“It’s nothing.” Li Runshan's smile remained, “These people are potential threats. Even if you don’t handle them, I will drive them away.” His gaze swept over the three figures on the ground before returning to Yu Hong’s outfit.
“It’s good that there’s nothing wrong.” Yu Hong sighed and turned to head back to his dwelling, carrying his belongings with him.
He felt it was not the right time to chat further with Li Runshan, as the man clearly had grown wary of him.
Yu Hong moved at a steady pace, gradually disappearing deeper into the woods.
Only when Yu Hong was out of sight did Li Runshan slowly let his smile fade. “That suit is very strong!” he muttered.
“Papa, Uncle Yu Hong was so scary just now,” little Aisena whispered from behind.
“Don’t worry, Papa will protect you.” Li Runshan smiled again, “Even though his gear is impressive, Papa is stronger.” He reached out to ruffle his daughter’s hair, though deep down he felt a strange sense of déjà vu recalling Yu Hong’s two sweeping kicks.
Didn’t that sweeping kick resemble the basic leg technique he sold to Yu Hong? The movements felt a bit clumsy, but the force behind them was undeniably similar.
Just… how could that guy move with such speed?
Looking back at those moves, a serious expression flickered in Li Runshan’s eyes.
He had witnessed the protective power of that black suit firsthand; it was comprehensive and strong, far surpassing the Gray Lizard suit.
Add to that Yu Hong's bursting speed, and he realized that only joint techniques might be able to control such a person.
Back at his hidden cave, Yu Hong stood in a clear space and moved around in his suit.
He didn’t take it off but instead began training with weighted leg exercises.
Despite his calm outward appearance after having killed three men, a vague sense of panic stirred within him.
While he had dealt with others before, this time, he had actually produced three corpses with his own hands.
The feeling of knocking someone down with a single strike felt surreal.
To calm his mind, he focused on his training, pouring himself into it.
Again and again, he practiced, losing track of time.
Soon, the sky outside darkened, and evening arrived.
When Yu Hong finally emerged from his trance, night had fallen.
There were no black insects tonight, just a blanket of silence.
He stood there dripping with sweat inside the cave, waiting for his breathing to calm before slowly removing the gear.
At that moment, he felt a surge of warmth coursing through him.
During the previous training, he had silently gathered his fifth inner qi at his lower abdomen.
At the same time, his leg skin felt muted, as though wrapped in plastic, making his sense of touch less sensitive.
He took off his pants and looked down.
On the white skin of his legs, a layer of transparent skin had formed, though he couldn’t tell when it had appeared.
Gently touching it, he found it was somewhat hard, almost like it wasn’t his own skin, and he could barely feel anything.
‘Is this the result of the weighted leg technique?’ Yu Hong sighed as he put his pants back on.
Without realizing it, he felt he had become quite different from his former self.
Picking up the helmet of his suit, which featured a red value detector, he wore it.
It would light up the corresponding direction based on specifics like location.
The collar displayed exact values.
This function proved to be very practical, allowing him to judge the approach of ghostly figures or shadowy threats much better than a simple red value detector.
His earlier feelings about having taken lives began to fade as he recalled the black imprint feature he had discovered—synthesis. ‘Since I can combine two items into something new…’ His gaze flickered to a pile of firewood in the corner of the cave, mixed with some wild grass he had brought in, a vibrant green.
Yu Hong stepped forward, picked up a blade of grass about the length of his palm, and then grabbed a piece of glowing stone, placing the two together.
He pressed his hand down on top of them.
Yes, he planned to test the synthesis of these two items, simply choosing them at random. ‘Enhancing the wild grass to have glowing stone effects.’ Yu Hong silently thought.
Before long, a black line flowed out of the black imprint on the back of his hand, instantly merging into the wild grass and glowing stone.
A cold mechanical voice resonated in his ear.
‘Would you like to enhance the wild grass?’
He hesitated for a moment, but in his heart, he answered yes.
At once, a change began to take place.
Hearing the familiar feedback tone, Yu Hong should have felt happy; however, just then, a strong pull suddenly surged from the black imprint on his hand the moment he responded.
In an instant, he clearly sensed his physical strength and spirit rapidly being devoured and absorbed by the black imprint.
This sensation had happened before, and he pressed down the disturbance in his heart, enduring the discomfort of being absorbed as he called upon his inner qi.
Before long, the first inner qi, as most of his physical and mental energy drained, instantly replenished.
However, just a few seconds later, the restored energy was once again consumed completely.
He continued to call upon his second inner qi.
Unfortunately, the absorption by the black imprint this time was far more exaggerated than before.
The part of the inner qi he managed to recover still couldn’t measure up.
Then came the third, fourth, and fifth!
Even the fifth inner qi, which had just formed, was swiftly devoured.
