Who Is He?

“To confirm Luo Feng’s death, the most important thing is to see the Moyun Teng’s remains, and the red identity token also serves as auxiliary proof.”

“If I had entered the Ice Mountain Stone Forest and been surrounded by that group of Illusory Beasts, I would have certainly died. Let alone him.”

“But I need to confirm his identity.”

Realm Lord Wu Qi stood at the intersection of 817 caves, consumed by anxiety.

What to do?

Neither advancing nor retreating was an option!

“First, connect to the Virtual Universe Network and see if others are there.” Realm Lord Wu Qi split a sliver of his consciousness and quickly connected to the Virtual Universe Network.

...

Unlike the Xueluo World, Nine Star Sea, being a place controlled by the Virtual Universe Company, often has native Realm Lords and Immortals who have ventured into the vast cosmos and returned home. This means that items like ‘cosmic spacecraft’ and ‘Virtual Universe Network consciousness sensors’ can be found in Nine Star Sea.

Within the Virtual Universe, inside an ancient, grand mansion.

“Ba Yan, Ba Yan.”

Realm Lord Wu Qi sat on a chair, a screen appearing before him. Soon, another man with black curved horns appeared on the screen; it was Ba Yan, the strongest among the six from the Thousand Star Sect in this group—a Ninth-tier Realm Lord.

“Wu Qi, do you need something?” Ba Yan asked from the screen.

“I think I’ve found the target.” Wu Qi’s eyes seemed to burn with a cold, eerie flame.

“Oh?” Ba Yan showed a hint of joy. This mission was essentially a hot potato; they all knew the target they had to kill undoubtedly had a significant background, yet they had no choice but to come. If Realm Lord Wu Qi could kill the target, Ba Yan would naturally be overjoyed, pressing further, “Are you certain?”

“I can’t be certain.” Wu Qi shook his head.

“What happened?” Ba Yan asked, puzzled.

“It’s like this: I previously encountered a Ninth-tier Universe-level youth.” Realm Lord Wu Qi began to describe the events, recounting everything from start to finish.

Ba Yan was silent for a moment.

“You’re mistaken!” Ba Yan declared.

“Mistaken? Where’s the mistake? I almost died, and that Ninth-tier Universe-level individual must be dead. And for him to escape my grasp... he’s definitely not from my Nine Star Sea.” Realm Lord Wu Qi was very confident.

“Yes, it’s unlikely he’s from Nine Star Sea,” Ba Yan conceded. “But Wu Qi, you’ve forgotten one thing: this Demonic Mountain often sees noble beings from the Virtual Universe Company come to explore. Those noble beings are all Ninth-tier Universe-level, and each possesses many extraordinary methods. The one you encountered was indeed unusual, but he might not necessarily be the target. It could very well be another noble being.”

“Uh—” Wu Qi was stunned.

Indeed.

Ba Yan was right; there wasn’t just one Ninth-tier Universe-level individual of extremely high status who came to explore Demonic Mountain.

“So what should I do now?” Wu Qi frowned. “Should I stay at this cave entrance and wait for an opportunity, or continue searching?”

“Here’s what you do: for now, guard that cave entrance,” Ba Yan quickly instructed. “After some time, quietly infiltrate the cave... until you’re close to the Ice Mountain Stone Forest. If you carefully conceal your aura, you shouldn’t be discovered. Secretly check if there are any Moyun Teng remains. I doubt those foolish Illusory Beasts would destroy the Moyun Teng’s remains.”

Wu Qi pondered for a moment, then nodded.

...

Within the vast, deep passage.

The colossal Lizard Illusory Beast, after realizing its target, the ‘human Realm Lord,’ had vanished, pursued for another tens of thousands of kilometers in one breath. Still failing to catch him, it finally stopped.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In just a moment, the four Realm Lord-level Illusory Beasts behind it also rapidly decelerated, stopping behind the Lizard Illusory Beast.

“Roar~~” The Lizard Illusory Beast threw its head back and let out a furious roar, causing the entire passage to tremble slightly.

“Roar~~” The other four Realm Lord Illusory Beasts also roared, heads thrown back.

Immediately, the Lizard Illusory Beast turned around and began to retreat, with the four Realm Lord Illusory Beasts following behind. They had run swiftly when chasing the human, but on their way back, they merely ambled, their speed only about a third of what it had been.

“What’s going on?”

“They’re returning?”

Among the vast army of Illusory Beasts, the eight-meter-tall adorable Ice Bear looked around. It saw that all the Illusory Beasts had stopped running, and with a rumbling sound, many were following the returning leader, the ‘Lizard Illusory Beast,’ beginning their retreat.

Although the Lizard Illusory Beast and the other five Realm Lord Illusory Beasts were retreating, the remaining thousand-plus Illusory Beasts were not entirely uniform in their actions.

Most of the Illusory Beasts returned.

A small portion walked leisurely, and even more than ten Illusory Beasts continued slowly along the passage, heading in the direction the human Realm Lord had fled.

Their minds were exceedingly simple.

It was like a flock of chicks running around; most ran together, but some still strayed from the main group.

“No wonder I’ve encountered individual Illusory Beasts before.” The Ice Bear, ‘Luo Feng,’ swayed as it secretly observed its surroundings. “Illusory Beasts stick together, they like to live in groups. But occasionally, some foolish ones still stray from the pack.”

“I wonder if that Realm Lord is dead!”

“If he’s dead, I can leave this passage. If not, he’s probably fled far away, and I can still go to other places.”

The Ice Bear slowly advanced with the other dozen-plus Illusory Beasts, all heading in the direction the human Realm Lord had fled.

At times, the Ice Bear would run for a bit, then stroll.

