt the air was incredibly fresh.

The cultivation room was sealed and poorly ventilated; he didn't even know how long he had been smelling his own sweat.

He habitually pressed the fingerprint lock on Luo Feng's door and opened it.

Although Qiao Yu had been cultivating and told Luo Father and Luo Mother not to prepare meals for him, they still kept a portion for him every day, just in case he wanted to come over and eat.

Since they had a nanny cooking anyway, they didn't mind the extra portion, so Luo Father and Luo Mother had the nanny keep it ready.

When Qiao Yu learned about the care Luo Father and Luo Mother showed through these small details of daily life, his heart felt warm. Perhaps this was the feeling of having a family.

"Brother Yu, you're here?"

Hearing the sound of the fingerprint lock on their front door, Luo Hua guessed it was Qiao Yu and was the first to call out a greeting.

"Uncle Luo, Aunt Lan."

Qiao Yu nodded to Luo Hua and then greeted Luo Father and Luo Mother, who were watching TV in the living room.

Luo Father and Luo Mother beamed upon seeing Qiao Yu. Even though they knew he was just next door cultivating, they had been constantly thinking of him.

"A-Yu, long time no see!"

Qiao Yu looked up at the second floor, where Luo Feng was leaning against the railing, smiling down at him.