Chapter 23: Hatred Born from Dust

The temperature within the battlefield skyrocketed as Yinghuo summoned roaring flames that burned fiercely. Heat waves rippled outward in successive shockwaves, like cluster bombs detonating one after another. The terrifying inferno threatened to melt everything in its path.

By now, the modified car had barreled onto a desolate single-lane concrete road cutting through barren fields. This rural path lacked even painted traffic lines, with wild grass growing rampant along both sides and stones of every size seemingly rooted in place for decades.

Yet the Yinghuo unleashed by Word Manifestation shattered it all. A superheated domain unfurled in an instant. The vegetation didn’t even have time to catch fire—in the blink of an eye, anything touched by the aether domain crumbled into pure black ash.

The ferocious blaze depleted the oxygen in the air, while countless tongues of pitch-black flame danced gleefully around the modified car. Rocks, poor conductors of heat, swelled violently on their exteriors before shattering apart in midair.

To the pack of He Ju beasts, the flying stone shards were like oil poured on flames. Those writhing in the inferno had high-velocity fragments pierce their main arteries, but the blood that gushed out like fountains was utterly vaporized by Yinghuo.

Countless He Ju beasts teetered on death’s edge, their gut-wrenching shrieks echoing through the sky again and again, like the lamentations of sinners tormented in the underworld.

But Yinghuo’s domain had its limits, and the distant sea of beasts escaped the worst of it.

Shi Zui’s second wave of Hurricane Blade filled that gap perfectly. The gale erupted at just the right moment, the synergy between their two instincts seamless as could be. The wind blades carried no orders to hunt and kill—they were mere couriers for the flames. As the fierce winds roared through, Yinghuo’s influence expanded across the entire field!

If Yinghuo commanded only the element of fire before, now, amplified by Hurricane Blade, it was as if it ruled the world itself.

Ning Wan, who had watched the whole spectacle from thousands of miles away, let out a whoop of “Beautiful!” The interplay of wind and fire left her slack-jawed and her blood pumping. So that’s what Shi Zui had been teaching Xiao Qiu these past two weeks!

Not a bad teacher at all!

Shi Zui had taught exceptionally well. By now, the shadow of death hung over every He Ju beast, yet the two members of Team One showed no sign of halting their release of instincts.

That was because the A-rank He Ju Commander appeared utterly unaffected. It retained its humanoid form, leaping sideways in front of the car to force it to a halt amid the high-speed charge.

Shi Zui could no longer make out the scene outside—the modified car was engulfed in the blinding white glare from Yinghuo. But she knew precisely where the He Ju Commander was.

She was multitasking now, directing Hurricane Blade while piloting the modified car that carried four lives. Shi Zui already had a plan for dealing with this reckless exotic beast. She remembered the two hunting knives she’d tied to Xiao Qiu near the rope bindings that afternoon.

The Five Thunder Array had yet to detonate. The flame-shrouded modified car pressed onward relentlessly, the He Ju Commander’s claws nearly grazing the hood.

In the split second before disaster, Shi Zui wrenched the steering wheel hard to the right. Hurricane Blade took effect, urging the already maxed-out modified car to even greater speeds.

Like a steel behemoth, the modified car smashed ruthlessly into the He Ju Commander. Shi Zui meant to wield the vehicle itself as a weapon—two tons of mass, heedless of whatever lay ahead!

The Yinghuo-empowered hood slammed into the He Ju Commander with crushing force. Accompanied by the A-rank exotic beast’s bellowing roar, a thunderous boom like a massive bell tolled across the open wilderness.

Mr. He’s hands had transformed into pure lupine limbs, his powerful wolf claws bracing against the hood. His flowing sideburns whipped faint trails of pale green through the air. The modified car failed to dislodge it—this freakish physical resilience defied belief.

Fortunately, the elemental weapons had received their detonation orders.

“Boom—”

Gleaming runes of pure purple divine incantations materialized, and a lightning storm erupted with pinpoint accuracy right on the He Ju Commander’s skull.

Blood sprayed in all directions, howls piercing the air. The agony of electrocution sent its muscles into spasms, stripping away all power to resist. Ye Jingqiu’s replicated Yinghuo still burned strong. The opening created by the captain vanished in a flash; her eyes sharpened, and without waiting for further word, tendrils of searing black flame wafted into the beast’s wound.

