Chapter 17: Jing Xia
Chapter 17: Jing Xia
"Liu Wei... There's definitely something he's hiding from me!"
After school, Fang Xing did not go home with Liu Wei. Instead, he walked alone towards the Happy Homes residential area.
On the white dam, the river murmured as it flowed, the sound of water ever-present.
Fang Xing, however, knew that their relationship could never go back to how it used to be.
'If it were the original body's owner, he would probably be very sad now. After all, they were close friends. But to me, he's just an ordinary friend...'
He sighed, returned to his dorm, and prepared to traverse once more.
...
In the alternate world, at the temporary camp.
Fang Xing started his routine with stance training, followed by his daily digging to modify and expand the camp. Afterward, he continued his language studies of this world.
Under the influence of multiple effects, his progress was remarkably fast.
Chatter!
Just as he was practicing, the mimic birds returned, their claws holding stone blocks and beetle-shaped monitors.
'Recycling these items is also important...'
'Even though this world is completely different from the Blue Star Federation, with no unified order, and their impoverished imagination might not even fathom the concept of traversing... If these monitors are discovered, they might be regarded as intricate puppets...'
'But perfection is still the goal. Don't leave any loose ends... Even if they are broken, all monitors must be retrieved.'
'Now that I have an ample supply of Qi and Blood Pills, there's no need to rush. I'll focus on mastering the language first.'
Fang Xing had already planned out his next steps.
Fortunately, the semester was coming to an end, and after the final exams, there would be a two-month vacation.
By then, it wouldn't be too late to thoroughly explore this alternate world.
After all, with daily classes as a constraint, he could only explore at night or on weekends, which was less than ideal.
...
Early morning.
Fang Xing jogged towards Yucai High School.
'These Qi and Blood Pills are truly potent. If I combine them with the Grand Dragon Stance, I should be able to perfect my fleshly body before the final exams... At the end of my first year, my body will be perfected? That's barely passable, but at least I'll have some hope of getting into university.'
As he ran, Fang Xing's thoughts raced.
'By then, with the aid of the pills, my Grand Dragon Stance should be able to enter the third stage. Even if my Jade Skin is exposed, it won't matter, and it might even attract more investors...'
The streets were quiet in the morning, and there were few pedestrians along the path by the river dam.
The only exception was a mature lady wearing a tracksuit and a duck tongue cap, who was out walking her dog.
"Bully Dog?"
Fang Xing glanced at the dog, slightly puzzled.
After all, it was quite unusual for a girl to own such a large and intimidating dog.
As if drawn by his gaze, the Bully Dog leaped forward and landed in front of him, its face contorted in a menacing snarl.
For some reason, Fang Xing felt a sense of impending danger!
'How can I, a proud owner of perfected Jade Skin, feel threatened by a mere dog?'
Fang Xing's heart stirred, and he felt a tinge of strangeness.
"Ginger! Sit!"
Just then, the lady with the duck tongue cap spoke up sharply.
The Bully Dog immediately sat down obediently, but its fierce demeanor remained unchanged.
"Sorry, Ginger is a bit grumpy today," the lady, whose name was Jing Xia, apologized with a smile. "My name is Jing Xia. What's your name, little brother?"
"When I'm out and about, I don't give out my name," Fang Xing replied, shaking his head as he continued running.
"Hehe, what an interesting little brother," Jing Xia said, watching his retreating figure.
Jing Xia's phone rang, and she pulled it out from her waist. After listening for a few moments, her face turned impatient. "You guys are a bunch of weaklings and newbies! You can't even handle a single cultist? Wait for me, I'm coming!"
She put her phone away and pressed her wristband.
Whoosh!
A hoverboard appeared out of thin air and floated in front of her.
Jing Xia stepped onto the hoverboard and, in a swift motion, 'skated' towards the city not far away.
"Woof!"
The Bully Dog, named Ginger, let out a roar, and its back rippled as a pair of demonic-looking wings sprouted. It flew after Jing Xia.
From a distance, Fang Xing watched this display with a grave expression. "To dare to fly so openly, they're either powerful cultists or part of the official force! Even cultists wouldn't be foolish enough to openly fly in broad daylight, so they must be official personnel. But are they martial artists, mecha pilots, ability users, or beast tamers?"
Recalling the strange behavior of the Bully Dog earlier, Fang Xing's face grew solemn as he reached into his pocket.
Within it was a Qi and Blood Pill.
