A Sudden Change (Please Bookmark)

Glory River Mansion.

Villa, Training Ground.

Fang Xing had later come here several times with Liu Wei to work part-time, but unfortunately, he had never seen Bai Lianyi again.

Perhaps that one time had only been a coincidence.

Even so, Fang Xing was more than happy to take Gu Yun's jobs.

After all, although Uncle Gu was not as skilled as Xia Long, his occasional guidance was far better than Fang Xing fumbling around on his own.

What was more, he had an excellent sparring partner.

Bang! Bang!

Two figures repeatedly crossed paths in the open space. Silver-white fist gloves and a wooden blade clashed incessantly, producing a dense barrage of impacts.

After a long while, Gu Yun stopped and flicked her wooden blade. "No, you're improving way too quickly. It hasn't even been that long, and I still can't beat you even with my Gravity Suit on..."

She narrowed her eyes slightly, like a little fox. "Is my dad's teaching really that amazing? No... if he were that good, he'd have applied to be a teacher or become a private tutor long ago. He wouldn't be patrolling the streets miserably every day... Come on, let's fight again after I turn off the Gravity Suit!"

"I'm a few years older than you, after all... That Gravity Suit is top-notch training equipment. You should keep it on."

Fang Xing felt somewhat ashamed inwardly.

He was two or three years older than her, yet he could only fight her to a draw while she had onefold gravity activated.

I still need to work harder... Why can't this panel let me add points? One-star review!

"No. If I can't even beat you, how am I supposed to achieve defeat without killing and tame my Demonic Nature? The Gravity Suit has to come off..." Gu Yun obviously could not hear Fang Xing's thoughts and answered with utmost seriousness instead.

Cultivating the Demon Blade required opponents weaker than her—opponents whose lives and deaths she could easily control. Only then could she, at the most dangerous moment, use unwavering will to achieve defeat without killing and thereby subdue her Demonic Nature.

The stage of taming Demonic Nature in the Demon Blade was exceedingly precious. Once achieved, cultivating the Ghost God Blade would become almost completely smooth sailing.

There were even rumors that subduing one's Demonic Nature greatly helped with comprehending several demonic path artistic conceptions!

Otherwise, Uncle Gu would not have chosen such a Blade Technique for his daughter and poured so many resources into it.

After some playful sparring, Fang Xing bid Gu Yun farewell and walked out of Glory River Mansion.

Uncle Gu wasn't here this time, so there was no guidance. What a pity...

He took the Maglev Train past the city center. Looking at the dazzling lights outside, he secretly decided to return to his shabby little home and continue training.

Now that the Great Dragon Stance had leveled up, this stance technique truly deserved to be called the most suitable cultivation method for Martial Path Skin and Flesh realm practitioners. Its daily progress was astonishing.

He only needed to invest time into training to rapidly raise his martial arts realm.

Let's see how Gu Yun beats me then.

I can also selectively show off some of it at school and make Xia Long see me in a new light. Maybe I can even fight for a scholarship!

Fang Xing felt rather pleased with himself.

"Happy Garden Community Station has arrived. Please remain seated, hold on tightly, and exit in an orderly manner..."

A smooth Mechanical Voice sounded beside his ears.

Fang Xing got off directly and headed toward his residential complex.

Suddenly!

Boom!

An explosion rang out!

"Hm? What's going on?"

Fang Xing stood frozen in place, somewhat dazed. Still, he had the reflexes of a martial artist and immediately adjusted the Basic Nano Protective Suit on his body to full-body coverage mode.

After the shockwave came a surge of flames and blistering heat.

He saw...

A ball of fire explode in the distance as endless thick smoke billowed upward.

Reinforced concrete buildings shattered, and large amounts of mechanical wreckage flew everywhere... mixed among them were human remains.

It was as though the world had pressed pause at that instant, only to rapidly start moving again.

Roars and curses echoed all around him.

Bang!

Before Fang Xing could react, he felt a tremendous force strike him, sending his entire body flying backward.

"What was that?"

His chest felt tight, though thankfully it did not hurt much.

Only when he lowered his gaze did he see a concrete fragment the size of a human head falling beside his feet.

"Was that a chunk of concrete blasted over by the explosion?"

"With that kind of speed and force... I couldn't have blocked it at all... If I hadn't been wearing the Protective Suit, would I already be dead?"

Fang Xing still looked somewhat blank.

In his previous life, he had been an office drone. Though life had been hard, he had indeed never experienced such a life-or-death scene.

Not even the original owner of this body had any memories related to this.

"Help... help me..."

A groan came from nearby.

Fang Xing turned his head mechanically and saw a young man.

The man seemed to be half-reclining on the ground, several steel bars piercing through his chest. He was clearly another victim of the explosion.

"I..."

Fang Xing had just stepped forward to lend a hand when he saw that the young man's lower body was gone...

He's already... beyond saving.

No, if he gets into a medical pod immediately and has his entire lower body replaced with a bionic body or mechanical structure, he should... he should still be saved!

