Chinese Superman

Chapter 164 The Dark Age, The High Martial Age

North Africa, along the Nile River.

Yellow sand filled the sky, and dark clouds pressed down overhead.

The once towering pyramids now radiate beams of golden light, reaching to the heavens and illuminating the dim world.

At the top of the Great Pyramid of Giza, a mummy pharaoh wrapped in golden scarab bandages stands majestically, holding a scepter and flail symbolizing power, chanting ancient incantations of the sun god.

But what he faced was not the end of the world.

Rather, it was a massive spiritual disaster triggered after the second phase of the spiritual energy revival.

Deep within the pyramids, a viscous, crude oil-like dark substance emerges.

Dark matter engulfed the earth, manifesting countless evil god incarnations with jackal or crocodile heads.

"Destroy them!"

The Pharaoh stood at the top of the pyramid, roaring.

He waved his scepter, and one after another, sun ships sailed out of the underworld, from which countless spirits leaped down like a torrential rain.

A sandstorm surged, covering the sky and the earth.

The Pharaoh's undead army clashed with the dark forces in the yellow sands. The two torrents collided fiercely, and the brilliance of the sun ship and the all-consuming shadows repeatedly tugged at each other, turning vast oases and city ruins into mythical battlefields and death zones.

Ordinary humans?

Originally enslaved by the Pharaoh, the current Ya and Yun have been reduced to dust in the aftermath of the divine war, completely extinct, with no survivors.

Southern Europe, the Balkan Peninsula, Mount Olympus.

The legendary Mountain of the Gods has been fully awakened, its peaks piercing the clouds, and the phantom of the temple looming in and out of view atop the clouds.

The members of the Pantheon had already climbed the mountain.

They still couldn't find Noah's Ark and directly rely on the power of Mount Olympus to resist the terrible apocalypse.

At the foot of the mountain, and extending to the plains and coastline as far as the eye could see, was a dense, boundless horde of zombies!

They are not ordinary, slow-moving zombies, but muscular, incredibly fast mutants.

The zombie virus has evolved after all.

After fusing with spiritual matter, the infected person's physical attributes are greatly enhanced, and each individual's strength is comparable to that of a Transcendent Realm expert.

Some mutants can even possess "special abilities" like bats and electric eels, releasing supernatural powers such as electricity, flames, and ultrasonic waves!

"Roar! Roar!"

The roars of zombies echoed across the entire European continent. Millions of zombies, including humans, dogs, and various animals, surged towards Mount Olympus like a black, rotting ocean.

On the mountainside, one could vaguely see some heroic warriors clad in ancient Greek-style armor, forming a defensive formation.

Arrows and spears rained down, and thunder occasionally boomed in the horde of zombies, clearing a patch only to have it instantly filled with even more.

This is a desperate war of attrition between "miracles" and "death tides".

Vatican City, Apennine Peninsula.

At this moment, the Vatican is shrouded in an enormous, semi-transparent light barrier.

The protective shield is composed of pure holy light and countless runes.

Inside the protective barrier, the cross of St. Peter's Basilica shone brightly, and the voices of the choir could be faintly heard even through the barrier, filled with sacred power.

The extraordinary power: the Holy Throne!

The end times they face are hell!

The cracks in the earth tore apart cities, and infernal flames erupted from the ground as countless demons flew out and assaulted the Vatican's holy light barrier.

Besides the countless demon minions, monsters in the form of fallen angels hovered in the sky, and blasphemous stitched behemoths crawled out of the cracks in the earth.

It is suspected that Lucifer, a terrifying being, sits on the throne of hell behind the demon army.

On the other side of the Holy Throne, Templar Knights clad in gleaming armor, ascetics wielding lightsabers, and priests capable of invoking "divine punishment" are engaged in a bloody battle at the edge of the barrier.

They used faith and miracles to fight against the invasion from the abyss and the hellish dimension.

The Son of God, bearing the true cross, wearing a crown of thorns, a holy robe, and holding the Holy Grail, was armed to the teeth as he confronted Lucifer.

"The Ancient Secret Society escaped? They activated Stonehenge and were collectively teleported to another world?"

Xia Xinghan's gaze settled on the southwest suburbs of London, England.

After the ancient and mysterious Stonehenge was restored, it miraculously acquired a teleportation array, which transported a group of members of the [Ancient Secret Society], cloaked in black, to an unknown world.

It could be a fantasy world with a Western setting, or it could be Avalon.