'I've become a bit careless... This dog's sense of smell is incredibly sharp.
Life is always full of surprises... One never knows which will come first, tomorrow or the unexpected."
"But thankfully, they don't seem suspicious."
Fang Xing thought for a moment and decided to stick to his daily routine and head to school.
Moreover, he needed to study hard and perform well on the upcoming final exams.
A little martial arts prodigy would surely attract more attention and investment, and it wouldn't be unusual for him to possess something extraordinary.
...
In the city center, at an undisclosed location.
A huge blast echoed, accompanied by a burst of fiery light and several figures.
Some were clad in pitch-black nanite protective suits, while others had exoskeletons attached to their bodies and wielded large firearms. Their aggressive approach seemed somewhat disheveled.
"It's the 'Blood Descension Sect'!"
One of the team members shouted, unleashing a freezing blast from their exoskeleton.
In an instant, the flames were extinguished, leaving barely any trace of smoke.
"Damn, a secret capture has turned into an open battle... The after-action report is going to be pages longer, and Big Sis will call us a bunch of noobs!"
The team member in the black nanite suit despaired.
To them, the prospect of a lengthy report seemed more terrifying than their "Big Sis."
Roar!
"Here they come!"
Accompanying the strange beastly roars were a trio of monsters charging through the icy snow.
They resembled humans but stood at an imposing height of over three meters. Their bodies were covered in wrinkles and viscous fluids, and various heads were 'grafted' onto their chests and shoulders.
Among them were human heads and those of tigers, leopards, and other wild beasts.
It looked like a haphazardly assembled humanoid.
Even witnessing this sight could inflict a strong psychological impact and shock on those with unsteady minds.
"It vaguely exhibits the characteristics of a lower-level minion with corruption traits... An aberration? The Blood Descension Sect sure loves messing with this kind of stuff."
The first speaker's voice was filled with disgust.
Heretic cult!
This was a cancer within the Blue Star Federation! Those extradimensional evil gods wielded authority over 'transfinite spaces' and could project their power into human domains!
While the Blue Star Federation had established defenses, it was generally more difficult for larger entities to break through! It was like a fishing net; smaller fish and shrimp could easily slip through the mesh, but larger fish were doomed to be trapped! It was easiest to send lower-level minions, but they were of little use against humans.
Only when they reached the level of a familiar did they pose a slight threat, but even that was negligible.
The ultimate goal of the extradimensional evil gods was to descend upon the human domain and unleash rampant havoc!
Of course, such a descent was incredibly difficult! Thus, they settled for the next best option—using familiars to descend with a fraction of their power, 'corrupting' humans into cultists, and then having these cultists figure out a way to 'summon' them.
So far, not a single attempt had been successful. The best they had achieved was through various bloody and cruel means, creating massacres and giving birth to 'evil god offspring'! For this reason, many Blue Star researchers believed that those extradimensional evil gods possessed a certain level of rationality. However, this often contradicted the occasional chaos and madness exhibited by their followers.
It could only be said that even evil gods had to ally with madness, and rationality was always temporary.
The 'Blood Descension Sect' was one of the many heretical cults.
The extradimensional evil god worshiped by these cultists was codenamed 'Infinite Blood Sea,' and its true name was top secret.
After all, even the mere mention of such a being's name or pronunciation could bring about pollution and corruption! Even the deceased 'Star Devourer, Keghtulum' was treated with such caution, as the name recorded in textbooks was not its true name but an alias.
For such beings, their very concept of existence had a duality, and contradictory parties could coexist, with the boundaries between life and death exceedingly blurred.
In the words of the heretics, in the presence of their master, even death would fade away...
"What the hell are you guys doing?"
Just as the monster of the 'Blood Descension Sect' let out a roar, a flying hoverboard descended from the sky.
Swish! A brilliant blade of light descended, cleaving the monster cleanly in two.
Smack! A boot then stomped on one of the monster's heads, causing it to explode like a watermelon, its brain matter and blood splattering everywhere.
Jing Xia looked up at her team members, "Good-for-nothings! Every single one of you is useless! Even my dog is better!"
"Woof!"
Bully Dog opened its mouth wide, wider than its head and body, its blood-filled maw resembling rubber as it expanded endlessly, revealing countless sharp teeth that formed a vortex, devouring the remaining flesh and blood of the monster...
Witnessing this scene, the other team members fell silent: "..."
(End of Chapter)
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