High Martial Arts Races: I Ascend to the Future in a Simulation

Leaving the cave, you see a faint light emanating from the entrance passage, expecting to soon see the light of day again. However, you are unexpectedly confronted with an extremely complex cave structure.

[Some parts of the cave were inlaid with luminous crystals, and patrolling dwarf figures were everywhere. These dwarfs were all extremely thin, and the young man could easily send three or four flying with a single bump.]

But they can all control the soil!

Yes, you confirmed it, it's definitely soil.

The dwarfs can make the soil wriggle like mud, and then quickly solidify it!

Some of them were directly uprooted, forming earthen walls to block the way!

You frantically fled outwards, passing through one underground passage after another, your hands, feet, and bodies scraped and bleeding from the jagged rocks.

The only good news is that those dwarfs have such short legs that once they fall behind, it's almost impossible for them to catch up.

The bad news was even worse: the disorienting underground cave environment, dwarfs popping out from all directions, and the mud constantly hindering the fleeing crowd...

The number of troops is decreasing, from over thirty to thirty, then twenty, then a dozen...

Although you are fast and agile, stronger than most of the team, you have always been firmly protected in the center, ensuring you don't suffer any harm or lose a single drop of stamina.

Every now and then, someone would shield you tightly, blocking clods of dirt thrown at you, or rush out to block a dwarf lunging from the side, and then never catch up with the group again.

[Your birth mother was also exhausted. After handing you to a young man leaning in front of her, she turned around and lunged, knocking down three dwarfs who were only 80 or 90 centimeters tall.]

"We must ensure his survival!"

"He must survive; he is the second Xuanyuan!"

Finally, with only seven of the strongest young men remaining—who, judging from their fighting style, should have been tribal warriors—the space ahead opened up into a vast underground realm.

There were many dwarfs standing there, some dressed in elaborate clothes. Although they were only a little over half a meter tall, they were only slightly taller than you when you stood up.

[But after the dwarf waved his two tiny, chicken-claw-like hands, a large swath of earth churned and moved, covering an area of ​​more than ten square meters with a cursory glance!]

He can manipulate mud as heavy as the crocodile patriarch!

[When it was unleashed, it was like a mini-catastrophe. Fortunately, that particularly short dwarf only calmly glanced in your direction and didn't personally take action, but ordered the other elite dwarves to come and hunt you down.]

Elite dwarfs are far stronger than ordinary dwarfs. Ordinary dwarfs require you to scatter dirt around them to control them, while elite dwarfs can manipulate the dirt beneath their feet to move rapidly, propelling them forward at high speed!

The young man in the lead suddenly turned and pulled you into his arms. Then, with a low shout, four of the other six rushed forward, recklessly blocking the pursuers and creating another chance for you to escape.

You feel you'll never forget this moment.

[In previous simulations, when you were weak, you were ambushed and had your neck pierced; when you gained power, you were held at bay by hundreds of longbows and forced to fight a Tyrannosaurus Rex.]

[Or perhaps outsmart the Crocodile Ancestor, or engage in a thrilling battle with the Sword Tiger King...]

[There were indeed some critical situations, but they all ended quickly, and you were personally involved throughout.]

This time, however... you truly felt powerless.

You're so tiny and fragile, less than a day old!

Even if you break free from the embrace of youth and go down to fight those dwarfs, you will be no match for them!

[The feeling of everyone being on your side, everyone sacrificing themselves to fight for you... it's really hard to describe in words.]

You don't know what they want, but you know you can't let them down. You know that when you return to this underground cave, it will be the day these disgusting and filthy dwarfs are wiped out!

Finally, the young man was covered in wounds; his body had been slashed open by some kind of sharp blade, short arrows were stuck in his arms, two toes had been amputated, and white, bony protrusions were exposed above his knees.

But ahead in the distant tunnel, light appeared.

Unlike the illuminating crystals in the cave, you squint and realize that this is real sunlight.

The exit is right in front of you!

However, the pursuers behind you are less than 10 meters away, and there are more than a dozen dwarfs blocking your way in the tunnel ahead.

"Can you understand what I'm saying? You can understand me, right?"

The young man looked down at you in his arms and asked, "Run, keep running, keep running!"

"You must flee alone, heading towards the direction of the rising sun!"

"You must run to the edge of the Hime River, you must go downstream, keep going, keep going."

"Until you see a grand tribe, that will become the source of civilization, the center that unites the entire wild land!"

"You must find the most outstanding person in that tribe, someone incredibly wise and powerful. You must become his subordinate and assist him to make his cause even more successful!"

"That man's name is—Ji Xuanyuan!"

Having said that, he drew a short arrow from his arm, rolled with all his might, and pierced through the dwarf blocking his path with the arrowhead. Then, he used his other hand to gouge out the eyes of one of the dwarfs.

With a deafening cracking sound of shattering bones, he kicked through the solidified earthen wall in front of him, grabbed the most convenient clod of earth, and slammed it down hard on the dwarf warrior before him!

The dwarf warrior wore a mocking expression, for the hard clod of earth instantly turned into soft mud. But the young man's intention was never to attack the Mud-Hidden Clan member with hard mud; he had only picked up the clod to lower the opponent's guard!

[A clod of earth can soften into mud, but his fist can't!]

[Bang!]

The blow sent the dwarf's head flying, revealing the stark white cervical vertebrae to the young man. His own right fist, which had been thrown out, snapped from the impact, the bones in his fingers shattering, even his metacarpals breaking apart!

He can still move!

The young man sprinted across the ground in a bizarre and contorted manner, his left arm tightly embracing you while his right arm continued its relentless swinging. Finally, at a certain moment, his entire hand vanished!

[That's good, because exposed broken bone sections have higher attack power.]

[Adrenaline surged to its peak, causing a life-threatening outflow of blood, which splattered across the cave walls in a fan-like pattern.]

Finally, the light was within reach.