Chapter 112: Plot Twist and Manhunt

The dark blue halo gradually dispersed, and a pale blue mushroom cloud rose from its center, staining the affected area with a withered, frosty hue.

Chen Qi felt a tremendous force slam into his back, accompanied by a wave of freezing cold. In the next second, his entire back went numb, and his body was blasted airborne.

Drawing upon his last shred of control over his limbs, he lunged toward Yun Tianxin, whose face was frozen in shock.

The latter shuddered slightly, not dodging, and allowed Chen Qi to embrace her as they rolled across the ground, eventually burying his entire face in the crook of her delicate neck.

The explosion spread in a ring, and the deep blue halo also engulfed Liu Luo and the axe-wielding brute.

"That bastard!"

Liu Luo, who had just swallowed a healing pill, immediately burst into furious curses upon seeing this. With a flash, her figure vanished entirely, hiding herself within the shadow of the axe-wielding brute—doubtless a desperate measure of last resort.

Having exhausted all her options, she chose to place her trust in the giant, as the situation could hardly get any worse.

The axe-wielding brute wore a solemn expression, paying no heed to Liu Luo's self-preservation tactic as he forcefully pushed his way outward against the freezing wave.

The cold tide instantly washed over his tall frame, coating him in a layer of frost. Panic flickered across his face as he realized his body was growing increasingly stiff and gradually losing sensation.

Suddenly, the blood-red wolf-fang pattern on his chest glowed faintly, expanding into a pale yellow energy barrier.

This was a built-in team skill of the adventure group he had joined. Being a cautious man who treasured his life, he had screened numerous adventure groups with defensive skills. The reason he ultimately chose this Wolf Fang Adventure Group was precisely because of this precious, passively triggered life-saving skill.

Something that could save your life in a moment of crisis was what he had always yearned for as he traversed various worlds.

The pale yellow energy barrier flickered violently the moment it rose against the frost wave, dimming rapidly as it proved utterly inadequate for the scale of the disaster.

After a brief hesitation, the axe-wielding brute retrieved a fiery red scroll from his storage space.

This was one of his most prized gains from the previous world, secured through a grueling struggle during the distribution of team spoils.

In that world, his Wolf Fang Adventure Group had entered a fantasy realm and besieged a boss-tier wizard. Among the numerous spoils, his eyes had instantly locked onto this spell scroll inscribed with Fire Shield.

The crimson scroll vanished instantly, and a flame-engulfed shield materialized around his body. A wave of warmth washed over him, and he finally regained his mobility.

Before the fiery shield dissipated, he managed to stagger out of the frost domain's range, then ran off in a single direction without looking back.

Before leaving, he cast a venomous glance at the man with gold-rimmed glasses, though he said not a word.

Hidden in his shadow, Liu Luo shared a lingering sense of terror. She had not expected that her desperate gamble in this hopeless situation would actually pay off, nor had she anticipated that the buffoon in her eyes still possessed such a trump card for survival.

With this realization, she chose not to break away from the giant's body just yet, opting instead to continue following him.

Her injuries had severely crippled her speed, making this a reluctant necessity.

Seeing the axe-wielding brute glare at him, the joy on the gold-rimmed glasses man's face vanished instantly. He had originally thought his meticulously designed double explosion would bury these ants once and for all, yet he never imagined it couldn't even kill this towering fool.

"Does that mean the sword-wielding bitch is still alive?"

At this thought, he checked his urge to stand and gawk, finally starting to flee with stumbling steps.

How could a person of his noble stature perish in a place like this?

He felt immense confidence in escaping alive; by now, his main quest was long completed. As long as he broke away from combat state, he just needed to find a place and wait for the Sprout Space to pull him back.

"Mmh," Chen Qi let out a soft murmur, seizing the opportunity to take a few deep, greedy breaths of the warm, fragrant snow-white skin near his lips.

"How much longer do you plan to lie there? Get up and fetch that fellow's eyeballs right now!"

Realizing that Chen Qi had regained consciousness and was still taking advantage of her, Yun Tianxin snapped angrily from beneath him.

"Oh," Chen Qi finally recalled his current predicament. Summoning his willpower, he detached himself from the soft, jade-like female body beneath him.

This indeed required immense fortitude, especially with the unique, intoxicating fragrance of the woman he loved still lingering intimately around his nose and mouth.

Chen Qi rose and gave chase, though after a brief pause as if recalling something, his movements faltered slightly.

Behind him, Yun Tianxin said understandingly, "Don't worry about me; I am much stronger than you."

Chen Qi clicked his tongue, rubbed his nose, and with a flurry of rapid footsteps, vanished from the spot.

