Xu Wuyi hurried over, his gaze quickly sweeping across their injuries. "Teacher Wang, Teacher Zhou, your wounds..."

"Not dead yet." Wang Wenhai waved a hand, trying to look relaxed, but the movement pulled at his wound, making him grimace in pain.

"Two broken ribs and some organ shock. I’ll be fine after lying down for a month or so back home. Your Teacher Zhou has a fracture in her left arm and got hit in the forehead by some flying rubble. Nothing major."

He looked Xu Wuyi up and down. Seeing that he was disheveled but moving freely with no obvious new wounds, he let out a visible sigh of relief.

"You kid... damn! I heard about it later. You took down all five Commanders in Zone B3 by yourself? And Zone B1, Zone C2... Holy cow, you’ve killed more Commander Level beasts today than I’ve seen in my entire life!"

His voice was filled with shock, admiration, and even more, a sense of vicarious pride.

Zhou Yun also stopped what she was doing and looked at Xu Wuyi. Her gaze was as cool as ever, but deep within it was a flicker of complex approval. She nodded slightly. "You did very well."

Xu Wuyi knelt, looking at the horrifying wound on Wang Wenhai’s side. "I was too late," he said in a low voice.

"What nonsense." Wang Wenhai used his uninjured left hand to clap Xu Wuyi firmly on the arm. "Without you, several times more people would have died today!"

"The most important thing is that you’re alright. That makes us happiest. You, kid, are the pride of Honghe First Middle School. You’ve got a long future ahead of you."

As he spoke, he suddenly lowered his voice and leaned in closer. "See that guy over there?"

He jutted his chin in the direction of Tang Xiuqi, who was regulating his breathing.

"Grandmaster Ren Bai’s Senior Disciple, an Innate Martial Artist, one of the Federation’s top Sword Dao geniuses... I heard he rushed over from an even more troublesome battlefield."

Xu Wuyi followed his gaze.

Tang Xiuqi was still sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, his aura withdrawn, but his exhaustion was impossible to hide.

His fourth junior brother stood guard nearby as if facing a great enemy. He would only nod from a distance even when officers from the Defense Corps approached to report, terrified of causing a disturbance.

"An even more troublesome battlefield?" Xu Wuyi asked.

Wang Wenhai shook his head. "It’s called the Profound Abyssal Rift. I don’t know the details, but it’s a place Grandmaster Ren Bai personally guards. These people standing at the summit... the burdens they carry are far heavier than we can imagine."

His tone was full of emotion. Then he looked back at Xu Wuyi and grinned. "But this whole ordeal today made something clear to me. Resources, background... that’s all just fluff."

"When it really comes down to life and death, real skill is all that matters. Ah Yi, keep going down this path. Get to the point where I, your Teacher Wang, can have even more to brag about when I tell people, ’That’s my student!’"

A warmth spread through Xu Wuyi’s heart, and he nodded.

Zhou Yun finished bandaging Wang Wenhai’s wound and stood up. She said to Xu Wuyi, "Go and help out. There are still many people who need aid. I’ve got things covered here."

"Okay, Teacher Zhou."

Xu Wuyi got up. Just as he was about to head to the medical station to see how he could help, his gaze shifted, and he saw another familiar figure.

Li Shuang was standing on a large rock not far away, speaking quietly into her communicator.

Her light armor was damaged in several places and stained with blood, and her long hair was a mess, but her posture remained as straight and unyielding as a pine tree.

As if sensing his gaze, she ended the call and turned to look over.

Li Shuang’s eyes were as cold as ever, but they held less of their usual distance and scrutiny, replaced by an unnamable complexity.

She looked at Xu Wuyi—at his young face, already showing the contours of resolve, and at the mix of fighting spirit and gravity that had not yet settled in his eyes.

In the end, she said nothing, only giving him a slight nod.

Xu Wuyi nodded back in acknowledgment.

Just then, Tang Xiuqi seemed to have finished regulating his breath. He slowly opened his eyes.

His fourth junior brother, who had been waiting at the side, immediately came forward and said a few words in a low voice.

Tang Xiuqi stood up and walked toward the rift area, which was now surrounded by soldiers from the Defense Corps. Vice Minister Li hurried to follow.

A thought stirred in Xu Wuyi’s mind, and he followed as well, stopping a short distance away.

He saw that several Space Stabilizers had been activated. Beams of deep blue light wove into a net, blanketing the outer edge of the rift.

Under the dual suppression, the dark red rift distorted less and less. Its expansion was completely halted, and it began to slowly shrink at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Tang Xiuqi watched for a moment, then gave a few instructions to the lead officer and the head Rune Master. The gist was that the seal was stable and they should proceed according to protocol, monitoring it continuously for seventy-two hours, and so on.

Then, he turned to all the surviving Martial Artists around him—all of them wounded to some degree, yet all still holding their ground—and began to speak.

His voice wasn’t loud, but it reached every person’s ears with perfect clarity.

"Today, you all fought to the death without retreating. You have defended this place and secured the peace of the lands behind us. You are all heroes."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the bodies covered in white cloths, and his voice grew heavier.

"The dead are gone, but their heroic souls are eternal. Those who live must understand that today’s situation was no accident."

All eyes focused on him.

Tang Xiuqi continued, "The anomaly with this rift originates from the Profound Abyssal Rift. A Beast King is being suppressed there, one that is trying to descend upon our world. It has tied down my master, Grandmaster Ren Bai, while simultaneously diverting its power here to open a second front and tear through our Federation’s defensive line."

"If not for all of you fighting to the death and holding out until the seal was complete, the moment that Golden Armor Grand Commander fully descended, both Red River and Silver Port would have likely been annihilated."

His words were like cold stones dropped into a lake, sending shocking waves through everyone’s hearts.

Beast King! The Profound Abyssal Rift! A second front!

The danger and conspiracy these terms represented far exceeded their previous understanding of a mere "Secondary Rift Burst."

It turned out that what they had just experienced was merely a localized clash within a much larger plot.

It turned out that on higher, more distant battlefields, supreme experts like Grandmaster Ren Bai were also enduring pressure beyond their imagination.

Xu Wuyi clenched his fists.

In just a few sentences, Tang Xiuqi had painted a far grander and more brutal picture of the war in his mind.

’An individual’s struggle seems so insignificant in the face of a war for the survival of a race, a civilization... and yet, it is so indispensable.’

After saying this, Tang Xiuqi spoke no more.

He took one last look at the now-stabilized rift seal and gave a signal to his fourth junior brother.

His fourth junior brother immediately stepped forward and announced in a loud voice, "Our business here is concluded. Senior Brother Tang must return to the Profound Abyssal Rift at once to report. All subsequent matters will be handled by the Dongjiang Defense Corps and the Martial Arts Halls of the two cities."

"Compensation and rewards will all be handled according to the Federation’s wartime regulations."

After speaking, he escorted Tang Xiuqi. With a flicker of movement, the two of them appeared several dozen meters away. Another flash, and they vanished beyond the valley, as if melting into the morning light.

They had arrived abruptly and departed just as decisively, leaving behind only the image of a dust-stained figure in white with a beast-claw-shattered sword, and a speech heavy with meaning.

The crowd stared in the direction they had vanished, silent for a long time.