"Did you see that?! One flick and the whole thing just — shattered!"
"That glass didn't even crack under his punch!"
The room was still buzzing. They had all just watched that glass take the icy-faced man's full-force punch without even a flinch.
The fact that Bai Fanxian had done it like it was nothing made their eyes light up. What more could you ask for in a leader?
"Stop talking nonsense..."
Bai Fanxian had no interest in engaging with any of this. She looked down through the gap she had made, where the icy-faced man had just dropped, her expression thoughtful.
"Zhang Xianyuan, who is that man?"
There was something strange about him. She couldn't sense a trace of qi in his body, or even magical energy. Yet the physical strength he had just put behind that punch was something most cultivators couldn't match.
"Special government unit chief, Lady Bai. His name is Chunfeng." Zhang Xianyuan answered automatically, momentarily forgetting he was supposed to be coaxing her into the leader role.
"...His body—"
*BOOM!*
Before she could finish, Chunfeng dropped into the room below and drove both fists straight into the giant turtle's face with full force. The power behind that strike was genuinely equivalent to a high-level Grandmaster attack!
Caught off guard by the attack, the red-shelled turtle went into a rage. It roared and began to rampage. Water streams drawn from magical energy gradually formed around its body and shot out in all directions.
"Hmph!"
Chunfeng gritted his teeth. He planted his right foot and dropped low, then launched himself like a released spring. Weaving through the cascading streams of water, he blurred across the room toward Li Xinmei, who remained collapsed and trembling on the cold floor.
"Wh... Chief?"
She was too frightened to stand. The turtle was already winding up for another attack. He had to get her out first.
"Hold on tight!"
He hefted her onto his shoulder in one fluid motion. But the moment his focus wavered — just a split second of looking away — a black shape erupted from the darkness behind him.
Li Xinmei screamed.
She had seen it coming. The turtle's tail, thick as a man's torso and long enough to wrap around its own shell, came whipping through the air like a cracking whip!
*BOOM!*
The strike sent both of them flying. The direction they landed happened to be toward the entrance Li Xinmei had come through.
"...What is that—"
Bai Fanxian, watching from above with a calm expression, went still. Something had appeared on the arm Chunfeng had raised to block the blow. Something she had never seen before.
"Ah. So that's it."
She narrowed her eyes. The turtle's tail had torn the surface of his right arm. What lay underneath wasn't flesh. It was silver metal — joints and mechanisms assembled to move like a human arm, built from several types of forged iron working together.
"A mechanical arm?" Zheng Renyi's eyebrows went up. He had lived a long time, and this was new.
It was nothing like the prosthetic limbs made for the disabled. This arm moved exactly like a real one.
"...Not just the one arm. Am I right?" Bai Fanxian turned to Zhang Xianyuan. He nodded.
"That's right."
Because both arms and both legs — all four limbs — were machinery!
"Scientific power, huh." Zheng Renyi murmured to himself with a slow nod. Bai Fanxian, watching the situation below deteriorate, had one question.
"Can't the government make more people like him?"
The Marshal sighed.
"His existence is a miracle. You'd have to admire his unyielding spirit." It wasn't that the military had never considered it. The problem was it couldn't be replicated.
Compatibility determined whether the subject survived the procedure. Of everyone who had undergone it, only Chunfeng made it through.
And beyond that, the military already had cultivators in its ranks. There had never been enough reason to push further down this path.
*BOOM!*
Below, the pressure was mounting. Officers on the other side of the door were trying to get it open so the two could get back to safety. But the turtle seemed to understand what was happening. Every time the door began to move, its tail and water blasts hammered the wall around it until the whole area shook.
"Stay behind me."
Chunfeng said it without looking at her. Li Xinmei, still dazed, gave a quick nod.
"I'll draw it off. When you see a gap, get back inside. Got it?"
He didn't wait for an answer. His metal legs exploded with power. Just one leap and he was standing right in front of the giant turtle.
*BANG!*
A gunshot rang out in a room where no gun should have been fired. The turtle's head snapped sideways from the impact. The silver bullet clattered to the floor. It hadn't pierced the hide, but it left a clear red mark across the creature's face.
"Custom-made. A special model built for Chunfeng specifically."
Zhang Xianyuan stroked his chin, eyes on the gun that had been concealed under the man's outer jacket. The recoil on that weapon was so extreme that even he couldn't fire it accurately without qi to anchor himself.
But with both arms forged from specially tempered metal, Chunfeng handled it without any difficulty at all.
*BANG!*
*BANG!*
*BANG!*
The bullets couldn't pierce the hide, but the impact alone was enough to rattle a creature that shrugged off Grandmaster-level attacks. The turtle fixed its eyes on the human darting circles around it with deep irritation.
