One news alert after another chilled the heart:
The island nation of Marfu has fallen entirely.
Tianhai City of the Great Yan Federation came under attack by sea beasts and was forced to use nuclear bombs before it could drive the beast tide back.
One fifth of the islands in the Feilü Archipelago have been overrun by sea beasts, and casualties are still being tallied.
Several coastal cities in Mili Jian have been attacked, and the authorities have issued their highest alert.
Inside Ao Nation, mutant fierce beasts run rampant; in a mere day or two, more than a hundred thousand citizens have been killed or wounded.
Every one of those reports sank the heart a little lower. People all over the world had fallen into utter pessimism, and the internet was a wilderness of grief.
"Just the mutant fierce beasts on land already far outnumber us humans, and even handling them is hard enough, never mind the vast ocean. How many mutant fierce beasts are in there? Nobody can say. Ai."
"Numbers aside, what matters more is that the sea beasts devour each other and evolve at terrifying speed—much faster than we humans, at least. One day we may have to face beasts above Lord rank—"
"So what if it's above Lord rank? Can it withstand a nuclear bomb?"
"That's hard to say. And even if it can't, wouldn't it know enough to hide? Or it breaks into a city and slaughters at will—who would dare defy the whole world and drop a nuke then? Don't let it come to that: the beast lives, and countless people die."
"The countries on the mainland are actually doing all right for now. The unlucky ones are the island nations. Sea on every side—the sea beasts can force a landing anywhere at any time. They truly can't count on tomorrow."
"The news says plane tickets to Sakura Island have hit astronomical prices. An ordinary person could empty out half a lifetime of savings and still not be sure of buying one."
"Of course. There are a lot of avian fierce beasts in the skies now, and they often attack humans on their own. Passenger planes can only barely fly safely with fighter escorts, so naturally the tickets are expensive—"
Huang Tian read the grim comments online for a while, then put his phone down and went on eating the mutant fierce beast meat.
Liu Yang, seated across from him, asked hesitantly, "Are we clearing the mutant fierce beasts in the city again today?"
"Why not?" Huang Tian said calmly. "Don't let other matters throw off our original plan. The sea beasts are indeed numerous and strong, but they won't be breaking into the interior any time soon, and they certainly can't reach Shangyuan City.
If we must worry, we'd do better to worry about the Mangyuan Mountains outside the city. There should be plenty of mutant fierce beasts there, and if they come charging down, they'll cause heavy casualties among the people."
The Mangyuan Mountains stretch nearly two hundred kilometers, lying in the far northwestern suburbs of Shangyuan City. Many towns and villages sit at their foot, with a combined population of at least one hundred sixty or seventy thousand. If the mutant fierce beasts in the mountains poured down all at once, there would without question be massive casualties.
Liu Yang sighed softly. "City hall is already considering relocating the citizens closest to the Mangyuan Mountains and deploying defenses around the range. But that's a plan for after the city district has been pacified. Until the threat inside the city is removed, we can't spare the people to set up defenses.
Unless there's military support from elsewhere—but the trouble is, the small unit that came to support us last time was wiped out to a man, and the other cities and prefectures need troops of their own. We can't count on military support anytime soon."
"Then let's clear the Shangyuan city district as fast as we can," Huang Tian replied. "We killed a lot of Beast Soldier rank mutant fierce beasts yesterday. A few more sweeps today and most of the Beast Soldier rank ones in the city will be gone. Without them, the ordinary mutant beasts left won't be much of a threat."
Liu Yang brightened at that. "Right. In two or three days the city should be basically stable, and then we can free up people for more important work!"
They talked as they ate. About half an hour later, Huang Tian and Liu Yang walked out of the cafeteria and headed for the school's main gate, where Lao Gao and Yang Qiu quickly came to meet them—the former holding a gun in both hands, wearing a bulky, stuffed-full bulletproof vest; the latter with a firearm slung on his back and a camera in his hands, livestreaming.
"Let's move out!"
At the shout, Liu Yang started the car and drove out of the school. Lao Gao wiped down his weapon while calling out directions from the voices in his earpiece: "The bureau's surveillance shows seven mutant fierce beasts outside the Yuchun Hotel on Sunshine Avenue. One is a Beast Soldier rank green-eyed cat, five are ordinary mutant cats, and there's also a Beast Soldier rank iron-beak bird."
