Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 286: Heaven-Man Martial Domain, I Am Transcendent!

To ordinary people who had no qualifications to touch the Transcendent realm, the merit of collecting the Immortal Object was enough to give the name "Cheng Ye" considerable weight in Happiness City.However, in the eyes of the higher-ups who dabbled in the Transcendent domain, the Vitality and Withered Conviction bestowed upon him by Tan Ming were his true life-saving amulets.

These two amulets could bring terrifying buffs to Happiness City, and he had already expressed his complete willingness to contribute them.

Therefore, as long as these two amulets remained, even if he openly stepped into the Transcendent realm, it would not arouse anyone's suspicion.

After all, this was Happiness City, not the Kindling Shelter City that shunned Transcendents at all costs.

In Happiness City, being a Transcendent was never a taboo subject, nor was it considered the end of the cultivation path. It was merely a starting point used for screening.

On this Transcendent path, every step forward required an ocean of resources.

From the normal state to the Inverse State, and then to the Control State, the amount of time and resources needed to reach the strength of an Elder was simply immeasurable.

For this very reason, Cheng Ye never intended to hide his Transcendent status from the very beginning.

The Inspection Stations in Happiness City could do without Transcendent-level combat power because the inner city was guarded by Elders and dozens of Transcendents. Even if a Mother Source crisis erupted, they could suppress it immediately.

But the Inspection Station in Dabo Town was different. Including the Leaping Wilderness Inspection Station he would govern in the future, they absolutely needed Transcendent-level combat power.

Only then could they calmly deal with those bizarre Mother Sources and Wish-Guarding Transcendents.

Fortunately, the existence of Transcendent seeds allowed him to casually cultivate Transcendent-level combat power without any side effects.

Furthermore, there was another crucial point: these distributed Transcendent seeds would never completely escape his control.

He could entirely hand the seeds over to trusted people around him first. Once they were fully nurtured, he could then reclaim the seeds using the Collector.

As long as the Collector had enough energy, creating an entire army of Transcendents was not an impossible dream.

Of course, this was still just a preliminary idea.

After all, the early-stage buffs provided by Little Flame couldn't even compare to the Earth-Shrinking Giant Louse before it reached the Transcendent level.

Even now, Little Flame was still in the Shaping stage, failing to display its true potential. It still required a massive accumulation of resources and time to grow.

This in itself was a cyclical path of resources; the more Transcendents there were, the more monumental the required resources became. To realize the vision of a Transcendent army, he had to accelerate his resource-gathering pace and acquire more rare treasures.

As for the candidates, they required even more careful consideration and screening.

Because once others obtained a Transcendent seed, they wouldn't have a powerhouse like Tan Ming to help conceal their aura.

Once they chose to bind with Transcendent power, it meant that for a very long time, they could no longer leave the borders of Happiness City, losing their qualifications for outside exploration.

Thinking it over, Cheng Ye felt that Luo Kuke, who was responsible for guarding Dabo Town, might be a suitable candidate.

But given their current relationship, combined with Luo Kuke's present contributions, he was far from qualifying for a Transcendent seed.

And then there was Liu Bi.

In terms of trust, Liu Bi had never asked for anything in return for his sacrifices. His character could absolutely stand the test.

Moreover, after understanding Liu Bi's belief in the unity of self and objects, Cheng Ye had no worries about him losing control due to gaining immense power.

In all fairness, if Liu Bi took the conventional path of belief-based Transcendents, his somewhat abstract conviction might be difficult to manifest.

But if he took the path of the Transcendent seed, it was simply a match made in heaven.

Looking at ability compatibility, the core of field duty lay in negotiation and trade, which obviously wasn't Liu Bi's strong suit either.

His strengths were combat and leading a team.

For the former, having Transcendent power would be like adding wings to a tiger. For the latter, when leading a team on missions, having other people's auras to mask his own would perfectly mitigate the risk of his Transcendent aura being exposed.

However, faced with this sudden bombardment of information, Liu Bi fell into a rare silence. The Researcher card in his hand had been unconsciously crumpled into a tiny ball.

Fortunately, the item was made of a flexible material; the moment he let go, it immediately reverted to its original shape.

His brows were tightly furrowed, his gaze locked intensely onto the burning Little Flame mark on Cheng Ye's forehead. His eyes swirled with complex, indistinguishable emotions.

A moment later, he slowly squeezed out a sentence that left Cheng Ye genuinely stunned.

"Let's fight!"

"Now?"

