Chapter Seventy-Six: The Terror of the Foundation Realm

Perfection embodied is called a sage, yet in this world, no true sage exists. If there were, perhaps the Age of Darkness would never have come, nor would there be so much strife and bloodshed. But perhaps it is precisely the blend of virtues and flaws within each person that has shaped our world as it is—full of grudges and vengeance, love and hate, passion and enmity. Perhaps ‘difference’ is the greatest wealth bestowed upon us by God.

Ye Bai stared blankly at the “Sleeping Beauty” Medicine Spirit lying on the ground, and the slumbering God of Sleep, Monk Cao—who now truly lived up to his title. Medicine Spirit’s face was pale, not the usual healthy whiteness but the ghastliness of exhaustion, making her look uncannily like a fairytale princess lost in dreams. The teardrop mole at the corner of her eye, washed clean by tears, revealed its natural pink hue. Perhaps she was waiting for her prince’s kiss upon her brow to awaken her, or perhaps she would simply stir when her rest was complete.

He glanced at the time on his wrist—already past nine. Night had fallen outside; it was the hour when the world came alive once more. Ye Bai picked up the water bottle from the ground, carefully giving both Monk Cao and Medicine Spirit a drink—the latest of several such ministrations. Medicine Spirit drank only a little; Monk Cao, however, found his lips parched again soon after each sip, his hair still brittle and dry.

As Ye Bai finished helping Monk Cao, just as he turned to Medicine Spirit, a soft whimper came from her lips.

“Ling’er?” Ye Bai quickly set down the bottle, gently raised Medicine Spirit’s head onto his lap, and repeated, “Ling’er?”

He shook her softly. Medicine Spirit’s eyes fluttered several times before she finally opened them.

“Do you feel unwell?” Ye Bai asked softly.

Medicine Spirit closed her eyes and summoned the power of wood within her to heal her injuries. When she opened them again, there was a renewed spark in her gaze. “I’m fine. I just needed a little rest.”

After a short recovery, Medicine Spirit tried to get up. Ye Bai wanted her to rest a bit longer, but she insisted. First, she checked on Monk Cao’s condition. Seeing him stable, she finally relaxed, though the flush on her ears was known to her alone.

“Ling’er, how is Monk Cao? He seems constantly thirsty,” Ye Bai said, picking up the water bottle and resuming his seat. “I think we should try our luck in Zone B. At this rate, we’ll never make it out. Maybe we’ll meet a senior team there who can lead us out.”

Medicine Spirit considered for a moment. “We could try Zone B. Whoever gave me the Heart-Guarding Pill must be allied with our family. It’s a unique life-saving medicine, produced in small quantities each year and usually reserved for strong cultivators. If we can find that gray-robed expert, perhaps we can get out.”

There seemed to be no other way left. They had exhausted their food, water, and medicines.

“Monk Cao’s condition has stabilized. Tonight, I’ll help him clear the stagnant blood in his body; by tomorrow morning, he should wake. The Heart-Guarding Pill is brewed by my family from precious herbs. Taken internally or applied externally, it can stimulate the cells’ potential and rapidly heal injuries. But if the wounds are too severe and the cells can’t bear the strain, it burns away one’s life force.” Medicine Spirit looked at Monk Cao’s yellowing hair with a complex emotion in her eyes—part affection, part maidenly shyness.

Ye Bai didn’t notice her expression, but he did piece together why Monk Cao’s hair had become brittle and why Medicine Spirit had fainted.

“Ling’er, you’ve just woken up. Rest a little longer—regain your strength. When Monk Cao wakes, we’ll head for Zone B.”

What Ye Bai didn’t know was that during her checkup, Medicine Spirit had already helped Monk Cao clear some of the stagnant blood from his body.

“Alright.”

Medicine Spirit lay down beside Monk Cao. Listening to the rhythm of their heartbeats, she soon drifted off again. Ye Bai sat cross-legged by the entrance, eyes closed, keeping silent watch through the night. Medicine Spirit awoke three times to help Monk Cao, and only after he finally expelled the last of the stagnant blood did a faint smile touch her lips and she fell into a deep sleep.

“Water… water…” Monk Cao’s voice suddenly echoed in the shelter. Ye Bai reached for the bottle, but Medicine Spirit, startled from her sleep, grabbed it first. She gently placed Monk Cao’s head on her lap, his cheek against her flat stomach. A blush rose briefly on her face, then faded as she carefully helped him drink.

Ye Bai remained where he was, watching with mingled envy and happiness. His thoughts wandered to the white-robed woman in the Ghostwood Mountains. Where was she now? Was she safe?

