"Silly boy, don't be reckless!" an older woman shouted after Li Hao as he ran off.
"Whose kid is this? What is he even thinking?"
"What kid? Look at him, he's a high schooler—he's of age!"
"This young man looks decent enough! Such a waste, sigh!"
"Hey, miss, why didn't you hold your boyfriend back?"
"He's not my boyfriend, he's my—"
"No need to explain!"
Gu Qianxue blushed slightly upon hearing this.
"Li Hao, I hope nothing happens to you..."
***
Because of the paralyzed traffic, the crowd was moving very slowly.
The moment Li Hao charged in, everyone noticed him.
Who would have thought that a high schooler would leap forward in a situation like this?
What happened here instantly sent the crowd into an uproar.
"What's going on?"
"You have no idea, a high schooler just rushed in there to save people."
"Are you kidding me? There's people like that... This kid is way too reckless!"
"No kidding, probably another hot-headed youth who has no idea how high the sky is or how deep the earth is!"
"Who knows whose kid that is? If his parents find out, how are they supposed to go on living?"
"Look at the kid's clothes—he's clearly from a wealthy family."
"Get out of here! Would a rich kid come save poor people like us?"
"Ain't that the truth!"
"In a minute when the Martial Defense Bureau people get here, they're just going to have one more person to rescue!"
"Yeah! Isn't this just making trouble for the government?"
"Schools nowadays, they're turning kids into idiots!"
***
Most people in the crowd held a pessimistic view.
The words were rough, but they made sense.
From the perspective of ordinary citizens, Li Hao's actions were no different from courting death.
Hearing the crowd's remarks, Gu Qianxue grew increasingly nervous! She truly regretted not holding Li Hao back.
"Enough!"
The short-haired martial artist, who had previously wanted to step in and rescue people only to be held back by his wife, shouted loudly.
"You people refuse to lift a finger to save anyone, and yet what right do you have to mock him here!"
"A high schooler dares to save people—do we adults have any shame left at all?"
The short-haired martial artist's voice was desolate and booming, and the crowd instantly fell silent.
"Hmph! What are you putting on an act for? Why don't you go save them?" someone asked with displeasure.
"I admit I'm a coward, I'm incompetent!" The short-haired martial artist seemed to muster all his courage. "But at least I won't attack someone who is brave."
"Hmph, who can't talk a good game..."
"He is an extraordinary person! If he can survive this, he'll definitely be a great martial artist in the future."
"How can anyone survive in a situation like this?" someone argued.
"Let's not even talk about the ancient martial arts era... At the dawn of the New Martial era, Exotic Beasts invaded Hua Nation, and overseas nations banded together, wanting to swallow up our territory... If countless predecessors hadn't stepped forward one after another, sacrificing their lives, how could we have the Hua Nation of today!"
The short-haired martial artist's words were passionate and filled with power, instantly leaving the crowd speechless and deeply ashamed.
"We martial artists have really lived in vain; we're actually not even as good as a high schooler!"
"Sigh!"
The short-haired martial artist let out a long sigh toward the heavens, as if recalling the path he had once walked.
"So this is what a martial artist is supposed to look like!"
The short-haired martial artist smiled.
Then, he turned to look at the woman beside him. "Wife, I used to be a coward! But I won't be anymore. When our son grows up, you tell him his dad wasn't a coward!"
Looking at the cute child sleeping soundly in his mother's arms, the short-haired martial artist endured a wave of immense reluctance, reached out to gently touch his son's delicate cheek, and instantly burst into tears!
A man does not easily shed tears, unless he has reached the depths of sorrow!
No matter how burly and strong a man is, he has a vulnerable side.
And his wife and child were the only ties the short-haired martial artist could not let go of.
With a choked voice, the short-haired martial artist said, "Wife, take care of our son, and tell him his dad is a hero too!"
"Husband, can't you not go?" The woman was already covered in tears.
"Wife, a true man knows what must be done and what must not be done. Take care of yourself and our son!"
The martial artist turned his head, wiped away his tears, and walked into the darkness without a backward glance.