"Right now!" Liu Bi nodded heavily.

"Alright!"

Cheng Ye agreed without hesitation. Just as he turned, wanting to head back to town to have Hou Genbao clear the area so their fight wouldn't disturb the residents, Liu Bi raised his finger and pointed toward the nearby Diversion Island.

"We'll go there."

As his words fell, he waved to Niu Fu.

Niu Fu immediately jogged down from the pier. Without a word, he leaped onto a wooden boat docked at the shore, grabbed the oars, and waited.

The two boarded the boat in silence. Niu Fu rowed with rapid, powerful strokes, the wooden boat cutting through the water until they quickly arrived at Diversion Island.

After landing on the island, the two walked a bit further inward until they were completely out of sight from Dabo Town, only then stopping in their tracks.

"If you beat me, I'll listen to you."

Liu Bi pulled off his jacket and tossed it to Niu Fu, his expression incredibly solemn. "But if you lose, you have to listen to me. From now on, you are forbidden to come into contact with any Infected Body. We won't talk about this again until you can earn my approval. Otherwise, no matter where you go, I will follow and keep an eye on you."

"Deal, Brother B. Excuse my offense!"

Cheng Ye also took off his jacket and handed it to Niu Fu, who was standing to the side.

Influenced by his conviction, Liu Bi's thought process was quite straightforward, but it was exactly this trait that made many inherently complex matters simple.

The two stood facing each other. Both had equally tall and robust physiques; just looking at their physical conditions, it was impossible to tell who was stronger.

But in terms of combat awareness, the moment they took their stances, Cheng Ye subconsciously sized up Liu Bi, instinctively searching for flaws in his posture.

Unsurprisingly, Liu Bi's seemingly loose stance was riddled with visible openings from head to toe.

Yet, because there were so many openings to the extreme, it made it impossible to pinpoint a focal point of attack, rendering it as if there were no flaws at all.

"My master, Mr. Xiacang, was the seventeenth-ranked Great Martial Master among the martial artists of the old era."

Liu Bi suddenly spoke, his voice steady and powerful. "There is no end to martial arts; the capable serve as teachers. Every Great Martial Master is a milestone on the path of human martial artists. Though they are not Transcendents, they carved out a stable path of cultivation for ordinary people to advance."

"Back then, when natural treasures were extremely scarce, ordinary people and Transcendents alike fought to the death over resources, resulting in rivers of blood. It was these Great Martial Masters who stepped forward, using the name of martial arts to mediate disputes. They even shared their cultivation insights with the world, creating a path that commoners could walk. This allowed many to let go of their obsession with becoming Transcendents, directly preventing countless conflicts and disasters!"

"Your father's mind was too cluttered; he was no match for me. In a head-on clash, he would definitely lose within thirty moves."

"Your mind is even more cluttered. If you want to prove that your path is right, then show me your strength!"

Before his voice even faded, Liu Bi suddenly sank his breath. As he exhaled, his aura became as stable as a stone pillar.

Those openings that were everywhere just a second ago vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye. His entire body merged into a flawless whole, leaving no opportunity to exploit.

But in the next second, those flaws abruptly resurfaced. Flickering in and out of existence, they made it absolutely impossible to gauge his true state.

'This strength...'

Cheng Ye narrowed his eyes and couldn't help but ask, "Yu Yong isn't your match?"

"He is nothing but empty brute force." Liu Bi shook his head gently. His tone held no contempt, only an absolute certainty.

'Yu Yong actually wasn't Brother B's match?'

'Was it because he didn't use his special abilities, or could Liu Bi actually fight against a Source-Binder with a mortal body...?'

Just as the thought crossed his mind, Cheng Ye stomped his foot against the ground, seizing the initiative to launch an attack.

The moment he took that step, he was momentarily brought back to the training grounds from a few months ago, when he would also aggressively press the attack to gain the upper hand.

But his feelings at this moment were a Heaven-Earth Difference from back then.

Truly, before entering this door, he was like a frog in a well looking at the moon; after entering, he felt like a mere mayfly gazing up at the vast blue sky.

Liu Bi's consistent, twenty-year-long dedication to martial arts had reached a level of sublime perfection.

Suppressing the feeling of his realm being suppressed, Cheng Ye planted his right foot to steady his posture and threw a straight left punch directly at Liu Bi's face.

He put a full hundred percent of his force into this punch. It looked simple, but relying on his currently formidable physical fitness, even a martial artist who had reached the Embryo-Holding Stage like Miao Yang wouldn't even have a chance to react.

