Xu San nervously watched Lu Yin stand up, fully certain of the upcoming pain. Life had lost its value since the Apocalypse, and murder was quite common. With the confidence that he was about to be killed to soothe Lu Yin's anger, he hurriedly shouted, "Sir! I can help you with many things! Please, don't kill me!"
Lu Yin simply ignored him and headed towards the exit, but as he passed by, the man's fear of death reached a new peak. Xu San had seen many instances of the strong killing the weak, so he braced himself and spoke up, "Sir, I have a special ability that can help you."
This finally caught Lu Yin's attention. He stopped immediately, turning around in astonishment, "What did you say? A special ability?"
White with fear, the man stuttered out, "My eyes… I can see very far, much farther than normal people. That's how I'm so successful with theft."
Surprised, Lu Yin squatted beside him and stared at his eyes, noticing the slight angle between his pupils. His excitement grew as he recognized the innate gift, something incredibly rare amongst the countless cultivators of the universe. He frowned, "Farsight? Does anyone else know about this?"
Xu San shook his head, "I didn't want others to think I was a freak. You're the first person to know."
Lu Yin's mouth curved up in a smile, "Your name?"
"Xu San."
"Alright then, Xu San, follow me from today. You're now a member of the Nanjing Camp."
A trembling Xu San nodded, "Are you going to dissect me?"
Lu Yin laughed, "I won't, but others might want to. You must never reveal your special ability, do you understand?"
This explanation confused Xu San a little, but he still nodded in the end. Cultivators who had not left their home planet could not understand the value of innate gifts. The Universe Youth Council allowed any cultivator with an innate gift to join them directly, an unreachable dream for countless others. To Lu Yin, Xu San was a priceless treasure that would be of immense use in the future. In fact, he could even be sold off for immense wealth.
...
Xu San turned out to be surprisingly well-connected in Nanjing. Lu Yin covered all of the district in only a few days' time, including the destroyed weapons cache, but he couldn't find a single hint of what he was searching for. He eventually brought Xu San over to a mountain, which the thief promptly explained, "Boss, this is Jinlin's second-highest peak. It's only shorter than Zhongshan."
Lu Yin grunted, "Ignore Zhongshan, look for other areas with a higher concentration of troops."
Xu San nodded and stared out. His eyes seemed to lose focus but brightened at the same time. A while later, he smiled bitterly, "Boss, I can see a long way, but I can't clearly see all of Nanjing."
"Keep practicing, you'll get better."
Xu San remained silent and widened his eyes before suddenly shouting and pointing to the eastern sky, "Boss, is that someone flying?"
Lu Yin looked up with surprise, finding that someone was indeed heading toward the camp. It was also obvious from first glance that this wasn't someone from Earth, but instead someone from the stars like Vesta. He was soon hovering right over Nanjing, emitting a great roar of violent energy that engulfed it in a tempestuous storm. Alarms rang out immediately, and many who looked up at the sky froze up in fear of the powerful figure in the air.
"Realm of Sky?" Back in Zhongshan, Feng Hong and the other captains rushed out with deathly-pale faces. Many of them stared at the sky in bewilderment; flight was something only those in the Realm of Sky were capable of. When had another such expert appeared in China?
Orton looked down on Zhongshan's assembly grounds from his vantage point, radiating an arrogance reminiscent of Vesta. Perhaps everyone who came from the wider universe treated the people of Earth like savages.
A voice echoed out from Zhongshan, "Respected warrior in the Realm of Sky, why are you attacking Nanjing's assembly grounds? This is an area protected by the Executioner Sage." Despite being a question, the voice was noticeably deferential.
Orton sneered, "Executioner Sage? Is this a title you natives gave yourself? Calling yourself a sage, how bold. Tell him to get out here!"
The millions gathered in Nanjing's assembly grounds were frightened at this clearly hostile warrior, while Feng Hong and his peers who knew what was going on had ugly expressions on their faces. They understood that this was another alien, just like the one who had been killed a few days ago. This did not bode well for Nanjing.
"I'M the Executioner!" Zhou Shan's roar rang out from below, his massive three-meter-long axe glinting as he flew into the sky to confront the enemy. Many people cheered at the appearance of their guardian angel.