After Medicine Spirit finished giving Monk Cao water, and the two of them sat against the wall, Ye Bai opened his eyes and smiled. “You’re awake. How do you feel?”

In the post-darkness era, human senses had sharpened remarkably. Ye Bai had pretended to sleep, but all three could sense each other’s pounding hearts, though none spoke of it.

Monk Cao, as ever, simply nodded. Ye Bai shared his plan to head for Zone B, and Monk Cao agreed.

———

At the border of Zone C and the entrance to Zone B, the three young people paced back and forth. They wanted to enter Zone B, but each time they stepped in, they would soon retreat, only to try again moments later. Finally, one of them spoke.

“Ye Bai, don’t carry the burden alone. We’re a team. Every decision we make, we make together,” said Monk Cao, sensing Ye Bai’s unease. Medicine Spirit agreed as well. They all knew that once they entered Zone B, if they did not find the person who had given Medicine Spirit the pill, they would likely never come out. It was a risky gamble—their very lives were at stake. Ye Bai could not afford to be careless.

“Alright.” Monk Cao’s words shattered Ye Bai’s last hesitation. “Let’s go.”

Ye Bai led the way into Zone B. At once, their protective suits shifted to maximum alert—red. Their smartwatches flashed red exclamation marks in warning, but the three pressed on determinedly.

Zone B was rife with entry-level threats and even some Foundation-level dangers. The deeper regions were beyond what students could handle, often prowled by evolved aberrations or even the guardians of Zone A.

To Ye Bai and his friends, Zone B was utterly unfamiliar. They had no map and no idea where they were. Not that a map would have helped—they were searching for a person, and no map could show their target’s location.

Fortunately, with their smartwatches, they were not completely helpless. The detection systems were cranked to maximum, scanning several hundred meters around them. Though such distance was nothing to a Foundation-level aberration, it at least gave them some warning.

Two of the three took turns using their smartwatches to scan the environment while the third built a three-dimensional terrain map and shared it with the others, rotating tasks to reduce strain on their devices.

Zone B had even fewer remnants of buildings than Zone C—almost none, in fact. Here and there, a few large mounds jutted from the ground. Astonishingly, some trees had once survived here, spared from the original devastation or having regrown afterward, but now they stood dead and bare, not a leaf in sight.

Suddenly, Ye Bai’s smartwatch detected something unusual. Almost at the same moment, Monk Cao’s device did as well.

“Five large, one small. They seem to be at odds,” he observed.

“Right,” Medicine Spirit replied, sending the three-dimensional terrain map to Ye Bai and Monk Cao. Only then did they see the situation clearly ahead.

Five giant aberrations surrounded a smaller one, probing but not attacking. The small aberration, though encircled, made no attempt to flee. In fact, it seemed almost eager to play with its would-be attackers.

“Genetic constructs? Weren’t these bio-weapons supposed to be unable to leave certain areas, or have fatal flaws? These five don’t look like that at all,” Ye Bai murmured, studying the grotesque hybrids on the map.

Unlike the failed specimen they had seen in the Zone D lab, these five looked much more like true genetic constructs rather than experiments gone wrong. Two could fly—one with dragonfly-like wings, massively enlarged, another with wings resembling an eagle’s but featherless. Both had tails, claws, and teeth capable of rending anything.

The three underground were even stranger—one had two heads, another the body of a lion but human arms, and the last looked almost normal, resembling a gorilla, its fists pounding its chest hard enough to shatter dozens of walls.

Roars, screeches, and guttural calls rang out from their vocal organs—Ye Bai wasn’t even sure they came from mouths. These monsters defied common logic.

As the creatures made their sounds, the smartwatches’ bioscanners identified all five as high-level entry-stage threats. The eagle-winged one was nearly at Foundation-level.

Ye Bai exchanged a look with Monk Cao, who glanced at Medicine Spirit, who in turn looked back at Ye Bai. They had barely entered Zone B and already encountered five high-level threats—this place truly deserved its reputation as the death training ground among sophomores and juniors.

“Let’s change direction,” Ye Bai typed on his smartwatch, not daring to speak aloud for fear of being detected.

It’s always the silent dog that bites, and the tiger descending the mountain is fiercest. The aberration in the center made no sound; in the three-dimensional display, its slender claws suddenly expanded to several times their size, crushing the dragonfly-winged construct with a single blow.

The moment the small aberration’s aura erupted, all three of their smartwatches flashed red as if about to explode. The bioscanner identified it as an early Foundation-level organism.

Even as the Foundation-level aberration finished devouring the dragonfly-winged construct’s head, it was already turning to attack the remaining four.