Yet, as if he had anticipated the attack, Liu Bi merely turned his body slightly, effortlessly evading the ferocious blow.

Cheng Ye's gaze sharpened. Mid-punch, his wrist sharply twisted, shifting the trajectory by a few inches. The straight punch instantly morphed into a hook, continuing its assault on Liu Bi.

Liu Bi didn't even bat an eyelid. His left shoulder dipped slightly once more as he simultaneously stepped half a pace to the right.

The movement was minimal, but it perfectly allowed Cheng Ye's hook to graze past his shoulder without so much as touching his clothes.

He even had the leisure to critique, "Your punch is too direct. You only know raw power, but you lack variation."

'Oh?'

Cheng Ye's heart stirred. Without retracting his left hand, his right fist immediately followed up, knuckles facing down as he aimed straight for Liu Bi's lower abdomen.

At the same time, his left knee drove upward, violently smashing toward Liu Bi's right knee. His hand and foot coordination was seamless, chaining the attacks tightly together.

This single variation alone was something only possible after achieving Perfection of the Four Forces.

A hint of praise inevitably flashed through Liu Bi's eyes. To go from not having entered the Martial Body state to completing the four forces in just three months—even in the old era, Cheng Ye's talent would be considered heaven-defying!

However, it was still too slow, still too ordinary.

He lightly tapped his left toe against the ground, and his body abruptly rose half a foot into the air as if defying gravity. Cheng Ye's right fist hit nothing but air, and his knee only brushed against the hem of Liu Bi's shirt.

"The Blood Dragon Legion's fighting style. The variations are entirely by the book, full of set routines. It's a low-tier method," Liu Bi's critique echoed once more.

Cheng Ye didn't reply. Borrowing his forward momentum, he forcefully twisted his waist, kept his right leg straight as a rod, and launched a vicious upward sweeping kick aimed directly at Liu Bi's lower body.

The fierce wind whipped up by the kick kicked up a cloud of dust from the ground.

With his vision obscured, Liu Bi seemed to perceive the attack with pure intent. He stepped back with his right foot, tapping his toe against the dirt while spinning a half-circle, cleanly evading the sweep.

When he landed, his left foot was forward and his right foot was back. His legs were spread shoulder-width apart in a standard horse stance, his posture as steady as a boulder.

"Stop hiding it. Use your Transcendent power! Relying solely on these moves is far too weak!" Liu Bi declared deeply.

"Alright!"

These rudimentary Blood Dragon Legion techniques obviously couldn't catch the eye of a martial artist at the Heaven-Man Unity Realm like Liu Bi.

Realizing that his enhanced physical attributes didn't give him much of an edge, Cheng Ye concentrated his mind. The Little Flame mark on his forehead slightly dimmed and shifted aside.

Immediately after, the emblem of the Earth-Shrinking Giant Louse suddenly flared up with dazzling radiance.

Little Flame was still in the Shaping stage. Currently, it could only provide passive Mental Pollution defense and a partial boost to his physical stats, which wasn't very useful on the offensive.

But the Earth-Shrinking Giant Louse was different. This was Cheng Ye's first time using it in actual combat.

"Brother B, watch out!"

Cheng Ye didn't immediately activate his Size-as-Desired ability. With a mere thought, his stationary figure instantly blurred.

Immediately after, a muffled boom echoed!

A gust of fist wind suddenly Flashed out of the void. By the time it fully materialized, it was already right in front of Liu Bi, leaving him no room to dodge.

Watching from the sidelines, Niu Fu's eyes widened in utter shock.

'Could this be the legendary Square-Inch Displacement of martial arts?'

'No, this is even more terrifying than Square-Inch Displacement! The moment he appeared, it was literally a Flash, giving absolutely no time to react.'

"Good timing!"

Liu Bi shouted in a low voice, and this time, he finally stopped dodging.

His right hand shot upward from below at a near-contorted angle to meet the attack head-on.

Bang!

A dull sound of collision exploded over the sandy ground. Liu Bi's body lurched heavily, and he stumbled back seven or eight steps. The soles of his shoes carved two distinct tracks into the dirt before he finally managed to completely disperse the surging, colossal force from the fist.

This was their first direct clash, and Cheng Ye's strength left him somewhat shaken; it was terrifyingly huge.

Visibly, Liu Bi's face was no longer as placid as a stagnant well. Instead, it was replaced by a fiercely passionate vigor.