Yang Qiu frowned. "An avian fierce beast. Agile, fast, with a beak and talons that do terrible damage—and the key point is it can fly. Not easy to deal with."
Lao Gao glanced at Huang Tian, as if asking whether they should pick a different target. The latter shook his head. "Kill the flier first, then the green-eyed cat. As for those ordinary mutant cats, I'll leave them to you."
Lao Gao and Liu Yang nodded together. "Understood."
The car drove for a dozen minutes with a clear road the whole way; only a few unranked fierce beasts were visible along the roadside—so weak that the group dispatched them with ease, costing them almost no time at all.
"Turn the corner up ahead and we're on Sunshine Avenue. The Yuchun Hotel is only a little over two hundred meters from us." Liu Yang's expression was grave.
"Stop here," Huang Tian said.
"Right."
The car came to a smooth halt. Huang Tian got out, two throwing axes hanging at his waist and the heavy fire axe gripped in his right hand, and took the lead. Lao Gao and Liu Yang followed with their guns, keeping their steps light, while Yang Qiu kept close behind the three of them, filming carefully.
The four of them reached the street corner, and Huang Tian halted. A glance showed him the broad expanse of Sunshine Avenue: dozens of cars askew and crooked, some crumpled and twisted by impacts; many signposts snapped off and lying on the ground; not a few houses and shops collapsed, their signboards smashed into the dust and covered in grit.
A hundred-odd meters ahead, in front of the building called the Yuchun Hotel, a green-eyed cat lay curled up on the stone pedestal by the entrance, basking lazily in the sun, the tip of its tail twitching now and then. Five ordinary mutant cats sprawled nearby—some with eyes narrowed in a doze, others with heads lowered, gnawing on dried fish.
On the eaves of the building beside the Yuchun Hotel stood an iron-beak bird, feathers black as lacquer, nearly the size of an eagle. It had its head tilted, slowly grooming the down beneath its wings with its beak, one feather at a time, meticulously.
Huang Tian turned back. "Once I make my move, you can open fire and put down those ordinary mutant cats."
"Got it." The others answered in low voices and found their angles to aim from.
Huang Tian, meanwhile, moved toward the iron-beak bird at an extremely light tread, his breath drawn in and contained.
A hundred meters. Ninety—fifty, forty—
The green-eyed cat was still lazily flicking its tail when the iron-beak bird seemed to sense something amiss. Its head snapped around, its gaze sweeping its surroundings.
In that instant, two throwing axes left his hand!
Whizz, whizz!
The sound of them tearing the air burst out. One axe chopped at the bird's crown, the other sealed off its flank. At the same moment, Huang Tian kicked off with his right foot and shot through the air like an arrow loosed from a bow!
Startled, the iron-beak bird's feathers puffed out. Its wings snapped open to launch it skyward, but the two axes had already cut off its retreat—all it could do was veer slantwise—
Boom!!
The wind howled as the fire axe in Huang Tian's right hand swept full circle, carving a half arc through the air, its blade cleaving the wind with a low, moaning hum. The iron-beak bird, caught midflight in its terror, was struck dead-on!
Pfft.
A burst of lacquer-black feathers exploded outward, blood spraying through the air, and the two severed halves of the bird dropped right in front of the sunbathing green-eyed cat.
The green-eyed cat: ?
It froze in shock for a moment; then every hair on its body stood on end, and with a bizarre shriek it bolted up like lightning!
But fast as it was, Huang Tian was faster. His body swooped down like a wingbeat, and the heavy back of the axe smashed down on the green-eyed cat's spine with a boom!
Bang!
The green-eyed cat was driven down into the ground, the flesh of its back instantly a mangled smear. It tried to struggle, but Huang Tian dropped straight down and stamped on the back of its neck—crack—and it went still.
Only then did several gunshots ring out. A string of bullets struck the panicked mutant cats with precision, punching great holes that gushed blood.
"Nicely done," Huang Tian said in approval as Liu Yang and the others ran up.
