Brilliant Jiang Mansion.
Villa, training ground.
Later on, Fang Xing also came here a few times to work with Liu Wei, but regrettably, he never met Bai Lianyi.
Perhaps that first time was just a coincidence.
Despite that, Fang Xing was very willing to take jobs from Gu Yun.
After all, Uncle Gu, though not as skilled as Xia Long, offered much better guidance than groping around blindly.
Moreover, there was an excellent sparring partner.
Bang! Bang!
Two figures interwove continuously on the open ground, as silver-white boxing gloves and wooden sabers clashed incessantly, bursting with dense sounds.
After a long while, Gu Yun stopped, tossing aside her wooden saber, "No way, you've improved so fast. It hasn't been long, and I can't defeat you even with my gravity suit on..."
She squinted her eyes slightly, like a little fox, "Is my dad's teaching really that impressive? No...if he were that good, he'd have applied to be a teacher or a personal trainer by now, not patrolling the streets with such hardship... Come on, let me turn off the gravity suit and fight!"
"I am, after all, a few years older than you... This gravity suit is top-notch training equipment, let's keep it on."
Fang Xing felt somewhat ashamed.
He was two or three years older than his opponent, and yet he could only manage a draw against her when she had double the gravity on.
'I still need to work harder... Why can't I add points to this panel? Negative review!'
"No way, I can't even bring you down, how can I achieve defeat without killing to tame the demon nature? The gravity suit must be switched off..." Gu Yun clearly couldn't hear Fang Xing's thoughts, instead, she seriously responded.
Training in Demon Blade required weaker opponents so that she could easily control their life and death. In the most critical moments, her firm will enabled her to achieve defeat without killing, subduing the demon nature.
The realm of taming the demon nature in the Demon Blade was extremely precious. Once achieved, cultivating the Ghost God Saber was almost smooth sailing.
Moreover, according to rumors, suppressing the demon nature greatly aided in understanding several demon path realms!
Otherwise, Uncle Gu would not have chosen such a blade technique for his daughter and invested a great deal of resources.
After a bout of sparring, Fang Xing bid farewell to Gu Yun and left Brilliant Jiang Mansion.
'It's a pity that Uncle Gu wasn't here to give guidance this time...'
He took the hovering train, passing through the city center, looking at the bustling lights outside, and secretly decided to return to his small abode to continue practicing.
Now that the Great Dragon Stance had upgraded, this pile skill was indeed the most suitable cultivation technique for martial artists in the flesh realm, making daily progress astounding.
He just needed to invest time in training to rapidly advance his martial arts realm.
'By then, let's see how Gu Yun can take me down?'
'I can also selectively display some of it at school, maybe getting Xia Long to regard me differently, and perhaps even vie for a scholarship!'
Fang Xing was quite complacent.
"Happiness Garden District station has arrived. Please hold on tight and exit the train in an orderly manner..."
The smooth mechanical voice rang in his ears.
Fang Xing got off the train and walked towards his district.
Suddenly!
Boom!
An explosion rang out!
"Huh? What's happening?"
Fang Xing stood still, somewhat bewildered, but at least maintaining his martial artist's reflexes, he immediately adjusted his basic nano protective suit to full-body coverage.
After the shockwave, a wave of fire and intense heat swept over.
He saw...
In the distance, a fireball burst open, thick smoke billowing.
Concrete buildings shattered, with lots of machinery debris flying everywhere, occasionally mixed with human remains.
The world seemed to press pause at that moment, then quickly resumed.
Roaring and cursing sounds filled the air.
Bang!
Before Fang Xing could react, he felt a tremendous force strike him, sending him flying backward.
"What is that?"
He felt a throbbing in his chest, but fortunately, it wasn't too painful.
At that moment, he looked down and saw a piece of concrete the size of a human head falling by his feet.
"Was that a piece of concrete from the explosion?"
"That speed and force just now...I couldn't have stopped it... If I weren't wearing protective clothing, would I be dead?"
Fang Xing still looked somewhat bewildered.
In his previous life as an office worker, although it was quite tough, he had indeed never experienced such a life-and-death situation.
Not just him, the original host had no such memories either.
"Help… help me…"
A moan came from nearby.
Fang Xing mechanically turned his head and saw a young man.
The man seemed to be half-lying on the ground, with several steel bars piercing through his chest, clearly also a victim of the explosion.
"I…"
He had just stepped forward to help when he saw that the young man's lower body was missing...
'It's already...hopeless.'
'No, if we immediately get him into a medical pod and replace his lower body with a bionic or mechanical structure, there might still be hope!'
Fang Xing's mind raced, ready to act to save the person, but suddenly another piercing sound reached his ears.
