High Martial Arts: Liver Becomes the Master of the Universe

Chapter 58 Reflection

Dust filled the sky and slowly settled.

At the bottom of the massive mine pit, all was deathly silent, save for the barely audible buzzing of the power armor's life support system.

Kro's mountain-like body lay quietly on the reddish-brown earth, his dark eye sockets staring blankly at the grayish-yellow sky.

Beneath him, a dark green, foul-smelling viscous liquid slowly seeped into the parched soil, staining the land a color of decay and misfortune.

The battle is over.

However, there were no cheers of victory, no relief at surviving a disaster.

The surviving students stood or sat, silently watching the devastated battlefield.

Some students were frantically giving emergency treatment to their injured classmate, the sparks flying from the damaged power armor contrasting sharply with the solemn expressions on their faces.

Chu Lan struggled to sit up from the ground. He glanced at the terrifying dent in his chest, then at the broken saber not far away. No one could see his expression through the T-shaped mask.

Shi Potian clutched his chest, coughing violently, each cough accompanied by a drop of blood.

Beside his feet lay the standard longsword, shattered into countless pieces.

Qian Duoduo was in an even worse situation. He was half-buried in the deformed shards of the tower shield, his power armor was damaged in many places, and the emergency locking program had been activated, rendering him unable to move.

A suffocating and oppressive atmosphere, as if it were a tangible presence, enveloped everyone's hearts.

at this time.

The figure of homeroom teacher Wu Shangfeng silently descended upon this land that had just experienced a bloody battle.

They didn't go to see the injured students, nor did they go to see Qin Feng, who ultimately turned the tide.

His gaze simply fell calmly on the corpses of Crow and the other Nurgle followers.

There was no preaching, no commentary; they simply walked quietly to Kro's body.

He extended his right hand, and a flamethrower appeared on his wrist terminal.

"Om-"

A blazing flame suddenly ignited out of nowhere.

"The souls and flesh of the followers of Nurgle have become a breeding ground for plague."

Wu Shangfeng's calm voice rang out on everyone's communication channels, breaking the suffocating silence.

"Their vitality far surpasses that of ordinary people. Even after death, the billions of germs contained within their bodies can still maintain extremely high activity. Without thorough purification, they could turn a mining planet into a barren plague planet within days."

"It needs to be cleansed with psionic energy."

"Of course, the flames spewed by this flamethrower are converted from psionic energy and can be used directly."

As he spoke, he flipped his hand, and the ball of flame, as if it had come to life, landed on Kro's corpse.

"Zi...ZiZi..."

There was no intense burning, no raging flames.

The flames, as if they were living things, quickly covered Kro's massive body.

All the rotting flesh, pustules, and maggots that were touched by the flames were silently annihilated, turning into the purest black ash and dissipating into the air.

The whole process was bizarre yet highly efficient.

Wu Shangfeng's gaze swept over the corpses being purified, and he continued:
"In the history of the Empire, there was once a black hole-level Nurgle Archmage who perished in a galactic war. The 'Ultimate Plague' that his corpse transformed into swept through the entire inhabited star system he was in. Within a single standard year, an entire inhabited star system, with hundreds of millions of planets, was reduced to mindless walking corpses. In the end, the Empire had no choice but to issue an extermination order, completely erasing that star system from the physical realm."

His voice was completely flat, as if he were stating a fact that had nothing to do with him.

But the cold and cruel truth contained in those words sent a chill down the spines of every student present.

What they face today is nothing compared to such a cosmic catastrophe, not even a speck of dust.

Soon, under the purification of the flames, all the corpses at the bottom of the mine were burned to ashes, leaving not a trace.

The stench that permeated the air also dissipated.

After finishing all this, Wu Shangfeng turned on his wrist terminal.

"Task submitted".

He said it concisely.

"Prepare to return."

Subspace teleportation is activated, and immense spatial energy converges once again.

A dazzling white light engulfed everything.

When the students opened their eyes again, they were back at Qiming No. 1 Martial Arts High School, in their familiar, private martial arts room.