"Husband, you have to come back alive! Our son and I are waiting for you to come home safely!"
The woman screamed with a heart-rending cry.
At that moment, the onlookers fell completely silent.
Then, one, two, three figures stepped forward, and more and more followed.
They walked into the darkness one after another, facing death as if returning home.
After these martial artists left, the onlookers all stopped moving forward, waiting for the final outcome.
Once the short-haired martial artist and the others entered the disaster zone, they all released their elemental energy outwardly—the hallmark of a Rank-3 Martial Artist.
However, even so, beads of sweat still broke out across the martial artists' foreheads.
"The pressure here is too immense! If this keeps up, our elemental energy won't hold out!"
It wasn't just the pressure; toxic gas and Evil Spirit Energy were also suffusing the air inside.
Wherever Exotic Beasts roamed, Evil Spirit Energy was inevitably left behind.
And Evil Spirit Energy had a devastatingly destructive effect on the human body.
The group gathered together, looking out for one another, trying their best to maintain the circulation of their elemental energy.
"Everyone, be careful! I still have a few detox pills on me, take them quickly," the short-haired martial artist instructed.
"Okay!"
"This soft armor I'm wearing is made from the scales of a fire-attribute Exotic Beast. It generates its own heat and can incinerate Evil Spirit Energy. Everyone gather around me."
"My this..."
Everyone contributed their trump-card treasures. After all, with life and death on the line, nobody held back anymore.
"Whether we can save anyone depends on the will of heaven!"
"Let's move!"
***
"Such a familiar feeling!"
Entering the disaster zone, Li Hao felt as though he were returning home.
The Evil Spirit Energy and toxic gas seemed to have no effect on him whatsoever.
Evil Spirit Energy posed a severe hazard to ordinary martial artists, but for Li Hao, a former Rank-9 Martial King (Peak), it was nothing to worry about.
The Calamity Space Battlefield was permeated with massive amounts of Evil Spirit Energy. There, Exotic Beasts breathed in Evil Spirit Energy just like humans breathed air.
That was why Exotic Beasts were so powerful!
Evil Spirit Energy was a higher-rank and more powerful form of energy; ordinary human bodies simply couldn't endure it.
Only powerful martial artists could convert Evil Spirit Energy into energy for combat.
Otherwise, how could martial artists entering the Calamity Space Battlefield possibly fight?
"I didn't expect to encounter Evil Spirit Energy so soon."
"Thank goodness Qianxue came over to tutor me, otherwise if my meridians hadn't been opened, I really wouldn't have been able to absorb Evil Spirit Energy!"
That's right.
With Gu Qianxue's help and the manipulation of his own powerful spiritual force, Li Hao had managed to barely open his Belt Vessel...
The Belt Vessel was like a belt; it was the only horizontal meridian, circling the waist and serving to restrain the vertical meridians. It was extremely unique and important.
Therefore, the very first meridian Li Hao chose to open was the Belt Vessel.
Without opening the meridians, one could not absorb and refine Evil Spirit Energy.
If the meridians were blocked and Evil Spirit Energy entered the body, at best one would be crippled, and at worst one would explode and die.
In this regard, the ancient martial arts meridian-opening method was truly defiance of the heavens.
However, simply knowing how to open meridians wasn't enough; it had to be paired with a corresponding body-refining technique.
And the Chaos Body-Refining Technique that Li Hao created himself solved this problem perfectly.
Not long after the woman left, she had fallen unconscious. Li Hao checked her body and found that the Evil Spirit Energy had already begun invading her internal organs.
"To be able to hold on until now is truly remarkable!"
Li Hao sighed inwardly, reached out, and pressed his palm against the woman's back.
Wisps of Evil Spirit Energy slowly drifted out, and the woman's complexion improved slightly.
The Evil Spirit Energy had entered her body and already damaged her organs; recovering to her original state would be very difficult.
At this moment, Li Hao had also arrived at the place the woman had directed him to.
Li Hao gently set the woman down, leaped a few times, and jumped into a half-collapsed residence.