Forbidden Zone of the Human Race

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, there were only ten days left before the special students had to be sent to the front lines. Over the past ten days, Xiang Ning had given his mates another class that proved to be extremely effective, immediately shooting him to fame. Now the entire city knew of an extremely young martial mentor in Qiling Academy. Many young people visited him to improve their cultivation, and his name spread quickly.

Xiang Ning hadn’t forgotten about his research. Through deliberate and ‘accidental’ guidance, progress in the spatial plane field soared. A task that had been estimated to be completed in three years had been shortened to just four months. Now they were just one step away from the finishing line. It was Xiang Ning’s last day at the research facility. After this day, he would focus on cultivation in preparation for the battle in ten days.

At ten o’clock that night, Xiang Ning took off his white robes. Many people came to send him off.

“Xiang Ning, if you don’t want to go, I can talk to Mr. Dong about it. What’ll we do if something happens to you on the battlefield?” asked a male researcher.

“Ptui ptui ptui! What’re you talking about? Xiang Ning is the pride of Marsh City, he’ll do well wherever he goes,” said a female researcher who was close to Xiang Ning. Other than Old Jin and Wang Jiayan, she had solved most of the problems in the team—of course, with influence from Xiang Ning.

“Cough cough, right, ptui, ptui! Forget I said anything!”

Xiang Ning looked at his ‘coworkers’ of three months and smiled. “Don’t worry, with my current capabilities, I’ll be fine as long as I don’t fight a Beast General.”

They nodded. Anyone who paid attention knew of Xiang Ning’s strength. They also weren’t very worried about Beast Generals, because there was a saying: if the sky falls, there’s always a taller person. If there were Beast Generals, there would naturally be masters of tier four and higher available to fight them.

“Be careful, though. I received intel from the front lines that says the beasts have gotten more violent and look like they might evolve soon. This is a set of battle armor we all made together. Put it on and you’ll be able to survive even in the face of a Beast General.” Wang Jiayan stepped forward and passed Xiang Ning a microchip. Both of them were now amicable, having the relationship of a senior and junior disciple. Although Xiang Ning’s master was Dong Qianyi, most of the time, Xiang Ning was busy learning and conducting research with Old Jin. He was basically already Old Jin’s disciple, therefore Xiang Ning and Wang Jiayan were fellow senior and junior disciples.

“This is.… Thank you!” Xiang Ning hadn’t known about it at all, and was moved by the gift. The microchip he had been given was a product of nanotechnology. All he had to do was tap on the chip and a wave of nanobots would cover his body, turning into a suit of armor. It functioned the same as the top-ranked armors in the market, like the Roaring Tiger, Dragon’s Cry, and Crescent series.

“What is it called?” asked Xiang Ning.

“Heaven’s Key,” replied Wang Jiayan, with his chin proudly up. He had put a lot of effort into making this set, so he was given the right to name it.

“Heaven’s Key.” Xiang Ning nodded with a grin. “Thank you, I like it.”

“Mm, come back alive.” This time, Wang Jiayan sounded serious, without any of the breezy pride from before.

“I will.” Xiang Ning waved and bade them farewell.

The crowd worriedly looked on.

…...

When he arrived home, his sister was watching a video on television. She didn’t turn when she heard him open the door, just remained silently sitting on the couch. Sensing the change in her emotion, he smiled and sat next to her, pulling her into his arms. She didn’t resist and lay quietly in his arms.

The screen was playing a report on the dead and injured at the front. Looking at the number of deaths reported, Xiang Ning muttered to himself, “Has it gotten so severe already?”

The government wouldn’t have announced the numbers if they had a choice, even keeping the actual situation of the beast invasion under wraps if they could, because it would cause mass panic. This report meant that the situation had worsened to the point of potentially endangering the public. The government had already started preparations—or was already prepared—to evacuate the public in the city. If they didn’t cover the invasion on the news, they would face resistance when giving orders to evacuate. The news report allowed the public to be mentally prepared.

“Big brother, I want to go, too,” came a depressed, muffled voice from within his arms. “I want to stay by your side.”

Lovingly gazing at his little sister, Xiang Ning stroked her hair. “Don’t worry, if the war worsens to that point, the experts of the human race will help fight. They’ve already begun rounding the masters up.” It was the truth. He had been keeping tabs on the conditions at the front lines. In ten days’ time, it wasn’t only the special trainees of various academies that would be sent to battle, even nearby cities would send reinforcements. The total number would be three hundred thousand cultivators, which, to him, was a large number.

But compared to the army of beasts, it was still too small.

The siblings sat in an embrace for a while before Xiang Ning continued, “In the past, I had no choice. But now that there’s an opportunity sitting in front of me, I refuse to miss it.” It was a great opportunity for him to earn Fury and Experience Points. Since he had spent almost all of his money, it was also time for him to make more.

“Mm.” The girl in his arms gently hummed, though he wasn’t sure if she understood.

......

Time passed, as it always did. During the next ten days, Xiang Ning spent a lot of time with his sister, eating everything they wanted and doing all the things they could together. When it was time for him to leave, the corners of her eyes were wet with tears.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Just wait for me to come back—I’ll bring you a gift.” Xiang Ning ruffled her hair, then turned, waved, and boarded the train.

The train had more than a thousand carriages, each of which contained a hundred people. Every person there was at least a tier two, four-star martial artist, which was the minimum requirement for being drafted. They were all grouped into teams of five.

Xiang Ning’s fellow team members were all above tier two, four-star, so they naturally entered the battle as one team.

Doge & Chacha's Thoughts

Battle against the stampede arc is coming up! Woohoo!

Also, Xiang Ning got a new iron ma- I mean, new armor!