The reaction of the black orb made Feng Qi realize instantly that a miracle item was nearby.
His gaze locked onto the humanoid domain creature perched on the back of the giant tiger in the distance.
It was clearly a leader-level existence within its tribe.
This was evident from the deferential behavior of the other humanoid creatures toward it.
Its body was entirely bare, adorned with only two items.
The first was a crown woven from spiritual plants atop its head.
The second was a green bracelet on its wrist, swirling like mist or liquid.
One of these items was likely the miracle item.
Regardless of which, Feng Qi felt an overwhelming urge to claim it.
One thing was certain: a miracle item would undoubtedly grant extraordinary powers to its holder.
Although this self-sacrificing timeline meant he would inevitably meet an early demise, the other version of him could gain invaluable information about the miracle item.
With sufficient strength, that version of him might even preemptively reach this Black Abyss Island and claim the item before anyone else.
This could significantly bolster not just his individual power but potentially humanity's overall strength.
"It's about to act," the Mist Lord suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
Feng Qi looked up to see the towering figure atop the tiger slowly raising its right hand, adorned with the green bracelet.
In an instant, dazzling light erupted.
A shadowy figure over ten meters tall, shrouded in dim and blurry energy, materialized behind the creature.
The other humanoid domain creatures immediately dropped to their knees, bowing and prostrating themselves before the apparition.
Even from a distance, Feng Qi could clearly see the entity.
The towering shadow bore a striking resemblance to the humanoid creatures, its body similarly covered in arcane symbols. The difference was that the shadow had no physical form; it was entirely composed of energy.
A terrifying pressure swept over the area, causing the veins on Feng Qi's forehead to throb painfully.
He turned to the Mist Lord beside him, whose expression had turned grim. The Mist Lord gave a subtle shake of his head, signaling not to act rashly.
Feng Qi returned his focus to the scene ahead.
With the shadow's appearance, the soldiers of the united combat squad were visibly shaken.
Their battle-hardened instincts immediately recognized the immense danger they now faced.
From the shadow's chest, several green energy tendrils extended outward, connecting to the humanoid leader's back.
Once linked, the leader's body radiated a green glow, its aura growing more oppressive.
A sinister grin spread across its face as it waved its hand, instantly summoning dozens of spell arrays that materialized before it.
Within seconds, the ground beneath the united combat squad cracked, and countless vines erupted, ensnaring numerous soldiers.
The formation was instantly destroyed.
Those caught by the vines struggled in vain as the constricting plants crushed their bones with chilling cracks. One by one, their lifeless bodies dangled in the air.
With the shadow's emergence, the battlefield spiraled out of the control of Wang Lin, the squad's commander.
Initially aiming for a minimal-loss retreat, Wang Lin was now forced to make a desperate call.
Shouting at the top of his lungs, he ordered the squad to break through at all costs.
However, the humanoid leader, perched on its tiger, gave Wang Lin no chance to reverse the tide.
The ground continued to shatter as more vines sprouted, ensnaring and killing soldiers with relentless precision.
Feng Qi's expression grew increasingly grim as he observed the situation.
His gaze shifted to the Mist Lord, and he asked, "Do you have the power to fight it?"
"I'm not its match, and to be precise, I can't contend with that mysterious shadow behind it," the Mist Lord replied solemnly.
Hearing this, Feng Qi nodded calmly and said, "Understood. Let's play it by ear. If the situation escalates to the point where we're at risk, we'll retreat immediately."
He extended his awareness again, focusing on the shadow behind the humanoid leader.
The shadow had appeared the moment the leader raised its hand, and Feng Qi was now highly suspicious that the green bracelet was the miracle item.
As for the towering shadow, which bore an uncanny resemblance to the humanoid leader, Feng Qi speculated it was a special energy construct created by the miracle item.
It was likely due to this energy construct that the leader's abilities had been significantly amplified.
Even the Mist Lord had admitted he was no match for it. Under these circumstances, their plans to seize the miracle item or possess Wang Lin had to be abandoned.
The battlefield had devolved into a one-sided massacre.
After observing for a while longer, the Mist Lord turned to Feng Qi and said, "Let's retreat. There's no reason to stay here any longer."
Feng Qi was about to nod in agreement when his awareness suddenly detected a familiar energy fluctuation. He immediately turned back to look at the battlefield.
As he had anticipated, with the arrival of the familiar energy fluctuation, several Blue-Skinned Assassins appeared out of thin air and lunged toward the humanoid leader atop the giant tiger.