Orton scoffed, "You should know of my origins. I'll give you one chance to serve me; perhaps I'll bring you out of this planet and into the skies in the future."
Zhou Shan squinted his eyes, "Forgive me, I don't know what origin you speak of."
Orton sneered, "A mere native dares to act clever with me? Vesta landed in this area, so don't tell me you haven't seen him. I'll have you know that I'm ranked much higher at the academy than he is, and you will have a much brighter future with me."
Zhou Shan tightened his grip on his axe, "We're earthlings, not natives."
"Looks like words won't work. I'll have to show you the difference between natives and their masters." A smirk appeared on Orton's face, and immediately after he finished speaking a sword flashed towards Zhou Shan. Even the Executioner himself was caught off-guard by the surprise attack, but fortunately his reflexes and battle experience allowed him to deflect the longsword with his axe. He spun around with pause, using the momentum for an admirable upward slash that took the enemy by surprise. Orton's longsword rushed to block the heavy weapon, but even then his body was thrown back a hundred meters and his hands were numbed by the clash. The collision sent shockwaves towards the assembly grounds that sundered the earth, creating crevices hundreds of meters long that sent countless people fleeing for their lives.
"Such power," Orton was amazed, but he sneered as Zhou Shan swung the axe towards him and again. This time he blocked it with ease, prompting the Executioner to pause and squint before attacking again.
"Trying to push me away from this place? No matter, I'll show you your place," Orton deflected the massive axe once more with his sword, but was still pushed back by the force. He used the momentum to fly away from the assembly grounds near Nanjing.
Although the exchange had only taken an instant, countless people were amazed at the sight of people who could fight in mid-air. These men seemed to hold the strength of gods, every blow capable of splitting the earth. Only Feng Hong and the other captains were worried for Zhou Shan; the fact that the aliens willingly landed on Earth showed that they were prepared.
From the top of a different peak, Xu San was shaken by the sight of the battle. This was the first time he had seen a fight between two warriors in the Realm of Sky, and it greatly broadened his horizons.
Beside him, Lu Yin frowned as he looked outside the camp towards the source of the vague rumblings. He was aware that any student who came to Earth had their own ring armor that could defend against attacks from Realm of Sky warriors. This should leave Orton invincible and confident in his own victory, but as one of the Seven Sages of China, Zhou Shan could not be underestimated either. The corpse found on Neptune had clearly possessed the ability to travel through space unaided; its origin was a mystery. While he himself looked down upon all the cultivators of Earth, the Sages were the one exception. These people had started cultivating even before the Apocalypse, and the Executioner hadn't even been all that impressed by Vesta's corpse and spacecraft a few days ago. There was a real chance that this newcomer would lose the fight.
Another earth-shaking rumble soon arose from outside the city, the shockwaves blowing apart the clouds. But then everything went still, and Zhou Shan's figure flew over on the horizon. Although he was slightly pale, there were no visible injuries as he hefted his axe, causing the onlookers from Nanjing to break out in cheers.
"Wait here," Lu Yin ordered Xu San before rushing out towards the site of the battle. When he arrived at the spot that was twenty-some kilometers away from the city, all he saw was a burning building and a ruined landscape. The scars on the earth extended as far as the eye could see, and the zombies and mutant beasts once here had fled or been crushed to nothing.
Lu Yin squatted down and touched one of the scars, feeling a trace of cold energy still present. This was a remnant of Zhou Shan's battle technique, which meant that the attack on the mutant vine all those days ago wasn't the actual limit of Zhou Shan's ability. He quickly came across some white fragments that were glittering nearby, and picking them up he was startled at what he saw. These were fragments of ring armor! Orton had been beaten so viciously that even his armor had shattered! Unfortunately, the alien was still alive; were it otherwise, Zhou Shan would have taken the corpse back to Nanjing in triumph. Still, he had to re-evaluate the strength of the Seven Sages. He didn't know how strong the three High Sages were, but Zhou Shan alone already had power near the peak of the Sentinel realm. He heard distant movements that indicated the approach of the other captains, but without any desire to meet them, he immediately left the scene.