Lao Gao, hauling the green-eyed cat out of the ground, grinned. "Just some unranked fierce beasts. Nothing worth mentioning."
Liu Yang loaded the two halves of the iron-beak bird into the trunk and clicked his tongue in admiration. "If you hadn't stepped in, Huang Tian, that iron-beak bird alone would have been more than we could handle. Facing it head-on, we could all have been wiped out."
The advantage of flight was simply too great: free to come and go, to strike whenever it pleased, to slip away easily when the fight turned against it, and to run down a beaten enemy so thoroughly that it had no chance to escape.
Huang Tian smiled at that, wiped the blood off his axe, and, walking back to the car, turned his head to explain to the camera: "Against avian fierce beasts like this, a long-range ambush is best. Hot weapons work well enough—this time, for instance, a sniper rifle would have had a good chance of killing the iron-beak bird outright.
If you have no firearms on hand and your strength doesn't clearly surpass this kind of beast, then don't go trying to fight it. Avoid it for the time being. They can fly; they can strike down at you from above and use speed against your slowness. It's very hard to win.
Of course, if you have speed like mine and can ambush from close range, you can still try to kill it—"
The bullet comments scrolling through the livestream read: "Got it. What the boss means is: don't look at how easily I win—don't copy me (doge)~"
"By the way, is there anyone here who's actually succeeded in practicing the guidance technique? A lot of people have never even killed a chicken in their lives—how would they dare fight an iron-beak bird—"
"Ah, that's where you're wrong. I successfully guided spiritual energy into my body in the small hours this morning! My strength grew a lot and my speed's much faster too. Of course, I'm far below Boss Huang Tian, but I've still taken the first step in evolution."
"Holy crap, there really are geniuses out there—cultivating successfully this fast!"
"No surprise at all. The Great Yan Federation has over a billion people—surely a few geniuses can emerge. And anyway, the real genius is right there on your screen; everyone else is just an ordinary mediocrity by comparison."
"Wah, I'd really like to be one of those ordinary mediocrities you're talking about—"
Huang Tian did not pay the bullet comments much attention. He got into the car, closed his eyes, and absorbed the spiritual energy from the void, wasting not a single moment. Once Liu Yang and the others had stowed the carcasses, the car started up for the next location—
The morning passed quickly. When the four of them decided to take their bulging "spoils" back to the school for the time being, Liu Yang's phone buzzed. He picked it up, glanced at it, and his expression shifted. He answered at once: "Yes, yes, understood. We happen to be heading back—"
He hung up and said happily, "Huang Tian, the things have been delivered to the school!"
Huang Tian understood immediately: the capital had sent the promised weapons and spirit plants. Pleased, he said, "We were just on our way back. Good timing."
"Let's go, back we go!"
The car sped toward the Experimental High School and reached it a dozen minutes later. A refined, scholarly middle-aged man in black-rimmed glasses stood at the school gate, with two powerfully built young men standing guard behind him.
As soon as he saw Huang Tian step out of the car, the middle-aged man hurried forward several steps and extended his hand politely. "Hello, Mr. Huang. I'm Zhou Qu, director of the Second Bureau of the Yanwu Department."
Huang Tian shook his hand, somewhat surprised. "The Yanwu Department?"
He had never heard of such a department.
Zhou Qu explained, "It's a newly established department, responsible for handling martial artist affairs nationwide."
Huang Tian understood at once. The birth of martial artists and the shifting state of society had naturally given rise to a brand-new, powerful department—and as time went on, that department's weight would only grow. Even if the mutant fierce beasts were defeated in the future, its weight would hardly diminish.
And for the director of the second bureau of such a department to risk mutant fierce beast attacks along the road and personally deliver supplies to him showed real sincerity.
"Everything has been placed in the school's conference room—" Zhou Qu gestured ahead. "We can talk as we walk."
"All right."
Huang Tian walked beside him. Liu Yang and the others didn't follow; they were busy unloading the beast carcasses from the trunk.
As they walked, Zhou Qu said, "Actually, besides bringing you weapons, spirit plants, and other items, I came this time to invite you to join the Yanwu Department. If you're willing, you could take up the post of—"
He briefly described the position and its benefits, and Huang Tian listened quietly for a moment before declining. "I don't intend to do administrative work. The martial path is all I seek."
