Global Awakening: I'm the Only One Ready

With nary a trace of hesitation, the Golden-Winged Great Peng slightly spread its wings and transformed into a golden bolt of lightning to meet Hans and his cohort.

Shwik, shwik, shwik!

In a single instant, golden beams of light pierced the foreheads of all five. The great peng was simply too fast. Before anyone could even react, it had already returned to Lu Yuan’s shoulder, and only the faint light emanating from its golden wings served as proof that it had made a move.

In the eyes of the Golden-Winged Great Peng, these people were pathetically weak, and they couldn’t withstand even a single attack from it. It even remained palm-sized and saw no need to return to its original size just to deal with them.

Both Asura and the distant Ice Fairy were left utterly stunned by the sight. They turned to look at the other side and were immediately shaken. Hans and the four others, experts not much weaker than themselves, had a hole in their forehead.

Their faces reflecting fierceness and greed made them look unaware of their demise as they slowly collapsed to the ground, never to stand up again.

They were killed in the same instant. No one even saw how the small, golden mutated beast had struck. They had all been anticipating a great battle, but who could have known that it would end with one side being annihilated in a flash?

”This...” Ice Fairy’s eyes widened in disbelief. She had originally assumed it was just a mutated beast that was a bit more unusual than usual. However, the sight before her told her that she was completely mistaken.

Her gaze shifted to Lu Yuan, and she couldn’t help but swallow nervously. Lu Yuan had never failed to surprise her every time they met. Just how many secrets did that young man possess?

Just then, a new question formed in her heart.What exactly was that small golden bird?

Meanwhile, Jennifer stood frozen, her gaze transfixed on the corpses of Hans and the others. Upon coming back to her senses, fury instantly pervaded her mind, and she roared, ”Y-you killed the pious believers of God?! I will execute you on behalf of God and the great Celestial Archangel!”

She stepped forward, brandishing the cross-staff in her hand. ”Almighty and Supreme God! Please bestow upon me the power to execute this heretic!”

Although enraged, Jennifer remained rational and began channeling one of the Vatican’s divine arts. The divine art was fundamentally similar to the divine arts of Huaxia.

The cross-staff in her hand bloomed with an incomparably dazzling white light, and the light engulfed her before sprouting into a pair of radiant wings from her back, making her look like an angel descending upon the mortal realm.

In stark contrast to her holy and pure appearance, her gaze churned with killing intent as she glared coldly at Lu Yuan.

”Accept your divine punishment, Huaxian!” Jennifer’s aura surged, seemingly having received the blessing of a mysterious power. The sacred relic in her hand was also shrouded in a dazzling light before blooming with a reckless might that distorted the air around her.

A storm of energy unfurled, and countless streams of pure white light billowed out of her. Anything touched by the holy light collapsed in an instant, reduced to mere dust.

Both Asura and Ice Fairy reeled in stupefaction at the sight. It would be an unparalleled divine artifact even in Huaxia. At this moment, both of them understood with chilling clarity that even with their full strength, they would suffer severe losses against Jennifer—no, their lives would be in danger.

”Let’s go and assist Mr. Lu,” Ice Fairy said, making her decision in that same instant. No matter what, Lu Yuan was a Huaxian, just like her. She had to protect him against an outsider.

Crackle!

A terrifying bolt of lightning streaked across the air just as Ice Fairy and her people rushed forward to help Lu Yuan. Before anyone could react, the lightning bolt struck Jennifer.

Rumble!

The bolt of lightning and the radiant light intertwined in midair, but the struggle was brief. The pure white light couldn’t withstand the attack and shattered as if it were a piece of paper.

Soon, the terrifying aura vanished, and a deathly silence descended.

Moments later, a horrifying sight was unveiled before everyone. One of the Twelve Apostles from the Vatican and a wielder of the Vatican’s sacred relic, Jennifer, couldn’t even launch her attack before she was reduced to mere charred meat by the powerful lightning bolt.

With a dull thud, she collapsed to the ground, deader than dead.

Lu Yuan nonchalantly dusted his palms, his gaze as calm as ever. ”That was loud.”

Ice Fairy and the others were speechless as they stood frozen in the distance. They had intended to help, but it turned out that Lu Yuan simply hadn’t needed it. Now, they felt like their decision to make a move was a waste of time.

As for Asura and his group, they had yet to process what had just happened, as it had all transpired far too quickly. In everyone’s eyes, the formidable Apostle Jennifer was killed so easily that it was like taking candy from a baby.

Lu Yuan remained silent. He glanced at Ice Fairy and her group, nodding at them in acknowledgment. He had long known they were nearby and was somewhat surprised that they had chosen to make a move at the critical juncture.

He hadn’t needed their help, but it was a show of goodwill, and he naturally couldn’t just ignore it.

Just then, Lu Yuan’s gaze landed on Asura and the others from Skygod Technologies.

”If you want to fight, then let’s fight.”