The other dozen-plus Illusory Beasts would occasionally use their massive bodies of ice to gently bump the Ice Bear.

...

While advancing with the dozen-plus Illusory Beasts, the Ice Bear, ‘Luo Feng,’ ran for a stretch, shaking off the other Illusory Beasts.

Only then did it begin to accelerate towards the cave entrance of the passage.

A moment later—

“Luo Feng, I’ve detected World Force fluctuations! It’s from that Realm Lord earlier.”

The running Ice Bear naturally began to slow down, even deliberately bumping against the icy mountain wall beside it. After advancing a short distance, it turned around and started to retreat.

...

“An Illusory Beast?” The lean man with black curved horns guarding the intersection of 817 caves frowned, then secretly let out a sigh of relief. “It’s a Third-tier Universe-level Illusory Beast.”

“How foolish, rubbing and bumping against the ice layer with its body?”

“So silly.”

He couldn’t be bothered to kill an Illusory Beast.

Moreover, Wu Qi himself had been thoroughly terrified by the previous chase, fearing that killing this Illusory Beast would attract even more Illusory Beasts.

“Hmm, it’s returning.”

“That’s right, go back to your lair.” Realm Lord Wu Qi revealed a faint smile. That Illusory Beast had already returned and moved out of the range of his World Force.

...

In the deep cave passage of rock and ice, the Ice Bear ambled along. When it moved out of the World Force’s range.

“Luo Feng, we’ve left the World Force detection range.”

Phew.

A faint glint appeared in the Ice Bear’s eyes. “I didn’t expect that Realm Lord to still be here.”

“Our previous location was 10,003 kilometers from the intersection of 817 caves. Based on the distance, I speculate... that Realm Lord is likely hiding at the intersection of 817 caves, constantly scanning,” Babata communicated mentally. “That spot is very safe; if he detects powerful Illusory Beasts pursuing him, he can immediately dive into another cave passage. The Illusory Beasts probably wouldn’t guess which passage he took. But he hasn’t left, which makes me suspicious...”

“Suspicious of what?” Luo Feng quickly asked.

“That Realm Lord is already well aware of the terrifying nature of the Illusory Beast horde. While staying at that cave intersection is safe, he could still be pursued by Illusory Beasts! The safest method would be to leave this place far behind. But he hasn’t!”

“He’s not collecting tokens in Demonic Mountain; instead, he’s stubbornly guarding the entrance.”

“Coupled with his desperate pursuit of you earlier, I have to suspect... his true target is you, Luo Feng,” Babata said.

“Me?”

Luo Feng frowned, recalling the sequence of events.

Indeed, this Realm Lord was currently staying at the cave entrance, constantly vigilant, not daring to relax for a moment. If it wasn’t to kill him, there would be no need to stay at the entrance in such a state of anxiety.

“Why does he want to kill me?” Luo Feng frowned.

For native powerhouses to join the Virtual Universe Company, one option is to stay in Demonic Mountain for a month, or collect 1000 black tokens or 1 red token. But with the strength of a Sixth-tier Realm Lord, collecting 1000 black tokens or staying for a month would be easy. There’s absolutely no need to constantly be on edge at the cave entrance.

“Even if he suspected Luo Feng was a prince of the Virtual Universe Company, there would be no need to insist on killing him. Firstly, killing a prince would not be beneficial for his future development within the Virtual Universe Company. Secondly, he wouldn’t have this necessity.”

“I speculate—”

“Someone wants you dead, Luo Feng, or wants one of the other two princes dead!” Babata stated.

“Someone wants me dead?” Luo Feng’s expression changed.

According to the data.

At this time, there were three core members of the Virtual Universe Company who had entered Demonic Mountain, including himself.

“His target should be one of you three princes,” Babata confirmed. “As for whether the other two princes entered ‘Demonic Sound Mountain,’ that’s hard to say. Therefore, the probability that you, Luo Feng, are the true target should be 50%.”

“50%? Who wants to kill me? I haven’t offended anyone!” Luo Feng frowned.

“Sometimes, people you don’t even know want to kill you. Sometimes, you offend someone without even realizing it,” Babata said. “I’ve followed your teacher for over sixty million years and witnessed too many schemes and betrayals. I advise you, you must be careful. This venture into Demonic Mountain is not simple.”

“Understood.” The Ice Bear lowered its head, letting out a low growl, and began to return to the Ice Mountain Stone Forest.

...

Because the rock and ice walls of this passage were simply too thick, the surface ice layer might crack or shatter. But beyond that, the rock layer, several kilometers thick, was impenetrable.

Even Realm Lord powerhouses only desperately fled instead of trying to break through the rock layer, which indicated one thing... the ‘black rock’ material of this majestic Demonic Mountain was extremely hard.

A moment later.

The Ice Bear slowly returned to the Ice Mountain Stone Forest. In the vast Ice Mountain Stone Forest, Illusory Beasts lived peacefully, and the arrival of the Ice Bear, ‘Luo Feng,’ didn’t attract any attention from the other Illusory Beasts.

“Roar~~”

A 600-meter-long Ninth-tier Domain Lord-level avian Illusory Beast was sprawled on the ice. With a casual flick of its icy wing, it directly knocked the passing Ice Bear, sending it tumbling and rolling a few times before the Ice Bear somewhat clumsily got back to its feet.

Within this Illusory Beast lair, the ‘Ice Mountain Stone Forest,’ the Ice Bear moved among numerous Illusory Beasts, continuously advancing.

“Since I can’t exit through that passage, I’ll have to see if there’s another path on the other side of this Ice Mountain Stone Forest,” Luo Feng mused.

The Ice Bear slowly advanced, occasionally letting out a low growl.