茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

Even though he didn’t look back, while climbing higher, he was conscientiously monitoring the movements in the direction of the “mutated big bird”.

From its sound, it had not left its original location, neither had it flown nor changed its spot.

Even though it did not follow, it was a good start.

Not leaving meant it was still observing.

He believed that as long as the bird did not run away, then it would definitely be curious about what he was doing and would eventually come over. Once it did, it would fall into his trap.

The more cautious it was, the longer it took, the more advantageous it was for Xiang Kun, and the fewer chances it would have to escape.

Just before reaching the chosen place, the super-connected object in Xiang Kun’s pocket, the “orb”, began to sneak out like a living creature, quietly diving into the surrounding area.

Honestly speaking, Xiang Kun was a bit excited and even considered playing a song on his phone.

Since there was no one around and he would not accidentally hurt Alice, he could stir his emotions freely and unleash his full potential.

Undoubtedly, in Xiang Kun’s own perception, no matter what he turned into, he always considered himself human.

But objectively, with continuous evolution and mutations, although his appearance had not changed significantly and he still looked human, many of his abilities had completely surpassed ordinary human cognition.

In the city, among crowds, he must constantly remind himself to be cautious, to restrain, to be low-key, to suppress his abilities, and to hide his abnormalities.

Even when he was showing his powers to Old Xia in the abandoned factory, he had to deliberately control himself for fear of causing some area-wide impact by accident.

He actually wanted to see how far he could go if he pushed his current abilities to the limit.

Even, he wondered if he could stimulate any new evolutionary directions or mutation patterns.

Xiang Kun was not a risk-taker nor a sadist, but he had to say that his first encounter with the “Giant Owl” and later the jungle fight with the “mutated spider”, although risky and tortuous, felt thrilling upon reflection.

On the contrary, his confrontation with Guo Tianxiang felt like he was preparing a 120% charged skill, only to find the game already won before the wind-up was complete, leading to a sense of anticlimax.

Standing in an open space on the mountaintop – a place he had earlier scoped out – after arranging the “super-connected objects” he had brought, Xiang Kun pulled out his phone, placed it on the ground next to him, and started playing Tang Baona’s cover of “Last Ride of the Day”.

With his eyes slightly squinted, he appeared lost in the music.

However, at the same time, he was not only maintaining sensory feedback collection and dutifully locking onto the “mutated big bird”, but also intermittently entering his “Super Sensory State” to verify the chain reaction effects that the “super-connected objects” could generate.

In fact, he had already laid out his plans and was just making final verifications, after all, what he was about to do was his first attempt.

With everything ready but the bird, he waited for its arrival.

As long as it enters a specific area of the sky, whether it lands or makes an offensive move, it would already be entrapped in Xiang Kun’s net.

Xiang Kun was not in a hurry; he had patience and believed that the big bird would come.

Even though observations from Wushu Mountain showed that the “mutated big bird” was intelligent, it was still, after all, just a bird.

Even if it wasn’t a bird, even if it had higher intelligence, as a “mutant”, when it discovered another “seen-before” “mutant” in the same mountainous area, doing something of unknown purpose, while being able to stay invisible, it would inevitably be curious. Even if out of careful consideration, it did not immediately launch an attack, getting close to observe would be inevitable.

After all, it could turn invisible, and it could fly. Xiang Kun, on the other hand, looked like a regular human being. He didn’t appear to be capable of flying, nor was he larger than an average person. He didn’t seem intimidating at all.

Tang Baona’s “Last Ride of the Day” had been on loop for three times now. Her cover was undoubtedly not as professional as the original, but her voice had a sort of “burning energy” that Xiang Kun found appealing. The more he listened, the more he felt engaged; the more he listened, the more fired up he became, consumed by the emotion of the song.

If someone else had been nearby, they might have been influenced by the emotional assimilation and would have been tempted to save the world.

As Tang Baona’s voice sang the somewhat apt lyrics from the phone next to him, “Once upon a night we’ll wake to the carnival of life, the beauty of this ride ahead such an incredible high”, Xiang Kun lightly tilted his head up to look at the sky above.

It’s here!

Even though nothing could be seen in the dark night sky under night vision mode, Xiang Kun was certain, the giant bird was there.

It simply couldn’t contain itself any longer and came over to investigate.

