The Lockdown Is Lifted

After thinking it over, Song Chen made a decision.

"First, I'll upgrade my ability. System, upgrade my Lightning Ability."

[Are you sure you want to spend one thousand Killing Value to upgrade your Lightning Ability to B-rank?]

"Confirm."

A streak of lightning flashed through the air and surged into Song Chen's body. A tingling sensation swept over him, and his meridians felt as if they were filled to bursting.

[Upgrade complete. Lightning Ability has evolved into the B-rank ability, Space-Splitting Lightning.]

With a thought, he sent a bolt of purple lightning shooting from his palm. It struck the wall, leaving behind a charred crater.

After the upgrade, the lightning's power had increased severalfold. Its color had changed from deep blue to purple, and both its power and paralyzing effect had improved by several times. He could even release multiple bolts at once.

"Not bad, not bad."

Song Chen was very pleased with Space-Splitting Lightning.

Next, he tried channeling the power of lightning along his blade. He had developed this technique through actual combat over the past few days. Combined with the Blood War Blade Technique, it was devastating.

Now, every slash carried destructive lightning damage. At last, his ability wasn't focused solely on control.

He looked at his hands. In just over ten days, his strength had changed dramatically. If he encountered that Second Rank Black Bear again, he wouldn't need seven strikes. One would be enough.

He stood up and walked to the window.

Outside, night had fallen. Countless Psionic Particles illuminated the starry sky, making it look like something out of a dream. Even after seeing it for years, he still thought the stars were beautiful.

Just as Song Chen was about to rest, he suddenly sensed something strange. A powerful, vast, unfathomable presence descended from the sky.

Song Chen's pupils contracted sharply as he looked up.

In the night sky, a huge shadow was slowly descending. It was a ship—a real spacecraft, not one of the small hovercars he had seen before, but an enormous vessel that could truly soar through the sky.

The ship was more than a hundred meters long, its entire hull silver-white and gleaming coldly in the moonlight. Intricate Psionic patterns were etched across it, with Psionic energy visibly flowing through them.

The spacecraft circled above Anning City, flying so low it nearly skimmed the city walls. Its enormous shadow swept over the city, covering several entire streets.

Song Chen stood by the window, head tilted back, frozen in place. It was his first time seeing a spacecraft. He had seen countless ones in movies in his previous life, but witnessing one in person was an entirely different experience.

It was enormous. It was powerful. Most terrifying of all was the presence radiating from it. One of the auras was so overwhelming it left people gasping for breath. It spilled down from the spacecraft like an invisible mountain pressing on everyone below.

Song Chen's Vitality Value of 9.6 made him feel as tiny as an ant before that presence. He clenched his fists, his palms slick with sweat.

Who was that? What level of strength did they have?

The spacecraft circled overhead once, twice, three times. After two full hours, it finally headed toward the ruins of Evergreen City.

Song Chen left his room and went to the open area in the camp. Many people were already gathered there, staring up at the spacecraft. Martial Artists, soldiers, and staff members alike were speechless before its sheer enormity.

"What is that?" someone asked quietly.

"A spacecraft... It's Great Xia's spacecraft."

"Great Xia? Did it come from Shangjing?"

"Of course. A small place like Anning wouldn't have a spacecraft of that caliber."

"Can you feel that presence up there...?"

Everyone fell silent. That aura was too powerful. It made any thought of resistance impossible.

Song Chen stood among the crowd, listening to the conversations around him.

An old Martial Artist suddenly spoke up. "I reckon that person's here to deal with the Beast King crisis. They must've been sent by Great Xia's higher-ups. That presence up there is from a Sixth Rank Grandmaster, no doubt about it."

A Sixth Rank Grandmaster. At the words, Song Chen's breath caught for a moment. A Grandmaster was a true powerhouse standing at the pinnacle of martial arts.

"All right, stop staring and get some rest. A Grandmaster's here, so things should be fine."

A staff member called out from nearby.

The spacecraft had already gone. There was no point in staying, so Song Chen went straight back.

The next day, Song Chen opened his eyes and sat up.

It was another day to head outside the city. He stretched, feeling the surging Blood Qi within him, then opened the door and walked out of his room.

The atmosphere in the camp was a little strange. At this time of day, the open area was usually filled with Martial Artists warming up, checking their gear, and chatting in small groups. But today, there were far fewer people. The few who were there had gathered together, whispering with complicated expressions on their faces.

Song Chen frowned. He walked over and patted a familiar Martial Artist on the shoulder. "Old Wang, what's going on?"

Old Wang turned around. When he saw him, his eyes lit up. "Little Song, you haven't heard?"

"Heard what?"

Old Wang lowered his voice, though he couldn't hide his excitement. "The First-Level Lockdown Order has been lifted!"

Song Chen froze. "Lifted?"

Old Wang pointed toward the city walls. "Yeah. The announcement only came out a little while ago. Look over there. The Spirit Energy Cannons are already cooling down, and there are half as many patrols!"

Song Chen looked up. On the distant walls, the Spirit Energy Cannons that had been charging for over ten days had indeed dimmed considerably. The Martial Artist patrols moving back and forth along the ramparts had also grown much thinner.

"How could they lift it? What about the Beast King?"

Old Wang shrugged. "I don't know. Here's what I heard: Anning City has been searching for that Fifth Rank peak Beast King all these days, but ever since it was first spotted, they haven't found a trace of it. Yesterday, the Grandmaster from Shangjing flew around the area for hundreds of kilometers, searching near both Anning City and Evergreen City. Still nothing."

"In the end, they concluded that the Beast King was just passing through. It ran off after humans spotted it. After all, it was at a critical point in its breakthrough and didn't want any complications. Since it ran away, they lifted the lockdown."

Song Chen was silent for a few seconds. It ran away? The Fifth Rank peak Beast King that had kept all of Anning City in a panic for over ten days had simply run off? He thought of Researcher Xie lying on a stretcher that day, the terrible wound in her chest, and the scouts who had died horribly. It had... just run away?

Something about that didn't feel right.

Still unconvinced, he asked again, "Is that true?"

"How could an official announcement be false? Besides, the Grandmaster confirmed there's no trace of a Beast King nearby. Everyone's finally relaxed. At least we won't have to spend every day looking over our shoulders."

Song Chen nodded and said nothing more.

He stood where he was, gazing at the distant city walls.

The lockdown had been lifted. What did that mean? It meant there might be fewer mutant beasts outside the city. It meant he couldn't hunt as freely as he had these past few days.

But that wasn't the most important thing. The most important thing was that the lockdown was over and order in the city had returned to normal. Zhao Wei could move freely again.

At the thought, he grew anxious.