Dawn of a New Era

At first, Chen Shouyi thought his blurry vision was just water from the rain entering his eyes.

But he quickly sensed something was wrong!

Something was very wrong!

Just moments ago, there were students running everywhere, but now they had suddenly vanished.

Everything became eerily quiet, as if the whole world consisted only of the four of them.

"It's coming!" Chen Shouyi warned.

Another flash streaked across, lighting up the night sky.

Xiao Changming slowly unsheathed his sword and signaled to the other three. The two military Martial Artists immediately understood, and the three stood back-to-back, forming a triangle stance, each drawing their swords, fully on guard.

However, Chen Shouyi didn't move, he simply gripped his sword hilt, standing alone on the side, listening carefully to the surrounding sounds, yet he heard nothing besides the rain and the heavy breathing of those present.

Time passed second by second.

The rain fell harder, visibility quickly blurred, and the whole world turned into a dark haze, even the light from the gas lamp twenty meters away grew dim and ethereal.

He could vaguely sense danger approaching but didn't know from where.

Pa-pa-pa...

At this moment, a series of footsteps approached, as if someone was briskly coming from afar. Everyone's heart tightened, ready for combat, yet soon the sound abruptly stopped.

"I'll go check!" The dark-skinned Martial Artist said in a deep voice.

"Be careful, return quickly, and when you spot the target, alert loudly and don't take risks," Xiao Changming said; he didn't refuse, as passive defense here was clearly not a good strategy.

Now with such heavy rain and extremely low visibility, the nearby running students make it difficult for soldiers in the distance to spot them.

"Alright!"

Saying this, he tore through the rain curtain, rushing towards the sound. After running just over ten meters, his figure was completely lost.

Everyone waited anxiously, and a minute passed, yet he still didn't return.

"Something might have happened, let's go find him!" Xiao Changming said gravely.

Pa-pa-pa...

Suddenly, footsteps came again. Chen Shouyi's heart jumped, and he turned sharply to see the military Martial Artist returning from another direction.

"Lao Liu, why did it take so long?" The hefty Martial Artist questioned impatiently.

"Chased far, the rain was too heavy, and I nearly couldn't find you upon returning!" the dark-skinned Martial Artist stated expressionlessly.

"Well, did you find anything after chasing?" Xiao Changming asked.

The dark-skinned Martial Artist shook his head without speaking.

Chen Shouyi instinctively glanced at the dark-skinned Martial Artist, lightning illuminated the sky, casting his face in shadow and light. He slightly lowered his head, his expression gloomy; inexplicably, he gave Chen Shouyi a sense of something sinister and evil.

Suddenly, he thought of something, bit his tongue sharply, and focused his mind intensely.

The next moment, it was as if images were skipping, the whole world trembled slightly, then quickly returned to normal. Yet in that instant, Chen Shouyi faintly saw a horrific scene.

This was not the dark-skinned Martial Artist at all!

It was a youth with eyes as dark as ink, surrounded by a faint black aura like a demon, standing with an eerie smile beside Xiao Changming and the other Martial Artist, his belly bulging like a pregnant woman, seemingly squirming slowly.

Chen Shouyi's hair stood on end, completely unexpected, he was right beside him.

Perhaps sensing Chen Shouyi's gaze, the dark-skinned Martial Artist turned his head expressionlessly to glance at him, then withdrew his gaze upon seeing Chen Shouyi look away.

Chen Shouyi's heart pounded fiercely; he secretly took a deep breath, silently moving closer, step by step.

He walked very slowly, relaxed as if he were just casually moving about.

Until he was two or three steps away.

Clang!

He suddenly drew his sword, thrusting fiercely, moving like wind and thunder. But just as he made contact, the world shook, offering a slight resistance at the sword's tip; the next moment his vision blurred, and the figure was already completely lost.

The three stood back-to-back in a triangle, extremely close to one another. Chen Shouyi's full-force thrust exceeded three times the speed of sound, the fierce sword wind tearing the air apart, the remnant force instantly shredding the camouflage clothing on one side of the two men.

The hefty Martial Artist beside him felt a burning sensation at the waist, turned to see Chen Shouyi wielding his sword and searching around, his anger flared up: "What are you doing, kid?"

Chen Shouyi felt irritated inside, suddenly lifted a foot and kicked him hard in the abdomen, sending him flying: "Shut the hell up!"

Bam!

Wang Yue fell heavily into the mud, rolled several times, clutching his aching abdomen with a twisted expression, nearly passing out from the pain; disbelief overwhelmed him at the speed of Chen Shouyi's movements, too fast for him to react before being hit.

"Fool, see if your buddy is still here? If you keep mouthing off, do you really think I won't kill you?" Chen Shouyi said coldly, while vigilantly observing the surroundings.

Xiao Changming originally prepared to help Wang Yue after he fell, but stopped upon hearing those words.

Having quickly glanced around, his heart jumped – Liu Zhen, who stood beside him moments ago, had vanished.

Wang Yue also clenched his teeth, face pale and forced himself to stand up, his hand firmly gripping the sword, looking around gloomily without a word.

Just now, Chen Shouyi had only made a mock kick; his foot had barely touched the abdomen before withdrawing most of the force. Had it been full force, the body would likely have broken apart.

"What just happened?" Xiao Changming asked solemnly.

"Your comrade is likely dead, the person beside you moments ago was someone else." Chen Shouyi explained gravely, while staying highly alert: "He can deceive our vision!"

"Damn it!" Xiao Changming cursed, his face darkening. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know!" Chen Shouyi replied.

As they spoke, he suddenly sensed a faint airflow change irregularly, as if someone was stealthily approaching him.

This creature really holds a grudge!

He glared fiercely, shouting:

"Die!"

His long sword slashed across, tearing through the thick rain screen instantly.

Yet his hand found only empty air, slashing at nothing again!

Such speed.

A bizarre, eerie laughter faintly echoed in the air as if both near his ears and far away.

"What happened?" Xiao Changming gripped his sword nervously.

"Someone attacked me!" Chen Shouyi responded, sweeping a quick glance around, a chill creeping over him. He continued gloomily: "Your other comrade has vanished as well!"

Xiao Changming's face changed dramatically, he shouted: "Wang Yue! Wang Yue! Where are you?"

"Stop shouting, let's go find him," Chen Shouyi said.

Though they'd had a conflict earlier, ultimately it was only verbal. He knew when to hold back; letting him truly die wasn't an option.

Xiao Changming gravely nodded; the two hurried to the location where Wang Yue had last been, searching rapidly around, but failing to find any trace of him.

Chen Shouyi wiped rainwater from his face, suddenly stopping in realization. The surroundings began to fluctuate violently, the Illusion Realm seeming to swiftly collapse, soldiers' running figures and dense gunfire slowly emerging.

A figure shrouded in black aura, ghost-like, dashed through the rain and quickly disappeared from view, gunfire incessantly echoing.

Chen Shouyi glanced around to find a skeletal remains were lying within twenty meters nearby, while Wang Yue lay on the ground unscathed with closed eyes.

His chest subtly rose and fell, he was evidently still breathing.

After Xiao Changming awakened him, he looked around bewildered and afraid, completely unaware of what had occurred.