Chapter 95: Acceleration Ring

“That was close!”

Ji Xinghuo touched his neck, spotting a shallow white mark left by the Legendary Da Guan’s curved blade.

Fortunately, the Legendary Da Guan was paralyzed by lightning which weakened his strike, sparing Ji’s golden scales.

He looked at the severed head on the ground.

This fourth-tier Legendary Da Guan was incredibly strong, far surpassing any ordinary super speed ability. Besides his rapid speed, his brain function, stepping, and perception were all top-notch. Ji initially thought to shoot him with arrows but, despite activating Sumeru Miracles, found no opportunity.

No matter where he shot, the Legendary Da Guan dodged.

In the end, Ji had to rely on close combat.

Although he won, it was extremely dangerous. Both were aiming to decapitate the other, a slight misstep, and it would’ve been Ji decapitated.

“This Legendary Da Guan in the North Luo Master Clan is no ordinary person.”

“On Earth, his abilities would rank him high on the global ladder, the kind you’d see once in a million—a true peak genius!”

“But in the end, I won.”

Ji Xinghuo glanced at his interface, having activated Sumeru Miracles for a few seconds, depleting two-thirds of his star power.

If another enemy appeared now, he’d be in danger.

He quickly cut off the Legendary Da Guan’s scalp, picked up the obviously super-weapon curved blade, and the pair of combat boots. However, the Legendary Da Guan’s foot structure was vastly different from humans’, making them unwearable for humans. If taken back, they’d only be dismantled for materials, significantly reducing their value.

“A super-ability ring?”

Ji Xinghuo removed a ring from the Legendary Da Guan’s hand.

It was a blue-veined metal ring with a simple design, the inner edge engraved with rune-like scripts. Holding it, Ji could feel the abundant ether energy within.

His star power recovery speed suddenly increased, his body felt lighter, and even his thoughts became clearer and faster.

He felt as though he could almost fly!

“What a great item!”

This was probably the most valuable equipment on the Legendary Da Guan, at least a super-ability two-star!

Ji Xinghuo didn’t have time to examine the ring closely. He immediately wore it on his left middle finger, pocketed Qinghong, and entered a stealth mode to escape.

Several kilometers later, Ji felt the ring’s effects.

The most noticeable was speed—it increased his running speed, roughly by five meters per second, making his steps light and agile as if wind was under his feet, and that wasn’t even its upper limit.

The faster he ran, the greater the acceleration effect.

Additionally, the ring sped up his star power recovery by about 30%.

That was roughly the effect of a first-level ether sensitivity. Ji assessed his ether energy perception and indeed, it had enhanced.

Lastly, the ring also quickened his responses.

“Could this be high-frequency thinking?”

Ji Xinghuo was pleasantly surprised and tried to activate the ring while running. Instantly, his brain entered a high-speed operational state, where everything around seemed to slow down. His vision, hearing, and touch became sharper, allowing quicker and more reactions.

He soon realized it wasn’t the world slowing down, but his thinking speeding up.

“It really is high-frequency thinking!”

This feeling was very familiar to Ji.

When he activated Sumeru Miracles, he experienced this, but compared to Sumeru Miracles, high-frequency thinking’s effect was significantly less, almost like the difference between heaven and earth.

Within the state of Sumeru Miracles, it was as if the world stood still.

Whereas in high-frequency thinking, the scene only slowed by about a quarter. For fast-moving objects, the response might still be inadequate.

Nevertheless, this was already impressive!

Ji Xinghuo exited the high-frequency thinking as maintaining it greatly drained his star power, placing significant strain on his brain. With all his star power, he could only sustain it for about 30 seconds.

As he ran, he kept glancing at the ring on his hand.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the three abilities associated with the ring were “Agile Steps,” “Ether Sensitivity,” and “High-Frequency Thinking,” custom-made for super-speed, enhancing speed, reaction, and endurance.

Although all three abilities were just high-quality, their combined effect was outstanding.

And it was a ring!

Among super-ability equipment, these lightweight and compact accessory-class equipments were priced much higher than weapons and armor.

A two-star super-ability ring could fetch thirty to forty million.

But such rare super-ability equipment almost never appeared on the market, selling it for money was the most foolish act.

Ji Xinghuo didn’t know its original name, nor did he care, as it was his now. He thought from now on, it would be known as the “Acceleration Ring.”

An hour later.

Ji Xinghuo had already moved far from that hillside, maneuvered past several North Luo Master Clan watchtowers and fortresses, crossed the buffer zone and returned to the human defense line.

“Should be safe now.”

He hid in an alley not far from the buffer zone, taking out food and water to replenish his strength.

He couldn’t help but look at his left hand where his index and middle fingers wore two rings, one for stealth and the other, the Acceleration Ring.

“Pretty fancy equipment!”

Ji Xinghuo felt immensely pleased. These two rings were not only valuable but also practical.

After admiring them, he opened his interface and invested the newly acquired psychic source energy into the rotating magnetic field. He then took out the Legendary Da Guan’s curved blade, roughly the same length as Lei Chi, with a larger blade arc, somewhat resembling the Earth’s yanling blade, but lighter.

