Chapter 14: Extreme Peril

“Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

At a barbecue place not far from Qishan Wutong Archery Range, Ji Xinghuo and Lu Yunhai clinked their glasses and downed their beers in one go.

“I’m really so happy.”

“Xinghuo, getting that championship is truly an honor!”

Lu Yunhai, his face flushed from drinking but still clear-minded, patted Ji Xinghuo’s shoulder, his voice growing louder unintentionally.

“On the way back from Zhongnan Mountain, other coaches at the archery range looked at me differently.”

“Sister Fang also asked about you.”

Mentioning Fang Yinping, Lu Yunhai chuckled and continued: “Being able to train a student like you is the best proof of my coaching skills. Although I didn’t train you for many days, and it’s mostly your own talent and practice, they don’t know that, ha ha ha…”

“I won’t tell anyone,” Ji Xinghuo joked.

“No issues,” Lu Yunhai nodded, looking triumphant, “After all, everyone saw me teaching you archery these past few weeks.”

Ji Xinghuo smiled and glanced at the trophy placed on the table.

The trophy itself wasn’t expensive.

But it symbolized a significant championship, and the prize money of 200,000 was already in his account right after the match ended.

After taxes, he had over 180,000!

This was the first time he’d earned so much money, which multiplied his savings several times, giving him a great sense of achievement and filling his heart with joy.

“Another round,” Ji Xinghuo filled his glass.

“Sure!”

Lu Yunhai downed it in one gulp and asked, “Xinghuo, what are your plans next?”

“Nothing for now,” Ji Xinghuo shook his head, considering he was just a beginner mutant, weak in strength, the most important thing for now was to improve.

After three weeks of training, his star power reached 56, and the progress of the Thousand Clever Hand also increased to 10/47.

The feeling of seeing progress step by step made every day of training filled with momentum.

As long as he followed the routine, his strength would improve.

Ji Xinghuo felt like Wang Zizhen, addicted to a virtual game called “Reality”, wanting to grind experience all day, wishing there were 48 hours in a day, with only one goal: level up!

Lu Yunhai, however, was slightly exasperated, “Don’t you want to participate in more archery competitions and earn more championship money?”

“There’s another amateur competition next week. The championship prize isn’t as much as the ‘Leaf Shooting Cup’, but it’s around 100,000. You would surely win it.”

“And in the middle of next month…”

He casually mentioned several competitions of different levels, with prizes ranging from tens to hundreds of thousands.

Ji Xinghuo looked thoughtful.

He had indeed considered making money through archery competitions.

But today’s events made him hesitate. Although the “Leaf Shooting Cup” was only a semi-professional event with a modest scale, the organizers had significant influence, with several archery range managers being super mutants, especially Yang Tianqing.

Ji Xinghuo noticed Yang Tianqing paying close attention to him, not as a championship observation, but as a scrutiny with other emotions or purposes!

He had become too high-profile.

If he continued participating in competitions and frequently won championships, the attention wouldn’t just be from Yang Tianqing.

“I’ll stop competing for now,” Ji Xinghuo decided.

“Why?”

Lu Yunhai looked stunned, unable to comprehend.

From his perspective, these championship prizes were rightfully Ji Xinghuo’s, perfectly legal, and wouldn’t take much time. Why pass up free money?

“I don’t need money right now,” Ji Xinghuo thought for a moment and shared some reality, “My biological father gave me a sum, ten million.”

“Ten million!”

Lu Yunhai was speechless, almost shouting out, “You’re not kidding, right?”

Once he confirmed Ji Xinghuo was telling the truth, envy filled his face, and he couldn’t help but complain: “I’m not a public child. I used to feel quite fortunate. Now it seems you’re having a better time than me. My dad can’t even pull out a million, just plays games all day, doesn’t work.”

Ji Xinghuo was aware of his family situation.

An idea struck him, and he asked, “How much have you saved up now?”

“850,000.”

“That much?” Ji Xinghuo was surprised.

An archery coach’s monthly salary was just over ten thousand, Lu Yunhai had been part-time since university, and Ji had thought it would be at most two or three hundred thousand.

“Hehe…” Lu Yunhai had a smug look on his face, “I’m a senior coach. My performance has always been among the top few in the archery range, and I have some sidelines, so I can save twenty to thirty thousand a month.”

Ji Xinghuo was impressed.

“Why are you asking about my savings? You’re not thinking of lending me money, are you?” Lu Yunhai’s eyes brightened.

“Exactly,” Ji Xinghuo smiled, “You can start preparing for your second fusion mutation. In a few days, I’ll transfer you 700,000.”

Lu Yunhai had always wanted to become a “Hunter”, and the core ability of this professional template was “Eagle Eye”, priced around 1.5 million Asian Yuan.

He had tried once during university, but unfortunately failed.

The second mutation fusion required more preparation, was harder, and its success rate was only half that of the first attempt.

Lu Yunhai hesitated.