*HOOM!!*
It roared and gave chase. All four legs moving now, it went after Chunfeng — who was running to draw it away — without sparing a glance at Li Xinmei, who was finally being pulled to safety.
But as he ran, searching for a way to withdraw, he noticed something. The turtle's power and speed were gradually rising.
"Zhang Xianyuan... you said earlier that this thing had been in hibernation the whole time?"
Bai Fanxian stood with her arms crossed, watching intently from above.
"Yes. After we pressed it hard, it retreated into its shell and wrapped itself in magical energy to recover."
The Marshal laid out the situation again. Then his eyes widened at what he saw in the creature's movements below.
"Don't tell me it's breaking through..."
Before he could finish the sentence, the giant turtle exploded with magical energy. Its body blazed blue. A long, low cry tore out of it, like a signal. Tremendous energy surged through the room in waves. When it subsided, the creature's eyes were sharper and clearer than before.
*THUD!*
One footstep. The floor shook like it might give way. The energy radiating from its body now was enough to make even Zhang Xianyuan feel a chill settle into his bones.
"Looks like the hibernation let it break through."
Bai Fanxian spoke flatly. She could sense it clearly — Sage-level power, flowing through the creature's body. Most importantly, even though it had just broken through, its strength already seemed to rival or even exceed that wild boar from her island!
Zheng Renyi and Liu Yianfei both glanced at their lady, then reached for their sword hilts at the same moment, faces taut. They were ready to drop down at any second.
The people who had been watching from the beginning were starting to panic now. The presenter had mentioned earlier that these walls could withstand Grandmaster-level attacks.
...But what about Sage?
They didn't have to wait long for the answer. The turtle swung its long, slender tail into the wall, several meters of solid security construction, and cracks spread outward from the point of impact.
One of the young women above stumbled from the shockwave and nearly went over the edge. Several people grabbed her in time. She dropped to the floor and stayed there, breathing hard.
"Sound the alarm! Get anyone who can't fight out now!"
Zhang Xianyuan's voice cut through the noise. Red lights blazed to life across the entire command base. He looked down at the Sage-level creature below, his expression tight.
Had it been a mistake to bring it back?
No. If it had been left in the south without proper containment, people would have died.
"All of you! Everyone who can't fight, get above ground!"
He turned to the group of meeting participants. More than half of them had no way to defend themselves. A stray piece of debris from a collapsing wall could kill any one of them.
"This way, please!"
The presenter — on his third role of the day — moved fast, steering everyone toward the emergency exit. Some hesitated. The young woman who was Bai Fanxian's fan was among the last to move.
"Leader, please come with us!"
She called out, worried. But when she turned to look, the spot where Bai Fanxian had been standing, in front of the broken glass, was empty.
...Had she fallen? No. That was impossible.
.
.
.
Below, Chunfeng was closest to the creature. The energy pouring off it hit him like a physical force. Even his metal limbs were starting to resist his commands.
He looked at the state of the room. A few minutes since the breakthrough, and the place was nearly destroyed. At least he could see the officers below pulling his subordinate out. That let him relax a little.
"...Should I use it?"
He muttered to himself. Even a rough read of the situation made it clear. This thing was beyond what the military could contain. If it got above ground, the capital would be in chaos.
"...No choice."
He closed his eyes. Hot smoke began rising from both arms. The sound of mechanisms engaging deep inside told him he was close to the point of no return.
He had already vowed his life in repayment. Getting that woman out safely meant the debt to Li Fuzhu was settled...
But before he could act —
Something moved at the edge of his vision. The young woman from above came down, smooth and unhurried. She turned in the air, her body coiling as those slender legs swung up overhead in one clean arc. Every movement flowed into the next, effortless and precise, as though her body and gravity were the same thing. The foot came down.
Supreme Axe Kick.
*CRASH!!*
Bai Fanxian's heel drove straight into the top of the giant turtle's head. Its massive body, all that bulk counting for nothing, was slammed down by the impact. The wide-open jaw snapped shut under the force of her heel and the creature was driven into the floor with a thunderous crash. The already cracked ground shattered, and the turtle sank into the middle of it.
Good thing this was the lowest level. Otherwise it would have gone straight through.
Silence.
Every eye in the room found Bai Fanxian. In Tang Yeye's arms, Little Red smacked her lips.
She knew that technique from personal experience.
Even at Semi-Immortal level, she hadn't been able to resist it. A turtle that had just broken through to Sage didn't stand a chance.
"...Were you muttering something just now?"
Bai Fanxian stood on the turtle's carcass, perfectly composed, and turned to look at Chunfeng. He hadn't said a word since she landed. He had also, apparently, forgotten that smoke was still rising steadily from both his arms.