Awakening

Olympic Mountains.

The sunset was like blood, dyeing heaven and earth crimson.

Gu Qing stood motionless where he was, like an ancient pine.

After a long while.

He suddenly raised his right hand, fingers pressed together, using his hand as a blade.

Then he slashed forward!

Fine arcs of electricity glowed an eerie red.

They streaked forward at incredible speed like a wave of blade force.

—Sizzle! Sizzle!

The arcs were dense yet did not disperse, their destructive power surging dramatically.

They cleaved every cedar in their path in two before carving deep into the mountainside.

Leaving behind a massive ravine.

Only then did they fade away.

Gu Qing smiled, fairly satisfied with the power of this strike.

A month had already passed since he obtained the Blood Saber Scripture.

During this time, Gu Qing, Matt, and Steve had remained in the Olympic Mountains.

This place was deserted and freezing. As far as the eye could see, rolling mountains stretched endlessly, green cedars and hemlocks stood tall, and the mountain peaks were blanketed in white snow.

Without internet access, they had isolated themselves from the world and devoted themselves to cultivation!

After mastering the Great Blood Saber Technique, Gu Qing had been disappointed because electricity was ultimately not internal energy, and the technique's power had not been quite satisfactory.

So, Gu Qing had decided to condense every move of the Great Blood Saber Technique into a single attack.

An attack better suited to Magnetic Field Rotation!

Today, he had finally succeeded.

He named this move—Blood Saber Slash!

When activating Blood Saber Slash, his Power Flow was greatly enhanced.

It could unleash even more terrifying destructive power!

This would be one of his trump cards!

—Boom!

A figure fell from afar.

He slammed brutally into the mountainside, smashing a crater into the ground.

Steve lay in the crater, his face twisted in pain.

"Fuck! Matt, you're fucking insane!"

Fine currents flowed over Matt's body. His eyes burned brightly as he slowly floated down from the sky.

He looked like a thunder god descending from the nine heavens into the mortal world.

His voice was colder than the mountain air.

"Steve, you have to fight me seriously! Otherwise, how can we unleash our potential, gain greater power, surpass Andrew's strength, defeat him, and stop him!?"

Steve struggled out of the crater.

He looked thoroughly enraged as well. "Fuck! Andrew killed someone. He should be punished by Federation law, not us! We can barely protect ourselves right now. Shouldn't we be thinking about clearing our names and returning to normal lives?"

Matt gave a bleak smile. "Steve, haven't you realized it yet? There is no normal life anymore! Ever since we gained these damned powers, there hasn't been! Stop deceiving yourself, Steve. The only thing that can defeat Current Propulsion is Current Propulsion! The only one who can stop Andrew is me—Matt Garetty!"

Steve said irritably, "Fuck! Fuck! You're really fucking insane! You're all fucking insane!"

Just then, Gu Qing suddenly said, "No. Magnetic Field Rotation can defeat Current Propulsion too!"

Matt looked at Gu Qing. "Erik, I've heard you mention Magnetic Field Rotation before, but what exactly is it?"

Steve also looked over with curiosity.

Gu Qing smiled faintly. "It is a power far beyond Current Propulsion, the ultimate evolution of Current Propulsion! With astonishing willpower, one drives the cells to rub together at higher speeds, generating a powerful magnetic field. Not only does it grant immense strength, it can also influence the vast universe outside. It allows one to command electromagnetism, one of the universe's four fundamental forces! This is the source power of the universe, an indispensable force within it! By possessing and cultivating Magnetic Field Rotation, one can not only strengthen the body at its most basic level, but also achieve Cellular Recombination, material hardening, thought reading, material restructuring, and control over natural phenomena! At greater levels, one can even affect life, causality, fate, space, and time! As one's horsepower rises higher and higher, destroying heaven and earth becomes effortless! One may even gradually master the remaining three fundamental forces of the universe: gravity, the strong nuclear force, and the weak nuclear force!"

Gu Qing looked at Matt. "But advancing from Current Propulsion to Magnetic Field Rotation is far from easy! It requires not only an unbreakably powerful will, but perhaps some luck as well! Do you want this unparalleled power?"

Matt's expression hardened, his eyes shining with tenacity.

"To stop Andrew, I'm willing to try!"

"Very good! Then let me open the door to Magnetic Field Rotation for you!"

—Boom!

They were clearly more than a hundred meters apart.

Yet in the next second, Gu Qing's fist had already arrived before Matt.

So fast!

Matt had no chance to dodge. Relying only on the combat instincts he had forged recently, he crossed his arms to shield his body.

Like a cannonball hurtling at full speed, he shot hundreds of meters away before embedding deeply in the mountainside.

Crash!

Rubble rolled down as Matt, with blood faintly appearing on his body, charged out in an instant.

He was injured, but his Fighting Spirit burned even stronger!

Steve dragged his aching body to the edge of the crater and looked ahead.

Two figures flickered back and forth between the mountains, colliding again and again.

There were no flashy techniques, only brutal fist-to-fist clashes!

Sonic booms erupted through the air from time to time.

Wherever the two landed, the cedars, hemlocks, and rocks that had grown amid the mountains with such vigorous vitality became like fragile lumps of tofu.

They shattered at the slightest touch!

"Damn it! You're all crazy, all crazy!"

Steve yanked hard at his own hair.

His face twisted in anguish.

He thought back on everything that had happened over the past few months.

Why!

Everything had been fine. Just yesterday, they had been friends laughing and fooling around together.

Yet today, they had suddenly become enemies fighting to the death!

Just a moment ago, he had been a prominent figure at Gao Hua Middle School, preparing to run for student council president.

Yet now, he had suddenly become Wanted by the Federation, hiding in these deserted mountains for a month.

And every day, he still had to be tortured by that madman Matt!

Waaah! Why?!

Steve's gaze shifted.

He looked toward the distant city, where scattered lights glimmered.

His home!

"Dad, Mom, are you worried about me right now?"

A month had allowed Steve to recover somewhat from this earth-shattering upheaval.

He worried that his parents had also been coerced by the Federation.

He worried even more about their safety.

After taking one last look at Gu Qing and Matt, who were still fighting.

Or rather, at Gu Qing beating Matt senseless one-sidedly.

Steve then shot off toward Seattle.