Fang Xing's mind raced. Just as he was about to act and save the man, another piercing sound suddenly rang in his ears.

—Screech! Screech!

It was as though countless insects were chirping, suddenly overlapping together.

Or perhaps countless instruments had exploded inside his mind at once.

Within the flames and thick smoke, he saw what seemed to be an inexplicable limb emerge.

Even with the dense smoke obscuring it, he could vaguely make out a gigantic creature three or four meters tall, with insect-like compound eyes and mouthparts.

No!

Even its vague, hazy outline seemed to carry some subtle curve that made people unconsciously become absorbed in it, wanting to see it, wanting to study it, wanting more...

"That's... Evil God Kin?"

"Not good, I can't look directly at it! Luckily, the thick smoke is blocking it, so I didn't clearly see the mysterious patterns on its body. Otherwise, I'd be in trouble..."

Fang Xing hurriedly lowered his head and, following the instructions from his textbooks, fled in the opposite direction.

He took one last look and discovered that the young man with only half his body left had long since stopped breathing.

It was that insect chirping! A sonic attack?

I'm fine because I'm wearing a Protective Suit, and even my ears are protected... Ordinary martial artists should be able to endure it too, suffering only light injuries at most. But for seriously injured people, that blow was simply fatal.

Never before had Fang Xing felt the fragility of life as clearly as he did now!

Whoosh!

He accelerated madly, his figure seeming to turn into streaks of afterimages.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Piercing sonic booms erupted in the sky.

He abruptly looked up, his eyes catching the fiery trails of missiles.

Besides that, there seemed to be several figures moving against the fleeing tide, charging toward the location of that terrifying Vassal Race.

"Martial artists!"

"Professionals!"

Cheers erupted from the fleeing crowd.

Fang Xing did not stop running, but his fists clenched tightly. "I..."

All his previous experiences—the ecstatic joy of obtaining the Golden Finger and the small pride he had felt after breakthroughs in his fist technique and Great Dragon Stance—were shattered into pieces at that moment.

"I swear... I'll hold my own Destiny in my hands!"

"I never want to experience something like this, this kind of helplessness, a second time!"

More than ten minutes later, Fang Xing arrived at the school and saw Xia Long standing at the entrance. Like a dean of discipline, he leaned on a greatsword and stared sternly in the direction Fang Xing had fled from.

"Go to the classroom first. You know where the school shelter is. Wait for further notice."

Xia Long gave the order with a serious expression.

Fang Xing nodded.

Of course, he understood that there was no safer place in the surrounding area than Yucai High School.

It was not merely because more than a dozen teachers at the Martial Path Fourth Realm or above were stationed here. More importantly, there was a high-level shelter here, said to be capable of holding out for more than forty-eight hours even against an Upper Family!

There was some unrest on campus, but the situation was generally under control.

Fang Xing glanced around and saw many of his classmates, including Liu Wei.

"Quick, check the Maple Leaf City official website! There's an official announcement!"

No one was in the mood for small talk at a time like this, until a scream pierced their eardrums.

Everyone hurriedly went online and opened the Maple Leaf City official website.

Upper Servant—"Moon Insect Beast"—has been eliminated!

The air raid alert has been lifted! The Imaginary Space tunnel has been closed!

All rescue operations are proceeding in an orderly manner. Residents are requested to remain calm. If you discover anyone displaying abnormal mental conditions, immediately contact the nearest public security unit!

Judging by the time, it had been posted only a dozen seconds ago!

Fang Xing's eyes narrowed.

The Extraterrestrial Evil Gods were the great enemy of the Blue Star Federation, and the war between the two sides had already continued for centuries!

These Extraterrestrial Evil Gods possessed the Authority of "Imaginary Space." They could open void tunnels, bypass the interstellar fortress defenses where the Federation had massed its forces, and deploy Vassal Races into the Federation's inner star systems!

Even though the Blue Star Federation had used every possible means to intercept 99.99% of these attacks, some still slipped through the net.

The attack he had encountered earlier was one such example.

Only an Upper Servant?

The odds of that happening are enough to justify buying a lottery ticket. After all, the original owner never encountered anything like this in his entire sixteen years of life.

Should I move? Uh... setting aside whether I have the money, based on the idea that two shells won't land in the same crater, doesn't that make Happy Home District the safest place now?

He continued reading and discovered that the bottom of the website had already turned black and white.

In this attack, the current confirmed death toll is 134. The number of seriously injured is 528. Mental Contamination assessment in progress...

In order to swiftly eliminate the "Moon Insect Beast," Professionals "Lin Jia" and "Gu Renwang" sacrificed their lives...

Fang Xing could not help but fall silent.

...Gu Renwang?

Looking at the man's portrait, he could not help thinking of Gu Yun.

That man from the Gu Family...

The man who could not earn much money, yet wanted to give his daughter the very best of everything...

The man who had guided him several times...

He had now become a black-and-white memorial portrait.

"Destiny..."

Fang Xing pressed his lips tightly together. His right hand reached forward through the air, but all it could grasp was empty air.