An old friend

Bian had left the space station and was now back on planet Daylight. He felt a bit jittery as he made his way home, wondering how his parents had renovated the neighborhood.

As he approached his home, he was pleasantly surprised. The once-dilapidated buildings in the surroundings had transformed into rows of well-constructed houses, some even turned into hotels. Bian was impressed by the changes.

He headed to where his family's house would be, and to his delight, it wasn't made to be more stylish than the other houses in the neighborhood. His parents did not want to seem superficial plus they also wouldn't stand out, a win-win situation.

*Ding dong!*

His little sister, Manwei Ran opened the door for him, wearing a tired but warm smile.

"What's the matter?" Bian inquired.

"Nothing much," Manwei Ran replied. "This new school is not so easy. I'm having trouble keeping up, so I've been studying overnight."

Bian asked, "Do you want to leave?"

Manwei Ran's eyes sparkled with determination as she responded, "No, I'll do my best."

The next few days were a bit hectic. His parents were overjoyed, and his dad now worked from home. His mother was pregnant again, bringing even more happiness to the family.

Life was good for Bian as he relaxed and took things easy. He utilized mental point targeting to review high-profile fights, like those against the dragonfly, crab, and Ouyang Ming. His movements became more immaculate, even without physical training.

"I really need seven twists," Bian thought to himself. Sparticle was indeed a very effective hyper geno art, but not the most efficient. Its price-performance ratio was one-to-one which wasn't bad but Bian speculated that clan techniques like treading cloud should have a better price-performance ratio.

As the time for his departure approached, the spaceship that would take Bian to Galaxy Dongying arrived. After saying goodbye to his family, he made his way to the spaceport and boarded the spaceship.

Once onboard, Bian opened an account on Gladiator, registering under the name Ken. Gladiator was a virtual fighting space catering to fighters of all levels. After dispatching a few opponents with ease, the algorithm placed him against some high-profile characters.

None of his opponents could withstand Bian's onslaught of attacks. Once he activated the lightning rune, his movements became so agile that they were impossible to follow. Despite being slower than some of his opponents, his precise bursts of speed and well-timed dodges led him to victory in each match.

However, the lack of challenge began to bore Bian. He wondered aloud, "Is there no one as fast as Ouyang Ming?" Suddenly, an invitation popped up on his screen.

Without much thought, he accepted the invite from a guy named Lightyear. Lightyear wasted no time and said, "Hey, I heard you finished off my little brother."

"Yeah, and I'll do the same with you," Bian replied, intending to stop after this match.

The image of the lightning rune surfaced in his mind, and time seemed to slow down. What happened next would remain etched in Bian's memory forever.

Lightyear sprinted toward him and delivered a devastating punch to his face, emptying Bian's life bar in a single hit. Zaqing, who had previously been defeated by Bian, was watching from the stands. All he saw was Lightyear disappearing and reappearing where Bian had stood, while Bian was sent flying.

Although Bian had clearly seen Lightyear coming, he couldn't react to it. Lightyear must be a suppressor, and a strong one at that, to possess such incredible speed. As Bian watched the approaching fist, a sense of dread welled up within him. He couldn't even move before he was struck. He felt disheartened by this realization.

Bian sent Lightyear a friend request and logged out, reflecting on the encounter. "I didn't meet anyone adequate enough to fight," he thought. Despite having defeated opponents like QHZ and Lu Bin, who had seven kicks, with relative ease, he was well aware of his weaknesses and burned with the desire to return to the sanctuaries.

He could follow his opponents movements but needed the speed to match up to their actions, he needed the speed to react.

Bian, having left Gladiator behind, decided to reconnect with his old friend, Man Tian. He dialed Man Tian's number, eager to catch up and share his recent experiences.

...

In the sanctuaries, Man Tian had been thriving. He had maxed out his sacred geno points before evolving and found himself in a human-owned shelter within the second God Sanctuary. He had even joined the gang of Son of Heaven, participating in their hunting expeditions.

However, one day, disaster struck during a hunt as they were ambushed by sea snakes. Man Tian was separated from the group and chased deep into the forest, where he spent three months evading dangerous creatures.

One day, Man Tian came across an injured ant on the forest floor. This ant was the size of a human and completely red. It was so weak that it couldn't move yet even with his primitive sword, Man Tian couldn't finish it off.

In his attempts to end the ant's suffering, he tried various methods, including tossing it onto a rocky hill and attempting to snap its neck, but nothing worked. The ant couldn't react as it seemed to be poisoned, getting weaker by the moment.

Man Tian eventually tied the ant to a tree and resorted to a drastic measure. He lifted a giant boulder three times his size and sent it rolling down the hill, crushing the ant beneath it. This act yielded a surprising result; he acquired the beast soul of the ant, which turned out to be a berserk sacred-blood armor.

With this newfound armor, Man Tian gained a significant boost in confidence and carelessly ventured deeper into the forest. One day, he stumbled upon a golden beehive. With the protection of his berserk sacred-blood ant armor, he decided to provoke the hive.

A baby wasp emerged, yellow and black, and it stung Man Tian's finger before he could react. Panicking, he slapped the wasp away and quickly removed his armor to inspect the damage. The veins on his finger had turned black.

Without hesitation, Man Tian took a drastic step. He chopped off the top of his index finger, ensuring that the venomous sting wouldn't spread further. Despite the small amount of venom, the injury resembled the insides of the ant after it was crushed.

Man Tian knew how weakened the ant had become, and he wasn't willing to take any chances with the wasp's venom. He spent a month in the forest, enduring his injury, before finally managing to return to the shelter.

However, upon his return, Man Tian faced accusations of abandoning the team and was subsequently fired. To make matters worse, he was required to pay 100 million as compensation for the lives lost during the ill-fated hunt.

Back in the alliance, regrowing his finger would cost him fifty million, a high price due to the complexities of healing an evolver using scientific methods. If he had lost more than his finger, technology wouldn't be able to recover it, so he was at least grateful for this.

As Man Tian contemplated selling the berserk sacred-blood ant beast soul to cover his debts, a call from Bian came in.