I Start with a Mysterious Island

CRACK, CRACK, CRACK.

After activating his Superpower, Tie Qiu Heng cracked his neck.

Then, he opened his massive palm and grabbed a nearby sapling, its trunk as thick as a bowl.

With a slight tug of his arm, he ripped the bowl-thick sapling straight out of the ground.

RUSTLE, RUSTLE, RUSTLE...

Shaking the sapling twice, Tie Qiu Heng said to Liu Jialin, "You brought this on yourself..."

The moment he finished speaking, Tie Qiu Heng charged at Liu Jialin, brandishing the small tree.

’His body grew, enhancing his strength, but his speed has dropped accordingly.’

Watching Tie Qiu Heng rush toward her, Liu Jialin analyzed the situation calmly, not a hint of panic on her pretty face.

"Hah!" Tie Qiu Heng roared as he reached Liu Jialin, swinging the small tree down at her head.

THUD.

Liu Jialin dodged. The bowl-thick sapling missed its target and slammed heavily into the ground with a dull thud.

Having evaded the attack, Liu Jialin planted her feet and shot forward.

In the blink of an eye, she was in front of Tie Qiu Heng, raising her fist to strike him in the face.

BAM. Faced with Liu Jialin’s attack, Tie Qiu Heng quickly brought his weapon back to block, holding the small tree in front of him.

HUMMM.

Her Superpower activated, and an Invisible Shockwave formed around Liu Jialin’s delicate fist.

BOOM.

When Liu Jialin’s delicate fist struck the trunk of the tree Tie Qiu Heng used to block, the Invisible Shockwave around it instantly shattered the wood.

THUMP. Tie Qiu Heng leaped backward, covering four or five meters.

After landing, he looked at the bowl-thick sapling in his hand. The spot Liu Jialin had struck was completely ruined.

SNAP.

Tossing the broken tree aside, Tie Qiu Heng stared at Liu Jialin with a grim expression.

That single, Superpower-infused punch from Liu Jialin shattered his confidence. He had been so sure that activating his own awakened Superpower would be enough to defeat her quickly, but now, that certainty was shaken.

This Investigator was far stronger and more difficult to deal with than he had imagined.

HUMMM.

Her Superpower flared again. The Invisible Shockwave reappeared around Liu Jialin’s hand, and she charged toward Tie Qiu Heng once more.

"Hah!" Tie Qiu Heng summoned all his strength, hoisted a half-man-sized boulder from the ground, and hurled it at the approaching Liu Jialin.

Seeing the whistling boulder, Liu Jialin didn’t even try to dodge.

Her expression remained calm as she drove her fist, wreathed in the Invisible Shockwave, directly into the massive rock hurtling toward her.

The moment her delicate, shockwave-wreathed fist made contact with the boulder, the Invisible Shockwave seemed to freeze it in mid-air.

Then, a dense web of cracks spread rapidly outward from the point of impact, covering the entire boulder in an instant.

BOOM.

A single, simple punch had blown the half-man-sized boulder to pieces.

Shattered stone fragments flew in all directions, shredding the surrounding grass and trees.

’Damn it, this Investigator’s Superpower is ridiculously destructive. If I fight her head-on, my only defense is my Spiritual Energy. But if I take a few of those punches, it’ll drain my Spiritual Energy reserves way too fast...’

Watching Liu Jialin obliterate the boulder he’d thrown and accelerate toward him again, Tie Qiu Heng rapidly analyzed his situation.

The conclusion was grim: if he got into a battle of attrition with this Investigator, his Spiritual Energy would run out first, and he would be defeated.

’Damn it, if only I’d brought a weapon with me, dealing with this Investigator would be much easier.’

As Liu Jialin closed in, the thought flashed through Tie Qiu Heng’s mind. He then swung his own massive fist to meet her delicate one.

BANG.

The giant fist, glowing with a faint golden Spiritual Light, collided with the delicate fist wreathed in an Invisible Shockwave, producing a muffled boom.

The immense force sent Liu Jialin flying backward. She flipped in mid-air, and upon landing, stumbled back five or six steps before steadying herself.

In a contest of pure strength, Tie Qiu Heng, whose Superpower amplified his body, clearly held the absolute advantage.

However, in that exchange, a significant amount of the Spiritual Energy Tie Qiu Heng had coated his fist with for protection was consumed by the Invisible Shockwave on Liu Jialin’s hand.

All in all, the trade-off was not worth it for Tie Qiu Heng.

In battles between Cultivators, the one to run out of Spiritual Energy first is usually the one to be defeated.

’Such incredible strength. From now on, I’d better not meet him head-on. I’ll use my speed advantage to wear down his Spiritual Energy first.’ Liu Jialin analyzed, changing her strategy from a direct confrontation.

’I can’t let this drag on with this Investigator. I need to find a way to break free from her entanglement.’

Sensing how much of his Spiritual Energy had been drained by that last punch, Tie Qiu Heng immediately ran toward another small tree nearby. He intended to uproot it and use it as another weapon.

Liu Jialin saw his movement and instantly understood his intent, giving chase.

"Get the hell away from me!"

"Hah!"

BANG, BANG, BANG...

Furious roars and calm, sharp cries echoed intermittently across the wild field, followed by the sounds of intense combat.

CHIRP, CHIRP, CHIRP...

In the nearby woods, the birds that had been watching the commotion from the branches were terrified by the sight of the two menacing humans fighting with their Superpowers. They quickly fled the volatile area.

...

The van’s engine maintained a steady rumble.

Lin Li drove the van, contemplating what to have for lunch.

’Once I get back to the city, what should I eat? Noodles?

Nah, not noodles for lunch. I should find a homestyle stir-fry place and order a few dishes.’

’The hell? Is he crazy?’

Just as Lin Li made up his mind about lunch, a tall, bald man in tattered clothes suddenly burst out of the roadside bushes ahead.

And, as if cursed by bad luck, after emerging from the bushes, the tattered, bald man planted himself right in the middle of the road, directly in his van’s path.

A few minutes earlier, that man—Tie Qiu Heng—had been fighting Liu Jialin. At the start of their battle, they were evenly matched.

But as the fight wore on, Liu Jialin rapidly drained his Spiritual Energy. Soon, he was at a disadvantage, with only a quarter of the Spiritual Energy in his Dantian remaining.

His clothes had also been torn to shreds by the Invisible Shockwaves from her repeated punches.

...