"Don"t worry, Young Master Rong." Elder Hong smiled and waved his hand. He signaled his subordinate to bring Young Master Rong"s head back to the base quickly. Although Young Master Rong was able to keep his mindscape alive for some time due to a secret magic art, there was still a time limit to it. The forest was full of danger, so the sooner they sent it back, the sooner he would feel at ease. Then, he could focus all of his attention on catching those two brats.The subordinate received Elder Hong"s order and immediately rushed back to the headquarters with Gu Zhengrong"s head. Elder Hong allowed his subordinate to sent the head back because he was confident that no one was able to injure Young Master Rong when he, Elder Hong, the G.o.d of this forest, was here.
As he watched his subordinate safely leaving his domain, he then turned and looked at the direction where Tang Ningyu and Mu Shaoyu went. In the next second, he disappeared.
Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran were escaping furiously. Just as they were about to reach the exit of the forest, something changed. The trees around them suddenly exponentially grew taller and started moving frantically around them. Then, the trees attacked the two of them with their whip-like branches without any warning.
Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran knew that they couldn"t evade the branches, because once they do, more and more branches would be flying towards them, especially in a forest with an unimaginable number of trees, so they released their lightning bolts and fire dragon simultaneously onto the trees.
It"s common sense that trees were afraid of lightning and fire as they were quite flammable. However, there seemed to be something protecting these huge trees from catching on fire They were able to bounce the lightning bolts and flames away from their trunks, and even their leaves were protected. Soon, they were wantonly chasing the two people that wanted to run past them, back into the forest.
Suddenly, Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran were sent flying up in the air while vomiting a mouthful of blood before slamming onto the ground heavily. A single strike was enough to severely injure them. The other party must be a domain realm master who had a t.i.tle. Unexpectedly, the headquarters actually had such a powerful domain expert guarding it.
Elder Hong appeared in front of them. He looked at them and asked, "Are you the brats who hurt Young Master Rong?"
"Young Master Rong? Hurt?" Tang Ningyu and Mu Shaoyu exchanged glances with one another. They felt that this person was referring to Gu Zhengrong but wasn"t he supposed to be dead? Is he not dead yet and was just injured? The two of them were uncertain.
"Since the two of you destroyed Young Master Rong"s body, you must pay the price…" Elder Hong reached out his hands, making him seem like a Grim Reaper who had come to casually reap some lives, but Tang Ningyu and Mu Shaoyu wouldn"t give up their lives so easily. A lightning shield and a fire wall appeared in front of them.
"Fire and lightning… you two are the ones who destroyed Young Master Rong"s body. Well then, you will repay with your bodies then." Elder Hong was elated. He was worried that there were no suitable bodies for Young Master Rong back at the base. Now, there were two high-quality bodies lying in front of him.
"In your dreams!" Tang Ningyu wiped the blood off his mouth. He stood up slowly. He was certain that Young Master Rong was Gu Zhengrong. The organization was probably able to keep someone alive even when the person"s body was destroyed. They just had to change body for the person who "died". This was not a normal medical skill. Tang Ningyu came from the Flying Dragon Special Forces, so he knew some secret doc.u.ments which recorded the forbidden things done by humans, human experiments, etc.
Mu Chaoran stood up too. He wiped his blood off his mouth and laughed softly. "I didn"t know that I will meet such opponents in a disguise mission. Interesting." He lowered his voice and whispered to Tang Ningyu, "Leave. I will take care of this."
"If you stay back, you will be as good as dead." Tang Ningyu knew what he wanted to do. This opponent in front of them couldn"t be compared to the fake domain realm masters they had faced just now.
"Are we able to leave if you stay behind as well?" Mu Chaoran mocked him.
"It might not work but there is at least some hope." Tang Ningyu raised his right hand, releasing a ferocious lightning dragon into the air. I, Tang Ningyu, will not abandon my brother-in-arms to survive.
"If you don"t want to run, I will do it." Mu Chaoran was furious.
"Sure." Tang Ningyu replied calmly, "That is what I wish for." If he stayed back and stopped their opponent, Mu Chaoran would have a higher chance of escaping. This was in his opinion the best plan.
Mu Chaoran had complex feelings towards Tang Ningyu. Tang Ningyu might not know who he was but he knew who Tang Ningyu was. He was the person who was given up by the Flying Dragon Special Forces in favor of Tang Ningyu.
Mu Chaoran and Tang Ningyu were of the same age. The two of them were born in two unrelated planets, Planet Guandong and Planet w.a.n.gjiao. However, their paths started colliding when they were eight years old.
That year, their innate talents were both awakened. They were much faster than most people and their elements were both powerful offensive elements.