"Is this Transcendent Power?" He raised a hand to rub his arm, his tone full of awe. "So strong!"

Looking down at his arm, the spot Cheng Ye had struck had already turned completely purplish-red.

"Brother B, do we continue?" Cheng Ye let out a breath of stale air and raised an eyebrow.

This was his first time using the Flash ability in actual combat. He felt as if the space around him had folded in an instant, giving him the bizarre sensation of using his Action Ability.

In that split second, everything around him seemed to freeze, and only he could move freely within the stillness.

"Come!" Liu Bi took two deep breaths. The excitement in his eyes rapidly faded, returning to his previous state of focused calm. His tone was resolute. "Beat me, and only then will I be truly convinced!"

Cheng Ye said nothing more. With a stomp of his foot, his figure blurred once again.

In the very next second, he Flashed behind Liu Bi, his fist primed and ready to strike.

But this time, it was as if Liu Bi had eyes in the back of his head. Without even turning around, he launched a fierce backhand spinning whip-fist, his knuckles howling through the air as they swept backward.

'Is this reaction speed the fourth stage of the Embryo-Holding realm—Spirit Nurturing?'

'Being able to predict danger in advance and mobilize strength for defense?'

Cheng Ye was secretly astonished. If Liu Bi had truly reached this realm, then against enemies who hadn't stepped into the Transcendent tier, he would be virtually invincible.

Even against a regular Source-Binder, as long as he wore proper protective gear, Liu Bi would have the strength to fight them.

However, that was only true for regular Source-Binders.

The Size-as-Desired ability of the Earth-Shrinking Giant Louse might still fall within the realm of what human limits could contend with, meaning Liu Bi might have a chance of winning if he held high-powered firearms.

But this Flash completely exceeded the limits of mankind. It was a Transcendent method in the truest sense.

Sensing the whip-fist approaching, Cheng Ye slightly pulled his punch and his figure flickered again, instantly circling from behind Liu Bi back to his front.

He noticed Liu Bi's expression; at the exact moment Cheng Ye moved, Liu Bi had clearly sensed the danger.

Unfortunately, the momentum of that spinning whip-fist was too fierce, making it impossible to retract the force. Liu Bi could only lean backward with the momentum, attempting to dodge the sudden assault.

"Brother B, you're still too slow!"

Cheng Ye thrust his hand forward, planting a solid force squarely onto Liu Bi's shoulder.

Liu Bi instantly lost his balance, stumbling backward repeatedly.

Before he could even steady himself, Cheng Ye's figure Flashed behind him once more. Like drawing a bow to notch an arrow, he delivered another push upward.

A massive force erupted abruptly, sending Liu Bi's body flying off the ground, tracing a parabolic arc through the air.

Throughout the entire process, it was as if he was wrestling with thin air. He clearly sensed the attacks, yet he could never keep up with Cheng Ye's movement speed.

He could only barely adjust his posture mid-air. The moment he steadied himself, Cheng Ye's face suddenly appeared right beside him.

This time, it wasn't on the ground, but... in the air!

Cheng Ye smiled faintly. His right hand gave a gentle push to Liu Bi's back, refining the parabolic arc and sending him crashing straight into Niu Fu's arms.

Feeling the impact, Niu Fu only took two steps back before cleanly dispersing the force.

Clearly, he was an expert as well.

One attacking, one defending. One rising, one falling.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. The moment Liu Bi was caught, he immediately flipped back to his feet. All his previous ease was gone, replaced by profound solemnity.

"Brother B, still want to go?" Cheng Ye landed on the ground, dispersing the residual momentum.

"Bring it on! I really underestimated you, kid!" Liu Bi took a deep breath, his chest heaving violently. The battle intent in his eyes hadn't diminished in the slightest; on the contrary, it burned even fiercer.

More importantly, the aura radiating from his body was continuously climbing, showing no signs of collapse.

'Interesting.'

Cheng Ye's eyes flickered.

Facing his bizarre abilities, Liu Bi wasn't surprised at all. This meant he had either witnessed even stronger Transcendent Power before, or he had already found a way to counter the Flash ability.

"Again!"

Liu Bi sharply stood up straight. His previously grave and piercing gaze suddenly grew vacant, and his entire posture slacked. Dense, innumerable openings were exposed all over his body once again, making him look completely defenseless.

'This state...'

Cheng Ye didn't hesitate. His body Flashed in an instant, crossing a distance of over a dozen meters in a single stride, appearing by Liu Bi's right side.

