“Tss…”
Huo Yu patted her own head. Even if souls were real, managing them would be a matter for the Underworld, not nature. What did that have to do with anything?
Bai Xuan’s ability really had her spooked.
Come to think of it, the Underworld probably had nothing to do with nature either…
“Got it.”
Bai Xuan nodded. Although Su Yue was an ice-type ability user and her demeanor was rather cool and aloof, her actual personality was fairly gentle and introverted. Aside from being a bit livelier around people she knew well, she basically kept quiet.
If she was going to be combat-effective in the wars to come, she really did need some growth.
Flowers raised in a greenhouse are beautiful, but they have a hard time enduring the baptism of wind and rain. If Su Yue was going to mature, she would inevitably need to undergo the trial of bloodshed and killing.
As for Bai Xuan?
He hadn’t been through it either — but for someone with the Authority of Nature, did that even matter?
He’d just wipe them out in an instant anyway.
The only thing he needed to overcome was his own fear of blood and killing. And honestly, that part was pretty easy — just see enough of it and you get used to it.
Just like Huo Yu said, he was a monster.
A monster that, from the moment of his awakening, had stood above all other living beings.
And the gap between him and others would only grow wider and wider, until one day they wouldn’t even be able to see his shadow.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Right now, Bai Xuan and Su Yue were on their way to the nature reserve.
“Ever since you joined the Spirit Energy Bureau, apart from those few meetings, you’ve basically just been training in your villa?”
Su Yue, dressed in athletic wear with an extra layer of custom-made body armor underneath, looked at Bai Xuan in pure amazement.
“Yeah. Isn’t that perfectly normal?”
Bai Xuan tilted his head, not seeing anything wrong with his behavior.
“Wouldn’t a normal person choose to slack off?”
“And don’t you ever get tired? I exercise for one hour and I’m completely wiped out.”
A pained expression surfaced on Su Yue’s face.
“I’m a bit different.”
Bai Xuan smiled but didn’t explain further.
True — his power would continue to increase over time regardless — but if there was a way to speed up that growth, why wouldn’t he take it?
Besides, just waiting around would be far too boring anyway.
Furthermore, while his Authority of Nature was terrifyingly powerful and he himself was the person with the greatest fortune on Earth, who knew if someone else had awakened another Authority?
Maybe their Authority wasn’t as powerful as the Authority of Nature, but since both were Authorities, even if Bai Xuan’s was stronger, the gap might not be infinite. If that person worked harder than Bai Xuan, it wasn’t impossible for them to one day defeat him.
He remembered what the chat group had said back then: “The consciousness of Earth has divided portions of its Authority of the World and granted them to all living things on the planet.” That meant Earth had distributed more Authorities than just the Authority of Nature.
So the possibility was definitely there.
But what Bai Xuan didn’t know was that the other Authorities Earth had divided up had essentially been shattered into countless fragments, becoming the abilities of all living beings. No one else was qualified to hold a complete Authority alone. Only Bai Xuan held an intact Authority of Nature.
Because Bai Xuan was special. To Earth, he was the most special existence of all.
At last, the two of them arrived at the Hangzhou Nature Reserve. Even before the Reawakening of Spirit Energy, this place had been one of the top scenic spots in Hangzhou. Now, after being cleansed by the surge of Spirit Energy, it looked even fresher and more beautiful.
“The Spirit Energy here is noticeably richer than in the city. Does the amount of Spirit Energy have something to do with the number of plants?”
Bai Xuan surveyed the lush, densely wooded reserve with genuine curiosity.
“Maybe. Isn’t it always like that in novels? The forests and mountains always have way more Spirit Energy than the cities.”
Su Yue looked around at the trees, replying casually.
“Let’s go.”
Bai Xuan nodded, said those two words, and strode forward. Seeing this, Su Yue hurried to follow.
With the two of them together, it was fine — but if he left her here alone, there was no way she’d dare to stay.
Time slipped by slowly as they ventured deeper into the reserve.
“Found it.”
“Keep up.”
All of a sudden, a smile appeared on Bai Xuan’s face, and he began walking in a specific direction. Su Yue, completely clueless, just passively followed behind him.
Found what? How did he find it? How come she hadn’t noticed anything at all?
Not long after.
“ROAR!”
A violent roar suddenly erupted not far ahead of them. In the distance, the two could see a tiger of enormous size.
Unlike the typical orange of a regular tiger, this one was a blazing crimson red, like living flames.
The “王” marking on its forehead had also been replaced by a fiery red lotus blossom.
“A… a tiger?!”
Su Yue couldn’t help but step backward, her face full of panic as she stared at the giant tiger before them.
Why was there a tiger here?
No, wait — this was a nature reserve. It made perfect sense for there to be tigers.
But this was a tiger! Even with awakened abilities, there was no way they could handle this, right?!
And judging by its coloring, it had clearly awakened an ability of its own! Combined with a wild animal’s physique — which was far superior to a human’s to begin with — there was just no way they could fight this thing!
So if this mission was so dangerous, why had they only sent the two of them?!
Su Yue was on the verge of tears. This was nothing like what she had imagined!
“Do you wanna go up and play with it a bit?”
“Don’t worry. With me here, as long as you’re not dead you can be healed right back up.”
Seeing Su Yue’s panic, Bai Xuan said this with a light chuckle.
“P-Please don’t joke around.”
“Should… should we just run? That’s a tiger! And a tiger with awakened powers at that.”
“It’ll eat us alive.”
Su Yue shook her head frantically, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Run? I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“For you, fighting it really would be a bit early.”
“Then this time, leave it to me.”
Bai Xuan shook his head and turned his gaze toward the giant crimson tiger. The beast seemed to sense Bai Xuan’s look — its fur bristled, its animal pupils contracted, as if it had just been locked onto by some terrifying predator.
Then, its gaze shifted directly to the two humans, a trace of bloodshot red flickering in its beastly eyes.
“Hm?”
Bai Xuan noticed the hint of bloodthirstiness in the crimson tiger’s eyes and frowned slightly. In that split second, the giant tiger had directed killing intent straight at them.
That was a bit odd. Its emotions had shifted far too abruptly.
Based on normal tiger behavior, even looking at prey shouldn’t make it radiate outright killing intent like that.
“But since you’re carrying killing intent, we’ll naturally treat you as a vicious beast.”
“I just hope your meat doesn’t disappoint me.”
As he spoke, several spears condensed from pure metallic elements materialized before Bai Xuan, faint arcs of electricity flickering across their surfaces.
“BANG!”
In the blink of an eye, the spears tore through the air, hurtling straight toward the crimson tiger.
“ROOOAR!!”
With a deafening roar, the fire lotus on the giant tiger’s forehead emitted a soft glow — and then its entire body erupted with blazing flames.
And that wasn’t all!
Those searing flames condensed around its body to form a thick layer of defensive armor. Its regal, beastly face was then filled with utter arrogance as it waited for Bai Xuan’s attack to land.