His direction was naturally the one in which the gold-rimmed glasses man had fled.

Though he had no idea why Yun Tianxin had suddenly recovered her combat capability, now was not the time to dwell on it—the enemy was gloating and might return to the Sprout Space at any moment.

Chen Qi streaked forward like a blur, pushing his sense of smell to the absolute limit to capture the scent of the gold-rimmed glasses man.

Thanks to the medicinal pill Yun Tianxin had made him swallow, he felt an endless reservoir of strength surging within him, and his five senses had all been significantly heightened.

Suddenly recalling that he had neglected a slew of notification prompts related to the Sprout Space, Chen Qi opened his personal information interface while tracking the scent.

The reason he hadn't checked it earlier was because he had been busy taking advantage of Yun Tianxin—no, busy protecting Yun Tianxin—and later remained entirely focused on combat. Only now did he have a brief moment of leisure.

A long stream of information quickly materialized, and astonishment flashed across Chen Qi's eyes.

[Consumed Black Jade Queen Bee Royal Jelly, Physique +1, Hematopoiesis +5%]

[Congratulations to the selectee for breaking through the first bloodline threshold, All Attributes +1, eligible to attempt awakening a bloodline talent (requires returning to the Sprout Space). Current bloodline awakening progress: 15% (provided by Black Jade Queen Bee Royal Jelly)]

[Tip: Bloodline awakening progress determines the potential quality of the bloodline talent. Below 50% progress, Grade A bloodline talents will not appear; reaching 70% guarantees a Grade A bloodline talent; reaching 90% guarantees multiple Grade A bloodline talents.]

[Tip: The higher the bloodline awakening progress, the greater the energy and quality contained within the bloodline. This enhancement does not manifest directly on the attribute panel, but dictates the selectee's recovery, burst capacity, endurance, etc.]

[Tip: The higher the bloodline awakening progress, the more difficult it is to elevate.]

[Tip: The highest grade awakenable for the first bloodline talent is Grade A.]

The above were the prompts Chen Qi felt as his body underwent changes after consuming the Black Jade Queen Bee Royal Jelly twice.

[Consumed Azure Serpent Profound Cloud Pill, Physique +1, Bloodline awakening progress increased by 35%, Current bloodline awakening progress: 50%]

...

Unbeknownst to him, his strength had risen to another tier. Among his stats, his highest attribute—Physique—had reached 15 base points, soaring all the way to 21 points with all bonuses included.

Though he didn't know what 21 points truly signified, Chen Qi faintly sensed that he was practically invincible within the First Tier.

More crucially, there was the aforementioned first bloodline threshold. Even if Chen Qi did not yet fully grasp its significance, his intuition told him that this bloodline awakening progress was immensely important.

Or rather, a Grade A bloodline talent was immensely important!

This could also be deduced from the Sprout Space's implicit emphasis across numerous lines of text.

Perhaps, to truly stand invincible in the First Tier, he lacked only a bloodline talent?

At this thought, coupled with the exhilaration of growing stronger, a surge of bold heroism rose within Chen Qi. If he weren't currently hunting down prey, he would have loved to channel some legendary figure and declare grandly:

"I stand utterly undefeated in the First Tier; against whom must I fight without leaping tiers?"

After pursuing for a stretch longer, as the wave of bravado gradually subsided, Chen Qi's rationality returned. Recalling certain mental imagery, he instantly felt a blush of shame, wishing he could retract his previous statement.

This was certainly not his usual self; he had always been a modest person—how could he utter such arrogant words?

"Chen Qi, oh Chen Qi, do you wish to become Xiang Yu of old, Old Jiang on the eve of the Liberation War, or Anlan from Shrouding the Heavens?"

Chen Qi's brain rapidly churned through literary allusions, inwardly reproaching his own arrogance. His martial arts journey had only just begun, and true foundation-building naturally demanded absolute solidity.

Even if he couldn't break 100% breakthroughs like the heaven-defying protagonists in certain novels, he had to pursue the highest possible bloodline awakening progress. This was his foundation, and it could not be trifled with!

"At the very least, above 90%." Chen Qi silently set his target while continuing to leap through the mountain terrain.

Gradually, Chen Qi sensed that the scent of the gold-rimmed glasses man in his nasal passages was growing increasingly dense. Navigating a few twists and turns along the path, a trace of red representing human blood qi finally entered his field of vision.

Seeing that patch of red huddled near a pile of boulders by the stream, blending so seamlessly with the environment that an ordinary person would easily miss it at a glance, Chen Qi finally broke into a smile.

"Found you!"

The smile was pleasant, yet it failed to conceal the thick layer of bloodlust and hatred lurking beneath.