[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-starting-from-the-apocalypse-i-alone-severed-ete":3,"chapter-starting-from-the-apocalypse-i-alone-severed-ete-starting-from-the-apocalypse-i-alone-severed-ete-chapter-45":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Starting from the Apocalypse, I Alone Severed Eternity",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2312427,4518,"Chapter 45: Human Self-Salvation: An Unparalleled Swordsman","starting-from-the-apocalypse-i-alone-severed-ete-chapter-45",45,"\u003Cp>“Xiao Qian, stay safe.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Wenjun warned the glasses-wearing young man, Xiao Qian.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t worry, Brother Zhao.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qian Cheng’s real name was Qian Cheng; he had hired Zhao Wenjun as his personal trainer at the gym.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d kept him for a full year, so their relationship was far from ordinary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qian Cheng had originally been nearsighted, but after his attributes were replenished, that problem vanished long ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet he’d worn glasses for twenty years and still felt uncomfortable without them, so he’d gotten a pair of rimless frames as decoration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Wenjun had criticized him for it, saying it hindered combat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Qian Cheng didn’t care—he told Brother Zhao that everyone had habits, and in the apocalypse, there was no need to overexplain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Xiao Qian, if anything feels off, come back immediately—don’t lure too many.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Got it, got it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, Xiao Qian waved his hand and walked toward the street on the other side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was their strategy: one person would go alone down the street to lure the Firewing Birds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rest would hide in nearby buildings, including Fang Shi as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once the Firewing Birds were lured over, Fang Shi would strike out and kill them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This method required relocating after every use.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Otherwise, the ground would be littered with corpses, and Firewing Birds weren’t fools—they wouldn’t dare approach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they killed too many Firewing Birds, their bodies would retain pheromones from the birds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These pheromones warned other Firewing Birds to stay away from this dangerous creature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And there was no good way to eliminate these pheromones—they could only fade over time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Otherwise, why would Fang Shi even need a decoy? Couldn’t he just kill a batch and move elsewhere?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, Fang Shi’s strength was immense; at most, only five Firewing Birds could attack him simultaneously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rest could only circle nearby, and even five was the absolute limit—usually, three or so surrounding him already left no room for further attacks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This meant Fang Shi only had to face about three Firewing Birds at a time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Fang Shi possessed the ability to kill with a single strike—no matter how many surrounded him, he cut them down one by one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could break free at any moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, this encirclement could not exhaust Fang Shi; instead, it formed a kind of protection for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Usually, once he killed five or six Firewing Birds, the rest would flee.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aside from undead, all living creatures feared death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No Firewing Bird would fight to the death for the sake of some law-force, sacrificing its own life completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qian Cheng circled around, looked up at the sky, and moved forward cautiously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The street was littered with cars involved in chain collisions, their charred skeletons still smoldering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was one of the first tragedies after the apocalypse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some drivers turned into zombies, or passengers became zombies and interfered with driving.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On streets with denser traffic, super-chain collisions were inevitable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In such cases, not only were the living dead, but even zombies were mostly wiped out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially since the apocalypse struck at seven a.m.—peak commuting hours.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This only intensified the carnage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, although zombies still roamed the streets, they weren’t nearly as numerous as in movies or TV shows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no risk of being overwhelmed by a sea of corpses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Added to that, Blue Star’s expansion had created new land barriers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These further scattered the zombies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Logically, if Qian Cheng remained cautious and used vehicles and other debris as obstacles,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>he could walk the street alone without worry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Qian Cheng’s enemy wasn’t just zombies—he was a decoy, and his target was Firewing Birds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Firewing Birds flew through the air; they didn’t care about roadblocks—they simply flew right over them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, being a decoy was far from easy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It required exceptional observation skills to detect the arrival of Firewing Birds the instant they appeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then he had to flee immediately—otherwise, he might die before Fang Shi could arrive to help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, Blue Star’s expansion had caused tall trees to grow across newly formed land.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These trees restricted the Firewing Birds’ diving ability—if he maneuvered well,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the Firewing Birds couldn’t fully utilize gravitational acceleration and had to rely solely on their own speed to chase.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the decoys’ one slim chance at survival.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Otherwise, on a street full of obstacles and crawling with zombies, if Firewing Birds pursued at 100 meters per second,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>no one except Fang Shi could survive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qian Cheng was doing this for the first time; it was impossible not to be nervous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Previous decoys had operated from rooftops, which were far safer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as Fang Shi killed more Firewing Birds, the pheromone range kept expanding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rooftops, being so small, were no longer suitable for hunting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment Firewing Birds approached, the thick pheromones scared them away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So the decoy location had to be moved to the street.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This operation will clear Firewing Birds from several nearby streets.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Once we’ve also cleared the zombies from the streets, we can gather all the survivors in the area.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Everyone should first gather in a tall building, eat meat daily, and train.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even if Firewing Birds keep pouring in from the spatial portal,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>we won’t need Fang Daoist to carve out our own future.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Fang Shi slaughtered Firewing Birds, Zhao Wenjun and the others weren’t idle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They analyzed and summarized Firewing Bird behavior, trying to develop a reliable strategy against them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They already had a preliminary plan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The deadliest trait of Firewing Birds was their diving ability.