Fight? How could they possibly do that? Asura trembled slightly. Once again, Lu Yuan’s terrifying strength stupefied him. Then, he acknowledged it; the gap between them was impossibly large.

Hence, Asura shook his head with a bitter smile. ”I tried to persuade them, but they insisted on dying. No one else is to blame but them.”

It was Jennifer and the others who had wanted to seize Lu Yuan’s belongings first. Their deaths were nothing more than karmic retribution, an eye for an eye.

However, Lu Yuan frowned upon seeing Asura’s reaction. Asura’s behavior was somewhat strange. On one hand, it seemed like he had wanted to protect these Westerners, but on the other hand, he seemed relieved that they were dead. How contradictory.

Why had he bothered to bring them into Shennongjia in the first place?

As if sensing his confusion, Ice Fairy stepped forward. Staring at Asura, she explained, ”Asura is an experimental subject of Skygod Technologies. His life doesn’t belong to him. Sometimes, his actions aren’t his own choice.”

”I see.” Lu Yuan nodded. With her explanation, he naturally understood that Asura and his group were forced into this situation and were basically innocent.

”You can be honest in your report to Skygod Technologies,” he said, not wanting them to be punished on his behalf.

”Mr. Lu, you need not worry about it,” Asura said, ”We know how to explain this to the higher-ups.”

Things had already happened; saying anything more was useless. The key was the aftermath. Deep in his heart, Asura firmly believed that Jennifer and her group completely deserved their deaths.

With that, Asura bowed to Lu Yuan one more time, a silent apology for the confrontation. Then, he ordered his people to leave. The people they were assigned to escort were dead, so the mission couldn’t be continued.

As for the corpses, they had no intention of taking them. Having been subjected to abuse along the way, they decided to leave those corpses behind as food for the mutated beasts here.

Lu Yuan didn’t continue to dwell on the matter. He turned to Ice Fairy with a smile. ”I didn’t expect to encounter you in this place, Ice Fairy. It seems we are truly fated.”

”What ’Ice Fairy’? Just call me Ji Rou,” Ji Rou said, choosing to reveal her real name. She understood clearly that the gap between herself and Lu Yuan was only going to grow even larger.

Eventually, the two of them would no longer be on the same level. No, perhaps the two of them already belonged to two different worlds. Revealing her real name was a conscious move to become even closer to Lu Yuan.

”Mr. Lu, there’s an old saying that goes, ’Three days from the start, the one who returns is not the one who departs.’ And you’ve proven that they were right,” Ice Fairy said, smiling but sighing inside.

The figure before her was becoming more and more unfathomable. At this point, just how strong Lu Yuan was, she wondered. Had he perhaps already reached the Unfettered Realm? But how long had it been since his previous display of might?

A flurry of thoughts pervaded Ice Fairy’s mind.

Lu Yuan clearly had no backing or major organization to rely on, yet he had never failed to surprise him every time they met. The lightning bolt just now was particularly astounding. Was it a manifestation of his divine art?

Ice Fairy pondered over it, and that was when she remembered something. The so-called ”King of Humanity” had wielded the power of lightning to suppress the mutated beast tide in Chang’an.

Could Lu Yuan and the King of Humanity be the same person? Or perhaps... the two were connected somehow? Of course, Ice Fairy knew where she stood, and even though she had many questions, she wouldn’t dare ask.

Everyone had their own secrets, after all. Asking too many questions could offend just about anyone.

”You flatter me, Ice Fairy,” Lu Yuan replied, and he also chose not to explain.

”Alright, Mr. Lu, we entered Shennongjia to perform missions assigned to us by our company. We’ll meet again someday if fate allows it,” Ice Fairy said. She had no plans to stay with Lu Yuan. After all, those from the Vatican were already dead, which meant they could freely search for spiritual fruits and exotic herbs.

With that, Ice Fairy led her people away.

Soon, Lu Yuan and the Golden-Winged Great Peng were alone.

Just as they prepared to leave, the Golden-Winged Great Peng said, ”Master.”

It was staring at the area next to Jennifer’s corpse. ”There seems to be something there.”

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow and walked over to find a few spiritual fruits and exotic herbs. They were nothing special, but of course, he still collected them.

The Golden-Winged Great Peng rummaged around near Jennifer and said, ”It’s this thing.”

”Hm?” Lu Yuan was surprised, and his gaze brightened upon discovering that the cross-staff was actually intact.

He picked it up and observed it carefully. It seemed to be forged from some kind of rare divine metal. No wonder even the Jade Emperor’s Divine Thunder Art couldn’t destroy it.

It was useful, as it could be fed to the Great Luo Sword Embryo.

”Not a bad harvest. You’ve done a great job.” Lu Yuan put away the cross-staff, and then he said, ”It’s about time. Let’s go and find that Dragon-Blooded Jiao.”

”As you wish, Master,” the Golden-Winged Great Peng replied, sounding thrilled. It grew bigger until it was big enough to carry Lu Yuan on its back. Afterward, it wasted no time and took to the skies.