This is the Truth of Survival

Night. Starlight streamed through the square window into the training hall.

On the pale wall of the training hall, a video was playing. In it, a figure was battling a dragon-type monster in a mountain forest. Wherever the two clashed, even the wind alone made it hard for nearby Lord Rank monsters to approach.

Finally, the strong one thrust his spear into the dragon-type monster's head. The rapidly flowing air instantly made the monster's head burst open, killing it on the spot.

The training hall echoed with the video's narration. This was one of the clips from the disc that came with the Wind Lifter manual.

"It's an S-rank monster, the 'Blood-Eyed Dragon King.' With such a massive body, its movement speed actually exceeds the speed of sound! And those blood-red eyes have a special mental attack too." Ji Yun watched the video over and over, his heart shaken.

Since only Chen Qingzhi in the entire world had cultivated Wind Lifter to a profound level, and no one else could touch the realm of wind's artistic conception, the disc was entirely filled with Chen Qingzhi's own battle and training videos.

This Blood-Eyed Dragon King ranked S-level among monsters, and was an extremely powerful S-rank at that. The Blood-Eyed Dragon King was originally fourth among dragon-type monsters, and dragon-types were exceptionally rare and strong.

According to the rank distribution—

H-rank, G-rank, F-rank were all Beast Soldier Rank.

E-rank, D-rank, C-rank were all Beast General Rank, respectively elementary, intermediate, and advanced.

B-rank, A-rank, S-rank were Lord Rank!

This Blood-Eyed Dragon King, as a peak high-level Lord, was not only immensely strong, its scales were also very hard—even large-caliber shells couldn't blast through them! With such a huge body, its movement speed could exceed the speed of sound. And it had a mental attack that could make human martial artists lose their wits for an instant. Among Lord Rank monsters, it was extremely powerful...

"The video's done, right? Don't come looking for me if there's nothing else." Chen Qingzhi's calm voice came from the speakers beside the training hall. Then came a soft sigh: "There's another level above artistic conception. What is that?"

Click

The video ended. The projection screen on the wall returned to the starting menu page, which had a long list of videos.

But Chen Qingzhi's last sentence shocked Ji Yun greatly. There was another level above artistic conception! What level was that? Artistic conception was already extremely profound—what could be above it?

"War God Chen Qingzhi says there's a level above artistic conception. What level is that? He's already an invincible War God! Could it be something only those who surpass War God can possess?" Ji Yun shook his head, then suddenly refuted himself: "No, no. The disc also has videos of War God Chen Qingzhi sparring with beings who surpass War God. Though it's only a few exchanges, in terms of realm, War God Chen Qingzhi even seems to be ahead!"

"Could it be that only Hong's level has it?"

Though Ji Yun didn't know the answer to this question, it planted a seed.

One day a month later, Ji Yun was at home training hard in spear techniques when suddenly his father, Ji Shan, notified him to go to the guild hall. When he arrived, Ji Yun finally learned what had happened!

Today, a War God had fallen!

Today was destined to be a sorrowful day for the whole country. On this day, many martial artists outside had lost their lives. Even a War God-rank martial artist had been completely surrounded by an endless tide of rats, trapped in a vast ocean of them.

Yes, a rat tide.

In the southern Jiangnan Base City, a level-three rat tide had erupted. Unlike ordinary beast tides, which were mixed with various animals and could be tracked, rat tides erupted almost instantly, catching people off guard.

This War God, named Lu Gang, had fallen into a siege of countless rat-type monsters.

The rat tide contained not only Beast Soldier Rank rats but also Beast General Rank existences. The leader of the rat tide was extremely intelligent—once it chose a target, it would stop at nothing! It was said that during the human War God's struggle, dozens of tall buildings were destroyed, and probably over a million rat monsters died.

But over a million rat monsters meant nothing to a rat tide numbering in the billions.

Thus, this War God was surrounded by billions of monsters and fell.

Ji Yun was dazed. He had thought War Gods were nearly invincible, that aside from some high-level monsters, no one could kill a War God. But the rat tide had done it.

"A level-three rat tide kills this many people."

"What about the legendary level-one rat tide?"

The war between monsters and humans was a war between two civilizations, two races! Once war began, countless beast tides of all kinds of land monsters, plus all kinds of flying monsters—those that relied on speed, those of immense strength, burrowers, poison types, fliers, sonic attackers...

Before, Ji Yun thought monsters and humans were just hunting each other. Even though he knew many human martial artists died, he had also heard his father talk about how many monsters he had killed. Because he lived in a comfortable environment, he had no idea what price humans had paid to create that environment!

That price couldn't be fully written in textbooks! Just like the fourteen-year War of Resistance before the Great Nirvana in China—it couldn't be fully written!

This was the most terrifying war! If humans didn't keep advancing, they would likely face annihilation.

"Monsters are the true mortal enemy of humanity. Now the oceans belong to the monsters. On land, humans have a slight advantage. In the air, monsters dominate! Humans are forced to defend and counterattack from within base cities!" Ji Yun finally understood the truth of humanity's resistance against monsters. But this truth was paid for with a War God's blood.

That night, Ji Yun returned home, opened the training hall window, leaped up, and landed on the roof.