The mutated big bird up high in the sky, circling around the mountain top while being invisible, kept a certain distance while observing Xiang Kun, who was standing all alone in the middle an area on the mountain top.

It failed to notice the thick clouds rolling and churning above Zi Huan Mountain, and that the wind had started to pick up.

Or perhaps it had noticed, but didn’t consider it significant.

After all, changes in weather in the mountain were quite normal, and the current changes were far from conspicuous or unusual.

All its attention was on Xiang Kun. It was curious and it was doubtful. It wondered why Xiang Kun was there and what he was doing. It also wondered—was there a chance for it to hunt him down?

It remembered the last time near Wushu Mountain, when it had spotted Xiang Kun from high in the sky, tried to dive down and attack, but in the end, retreated instinctively as they got closer.

It was a creature that posed a threat to it, even though it didn’t know what exactly the threat was.

From the previous encounter, there was no doubt it wouldn’t approach Xiang Kun rashly or attack him impulsively.

It would keep watch from the sky, asses the situation, and only strike when it had determined the conditions were favorable.

Although Xiang Kun on the ground could likely guess the bird’s thoughts, it didn’t matter anymore. He didn’t need to act or lure. The bird had already entered his “territory”.

The song by Tang Baona suddenly stopped, and Xiang Kun’s phone burst apart. It seemed as if countless electric dragons emerged from the grass and the woods, leaping and jumping around Xiang Kun, emitting crackling sounds.

At the same time, the clouds above responded, and amidst the popping noises, flashes of lightning flickered.

As the conditions for a natural thunderstorm were missing, Xiang Kun was prepared to give it a push. On the ground, relying on his “sixth sense”, he accurately found key points in the atmospheric electric field and used the electromagnetic field array set up by “super-connected objects” to gradually stir and influence the entire natural electric field’s change trend, giving it a boost.

When the timing was right, Xiang Kun took full control of all “super-connected objects” and induced corona discharge on the ground to completely disrupt the atmospheric electric field and spark off a thunderstorm.

Of course, this required cumulonimbus clouds and sufficient air humidity.

If skies were clear, even with his current abilities, Xiang Kun wouldn’t be able to summon lightning out of the blue.

As Xiang Kun previously thought, tonight truly was the perfect time and place!

At this moment, as Xiang Kun initiated, the cloud layer rumbled and pressed down, thunder-dragons burst from the clouds, darting downwards and responding to Xiang Kun’s “call”, lightning struck the ground one bolt after another.

There weren’t normal thunderclaps accompanying the lightning, just the continuous explosion sounds produced by lightning striking the ground and tearing through the air, much like setting off giant fireworks.

The mutated big bird that remained high in the sky, still conceitedly believing it hadn’t been spotted and was completely safe, naturally got a fright from the sudden, localized lightning storm.

But now it’s right in the center of the lightning storm, bolt after bolt thundering down and circling this core, trapping it within this “Lightning Cage”.

From the ground, Xiang Kun, who is encased in the halo of snakes of lightning, starts to run swiftly. As he nears the edge of the cliff, he leaps.

In the midst of the streams of electricity, a glowing figure forces upwards.

If he was solely reliant on the power provided by the “Super-connected Objects” around him, he’d at most glide as he had done when he demonstrated it to Old Xia in the abandoned factory area.

Of course, he is using more “Super-connected Objects” now, so his control power will be a notch stronger.

However, Xiang Kun doesn’t use the “Super-connected Objects” to generate an electric field to fly. Instead, he uses them to induce the Atmospheric Electric Field. When the lightning storm starts, he’s able to directly “borrow” the power of nature.

The fiercer the lightning storm, the more potent the power he can borrow.

Upon taking off, a glowing “hair” that’s over a meter long instantly appears behind Xiang Kun’s head, strands of lightning attaching tightly to him, assisting him in controlling his flight direction.

Xiang Kun is extremely excited now. At the moment he takes flight, a line of poetry pops up in his mind:

When the time comes, the earth and heavens lend their power!

For him, everything – this sky, this earth, this air, this entire region including the sky above – feels connected to his body as if they are his tools, they are his containers.

With his emotions already ignited by Tang Baona’s song, he feels as if he has transformed into Sun Wukong about to create havoc in the heavenly palace, storm into the heavens, and fight a desperate battle.

