Chapter 30: Province-wide Preparations, the Beast Tide Approaches [Third Update]

“Master, it’s dead now. You can come over,” Liang Zixiao’s voice drifted over, snapping Yang Dai back to his senses. He immediately ran forward. The other ghost followers gathered around, showering Liang Zixiao with compliments. Liang Zixiao said nothing, but his chin lifted proudly, clearly pleased with himself. Liu Junjie flattered him so frantically he nearly knelt down to beg Liang Zixiao to take him as a disciple.

Yang Dai approached the corpse of the black-haired boar demon and began to absorb its soul.

As expected, the familiar stabbing pain surged through his mind, but after having endured the torment of Liang Zixiao’s soul, it no longer felt as intense. Soon, he caught hold of the boar demon’s soul and started pulling.

Spirits were spirits, even monsters like this one, which gave Yang Dai new ideas. He could expand his ghost follower ranks with more monsters. At the same level, monsters were stronger—especially at lower levels—because human bodies simply weren’t as tough as most monsters, and negative emotions like fear or hesitation could affect combat performance.

Yang Dai felt the boar demon’s soul was unusually heavy, making the soul extraction extremely exhausting—not physically, but mentally.

“There’s someone!” Liang Zixiao suddenly shouted. He leapt up, flying on his sword toward the mountains behind Yang Dai.

Yang Dai couldn’t shift his focus. The boar demon’s soul was so heavy his consciousness began to blur, and the soul had barely left the body.

He staggered backward, the black mark between his brows surfacing, and the world spun before his eyes.

He forced himself to stay alert, dragging out the soul. Shi Long and Liu Junjie stood on either side, ready to catch him if he collapsed.

It took nearly half a minute before Yang Dai finally pulled the boar demon’s soul free. As the soul burrowed into his brow, he lost consciousness completely. Blood trickled from both nostrils, startling his ghost followers who hurried to surround him.

…

Western Hanxi Province, in the west. The highlands rose majestically, the sky vast and endless. Human highways wound like serpents across the mountains.

Atop a thousand-meter summit, a humanoid monster stood, gazing out over the land. It stood three meters tall, resembling a white ape. Its fur barely concealed the bulging, rock-like muscles covering its body. Two sharp horns jutted from its head, smooth like blades.

Suddenly, it roared toward the horizon.

“Roar—”

The cry shook heaven and earth. The mountains trembled, countless small stones tumbling down as if the earth itself would split apart.

With its prolonged roar, monsters of all sizes and species appeared on the surrounding peaks, all rushing toward the mountain’s base.

From a distance, it looked as though mountains nearby had erupted into waves, unstoppable and surging downward.

—

By a highway, four humans were resting. The horned ape demon’s roar startled them, and they sprang to their feet, soon seeing the beast tide sweeping over the distant mountains.

“This is bad! The beast tide is about to break out!” one man exclaimed, his face changing drastically. He leapt up, a flying sword appearing beneath him, and the others followed, soaring skyward on their swords.

They took out cameras, beginning to record the beast tide in the area.

Just then, a massive boulder hurtled toward them at supersonic speed, instantly smashing two trial participants into a bloody mist that dissipated in midair. The remaining two dodged in terror.

They looked around, unable to see where the boulder had come from.

“Let’s get out of here, stop filming!” one woman said through clenched teeth, her lovely face filled with fear.

The man gritted his teeth too. “No, satellite signals are cut off in this region. If we don’t record this, Hanxi Province won’t have enough intelligence on the beast tide. This is the job of the Intelligence Bureau; we’re supposed to be taking risks!”

Reluctantly, the woman stayed alert, scanning her surroundings.

Whoosh—

“Careful!” she shouted while dodging as another boulder flew between them, tracing a perfect arc in the sky before slamming into the distant plain and carving out a huge crater. Even from kilometers away, they could see the hole.

The massive beast tide was charging in their direction. Looking out, monsters from all visible mountains were rushing down, converging and swelling in numbers.

“Go!” the man ordered, turning to flee on his sword. The woman breathed a sigh of relief and hurried after him.

Whoosh—

A piercing sound split the air. Both instinctively looked back, their faces drained of color.

A golden eagle as large as a fighter jet streaked toward them, followed by a vast flock of bird demons. Their screeches merged, drowning out all other sounds, the aerial tide even more imposing than the beast tide below. The two trial participants were terrified to the core.

“Full speed ahead!” the man shouted, and their swords accelerated, vanishing toward the horizon. But the bird demon army behind them showed no sign of slowing.

…

Hanxi Province, Wind City.

—

Yang Teng, dressed in work clothes, returned to the villa community. Humming a tune, he walked to his own villa. He took out his key to open the door, and as soon as he did, two small figures ran out.

“Dad!”

“Dad, the beast tide is here!”

A boy and a girl rushed over, speaking anxiously. Before he could even take off his shoes, they dragged him to the sofa in the living room.

Yang Teng didn’t bother scolding his children. His eyes were locked on the television, which was broadcasting live news. A female anchor was reporting the situation at the Hanxi Province border.

“At present, the Central Domain Headquarters has issued a directive for Hanxi Province to enter full combat readiness. The Combat Bureau has dispatched ten thousand trial participants to the front lines. Starting today, all cities in Hanxi Province will suspend operations except for non-combat logistics companies. Citizens are advised to minimize travel to avoid attacks from airborne monsters. Supplies will be distributed according to household population. Please, do not worry…”

Listening to the anchor, Yang Teng frowned deeply.

He pulled out his phone. Sure enough, every app was frantically pushing news about the beast tide in Hanxi Province.

Yang’s mother came out of the kitchen, her face anxious. “Old Yang, should we call your son? He won’t be sent to the front lines, will he?”

Yang Teng shook his head. “Impossible. He’s a new trial participant, and besides, he has an SS-level talent. He hasn’t even been transferred from the Intelligence Bureau to the Combat Bureau to form a combat team.”

Despite his words, he still called Yang Dai, but no one answered.

“He’s probably not out of the Central Domain yet,” Yang Teng said.

Yang’s mother remained worried. She took off her apron and said, “I’ll go buy some things, just in case.”

Yang Teng sighed. “You’ve already been buying for a month, going out every few days. Stop it. The Intelligence Bureau takes such good care of our son. Our family is supported by the state; don’t make trouble for the country.”

Hearing this, Yang’s mother agreed and went back to the kitchen to continue cooking.

Little Yang Chao asked curiously, “Dad, is big brother really powerful now?”

Little Yang Yan looked at their father with expectation.

Ever since Yang Dai awakened his SS-level talent, their family had undergone a dramatic transformation. Though their parents never said much, the children could sense the change—big brother seemed to have become truly extraordinary.