"Master, I have a question." Ma Feima cupped his fist and looked up, a hint of confusion on his face. "Do we not need to arrange for the other disciples?"
He lowered his voice slightly. "Although their skills are not very high, everyone has enough resolve and is willing to fight for the Taixu Martial Arts School, for everyone.
"Why haven't I seen you make any arrangements for them?"
Fu Hua was silent, trying to organize her thoughts and find the gentlest way to answer this question.
But Lin Chaoyu spoke up on her behalf.
"Junior brother, because in the disaster that master spoke of, the only ones confirmed to survive are us." Lin Chaoyu's words were blunt, causing Ma Feima to shudder.
It's not just those ordinary disciples... even you guys...
Fu Hua sighed and turned her head, avoiding Ma Feima's shocked and searching gaze.
This itself was an answer.
Ma Feima's Adam's apple bobbed three times before he could manage to speak.
"Since we already know about the disaster in advance, if we gather everyone together and defend jointly, with us as the outermost layer of protection, can we..."
He asked, trying to imagine how the disaster could kill so many people.
On his way back, the eldest martial sister had told him that he would have to face a powerful enemy. So, naturally, Ma Feima assumed that similar enemies had killed those ordinary disciples.
And even those ordinary people.
In his imagination, it was a disaster like a war, a tide of enemies suddenly appearing all over the world, slaughtering the unprepared masses.
And they were nothing special, only surviving for a while and fighting a bloody path out because they were protected by the Taixu Sword Qi and had their skills.
"Junior brother's idea is a bit too naive." Lin Chaoyu shook her head. Before the others had arrived, Fu Hua had already briefly explained many things about the Honkai to him.
"That disaster called [Honkai] is not just about enemies. The greatest difficulty we face is still ourselves."
Ma Feima's pupils contracted. "Could it be... natural selection?"
Natural selection, meaning talent. The cultivation of Taixu Sword Qi was different from ordinary martial arts. It did not seek physical talent, but trained the mind.
Physical gaps were like a chasm, which many people could never cross in their entire lives. But mental hardships could be overcome with willpower. Even if it was as difficult as climbing to the heavens, there was still a glimmer of hope.
How much of this glimmer of hope there was depended on the will of heaven, was natural selection, was talent.
So they were very familiar with this "natural selection." Just mentioning "ourselves" would immediately make them think of one's innate talent.
And because of this, Ma Feima understood just how troublesome that disaster was.
"Is it that kind of enemy..." Ma Feima muttered, his face a little grim. "Is there no way to improve one's resistance to this talent? The seven of us have no problems, maybe we have something special?"
"Perhaps, the Taixu Sword Qi does have some effect?" Lin Chaoyu also moved to Ma Feima's side, and they both asked Fu Hua.
"Yes, but not much," Fu Hua finally turned back and nodded at them.
After the Great Eruption, Otto had also had a theory about the Taixu Sword Qi. In another world, the Taixu Sword Qi was the [SWARA] developed to fight the Honkai.
Perhaps in this world, there was also some connection between the two.
Otto had not paid much attention to this idea at first, only researching the heart formula of the Taixu Sword Qi while studying the properties of Honkai energy, out of a "better safe than sorry" mentality.
...What do you mean, the sword formula of the Taixu Sword Qi reduces the activity of Honkai energy by a full two percent?
It actually works?!
Otto, who discovered this, almost spat a mouthful of coffee on the Honkai energy crystal he had painstakingly condensed.
Don't look down on just two percent. That was Honkai energy, as active as if it had been hit by a white blood cell. The slightest disturbance would cause an explosive change in its properties, and now you're telling me it can be stabilized?
Didn't that mean the breakthrough point for guiding and storing Honkai energy was in the Taixu Sword Qi?
Otto had never expected that the Taixu Sword Qi, which should have been born from the application of Honkai energy, would be used by him to reverse-engineer the application and storage of Honkai energy.
And after extensive investment and research, Otto concluded that the Taixu Sword Qi did indeed have a restraining and guiding effect on Honkai energy. Its efficiency, after simplification and repetition, reached an astonishing 13% on a special medium!
And unfortunately—the human body could not be that special medium.
Only the unrefined original draft of the Taixu Sword Qi could allow the human body to follow that 2% or so stability. Any changes beyond that would cause this stability to plummet.
To the point where it could be considered an error and directly reduced to zero.
It was useful, but its usefulness was very limited.
"The outcome is not something that can be remedied by publishing a copy of the Taixu Sword Qi. Even the fact that the seven of you can survive the first disaster has an element of luck," Fu Hua shook her head, denying Ma Feima and Lin Chaoyu's idea.
She didn't care if the Taixu Sword Qi was spread. As long as it was useful, she would definitely make it public.
But the Taixu Sword Qi was still under research. Compared to whether it could increase one's Honkai energy resistance and adaptability, how to effectively use and store Honkai energy was more important.
Furthermore, given the serious side effects of the Taixu Sword Qi in the original story, Otto did not recommend promoting it until it was fully understood.
The survivors themselves were highly resistant individuals who had been screened through the Great Eruption. The little bit of resistance gained from painstakingly cultivating the Taixu Sword Qi for more than a decade was not even as good as the state bonus they got from being well-fed.
Adding flowers to a brocade was a luxury only a prosperous age could afford. What they needed was coal in winter.
After receiving Fu Hua's answer, the two fell silent, not saying a word.
Fu Hua's words were actually very cruel, because she had practically issued a death notice to those ordinary disciples and ordinary people.
From this moment on, the lives of most people began to count down, yet they were unaware, still living their mediocre lives, no different from before.
They didn't even have the qualification to decide how to spend their final moments. For a person's life to end in fear and unease was a cruel thing.
And in contrast, the burden that was about to be placed on them was so heavy.
"I understand." A smart person didn't need any more explanation. Ma Feima cupped his fist again. This time, the humility in his attitude was even greater, even giving Fu Hua the illusion that they were not under the same roof.
She, after the Great Eruption, and they, before the Eruption, were already like strangers.