The humanoid leader seemed to sense the threat. The shadow behind it opened its eyes at that moment.
Dozens of spell arrays formed around the leader automatically. From these arrays, countless vines shot out, piercing the Blue-Skinned Assassins as they charged.
These assassins didn't even last a single exchange before being completely annihilated.
Seeing this, Feng Qi confirmed one thing:
The humanoid leader indeed possessed a miracle item. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been targeted by the Blue-Skinned Assassins.
However, he still had his doubts.
These doubts revolved around the assassins themselves.
To him, this attack seemed like nothing more than a suicidal move, yet the Blue-Skinned Assassins had rushed in without hesitation.
This behavior was highly unusual.
Wei Wei had once speculated that the Blue-Skinned Assassins were more like controlled weapons.
Feng Qi wasn't sure about this conclusion.
However, he had observed that the assassins displayed emotions. Whenever faced with an overwhelmingly strong opponent, their expressions would show distinct changes.
This indicated they even possessed a degree of intelligence.
But no matter how powerful their opponent, the Blue-Skinned Assassins always attacked, even when the outcome was certain death.
This was incomprehensible to Feng Qi.
Unable to figure out the reason, he decided not to dwell on it.
Since the Mist Lord had already admitted he was no match for the humanoid leader, there was no point in staying.
With this in mind, he turned to the Mist Lord and said, "Let's go."
The Mist Lord nodded without hesitation.
They turned and began running back in the direction they had come from.
As they ran, the Mist Lord transformed into a gray mist, enveloping Feng Qi and accelerating their retreat.
As for the fate of Wang Lin and the others, Feng Qi didn't need to guess to know the likely outcome.
Several hours later, they arrived at the beach.
Without stopping, they floated directly toward their warship.
Seeing a mass of mist drifting by, the warriors stationed on the other ships for security duty turned their heads to look.
At that moment, tendrils extended from the gray mist, lashing toward the other ships.
The warriors left behind to guard the ships were all killed and drained of their blood.
By the time Feng Qi's feet touched the deck, they were back on their original ship.
The Mist Lord reformed his body and stood silently, gazing solemnly in the direction of the rainforest.
After a long pause, he spoke in a deep voice, "The green bracelet on the wrist of that tiger-riding figure is highly unusual. I could sense that it was the source of the energy used to create the shadow behind it."
Hearing this, Feng Qi nodded internally. The Mist Lord's assessment aligned perfectly with his own suspicions.
Seizing the moment, he pressed further, "What do you think it is?"
"I suspect it's a miracle item."
Finally, the conversation had steered toward the topic Feng Qi was most concerned about. Recognizing the opportunity, he maintained a curious expression and asked, "What exactly is a miracle item?"
"It's something that transcends the natural laws. Every miracle item has unique characteristics. In our world, many powerful races rose to prominence because of the extraordinary abilities granted by these miracle items."
Feng Qi's curiosity deepened.
The Mist Lord's explanation seemed to contradict the information he had gathered.
According to the intel Feng Qi had, miracle items should exist within human society. Many domain forces infiltrated human territories precisely to search for these items. How, then, could they originate from the domain world as divine relics?
The Mist Lord continued, "However, this world inhabited by humans also harbors many hidden miracle items. From the intelligence I obtained from the Psionic Race, I learned that human society possesses numerous miracle items whose powers have yet to manifest."
At the mention of the "Psionic Race," Feng Qi was reminded of something Monk had once told him.
Monk had shared intelligence from the Psionic Race's communication crystal.
It mentioned a madman seeking to resurrect his people who had also arrived in this world. The message urged others to avoid contact with this individual at all costs.
Feng Qi was almost certain that the "madman" referred to in the message was the Mist Lord.
This also confirmed that the Mist Lord had prior interactions with the Psionic Race.
Feng Qi was intrigued about the connection between the Mist Lord and the Psionic Race.
Based on the intelligence he had gathered, the Mist Lord's abilities shouldn't have been enough to instill fear in the Psionic Race, which was, by all accounts, far stronger than him.
With his doubts swirling, Feng Qi decided to probe further and asked tentatively, "What exactly is the Psionic Race?"
"They're a very fortunate race," the Mist Lord began. "Back then, I led my people in a proactive invasion of their small world, killing many of their kin. After entering the human world, I also had brief interactions and exchanges with them."
Hearing this, Feng Qi's eyes widened in surprise.
He hadn't expected the Mist Lord to have such a glorious past.
However, compared to their current situations, it was evident that the Psionic Race had fared much better in the human world.