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One hundred meters per second was far too fast—barely anyone besides Fang Shi could react in time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Fang Shi himself had initially relied on his high perception to handle them calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So the first rule: limit their speed. Fortunately, Blue Star’s expansion had increased the number of ancient trees, providing terrain to exploit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second rule: still limit speed. Even without diving, Firewing Birds’ normal attack speed reached twenty to thirty meters per second.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This required people with extremely fast reflexes to temporarily block them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once blocked, others could use fireproof nets to trap the Firewing Birds,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>preventing escape, then swarm in and hack them to death with blades.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The third rule: regarding Firewing Birds’ flame power, close-combat defenders must avoid prolonged fights.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Others must act quickly, aiming to kill one Firewing Bird within one minute.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their ranged flame breath had a charging time, so there was some chance to dodge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as you didn’t cluster absurdly or blind yourself by ignoring them, anyone with decent reflexes could avoid it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, these were only strategies for dealing with one Firewing Bird.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Other scenarios had also been considered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But all these operations assumed everyone’s base attributes met the standard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then could casualties be minimized as much as possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fang Shi’s arrival accelerated the achievement of this condition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fierce extraterrestrial creatures could initially catch humans off guard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But once humans recovered, they used their intelligence to devise countermeasures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Humans never surrendered passively—they always tried to find a glimmer of hope in the direst circumstances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The stairwell was bustling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you ignored the scene outside, the first-floor lobby almost resembled pre-apocalypse life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This building had many survivors; they noticed Zhao Wenjun and the others arriving.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They emerged from hiding spots one after another to join Zhao Wenjun’s group.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Grouping together for safety was human instinct.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the initial shock, Zhao Wenjun and his team were still freely moving outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were clearly no ordinary people—extremely powerful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Otherwise, how could they have survived against those beautiful creatures out there?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those giant birds were far deadlier than zombies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most people were in poor mental condition; even with sufficient food, the environment imposed immense psychological pressure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, no serious incidents had occurred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was only the fifth day since the apocalypse; human order had collapsed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But morality and law still restrained people’s hearts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some even believed these disasters were merely regional.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like the disasters China had experienced before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They waited for official rescue teams.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without Fang Shi, the Zhaowen Army would have arrived here many days later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who knows what misfortunes might have happened by then.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At least things wouldn’t be as harmonious as below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Captain Zhao, thanks to you, we’ve been saved.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A middle-aged woman gripped Zhao Wenjun’s hand in gratitude.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s nothing; it’s our duty.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Wenjun was truly the man who would one day establish Ancheng Settlement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Facing such a scene, he showed no fear, calmly chatting and responding to the grateful crowd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This morning, as they set out, someone suggested gathering survivors during their next outing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone agreed—it gave them legitimacy and made things easier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Wenjun proposed they call themselves a civilian militia, with himself as its captain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, he had indeed served in the military.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an emergency, this wasn’t a big deal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There’s no question of whether you should or shouldn’t come—your arriving here in such danger must have cost you dearly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The middle-aged woman continued her thanks; she wasn’t foolish—she knew how dangerous the outside world had become.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’re just assisting; the real credit goes to my Master…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Wenjun hadn’t finished speaking when—CRASH!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fang Shi had already burst out the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound startled the survivors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, the survivors had long noticed Fang Shi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He seemed out of place, standing silently by the door since entering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dressed in black training robes, arms cradling a long sword, he gazed calmly into the distance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He appeared detached from the world, composed and serene, his clothes spotless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He bore none of the brutality from Zhao Wenjun’s group, who had fought for days in the apocalypse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nor did he show the fear or exhaustion common among survivors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked like an ordinary man walking through an ordinary society.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dangers outside had never touched him—as if the apocalypse didn’t exist in his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The survivors were deeply curious: what kind of man was he?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They dared not disturb him—even as they warmly welcomed the rest of the militia, they avoided even approaching Fang Shi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only when they learned from the militia that this young man was Zhao Wenjun’s Master did their perception shift.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that he was terrifyingly powerful—one sword could slay a Firewing Bird.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instantly, Fang Shi gained new labels in the survivors’ eyes: heir to Chinese martial arts, a once-in-a-millennium sword prodigy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They marveled at how vast and rich China was, producing talents of every kind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had it not been for this apocalypse, such a person might have remained hidden among the common folk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They’d never have seen him in their lifetime.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were envious beyond words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I'm just very envious.\u003C\u002Fp>",1767,"2026-06-20T12:43:33.559Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","a0b58e9a24e741b9cb452b603e18b7b006ebd688a6744f36def9e6980b5c7105","starting-from-the-apocalypse-i-alone-severed-ete-chapter-46","starting-from-the-apocalypse-i-alone-severed-ete-chapter-44",109,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstarting-from-the-apocalypse-i-alone-severed-ete-cover.jpg"]