novelraw Chapter 441: And Isn’t That a Kind of Genius as Well?
Chapter 441: And Isn’t That a Kind of Genius as Well?
Returning to the training chamber.
The first thing Su Zhan thought of was his three good friends currently stationed at the Iron Wall Fortress in the south.
With a Mist Surge of this scale, even Ocean Realm powerhouses could fall. The three of them, with their Abyss Realm cultivation and stationed on the front lines, their safety was uncertain.
He immediately contacted Liu Ziming through the encrypted communication channel.
The call connected instantly.
Three faces, squeezed together, appeared simultaneously on the light screen.
Liu Ziming, Xu Hao.
And Feng Jue, who was clearly paying attention in the background even though he hadn't crowded in.
"Brother Su!"
Liu Ziming's loud voice rang out first: "Holy crap! Are you okay over there? What's the situation in the Capital? We saw the broadcast cut off suddenly, and right after that, the Mist Surge hit!"Su Zhan saw that although the three of them had bloodstains and dust on their faces, and their clothes were somewhat torn, their spirits seemed quite good.
The stone hanging in his heart settled slightly: "I'm fine, just got back from the Capital. How's the situation on your end? The commotion just now wasn't small."
"Not small? Brother Su, it was more than just 'not small'!"
Liu Ziming patted his chest, still shaken: "It was like the sky was falling and the earth splitting! The Mist came crashing over like a tsunami, and the defensive shields didn't hold for long before shattering!
The monsters were as numerous as a locust plague.
The three of us almost bought it right there on the city wall!
Haozi got a huge gash on his arm, and that guy Feng Jue blocked some massive beast head-on, the impact still has his hands trembling a bit..."
Xu Hao smiled wryly beside him, showing his already simply bandaged arm: "It's just a flesh wound, nothing serious. But it was truly dangerous just now. If the three of us hadn't cooperated with decent synergy, it really might have been curtains."
Feng Jue was concise: "Not dead."
Liu Ziming grabbed the conversation back: "But don't worry, Brother Su! Our Iron Wall Fortress isn't made of mud. At the critical moment, General Shi Potian, who's stationed here, took action.
An Ocean Realm powerhouse!
My god, you didn't see it, it was absolutely savage.
Three Peak Special-risk giant beasts, he smashed them to pieces in a few moves, like cutting melons and chopping vegetables. That scene was so satisfying!"
Xu Hao added: "Yeah, after General Shi made his move, the pressure on the walls eased up a lot. We managed to withstand the fiercest first wave of the assault. We're still clearing out the remaining monsters and reinforcing the defensive lines. We just got rotated down for a short rest."
Su Zhan continued: "It's good that you're okay. You all need to be extra careful yourselves. The battlefield situation changes in the blink of an eye; don't push yourselves recklessly."
"Got it, Brother Su!"
Liu Ziming chuckled: "We value our lives! We're still counting on following you in the future! By the way, Brother Su, do you have any missions on your end? Are you going to pull off something big?"
"Standing by for now."
Su Zhan replied: "You focus on taking care of yourselves first. Work hard to improve your strength and come back alive."
"Absolutely!"
Liu Ziming thumped his chest.
"Don't worry, Brother Su."
Xu Hao nodded.
Feng Jue uttered two words again: "Don't worry."
The communication ended.
Su Zhan looked at the darkened light screen and shook his head helplessly.
His brothers, at a time like this, could only rely on themselves.
With his current status, if he spoke up, forcibly transferring the three of them away from Iron Wall Fortress and arranging for them to be stationed in the relatively safer rear areas... perhaps it wasn't impossible.
He did have the ability to secure a safe position, far from the bloodshed of the front lines, for his three good friends.
For him, it might only require paying some price or owing certain favors.
But...
These three brothers of his yearned to prove themselves on the battlefield, to become stronger, to truly keep up with his pace, not just rely on his protection.
So they definitely wouldn't be willing. They might even think he considered them cowards.
Such an act from him would be the greatest insult to a warrior.
A warrior's dignity, a strong person's path, is never forged through shelter.
Su Zhan understood this profoundly.
He himself had crawled out from countless life-and-death crises.
Without the struggle within the Mist, without those repeated brushes with death and the insights gained, there would be no Su Zhan of today.
They had chosen this path. So, whether they became dragons or worms, they could only rely on themselves to be tempered in this battlefield of blood and fire.
What Su Zhan could do was not to shield them from wind and rain in a greenhouse.
But rather, when they truly faced an insurmountable crisis, just like during the Panshi Fortress incident, to become that final, unyielding barrier with absolute power, cleaving open a sliver of survival for them.
Not to play the role of someone who tries to help the shoots grow by pulling them upward during the trials they were meant to experience.
The path must ultimately be walked by oneself.
Su Zhan then thought of another important mentor.
Teacher Wang Mingyuan, currently stationed at the Raging Waves Fortress in the east. The Mist Surge facing the eastern coast was equally massive.
He immediately tried to contact Wang Mingyuan via the encrypted channel.
After sending the communication request, he waited for about ten seconds.
Su Zhan's brow furrowed slightly, thinking the communication might be jammed or something unexpected had happened.
The communicator finally reacted.
But it wasn't the establishment of a real-time call connection. Instead, he received a hastily left voice message.
Wang Mingyuan's familiar voice came through the channel, though it sounded more urgent than usual. In the background, faint but intense explosions and roars could be heard, clearly indicating he was in the midst of extremely fierce combat.
"Su Zhan? I'm very busy right now! The fortress front is under heavy pressure, I can't break away! Whatever it is, we'll talk next time!"
The words cut off abruptly there.
Su Zhan held the communicator, silent for a moment.
The fact that his teacher could still shout with such vigor meant that although the situation was critical, at least he himself was unharmed and was fully engaged in fulfilling his duties.
In the context of this full-scale war, the busyness of a newly advanced Ocean Realm powerhouse, stationed at a crucial fortress, was unimaginable.
Being able to spare a moment to send a reply message was already pushing the limit.
Su Zhan put away the communicator, no longer attempting to make contact.
Everyone was fighting on their respective battlefields...
Su Zhan stopped distracting himself and plunged completely into cultivation, drawing in the surrounding energy.
The flames of war and clamor outside, the safety of his brothers, all transformed into motivation for his advancement.
...
Eastern Daxia.
Raging Waves Fortress.
The situation here was completely different from the brutal wall assault at Iron Wall Fortress.
Raging Waves Fortress wasn't built on solid land. Instead, it was constructed relying on several massive islands and artificial structures extending into the deep sea, serving as a crucial barrier against Mist invasions from the ocean direction.
At this moment, the entire fortress seemed caught in a never-ending, terrifying storm.
Seawater formed waves tens of meters high, crashing relentlessly against the alloy embankments and energy shields, producing deafening roars.
But the real threat came from underwater, from that unknown domain where Mist and the deep sea intertwined.
Wang Mingyuan stood on the outer edge of the highest command tower on the main island. The sea breeze ruffled his slightly graying temples but couldn't disperse the solemn killing intent between his brows.
He wore a crisp, deep blue general's dress uniform. The insignia on his epaulettes, representing an Ocean Realm powerhouse, shone brilliantly under the glow of spiritual light.
His aura had already reached Ocean Realm Second Stage.
Deeper and more substantial than when he had just broken through a year ago.
In the Ocean Realm, advancing from First Stage to Second Stage within a year, was that not also the mark of a genius?
An SSS-grade Life Soul, combined with the Reforge Fruit, placed his talent completely at the pinnacle of Daxia's talent ceiling.