By leveraging a mysterious Sacred Spirit Consciousness Repository and the resources they had infiltrated human society to acquire, the Psionic Race had developed rapidly, becoming a hidden force so powerful that even the Prajna Domain Combat Squad dared not provoke them.
As the conversation continued, Feng Qi learned more about that history.
According to the Mist Lord, his people had once been an even more powerful force than the Psionic Race.
Among his kin, while he held the greatest potential in history, he wasn't the strongest.
The ruling elders of his tribe, known as the Immortal Council, consisted of eighteen immortal elders, each of whom surpassed him in power.
Yet during the pathfinding expedition that allowed him to enter the human world, every single elder sacrificed their lives to pave the way.
Hearing this, Feng Qi couldn't help but sigh in amazement.
Thank goodness they perished. If the Mist Lord had entered the human world with such a formidable army, it would have been a nightmare for humanity.
This incident also highlighted the fact that when a domain race decided to carve out a path into the human world, it was essentially a gamble.
If their path met an "obstruction," it typically spelled certain death.
However, if luck was on their side, they could bring their entire domain into the human world with minimal losses.
Despite the newfound clarity, Feng Qi still harbored lingering doubts.
While the Mist Lord had explained the existence of miracle items, he hadn't gone into detail about them.
So, Feng Qi pressed on, "I still have one more question. How are these miracle items created?"
The Mist Lord didn't seem irritated by the continued questioning and patiently explained, "I'm not entirely sure. There are many theories, but the one I find most believable is that every miracle item is formed from the primal power of a Pillar God after its death."
As he spoke, the Mist Lord turned back toward the rainforest, licking his lips. "It seems we'll need to accelerate the growth of our forces and return here soon to take that treasure from the tiger rider."
"I agree with you," Feng Qi replied. "Hearing your explanation of miracle items, I'd like to witness their power firsthand. If we can obtain that thing, it'll undoubtedly benefit our future endeavors."
Through their casual conversation, they reached a decision.
Once they returned, they would focus on developing their forces as quickly as possible and then return to Black Abyss Island to seize the miracle item.
After a brief discussion, the Mist Lord suddenly turned to Feng Qi and asked, "Do you know how to operate this ship?"
"Nope," Feng Qi replied without hesitation.
"Then how are we supposed to get back?" The Mist Lord's eyes widened in disbelief.
Hearing this, Feng Qi felt a headache coming on.
Flying back wasn't an option. Even if they had the capability, it wasn't practical.
After all, the failed mission would require them to report the exploration details to the squad's headquarters upon their return.
Having only the two of them survive was an easy enough story to explain.
The problem lay in how they would account for their return without a ship.
If Feng Qi claimed to have stayed on the ship as part of the security detail and hadn't directly participated in the mission, that might explain his survival. But without a ship, how could he explain how they got back?
Saying they flew back was out of the question. His strength rating would make such a feat seem impossible.
The only plausible explanation was piloting the ship back themselves.
"I don't mind," the Mist Lord said with a shrug. "If it comes down to it, I'll just take over another body and re-integrate into human society. But you can't change forms, and you'll need to provide an explanation for the failed mission. So, what's your plan?"
Looking at the exasperated Mist Lord, Feng Qi sighed. "Let's head into the cabin and look around. Maybe there's an instruction manual for operating the ship."
The two of them entered the cabin and began searching for any materials that could help them learn to pilot the ship.
Their search bore fruit when they found a stack of old, tattered manuals in the control room.
Feng Qi picked up one of the books and was about to start studying when the Mist Lord interrupted him.
"How long will it take you to learn the knowledge in these books?"
After estimating the thickness of the manuals, Feng Qi thought for a few seconds before replying, "It should take about three hours to memorize everything, and another four to five hours of practice to get the hang of it."
"Forget it. Let me handle this. It won't take me more than half an hour to master this stuff," the Mist Lord said as he grabbed a book and started flipping through it.
Watching the Mist Lord turn pages at lightning speed, Feng Qi felt a pang of intellectual inferiority.
What did he mean by "forget it"? What did he mean by "no more than half an hour"? Was that something a person could say?
But then Feng Qi reminded himself that the Mist Lord wasn't human to begin with. Moreover, this was the same entity who would go on to create the Blood Flesh Sacrificial Art—a technique that simultaneously harvested both human and domain forces.
At that realization, Feng Qi felt at ease.
There was no need to compete. He simply needed to cling to this genius's coattails.
The more talented the Mist Lord was, the smoother Feng Qi's sacrificial line plan would unfold.