When you really get down to it, the whole reason comes back to Bai Xuan being just way too powerful. He’s the kind of person who doesn’t need a country’s help or nurturing to reach the top—his own talent is more than enough to get him there all by himself.
The connection between Bai Xuan and the nation is really no different from the connection between any ordinary person and their country.
Whether that connection runs deep or shallow? Well, that depends on the person.
Unless something is extremely serious—so serious that Qin Tian, Huo Yu, and the others can’t handle it on their own, and it puts the safety of a large number of people at risk—they really don’t want to have to ask Bai Xuan to step in.
They’re terrified of making him feel like the country is just using him as a tool.
And that’s not exactly an impossible fear, because not everyone wants to be a hero.
Or, to put it another way: when someone has been a hero for too long, the public starts to take their sacrifices for granted. And eventually, the hero themselves gets tired of the role and just wants to live a free, peaceful life.
There are just too many factors they have to consider. So, in most situations, they’d rather Bai Xuan just live his own life quietly and steadily.
“Still, I have to admit—there’s some truth to that way of thinking.”
For a nation, if it’s at all possible, they absolutely don’t want a single citizen to die. Even in wartime, they strive for the smallest possible sacrifice.
And Bai Xuan’s very existence represents the real possibility of achieving zero casualties.
Whether it’s against mutated creatures or other nations.
His overwhelming power lets them act without hesitation—but only if Bai Xuan is willing.
He could handle the danger once, twice, three times, even ten or a hundred times, saving the people every single time and guaranteeing a one hundred percent survival rate. But what about a thousand times? Ten thousand times? Would he start to resent what he’s doing? Would he feel like the country is treating him like nothing more than a tool?
Would he find it all too troublesome and grow weary of it?
And this isn’t just a vague possibility—it’s pretty much inevitable. The only question is how long it takes to get there.
Even Bai Xuan doesn’t think he could keep that up forever.
Some people are simply born to be heroes. They’re destined to do what ordinary people cannot.
Bai Xuan is not that kind of person.
So, while he deeply admires those who are, he could never become one himself.
“Let’s go take a look, then. At the training of those future heroes.”
With a small smile, Bai Xuan put on his clothes. A mysterious energy enveloped him, and in an instant, his figure vanished into thin air.
Somewhere in BH City, in a certain village.
Because of the rat tide, the military had already sealed off the area.
All the residents had been relocated to new homes.
Countless fully-equipped soldiers stood guard here—their postures straight, their faces serious—making sure no one got anywhere near the place, by any means.
Meanwhile, inside the village…
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! *
*CRASH— *
*BOOM… BOOM… *
A constant racket echoed out from within. Thunder crashed down from the sky over and over again, and you could faintly make out the sounds of beasts crying out.
*Squeak, squeak, squeak… *
*Squeak, squeak… *
*Squeak, squeak, squeak… *
Sharp, hoarse squeaks rose up from underground. The ground was riddled with countless holes, and swarms of rats came pouring out of them. They were about the size of soccer balls, with sickly green eyes that made you shiver just looking at them.
They gathered together like a solid black army, staring at the humans in front of them. Those green eyes were full of bloodlust and sheer madness.
“You know, in a way, this rat tide is even more spectacular than I imagined.”
Bai Xuan stood on a rooftop, looking out at the massive wave of mutated rats in the distance. Individually, they weren’t very strong—even an ordinary person could probably kill one using their abilities. But there were just so many of them.
“Huo Yu, Qin Tian, Chen Bing, Ye Feng… Four of the military region’s top geniuses showed up all at once.”
Huo Yu’s summoning ability and Chen Bing’s extreme cold power were unmatched when it came to area attacks.
Qin Tian’s divine dragon ability was the most terrifying for single-target combat, and his dragon’s majesty could even intimidate these mutated rats.
Ye Feng’s ability—the Light of Life—could cure illnesses and heal injuries. He could even easily save someone who was half-dead.
With them around, this rat tide wasn’t anything to worry about.
But this exercise was really meant for the ordinary ability users from the Spiritual Energy Bureau, not to train Qin Tian and the others. Apart from Ye Feng, the other three weren’t supposed to step in unless the situation completely fell apart.
Besides, with Ye Feng there, there was no need to worry about the fighters’ lives.
“I’m actually pretty curious. I want to see what kind of fighting power you’ve all developed by now.”
Setting aside Bai Xuan, Qin Tian, Huo Yu, and the others were currently China’s top combatants. In the future, they would become the generals and the strongest assets in various wars. Naturally, he wanted to know just how far they’d developed their abilities.
As Bai Xuan watched, the battle began.
*WHAM! *
*WHAM! *
*WHAM! *
Countless flames shot from his hands like bullets, rapidly mowing down the mutated rats.
“Try my flame machine gun, you beasts!”
“Now, take a Fire Fist!”
As he spoke, scorching flames burst from his body, coalescing into a massive fireball that he hurled into the rat tide. With an explosion, flames shot everywhere, and a huge number of rats were either burned alive or blown to bits by the blast.
“Your flames are still nothing compared to Ace’s. Now watch my lightning power!”
At the sound of this sudden voice, the sky turned dark and gloomy, storm clouds gathering overhead.
*CRACK— *
A lightning bolt dozens of meters thick slammed down from the sky, striking the mutated rats dead ahead. They didn’t even have time to squeal before they turned into charred crisps.
“You mages just hang back and provide support. Let me show you what a real fight looks like!”
A man with a buzz cut glanced at the other two’s attacks and spoke with a sneer.
Then he charged straight into the rat tide, ignoring their bites completely, punching them to death one by one.
If anyone looked closely, they could clearly see a layer of brownish-black scales covering his body.
But these three’s impressive performances weren’t all that common on the battlefield. Most of the other ability users, though they had overwhelming power compared to the rats, still ended up injured under the tide’s fearless, relentless attacks.
“How are they doing?”
From the back of the battlefield, Huo Yu looked at the two people beside her and asked.
“I can’t really give any pointers. I’ve never been one for team fights.”
Qin Tian shrugged and said casually.
With his divine dragon ability, he could stand there and let the rats gnaw on him all day, and they still wouldn’t get through his defense. If he was going to fight as a team, it’d be him fighting all of them.
“Same here.”
Chen Bing said flatly as well.
Her extreme cold power had terrifying freezing capabilities. Against a rat tide like this, she could freeze the whole thing solid without using up too much energy.
“You two are just…”
Huo Yu started, looking a bit exasperated. But then she cracked a smile.
“Alright, fine. Me too.”
Back when she first awakened, she could already summon a hundred Blaze Birds. Now, that number had multiplied several times over. She could even summon many more powerful fire-type beasts. A mere rat tide like this? She wouldn’t even need to get involved personally. Her summoned creatures could handle it easily.
