Chapter 25: Unshaken

Beside the portal stood a base station disguised as a massive boulder. Gu Eleven gazed at the base station for a long while, finally shaking his head, albeit somewhat reluctantly. “If I destroy it, the locals will surely notice.”

Currently, the spatial gate was buried here, and others might not even be able to find it. If he cut off the base station now and Ye Han later moved the portal, then when Gu Eleven wanted to stir up trouble in the future, he feared he wouldn't even be able to locate the gate. The cost outweighed the benefit.

“Forget it. I'll let you off this time!”

Gu Eleven frowned, turned his back, refusing to look at the portal any longer.

“He took all the slaves from this area. Staying here is pointless; it'd be better to return. Once my hands are freed, I can accept the slaves from Baiyang City as well.”

Holding the contract in his hand, Gu Eleven quietly mapped out his plans. After a long while, he seemed to have thought of something, stared at the contract, took a deep breath, and grimaced. “How am I supposed to eat this? It's way too long!”

He brought the contract to his lips, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't bring himself to bite down.

“Can't keep dragging this out. Let's just do it!”

After pondering for a moment, Gu Eleven sensed something was amiss, but finally gritted his teeth, rolled the contract up into a ball, and forced it into his mouth as best as he could.

The next time he opened a storage space, he’d be sure not to place it in his mouth!

Gu Eleven pressed his hands to his mouth, stuffing the contract inside, his face full of frustration.

After about ten breaths, he managed to swallow the contract completely.

He then sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes, as if communicating with something unseen.

Roughly three minutes later, Gu Eleven’s body suddenly radiated a gentle glow, without warning. The light shone through his clothes, illuminating the entire stone chamber.

As time passed, the glow grew ever brighter, so dazzling it was like a thousand-watt bulb, impossible to look at directly.

The whole process lasted ten minutes. When the light reached its peak, it contracted abruptly, vanished without a trace.

Gu Eleven’s figure disappeared with the light, leaving only a palm-sized wooden puppet in the spot where he had been sitting.

The puppet looked utterly decayed, as if a single gust of wind could scatter it into dust.

...

“Seems everyone’s faring rather badly!”

With a pack on his back, walking amidst the ruins left by a nuclear blast, Ye Han felt a sudden sense of amusement.

Along the way, he had passed through more than a dozen cities, almost all of which had suffered heavy damage.

Everywhere he looked, there were only broken walls and shattered remnants. Almost every city was in similar shape.

Ye Han reckoned that aside from the examinees responsible for the nuclear blasts, most other powers had reached a kind of equilibrium. The gap hadn’t widened much.

“The casualties among the natives of Star Xiyuan aren’t too severe.”

Most buildings on Star Xiyuan were constructed from massive stones. Ye Han spread his awareness across the ruins, and found that apart from the epicenter where none survived, those three kilometers from the blast, as long as their strength reached the third tier, most could withstand the aftershock.

---

Some even reached the second tier, allowing them to be immune to nuclear radiation.

He had to admit, the physique of the natives of Xiyuan was formidable, their resilience extraordinary.

“If it weren’t for the continuous tempering of my body through the Liuyan talent, relying on raw physical strength alone, I’d hardly be able to stand my ground!”

Ye Han casually picked up a green glass bead from the ruins.

These beads were scattered within several hundred meters of the blast point, formed when the immense force and heat of the nuclear explosion melted and cooled the sand.

“All of this belongs to the Lunar Sect now.”

As Ye Han stood lost in thought, a figure streaked across the sky above the ruins, looking down from on high, and barked, “Put down what’s in your hand and get lost!”

Ye Han’s physical strength was not yet at the first tier; the newcomer didn’t even regard him as a threat.

To him, not killing Ye Han outright was already an act of mercy.

“Get lost?”

Ye Han pocketed the glass bead, responding coolly, “Why don’t you show me how it’s done?”

A native of the fourth tier, having just learned to soar through the air, dared to look down on everyone.

He really thought himself important?

Ye Han couldn’t even be bothered to look up at him.

With no other binders restricting him, everything within ten miles—every blade of grass, every stir—was within Ye Han’s awareness. Nothing could escape him, including this disciple of the Lunar Sect.

“You’re courting death!”

Seeing Ye Han unmoved and even speaking disrespectfully, the newcomer drew the long blade from his back and slashed, sending a three-foot blade aura toward him.

Bang—

A dull thud mingled with the sound of glass shattering.

The blade aura passed through Ye Han’s body, striking the ground, leaving a half-foot-deep fissure at his feet.

“That’s it?”

Ye Han shook his head dismissively, bent down, and picked up a broken blade from the ruins.

It hadn’t melted in the nuclear blast, so its quality must be decent.

“How is this possible!”

Staring at the unharmed Ye Han and then at his own blade, the newcomer’s face was full of confusion.

He had seen clearly—the blade aura had struck. Even the ground had been split.

“Why not?”

Ye Han blinked, suddenly appeared behind the man, and lightly swept the broken blade across his neck.

Clang—

As the blade met the man’s neck, it rang with the sound of metal striking metal.

It didn’t break through his defense?

---

Ye Han’s eye twitched uncontrollably, his calm expression nearly breaking.

What the hell was this!

Earlier, when the blade aura was unleashed, Ye Han had used spatial teleportation, but only for an instant, before jumping right back.

All happened in a flash, causing the illusion that the attack had hit him.

He’d planned to show off a little.

But this inability to break through the defense made things tricky.

“What martial skill is that?”

When Ye Han appeared behind him without warning, the Lunar Sect disciple was shocked, hastily raising his blade to defend.

He rubbed his neck, finding it only slightly sore, with no other discomfort.

Excitement flashed in his eyes. Pointing his blade at Ye Han’s nose, he abandoned defense and sneered, “Hand over that martial skill, and I’ll let you die quickly!”

“Who dies isn’t certain yet!”

Ye Han sneered, teleported again, retreating several hundred meters.

As the man turned to search for him, Ye Han rushed forward once more, slashing the broken blade at his neck.

“If you want the martial skill, you’ll need to keep up with my rhythm!”

Ye Han shouted, exerted all his strength, hacking at his opponent’s neck, then immediately retreated, avoiding his blade.

With mental coverage and unlimited spatial teleportation, as long as Ye Han didn’t run headlong into the opponent’s blade, he was nearly invincible.

So even if he couldn’t break through the defense, he wasn’t anxious.

Whenever he found an opening, he’d slash at the man’s neck—not caring whether it worked, since he could retreat instantly.

He gave the opponent no time to react.

Again and again, the broken blade struck the man’s neck, and Ye Han gradually found his rhythm.

“Why hasn’t the deadly attribute of Frenzied Dance triggered yet!”

Using this Lunar Sect disciple for live practice, Ye Han’s technique grew increasingly deft, but his heart was full of confusion.

Though Frenzied Dance was best suited for group battles, it still had a basic 1% chance to trigger ‘deadly’ on single-target attacks.

He didn’t have much experience, but he’d diligently slashed the man’s neck four or five hundred times already.

Not triggering even once was excessive!

“Has Lady Luck come visiting today or what?”

Ye Han’s face darkened, beginning to suspect this talent’s attribute was a fraud.

According to the feedback from his awareness, once the deadly attribute triggered, he’d ignore all defenses and inflict direct damage.

With hundreds of slashes delivered, had he triggered the deadly attribute even once, the man before him would already be on his way to reincarnation.