High Martial: I Use Everything as Swords

"Instead of just scaring ourselves, we should figure out what’s going on."

"How are we supposed to do that?

Look at the hellscape outside!"

Someone in the crowd shouted.

"Use that."

Zhang Hao turned and pointed to the massive metal pedestal directly beneath the dome of the hall, a device covered in layers of Runes.

His voice was clear, carrying a convincing calm.

"This is a ’Space Spiritual Energy Beacon Array.’"

Upon hearing the name, the eyes of many senior students lit up.

It was the final failsafe, left behind when the Wind Eye Market was established to deal with extreme disasters.

Once activated, it could fire a highly penetrative Spiritual Power signal, ignoring normal environmental interference and passing directly through weak spatial barriers to send a distress call to East Sea Fortress City.

"If we activate it, the Grandmasters in the city will be able to pinpoint our location. Rescue will arrive quickly," Zhang Hao said.

"Then what are we waiting for? Turn it on!" someone yelled.

"There’s no energy."

This time, it was Zhao Hai who spoke.

The researcher from Star Sea Technology pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, holding a report in his hand.

"During that last beast tide, the Defense Array drained all of the hall’s reserve energy to fend off the Golden Crowned Eagle King’s attack."

"Right now, the backup power is only enough to maintain basic lighting and life support."

The hope that had just ignited in the crowd was instantly extinguished.

"The Beacon Array is a real energy hog."

Zhou Qi added from the side, a wrench in his hand, "A single activation requires an instantaneous burst of at least a thirty-thousand Energy Level. In Spirit Coins, that’s about fifty thousand."

Fifty thousand Spirit Coins.

For most of the students present, this was an astronomical sum.

Silence once again descended upon the hall.

"I’ll put in five hundred."

Just then, a deep voice rang out.

The crowd looked toward the sound.

The leader of the "Furious Wave" society, Chen Kai, stepped forward. He pulled a leather pouch from his robes and slapped it heavily on the control console.

"This is everything our society has earned this time. You can always earn more money, but you only get one life."

Chen Kai glanced around, sneering, "At a time like this, if anyone is still holding back, they can take their money with them to the grave."

"Well said."

Lei Qianjun snorted. Though he couldn’t stand Chen Kai, he understood what was important at a time like this.

He untied a fist-sized Wind Attribute Crystal Stone from his waist and tossed it over.

"A Demon Core from a Tier Two Late Stage Wind Demon Ape. This thing should be worth a few thousand."

With someone taking the lead, the rest followed naturally.

"I’ll put in a thousand!"

"I’ll contribute some materials too!"

"I have a few standard Spirit Stones!"

The will to survive overcame greed.

Seeing the growing pile of Spirit Stones and materials on the console, Zhao Hai cut the chatter and took out Star Sea Technology’s own contribution—three high-purity Tier Three Energy Crystals.

"We use these to power our experimental equipment."

Zhao Hai winced as he slotted the crystals into the array’s energy bay.

In an instant, Crystal Stones of all colors, Demon Cores, and Energy Blocks were piled in front of Zhou Qi as if they were free, quickly forming a small mountain.

Zhou Qi didn’t hold back. He directed Su Yue and a few other tech-savvy students to quickly sort, purify, and channel the energy into the Beacon Array through the Energy Converter.

「Ten minutes later.」

All preparations were complete.

In the center of the hall, the long-dormant Beacon Array began to emit a low hum.

Countless complex Runes lit up one by one. A blue light spread from the base, climbing up the metal conduits and finally converging on the emitter at the top.

"Energy fill complete. Output power at one hundred percent."

Su Yue stared intently at the screen, her voice taut. "Calibrating spatial coordinates... direction East Sea Fortress City, elevation seventy-five degrees."

"Fire!" Zhang Hao commanded.

VMMMM—!

A thick pillar of blue light shot toward the sky.

