Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Purpose

Wang Jie listened to the broadcast with the others. He could hear Bai Yuan’s resolve in every word.

The night’s assassination attempt had stripped away any illusion. If they hadn’t been prepared, no one knew how much Shang Jing City would’ve lost.

The trialists didn’t care whether Blue Star’s people lived or died. They only wanted resources.

No one knew how many trialists remained outside.

Wen Zhao said only the next batch would know.

And among the third batch, there was a true monster—Yun Lai.

Jia Yi Sect had three great houses: Wen, Yun, and Xiao.

“Yun Lai is a genius among the younger disciples,” Wen Zhao told Wang Jie. “At Ninth Seal, he mastered the complete Eight-Cloud Arrow—one of the Eighteen Ultimate Techniques.”

Her gaze sharpened. “It’s the same as you mastering the full Jia Eight Steps.”

She tapped the air lightly. “How many steps can you take right now?”

Wang Jie’s mood sank. Ninth Seal. A complete Eighteen Ultimate Technique.

He relayed the news to Bai Yuan immediately.

A frantic knock rattled the door.

Qing Zheng opened it—and Sister Tang shoved past him, face sour, eyes fixed on Wang Jie.

“You little brat,” she snapped. “Why is every message from you bad news?”

Wang Jie spread his hands helplessly.

Wen Zhao looked at Sister Tang. “No one can stop Yun Lai. Even if the fourth batch arrives, it likely won’t matter. He’s a transcendent-level powerhouse.”

Sister Tang arched a brow. “Don’t underestimate Bai Yuan.”

“He won’t even get a chance to move,” Wen Zhao said, flat as stone.

Sister Tang’s eyes narrowed. “You’re talking this much—aren’t you afraid you’ll fail the trial?”

Wen Zhao’s gaze drifted away. “No one cares. If you tell secrets to ants, do you worry what the ants will do with them?”

The comparison landed like a slap.

Sister Tang’s face darkened.

But it was the truth.

The more Wen Zhao said, the more it proved Jia Yi Sect’s attitude.

They weren’t equals. They were livestock.

At the same time, Bai Yuan heard it all as well. Wen Zhao’s words were being transmitted almost in real time.

Deep underground, Bai Yuan stared at the screen, expression unreadable.

Zuo Tian stood beside him, brow furrowing. “Fight until Jia Yi Sect acknowledges us… That’s brutal. Are you confident?”

“Not at all,” Bai Yuan replied.

Zuo Tian exhaled. “Then we really can’t escape fate.”

Bai Yuan’s gaze darkened further. He could accept being a war slave. But Bai Xiao couldn’t.

“In the time you have left,” Bai Yuan said quietly, “spend it with your daughter.”

Zuo Tian turned to leave.

“You don’t have a way either?” Bai Yuan asked suddenly.

Zuo Tian stopped, then gave a helpless laugh. “You think too highly of me.”

He paused, then added, “But it’s not impossible. It’s just… not much better than Wen Zhao’s way.”

“Say it.”

Zuo Tian looked back. Cold killing intent seeped into his eyes.

“Kill them,” he said. “All trialists.”

Not defeat.

Kill.

They’d already ordered every base to show no mercy, but that had been determination—not a goal.

This was a goal.

Bai Yuan held his gaze, looking at a young man only a few years older than Bai Xiao.

Zuo Tian’s smile was thin. “If every trialist dies in this trial, then the trial never ends.”

“That treats symptoms,” Bai Yuan said.

“But it buys time,” Zuo Tian replied.

Bai Yuan closed his eyes. “I understand.”

Less than sixty kilometers from Shang Jing City, an armored vehicle crawled along the edge of a broken metropolis.

“Captain,” someone said, voice shaky. “This area should be safe, right? Can we rest for a minute?”

“No,” the captain snapped. “We move. Safe zone doesn’t mean safe. There are still Fourth Seal mutated creatures out here. Sometimes things we’ve never seen before. People die and don’t even know how.”

“Okay…”

Another voice cut in, urgent. “Captain—why is there a black line behind us?”

“A black line?” The captain twisted. “Wait—”

His blood went cold.

“Run! Go—go, go!”

The armored vehicle roared, no longer caring about noise. It tore west at full speed.

Mutated beasts slammed into it along the way, hard enough to rattle the frame and nearly crack the armor.

They braced for another hit—but the beast suddenly abandoned them and sprinted west as if fleeing something worse.

The entire abandoned city erupted.

Mutated creatures ran in panicked waves. Plants crawled up ruined towers like they were trying to escape the ground.

The black line drew closer.

Even at speed, the city’s wrecked streets forced detours.

Then they saw it.

It wasn’t a line.

It was an insect sea.

Endless insects piled and swarmed forward, bouncing in a living tide. The men inside the vehicle went white with fear—the kind that numbed your legs, like standing on the lip of an abyss.

No matter how fast they drove, it didn’t matter.

The insect sea swallowed them.

The vehicle shook under impact after impact—then the insects simply streamed past. They didn’t even stop to attack. They flowed around it like it wasn’t there.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

The men stared, stunned, at the girl riding on the back of a massive centipede alongside the vehicle. She leaned in, tapped the window, and smiled as if they’d met by chance.

They’d never imagined anything like this.

A beautiful girl… in an insect sea?

Was the insect sea sentient?

Hands trembling, they cracked the window. The armored vehicle felt transparent in the face of that tide.

