CHAPTER 35 — EXTRACTION FORCE DESCENDS
Azure Ridge shook as if a giant hand were crushing the sky.
Cracks of silver lightning split the clouds. Spirals of unnatural darkness spun around an expanding rift, making the heavens groan like a wounded beast.
Jason Wu didn't wait.
"MOVE—NOW!"
He grabbed Leon by the collar with one hand and Li Xueyin with the other, sprinting through the collapsing hall while Lan Yuren and Wei Qing shielded their flanks.
Behind them, the silver-eyed stalker—the cracked one—watched silently, head tilted, as though observing prey running before a flood.
**"Extraction force: imminent."**
Its voice broke into static.
Leon screamed while being dragged, "Jason, I'm too young and too unhandsome to die! Why does the sky look like a blender?!"
Longwu Sword snapped,
["Because something is trying to turn this world into one."]
---
### THE CITY IN CHAOS
They burst out of the headquarters into the open streets.
Azure Ridge had descended into panic.
Civilians ran in all directions. Merchants abandoned their stalls. Beasts howled from distant mountains. Formation alarms blared across rooftops.
A guard shouted, "SENIOR LAN! What is happening?!"
Lan Yuren didn't slow. "Evacuate the south district! Move civilians underground! NOW!"
Another guard pointed upward, trembling. "The sky—it's splitting!"
Jason spared one glance upward.
And froze.
Because something was stepping through the rift.
Not flying.
*Stepping.*
As if descending invisible stairs from another dimension.
Its silhouette was massive—taller than a house—made of swirling fragment-shadows that kept rearranging like puzzle pieces that didn't fully obey physics.
Wei Qing gasped. "That… that's not a puppet. That's not even a creature."
Li Xueyin whispered, "It's a dimensional construct."
Leon shrieked, "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!"
Longwu Sword growled,
["It means your screams won't matter.]
[And Jason needs to run faster.]"
Jason yelled, "Keep running!"
---
### HEAD TOWARD THE OLD TRANSPORT PLATFORM
Lan Yuren led them southeast, down narrow alleys toward the abandoned transport tower—an old teleportation platform that used to link Azure Ridge to the inner sect before it fell out of use.
Wei Qing shouted, "Is the platform still functional?!"
Lan Yuren replied, "Barely. But if we channel enough qi—"
A deafening boom cut him off.
The ground behind them exploded.
Jason spun—and his blood ran cold.
The silver-eyed stalker had followed.
But no longer flickering.
Its cracked body was now repairing itself—threads of silver light stitching it back together.
It extended its hand toward Jason again.
**"Target proximity confirmed."**
Jason cursed, "Why is it ALWAYS me?!"
Wei Qing blocked the entity with her spear, but the stalker simply phased through it like mist.
Lan Yuren slashed horizontally.
It passed through his sword too.
Leon threw a brick.
It bounced off Wei Qing's leg.
Longwu Sword sighed,
["Leon, stop being part of the problem."]
---
### JASON'S RESONANT SHIELD
Jason felt the icy pull toward the stalker again—the same draining sensation from earlier.
Longwu's voice cracked through his skull.
["Activate the Wu Heart Pulse! NOW!"]
Jason slammed his foot into the ground and roared, unleashing the pulsing golden resonance he received from the First Wu.
*WOOOMMMMM—!*
A shockwave blasted outward.
The stalker recoiled—its form glitching violently.
Lan Yuren's eyes widened. "Jason—you suppressed it!"
Li Xueyin focused intensely. "Your resonance disrupts its structure. You're its weakness."
Leon screamed, "WHY IS EVERYTHING TARGETING HIM BUT HE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN KILL IT?!"
Jason gritted his teeth. "Welcome to my life!"
But the stalker wasn't done.
Its silver eyes refocused.
**"Resonance shielding: adapting."**
**"Primary unit: delaying."**
Then—it tilted its head toward the sky rift.
As if signaling.
Jason's stomach dropped. "Oh no…"
---
### THE SECOND ARRIVAL
A second shadow stepped through the rift.
Smaller.
Faster.
Sharper.
It crouched on all fours like a hunting beast, silver eyes burning with predatory precision.
Then a third arrived.
Humanoid.
Tall.
Carrying a jagged spear made of condensed void.
And a fourth…
Li Xueyin's voice cracked. "Four… Four extraction units…"
Wei Qing whispered, "We can't fight these."
Jason's pulse hammered. The pressure made it hard to breathe.
Lan Yuren shouted over the roaring sky, "TO THE PLATFORM! NOW!"
---
### THE LAST SPRINT
They sprinted through the city streets as buildings collapsed behind them.
Jason shouted, "Leon! STOP LOOKING BACK!"
"I CAN'T, MY NECK DOES IT AUTOMATICALLY WHEN I'M SCARED!"
Longwu snapped,
["Your neck is a liability."]
As they reached the ancient transport tower—an old stone obelisk covered in moss—the ground trembled again.
The fastest extraction unit—the quadrupedal one—blurred across rooftops, closing the distance rapidly.
Jason yelled, "It's coming!"
Lan Yuren roared, "XUEYIN!"
Li Xueyin slammed her palm onto the stone platform.
Ancient runes lit up.
*WHOOOM—*
*WHOOOM—*
*WHOOOM—*
But the platform sputtered.
Wei Qing cursed, "It's too old! The stabilizer crystals are damaged!"
Leon shouted, "CAN WE HIT IT?! DOES THAT HELP?!"
Longwu answered dryly,
["No, but hitting YOU might help my mood."]
Jason turned to Xueyin. "What do we need?!"
"A power source!" she cried. "A massive, stable qi burst!"
Jason froze.
"…Me?"
Li Xueyin nodded.
"Only your resonance can bridge the broken array!"
Jason stepped onto the platform.
The quadrupedal extraction unit landed ten meters away—snarling, limbs bending backward like an insect.
Lan Yuren and Wei Qing took defensive stances.
Leon pulled out a frying pan.
Longwu Sword glowed fiercely.
["Boy—DO IT."]
Jason inhaled.
Closed his eyes.
Reached for the Wu Heart Pulse—
And unleashed everything.
*THUNDEROUS BOOOOM—!*
Golden resonance flooded the platform.
Ruinous light burst from the stones.
Li Xueyin screamed, "IT'S WORKING—!"
The unit lunged.
Jason screamed.
The world exploded in light.
And the team vanished—
Just as the extraction force struck the empty platform.