Eternal Country

In the school, countless students and teachers had already been devoured by the rats—nothing left, not even bones. The gory scene would shake anyone to their core. Many students had thrown themselves from the buildings in despair, unable to cope with the horror. On top of that, the bone-chilling cold and heavy snow took many more lives.

Those who survived had no choice but to flee for their lives.

But the cars wouldn't start. Forced to run on foot, their numbers kept dwindling. Along the way, the pursuing rats caught up, pounced, and dragged people away to be torn apart. No one could stop them.

Many girls had already broken down in utter terror.

"Watch out!!"

Just then, a shadow flashed in the darkness, lunging at the last person in the group—a female teacher. Under the torchlight, it was revealed to be a rat the size of a house dog. Its eyes glowed blood-red, and blood still clung to its sharp teeth—it was feral and murderous, clearly having fed on human flesh.

It charged with terrifying speed, carrying a strong scent of blood. A normal person couldn't have reacted in time.

But at that critical moment, a flash of green light burst forth from the hand of a young girl wearing a green sweater. Her figure was slender and curvy, her face soft and childlike—what people might call a "baby-faced bombshell." But right now, her expression radiated killing intent. That green light was a wind blade, fired from her hand.

Whoosh!

The blade sliced through the air with shocking speed, cleaving the charging rat cleanly in two. Blood and gore splattered as its corpse hit the ground. It died instantly, and a white Willpower Orb condensed above its body.

The girl stepped forward and picked it up without hesitation. Clearly, she knew the value of such an orb—her delighted expression made that obvious.

"Qingqing, thank you! If not for you, I'd be rat food by now." The female teacher was still shaken with fear. With her strength, she couldn't have survived the rat's attack. Just imagining being dragged away and gnawed down to the bone was horrifying.

"Ms. Liu, we're all in this together now. No need to thank me. Let's keep moving."Liu Qingqing shook her head calmly.

"We can't go any further. Too many rats—they've caught up. These things won't stop until we're all dead," said a strong, muscular student named Tie Nan. He scanned the area grimly.

In the flickering torchlight, they could see glowing red eyes watching them coldly from the darkness. They were surrounded—giant rats everywhere. Even other monsters seemed to avoid them. The sheer madness of the rat swarm was enough to scare off almost anything.

"We can't stay here. The longer we delay, the more rats will gather. If we don't find shelter, we'll all die. We can't afford to be surrounded like this," said a young man in glasses with a calm, intelligent demeanor. His name was Li Zhilin. He pushed up his glasses and frowned as he assessed the situation.

Squeak squeak squeak!!

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the rats attacked. They didn't wait, didn't hesitate, knew no mercy. Their only goal was to kill and devour.

With high-pitched shrieks, they swarmed forward, red eyes gleaming with bloodlust.

"Ahhh!"

A student holding a torch was instantly taken down. A rat lunged and sank its teeth into the boy's throat, tearing out a huge chunk of flesh. Blood gushed like a fountain. The boy had no chance—he was dead in seconds.

The rat dragged the corpse into the shadows, vanishing with it.

"Bastards! Die!!"

Tie Nan roared with fury. A black light flashed around his body, turning his skin metallic, reflecting the torchlight like steel. Metallic textures formed across his skin. Wielding a fire axe, he swung it at a charging rat.

Clang!!

The rat's claws raked across his chest. The impact cracked the axe's head, but his skin held firm. Sparks flew. Even claws that could shred stone couldn't pierce Tie Nan's defense. With a roar, he chopped down with his axe—

—and cleaved the rat in two.

"Everyone, gather around me!"Li Zhilin pushed his glasses again and waved his hand. A pale blue water shield shimmered into existence, enveloping a portion of the group. The water rippled gently, glowing softly under the firelight.

A rat leapt and struck the barrier—but it only created ripples before being flung backward. The water shield was clearly highly resistant to attacks.

Those who had weapons quickly counterattacked.

Many of them had already fought monsters and lost their fear. Compared to normal people, they were far braver, willing to fight back. But the rat numbers were overwhelming. Even with torches, the darkness hid too many threats. One after another, people were dragged away with bloodcurdling screams.

The sounds chilled the blood. Faces turned pale—white as paper.

"Three ability users!!""One can fire wind blades, one has a body as hard as steel, and one can manipulate water to form a shield."

From the balcony above, Yi Tianxing watched everything unfold with sharp eyes.

"Did they awaken after the cataclysm started, or were they already awakened before? Either way, it's rare to see even one ability user—and now there are three, all in this group of students. Looks like the resurgence of Heaven and Earth's energy is already reshaping the world."

What were ability users? People with awakened life apertures. Whether awakened at birth (innate) or afterward (acquired), their talent was extraordinary. These apertures were the source of their abilities.

To control water, or fire wind blades, they must have awakened corresponding life apertures.

If someone was born with such an aperture, it was innate. If it awakened later, it was acquired. These kinds of apertures didn't need spiritual treasures to open—they emerged naturally. Though they were no different from artificially opened apertures in power, they saved the user a great deal of resources and effort.

Some ability users didn't even know how their apertures formed—but that didn't stop them from wielding their powers.

Down on the street, the battle raged on.

Yi Tianxing stood in silence for a moment, then turned back into the building. A few breaths later, he returned to the balcony carrying a box of iron arrows and holding a folding composite bow. The bow glinted with flowing metallic light, etched with intricate patterns along its black surface.

Without hesitation, he nocked an arrow.

With a quiet exhale, he pulled back the string with powerful force—the bow drew easily, though he didn't pull it to full draw. Pulling to full draw was a waste of strength.

Whoosh!!

The arrow released with a sharp whistle, tearing through the air like a bullet. The sound was so sharp, it made the hairs on one's neck stand up.

Below, the rats were still surging toward the survivors. Li Zhilin's water shield couldn't protect everyone. People kept dying. The shield was visibly dimming, its glow fading rapidly.

Tie Nan's metallic glow was also dimming.

Liu Qingqing's wind blades were slower, and her face had gone pale.

Even though they had awakened life apertures and gained abilities, they were far from invincible. Their power came from the apertures themselves, and without cultivating true qi or mana, they couldn't fuel their powers continuously. Their apertures had to recover on their own, and the process was slow.

If they had only just awakened, their usable power was even more limited.

Without a cultivation method, the only way to grow stronger was through repeated use and training.

"Tie Nan, dodge—now!!"Liu Qingqing suddenly shouted. Two rats were lunging at Tie Nan from both sides, and his defensive glow had faded significantly. He couldn't take another hit.

Tie Nan noticed too, but there was already a rat in front of him. He couldn't turn away. His defense wouldn't last much longer.

But in that moment—

One of the rats suddenly screamed in pain and flew sideways—right into the other rat. A split second later, an iron arrow pierced through both of them and embedded into the ground. The stone surface cracked under the impact.

Both rats died instantly.

"An iron arrow? Who shot that? That was incredible! One arrow, two kills—in the dark!"

Liu Qingqing was stunned. In the chaos, in near-total darkness, someone had made a perfect shot—a double kill with one arrow. That was far beyond ordinary skill.