The Return of the Transcendent

Yan Huarong was, to all outward appearances, an ordinary rural youth.

Simple, naive, and even seemingly a bit dull-witted, he nonetheless harbored a precious talent: he was a Transcendent.

Thus, events unfolded with an almost inevitable logic.

During a Void Realm Incursion event, he awakened his supernatural abilities, officially becoming a Transcendent.

Though he failed to gain admission to Tiandu University.

He ultimately joined an organization known as the Void Realm Expedition Bureau, serving as a member of humanity’s vanguard forces.

Through countless battles on the brink of life and death, he matured, grew stronger, his abilities evolving as he forged bonds of camaraderie and even found love.

Yet, unforeseen circumstances invariably punctuate the tapestry of life.

Due to a critical intelligence error, he and his comrades found themselves trapped within the Void Realm.

Amidst a grueling struggle for survival and relentless combat, both he and his comrades depleted their very last reserves of Void Energy.

Ultimately, they all sustained irreparable, devastating injuries.

His comrade’s spiritual chakra was shattered, causing them to plummet from the Turbid World Tier to the Mercury Tier, while he himself suffered a catastrophic rupture of his ability core.

He became… an ordinary person.

He reverted to his former self, that unremarkable, once-foolish, and naive rural boy.

Such a fate was utterly unacceptable to him!

Even with official backing, and leveraging his accumulated savings, he founded the Rong’an Pest Control Company.

He amassed a fortune worth hundreds of millions.

Yet, what he truly yearned for were the days of battle in the Void Realm, a profound longing for the powerful self he once was.

For his current self was weak, pitiable, his body ravaged by the relentless march of time.

He had even contracted an incurable terminal illness: diabetes.

‘Hah… the man I once was, how could he ever have succumbed to such a malady?’

He had uttered these words countless times in his heart, and just as many times he had dreamt of regaining his supernatural abilities.

But in the end, they remained mere dreams.

He had wept bitterly countless nights, and countless times he had drowned himself in drink, wishing only to relive the sensation of his once-omnipotent self in a drunken haze.

How could one, having once glimpsed such splendor, ever truly return to the mundane?

Driven by this yearning, he had repeatedly beseeched the heavens and scoured his surroundings for any method that might restore his supernatural powers.

And ultimately, he found it.

In the clutches of a demon known as the Black Tower, lay the means to reclaim his lost abilities.

He clung to this hope like a drowning man to a lifeline, unwilling to ever let go.

“Take whatever you desire,” Yan Huarong had declared, “as long as you grant me my abilities once more.”

And so, he offered up his very soul.

Under the guise of Rong’an Pest Control, he successfully deployed Void Energy instruments in three strategic locations, designed to mask any fluctuations emanating from the Void Realm.

Not a soul was privy to these clandestine arrangements.

He had even meticulously erased all traces of his actions a full six months prior.

The Rong’an Pest Control team dispatched to Ying City First High School six months ago had, in fact, been his operatives, sent precisely to cover his tracks.

Yet, despite such elaborate preparations and numerous contingencies, who could have foreseen that the Black Tower would still fail?

‘They’re utterly useless!’

Reclining in the plush, expansive rear seat of his Cullinan, Yan Huarong silently cursed, a surge of exasperated disappointment rising within him.

Fortunately, the Black Tower had proven to be somewhat trustworthy; he had still obtained the coveted treasure he had so desperately sought.

Moreover, its failure wasn’t entirely unwelcome, as it prevented excessive casualties—a sight he had no desire to witness.

After all, this clandestine endeavor was merely a necessary deception; he still intended to rejoin the vanguard forces and continue fighting.

Lost in thought, Yan Huarong gently closed his eyes.

He could sense it: within the quiescent ocean of Void Energy, tainted with dark impurities, his shattered ability core, once explosively fragmented, had meticulously reassembled itself.

While the seams where the fragments rejoined were a grotesque tangle of constantly writhing granulation tissue, there was no doubt: his supernatural abilities had returned.

Crucially, the fissures at these junctures were rapidly vanishing, a clear sign that the disturbing granulation tissue would not pose a lingering threat.