Watching his remaining physical and spiritual energy dwindle, fatigue swept over him.
Eventually, the absorption from the black imprint stopped.
‘It’s always like this; it seems to have accurately calculated all my reserves,’ he thought, speechless, propped against the table taking deep breaths as he waited for his body to recover.
His eyes were filled with white spots, breathing rapid and feeling as if he was suffocating from exhaustion.
His whole body felt weak and limp, as though he were on the verge of complete exhaustion.
After resting for a few minutes, he finally had the strength to inspect what had caused him such distress—the wild grass and glowing stone.
Together, the wild grass and glowing stone displayed a new countdown number on their surfaces: 2 days 8 hours 47 minutes.
“Who would have thought,” Yu Hong marveled, surprised that the random items he chose really could enhance and synthesize.
Looking at these two mismatched items, he felt a bit excited, wondering what kind of thing they could create together.
However, the black imprint had now occupied the enhancement time, and he had to wait for two days.
Fortunately, it was only two days.
This time, the black imprint had first inquired about the enhancement without showing a countdown, leaving him with no time to react.
At this moment, if he were to cancel the enhancement, he feared it would render his previous efforts useless.
‘Wait… I seem unsure how to cancel the enhancement?’ Yu Hong suddenly came to.
After using the black imprint for so long, he had just realized he truly didn’t know how to cancel it.
He lit the fireplace and breathed heavily while drinking the sweet soup he had prepared during the day.
Though it tasted sickly sweet, he had no other option.
After finishing his meal, he leaned against the fireplace and fell into a deep sleep.
He slept soundly until the next afternoon when he awakened, and it was almost dark outside again.
He got up and took care of personal matters before setting up the solar-powered generator he had bought earlier, placing it where the sunlight came through, testing whether it would work the following day.
All the while, he frequently checked the countdown on the wild grass enhancement.
He was genuinely curious about what might result from this.
That evening, he continued to train, eat, rest, and then it was the next day.
Finally, by the following afternoon, the countdown neared its end.
After training heavily for a day, Yu Hong paused as the countdown neared completion, moving to the side, waiting quietly.
Ten minutes.
Five minutes.
Two minutes.
The final minute.
Yu Hong sat at the table, eyes unblinking, fixed on the wild grass.
Suddenly! A wave of distortion enveloped the wild grass and the glowing stone.
After the confusion passed, the glowing stone had vanished.
The wild grass remained but had transformed into a larger stem with white spots.
Aside from its color and size, the wild grass seemed to have changed little.
Just when Yu Hong was furrowing his brows in confusion, the black imprint feedback sounded in his ear again.
‘Enhancement successful; it has been named Glowing Grass.
Current enhanced item is a living organism.
Would you like to mark it?’
‘Current number of marks: 1.’
Yu Hong stood up suddenly, surprised. “Mark? What is that?” This was the first time he encountered such a thing, having used the black imprint for so long.
The black imprint gave no answer; it seemed very mechanical, just a pre-set program that offered hints only when specific conditions were met.
Yu Hong stood still, closely inspecting the speckled green grass, brow furrowed, contemplating what this mark could mean.
After a long while, he gritted his teeth; such enhanced wild grass couldn’t be worthless.
He promptly decided to try it. ‘If I confirm the mark, will I be able to change or cancel it?’ he mentally inquired.
No response.
Yu Hong considered it, pressed his hand against the black imprint, and repeated the question.
This time, he received a reply.
‘Yes, upon replacement, the non-mark entity will lose most of its effectiveness.’ The mechanical voice quickly responded.
‘Then, give it a mark!’ Yu Hong replied inside.
He was curious about what this new feature of the black imprint could do.
Just as he responded, the enhanced wild grass flickered with a flash of pale light.
At that instant, Yu Hong felt a slight prick in his heart, akin to something entering his mind.
‘Mark completed.
Current controllable mark: Glowing Grass.’ The black imprint voice echoed.
‘Glowing Grass!?’
At that moment, Yu Hong inexplicably felt a connection with the glowing grass in front of him.
It was as if he could control it, commanding it to perform various changes.
The sensation resembled holding a remote control, freely directing the electric model before him.
But this remote control seemed to be implanted deep within him, controlled by his thoughts.
Along with the control came a short stream of information flowing into his mind.
‘Glowing Grass: A special plant that can reduce the red value in the air to a certain extent; when the quantity reaches a specific level, it can create a clustered effect.
It has a strong life force, requiring only a small amount of water, sunlight, and ordinary soil for growth.’
‘Growth cycle: Four days.’
‘The mark controller can shorten this cycle with inner qi.’
Yu Hong stood motionless, astonished, almost questioning whether he was hallucinating.
This enhancement could do such things?!
(End of Chapter)