"Look!"
"Did someone just rush over?"
"Wait, who is that kid?"
"Is he insane? Judging by his uniform, he's a high school student!"
...
The queue was moving forward, but everyone's eyes were glued to the scene.
The moment Wang Xian dashed out, he was spotted by the surrounding crowd.
They had thought the two high school students were just whispering to each other.
Who would have guessed that one of them would suddenly bolt forward?
More and more eyes turned toward him, and the moving queue came to a halt once again.
Some gripped the nearby poles tightly.
Others looked down in shame, silent.
Some couldn't help but pull out their phones.
And there were those who shook their heads in exasperation, sighing endlessly.
But the majority...
"This is reckless! He's asking for death!"
"A high school student who hasn't even awakened his martial talent... running in there is suicide!"
"I've always said the country should ban those passionate martial arts anime. They fill students' heads with fantasies of saving the world. It's harmful!"
"I think he's just making things harder for the rescue team..."
"Harder? By the time the rescue team arrives, that kid will already be dead. What a waste..."
"His uniform is from Rongcheng Martial High, a provincial key school. What on earth are they teaching those kids?"
...
Among the crowd, the majority were pessimistic.
Some even hurled harsh words.
"Enough!"
The burly man from earlier suddenly roared, his cold gaze sweeping over those who had spoken ill. "You people, who aren't even half as brave as that high school student, have no right to spout such nonsense!"
His voice was thunderous, instantly silencing everyone.
"And what right do you have to say that to us?" someone snapped back, red-faced. "You're just a third-realm martial artist, and you—"
"I may not be brave enough," the burly man cut in, his eyes locking onto the speaker, "but at least I don't resort to attacking others to soothe my own pathetic sense of morality and responsibility."
"You—!"
"Zhou Tianlong, the first Martial God of Dragon Country, once said: A martial artist can lack many things, but they must never lack the courage to face anything!"
"And yet, isn't he just going to his death?" someone retorted defiantly.
"You say he's going to his death? Then let me ask you this: During the Beast Invasion War and the Seven-Nation Colonization War, if countless martial artists hadn't willingly marched to their deaths, carving out a bloody path, would you even have been born into this era of Dragon Country?"
The speaker was left speechless.
The burly man's icy gaze swept across the crowd, and those who met his eyes quickly looked away, too ashamed to speak.
"That's why none of you are worthy of becoming martial artists!"
"I may not be as brave as him, and neither is any martial artist here who watched that high school student rush forward!"
With that, he stepped forward. Without turning to look at the woman behind him, he simply said:
"Little Li, take care of our son."
"Brother Xiong... you..."
The burly man grinned, his voice softening:
"Oh, and one more thing. There's a secret I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
"In the second layer of the entrance hallway at home, there's a hidden compartment. Inside, you'll find a pair of shoes. Lift the sole, and you'll see a stack of money. Make sure to take it out..."
"..."
"Otherwise, I'm afraid you'll never find it in your lifetime..."
Step by step, the burly man walked toward the railing.
His pace was neither fast nor slow, steady and deliberate.
Behind him, one by one, more figures began to step forward.
By the time he crossed the railing and entered the disaster zone, a faint fiery aura began to rise around his body, enveloping him.
This was the sign of a third-realm martial artist: the ability to externalize their energy.
Only then did the burly man take a deep breath, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
The few martial artists who had followed him were in a similar state.
They hadn't realized it before, but the moment they entered the disaster zone, they were hit with an overwhelming pressure.
And the source of this pressure? It was nothing more than a few faint feathers drifting in the dust.
What's more, the disaster zone was now gradually filling with a faint red mist.
This was a sign of malevolent energy leakage.
Areas invaded by beasts often required a long period of energy recovery before they could be habitable again.
The purpose was to cleanse the malevolent energy left behind by high-level beasts.
"Every step is a struggle..."
The burly man swallowed hard and nodded to the other third-realm martial artists around him.
"Let's do our best..."
"We probably won't be able to save anyone, but at least... we can bring their bodies back intact..."
The group's spirits sank, but they all nodded in agreement.
They didn't believe ordinary people could survive in such an environment.
"By the way, that kid from earlier ran off pretty fast. I haven't seen him yet..."
"The malevolent energy leakage is several times worse than before. Our senses and vision are greatly diminished..."
"If only we had a Divine Intent martial artist... their spiritual power far surpasses that of ordinary martial artists... They could instantly locate their target even in this environment..."
The burly man and the other martial artists supported each other as they slowly advanced.
"This feels amazing!"
Wang Xian ran through the ruins of the disaster zone with his eyes closed.
The malevolent energy seeped into his body, but he paid it no mind.
In fact, he looked almost exhilarated.
"It's like I'm back on the Alien Star Battlefield..."
Wang Xian couldn't quite put it into words.
How should he describe it?
It felt nostalgic.
Like returning home.
Because, on the Alien Star Battlefield, there was no trace of natural energy.
Only the thick, sludge-like 'malevolent energy.'
That place was the main battlefield for the myriad races of the cosmos. S-class beasts? They were child's play there.
Malevolent energy?
Don't get it wrong—that was the only high-level energy martial artists could absorb on the Alien Star Battlefield.
Its proper name: 'Spirit Malevolence.'
It was one of the true cosmic energies.
On Earth, malevolent energy was feared because it could indeed cause devastating damage to ordinary life forms.
The bodies of ordinary and low-to-mid-level martial artists simply couldn't withstand it.
This cosmic energy was far more difficult to absorb and control than Earth's natural energy.
And it was far more potent.
Wang Xian had already tested it on the Alien Star Battlefield—martial techniques fueled by Spirit Malevolence were several times stronger than usual.
If used for cultivation and body refinement, the improvements to one's physique were exponential.
Otherwise, how could those beasts be so powerful?
However, the Spirit Malevolence emitted by high-level beasts carried the will of the beasts themselves, which could destroy the minds of living beings.
Thus, for Earth's martial artists, controlling and cultivating this Spirit Malevolence was currently impossible.
The best they could do was avoid it.
Wang Xian, of course, was different.
He wasn't afraid of the beastly will contained within the Spirit Malevolence.
Not just that.
Even if the Wind King Falcon itself stood before him, he wouldn't so much as frown.
"I thought that after being reborn, it would take at least a few years before I could absorb Spirit Malevolence for cultivation... I didn't expect it to happen so soon."
"Luckily, I had Ye Miyue give me a massage earlier, and I managed to shift my acupoints to barely open a Yang Link Meridian..."
"Otherwise, absorbing Spirit Malevolence would have been impossible..."
Without opening a meridian, it was impossible to absorb any kind of energy.
The result would be the Spirit Malevolence forcibly entering the body, directly destroying cells. At best, death.
At worst, the body would explode.
But with a meridian opened, things were different.
"Now then, Cosmic Body Refinement Technique, activate!"
Wang Xian's lips curled into a smirk as he quickly made his way toward the third-floor balcony in the distance, silently chanting in his heart.