But the exact moment he prepared to swing his fist, an obscure force abruptly permeated the surroundings, enveloping the area like an invisible net.

The Flash had indeed succeeded, but his punching motion was inexplicably a fraction slower. A heavy feeling of sluggishness was exceptionally distinct.

'Is this Transcendent Power?'

Cheng Ye's heart skipped a beat. Before he could readjust, Liu Bi's right hand snaked up like a spirit serpent. His fingertips carried a sharp gust of wind, snapping like a whip against Cheng Ye's shoulder with a smack.

A sharp, piercing pain flared up. Cheng Ye instinctively retreated two steps, his eyes instantly lighting up.

'What kind of miraculous power is this?'

Though it couldn't suppress the Flash of the Earth-Shrinking Giant Louse, it felt as if it had formed a domain. Within this domain, any movement was slowed down.

"This is my Martial Domain."

Liu Bi pulled his hand back, still maintaining his vacant gaze, and calmly explained, "Every martial artist who reaches the Heaven-Man Unity Realm can condense their own Martial Domain. Your ability is indeed bizarre, but it only grants you extreme speed. It hasn't triggered a qualitative change in your lethality. If I were wearing full-body armor and deployed my Martial Domain, without using thermal weapons, you wouldn't be able to scratch me, much less defeat me."

"Martial Domain?"

Cheng Ye's mind raced, suddenly recalling the red cloud that Tan Ming had condensed.

He had browsed through quite a bit of the materials sent over by the Elders recently, especially regarding Tan Ming's past.

Rumor had it that before Tan Ming gave up his Transcendent path, he had visited quite a few Great Martial Masters.

Could it be that this very Martial Domain, condensed by belief, was what made Tan Ming see the possibility of another path?

'Miraculous.'

'Truly miraculous!'

"So Brother B feels that my lethality isn't enough, and I won't be able to beat you in the end?"

"You can use weapons, and I can wear armor too. If you only possess this simple displacement ability, it might be enough to save your life, but if you want to study Infected Bodies in peace, you'd better drop that obsession."

Liu Bi's expression turned stern, his tone growing heavier. "Transcendents have never been invincible. Your father had the prerequisites to become a Transcendent long ago, but he never took this path from beginning to end. Because the restrictions and potential destruction brought by being a Transcendent are far more terrifying than the tiny bit of benefit you stand to gain."

"Oh?"

Cheng Ye gave a slight nod.

Cheng Long had already embarked on the path of a Wish-Guarding Transcendent. Obviously, his belief had met the standard for an ordinary Transcendent long ago, so it wasn't surprising that he understood the restrictions of normal Transcendents.

Of his six chances to Flash, only the final one remained.

"Then..." Cheng Ye pondered for a moment before abruptly and nimbly stripping off his clothes.

To the side, Niu Fu watched with utter astonishment as Cheng Ye rapidly shed his outer garments until only his tight briefs remained.

"Brother Niu..." Cheng Ye bundled up his discarded clothes and tossed them to Niu Fu, before shifting his gaze back to Liu Bi.

Liu Bi still maintained his vacant look, but the slight twitching of his face revealed his current confusion.

"Brother B, you're right. Transcendents are indeed not invincible," Cheng Ye started slowly, pausing for a moment. "But at least when facing ordinary people, Transcendents are..."

"...Invincible!"

The instant his words faded.

A teeth-grinding creak suddenly rang out.

Golden carapace armor seemed to surge out from beneath Cheng Ye's skin, creeping upward inch by inch until it tightly encased his entire body.

A chunk of golden bone abruptly protruded from the back of his neck, rapidly climbing forward like a helmet to completely shroud his face.

The gold-and-red compound insect eyes were exceptionally terrifying. The left eye refracted six separate reflections of Liu Bi from different angles, while the right eye clearly mirrored Niu Fu's dumbfounded expression.

At the same time, his physique began to expand inch by inch.

Two meters...

Two and a half meters...

Three meters...

Four meters!

His massive frame swelled continuously, gradually shedding its human shape and morphing into a hideous behemoth that exuded an aura of Non-Human majesty.

The thick muscle fibers on his thighs were individually thicker than Liu Bi's entire leg. Even his exposed eyeballs were the size of a normal human's head.

"Cheng... Cheng Ye?" Niu Fu staggered back several steps, glancing down at the blaring device in his hand. His voice trembled, "You aren't a Transcendent, you're an Infected Body?"