“You,” the girl said brightly, “do you know where Wen Zhao is?”

They stared at each other.

Wen Zhao?

They shook their heads.

The girl frowned and lifted a pale fist. “You sure you don’t know?”

The centipede’s body writhed. Its vicious head turned toward them.

The men’s hearts dropped into their stomachs.

“W-We really don’t know,” the captain managed.

The girl rolled her eyes. “That dead woman has no presence at all. Of course she’s not as pretty as this Miss.”

She patted the centipede and left.

When the insect sea finally moved on, the vehicle sat in stunned silence.

Someone whispered, “Captain… that was headed toward Shang Jing City.”

“Contact the base,” the captain barked. “Now!”

“We can’t reach them!”

The captain’s voice went hollow. “We’re finished.”

Back in the city, Wang Jie was doing his exercises again—this time in daylight.

For the first time, the routine had triggered outside the night.

So the frequency was changing. Probably tied to his body.

This time felt different, too. He was thirsty—but not for water. It was a savage hunger, like his bones wanted to swallow a specific kind of power.

He yanked out disaster materials and absorbed Imprint Power.

The energy poured in fast… but his own Imprint Power didn’t rise at all.

He couldn’t even tell where it went.

He didn’t have time to care. The craving was too extreme. The only way to dull it was to keep absorbing, again and again, for scraps of relief.

“Old Five!” he shouted. “Give me the materials!”

Old Five and the others dumped everything they had into his hands. Watching him move while absorbing, they felt an eerie sense of something fusing together.

But their stock was low. Breaking through to Eighth Seal had burned through too much.

Wen Zhao tossed over a handful of higher-grade materials.

“Thanks,” Wang Jie breathed.

He kept going. Absorb. Move. Absorb. Move.

He didn’t feel tired, but sweat soaked the floor until it stank.

Wen Zhao watched him, frowning.

He’d absorbed far too much Imprint Power—yet his Imprint Power hadn’t increased.

Where was it going?

Old Five and the others watched too, worry creeping into their eyes.

When the Basic Fitness Routine ended, Wang Jie staggered straight into the shower.

The others stared at the puddled floor.

Detox?

By the time Wang Jie returned, the mess had been cleaned.

Wen Zhao studied him closely.

Old Five suddenly blurted, “Old Boss… your skin’s lighter.”

Wang Jie glanced at his arm, startled.

“Impurities,” Wen Zhao said. “Your body’s being purified. Those movements really are cultivation.”

“But my Imprint Power didn’t increase,” Wang Jie said.

“That’s what bothers me,” Wen Zhao replied. “Where did it go?”

Wang Jie looked down at his hands.

His Imprint Power hadn’t risen, but his physical strength had.

Not a little.

It had doubled.

A full twofold jump.

So the routine wasn’t increasing his Imprint Power at all—it was converting Imprint Power into raw physical force.

He didn’t know if that was good or bad.

But a stronger body meant more speed, more defense.

He felt sharpened on every level—far beyond simple addition.

Qing Zheng leaned in, grinning like a scoundrel. “Old Boss, teach us. If it makes your skin better and lighter, that’s a miracle.”

Wang Jie sighed. “If I could, I would’ve taught you already. You’ve watched the movements. You can copy them anytime. It won’t work.”

Wen Zhao nodded. “That’s normal. Jia Yi Sect has methods like this too. They aren’t passed around casually. Each cultivation method needs a matching empowerment. Copying the motions isn’t enough.”

A knock struck the door again.

Old Nine went to open it.

Old Five muttered, “Why is Sister Tang here again?”

Sister Tang stormed in, face grim. “An insect sea is approaching. Prepare for battle.”

Wen Zhao’s face tightened. “An insect sea?”

Wang Jie and the others went still.

Sister Tang’s eyes locked on Wen Zhao. “What do you know?”

Wen Zhao let out a slow breath. “What was coming has come. It’s Chong Ruo Ruo.”

On the east wall of Shang Jing City, Bai Yuan and the others stared out at the black tide creeping across the horizon.

They’d faced countless beast tides and mutated plants in the apocalypse.

But an insect sea?

This was the first time.

Insects were vicious, but they didn’t target humans. They didn’t attack human bases.

Their enemies were mutated beasts and mutated plants.

So why a sea this huge?

Zuo Tian’s gaze flickered. “Release the drones.”

Drones launched in a wave.

The black cloud surged upward—no cloud at all, but flying insects. They slammed into the drones and shredded them from the sky.

But before one drone exploded, it captured a photo.

A massive centipede.

A girl riding on its back.

“Trialist,” Zuo Tian said darkly.

Bai Yuan ordered Wen Zhao brought to the wall.

She was already on her way. Sister Tang arrived with Wang Jie’s group in tow.

Wen Zhao took one look at the photo. “It’s Chong Ruo Ruo. She’s here for me.”

“Chong Ruo Ruo?” Bai Yuan repeated, confused.

Wang Jie barely heard him.

His eyes were on Zuo Tian.

Old Five and the others stared too—calm faces, killing intent underneath.

Zuo Tian met Wang Jie’s gaze and gave a faint, amused laugh. “You really are young. I guessed right.”

Wang Jie’s voice turned icy. “It’s a shame I didn’t kill you two years ago.”

“You were born outside Jin Ling City,” Zuo Tian said. “One of those orphans.”

Wang Jie didn’t deny it.

Old Five sneered. “So was I.”

“And me,” Old Nine said.