High Martial: I Use Everything as Swords

The shockwave from the explosion instantly blew away the dense fog in a hundred-meter radius.

The "jellyfish" let out a piercing shriek. This wasn’t a physical soundwave, but a spiritual assault.

Cai Xu felt like he’d been slammed in the back of the head with a sledgehammer. Two streams of blood instantly gushed from his nostrils.

But he didn’t dare stop.

His captain had bought this chance with his life.

"AAAAAGH!"

Cai Xu let out a beastly roar, forcing himself to endure the excruciating, tearing pain in his head as he pushed the engine’s throttle past the redline.

Trailing black smoke and riding the blast wave, the Night Falcon fighter shot out of the Fog Area like a startled sparrow.

Just before the humming sound could catch up to him again, he finally saw the distant gleam of the lighthouse at the Dragon’s Fang Port outpost.

...

「Three hours later.」

East Sea Fortress City, Supreme Combat Conference Room.

The air was thick with the smell of tobacco. On the enormous holographic tactical map, vast swathes of the Dragon Abyss Mist Sea’s periphery were marked with red skulls.

BANG!

Li Tiecheng slammed his palm on the alloy tabletop, making the teacups jump.

"Three squadrons! Twelve fighter jets and twenty-four of our finest reconnaissance pilots!"

The Iron-blooded General’s eyes were bloodshot, his voice terrifyingly hoarse.

"Only one man made it back alive! And he’s lying in the ICU right now, so out of it he wouldn’t even recognize his own mother!"

A dead silence fell over the conference room.

Seated at the head of the table, Speaker Ye Daoyuan’s expression was grim. He clutched a freshly printed report in his hand.

"Have the analysis results come in?" Ye Daoyuan asked.

"They have."

The speaker was Chen Beixuan.

He set down his tablet, his face ashen.

"Based on the data recovered from the surviving jet’s black box and the footage brought back by the pilot, Cai Xu... the situation is grim."

Chen Beixuan clicked the remote.

The main screen displayed an image of the massive "jellyfish" and the pilot of the second jet, who was smiling bizarrely.

"This isn’t an ordinary Demon Beast."

Chen Beixuan pointed to the screen. "The Science Academy has tentatively named it the Void Sea Demon.

The creature’s body is in a semi-energy state, making conventional physical attacks almost completely ineffective.

Squad Leader Old Ghost’s self-detonation only managed to blast away an outer layer of its shell."

"And this is the biggest problem."

Chen Beixuan played an audio clip.

ZZZT... A strange, rhythmic humming filled the conference room.

The moment the sound played, everyone in the room—even the civilian officials with no martial training—felt a wave of inexplicable agitation and dizziness.

Li Tiecheng’s brow furrowed, and the Gang Qi in his body automatically flared to life, dispelling the feeling of unease.

"A Spiritual Attack?" Li Tiecheng asked.

"Worse than that."

Chen Beixuan turned off the audio. "It’s a form of high-dimensional frequency resonance.

It can bypass the auditory system entirely and directly affect a person’s limbic system.

Those with weak Will start hallucinating within seconds, lose their sense of self, and voluntarily... offer themselves as a sacrifice."

"According to our data models, any Martial Artist below the Meridian Passage Realm won’t last ten seconds when exposed to this sound.

Those in the Enlightenment Realm, if they haven’t cultivated a Spiritual Secret Technique, can only hold out for three minutes at most."

"And what’s more, the creature seems to be territorial."

Councilor Wang wiped the cold sweat from his brow. "It’s moving toward the Dragon’s Fang Port outpost.

If it gets near the coastline, and even just its sound carries over, the thousands of workers and Low Tier Soldiers at the base..."

The consequences would be catastrophic.

A silent slaughter.

"Then send a Grandmaster!"

Councilor Wang said frantically, "General Li, you’re at Tier Four Peak! Can’t you just go and cut it down with a single strike?"

Li Tiecheng shot him a look you’d give an idiot.

"If I could go, I would’ve charged in with my blade already."

Li Tiecheng pointed to a red line on the map. "The laws of Space in Dragon Abyss are extremely unstable at the moment.

Any Energy signature at Tier Four or higher will immediately trigger a spatial collapse.

Forget killing the monster, I’d be torn to shreds by spatial rifts myself."

"What about drones?"

"Already tried."

The head of the technical department shook his head in resignation. "Under that kind of frequency interference, all remote signals are jammed. A drone goes in, it goes blind."

The room fell silent once more.

It was a deadlock.

