Chapter 279: Awakening

As jet-black and barren as the moon itself, the mountain was enormous. Gleaming menacingly in the sun, there wasn’t a single living being to be seen within a 300 yard radius. Every tree was as dead as ash.The branches wilted tiredly and the yellowing leaves would crumble at the slightest of touches.

It was a scene of desolation and death.

“Are we really going there?” a bald man in the team piped up. He could feel a strange coldness in the depths of his soul.

Anything could happen in these woods. One misstep and one could stumble into a hunter’s trap.

“Do you want to pick a fight with that Commander-tier monster?” The eyes of the broad-shouldered female captain darted around alertly.

Taking in the vast swathe of dead plants in front of her, she noted that there were no signs of an unusual conflict. There were no corpses, no bones lying around.The biggest danger was having their life forces surreptitiously drained.

“We’re going,” said the captain slowly.

On their way, they held their breath as they brushed past the Commander-tier monster. As soon as they were a safe distance from the monster, they collectively exhaled in relief.

A monster who wandered around freely like this was either Lord-tier, or at the very least, a very high-level Commander-tier.

After the monster had left, someone in the team suggested rather abruptly, “Why don’t we go see what’s on top of the mountain?” His suggestion was greeted with curt silence. Nobody was keen on taking additional risks in this kind of place.

“This place is rather strange. It could be dangerous, too, but what if there’s treasure to be found?”

Quite a few ears perked up at the sound of the word “treasure.” Everyone knew the pitfalls of greed well, but not many people could withstand the lure of it.

In the end, half of the party set forth for the mountain in search of treasure.

This mountain was huge, but the layout was quite simple. Because the mountain was essentially a pile of huge, uneven boulders, there were a lot of footholds that made climbing it relatively easy.

All of a sudden, the mountain shuddered violently.

Everyone was shaken.

“What’s going on?”

“Is it an earthquake?”

“Are you an idiot? How could there possibly be an earthquake here? Other than the early days of the Cataclysm, has there ever been an earthquake here?”

“So you’re saying there’s a possibility…”

Once their argument petered down, they noticed something strange happening with their familiars. They were lying on the ground, motionless, with their tails between their legs, lightly trembling as they whimpered pitifully.

They exchanged looks with a silent understanding. Without a word, they left the mountain as quickly as they had come.

The next day, another squad came across the slumbering Mountain Spirit King.

This squad was much more professional than the one that had come before it. They could tell with a glance what the mountain actually was, which scared them out of their wits. They knew that Mountain Spirits were the sizes of small hills, but they hadn’t expected a terrifyingly large one the size of an actual mountain.

Gradually, this place became known as a forbidden place. No one wanted to accidentally incur the wrath of a Mountain Spirit, so people tended to stay away. However, quite a few people would come watch the Mountain Spirit from afar, as though they expected something to happen.

…

In the lab, Gao Peng was working on one of his usual experiments when suddenly, he could feel a rush of Soul Energy rush through his mind. At the same time, a different but equally powerful wave of energy was coursing through his body, altering his physiology in ways he couldn’t quite understand.

He wasn’t able to control the sudden influx of strength in his body. Bang!

The test tube in his hands was crushed into smithereens.

He took a step forward, his left foot going straight through the metal floor. His expression changed and he froze.

What’s going on with me?

Trembling slightly, he reached for the edge of the lab table to steady himself. He might as well have been ripping an envelope; he tore off a huge chunk of the table with disturbing ease.

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Bang—

The sound echoed loudly in the lab.

His eyes flickering between the chunk of metal in his hand and the broken table, Gao Peng was speechless.

“Knock knock.” It was Xu Qingzhi. “Are you okay, boss? Do you need me to come in?”

“I’m good. No need for that,” Gao Peng replied quickly.

He didn’t know what was going on, but he did know that he would hate to accidentally crush Xu Qingzhi into paste.

Gao Peng was extremely confused now. Had he accidentally unlocked “Bridge of Heaven and Earth”?

Carrying out an experiment could make him this strong?

“Gao Peng, I’m so tired…” A faint voice echoed in the deepest recesses of his mind. Was he going crazy?

After a few seconds, the voice spoke again, louder this time. “Where are you, Gao Peng? I’m scared of heights…”

It was Stripey!

Gao Peng was overcome with a rush of emotion.

That was Stripey. There was no mistaking it!

“Stripey, you’re awake? Where are you?” Gao Peng tried reaching out to Stripey.

“I don’t know… I’m so tired… Yawn…” Gao Peng didn’t hear another word from it after that.

Gao Peng’s eyes sparkled. Maybe he was still at the same place they had left him. It was possible that Stripey had successfully absorbed the Mountain Spirit King.

That was the only explanation for his monstrous strength. He wanted to go find Stripey right away, but he had his own situation to deal with.

This strength was truly both a blessing and a curse.

To him, his surroundings might as well have been a soapy little bubble like the kind kids blew out of plastic wands. A little flick of his finger, and he could potentially lay waste to anything in a fifteen-foot radius.

Under these circumstances, he didn’t dare come into contact with his grandfather or others.

He had always thought that it was unfair that trainers could only access one percent of their familiar’s physical strength and none of their abilities.

Now, he was forced to change his mind. Maybe to real Emperor-tier monsters, Gao Peng’s strength was still insignificant.

All of sudden, a vision flashed in his mind. He shut his eyes and took a long, deep breath before slowly reopening them.

Cocking his ears, he could hear a faint heartbeat through the thick metal doors…

“Xu Qingzhi!” Gao Peng bellowed abruptly.

“Ah—” He could hear the frantic sound of her running away, followed by the sound of something crashing onto the ground after she tripped.

“Speak of the devil…” He sighed lightly.

This was the awakening of his familiar’s third ability—Extrasensory.

Not only did it grant him incredible powers of premonition, it allowed him to control his new-found strength almost perfectly.

As he contemplated this explosive strength within him, he had a sobering thought.

One percent of a monster’s power and I can already do this? Just how strong are Emperor-tier monsters?

Not only that, but those monsters also had loads of wondrous and powerful abilities to offer.

This strength had merely granted him the ability to witness a clash between Emperor-tier monsters without being affected by the aftermath of their abilities…

In a battle between tigers, ants had no right to spectate.