Its sideburns charred in the blaze. Under this triple onslaught, the mighty He Ju beast finally collapsed, only to be hurled skyward by the modified car’s momentum. It traced a parabolic arc through the air before crashing more than ten meters away.

Shi Zui stomped the brakes hard. The battered modified car carved two deep skid marks into the earth before screeching to a halt.

It all seemed over. Hurricane Blade and Yinghuo faded away. Minutes earlier, the wilderness had thrummed with chaos; now it lay still once more, strewn with countless He Ju corpses amid beds of scorched ash.

The open fields returned to silence, as though the horrifying tempest of fire and wind had been nothing but a dream.

Still rattled, Ye Jingqiu let out a long, shaky breath. Even as she’d unleashed her instinct moments ago, her heart had been in her throat, terrified that one slip might ignite the modified car and doom them all.

The world around them fell utterly quiet. The cloudless night sky arched overhead, and even the stark crescent moon from before now seemed inexplicably softened, its silvery light cascading down in a flood of ethereal glow.

As Ye Jingqiu gathered her wits, flashes of the battle replayed in her mind. She suddenly realized that her control over Yinghuo had been far more precise than the instinct triggered by the copy command earlier.

So, over these past two weeks, she really had been a good student after all, hadn’t she?

From the back seat came Xie Pingzhi’s soft murmurs reassuring Chen Yuan. A faint tang of exotic beast blood lingered in her nostrils. Outside the windows lay patches of charred brown fur and bones. Ye Jingqiu’s thoughts stirred—she realized the captain hadn’t made a sound the whole time.

Shi Zui’s mental strain was heavier than anyone’s. She’d released her instinct while maneuvering the car through wave after wave of beasts. Wasn’t the captain tired at all?

Ye Jingqiu turned surreptitiously, meaning to steal a careful glance at the captain. But the instant she looked, her eyes locked straight onto Shi Zui’s.

Straight into those sharp, unyielding black pupils.

When had the captain started watching her?

Ye Jingqiu suddenly grew restless, a pang of guilt rising as if she’d been caught red-handed doing something wrong—but she hadn’t done anything! Wasn’t checking on the captain just her duty as an upstanding team member?

She was the model student the captain had trained personally, after all. A little concern for her teacher on the battlefield—what was the harm?

With her mind made up, Ye Jingqiu’s gaze darted away for barely two seconds. Then she cleared her throat twice to steady her nerves and looked up again, her expression far less flustered.

The highly strung mental state inevitably bred a weary sense of relaxation, but even in such a moment, Shi Zui refused to drop her guard entirely. Her left hand rested lightly on the steering wheel, her slender, pale fingers taut and distinct, poised to leap from the vehicle or gun the engine at a second’s notice.

The tension in her jawline eased ever so slightly, and the pure black of her disheveled combat gear only accentuated her icy aura.

Still, the captain’s mood seemed lighter now, the boundless moonlight over the open wilderness softening the sharp edges of her features. They no longer carried the same oppressive weight as before.

It might have been only a few seconds, but to Ye Jingqiu, it felt like one or two centuries had dragged by. She watched the captain’s focused gaze flicker for an instant and couldn’t help thinking that Shi Zui could really make a living off her looks alone.

Was the captain about to say something to her?

Recalling the scenes from half a month ago in the Instinct Department’s laboratory, those four short words lingered vividly in Ye Jingqiu’s mind. Back then, the captain had encouraged her with “I believe in you.” Was she about to deliver another dose of motivational guidance now?

As No. 43 Middle School’s perennial bottom-of-the-class student, Ye Jingqiu had rarely heard praise from cradle to grave.

Eagerly lost in thought, she began rehearsing her response in her head with great fanfare. Should she humbly deflect the compliments first, or slap her chest and vow to blaze a trail of brilliance and confidence on the path of Instinct, aiming to become Base’s May Day model worker right after graduation?

Just as her fantasies ran wild, Shi Zui suddenly spoke.

“Get out of the car.”

“Got it, Captain! I’ll keep pushing harder and… wait, what?!”

Ye Jingqiu’s carefully prepared speech evaporated in an instant. She tapped her ear suspiciously and asked timidly, “Captain, could you repeat that?”

