Chapter 523: Blazing Trials on Hill Fifty

Clang!

Xia Qing swung her blade hard, chopping into a young pine tree as thick as a thigh. The two researchers from Territory Nine hiding in the high-risk zone jumped at the noise.

“Over here! Got a hardness-evolved pine tree, need the chainsaw!” Xia Qing called out.

“On it—coming!” Wen Nengjie, who’d been watching Xia Qing closely, rushed in with the chainsaw, beating Qi Fu to it. “Sister Qing, is it this one?”

“Yeah.” Xia Qing hefted her machete, face blank as she moved to the next sapling. With a single chop, she brought it down and kept moving.

The two researchers in the high-risk zone watched Xia Qing walk off and whispered, “You think she heard us?”

“Maybe, but she’s not an auditory evolutionary…”

“We should’ve just gone a little closer.”

After two solid hours of work, Xia Qing took a break and showed a message on her phone to Madam Shi, Yuan Yan, and Zhu Li:

People from Territory Nine want to join other territories. Everyone, think carefully before agreeing.

There’s no signal out here, so both Yuan Yan and Madam Shi hadn’t brought their phones. Zhu Li dug out her old phone, screen already cracked, and typed back a line for Xia Qing:

Relax, no one’s letting them into their territory.

Yuan Yan and Madam Shi nodded along in agreement.

People from Territory Nine might be smart, but all they do is stash hundreds of pounds of dangerous chemicals or blow up mountains with poison gas bombs. Letting folks like that into your territory is just asking for trouble.

Besides, Zhang San openly hates people from Territory Nine. Taking them in would mean going head-to-head with Zhang San. Anyone with sense knows who to pick between Territory Nine and Zhang San.

Sure enough, after getting nowhere with Xia Qing, those two went to Zhao Ze with the same spiel. Maybe in their minds, if Xia Qing trusted him to handle engineering projects, Zhao Ze was the most capable lord among the ordinary folks.

But Zhao Ze already had Xia Qing’s warning, not that he needed it. He was just a regular guy scratching out a living, happy to have enough to eat. The last thing he wanted was a bunch of troublemakers from other bases. If those maniacs from Territory Nine—always dealing with poison and explosives—came in, he wouldn’t even dare eat for fear of being poisoned.

Back in the territory, Zhu Li, exhausted, curled under the quilt and quietly shared what happened with her husband. “I watched all day. They didn’t approach people from Territory Fifteen or Seventeen, just us. Honey, if none of us agreed, they aren’t gonna try something sneaky, right?”

Kuang Qingwei wasn’t sure, but he put on a brave front to comfort his wife. “Fire Phoenix is powerful, but a mighty dragon can’t outmuscle the local snake—this is our Alliance’s turf. Don’t forget, we’re allies with Third Brother and Xia Qing now.”

“True, true!” Zhu Li finally relaxed, soon snoring softly.

But Kuang Qingwei lay awake, turning over what he’d do if those Territory Nine folks came looking for him.

When they returned to the mountain the next day, those two didn’t show up. Word was, Assistant Xiao Liu from Territory Nine kept them in the tent to process samples, not allowed out.

Even though he didn’t ask, Kuang Qingwei was sure Xia Qing made that happen, since she was in charge of Hill Fifty.

He was right—Xia Qing had quietly spoken to Xiao Liu. With the mission at a critical stage, she wasn’t about to let any new problems erupt.

On Xia Qing’s third day with the clean-up team, the firebreak was finished, surrounding the entire high-risk zone.

By the fourth day, the wind on the Third Peak of Hill Fifty dropped below level four with no snowfall, meeting the conditions for a controlled burn. Disaster Response Commander Zhang San ordered the team to shake off snow from the trees, then begin the burn operation.

At the burn site, Yang Jin and Xia Qing were on command duty.

The danger zone was mostly pine, and their resin-packed needles meant that once lit, they gave off huge clouds of flammable vapor—turning them into blazing torches. Not long after the burn started, every big pine in the high-risk area became a true tree of fire.

With the flames roaring, the heat in the high-risk zone soared. Devastation Snow on the ground melted fast into polluted water, releasing Devastation Element into the air while the runoff flowed into deep pits lined with thick plastic. The newly formed wastewater treatment squad got to work, eliminating every trace of Super Evolution Fungus from the water.

Xia Qing did a full patrol, made sure fire wouldn’t breach the zone, then let Yang Jin know before heading up to the Hidden Valley. There, she set fire to the ruins of the Stone Hut and all the Scourge Grass and weeds she’d cleared earlier. That blaze wiped out every trace the Shi Jiayi family left behind.

The fire raged for two whole days before finally burning out. Territory Seven’s inspection team confirmed the danger rating had dropped from high to medium. Commander Zhang San’s mission was done, so the disaster response team disbanded. The Second Disaster Elimination Team returned down the mountain—those under detention stayed detained, those in training went back to training.

The morning after the disaster clean-up ended, at exactly 8:35 AM, Xia Qing arrived just outside Territory Seven to meet Yan Long and Tan Qi. So began a ten-day special training.

Xia Qing made sure she was ready for this special training.

For weapons, she followed Yan Long’s instructions and only brought a short knife.

For gear, she wore her advanced hardness-evolved snakeskin jacket and strength-based evolution gear—on Huo Zhun’s special advice that she had to wear it, no excuses.

As for food, she’d filled up that morning and brought along a premium nutrient shake and a big bag of pork jerky. Taste-wise, it was just alright, but it used Green Lantern pork and spices—pure nutrition, no contest.

Most crucial of all, she’d steeled herself mentally. Both Ji Li and Huo Zhun had warned her that Yan Long’s training was brutal. Yang Jin had bluntly told her he’d tried special training under Yan Long back at military school but didn’t even make it to the end, collapsing halfway through.

So when Xia Qing saw Yan Long waiting quietly outside Territory Seven, she squared her shoulders and walked over, unafraid.

“Sister Qing!” Tan Qi, thin as a bean sprout and standing next to Yan Long, raised a hand in greeting, grinning at Xia Qing after months apart.

Xia Qing waved back and hurried over, beaming. “Yan Long, Qi Qi!”

Tan Qi was clearly thrilled—her eyes, so much like her dad’s, curved into crescent moons. Seeing that adorable face behind the protective mask, Xia Qing suddenly wondered if stern-looking Tan Junjie would smile just as warmly and handsomely.

Yan Long finally spoke, calm and composed: “Line up. Destination is Second Peak, Hill Fifty. Start jogging. Move out!”

“Yes, ma’am!” Tan Qi answered crisply, moving into position next to Xia Qing.

“Yes.” Xia Qing followed suit, falling in behind Yan Long and running toward the valley between Hill Forty-Nine and Hill Fifty.

After a few minutes at an easy jog, Yan Long began to pick up the pace, and Xia Qing and Tan Qi matched her stride.