“If I fail again, it might take me years to repay you,” he thought of the consequences of failure and became uneasy.

Although a mutation fusion failure wasn’t life-threatening, recovery could take several months to a year.

The more failures, the longer the recovery period.

If Lu Yunhai failed a second time, he wouldn’t be able to work for at least a year, and might even lose his job at the archery range.

“You’ll definitely succeed!”

Ji Xinghuo encouraged him, “Don’t worry about repaying. If needed, I’ll just participate in a few archery competitions to earn it back.”

“Alright!”

Lu Yunhai took a deep breath, “I won’t say thank you too much. This round, to you!”

He grabbed the filled glass and drained it.

Ji Xinghuo also finished his glass, and after discussing mutation fusion in detail and enjoying their meal, they went their separate ways home, very satisfied.

Wearing power shoes, Ji Xinghuo rapidly traversed the path, the wind slapping his face sobering him up a bit.

Beep beep…

His phone suddenly vibrated.

He didn’t check it, but after a few seconds, it vibrated again.

While gliding, Ji Xinghuo took out his phone and saw it was a safety alert.

“Attention, citizens receiving this message, a class-A fugitive is on the loose in your area. Stay indoors as much as possible, do not leave your homes if you are already there. If you spot anything suspicious or face danger, flee and call the police immediately!” The message included a photo of a face.

Several messages with the same content refreshed on the screen, causing a chill to run down Ji Xinghuo’s spine.

A class-A fugitive!

In the Asia-Pacific Community, being identified as a class-A fugitive by the Public Security Department generally meant one of two things.

Either the perpetrator had committed heinous crimes, was extremely violent and cruel.

Or the fugitive’s strength was incredibly high, at least a high-level mutant, possibly stronger.

Or both.

The alert was broadcast within a radius of about five kilometers.

This was the first time Ji Xinghuo had received such an alert, which startled him, then he instinctively scanned his surroundings.

It was quite late, so there weren’t many people around. Everyone who received the alert started hurrying home or ducking into nearby shops.

Ji Xinghuo also increased the speed of his power shoes to the maximum.

Alertly dashing, he quickly arrived across the street from the apartment building, and could already see his apartment on one of the floors.

Ji Xinghuo breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Crossing the street, he walked around to the main entrance of the building and entered.

As he entered, he continued to scan his surroundings.

His gaze suddenly paused.

About a hundred meters away at the side of the building’s main entrance, under a bridge pylon of a superconducting highway, in a shadow where the streetlight did not reach, seemed to stand a person, motionless like a statue.

Ji Xinghuo’s right eye pupil flickered slightly, enabling him to see clearly.

It was indeed a person!

A man in his thirties with blonde hair and black eyes, possibly of mixed Asian and Western descent, was exactly the class-A fugitive shown in the alert!

He was dressed in a suit, but it was torn in multiple places, stained with blood.

The man was blended into the shadows, unnoticed by passersby.

“Shadow Blade!”

“A very high-level ‘Shadow Dodge’, but I saw him!”

Ji Xinghuo recognized the fugitive’s profession and abilities, and as he did, the man also looked over.

Their gazes met for a moment.

“Not good.”

A clench gripped Ji Xinghuo’s heart, the effects of alcohol instantly evaporating, but his steps did not stop, and he entered the building, disappearing from the fugitive’s view. He saw surprise in the fugitive’s eyes, which quickly turned into undisguised intense murderous intent.

“He wants to kill me!”

A sense of extreme danger exploded in his mind, sharp as a needle prick, suffocating like drowning, a threat to his very life!

Ji Xinghuo’s right eye pupil lit up a faint glow, the ring becoming very clear.

The Myriad Phenomenon Eye seemed to have been fully activated.

In his vision appeared streams of illusory light, complex yet clear, evolving in front of his eyes in an incomprehensible manner.

“This is…”

In that instant, Ji Xinghuo’s brain received a massive influx of information.

He understood everything in an instant.

It was the future!

Ji Xinghuo saw what would happen in the next few seconds—the Shadow Blade emerging swiftly from the shadows, heading straight for him, holding a sharp, ghostly light blade, cutting through air.

“Can’t escape.”

“I only have one way out, kill him!”

At this critical moment, rather than panicking, Ji Xinghuo became extremely calm, his thoughts as still and firm as ice, untinged by any other emotion.

He didn’t consider the consequences of failing to counterattack, and immediately took action.

He took off his bow pack and opened it.

With his left hand, he grabbed the compound hunting bow and held it, while his right hand grabbed three arrows, pinching one by the tail onto the bow and holding two in the palm.

Under the bizarre state of the Myriad Phenomenon Eye, the Thousand Clever Hand also became faster, and Ji Xinghuo completed these preparations in less than a second.

He strung the bow, pulled the string taut, and without hesitation, stepped outside the building.

Instantly, the Shadow Blade appeared again in his line of sight.

The man also saw Ji Xinghuo.