"No. Only the weak are Infected Bodies. I am... a Transcendent!"

A muffled voice rumbled from the behemoth's maw. In the next instant, the mountain-like figure abruptly blurred.

A colossal shadow descended, plunging Liu Bi entirely into darkness.

The influence of Liu Bi's Martial Domain still persisted. Even having fully entered the Symbiotic State, Cheng Ye could still sense a faint, almost imperceptible sluggishness in his movements.

And even when facing such a horrifying behemoth, Liu Bi didn't give up his resistance. His body subconsciously launched an attack.

He threw a punch, slamming his fist violently against the golden armor. Not only did it fail to break through the defense, but the Recoil Force transmitting from the plating jolted him back three consecutive steps, sending the vital energy churning wildly in his chest.

"It's time to end this!"

Cheng Ye reached out with his gigantic hand, effortlessly pinching Liu Bi's left and right arms together. His other hand immediately followed, securely gripping Liu Bi's legs in its palm.

Throughout this, Liu Bi attempted to kick, yet he still couldn't even manage to scratch the armor.

As if dangling a baby chick, Cheng Ye hoisted Liu Bi high into the air.

But right at that moment, Niu Fu's urgent shout rang out from behind: "Cheng Ye, calm down!"

He turned around to see Niu Fu aiming a handgun at him, pulled from who-knew-where.

The scanning device on Niu Fu's arm was still violently beeping, the words "Infected Body" flashing repeatedly across its screen.

Even though the Collector evaluated the Earth-Shrinking Giant Louse as a Transcendent parasitic talent, it still couldn't change its fundamental nature.

When not actively using the ability, he was a Source-Binder.

But upon completing fusion and symbiosis to harness this power, he became a bona fide Infected Body.

Cheng Ye narrowed his eyes, just about to explain. However, Liu Bi, suspended mid-air, instantly snapped out of his Martial Domain state and hastily hollered at Niu Fu, "Niu Fu, are you crazy? Put the gun down!"

"Brother Bi?" Niu Fu froze. His hands trembled as he hurriedly aimed the muzzle toward the ground, though he didn't put it away entirely.

Clearly, Cheng Ye's current appearance had far exceeded the limits of what he could comprehend.

"Brother Niu, am I really that scary?"

Cheng Ye gently set Liu Bi back down on the earth, raising a massive hand to touch his own face.

There were quite a few small protrusions on his armor. These were insect-like breathing valves, designed to not only assist him with highly efficient respiration but also block the infiltration of toxic gases.

But in the eyes of onlookers, this visage was absolutely identical to the Transcendent Mother Sources that appeared during the winter Infection Tides of years past—truly chilling to the bone.

"You..." Niu Fu gulped, too stunned to form a coherent sentence.

The two had never met before; today marked their very first encounter.

In Liu Bi's descriptions, Cheng Ye was a resilient and tenacious kid. But right now, there wasn't a trace of a child to be seen! This was unmistakably a monster boasting terrifying combat prowess, an entity that housed an Infection Source!

"Cheng Ye, this is not Transcendent Power," Liu Bi, standing on the ground, stared up at the giant beast before him and slowly shook his head.

The defining characteristic of a Transcendent was their mastery of a special ability unattainable by normal humans. This exact ability was the boundary line separating ordinary people from Transcendents.

Abilities like Flash or shadow manipulation perfectly fit the criteria, but this shape-shifting, symbiotic form right in front of him had completely crossed that boundary.

A behemoth emanating such an appalling aura posed a threat dozens of times more intense than Yu Yong. Its hideous form and pure, terrifying power made it an enemy no Inspector would ever want to face.

Back during the Great Reclamation Era, whenever such a creature was encountered, it would casually rack up tens of thousands of casualties.

"Brother B, you're wrong. This is Transcendent."

"Power that can be controlled is Transcendent. Only the uncontrollable kind, the kind that turns people into puppets, is called... an Infection Source!"

As Cheng Ye spoke, his colossal frame began to shrink step by step.

The golden carapace receded like the tide, slowly withdrawing back beneath his skin without leaving a single trace behind.

Those dreadful protrusions and knotted bundles of muscle slowly contracted and smoothed out alongside it, reverting to the form of an ordinary human.

Even though his posture of covering his crotch with both hands looked a bit awkward and unseemly, Cheng Ye couldn't care less. Instead, he flashed Liu Bi a bright, beaming grin:

"Now, do you still dare to trust me to watch your back?"