Chapter 362: Betrayal

The effect of the original limit-breaking potion, Potion #1, was significant enough. How much greater would be the effect of Potion #2, which applied to mutated gene fragments? Considering that mutated gene fragments were widely understood to be ten times as important as basic gene fragments, Potion #2 was about ten times stronger than Potion #1!

The hunters in the bar began to stand up, their eyes gleaming with killing intent and greed. They had to acquire Potion #2 at any cost!

There were a rare few hunters who were still able to remain calm. "Come now, sit back down. He's a warlord of the third realm, and none of us will be able to bring him down."

"Perhaps I won't be able to hunt him down, but my uncle's in the third realm. If he can find a few like-minded colleagues, they might just be able to defeat him together—wait, why are you running off so quickly?"

From a distance, his friend called back, "I'm going to tell my father!"

The updated bounty sent ripples throughout the entire galaxy.

"Look at what China's hiding! They've made such great leaps ahead in the theory of limit fragments without informing any of us."

The other countries of Earth also began amassing their own hunting teams to capture and kill Musi Yu, intending to acquire these few vials of Potion #2 before any other country could. Given the effects of Potion #1, everyone knew how vital it would be to acquire vials of Potion #2—especially before their competitors.

The assassins of various organizations, who thought that their killing spree was about to come to an end with the death of the majority of the hunters of the Musi clan, found themselves tasked with a new responsibility. "Assassins of the third realm, gather. There's a new mission for you all."

Upon seeing the updated bounty, the third-realm assassins' eyes widened.

Among the starbeasts, Xing Yan announced, "Third-realm hunters, we'll kill Musi Yu at any cost!"

Underwater, Lianhua told her subordinates, "It looks like Zhang Lie really wants this warlord to die. Let's have the third-realm aquatic hunters do their best so we can get a vial of this potion as well."

The nightdemons and the winged behaved in much the same manner, and Musi Yu's life quickly became a hot commodity.

In a certain restaurant of the third realm, Musi Yu slammed his fist into a wall, creating a huge crater. "Champion of the Void Cup, Zhang Lie—you will pay!"

Upon coming out of seclusion, Musi Yu immediately learned of his clan's demise. How hard he had worked to acquire such wealth and prosperity for his family—and then to have it all destroyed in a few days!

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Musi Yu had actually been paying attention to Zhang Lie even before this event—not because of a beginner's tournament like the Void Cup, but because of the limit-breaking potions he had devised.

He had always been plotting against the Hong clan in order to acquire [Eclipse]. [Black Sun] and [Eclipse] shared the same source, and he believed that combining the two techniques would allow him to create a new technique superior to both of its constituents—or, rather, to restore the two techniques to before they had been separated.

"A limit-breaking potion..." Musi Yu couldn't help but sigh. The goal he had been reaching for all these years, to surpass his limits, had been accomplished by a first-realm hunter with some ridiculous potions.

Just like the other factions of the world federation, the Musi clan was very interested in acquiring a vial of Potion #1. However, Zhang Lie had had a strong backer in the Chinese military, as well as a personal connection with Martial Sage Hong Tianqi himself. Even the Musi clan didn't dare make a move; no matter how strong Musi Yu was, he was certain he wouldn't be stronger than Hong Tianqi. All he could do was give up on overwhelming Zhang Lie with martial might and trying a different tactic instead.

Now, however, Zhang Lie had provoked him directly. In that case, he would surely have to retaliate. Why not acquire both Zhang Lie's limit-breaking potions and the Eclipse Sage's [Eclipse] in one fell swoop?

He was just about to set off when an acquaintance, Lie Feng, suddenly approached him. "Musi Yu, you're in perilous straits. You can't leave this settlement!"

Musi Yu frowned. "What's wrong?"

Lie Feng immediately showed him the newest bounty that Zhang Lie had issued, but Musi Yu merely frowned and handed the tablet back. "Damned brat."