That giant bird, after all, was thwarting him like a sky warrior.

He’d obliterate it!

No, he’d capture it alive—he quickly reminds himself.

In Star City, Liu Shiling, who was sleeping soundly in her bedroom, suddenly sits up on her bed. She tilts her head, squints her eyes at the quiet night sky outside the window. Somehow, she seems to hear the sound of thunder?

But there’s clearly no thunderstorms outside, no rain, nothing.

Liu Shiling rubs her eyes, yawns, raises her hand and summons, the coins named “Ice cream” and “Chocolate” fly from under her pillow into her left and right hand.

Then, holding two coins, she lies back down on the bed, and instantly falls back asleep.

“Xiao Pingguo”, Li Jun, also wakes up from his sleep. Although he can’t see, he can tell through the sounds that “Gold Sparkle” is jumping about on his desk.

Also, through the connection with “Gold Sparkle”, she can keenly sense that “Gold Sparkle” is extremely excited at the moment.

What’s up with its excitement in the middle of the night?

“Xiao Pingguo” feels puzzled. She feels like a wind blows inside the room. But when she gets up to close the window, she finds that the window has been closed all along.

She carefully senses and realizes there is no wind in the room.

So where did the feeling of wind come from?

“Xiao Pingguo” contemplates, as her hand rubs the head of “Gold Sparkle” on the table. She softly asks, “Has something happened?”

“Gold Sparkle” makes a peep sound, she understands, this means it doesn’t know what has happened.

Then what are you exciting about?

“Xiao Pingguo” brings out her Minion Wood Carving, meticulously using her senses to try to grasp that certain awareness appeared just now.

But that sense is elusive, like smoke in the air, it was impossible to grasp or to determine what it was.

Seems like, she would have to wait till the day and ask Uncle Xiang. He should know.

“Xiao Pingguo” yawns, back in bed with the Minion Wood Carving, she returns to her dreams.

At a residential area not far from the Third Hospital of Citong City District.

Xia Libing wakes up too, she picks up her phone and looks at it. There are no messages from Xiang Kun, no unanswered calls. So she puts on her coat and walks out to the balcony.

She looks in the direction of Zi Huan Mountain. In the sky over there, electric light seems to be surging, as if a thunderstorm is striking.

But the Citong City District, which is not far away from there, doesn’t seem to show any signs of impending rain.

Is it related to Xiang Kun?

Xia Libing had heard Xiang Kun explain his process of mastering “Electric Mastery Flight”,had seen Xiang Kun attempt the “Electric Mastery Flight” in the abandoned factory on a clear day. She knew it was best for Xiang Kun to fly during a thunderstorm.

The sudden occurrence of a thunderstorm there, was it related to Xiang Kun?

Xia Libing flips a “Super-connected Objects” coin in her left hand at a swift pace. She keenly notices that her connection with the coin has gotten stronger, her control over it is much better.

No, it didn’t seem like the connection had gotten stronger.

Rather… the control response of the coin got more “enthusiastic”?

But when she tries to fly the coin in mid-air like Xiang Kun or Liu Shiling, she fails again.

After thinking, Xia Libing goes back to her room for a quick wash, gets dressed, picks up her car keys and heads out.

She decides to go to the proximity of Zi Huan Mountain and observe.

Although it’s only five in the morning, in the vicinity of Zi Huan Mountain, there are some people who have stayed up all night or have already gotten up to work and have seen from a far the fierce, terrifying, yet confined thunderstorm.

“Holy crap! That’s spectacular. Is someone ‘crossing the tribulation’?” In a self-built house, a boy who was playing a game with his friends can’t even be bothered with the game anymore. He rushes to the window with his phone to capture the thunderstorm in the mountain.

However, an annoyed voice comes from the computer speaker: “Damn it! It’s not you crossing the tribulation! Hurry back and raid! This is a ‘crossing the tribulation’ raid of mine!”

This morning, many residents of Citong City who can see the Zi Huan Mountain thunderstorm from afar are capturing videos or pictures and posting on their friend circles or other social media platforms.

The appended texts were all sorts of jokes about a mighty demon or cultivator crossing the tribulation in the mountains, the heavenly court and the ground conducting 5G linking, and the border of a different dimension about to open, and some other such things.