625 Qinghe in crisis
When she heard her master ask about her power, Zhou Yingxue thought for a moment and replied, “I just feel like I’m stronger than before….”“Can you be more specific?” Ren Xiaosu raised an eyebrow. “What kind of metric did you use to figure that? Why don’t we head out to the wilderness and test out how strong your physical fitness is?”
Under normal circ.u.mstances, other than the particular case of Yan Liuyuan, the physical fitness of a supernatural being would increase accordingly with their power.
When they arrived in the wilderness, Ren Xiaosu had Zhou Yingxue run at full speed and punch a big tree.
To Ren Xiaosu’s surprise, the speed and strength Zhou Yingxue displayed were comparable to that of his shadow clone! And the shadow clone’s strength and speed were twice that of Ren Xiaosu’s!
In the past, Ren Xiaosu had deliberately observed that Zhou Yingxue’s prior speed and strength were already at half the level of his. In other words, in terms of physical fitness alone, Zhou Yingxue was already four times stronger than before. She was now twice as strong as Ren Xiaosu.
Ren Xiaosu felt a little jealous. What kind of dogs.h.i.+t luck did this woman have?
Other supernatural beings, including w.a.n.g Congyang and Zhou Qi, who were the earliest to awaken their powers, only had a physical fitness level that was about the same as Ren Xiaosu’s. In fact, they were not even as strong as Ren Xiaosu.
Yet Zhou Yingxue, who was brought into the stronghold by Ren Xiaosu and led by hand for a stroll, had achieved what most others could only dream of.
“Then what about your power? Are there any new developments?” Ren Xiaosu asked, “There should be a lot of changes in that area, right?”
Zhou Yingxue replied, “I only feel that I can make the plants more powerful after taking control of them. I also obtained a new seed ability that I can use to plant a creeper vine.”
When Ren Xiaosu heard Zhou Yingxue say she could plant a creeper vine, he nearly choked. Was it a creeper vine as huge as the one that grew in Stronghold 61?
“Don’t use that power carelessly.” Ren Xiaosu said, “If others see that the creeper vine that you plant looks exactly like the one from Stronghold 61, they might think that you were responsible for that creeper vine from before.”
However, Ren Xiaosu suddenly realized another important point. After the creeper vine had mutated and was absorbed by Zhou Yingxue, she gained the ability to plant a new type of seed.
So would that mean that if Zhou Yingxue were to encounter other mutated flora in the future, she could also fold them into her power? If that were the case, the variations of Zhou Yingxue’s power would only grow more abundant.
So it turned out that the variations of her power still had the potential to grow.
Ren Xiaosu immediately planted a Potato Shooter in the ground. He looked at Zhou Yingxue. “This time, do you want to try absorbing the energy of this plant like you did for the creeper vine?”
Zhou Yingxue did as Ren Xiaosu said, but the Potato Shooter instantly withered!
Ren Xiaosu looked at Zhou Yingxue. “What happened?”
A green ball of energy within Zhou Yingxue’s hand materialized into a seed. She said happily, “Master, I can now plant potatoes too!”
“It seems that if we hear about any more mutated plants, I’ll have to take you there to collect them.” Ren Xiaosu frowned and said, “I think I came across an article regarding some exotic plants that were reported about in Hope Media’s newspaper recently. I’ll look for it later when we get back. In the future, we’ll have to start paying more attention to such articles.”
In the current day, not many plants had mutated yet. But even for those that did, they were generally not that aggressive. Otherwise, those people would not have been so slow to react to the creeper vines.
It was definitely a good thing that Zhou Yingxue had become stronger. The creeper vine seeds might just end up being very useful during critical times.
After returning to town, Ren Xiaosu saw the door of Qin Sheng’s residence wide open. There were two people packing things inside the house.
He asked them, “Where’s the owner of this house?”
When Qin Sheng heard that, he came out of the house and said to Ren Xiaosu, “I’ve just received news that I am to return to Luoyang City immediately. I enjoyed my time with Brother Xiaosu, but I have to leave now.”