But clearly, escaping Earth, besieged by the "apocalypse," is still too difficult.

The enormous magic circle suddenly turned blood red.

A spatial rift suddenly tore open above Stonehenge, followed by the severed limbs and remains of all the members of the Ancient Society, falling from mid-air and staining Stonehenge with blood.

"The Ark of the Covenant and the Dead Sea Scrolls are quite formidable; they held their own."

"From this perspective, of Europe's 700 to 800 million people, only a few hundred thousand remain."

Xia Xinghan's gaze continued to sweep across the area.

In North America, there is no doubt that the Statue of Liberty was completely destroyed but was rebuilt.

Its torch, held high, radiated boundless and mysterious power, briefly illuminating the dark clouds that shrouded New York.

Unfortunately, even the Statue of Liberty could not avert the endless stream of wronged souls and terrifying curses.

Of the hundreds of millions of people in North America, not a single one survived!

In South America, the Amazon rainforest is expanding wildly, swallowing cities, and giant plant monsters are battling the ancient feathered serpent god deep in the jungle.

In other regions, the same doomsday scenario rages, and humanity is virtually extinct.

What, Japan?

Xia Xinghan couldn't find the four islands of Yingguo on any map of the earth.

It must have been the super tsunami that struck the coastline of Xia that first submerged Yingguo; the four islands have already sunk into the Pacific Ocean.

Looking out over the Xia Kingdom, all that could be seen was a hellish landscape, where the flame of civilization had been almost completely extinguished.

Xia Xinghan's gaze grew increasingly serious.

According to his calculations, overnight, the global population plummeted from 8.2 billion to less than 1.5 billion!

Of these 1.5 billion survivors, more than 99 percent are concentrated within the territory of the Xia Kingdom!

The remaining survivors, scattered across the globe, are either hiding in resurrected holy sites like the Vatican or Mount Olympus, protected by extraordinary forces; or they are extremely lucky enough to have survived the apocalyptic catastrophe for the time being; or they possess great strength and are struggling to survive in the cracks.

This is a cold and cruel contrast.

The Xia Kingdom clearly suffered the greatest spiritual calamity and the most doomsday events, but thanks to the country's foresight and the efforts of powerful figures like Xia Xinghan, the Bronze Divine Tree, and Zhang Zhenren, the casualties were actually the smallest.

It wasn't even a serious injury, just a minor "skin injury".

This is a miracle, and the result of everyone's hard work.

"...9"

A silent sigh echoed in Xia Xinghan's heart.

Even with an iron will, witnessing such a massive collapse of civilization and devastation would not leave him unmoved.

This is a tragedy for the entire planet.

But after the sigh came an even more determined look in his eyes.

He cannot save the whole world, nor does he presume to save everyone.

All he could do was protect the land behind him, the land that had miraculously survived the desperate situation by unleashing astonishing power.

Xia Xinghan withdrew his gaze and looked down at the Xia Kingdom inside the wall.

What should have been a joyous New Year's Eve for family reunion was instead spent in such a calamity.

The land was still scarred and devastated, with ruins everywhere and the smoke of war still lingering. But the sky was filled with the dazzling aurora borealis, a magnificent spectacle created by the bronze tree manipulating countless relics.

It was deathly silent, yet also peaceful.

There were no new spiritual disasters, nor were there any new apocalypses.

Spiritual energy is reviving in various places.

Under the influence of spiritual matter, stubborn stones are transformed into spiritual stones, and even roadside weeds can become extraordinary spiritual roots.

The spiritual energy between heaven and earth is becoming increasingly abundant, reaching the level of some spiritual mountains in the first stage of spiritual energy revival. In the future, the difficulty of the Qi sensing stage in cultivation will inevitably be reduced by hundreds or thousands of times. It is foreseeable that the era of cultivation for all has truly arrived.

Destruction and rebirth coexist.

Inside the various underground shelters, the survivors embraced each other and wept, then began to distribute the limited food and water to one another.

A relatively stable signal came over the radio, reporting on the disaster situation and rescue progress in various places. Although the losses were heavy, the core shelter network was basically intact, and a considerable portion of important industrial facilities and strategic reserves were preserved.

The state apparatus is operating efficiently, organizing rescue efforts, tallying casualties, and reassuring the public.

There were no fireworks, no card games, no New Year's Eve dinner, and no noisy Spring Festival Gala, but on this New Year's Eve, being alive, relying on each other, and having hope was the most precious happiness.

Time passes little by little.