Ji Yun sat cross-legged on the roof, letting the wind blow.

Gusts of fierce wind battered Ji Yun's body, making him sway. The wind sometimes howled violently, sometimes swirled around him, as if trying to uproot him and hurl him into the sky.

"Wind. This is wind."

Ji Yun's eyes grew brighter and brighter. Following the wind's momentum, he actually let go of control over his body, letting the wind coil around him.

As the wind danced wildly, its force grew stronger. Then rain began to fall from the sky. The rain tangled with the wind, wind and rain mingling, soaking Ji Yun's body.

"Wildly dancing wind, biting wind—this is the artistic conception of wind." Ji Yun laughed freely. He reached out, and the Wind Lifter lying on the floor rose straight up from the room, passing through the window into his hand.

Ji Yun swung the spear. Every thrust, every turn, every movement carried the wind's rotation. Even the footwork 'Wind Motion,' which he hadn't been able to grasp for a long time, gradually revealed its secrets.

"Yes. It should be like this."

"Like the wind—exert force, spin, be sharp, be fast, burst in an instant."

Ji Yun murmured softly, and the spear in his hand spun faster and faster. Finally, Ji Yun suddenly stopped moving, then thrust the spear out. The wind rushing toward him was actually torn open by Ji Yun, dispersing like a gale.

Before this wind force of Ji Yun's had faded, a windless zone actually appeared before him!

"Break." Ji Yun's sharp voice rang out.

Then, the muscles in Ji Yun's arm rippled, and the third layer, which had only just loosened, actually broke through. He thrust his spear out again, and the thirty-twofold force brought by Fierce Wind erupted violently. The gale that had just swept back in after the wind blade vanished was now pushed backward by Ji Yun, and the wind around him was bent to his will. From a distance, it looked as if one man was pushing back against the force of nature itself.

No sooner had he done this than Ji Yun seemed to lose all strength. Carried by the wind, he fell from the window.

Ji Yun remotely closed the window and lay quietly on the training hall floor, as if the fierce wind still raged around him.

Once his emotions had calmed, Ji Yun struggled to sit cross-legged and began practicing the guidance technique and absorbing Genetic Origin Energy.

But this time, the speed of absorption was terrifying.

Ji Yun's body was like a vortex, wildly sweeping in cosmic energy. The hunger brought on by breaking through the third layer of force was continuously filled. Yet no sooner had that hunger been sated than new cells appeared, demanding absorption.

A whirlwind swirled around Ji Yun, shifting the weapon rack. If the villa's materials weren't extremely sturdy, the roof might have been torn off.

By now, the sky was fully bright. Ji Shan came up to check once, but seeing Ji Yun meditating with his eyes closed, he quietly withdrew.

This didn't escape Ji Yun, who had already grasped something of the wind. Even the slightest current of air could be sensed by him within a certain range.

After finishing his cultivation, Ji Yun opened his eyes and said, "So, is this the Gale Artistic Conception?" Though he had only just realized this artistic conception and didn't yet know how to use it, having it was like laying a foundation—he could build whatever he wanted on top of it.

"I feel like my physical condition has touched the threshold of a Mid-Level War General." Ji Yun clenched his fist forcefully. "In just a few days, I'll be able to fully advance."

The next day, Kyoto Base City held a memorial service for the fallen War God, Lu Gang. It wasn't particularly grand. Ji Yun attended to pay his respects and then went home, where he watched the broadcast from Jiangnan Base City.

"Beep!"

A pitch-black, saucer-shaped fighter jet flew over from a distance. The military forces on alert around the Hall of Heroes Funeral Home didn't block it at all. The War God–level powerhouses who had gone in to pay their respects earlier, along with the mayor of Jiangnan Base City and high-ranking officials from both the political and military spheres, all came out to greet it.

The broadcast screen fell silent.

The saucer-shaped fighter jet slowly descended, and its hatch opened.

A lean man with an aquiline nose, dressed all in black, stepped down from the jet's staircase. His expression was grim, and faint tears could be seen in his eyes. As he stood there, it felt as if the surrounding tens of meters were plunged into darkness. He was the god of that tens-of-meters range.

"Councilor Zhu," one of those who had come to greet him said.

"Councilor?" Ji Yun was startled. Someone who could be called a councilor must be beyond War God level.

Then, the television station introduced this powerhouse known as "Councilor Zhu."

Councilor Zhu let out a low sigh, said nothing, nodded to the War God–level powerhouses, the mayor of Jiangnan Base City, the high-ranking officials from Kyoto City, and the military generals who had come to greet him, and then walked straight toward the funeral home.

Funeral dirges echoed throughout the Hall of Heroes Funeral Home as government officials, military generals, War God–level martial artists, and others paid their respects one after another. The national television station carefully recorded everything, and the TV reporter described the scene in front of the camera. Soon, after all the martial artists had finished paying their respects, the live broadcast ended.

"This is the consequence of racial war," Ji Yun said silently in front of the television, his mind churning.

It was entirely possible for monsters to wipe out humanity from the face of the Earth.

"And my strength is still far from enough. At the very least, I need to become an existence beyond War God to protect my family—and even humanity itself!"