Ren Xiaosu wondered, “Don’t you Riders have a rule that says that you have to stay in a town for a full year? Why are you leaving just like that?”
Ren Xiaosu had realized the rules the Riders lived by were extremely strict. Otherwise, Qin Sheng would surely have stepped into Stronghold 61 to save others during that incident. So what could be so important that Qin Sheng had to hurry back to Luoyang City no matter what? Could something have happened to the Qinghe Group in Luoyang City?
He remembered Old Li had mentioned that all was not well within the Qinghe Group.
Qin Sheng looked at Ren Xiaosu and said, “It’s definitely urgent if they want me back immediately. I’m really sorry that I can’t tell you the truth.”
“Where’s the threat coming from?” Ren Xiaosu wondered, “The twelve of you Riders are all supernatural beings, so what could possibly threaten y’all?”
Qin Sheng said with a wry smile, “I’m afraid that a large number of superhumans have gathered in Luoyang City. There were already people from the w.a.n.g, Zhou, and Kong Consortiums, as well as the Anjing House and the Saboteurs, who infiltrated the city. This is because Luoyang City has an open door policy, and a lot of people enter and leave the stronghold every day. So it’s very difficult to track everyone. Besides… forget it, there are some things I can’t talk about. I shouldn’t be airing our dirty laundry in front of you.”
When Ren Xiaosu heard the Saboteurs get mentioned, he was stunned. Saboteurs!
If he could find the Saboteurs, wouldn’t he find Yang Xiaojin? He suddenly said to Qin Sheng, “By the way, I mentioned this to you a few days ago, but if w.a.n.g Yuchi and the others are thinking of attending Qinghe University, will this matter affect them?”
Qin Sheng gave it some thought and said, “I don’t think so. No matter how scheming those people are, there’s no need to target Qinghe University. There’s no secrets there. How about this? I’ll immediately convey this matter to the others once I get back. When you guys get to Luoyang City, no one will stop you from entering. w.a.n.g Yuchi and the other students can just focus on testing into uni.”
“Alrighty then, thanks in advance.” Ren Xiaosu nodded. Then he asked, “But I don’t understand one thing. Why would those forces want to attack Luoyang City?”
“They aren’t targeting Luoyang City.” Qin Sheng shook his head and replied, “They’re just after the Qinghe Group because they have too many satellites under their control. Those things are simply too important for an organization.”
Ren Xiaosu did not ask further. He did not know why the various forces would all choose to make a move at this time. As there was not enough information, he could not judge what was happening.
Rather than asking Qin Sheng, he might as well consult the storyteller and the Great Hoodwinker.
However, he would still have to make a trip to Luoyang City. While the satellites had nothing to do with him, he really wanted to go there to look for the Saboteurs.
Hold on! Ren Xiaosu suddenly remembered Li Shentan’s strange words from back then: “Make a trip to Qinghe University. There could be a reward waiting for you there.”
If Qin Sheng had not mentioned the Saboteurs, he would not have recalled those words. But putting together Qin Sheng and Li Shentan’s words into context, he realized he might really have missed out on something.
Li Shentan did not tell him to go to Qinghe University just to watch a boring debate.
When Qin Sheng was about to bid farewell, Ren Xiaosu said righteously, “We’re friends now, so whatever’s troubling the Riders is my business as well. I’ll go to Luoyang City with you!”
Qin Sheng was stunned. “We shouldn’t trouble you like that. Actually, this matter has nothing to do with you….”
“Alright, shall we set off then?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
Qin Sheng was utterly confused. ‘Bro, did you hear what I just said?’
Seeing how Ren Xiaosu started calling for w.a.n.g Yuchi and the others to set off immediately, Qin Sheng could only say powerlessly, “Shouldn’t you guys at least pack some stuff with you?”
“There’s no need to pack! We’re leaving right away!” Ren Xiaosu then dragged Qin Sheng off towards the wilderness.