Lie Feng continued, "Musi Yu, you should take this seriously. Zhang Lie's not a trivial opponent to deal with—those who have crossed him in the past can attest to that. I think you already know that you're one of the only survivors of the slaughter of the Musi clan—but despite the fact that he's the instigator behind this entire affair, no one dares touch him. The highest authorities of the world federation convened a meeting, but the outcome was merely that they would be paying careful attention to what would happen!"

Musi Yu snorted again. "Isn't that good news for me? As long as I can catch him, I'll get both Potions #1 and #2."

Lie Feng couldn't help smiling. "Is it that easy to catch him? Now that he's offering a few vials of Potion #2, several of the top hundred hunters in the third realm are already plotting to make a move. You won't be able to step out of this settlement, let alone kill anyone. Go into hiding!"

"I don't believe that this limit-breaking potion can achieve as much as he claims it will. Furthermore, only the weak need to group up. The strong always work alone!"

"Just bear with it a bit, won't you? Let the excitement disperse first."

Musi Yu's eyes gleamed coldly. "Would you be able to wait to take revenge against a hunter who killed your entire clan?"

"What are you going to do about China? The military's going to protect Zhang Lie, and you know it."

"As long as Hong Tianqi doesn't show up, I have nothing to fear."

Lie Feng sighed and patted him on the shoulder. "Very well. In that case, be careful—I don't want to lose my drinking buddy."

"Ha! I'll treat you to a drink or two when I'm back." Musi Yu strolled out of the restaurant, not realizing that there was now a tiny chip by his shoulder.

He found it quite curious that Lie Feng would treat him so well—they were acquaintances, perhaps friends at most, but not brothers. They had hunted a few peak-grade lifeforms together a few times, but they weren't so close that he would feel obligated to look out for him.

Musi Yu shook his head, ignoring Lie Feng's strange behavior. What was most important now was to deal with Zhang Lie.

The moment Musi Yu left, Lie Feng returned to Earth and messaged the Zenith Dojo. "Hello, is this the Zenith Dojo? Musi Yu's just left a restaurant in the third realm, and he's on his way to cause trouble for you. I have a tracker for his current location, and I'll give it to you for two vials of Potion #2. I'm confident that he'll be on his way, and since he has a particularly nasty soulshard to deal with, you'll need this tracker to counter it.

"Alright, deal! Thank you!" Lie Feng's eyes shone. He could hardly believe that his relationship with Musi Yu could have been traded in for two vials of Potion #2.?Musi Yu, don't blame me for taking advantage of this opportunity!

By then, Musi Yu had transformed into a different person entirely. He had an extremely unusual soulshard from the third realm, a peak-grade chameleon dragon soulshard. It would allow him to transform his appearance into that of a stranger, or even of an arbitrary biotic lifeform altogether. Such a transformation was all but undetectable.

Musi Yu found quite a few people hovering outside the restaurant, all of whom seemed to be searching for him, but he was able to walk past them without any recognition whatsoever. He stepped into the nearby teleportation array and headed straight toward China.

As he walked out of the teleportation array on the other end, however, the skies suddenly changed color, and a frightening gust of genetic energy pressed down on Musi Yu's body, making even breathing difficult.

He raised his head to see a gigantic palm pressing down on him, one so large it covered up the sun and skies. He knew this technique—he'd seen it a few times before, it was Hong Tianqi's signature [Veiling the Skies]!

The world seemed to freeze over. Musi Yu found himself unable to move a finger, or even to breathe.

As the pressure from the gigantic hand increased, Musi Yu found himself forced to his knees. He was just a single step away from the teleportation array that would send him to salvation, but that one step felt like a gulf he couldn't cross.

"No, no, please spare me, Martial Sage! I've made a mistake in coming here, but please, it's my first offense! Please spare my life!" Musi Yu had to expend his own lifeforce to regain enough control over his body to beg for mercy.

"Scram!"

Bolts of thunder shook the sky. The gigantic hand dissipated into thin air; the haggard Musi Yu scrambled back into the array and vanished from sight.