Zhou Qu wasn't surprised. He offered another idea. "You could simply hold a nominal title—councilor of the Yanwu Department. That way you wouldn't have to deal with tedious affairs and you'd still receive all the resources you need. Naturally, it benefits both sides; our department would gain a good deal from it as well."
That was frank enough. Huang Tian considered it for only a few seconds before agreeing, and Zhou Qu's smile grew all the more genuine. He led him into a conference room guarded by two rifle-carrying soldiers. On the mahogany table inside lay a long case and six boxes.
Zhou Qu went to the table and slowly opened the long case, revealing a war saber in its sheath. He drew it with some effort, and the cold light glittered—just standing near it made your skin prickle faintly.
"This blade was forged from a special alloy developed in recent years. It measures one hundred fifteen centimeters overall and weighs sixty-nine kilograms. It is exceedingly sharp and tough."
His face reddened slightly as he handed the heavy saber to Huang Tian with considerable effort. Huang Tian took it easily, examined it closely, and flicked the flat of the blade lightly with a finger. The saber gave a clear, bright ring, and a faint chill seemed to seep into the air!
"Not bad, just too light—but it'll do. At least it's handier than an axe." Huang Tian gave it a small swing, and the wind whined in answer.
Zhou Qu was left gaping. A war saber weighing nearly a hundred forty jin, swung so effortlessly—and still called too light! Such strength was truly astonishing—
Once his amazement passed, he opened the six boxes and introduced them one by one. "This is the Snake-shaped Fruit; eating it increases the spiritual energy in your body. This is the Wood Lotus, which greatly improves the efficiency of absorbing spiritual energy. This is the Jade Crystal Flower—"
When he had finished, he added, "This is only the first batch. More spirit plants should be sent later—not only to you, but to others with outstanding talent as well. Right now the nation is recruiting talent far and wide and pouring in resources, hoping that a powerful martial artist capable of standing against Beast General and Lord rank mutant fierce beasts will emerge as soon as possible. It would raise morale enormously."
Huang Tian nodded slightly, quite pleased. With these six spirit plants, breaking through one small stage would be no problem—he might even break through a whole major realm!
"The goods are delivered, my task is done, and so I'll take my leave," Zhou Qu said, brisk and decisive, with no wish to linger.
"I'll see you out."
After seeing Zhou Qu off, Huang Tian returned to the conference room, carried the war saber and spirit plants back to his quarters, and sent a message to Liu Yang and the others saying he needed to go into seclusion for a time. Then he shut the doors and windows tight, rested and regulated his breathing for a while, and swallowed the Snake-shaped Fruit. The fruit dissolved the moment it touched his tongue, and a surge of abundant energy poured into his body—
The afternoon flew by in a blink, and he still had not come out. Another night passed. The next day, as the dawn light spread across heaven and earth, he finally opened his eyes slowly, his aura several degrees deeper and steadier than before his seclusion.
"I took every one of the spirit plants and broke through smoothly to the late first rank, only a little short of completion. Hmm—by Great Yan's system, I'm now a War God realm martial artist!
A brief sensing told him roughly how strong he was now: a hundred tons of force, and a speed of nearly five hundred meters per second. In other words, he could now run at supersonic speed in his own body!
Nor was that all. I had gained something else besides—
He extended the index finger of his right hand, and a point of faint light burst from its tip. The light was crimson, faintly carrying the flavor of burning all things to ash and bringing all things to new birth.
This was the Law of Fire!
"The Dao of this world—its Laws—are similar to the Sea of Chaos of the Illusory Realm, yet different, so I had to derive and adapt them before I could comprehend them. Several days have passed, and I've grasped a little of the meaning of the Law of Fire. Does that count as stepping onto the threshold of the Law of Fire?
In only two or three days, of course, he could not have derived the entire Law. For now he had only done the initial derivation and adaptation, enough to bring himself to the threshold of the Law of Fire.
Still—for an ordinary first rank martial artist to comprehend a trace of a Law—that shouldn't be very common in this universe, should it?"
</br>BASELINE_EDIT_04</br>”,
Chapter 259