Xia Zhao

His clothes were completely filthy now, smeared with mud everywhere.

Li Yuan didn't hesitate. Covered in mud, he carried Xia Zhao on his back and continued sprinting into the distance.

This ordeal had jolted Xia Zhao awake, clearing her mind somewhat.

After nearly half an hour of frantic running, Li Yuan and Xia Zhao found an empty building.

It looked like it had once been Qijia Town's old Observation Station.

Seeing this station meant the two had reached the outermost edge of Qijia Town's old district.

Li Yuan's original plan was to go no more than ten li into the depths.

But now, they had likely crossed a hundred li.

Perhaps sensing they were safe, Xia Zhao sank into a deep "sleep" as soon as Li Yuan set her down.

Li Yuan couldn't tell if she was truly asleep or unconscious.

Meanwhile, he began cleaning up the traces they'd left behind.

Every sign of their entry into the station was wiped clean, blending back into the surroundings.

The Observation Station had two major advantages.

First, it was sturdy—its construction standards were nothing like those of commercial housing.

Second, the station had many vantage points for monitoring the outside.

From these positions, a martial artist could easily observe every direction outside.

After handling all this, Li Yuan checked the blast door one more time.

Confirming it was secure, he finally found a spot to sit.

Inside, there were three chairs and even a wooden bed.

Before this, Li Yuan wouldn't have bothered sitting on them.

Covered in dust, they'd dirty his clothes.

But now, it didn't matter. After rolling in mud, he had no right to complain about dirty chairs.

His recent fight with that mutated hound had given him a real taste of how fearsome savage beasts were.

These brutes had a physical toughness far beyond what humans could match.

They didn't learn any martial arts or techniques, yet relying solely on their physical strength, they reached such heights.

If humanity hadn't discovered the path of martial cultivation back then, they'd probably be extinct.

For humans, the sheer power and terror of these savage beasts were only one aspect.

The greatest threat was their intense aggression.

Many savage beasts seemed to prefer treating humans as their food source.

The sky gradually darkened as night fell.

After training their bodies, martial artists improved their eyesight and hearing.

But this improvement could hardly surpass a savage beast's night vision.

At night, staying hidden here was the best option.

In the latter half of the night, Xia Zhao woke up.

Neither spoke. Li Yuan kept watch at the observation point, listening and looking outside.

They simply waited for the sky to brighten.

At eight in the morning, it was fully light outside.

Trapped in the observation room, their eyes met several times, an awkward silence hanging between them.

"I... Xia Zhao..."

"I... Wuling Education..."

Li Yuan paused, giving the false name he had registered.

This was to take responsibility for Deputy Director Zeng Chang.

He didn't want to bring trouble to Director Zeng for giving him this training opportunity.

After exchanging names, another stretch of silence followed.

"Want something to eat?"

Li Yuan asked, pulling a compressed ration from his pack and offering it to her.

Xia Zhao's condition was still poor, somewhat weak.

But her spirits had improved, no longer as exhausted as before.

"If we want to escape, we've gone the wrong way.

There's still a mutated beast behind us. We should take a detour, loop back north..."

What Xia Zhao said was naturally not a problem.

Heading north, the terrain was flatter, making it easier to take a detour back to Qijia Town.

Once back in Qijia Town, the safety of the two of them could naturally be guaranteed.

The threat to their lives would thus be resolved.

But things were never that simple; Li Yuan had long noticed something was off.

"Fleeing north, if we're cautious, we might be able to avoid the mutated beasts' encirclement.

But there's a big problem.

After encountering this mutated beast, all my external communication methods completely failed.

Heading toward Qijia Town, the signal is still extremely poor.

No matter how powerful the beast is, it shouldn't be able to block communication signals, right?"

At these words, Xia Zhao was stunned for a moment.

Communication signal disruption...

She thought of some guesses, guesses that were utterly terrifying and chilling.

The beast mutation might not have been an accident.

Behind it, some force was involved!

The threat of the mutated beasts was already deadly enough.

If some force was added on top of that, surviving would only become harder.

If they really followed the path she had suggested to retreat, the two of them might already be dead.

Another stretch of silence.

In that silence, Xia Zhao figured out many things.

The crises she had encountered before—she could now understand them all.

These current crises were not simply beast mutations.

They were not a natural disaster, but rather more like a man-made calamity.

"So can I ask, about the information on these mutated beasts?"

Li Yuan looked at Xia Zhao and asked calmly.

Xia Zhao thought for a moment, then shook her head.

"Before, I would have explained it to you.

But now, not knowing the relevant situation is actually better for you."

Li Yuan, at thirty years old, no longer had the curiosity of his youth.

She was unwilling to say, and Li Yuan couldn't be bothered to press further.

His purpose in coming to Qijia Town this time was solely for training, to improve and grow, in order to achieve a better result in the Youth Martial Tournament.

As for getting involved in other matters, Li Yuan had never had much interest in that.

Asking was merely to find a way to survive.

To find an opportunity and method to leave this place.

"Aside from the matter of the mutated beasts, you ask, and I'll answer."

Xia Zhao also knew that Li Yuan had saved her life.

The two of them were now trapped in this predicament, facing the same crisis.

With aligned goals and interests, they were solid partners.

Sharing more information with each other was the only way to gain an extra path to survival.

"I want to ask, what level have you reached in your strength?

In a place like this, can you recover your strength?

And, if you recover your strength, can we get out safely?"

Li Yuan's questions were very direct.

In this environment, there was no need for useless talk.

Xia Zhao hesitated slightly but did not hide the truth.

"If conditions allow, give me twelve days. Though I won't be able to recover to my peak state, it will be enough to leave here safely.

But right now, my pack is lost, and I don't even have a single recovery pill..."

Xia Zhao's words actually carried another meaning.

While answering, she was also asking Li Yuan if he had any recovery pills.

Hearing this, Li Yuan hesitated a little.

His own backpack was filthy, caked in mud.

But everything inside was still there, including the remaining three bottles of B-grade Nutrient Fluid.

"My current martial realm is the Eighth Grade Initial Stage. If I were at full strength, I could briefly match the Ninth Grade."

Xia Zhao stated her martial realm outright, hoping to earn some trust.

Hearing this, Li Yuan was startled instead.

"Eighth Grade martial arts? How old are you?"

Faced with this question, Xia Zhao was somewhat reluctant but still answered: "Thirty."

The Eighth Grade martial realm was typically something one could only hope to touch after fifty.

She knew Li Yuan meant no harm by it.

But speaking of her age still made her uncomfortable.

Hearing this, Li Yuan smiled with a hint of helplessness: "Same thirty-year-old middle-aged man, and still far stronger than me..."

The term "middle-aged" didn't bother Xia Zhao at all.

She just couldn't help but complain: "When they want us to work, they say we're young, still youths.

But when we try to claim some youth benefits, suddenly this age gets classified as middle-aged..."