The morning star's rays streamed through the tall French windows, casting bright, warm spots of light on the floor, creating a stark contrast with the grime still clinging to their power armor.

Everyone stood silently in place. After removing their power armor, many of their training uniforms were soaked with cold sweat.

Some students had a pale face, as if they had survived a disaster; some students' eyes revealed regret and resentment at their performance; while many more students had their heads down, their eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment.

The desperate roar of Kro before his death still seemed to echo in their ears.

Those words, like a poisonous thorn, pierced deeply into the hearts of these privileged children who had received the glorious education of the empire since childhood.

Wu Shangfeng walked to the front of the podium and looked at the students below with their various expressions.

"You have half an hour to reflect."

His voice remained cold and hard, "Reflect on your performance in that battle just now, reflect on every action you took, every decision you made, and... every mistake you made."

"I need to hear your self-criticisms in half an hour."

After he finished speaking, he stood quietly on the podium, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes, like a silent statue.

The entire martial arts room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The students nodded slightly, dispersed, found a corner, and silently began the "reflection" that Wu Shangfeng had requested.

In retrospect, this battle was simple yet brutal.

When clearing out the infected miners on the outskirts, the students of Class 3, Grade 11, demonstrated the qualities expected of students from the Empire's top martial arts high school.

The various combat teams cooperated seamlessly and executed their tasks decisively, resulting in no casualties and efficiently completing the first phase of the mission.

However, this "excellent" result is based on absolute overwhelming strength.

Even so, significant problems were still exposed during the battle.

More than half of the students in the class seemed helpless when faced with the fearless and tenacious followers of Nurgle.

Their attacks are unlikely to cause effective damage to those bulky, tough bodies.

Their movements appeared clumsy and stiff on the chaotic battlefield.

These students with weaker abilities were practically reduced to being a burden who needed protection during the battle.

The only ones truly supporting the entire battle were a few top experts, led by Qin Feng, Shi Potian, and Chu Lan.

When the final enemy, Kro, with a vitality index as high as 14.5, appeared, this gap in strength was bloodily and infinitely magnified.

Even someone as strong as Chu Lan, wielding a horse-slaying sword, was still defeated in a single blow.

Even someone as powerful as Shi Potian, despite wielding the Ninefold Thunder Blade, still ended up with his weapon shattered and him severely injured, coughing up blood.

Their prized killing methods proved utterly fragile in the face of Krona's absolute power and defense, blessed by the evil god.

Their combat experience and their level of killing skills are clearly far behind those of the enemies they are facing.

In front of Kro, they didn't even have the right to participate in the fight.

They will be instantly killed.

In the entire Class 3 of the first year of high school, Qin Feng was the only one who dared to stand up when facing the final boss.

Qin Feng, too, was reflecting on his actions.

He closed his eyes, and in his mind, every detail of his battle with Kro replayed over and over again.

That final "Flowing Light Chasing Shadow" was a brand new killing move that he comprehended at the critical moment of life and death, by integrating all his own insights and with the mysterious blessing of the "Favored Nail".

This move has transcended the grand and sweeping style of "a thousand troops breaking apart," and is a pure, pinpoint-killing spear that maximizes speed and precision.

With this new technique in mind, he could clearly feel that his understanding of "Thousand Army Spears" had reached a whole new level.

On the system panel, the suffix for the 【Thousand Army Spears】 section has quietly changed from “Minor Success” to “Major Success”.

This means that his marksmanship has truly reached a high level.

However, Qin Feng was thinking about more than just these things.

His mind was filled with the words of Chloe.

"I have shed blood and broken legs for the empire!"

"My three sons... all died in the infighting within the planet's management!"

"This empire, from top to bottom, has long been rotten to the core!"

And along the edge of the mine, there are those emperor statues, weathered and scarred by wind and sand, dripping with "blood and tears."

And the desperate figure of Krona, crammed into a cold mining mech, toiling day after day.

Qin Feng didn't know whether he should ask or not.

Were those words all true?
If that's true...