Chapter 003

Chapter 3: A Piece of Land

Liu Shui suddenly opened her eyes, her sharp gaze causing the timid girl to stumble back in fear, her hands bleeding from the friction.

At this moment, Liu Shui seemed like a completely different person. She stood up, her first glance falling on Hu Guan. Her vision blurred as she realized she had been knocked out. Who? How could anyone have such power?

No matter what, she was the captain of Golden Hill Base, having reached the six-seal level, and yet the masked person had effortlessly defeated her. A master like this, and there was no prior hint of their presence.

“When did you wake up?” Liu Shui’s cold gaze swept toward the frightened girl.

The girl whispered, “Just now.”

Liu Shui turned her gaze away, no longer paying attention to her. She shakily rose to her feet, bracing herself against the wall, rubbing her forehead. That strike had been too heavy; it had knocked her unconscious for this long. She walked toward Hu Guan’s body to examine it.

The fatal injury was to the neck, but her eyes focused on the strange wound on Hu Guan’s chest. It was from a Feng Yu dart—her very own Feng Yu dart.

That person wanted to frame her.

Liu Shui quickly put the pieces together. This person wanted to pin Hu Guan’s death on her. How ruthless. She opened the door, dragged Hu Guan’s body outside, and tossed it out. The sound attracted some nearby mutated beasts, which rushed over to devour the body.

The sight terrified the timid girl further. As Liu Shui turned her gaze toward her, she trembled.

Liu Shui coldly said, “Move.” She set a direction and walked west.

The girl let out a sigh of relief, hurriedly following, blood still dripping from her feet, but she didn’t care. She just needed to survive and return to Golden Hill Base.

The scorching sun beat down.

Wang Jie hid in the shadow of the overturned road, the usual path to Golden Hill Base from the east. The two women would surely pass this way if they returned, and it was perfect timing to meet them here.

Ahead, dust rose as cars passed by. Through the windows, a familiar face appeared, nodding at Wang Jie.

Wang Jie returned the gesture, watching the convoy disappear.

That person was also a guide.

Golden Hill Base had many guides. It was a lucrative job and ideal for finding cataclysm materials. Work as a guide for a few years, and you might grow stronger. Many guides even joined hunting teams, though it came with the risk of life and death.

In the guide community, his code name was Weed.

A plant that was hard to eradicate but could never stand out.

Because he always displayed a two-seal level of power. Otherwise, with his knowledge of the wilderness, he would have been spotted by the hunting teams long ago.

No one had arrived yet.

Wang Jie lifted his gaze toward the sky, and under the blinding sunlight, his eyes focused. A figure appeared, constantly performing hand seals. After a while, he felt a shift and raised his hand, pointing forward. The air around his fingertip spiraled and pierced through the ground. Interestingly, there was no change right at the tip of his finger.

Air Severing Qi Force.

It worked.

Wang Jie exhaled slowly. Then, it was time to continue planting.

He closed his eyes and, upon reopening them, everything around him had changed. The burning sun was replaced by a gray sky, and everything was unclear. The only thing visible was the patch of land beneath his feet.

Yes, it was land.

Wang Jie extended his finger, and the shadow of his finger above the land solidified into a clear imprint that fell, like a seed dropped into the soil. This was a technique he had discovered over the years: he could use battle techniques to create imprints above this land and plant them. However, after years of doing so, the land had remained still with no reaction.

He hadn’t hoped for much this time either, used to the silence, but unexpectedly, as the technique entered the land, something changed. Three green shoots sprouted from the fertile black soil, growing rapidly to half a person’s height before slowly blossoming.

Wang Jie watched, finally feeling excitement. There was movement at last.

But soon, the movement stopped. Other than the three half-person-high sprouts, nothing else appeared. Wang Jie circled around the sprouts and found no fruit. What did this mean?

He touched one of the sprouts, and his eyes lit up. He moved to the second, then the third.

He pulled his hand back. Could this really be happening?

Indeed, when he used the finger technique to plant in the land, he had actually grown something—Heaven and Earth Luo Xuan Finger.

It was a technique planted with another technique, just as expected. However, to harvest the Heaven and Earth Luo Xuan Finger, he needed to fertilize it.

The tears of a brokenhearted girl.

A thirty-three-year-old flower.

The severed finger of an evil person.

These three were the required fertilizers, perfect for placing into the three blossoming sprouts. Only then could he cultivate the technique.

Wang Jie didn’t know how to respond. Apart from the evil person’s severed finger, what were the meanings of the other two? He shook his head, the surrounding scene shifting, as Liu Shui’s figure blurred and reality returned.

After some time, occasional convoys came and went.

In the distance, two figures appeared, walking arm in arm, catching Wang Jie’s attention.

Wang Jie raised his brows. So, they were quite the actors. He closed his eyes and waited quietly.

Soon, the two women approached.

Liu Shui spotted Wang Jie, her gaze flashing. He was still alive?

“Is it him?” the timid girl exclaimed.

Without hesitation, Liu Shui walked toward Wang Jie. “Weed?”

Wang Jie opened his eyes, surprised to see them. “You two?” he asked, then scanned behind them. “Where’s that person?”

Liu Shui stared at him. “You don’t know?”