‘My abilities are resurging! My strength, my very body, all are growing stronger!’

His breath hitched, and the fingers of his right hand trembled almost imperceptibly.

The deep furrows etched between his brows swiftly smoothed away, and the slackness in his skin across his entire body noticeably diminished.

His lips and teeth, once parched, now felt moist as saliva spontaneously generated.

It was back, all of it was back!

–Boss, aren’t we taking the highway?– the driver suddenly interjected.

Yan Huarong felt a flicker of annoyance at the driver’s interruption of his profound absorption, but in his buoyant mood, he chose not to dwell on it.

“Let’s take the national road,” he murmured.

While all evidence had been thoroughly obliterated, and the Jurisdiction Bureau appeared to harbor no suspicions, remaining entirely silent.

Yet, sometimes, an absence of movement could be the most significant indicator of all!

To preempt any desperate, cornered-dog reactions from the Jurisdiction Bureau.

He resolved to first seek refuge with a dear brother from the vanguard forces, a man with whom he had shared countless life-and-death moments.

Unlike Yan Huarong, this uninjured comrade had since ascended to a high-ranking position within the Void Realm Expedition Bureau.

Even the Jurisdiction Bureau, without concrete evidence, would find it difficult to act against him while he was under his brother’s protection.

‘Once my powers are fully restored, and I wield the might of the Turbid World Tier, the entire world will be mine to traverse!’

Yan Huarong was already lost in a reverie of the splendid life that awaited him.

Though the Black Tower had instructed him to join their organization immediately.

He was no fool; why would he abandon a promising life to join a malevolent organization?

A sharp crackle!

The car’s intercom suddenly crackled to life.

–Boss, there’s one—no, a man and a woman just jumped off the overpass ahead.

–Wait, that woman just summoned a net of trees! Boss, they’re Transcendent!

‘As expected!’ Yan Huarong had anticipated this, which was precisely why he had brought his most trusted subordinates along.

Crossing one leg over the other, he issued a cold command: “Accelerate and plow through them! They won’t stop us!”

All three vehicles had undergone specialized modifications, boasting horsepower far superior to other cars of their class.

Both their chassis and windows were bulletproof.

An ordinary Transcendent, unless possessing an ability to hurl massive objects with immense force (TL Note: A common internet slang referring to overwhelming physical strength, often used humorously.), would be utterly incapable of stopping them!

–Understood!– came the crisp reply over the intercom.

The drivers of all three vehicles simultaneously floored their accelerators, and with a roaring surge of engines, their speed dramatically increased.

Yet, in the very next instant, a deafening roar tore through the air.

Then, with a resounding crash, the lead vehicle spun violently, as if struck by an invisible, colossal force, and was sent hurtling backward through the air.

A screech of tires.

The driver slammed on the brakes, causing the entire vehicle to decelerate sharply.

Unrestrained by a seatbelt, Yan Huarong was violently thrown forward by the inertia, his face slamming hard into the back of the passenger seat.

“Damn it! What in the hell was that?”

Shaking his head to clear it, he peered out the window, his eyes instantly widening in startled disbelief.

An expression of utter disbelief was visibly etched across his features.

Embedded in the asphalt road just ahead of the vehicle, stood a spiraling wooden spear, over two meters in length.

Whoosh!

The wrecked vehicle in front suddenly erupted into a furious inferno, its ravenous flames licking at the air.

The intense heat caused the air itself to shimmer and distort.

From within the swirling, distorted black heatwave that billowed skyward, two figures slowly materialized.

One was a composed, almost aloof youth clad in a white tracksuit.

He held his head slightly aloft, white light shimmering in his eyes, his handsome face still bearing the faint traces of youthful innocence.

The other figure was a woman, dressed in a blue and white student uniform.

Her waist-length hair cascaded down her back, and her otherwise incredibly sweet and adorable face was now stark with chilling killing intent.

This lethal aura lent her an intrepid air rarely seen in ordinary women.

Thump!

A dull, heavy thud echoed from behind the young woman, and another colossal figure emerged into view.

It was an immensely colossal tree giant!