Finally, a pale white dawn appeared on the eastern horizon, followed by a faint golden edge.

Its daybreak.

The true sunrise leaps above the horizon, casting its golden rays upon the land of China, which has endured countless calamities.

In order to be the first to see the rising sun, Xia Xinghan used the beacon tower to teleport from the westernmost part of Xia Kingdom to the easternmost beacon tower of the Great Wall. There he saw the radiant sun shining on the vast, deep blue sea.

The color of the sea gradually lightens and brightens, stretching endlessly, shimmering in the sunlight, with no islands, only a vast ocean.

"It seems the Earth's will has returned to normal, and most of the apocalypse is over."

Xia Xinghan looked up at the sky, as if he had something on his mind.

The calamities left over from the apocalypse are still there, but the source has been completely sealed off.

Earth has once again entered a state of "one against ten".

But the "one against ten" in the first stage is definitely different from the "one against ten" in the second stage, because—Earth has "broken through".

The heavy gates of shelters across the country began to open one after another after the external environment was confirmed to be temporarily stable.

The survivors, supporting each other, carrying simple bags or lifting the wounded, walked step by step out of the underground and stepped back onto the ravaged, familiar yet strange land.

The air was cold, filled with dust and a faint smell of burning.

The city before me, my familiar home, much of it has been reduced to ruins.

The broken walls, twisted steel bars, and overturned vehicles were a shocking sight.

Some people couldn't help but burst into tears, for their deceased loved ones and for their destroyed homes.

But after a brief period of sadness and confusion, most people slowly raised their heads.

The phantom of the bronze tree had disappeared at some point, and the sky they saw was no longer the eerie blood-red, dark green, or gray-white, but a normal azure blue, with a few wisps of white clouds floating by.

They saw the sun, the real, warm sun that rises every day as usual, casting its golden rays upon the ruins and upon everyone's faces, covered in dust and tear stains.

The sunlight was a bit dazzling, but it felt incredibly real.

This is—the feeling of being alive.

A faint but tenacious hope, like a tender sprout breaking through the soil in early spring, quietly arises in the hearts of countless people who have been frozen in despair, and then slowly grows.

"It's dawn."

Someone murmured.

"The sun is coming out."

The person next to him responded, their voice hoarse but carrying a hint of life.

Yes, it's dawn, the sun is out.

The longest and darkest New Year's Eve has passed.

Although the road ahead is still fraught with thorns, although what is lost can never be recovered, and although the challenges ahead may be even more severe, as long as we live, there is hope. As long as there is sunshine, there is direction.

The massive machine of the nation has started running again.

A fleet of military-green convoys and construction machinery, like an iron torrent, departed from various strategic reserve points and still-intact bases, heading to various destinations.

The primary task is to establish "lifelines" connecting major shelters with the main ruins.

Medical teams set up field hospitals and temporary medical points, and medicines, plasma, and medical equipment were urgently allocated through the remaining air and ground transportation.

Temporary shelters were set up at an astonishing speed, with tents and prefabricated houses stretching out in rows. Basic food, water, and cold-weather supplies were distributed to the survivors in an orderly manner under unified allocation.

The radio broadcasted information on finding missing persons, epidemic prevention guidelines, psychological counseling guidelines, and reconstruction policies on a loop.

Officials organized soldiers and volunteers to patrol various resettlement sites, supply distribution points, and major transportation routes to maintain basic order and crack down on sporadic acts of looting during the chaos.

The communications department is making every effort to repair the backbone network, prioritizing the restoration of communications for military and government command and important civilian needs.

Some factories that suffered relatively minor damage, particularly those involved in food processing, pharmaceutical production, building materials manufacturing, and some military industries, have begun to attempt to resume production after ensuring safety.

The propaganda department began to collect and organize the heroic deeds that emerged during this catastrophe, whether it was grand epics such as the Martial Ancestor carrying the Great Wall, the Saint splitting the tsunami, the Bronze Divine Tree settling the world, or the First Dragon fighting the gods, or touching stories of ordinary soldiers, weapon bearers, volunteers, and even ordinary people helping each other to survive.

These were made into simple brochures and radio programs and distributed at resettlement sites, with the aim of healing trauma, uniting people, and rebuilding the national spirit of "human determination can overcome nature" and "unity and self-reliance".

The Great Cataclysm has ended.

A new era has begun.

The remaining civilizations outside the wall call this new era the Dark Age, while the Great Xia civilization inside the wall calls it the High Martial Age!

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