Wang Jie looked confused. “Know what?”

Liu Shui had suspected Wang Jie, though it seemed unlikely because he was too young. “Did you really go to that supermarket?”

Wang Jie nodded.

Liu Shui continued, “After you left, that person left too. We don’t know where he went.”

The timid girl fell silent, her eyes on the ground, where Wang Jie’s footprints were visible.

Wang Jie exhaled heavily, stretching his shoulders. “That person is the one the hunting team is looking for. He’s crafty. That slap he gave me didn’t seal my imprint power, it was just a scare tactic. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have turned on the signal beacon. It would’ve been trouble if I ran into the hunting team at the base.”

“If you two run into the hunting team, don’t tell them who I am.”

Liu Shui was surprised. “You really turned on the signal beacon?”

Wang Jie sighed. “That mutant vine almost killed me. I wanted to use the beacon to draw the hunting team in, but it was too late. Luckily, I managed to escape. Otherwise, I would’ve been dead.”

At this point, he looked at the two women in surprise. “But it’s not easy for you two to have escaped.”

The timid girl glanced at Liu Shui’s back. Escape? No, Liu Shui had killed her way back, slaughtering every mutated beast she encountered.

Liu Shui didn’t ask further. She simply led the timid girl and Wang Jie toward Golden Hill Base.

They soon reached the entrance, where many tents were set up. Not everyone could enter the base. In the ten years since the apocalypse, the base had built a massive wall to keep the mutated beasts out. This had led to the base’s fixed perimeter, limiting the number of people it could house.

Especially for cultivators, the hunting teams expanded their territory, pushing many people out. Unless a beast tide occurred, they couldn’t get in. There was no other choice.

Wang Jie looked up at the towering city wall. The entire Golden Hill Base lay sprawled across the earth.

There were five major bases in Hua Xia now, housing the survivors from the apocalypse. Golden Hill Base was one of them, guarded by Hong Jian, one of the Five Extremes.

Hong Jian commanded a large force of powerful cultivators from the eastern part of Hua Xia, ensuring the safety of the base.

On top of the tall wall, figures stood watch, weapons in hand. Their clothing wasn’t flashy, but it was neat and had protective gear.

Below the wall, countless tents surrounded the base, with ragged people everywhere. In this era, it was a luxury for ordinary people to wear anything clean.

Despite the passage of ten years, humans still lived under immense pressure, unable to care for anything but survival. The mutated creatures outnumbered and outpaced them in evolution.

The three of them successfully entered the base.

Liu Shui wanted to give Wang Jie money, but he refused, feeling awkward since he had essentially abandoned them.

“Take the beast blood. It’s not of much use to me.” The timid girl took out a glass vial and handed it to Wang Jie. The vial contained red liquid that gleamed in the sunlight.

Wang Jie was surprised. “You’ve been carrying this all along?”

Liu Shui hadn’t expected that either.

The timid girl lowered her voice. “Just in case.”

Wang Jie gave her a deep look, accepting the vial and tucking it into his jacket. “Thank you.” He then walked away.

The timid girl watched as Wang Jie disappeared into the crowd. She quietly withdrew her gaze and looked toward Liu Shui.

Liu Shui didn’t even glance at her, walking away. From the start to the end, the girl had always been a tool for Liu Shui’s use. Getting her back had been good enough.

The timid girl bit her lip, then turned back to watch Wang Jie leave. She followed.

The street wasn’t too crowded. It used to be the main road in Golden Hill City, but the neat pavement of the peaceful era was long gone, replaced by mud.

Occasionally, people dragged the bodies of mutated beasts past, and the stench filled the entire street. As she walked, the muddy water splashed onto the timid girl’s legs, but she didn’t care. She kept walking quickly.

“Looking for me?” Wang Jie’s voice came from around a corner.

The timid girl froze, then turned to see Wang Jie, leaning against a wall and calmly watching her.

She walked over, speaking in a low voice. “I want to ask for your help.”

Wang Jie stood straight and walked around the corner. The girl hurried to follow. Around the bend was a pile of garbage, emitting a foul smell.

“What’s the matter?”

The girl looked at Wang Jie, gathering her courage. “I… I want to ask you to help me find my big brother.”

Wang Jie frowned. “I’m a guide.”

“I still have beast blood. You name your price.” The girl raised her voice slightly.

Wang Jie took out the vial she had given him earlier. “Is this the down payment?”

“No.” The girl hurriedly said, “This is for you. If you agree, I can give you more beast blood as a deposit.”

Wang Jie sized her up. “Where did this happen?”

The girl sighed in relief, knowing Wang Jie might agree, and quickly told him the location.

Wang Jie frowned. “That place is very dangerous. You went there?”

The girl hesitated for a moment and nodded.

“Why did you go?” Wang Jie suddenly asked.

The girl didn’t answer.

Wang Jie turned and walked away.

“Wait.” The girl hurriedly called out to him.

Wang Jie turned to look at her. “You have five seconds.”

The girl pressed her lips together and spoke quietly. “I can sense danger.”

Wang Jie was stunned. “Sense danger? What do you mean?”

The girl looked up at the sky. Though she didn’t answer, Wang Jie understood. She was a cultivator.

But he didn’t sense any cultivation power from her.