Shi Zui was caught off guard by the unexpected reply, but her deep understanding of her teammate’s psyche let her catch on immediately.

It seemed Xiao Qiu really did respond well to encouragement.

Freed from the peak of tension, Shi Zui felt a rare urge to laugh. Her little teammate’s eager expression reminded her somewhat of the ever-impatient Aether—both were remarkably easy to fool, in their own ways.

Having a younger teammate in the squad wasn’t so bad after all. Being chatty didn’t seem like a flaw anymore. Xie Pingzhi’s advice made sense: for a high schooler, talking a lot was just a healthy projection of mental well-being.

Shi Zui raised her right hand to her lips, fist concealing the smile tugging at the corners, and didn’t call out Ye Jingqiu’s little scheme. Instead, she repeated calmly, “Get out. A-rank exotic beasts are masters of disguise. We need to confirm it’s lost all signs of life.”

This was serious business. Ye Jingqiu snapped to attention, affirming her understanding, and hurriedly used the mission as an excuse to tumble out of the door.

Her movements were fluid and impatient, carrying a hint of fleeing the scene.

Shi Zui watched Ye Jingqiu’s retreating back, her own exit pausing for a beat as that strange sense of familiarity washed over her again.

She had just checked on Ye Jingqiu for no other reason than detecting an unusual aura amid the earlier chaos.

This was Ye Jingqiu’s first time unleashing Instinct on the battlefield. Newbies’ initial bursts were rarely stable, yet that strand of Yinghuo had been extraordinarily pure. Its temporal angle and spatial alignment with the Black Flame were flawlessly precise. In terms of raw elemental control alone, Xiao Qiu was already on par with her.

But that wasn’t what puzzled Shi Zui most. What truly drew her attention was the operational path of that Yinghuo—it was nearly identical to the one she herself had unleashed years ago.

This was too odd. The path of Instinct was like a signature; the same ability manifested differently in different hands. So how had Ye Jingqiu achieved this?

Could the Copy directive only capture her from years back?

Now wasn’t the time for such thoughts. Shi Zui suppressed her doubts and shifted her focus to Mr. He, lying a dozen meters away.

She glanced back to ensure Chen Yuan’s mental state remained steady, then swiftly exited and shut the door to keep the foul outdoor stench from wafting in and disturbing Boss Chen.

The ground was littered with severed limbs and mangled remains, the acrid stench of charred protein assaulting the nose. The blackened earth bore scars like open wounds, the battle’s unnatural odors slowly dissipating. Yet the evaporated blood had left a lingering metallic tang, swirling endlessly along this one-way path.

Ye Jingqiu approached Mr. He cautiously, curiosity piqued. Her left hand gripped her only cold weapon, ready to unleash the fully charged Yinghuo at any moment.

In the distance, Mr. He lay in a grotesque half-human, half-beast state, his beastly bones shattered from the modified car’s impact. His neck was nearly severed, the wound a charred, numb mess.

No matter how bizarre an exotic beast, it was still flesh and blood. After intimate contact with the Five Thunder Array—comparable to an A-rank ability—it was surely dead as dead could be.

Yet Ye Jingqiu treaded lightly, applying every skill Shi Zui had taught her over the past half-month to avoid disturbing anything.

Her internal martial arts, learned from the captain, had reached a middling level—enough for silent steps and an ironclad body.

But the vibrant aura she breathed out was like a key unlocking the gates of hell. No one noticed the Candle Dragon Scale in her pocket flicker a few times—just as she took another step forward—

A terrifying creak-creak echoed, followed by that tooth-grinding low moan reverberating once more.

Ye Jingqiu swiftly unleashed Yinghuo to interrupt the bizarre revival, then leaped back to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the captain, her expression grave as she stared at the He Ju Commander in the distance.

Pure Black Flame erupted, but the bone-crunching creaks paused only for an instant before growing louder seconds later.

Incredibly, it still had one last breath. Incredibly, it could cling to life again…

What tenacious vitality! How had humanity ever defeated creatures like this and survived?

Not only Ning Wan was watching via micro-cam; every member witnessing the scene fell silent.

A-rank exotic beasts were exceedingly rare. Before this thing could roar, Instinct Department members had pegged it as a mere B-level little boss. Who could have imagined a high-level exotic beast slipping into human ranks?

