Volume 2: Setting Out on the Journey Chapter 47: Relinquishment

"It seems there is only one way!"

Wang Jue felt a bit apprehensive. Compared to the two powerhouses Jiang and Lin, his greatest advantages were his mental power and elemental attributes!

Unfortunately, he still hadn't found a way to utilize his attributes. The only application currently available to him was using his mental power to levitate objects and carry himself in flight!

Since the idea had just popped into his head and he was attempting it without any prior practice, Wang Jue felt extremely uneasy. Although he could use his mental power to control a dagger, it did not mean he could control an object to carry his entire body in flight. Compared to a dagger, his own body weight was countless times heavier!

Whoosh!

Wang Jue drew the Blood-Sensing Sword from his back, and under the control of his telekinesis, it slowly hovered in front of him.

"Hehe, I finally get to experience sword flight just like in the Xianxia novels."

Wang Jue leaped onto the Blood-Sensing Sword. The sword sank sharply until it was about half a meter off the ground, where it finally stopped and remained suspended in place.

"Holy cow, I can't believe it actually worked!"

Wang Jue could not hide the excitement on his face. "Tsk tsk, flying on a sword straight into the Iron Tyrannosaurus's lair—just thinking about it is thrilling."

"No, to avoid a terrible crash, I should practice a bit first. Otherwise, if I lose control and plunge straight into a pack of Star Beasts, I'll be in deep trouble!"

With this thought, Wang Jue forced down the urge to rush straight to the lair and cautiously controlled the Blood-Sensing Sword to carry him through the air.

Due to time constraints, Wang Jue attempted it a total of three times.

On the first attempt, he crashed after flying less than a meter!

On the second attempt, he managed a slow-paced liftoff and continuously changed directions under his control. However, due to excessive excitement and a lapse in concentration, he accidentally steered the Blood-Sensing Sword right into the ground. Luckily, he was less than a meter above the ground; otherwise, a fall from a height of tens or hundreds of meters would have resulted in severe injury, if not death!

On the third attempt, Wang Jue did not dare to get distracted again, and he finally managed to basically master riding the Blood-Sensing Sword in flight. Of course, if he wanted to command it as smoothly as his own arm like the dagger, he would need diligent practice!

Still, although not entirely proficient, it was enough for Wang Jue's current needs!

"That's close enough. Either of those two parties could return at any moment."

Wang Jue abandoned the thought of continuing to play the "sword immortal" and made up his mind. "Time to go!"

Swish!

With astonishing speed, the Blood-Sensing Sword shot instantly out through the window opening!

One had to know that when Wang Jue controlled his dagger, its maximum speed could momentarily exceed that of a sniper rifle bullet. The Blood-Sensing Sword, burdened by Wang Jue's body weight, was much heavier. Even so, thanks to the immense strength of Wang Jue's telekinesis, he could still make the sword fly at a speed roughly matching his own full-sprint running speed. It was still a long way from the speed of sound, let alone supersonic speeds.

"Well, the current speed is just right. I can't fly too fast, or the air vibrations will be too loud and easily detected by the Star Beasts."

Wang Jue stood atop the Blood-Sensing Sword, flying at an altitude of about sixty meters above the ground.

"Phew... I never expected that this seemingly useless thick smoke would actually do me a huge favor."

Because of the dense smoke, the field of vision for both humans and Star Beasts was drastically reduced, which was the only reason Wang Jue had managed to avoid detection!

Although Star Beasts were densely packed on the ground, inside shops, residential buildings, and office blocks, the pack controlled by the Iron Tyrannosaurus consisted primarily of terrestrial beasts, with zero aerial creatures. Since they couldn't fly, and combined with the smoke that severely limited their visibility, they had no way of spotting Wang Jue high in the air.

"The Central Plaza!"

From high above, Wang Jue vaguely caught sight of the massive plaza.

"Hmm?"

Since his vision was somewhat impaired, he had to pull out a pair of binoculars from his backpack to observe carefully. Even though the smoke grew thicker the closer one got to the plaza, using binoculars was vastly clearer than relying on the naked eye.

Through the binoculars, Wang Jue discovered that the plaza possessed distinct hierarchical zones.

The fountain pool in the very center was devoid of any Star Beasts, and not a single Star Beast was in sight anywhere near the vicinity of the pool either. However, the further away one moved from the center of the plaza, the more Star Beasts there were! It could be said that the ground in every direction around the perimeter of the plaza was crowded with massive numbers of Star Beasts. They formed unbroken defensive barriers that not only blocked humans from entering, but also kept their own kind at bay.

"Level 5 Star Beasts possess intelligence basically comparable to humans!"

Wang Jue pondered to himself, "If I were the Iron Tyrannosaurus, I would naturally want to forbid my subordinates from causing a disturbance in my living quarters. Therefore, the center is most likely the Iron Tyrannosaurus's dwelling place."

"As for the areas gradually spreading outward from the center, those should be reserved for its Level 5 subordinates."

"If I'm not mistaken, the further out you go, the more numerous the Star Beasts are, but the lower their strength; whereas the closer you get to the center, the fewer Star Beasts there are, but the stronger they become."

With a solemn expression, Wang Jue carefully observed from the high altitude above the plaza, even circling the entire plaza from southeast to northwest to inspect the Iron Tyrannosaurus's lair from every angle.

Without absolute certainty, Wang Jue did not dare to rashly break into the lair.

"Hiss..."

Catching a vague glimpse of the creatures guarding roughly two hundred meters away from the fountain pool, Wang Jue instantly sucked in a cold breath.

"A Level 4 Star Beast, that one is also a Level 4 Star Beast, a Level 3 Star Beast, a Level 4 Star Beast, another Level 4 Star Beast..."

