Joyful Events Abound

Gradually, another month passed. Gao Zheng and He Qishun, who had suffered mental trauma, still had not awakened, leaving Lin Chenxing with no choice but to continue shouldering the heavy burden of developing the Xingyan base.

With the implementation of the first month's training program, the strength of the Martial Artists in the base underwent a heaven-shaking transformation.

Through constant experimentation, the first Martial Artist to kill a monster above his own rank was born. This person was none other than Lin Chenxing's former classmate, Gao Mingyuan. Back then, he was just a student with a slightly sturdy build, distinguished only by his superior hearing. Now, he had become an Advanced Warrior, his physique completely transformed as if he were a different person; his muscles bulged as if power could explode from them at any moment, and he had even grown another four or five centimeters in height.

The reason he was able to kill a monster above his rank was precisely because of his exceptional hearing. He discovered that he could judge a monster's attacks by the sounds caused by air currents, which allowed him to dodge every strike as if he possessed the ability to foresee the future, while also conserving enough energy to deal with subsequent attacks.

It took him only three attempts to progress from an initial struggle that left him exhausted to successfully killing the beast.

Furthermore, as Peng Tianwen experimented with the Mental Power Training Method provided by Lin Chenxing, he finally reached a level of power where he could control four bamboo leaves simultaneously to burst forth with the strength of an Advanced Battle General. In terms of agility and precision, he could also control five threads at once to pass through the eyes of five needles.

The clone bamboo that Lin Chenxing had transplanted immediately after deciding to do so had, as he had originally envisioned, spread around the entire base, forming a Bamboo Forest with a width that slightly exceeded expectations, reaching nearly six meters.

All of this was due to the Martial Artist training program. As the number of monster carcasses brought back by the group increased, the nutrients supplied to the Bamboo Forest grew as well. After absorbing sufficient nutrients, the Bamboo Forest not only became wider, but the quality of each bamboo stalk also improved slightly, with some bamboo leaves beginning to show a metallic luster. Of course, this was also an attempt by Lin Chenxing to utilize his Directed Evolution ability on the bamboo.

Following the success of this attempt, Lin Chenxing also received feedback from the growth of the Bamboo Forest's strength. The bottleneck between Advanced Battle General and low-level War God was directly shattered, and Lin Chenxing finally fulfilled his wish, becoming a War God in just over a year.

Another half a month passed, and while Lin Chenxing's strength continued to grow steadily, good news finally arrived: Gao Zheng and He Qishun had finally awakened. Upon waking, they showed no signs of sadness or grief; instead, they laughed heartily after locking eyes, leaving those around them feeling somewhat confused.

Under their explanation, everyone learned that during their month-long slumber, they had felt as if they were in a bottomless abyss, falling continuously. They had no sense of time, only feeling that it was incredibly long—so long that they had become accustomed to the sensation of falling, which was the reason their expressions had relaxed back then.

After becoming accustomed to it, they began to try and break through the abyss that trapped them, but they could never find a way.

The final method for breaking the deadlock was something no one had expected: letting go of everything and viewing themselves as part of the abyss, merging into it. Surprisingly, the two of them had reached this decision almost simultaneously, even though they had no way of contacting each other. At that moment, the abyss could no longer trap them, and they emerged into the light.

Following this, good news seemed to arrive one after another.

Less than a month later, led by Lin Chenxing and Peng Tianwen, the base's team finally charged into the urban area of Hehe County.

Everything in Hehe County was finally exposed to the eyes of the base members.

Following the introduction by Zhang Xiaoyang and others who had emerged from the Hehe County safe zone, Xi Qing's last shred of hope and strength shattered as she looked at the ruins of what was once the safe zone. This meant she would never see her mother again. Tears began to stream down her cheeks, yet she did not make a sound; this was her final stubbornness.

Lin Chenxing stood in the middle of the team, watching Xi Qing stand silently before the collapsed building that had once symbolized the command center in the heart of the safe zone, her back turned to everyone. He could feel the sorrow radiating from her, but not knowing how to comfort her, he simply quickened his pace, walked to her side, patted her shoulder gently, and then silently continued walking forward.

Xi Qing glanced at Lin Chenxing, who had patted her shoulder. She had wondered if he would say something, but to her surprise, he did nothing more. She didn't say anything either, merely wiping her tears away secretly and continuing to march as if she had never cried.

At this moment, looking at the tragic state of Hehe County, a nameless fury toward the monsters still ravaging the city rose within Lin Chenxing. Every time he saw a monster appear before him, he would thrust his spear, piercing the beast from head to tail.

The accompanying Martial Artists watched Lin Chenxing's actions helplessly, wondering why he was acting so suddenly, as if these monsters were his mortal enemies.

Finally, the anger in Lin Chenxing's heart subsided, and he realized the impropriety of his actions. These monsters were supposed to be for the other team members to practice on, while he was meant to act as a protector, only intervening in the most dangerous situations.

He immediately stopped and said with a hint of apology, "My apologies, everyone. Seeing the state of this place just now, I felt a bit frustrated. We must stick to the original plan; you will handle the combat and kills, and I will ensure your safety."

Everyone expressed their understanding of Lin Chenxing's feelings, adding that if they hadn't been denied the chance to act, they would have wanted to do the same.

Thus, everything returned to the right track.

Within Hehe County, the group discovered a wealth of recorded data on monsters, as well as a piece of Satellite Equipment that was only partially damaged. According to the records found in the scattered documents, this satellite device was exactly what was used for communication between various regions.

This joyous discovery caused the group to cheer, almost forgetting that they were still in monster territory.

Fortunately, most of the monsters in the vicinity had already been killed, and those further away could not distinguish this as human noise, assuming it was merely the howling of other monsters in the area.

Realizing the danger, the group immediately decided to withdraw from Hehe County and hurry back to the base to repair the satellite communication device. In this way, the base, which had been cut off from the outside world, would regain the ability to communicate with the world once more.

However, would those missing and damaged parts be so easy to obtain?