Within Yan Mountain

"Again!"

Gu Yan held a wooden sword and faced nine Ability Users.

"Be careful. Don't clash with him head-on." One of the men spoke to his teammates. They planned to surround Gu Yan.

But Gu Yan merely bent forward slightly and lowered the blade. Even though it was wooden, the sword still made his opponent feel threatened.

One had to know that even pistol bullets could barely hurt them anymore.

At that moment, Gu Yan moved. His calves suddenly exploded with power. Without relying on any other abilities, he broke the sound barrier in an instant through sheer physical prowess and charged at his opponent with his sword in hand.

"Scatter!"

But it was still too late. The hilt slammed into one person and sent him flying. The wooden sword flipped nimbly in Gu Yan's hand before he struck another across the side of the neck with its back. The tremendous force cut off the blood flow and knocked the man unconscious.

Two people had been taken down in a single exchange.

Only then did the attacks from their abilities arrive. Gu Yan planted his sword on the ground and rolled aside, dodging both the Ice Cones that tried to attack his legs and the heavy punch aimed at his chest.

"Fall back!"

Unfortunately, Gu Yan was far too fast. He spun his body with the help of his momentum, sweeping out his right foot and hooking the calf of the man who had thrown the punch but failed to withdraw his leg in time. Then he pulled hard.

Bang!

While the man was on the ground, Gu Yan kicked him out of the arena. The entire sequence flowed like water, his movements relaxed and effortless.

Holding the wooden sword level in front of him, he slowly approached the remaining men.

The next moment, screams rang out across the training ground.

"I'm done! I'm done!"

Only then did Gu Yan stop and sit directly on the ground.

"Brother Gu, you hit way too hard!" Zhao Qi clutched his stomach, his voice weak.

"Who told you to use Ice Cones against my legs, and to keep aiming there? I was already being very merciful." Gu Yan snorted unhappily.

"Besides, you've failed to hurt me so many times. You should have been practicing long ago."

A month had passed since his meeting with Morr. During that time, Gu Yan had been practicing with a sword, sparring with the Ability Users of Sea City using only swordsmanship.

He did not think it was useless. On the contrary, when fighting Honkai beasts and Herrschers, the damage caused by coating weapons in Honkai Energy was considerable.

It was worth mentioning that after the First Herrscher died, the Honkai around the world had weakened considerably as well, and no large-scale disasters had occurred.

"Don't spend your rest days doing nothing but eating, drinking, and having fun!" Gu Yan unscrewed a bottle of water and did not forget to lecture them.

"Brother Gu, will we have a holiday for the New Year?" Zhao Qi immediately perked up at the mention of time off. He jogged over with a grin, while the others who had been screaming also fell silent and pricked up their ears.

"How would I know? Probably not." After all, they had not even gotten one for New Year's Day more than ten days ago.

"Huh? No way!"

The screams from the training ground grew several degrees louder than before.

Zhao Qi's mood fell. Gu Yan patted him on the shoulder. "I can't be certain either. It's just a guess. What, do you have plans?"

"Yeah. My goddess is coming to Sea City after the New Year. Of course I have to keep her company!"

"You can ask for leave."

"What if they don't approve it?" Zhao Qi slapped his palms together. "Right! Your sister is A-Class. It'll definitely be fine if you ask her for help!"

"No need. I'll break your legs, then help you reattach them after your leave gets approved." Gu Yan looked at Zhao Qi with a beaming smile. The smile was extremely benevolent.

"Don't worry. I guarantee it won't hurt." After all, she could alter his perception.

"Th-then forget it!" Zhao Qi silently took two steps back. After spotting something, he gestured for Gu Yan to turn around.

"Brother Gu, your sister is waiting for you!"

Gu Yan raised his eyebrows and turned to walk over.

"Looks like you're in a good mood today?" His older sister handed him a trench coat. He could wear very little while training, but the temperature outside was extremely low.

"Not bad." Gu Yan smiled faintly.

"That's good." After checking the time on her phone, Gu Li and Gu Yan left the training ground.

Gu Yan had not been in very good condition this past month. As his older sister and colleague, Gu Li had naturally noticed.

But she would not ask too many questions. They were family, after all, and should respect each other's privacy. If Gu Yan wanted to talk, he would do so naturally.

"You really don't plan to form a team with anyone? Given your influence, even the director would have to let you do as you pleased."

"No team. I can't carry them." Gu Yan knew she was asking about forming a team and taking responsibility for an assigned area.

During this period, Gu Li and the Ability Department's management had learned of Gu Yan's S-Class status, but most of the others still did not know.

"Fine. If working alone becomes too tiring, join my team."

"Huh? Tiring? I'm not even forming a team, and I still have to work? I'm just a support!"

"..." Gu Li said nothing and merely quickened her pace.

"Your silence means I don't have to." Gu Yan scratched his head and took out his phone, tapping away at it.

"You're so slow. Hurry up, it's time for lunch!" When she saw that he had not caught up, Gu Li sighed helplessly.

"You go ahead. I'm heading out for a while."

At Gu Yan's speed, it took no more than ten minutes to travel from Sea City to Kyoto.

After confirming once more that the coordinates were correct and that he was nearby, he descended. However, the moment he landed, several guns were pointed at his forehead.

"Don't move!"

Gu Yan held out his hands to show that he meant no harm, then took an Ability Certificate from Mustard Seed Space.

The certificate still identified him as B-A-Class. He did not know whether it would be useful. If not, he could only trouble the people above to get him out.

They couldn't possibly attack one of their own, right?

A soldier carrying a rifle approached. After inspecting the Ability Certificate, he waved his hand, and the guns were finally lowered.

"This is a no-fly zone. Be careful next time!"

If they had not known he was an Ability User from their own country, he probably would have been shot down by the air-defense weapons long ago—though they would not have been able to stop Gu Yan anyway.

Gu Yan gave an awkward smile and continued toward his destination.

"So this must be the headquarters of the Ability Department." The Ability Department occupied an area no larger than an airport. Its location was fairly concealed, deep in Yan Mountain, where ordinary people could hardly approach. Mountains surrounded it on all sides, and the scenery was quite beautiful.

Only after entering did Gu Yan discover that there were quite a lot of people inside. It could even be described as crowded, as though...

As though it were the start of a new school term?

"Those below B-Class, please proceed to training grounds 1 through 3 for your advancement assessment. B-Class, please proceed to training grounds 4 and 5. A-Class and above, please proceed to the command building." Several staff members were guiding people around. Thanks to his exceptional hearing, Gu Yan heard them clearly.

So today happens to be the internationally mandated Ability advancement assessment? Gu Yan pondered. He had not paid attention to it.

However, he had not come for the assessment. As the first support to be directly advanced to S-Class, he did not need to take it at all.

He had come for two reasons. The first was to receive his S-Class certificate. It symbolized status and standing, and also represented a kind of honor. Although Gu Yan did not care much about those things, he respected that honor.

Moreover, being the first S-Class support was of extraordinary significance and tremendous importance to both him and the world.

The second reason was to spar with Xu Muchi, without using any special abilities—simply to clash with swords.

It was not particularly important, but the round trip would take only half an hour, so Gu Yan did not mind making the trip.

It definitely wasn't because he wanted to take the afternoon off!