The Flying Dragon Special Forces had been observing all the children in the Federation so they instantly got a hold of this news. Hence, Mu Chaoran and Tang Ningyu got picked up by the Federation at the same time. The Flying Dragon Special Forces needed a new leader for the new generation, and over time Mu Chaoran and Tang Ningyu became the forefronts of the number of potential candidates for this position.
After a few rounds of intensive fights, Tang Ningyu managed to enter the Flying Dragon Special Forces while Mu Chaoran failed and was sent to another place. Everyone only knew of the base camp of the Flying Dragon Special Forces. They didn"t know that the Flying Dragon Special Forces actually had two base camps. The other one was the shadow camp, which no one knew of its existence.
The shadow camp was filled with a bunch of outstanding talents too, but they were just a little worse than the members who managed to enter the Flying Dragon Special Forces. Hence, they were brought there. Mu Chaoran came there to be groomed to be Tang Ningyu"s shadow.
A shadow was not someone who had to remain hidden in the dark. He was in the same position as Tang Ningyu in the shadow camp. The two of them were compet.i.tors. However, Tang Ningyu didn"t know of his existence. If he overtook Tang Ningyu in terms of capabilities, he would replace Tang Ningyu and join the Flying Dragon Special Forces in his stead.
Of course, the possibility of that happening was very low. All the resources Tang Ningyu received were a tier higher than him. Furthermore, Tang Ningyu"s potential was greater than his from the very beginning. Unless he gave up on himself, it would be impossible for Mu Chaoran to surpa.s.s him.
Since he and many others in the shadow camp could compete with the soldiers in the Flying Dragon Special Forces, why did Flying Dragon Special Forces create the shadow camp and groom them there and not in just one base camp?
It was because they were backups. What would happen if the talents in the Flying Dragon Special Forces got killed in a mission? It would be a huge blow to the Federation. Hence, shadow members like them would replace the position of the people who had died and become the new leaders of Flying Dragon Special Forces.
By right, his mission was to watch from the side and cover-up for Tang Ningyu in case he was in danger. Additionally, he was not supposed to help him. However, he couldn"t stop himself from helping him in the end and now, both of them were in danger.
Mu Chaoran suddenly wanted to laugh. If he and Tang Ningyu both died here, how would the people in the Flying Dragon Special Forces react? The two leaders that they groomed for almost 20 years died at the same time…
Mu Chaoran looked at Tang Ningyu intently. If they didn"t die in this mission, he would obediently stay as Tang Ningyu"s shadow! Mu Chaoran made a decision. A fire dragon appeared beside him, and it started twirling in the air.
Elder Hong smiled sarcastically. Multiple branches appeared behind him and flew towards the two young men.
Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran waved their hand. The two dragons beside them rushed forward. However, the difference in power was too vast. Their opponent broke their offense easily. The branches easily pierce through into the fire wall and lightning shield protecting them.
Kacah! Kacah! The fire wall and lightning shield shattered into pieces. Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran watched helplessly as the thick branches moved closer to them. They would not be able to escape this time.
Bang! A huge collision occurred.
An enormous ice mountain suddenly appeared in front of them. The tree branches slammed into the ice mountain, flinging some ice shards into the air. Some of it hit Mu Chaoran and Tang Ningyu"s faces. The piercing cold from those small pieces of ice shard caused them to shiver.
Elder Hong"s expression changed. He waved his hand and all the branches retracted. The entire forest resumed its calmness. The ice mountain exuded a dangerous cold air that formed an intimidating mist in the forest.
An ice element domain realm master!
Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran looked at each other. They couldn"t contain their excitement. They were saved. The military actually sent a domain realm master for this mission. The power this person showed proved that he must be someone with a t.i.tle.
"Who is it?" Elder Hong shouted angrily.
Silence. Besides the three of them, there seemed to be no one in the forest.
"d.a.m.n it!" Elder Hong was frustrated when he couldn"t find the other party. His white hair flew up. He placed his palms together and shouted, "Ultimate Blockade!"
Branches and leaves started growing out of the ground and manifesting in the sky. They formed two huge nets, one below and one above. The two nets moved closer to one another, attempting to capture anyone inside.
Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran got nervous again. This earth element domain realm master had shown the power of a formidable warrior. He might be even stronger than a t.i.tled domain realm master.
"Ice Blockade!" A cold voice rang through the forest.
The furiously expanding branches instantly got frozen. They stopped moving. Within a second, the green world had turned into an ice cold world. Only ice could be seen.
At that moment, a figure suddenly appeared in front of Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran. The person"s back was facing them. He was wearing a black windbreaker, and the windbreaker was swaying slowly in the freezing cold wind.
The person had such a cold force of presence. When he stood in this ice world, Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran felt that it was so picturesque as if they were looking at a painting of a ruler in an ice cold world.