Azure Prefecture Shelter

The black shadow gradually grew larger as it drew near. In the end, what entered Ye Xiu's sight was actually a small helicopter.

Yet the helicopter was covered top to bottom in strange armor Ye Xiu had never seen before. It looked far sturdier than any of the ones he had seen online before his transmigration.

The helicopter hovered in midair. Ye Xiu raised one hand to shield himself from the windblown dust while protecting Xu Hualing behind him.

Behind his back, the Soul-Extinguishing Dagger silently took aim at the rotor blades.

With barely more than ten meters between them, Ye Xiu was confident that if they made any hostile move, he could send the helicopter crashing straight down.

When that happened, even if those aboard possessed abilities, they likely would not be able to stop him while falling weightless through the air.

Fortunately, the people on the helicopter showed no intention of attacking.

A ladder was lowered, and several people jumped directly down from above.

The young man at their head warily watched Ye Xiu. Clad head to toe in tightly fitted gear, he gripped a gun as he guarded against the two of them.

"Xu Xiao of the Azure Prefecture Shelter. What happened to this Tyrant N847? How did it die here?"

Xu Hualing had just been about to speak when she saw a flash of excitement cross Ye Xiu's face.

He strode forward, startling Xu Xiao into immediately raising his gun at him.

"Stop! What are you doing?"

Xu Xiao fixed his gaze tightly on Ye Xiu, who seemed to have been startled by him and abruptly raised both hands.

"Sir, I-I mean no harm... My name is Ye Xiu, and this is my younger sister, Hualing. After Jianghai fell, the two of us barely managed to escape..."

Ye Xiu wore an excitement he could not conceal, mixed with a measure of timidity. Xu Hualing, watching from the side, was left somewhat dumbfounded.

No matter what, she could not connect this humble man, practically fawning in his manner, with the Ye Xiu who had dealt with the Tyrant single-handedly. Just as she was about to speak, a somewhat cold voice sounded in her mind.

Hualing, what is this Azure Prefecture Shelter? Tell me through your thoughts. And whatever I say afterward, remember to cooperate with me properly.

As Ye Xiu looked at the fully armed group before him, he could tell through his spiritual energy that they were all ability users.

Silently concealing the Soul-Extinguishing Dagger behind his back, Ye Xiu continued to maintain his act.

After a round of conversation, both sides had more or less exchanged their information.

Xu Xiao looked at Ye Xiu suspiciously.

"You're saying that after the two of you escaped from Jianghai, you hid in this basement, and only came out today after hearing the commotion, then discovered that this Tyrant had died here?"

Ye Xiu hurriedly nodded with a smile. "Sir, that's exactly what happened. This Tyrant was a fourth-tier mutated zombie. How could an ordinary second-tier ability user like me possibly deal with it?"

As he spoke, Ye Xiu waved his left hand. With the motion, a cluster of ice crystals rose from his palm.

Xu Xiao was about to ask something else when a companion beside him interrupted.

"Enough, Brother Xu. Even if all of us went at this Tyrant together, we might not have been able to take it down. Besides, judging by these wounds, they're clearly burns. This definitely has nothing to do with the kid."

Looking at the burns covering the Tyrant's body, Xu Xiao still had his doubts, but he said nothing further.

He waved a hand, and the people behind him stepped forward to begin dismantling the Tyrant's corpse. Ye Xiu took the opportunity to move closer.

"Officers, are you taking the Tyrant's body back with you? Could you give my sister and me a ride afterward? Don't worry, we understand the rules."

Smiling as he spoke, Ye Xiu took out several Soul Pearls and tried to press them into Xu Xiao's hand.

According to the information Xu Hualing had given him, the shelter was currently the largest official human settlement known to the public. If he wanted to settle Xu Hualing down and investigate his younger sister's whereabouts, going to the shelter was unavoidable.

Right now, he was playing the role of an ordinary low-tier ability user. Naturally, when facing someone like Xu Xiao, whose strength and background were both far greater, a little currying favor was necessary.

Seeing the Soul Pearls Ye Xiu offered, as well as the bedraggled Xu Hualing beside him, Xu Xiao's final doubts vanished.

He pushed the Soul Pearls back and gently shook his head.

"The Tyrant's corpse could be preserved thanks to you clearing out the nearby zombies earlier. Consider this mission a favor I owe you. Just come back with us later."

Then, lowering his voice, he added, "Your sister doesn't have an ability, does she? For non-ability users to live in the shelter, the Soul Pearls required aren't a small sum. Keep these for yourselves."

Ye Xiu raised an eyebrow.

He had not expected Xu Xiao to be such a decent person. It seemed that the official shelter still maintained a certain degree of order, and its conditions might even be fairly good.

Ye Xiu quietly considered this to himself. In this apocalypse, maintaining such a disposition was no easy thing.

With a smile, Ye Xiu thanked Xu Xiao for his kindness and stepped forward to help dissect the Tyrant's corpse.

It took the group considerable effort before they finished handling the Tyrant's body.

Once aboard the helicopter, they flew westward. By then, the sky had gone completely dark.

For safety's sake, the helicopter slowed considerably, keeping its disturbance to a minimum.

Amid the silence, Ye Xiu closed his eyes and rested, while the Burning Soul Art quietly began to circulate.

He had previously forced a breakthrough with the help of Soul Pearls, and his foundation was still unstable. If he wanted to advance to Foundation Establishment in the future, the first thing he needed to do was solidify that foundation.

This had to be put on the agenda early. After all, although Fang Qiong and the others in the outer sect would lie low for a while after their previous lesson, Ye Xiu did not believe they would simply let the matter go.

After who knew how many circulation cycles, Ye Xiu felt the helicopter come to a halt with a click.

"We're here."

Xu Xiao's low voice came from beside him. Ye Xiu opened his eyes, only to see a field of white light before him.

His eyes widened, his pupils involuntarily dilating.

In the pitch-black night, an enormous "mountain" stood before them.

Neon lights covered it from top to bottom, illuminating the entire city as brightly as day.

Even from several miles away, Ye Xiu could clearly hear the bustling clamor of human voices.

With lights scattered like stars in the darkness, it felt as though he had been transported into another lifetime. If not for the ruined wasteland still surrounding them, Ye Xiu might have suspected that he had transmigrated back to Blue Star before the zombie outbreak.

Ye Xiu knew that his perspective might truly need to change.

The wasteland he had seen before, along with his life in the cultivation world, had made him instinctively underestimate this world. Even after learning from Xu Hualing about the power of high-tier ability users, he had merely become a little more serious.

But the shelter before him was telling Ye Xiu that this world, from which he had been separated for ten years, was absolutely not as simple as he had imagined!