After beholding the ferocity of an A-rank exotic beast firsthand, anyone would question the accuracy of the ratings.

Did the Base’s A-grade operatives really possess such power?

Humanity truly wasn’t favored by the heavens. The vast sky seemed far too kind to exotic beasts—it was hard to imagine anything capable of utterly destroying one.

Aether elements gathered. Mr. He’s bones realigned and reformed. Pale cyan fur spread across his still vaguely humanoid frame like a magician’s trick, his charred skin renewed into sleek grayish wolf pelt.

A heavy, rumbling breath echoed through the air. The monster was drawing in vast quantities of oxygen to fuel its regeneration. Reconstructing a body should have been a long process, but for it, it took only a single breath, a single blink.

Its two broken fangs regenerated successfully. Pristine, razor-sharp teeth sprouted anew from the shattered bone, and its unparalleled healing birthed a fresh beast head. Blazing crimson eyes ignited once more.

The He Ju resembled a wolf, with a red head and rat-like eyes. It devoured humans.

“You can never steal true power,” came a low, rumbling voice, like a curse.

Mr. He—no, more precisely, the He Ju Commander. The host who had stood in the spotlight just half an hour ago had become a true beast. Its powerful forelimbs crouched against the ground, its mane bristling fiercely without a whisper of wind.

And yet this He Ju Commander was still speaking in human tongue.

Shi Zui drew her tactical dual-blade knife once more. She had clashed with the Candle Dragon before and had anticipated something like this. But she had to admit, this was the strongest A-rank exotic beast she had ever faced. Even the combined assault of Yinghuo and the Five Thunder Array had failed to fell it. It was downright bizarre.

She replied coldly, matching its tone. “Do you really have to wait until we shatter your heart before you’ll vanish?”

The He Ju Commander regarded the human woman silently for a moment. Its foreclaws raked the ground, effortlessly shredding the concrete pavement with its steel-like talons.

“Human, I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before,” the He Ju suddenly asked, genuine puzzlement flickering in its eyes. “Have your lifespans grown so long?”

Shi Zui didn’t pause in her movements. To an exotic beast, one human probably looked much like another. The captain simply twirled her tactical knife, building up rampage value for one final strike against this He Ju.

But events veered off course like a runaway horse, heading in a strangely ominous direction.

The He Ju, who had been hounding them with curses and low growls just a second ago, suddenly softened. It raised a forelimb, its massive beast head turning toward the distant Imperial Capital. Vast swaths of brilliant artificial light illuminated the city, bright as daylight.

“That place was once a sea of fire. My lord’s Dragon Flame will never be extinguished. The wind elements it stirs can carry us anywhere,” the He Ju said, turning its head back. “But alas, that was ages ago. By the time I was born, all I could see were those red palace walls.”

“Can you understand, humans?”

Everyone tuned into the channel fell silent, wondering if the He Ju had gotten drunk and decided to spill its secrets.

Shi Zui’s expression remained calm. “Of course we can. After all, the sea of fire you speak of was built from the burning corpses of countless humans. And that ‘lord’ of yours? Four years ago, he claimed nearly a thousand lives—ten times the number of He Ju who died here.”

The He Ju flicked its tail. In its eyes, humans weren’t even worthy of being called lives. If it hadn’t been backed into the edge of death, it wouldn’t have bothered conversing with these pests.

“Just a thousand? Your numbers have multiplied far beyond that by now, haven’t they? It’s been centuries, and humans are still clinging to survival here. Have they fallen asleep too?” The He Ju asked curiously once more. “How exactly have you lasted this long? That beast is dead—who’s been protecting you awakeners?”

Ning Wan, Yi Fengyan, Qin Zhimiao… Every Base member watching the battle went pale.

That beast is dead!

Which beast? What exotic beast would ever protect humans?

This was intelligence the Base had never known. The explosion four hundred years ago had destroyed countless records. Compared to these long-lived monsters, the Base—established just over a century ago—was like a helpless infant.

Eons of history concealed too many truths. Nothing endured forever. Of the two races that had survived to this day, only humanity’s hatred for exotic beasts burned on unbroken.

No answer came. The wilds fell silent. But the He Ju seemed to have anticipated as much. It sighed and lightly traced a small circle on the ground with its right claw.

Suddenly, a pale cyan flame bloomed from thin air!