— Squeak!
As if countless insect sounds suddenly overlapped together.
It was like various musical instruments exploding in his mind.
He saw indistinct limbs emerging amidst the fierce flames and thick smoke.
Despite the fog, he could faintly make out a huge object, three to four meters tall, with insect-like compound eyes and mouthparts.
No!
The blurry and hazy lines of the creature seemed to carry a subtle curvature, drawing one in unconsciously, making people want to see more, study more, want more...
"Is that... the Evil God's Clan?"
"No good, don't look directly! Luckily, the thick smoke screened it, and I didn't clearly see the mysterious patterns on its body—otherwise, it would have been troublesome..."
Fang Xing quickly lowered his head and, according to the textbook content, started running in the opposite direction.
He took one last look and saw that the young man who had been half-bodied was already breathless.
'Was that an insect chirp! A sonic attack?'
'I'm okay. I'm wearing protective clothing, even my ears are protected... Though a regular martial artist should also be able to withstand it, at most getting slightly injured, but for the seriously injured, this could be fatal.'
Fang Xing had never felt the fragility of life as clearly as he did at that moment!
Swoosh!
He accelerated madly, his body seemingly turning into a series of afterimages.
Swoosh, swoosh!
In the sky, the piercing sound of sonic booms appeared.
He abruptly looked up, his eyes catching the trail of a missile.
Besides, there seemed to be several figures, moving against the current, rushing toward the dreadful location of the clan.
"It's Martial Artists!"
"It's Professionals!"
People in the fleeing crowd cheered.
Fang Xing's steps did not stop, and he clenched his fists in secret, "I..."
All the experiences he had had before, whether it was the ecstasy of receiving the Golden Finger or the modest pride from breaking through the Fist Technique and the Great Dragon Stance, were shattered at that moment.
"I swear... I will take control of my destiny in my own hands!"
"I don't want to experience this kind of helplessness a second time!"
...
Some fifteen minutes later, Fang Xing arrived at the school and saw Xia Long standing at the school gate, leaning on a giant sword, looking seriously in the direction Fang Xing had fled from.
"Go to the classroom first; you know where the school's shelter is, wait for further notice."
Xia Long instructed sternly.
Fang Xing nodded.
He, of course, understood that in the surrounding area, there was no safer place than Yucai High School.
Not merely because there were over a dozen teachers from the Martial Arts Fourth Realm holding fort but because it had high-level shelters that claimed even if they encountered upper echelon of the clan, they could hold out for over 48 hours!
The campus was somewhat chaotic, but the situation was generally okay.
Fang Xing glanced around and saw many classmates, including Liu Wei among them.
"Quickly check the Fengye City official website; they've made an announcement!"
At that time, no one was in the mood for small talk, until a scream pierced everyone's eardrums.
Everyone hurried online, visiting the Fengye City official website.
[Upper Servant 'Moon Worm Beast' has been slain!]
[The air raid alert has been lifted! The Imaginary Space tunnel has been closed!]
[Rescue operations are being carried out in an orderly manner, please remain calm, and if you notice anyone with abnormal mental states, immediately contact nearby security units!]
Checking the time, it was posted just a few seconds ago!
Fang Xing's eyes narrowed.
The Outer Realm Evil God was a major enemy of the Blue Star Federation, and the war between them had lasted for hundreds of years!
These Outer Realm Evil Gods, having control over 'Imaginary Space,' could open void tunnels, bypassing the Federation's fortified interstellar bastion lines, and deploy their clans into the Federation's heartland star systems!
Even though the Blue Star Federation had intercepted 99.99% of these attacks, there were still some that slipped through.
The attack they had encountered was one such instance.
'Just an upper servant?'
'The odds are enough to buy a lottery ticket, considering the original host never experienced such an event in sixteen years.'
'Should I move? Er... Not to mention whether I have the money, from the point of view that two bombs are unlikely to fall in the same hole, it seems now that Happiness Garden District might be the safest place?'
He continued reading, only to find that the bottom of the site had turned black and white.
[In this attack, the current number of casualties stands at 134, with 528 severely injured, mental contamination assessments underway...]
[In order to swiftly eliminate the 'Moon Worm Beast,' professionals 'Lin Jia' and 'Gu Renwang' have been sacrificed...]
Fang Xing fell silent.
'... Gu Renwang?'
Looking at his image, he couldn't help but think of Gu Yun.
That man from the Gu Family...
The man who might not have earned much but wanted to give his daughter everything best...
The man who had taught him a few times...
He had now become a black and white tribute photo.
"Destiny..."
Fang Xing's lips tightened firmly, his right hand reaching forward to vainly grasp a clump of air.