The strong couldn’t enter, and the weak would only be throwing their lives away. Drones were useless, and conventional missiles couldn’t hit its true form.

"Unless..."

From a corner of the room, Councilor Lin Guodong, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up.

"Unless we can find a person who fits a specific profile."

Lin Guodong held up a finger and began to list the requirements:

"First, his Spiritual Power must be exceptionally strong—strong enough to completely ignore the high-dimensional frequency interference."

"Second, he must be incredibly mobile, fast enough to evade the creature’s tentacles."

"Third, and this is the most crucial point: his Life Energy Level cannot exceed Tier Three, or he’ll trigger the spatial culling."

As these three conditions were laid out, everyone exchanged glances of dismay.

Strong Spiritual Power usually implied a high cultivation realm, but a high realm meant they couldn’t enter. It was a paradox.

"Where are we supposed to find a freak like that?" Councilor Wang muttered. "That’s like wanting to have your cake and eat it too."

Li Tiecheng and Chen Beixuan exchanged a look.

A spark of realization lit up in both their eyes.

’A freak?’

’Doesn’t East Sea City have one ready and waiting?’

"There is one person who meets the criteria," Li Tiecheng said slowly.

"Who?"

"Han Feng."

The moment the name was spoken, the atmosphere in the room turned... delicate.

Councilor Wang opened his mouth to object but found he had no grounds to do so.

In terms of Spiritual Power, the kid might only be in the Meridian Passage Realm, but his spiritual threshold was absurdly high—even more monstrous than that of a newly-minted Tier Four Grandmaster.

To him, a mere Sea Demon’s humming would probably be nothing more than background music.

In terms of mobility, the X-01 "Ghost" he built is currently the fastest and most agile craft in all of East Sea City.

In terms of realm, the kid is only at the Meridian Passage Realm—a bona fide Low Tier Martial Artist, perfectly fitting the entry requirements for Dragon Abyss.

He was practically tailor-made for this mission.

"No!"

Chen Beixuan suddenly stood up, his tone resolute. "He is the core of Project Torchbearer, our hope for the future.

We can’t let him risk his life on a suicide mission like this!

What if he’s lost in there?"

"Old Chen!"

Li Tiecheng stared at him. "I know you’re protective of your protégé. But who else can we send? Is there anyone but him?

Are we just supposed to stand by and watch that Sea Demon charge into Dragon’s Fang Port?

There are over thirty thousand civilians there, scrambling to repair the fortifications!"

"We can evacuate..."

"There’s no time!"

Li Tiecheng brought up a real-time satellite image. "The creature is accelerating.

It will be within Perception range in two hours, max. Evacuating thirty thousand people will take at least six!"

Chen Beixuan was speechless. He stared at the approaching red dot on the screen, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles cracked.

Logic told him Li Tiecheng was right.

But he couldn’t bear the thought. The Talent Han Feng displayed wasn’t just in his combat prowess, but in his world-changing intellect. Using him as a point man on an assault mission was a criminal waste.

"Besides,"

Li Tiecheng’s tone softened. "You’re underestimating the kid.

He survived facing a Tier Four projection from the Blood Feeding Sect in the Suspended Mountain Secret Realm.

This time, he’ll have his jet and the aces we’ve given him.

As long as he doesn’t venture deep into the core area—just stays on the periphery to take out a single Sea Demon—he can do it."

Ye Daoyuan, who had been listening in silence, finally looked up.

The old man’s gaze swept across the room, finally resting on Chen Beixuan.

"Beixuan, I know your concerns."

Ye Daoyuan’s voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable authority.

"But in this day and age, no one is ever completely safe. A genius can’t mature if he’s kept sheltered in a greenhouse."

"We need a sharp blade—one that can pierce this fog of despair."

"Han Feng is that blade."

Chen Beixuan took a deep breath and slumped back into his seat, defeated.

"Fine."

He rubbed his brow. "But I have a condition. He must be provided with the best support we have.

Also, let him take the X-01 Prototype as a wingman. I’ll have Zhao Yu assist him remotely."

"Granted."

Ye Daoyuan nodded. "Also, give him the ’Silent Extinction’ warhead from the military armory.

If he can’t win, it’s a last resort."

The Silent Extinction warhead. It was a low-yield tactical nuclear weapon. Though its destructive power had been contained, it was still enough to level everything within a five-kilometer radius.

This was a choice between making it back alive... or taking the enemy down with him.

"Contact Han Feng."

Ye Daoyuan waved his hand. "Tell him that East Sea City needs him."

...