As Wang Jue continuously identified them, his expression grew increasingly grim.

After identifying just over sixty of them, he stopped examining the remaining two hundred or so. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but rather that there was no need; if he couldn't even tell Level 4 and Level 3 Star Beasts apart, all his efforts over the past few days would have been for nothing.

"What the hell! Out of those sixty-odd Star Beasts, over fifty are Level 4, fewer than ten are Level 3, and the remaining two hundred plus are all Level 3 as well."

After estimating the rough numbers, Wang Jue was startled out of his wits.

This was simply insane.

Originally, he had assumed that once the three Level 5 Star Beasts departed along with dozens of Level 4s, hundreds of Level 3s, thousands of Level 2s, and tens of thousands of Level 1 cannon-fodder Star Beasts, the number of Star Beasts left behind to guard the lair shouldn't be very high. Otherwise, he never would have entertained the idea of stealing a dragon egg.

Never in his wildest dreams had he expected that, aside from the dense swarms of Star Beasts surrounding the perimeter, the inner area close to the center of the Iron Tyrannosaurus's lair would still harbor over fifty Level 4 Star Beasts and nearly three hundred Level 3 Star Beasts!

Against a lineup like this, an Orange Star Realm powerhouse would likely flee without a fight! To fight them meant almost certain death.

A Yellow Star Realm powerhouse, if extremely careful, might perhaps be able to put up a fight.

Probably only a Green Star Realm powerhouse could force their way through the obstruction of dozens of Level 4 Star Beasts backed by over two hundred Level 3 Star Beasts.

"We have a problem. There is an 'elite Star Beast squad' stationed all around the plaza, and countless more Star Beasts spread out beyond them. If I'm careless and get surrounded by Level 4 Star Beasts, I probably won't even have a chance to run."

Hovering motionlessly in the smoke-filled air on his Blood-Sensing Sword and holding his binoculars, Wang Jue did not dare make a single movement as his mind rapidly raced through various plans. "What should I do? How can I get in? How can I snatch the Iron Tyrannosaurus's dragon egg without alerting them?"

After observing for a good while, Wang Jue finally managed to figure out the general layout.

The plaza was a typical quadrilateral shape with open spaces all around it, presumably designed to allow large numbers of visitors to enter the plaza comfortably. But currently, countless Star Beasts occupied those open spaces around the plaza.

"How can I enter the central fountain pool to steal the dragon egg? Could it be that I have to charge straight in at top speed?"

Hovering in the air, Wang Jue looked down through his binoculars at the densely packed masses of Star Beasts below. "No, that won't work. With this many Star Beasts, plenty of them are bound to notice me charging in! Once I'm surrounded, it's virtually a guaranteed death sentence. I'm still young; I don't want to reincarnate this early."

"Forget it, I better head down first. Hanging suspended in the air like this consumes a terrifying amount of mental power."

Swish!

Plunging straight down from the high altitude, Wang Jue landed directly on the rooftop of a six-story building outside the plaza.

He chose this location primarily because, due to the smoke, the Star Beasts patrolling around the plaza were quite far from Wang Jue and completely unable to see him.

"How on earth am I supposed to enter the central fountain now?"

Wang Jue crouched halfway on the rooftop. "Starting from two hundred meters away from the fountain, it's guarded entirely by Level 3 and Level 4 Star Beasts. Even with the smoke, the moment a human approaches, even if Level 4 Star Beasts can't see them, they can smell human scent. Once that happens, running away will be impossible."

"If I fly across from the sky and drop straight into the center, a distance of two hundred meters in the eyes of a Level 4 Star Beast would probably take only a few breaths."

"Even if I managed to fight my way out, my mental power would be completely depleted by then, and the plaza's perimeter and surrounding open grounds are packed with countless Star Beasts. You can easily imagine what my fate would be."

"So annoying. How do I get in?"

Plan after plan was rejected in Wang Jue's mind. It was clear that while the Iron Tyrannosaurus's lair looked unprotected on the surface, it was secretly fortified like an impenetrable copper wall, making it exceptionally difficult to breach.

Suddenly—

"Rumble..."

The battle between the two powerhouses and the three Level 5 Star Beasts in the distance sounded like the heavens and earth were shattering, with successive roars, the sound of collapsing buildings, and the howling of countless Star Beasts echoing over.

"Roar..."

"Roar, roar..."

"Roar, roar, roar..."

As the roars of the Star Beasts echoed across the area, the home-guarding Star Beasts, which had previously appeared somewhat "sluggish," suddenly seemed to perk up all at once, gradually drawing closer to the central pool.

Wang Jue watched as the dozens of Level 4 Star Beasts and over two hundred Level 3 Star Beasts inched closer and closer to the pool.

In his heart, Wang Jue couldn't help but pray.

One hundred and eighty meters.

One hundred and fifty meters.

One hundred and twenty meters.

Ninety meters.

Until it finally stopped at sixty meters—a distance that drove Wang Jue to near despair.

At that moment, Wang Jue decisively abandoned the thought of breaking into the Iron Tyrannosaurus's lair.

From this bizarre behavior of the Star Beasts, Wang Jue knew that since the Iron Tyrannosaurus possessed intelligence comparable to humans and had just left its lair to fight, it naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to walk away without making any preparations.

Never underestimate maternal instinct!

Under a crisis, an ordinary human mother could unleash superhuman strength that astonished everyone just to protect her child.

So, if an Iron Tyrannosaurus could abandon its newly laid dragon egg without hesitation and lure the enemy away out of fear that the battle would collateral-damage the egg, who could guarantee it hadn't left behind a trump card?

At the very least, the current Wang Jue didn't dare to gamble with his own life.

Money lost could be earned back, but you only get one life!