After identification, the curved blade was a one-star super-weapon. Besides being hard and sharp, it had a “Rip” effect, capable of inflicting larger wounds on opponents.

The prerequisite for Rip was an injury, and since the blade didn’t cut through the golden scales, its ability naturally didn’t activate.

“Not a bad weapon.”

Ji Xinghuo thought although this blade wasn’t as good as Lei Chi, keeping it as a spare wasn’t a bad idea.

Perhaps there’d be a chance to try dual-wielding in battle.

After resting for an hour, Ji’s physical and star power had recovered to their peak, prompting him to leave the alley. There were still several hours until star night, and since hunting was possible during the night, he didn’t plan to return to the Midpoint Fortress just yet. Instead, he sprinted southwest for over sixty kilometers, entering another fortress’s defense area.

He once again crossed the buffer zone and stealthily penetrated the rear of the North Luo Master Clan’s defense line.

Ji Xinghuo hid under a tree canopy, his gaze piercing through the gaps above, spotting several Giant Hunting Bats flying overhead.

The Giant Hunting Bats had a wingspan of about ten meters, resembling a cross between a pterosaur and a bat, with smooth, brightly striped skin. They lived in lakes and marshes, predating on fish, capable of long submersions and quick flights. Their underbelly claws were highly agile.

After the Legendary Da Guans entered the Star Realm, they spent years mastering the art of domesticating Giant Hunting Bats, breeding them on their planets and forming an aerial army.

However, Giant Hunting Bats were still rare, only elite Legendary Da Guans qualified to obtain Giant Hunting Bat mounts.

They only came out for patrols during the day.

Today, Ji Xinghuo had already dodged many times. These aerial patrols typically consisted of five Giant Hunting Bats, besides their riders, each bat also carried two agile Gorlakracks sitting behind the Legendary Da Guans.

Giant Hunting Bats had decent vision but not as good as eagle eyes, hence requiring the Gorlakrack’s auditory senses to enhance their scouting capabilities.

“Their flying height is about 500 meters.”

Ji Xinghuo watched the Giant Hunting Bats vanish in the distance, calculating in his mind.

The flying patrol teams were cautious, rarely lowering their flying altitude during patrols except during takeoffs and landings.

From a height of over five hundred meters, ordinary people could hardly see clearly.

Shooting them down was exceedingly difficult.

Ji Xinghuo followed the stealthily patrolled route, looking for an opportunity to attack. Hours passed, and six patrol teams had flown over, none detecting Ji below.

He had figured out the patrol teams’ pattern; they appeared every half hour with four randomly flying routes.

These flying patrol teams’ base was a fortress about ten kilometers ahead.

From a distance, Ji saw squads of Giant Hunting Bats taking off and landing. The surrounding hundreds of square kilometers of patrol teams likely gathered there.

“An air force base, huh?”

He didn’t rashly approach the heavily fortified base.

This base was built in a dense forest; trees within several thousand meters of the high walls had been cut down, and the vegetation cleared to provide an unobstructed view.

Ji Xinghuo didn’t dare get close, guessing that the air force base housed at least ten thousand people, mostly elite Legendary Da Guans.

Legendary figures were undoubtedly stationed there!

He noted the location, then retreated.

However, his departure wasn’t toward the human defense line but continued southwest. The forest here was extraordinarily tall, with towering trees everywhere. Walking among them, he saw some massive fallen trees that required over a dozen people to embrace—a truly magnificent sight.

“Hmm?”

Ji Xinghuo suddenly had an idea. His magnetic field senses immediately found the tallest nearby tree, and he quickly climbed to the top.

From his estimation, he was over 150 meters above the ground.

Moreover, this tree was on one of the aerial patrol routes. Although not directly underneath, it already shortened the distance to the airborne squad.

Ji Xinghuo patiently waited.

The gilded light gradually fell across the horizon as star night approached.

One by one, the patrols returned and landed at the air force base. Ji Xinghuo’s gaze swept around, his magnetic field senses scanning repeatedly. Just as he thought today might not present a suitable target,<|vq_13282|> five Giant Hunting Bats appeared on the distant horizon.

This patrol was heading towards the air force base, passing right over Ji Xinghuo’s tree.

“Opportunity!”

Ji Xinghuo was overjoyed but quickly calmed himself.

He watched the patrol approach from three hundred meters away in stealth, flying past him laterally. Perhaps because dusk was nearing and the Legendary Da Guans riders had lowered their guard slightly, lowering their altitude without noticing someone atop the tree.

Ji Xinghuo waited until the five Giant Hunting Bats had flown past, then his right eye’s light circle subtly flashed, entering the Sumeru Miracles state.

Simultaneously, the Acceleration Ring’s high-frequency thinking also activated!

He held five silent arrows in his hand, his movements so fast they left afterimages; the Dragon Falcon Eagle Bow aimed at the sky, firing all five arrows within three seconds.