Many children, many blessings; leading female trainees in wilderness survival.

However, his skills have cooldowns: Thunderfire Burst Bullet has a 20-second cooldown, and Absolute Zero Grip has a 25-second cooldown.

During the cooling-off period, he could only fight in the most primitive way.

Taking advantage of his skill cooldown, a cockroach pounced from the side and bit his arm with its mandibles.

Ye Xiao had no time to dodge and instinctively activated his primary hardening.

A thin, hard film instantly formed on the surface of his forearm skin, like a transparent suit of armor.

The cockroach's mandibles bit down on it, making a sharp "crunching" sound. The tunica albuginea was bitten in, but not broken.

Ye Xiao gritted his teeth and endured the pain, then punched the cockroach in the head with his right fist, sending it flying.

He glanced down at his forearm; a deep bite mark was visible on the dura mater, but the skin was not broken.

The F-grade primary hardening saved his life.

The battle continued.

During the cooldown period of his skills, Ye Xiao used his fists, his feet, stones on the ground, and anything else he could to defend against the cockroaches' attacks.

He had several bite marks and scratches on his arms, legs, and back. He used the basic healing technique three times, and each time a flash of green light accelerated the healing of the wounds, leaving a pink scar.

His black vest was torn in several places, and insect blood and human blood were mixed together, making it impossible to tell whose it was.

But he never backed down.

Five meters in front of the car was the red line he had drawn.

He would block any cockroach that crossed this line with his body.

Time passed by, second by second.

One hour, two hours, three hours.

Ye Xiao had no idea how many he had killed.

His consciousness was reduced to nothing but mechanical cycles.

Thunderfire Burst, Absolute Zero Grip, Basic Hardening to absorb damage, Basic Healing to restore health, then repeat.

His unlimited energy means he doesn't need to rest, but his body is made of flesh and blood; it can feel pain, get tired, and get injured.

Basic healing spells can only treat minor injuries. The deeper bite marks are still bleeding. He was bitten on the left shoulder, and blood was flowing down his arm and dripping into the soil.

But he didn't stop.

At four in the morning, the sky began to lighten.

The cockroach colony finally showed signs of change.

They no longer charged forward as frantically as before; they began to hesitate and retreat.

As the first rays of dawn pierced through the gaps in the dense forest, one of the cockroaches turned and fled, as if a switch had been flipped, and the rest of the cockroaches turned around in unison and scurried wildly into the depths of the forest.

Finally, it disappeared completely.

Ye Xiao stood there, watching the last cockroach disappear into the bushes, before slowly squatting down.

He stayed up all night by himself.

Hundreds of cockroaches were killed.

The sun has risen.

The morning light pierced through the gaps in the dense forest, falling on the windshield of the training car, on the ground littered with dead insects, and on Ye Xiao's blood-stained face.

He leaned back against the hood of the car, his eyes closed, the green light of the basic healing spell flashing in his palm, slowly healing the wound on his left shoulder.

He doesn't need to sleep, but he needs to recover.

His boundless energy kept him from getting tired, but his physical wounds needed time to heal.

……

Qin Wan was awakened by the chirping of birds.

She suddenly opened her eyes, sat up straight, and looked out through the windshield.

Then she froze.

In front of the car, on the open ground, the fire had gone out, leaving only a pile of white ashes.

But outside the fire, the entire open space was covered with the corpses of cockroaches.

Grayish-brown shell fragments, dark marks left by dried green bodily fluids, a broken leg, a shattered mandible...

The corpses were piled up into small mounds, layer upon layer, stretching from the front of the vehicle all the way to the edge of the dense forest, seemingly endless.

The air was filled with a strong stench of burning and blood, mixed with the scent of morning dew, both nauseating and shocking.

Qin Wan covered her mouth.

"What's wrong..." Liu Yun rubbed her eyes and sat up from the back seat, following Qin Wan's gaze to look outside the car, and then her voice disappeared.

She opened her mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

Lin Wanqing was awakened by Qin Wan's noise. She groggily raised her head, and her floral dress slipped off her body.

She looked out the window, her pupils dilating suddenly.

Xu Qingran was the last to wake up.

She's a light sleeper, but she was so tired last night that she slept soundly until dawn.

She opened her eyes and found the other three people staring out of the car, their expressions varying.

She frowned and leaned closer to the car window to look outside.

Hundreds of cockroach corpses covered the entire open space.

The four women rushed out of the car almost simultaneously.

Qin Wan was the first to run to Ye Xiao, squatted down, and reached out her hand with trembling hands, wanting to touch him but not daring to.

Her eyes reddened, her lips trembled, and her voice was choked with sobs: "Xiao Xiao... are you hurt? Are you alright?"

Her hand finally landed on his uninjured right shoulder, and through the dried blood, she could feel that his body was warm and alive.

Her tears immediately fell.

"You're out there working so hard all by yourself..."

I……

There's nothing I can do...

I could only hide in the car…

She looked up, her eyes blurred with tears, at Ye Xiao's face.

"If I had a skill, even if it was just to help you block something or attract the attention of one or two people..."

"You wouldn't have suffered such a serious injury."

Ye Xiao opened his mouth, as if to say that he was fine.

Qin Wan did not give him a chance.

"Ye Xiao, take me."

Ye Xiao's pupils dilated slightly.

"I want to fight alongside you."

I want to stand by your side; I don't want to hide behind you forever.

I want to become stronger, and I want to live with you in this damn world.

The two were very close, close enough that Ye Xiao could see his reflection in her eyes, close enough that he could feel the temperature of her breath.

Tears still clung to her eyelashes, and the neckline of her black lace top was slightly open as she squatted down.

He reached out and pulled her into his arms.

With his other hand, he held the back of her head, ran his fingers through her long hair, and then lowered his head to kiss her.

Qin Wan closed her eyes and parted her lips slightly.

Ye Xiao's tongue then took advantage of the opportunity to enter.

Behind him, three women stood still, each with a different expression.

"Let's go over there and see if there's anything usable," Xu Qingran said softly.

Lin Wanqing seemed to wake from a dream and quickly followed after him with small, quick steps.

……

Ye Xiao released Qin Wan's lips, his forehead pressed against hers, their breaths mingling.

"Aunt Qin." His voice was so hoarse it didn't sound like his own.

"Call me Qin Wan." Her voice was even hoarser than his. "Don't call me Aunt Qin anymore."

Ye Xiao looked at her.

Her face was flushed, the blush spreading from her cheeks to the tips of her ears, down her neck, and down to the unseen area below the black lace neckline.

Tears still clung to her eyelashes, and her lips were slightly swollen from being kissed.

She was seventeen years older than him.

She is Lin Chen's mother.

She was his elder.

At this moment, she was in his arms, looking up at him with only the naked desire of a woman looking at a man.

Ye Xiao did not speak again.

He bent down, put one hand under her knees and the other hand on her back, and lifted her up horizontally.

……