The beam, as thick as two people holding hands, surged with unstoppable momentum, instantly shattering the newly repaired defensive Shield above the hall and piercing the boundless, dark firmament.

Everyone tilted their heads back, their eyes locked on the column of light.

It was their hope.

The beam cut through the low-hanging gray mist in the blink of an eye as if it were splitting bamboo.

Five hundred meters... a thousand meters... fifteen hundred meters.

The light illuminated the churning clouds, like a sharp sword about to cleave the oppressive heavens in two.

"It’s going to work!" Wang Meng clenched his fists, his palms slick with sweat.

Inside the hall, cheers were already on the tips of everyone’s tongues.

However, just as the beam climbed to an altitude of about two thousand meters—approaching the lower edge of the Gangfeng Layer—something strange happened.

The beam of light, which had been shooting straight up, suddenly seemed to strike an invisible mirror.

There was no explosion, no roar.

Before everyone’s eyes, the powerful energy beam bizarrely refracted in mid-air.

It was like a chopstick stuck in a glass full of water; the light was forcefully bent at the boundary.

Then, POP.

A faint, crisp sound echoed, as if something had shattered.

The beam, carrying the hopes of hundreds, disintegrated instantly at the point of impact.

It didn’t break through. Instead, it transformed into a shower of fine, glittering rain that drifted down.

The blue specks of light flickered a few times in the gray mist, then quickly dimmed and went out.

Darkness once again enveloped everything.

A dead silence fell over the hall.

Everyone remained with their heads tilted back, the expressions on their faces frozen.

The cheers caught in their throats, turning into a strange, hissing sound.

"Th-this... how is this possible?"

The Spiritual Energy Tool in Zhou Qi’s hand clattered to the floor.

Su Yue stared blankly at the data on the screen, slumping into her chair as if her bones had been removed.

"No signal feedback..."

She murmured to herself, her voice filled with disbelief.

"The signal wasn’t intercepted. It was... eaten."

"Eaten?" Zhang Hao snapped his head toward her.

"That barrier,"

Su Yue pointed with a trembling finger at the dissipating rain of light above.

"That wasn’t a natural spatial barrier.

It’s a... closed-loop Force Field.

Not only did our energy not get out, it became fuel for that Force Field."

Dead silence.

The entire hall fell into a silence even more terrifying than before.

In that one instant, all hope turned to dust.

If even a strategic-grade beacon couldn’t penetrate this blockade, it meant... they were completely cut off, an isolated island.

A prison with an entrance but no exit.

"We’re... trapped!"

Someone shrieked, their voice warped with panic.

Those words were like the final finger toppling a line of dominoes.

The order that had just been painstakingly pieced together collapsed in an instant.

"I want out! I’m not staying here!"

"It must be a trick by the City Defense Army! Let us out!"

"This is a conspiracy! I knew it!"

Extreme fear morphed into extreme anger and chaos.

Several Meridian Passage Realm Martial Artists, their eyes bloodshot, drew their weapons and charged the main doors.

They were going to force a breakout. Even if it meant facing the unknown darkness and monsters outside, it was better than waiting here to die.

"Get back! It’s dangerous outside!" Lei Qianjun roared, trying to stop them.

But this time, his authority had no effect.

Desperate people don’t listen to reason.

The City Guard Army tried to maintain order, but their lines were instantly shattered by the frenzied mob.

The Trading Hall descended into total chaos.

Zhang Hao stood on the high platform, watching the chaotic scene below, a profound sense of helplessness washing over him.

He subconsciously glanced toward the bottomless darkness outside the hall.

Out there, it seemed a pair of invisible eyes was watching this group of struggling Trial Takers with a mocking smile.

In a corner, Wang Meng picked up his axe and retreated to Su Yue’s side, shielding her behind him.

He glanced at the rioting crowd, then at the impenetrable darkness outside, and muttered to himself.

’Madman, if you don’t come back soon, we might really end up dying here...’