Chapter 48

Chapter 48: Legend

Xiang Yi watched as Gu Ning casually handed the crystal core to Cheng Ming. He pursed his lips, tightened his grip on the two cores in his hand, and reluctantly handed one to Jia Daozhang, who was standing beside him.

Jia Daozhang’s narrow eyes widened as he looked at the core and then pointed at himself. “For me?”

Xiang Yi smirked. “Yeah, considering you’ve helped out a lot.”

“Hehe, how can I accept this?” Jia Daozhang said, pretending to be modest, but his hand quickly snatched the core. He thought to himself that he wouldn’t get mad at Xiang Yi for calling him a fraud anymore, all thanks to this core.

Everyone who had a core found a spot to lie down and solemnly swallowed their cores.

Gu Ning’s parents were a bit nervous. Gu Mama worriedly asked, “Can you really swallow something this big? Do you need water to wash it down?”

After Gu Ning reassured them, they hesitantly put the cores in their mouths.

Soon, they all fell into a deep sleep.

Xiang Yi had tried this many times before. This time, after swallowing the core, he didn’t fall asleep. Instead, he leaned against the wall, letting Xiang Xu sense his special ability fluctuations.

Those who didn’t get the chance to try were a bit downcast, silently eating their breakfast.

Third Brother noticed and said, “Don’t look so glum. Starting tomorrow, we’ll go out every day to kill zombies and get more cores.”

“Exactly. We need to take advantage of the fact that most people haven’t realized the importance of cores yet. Otherwise, it’ll only get harder,” Gu Ning added. She could imagine that once the news about cores spread, there would be a frenzy to hunt zombies. While that was a good thing, she needed to ensure her people evolved first to maintain their strength in future battles.

Gu Ning had a premonition that as humans grew stronger, zombies wouldn’t be their only enemies. As resources became scarcer, conflicts between humans would become more intense, even more brutal than battles with zombies. Right now, it was just the beginning.

Seizing this time to strengthen themselves would be crucial for future battles, whether against humans or zombies.

Hearing Third Brother and Gu Ning’s words, everyone perked up a bit.

Gu Ning checked her watch, quickly calculating the time in the other world. There was still plenty of time to stay here. Even if she fell asleep for a few hours like last time, it wouldn’t interfere with things over there.

She pulled out the pure white crystal core from her backpack, feeling a bit nervous. After all, Xiang Xu had said that the green light circle was a sign of a special ability being activated, but for some reason, she couldn’t sense any ability fluctuations. She was afraid that eating this core would yield the same result… Gu Ning didn’t dwell on it any longer and directly put the core in her mouth, closing her eyes. The first time she swallowed a core, it was like Piggy eating the ginseng fruit—she didn’t feel a thing and only felt fear afterward. This time, she decided to pay close attention. The core instantly melted on her tongue into a cool stream, as if something was guiding it. Without needing to swallow, it flowed down her throat. Gu Ning could clearly feel the cool stream moving through her body, forming distinct pathways.

Xiang Xu, who had been closely monitoring Xiang Yi’s ability fluctuations after he swallowed the core, suddenly looked over at Gu Ning in shock. “Such intense ability fluctuations.”

Gu Ning had already fallen unconscious without realizing it.

If she were in her space at that moment, she would have seen the previously calm green sea suddenly boiling, with huge waves crashing onto the shore. The grass on the shore, which had only been finger-length, grew rapidly, shooting up to over a meter tall in an instant. The mountain wind howled through the forest, and the leaves rustled as new leaves unfurled in the wind.

“This is strange. Such intense ability fluctuations, and then they just disappeared,” Xiang Xu said, puzzled. Normally, if a core activated a special ability, the fluctuations would last for a long time before gradually calming down.

But Gu Ning’s ability fluctuations came fiercely and then vanished in an instant, as if it had all been an illusion.

“How intense were they?” Xiang Yi couldn’t help but ask.

“If Yan Yu’s ability is a small stream, and mine is a lake, then Gu Ning’s is… an ocean?” Xiang Xu said, almost disbelieving her own words. She added, “Even if it’s not an ocean, it’s much stronger than mine.”

Xiang Yi fell silent for a moment, then said, “Quick, check my status.”

Xiang Xu shook her head. “Still not enough.”

Xiang Yi couldn’t hide his disappointment, a rare expression on his face, showing just how frustrated he was. “How much more do I need?”

The people who had fallen asleep slowly began to wake up.

The first to wake up was Shi Tou (Stone).

His first words upon waking were, “I feel like my body is filled with strength.”

Then he walked over to the wall and punched it.

*Bang!*

Everyone in the room stared in shock.

Shi Tou’s fist had sunk into the white wall, with cracks radiating out from the point of impact. The bricks beneath his fist had shattered.

“It’s a strength-type ability,” Xiang Xu said.

The soldiers were happy for Shi Tou, especially since Gu Ning had said the chances of awakening an ability were very low. Overall, their success rate was quite high.

They didn’t realize just how much Gu Ning’s information about the cores would benefit them. In fact, the first group to consume the cores had seized the best opportunity. The later someone awakened, the lower their chances would be, and the “ability storage space” in their bodies would also be smaller.

In other words, the first group to consume the cores had access to the best resources and reaped the most benefits.

This advantage would become increasingly apparent in future battles.

But for now, people were still in a state of novelty and gradual exploration regarding their abilities. Even Xiang Xu only had fragmented insights and couldn’t see the full picture.

After Shi Tou woke up with a strength-type ability, the soldiers excitedly speculated about what abilities the others would awaken with and how long it would take for them to wake up.

Amid the chatter, Third Brother smiled and asked, “Little girl, can you guess who will wake up next?”

He successfully drew everyone’s attention to Xiang Xu. They all knew about her special abilities and were curious if she could predict this.

Xiang Xu’s spiritual power had already enveloped the entire room, so she could sense the intensity of everyone’s ability fluctuations. She gave Third Brother a cute smile and said in her clear, youthful voice, “The second to wake up should be her.” She pointed a small finger at Huang Mengyao.

The soldiers were curious to see if Xiang Xu’s guess was correct.

Half an hour later, Huang Mengyao slowly opened her eyes. The soldiers were amazed.

Shi Tou had taken less than twenty minutes to wake up, but Huang Mengyao had taken nearly an hour.

She felt a river slowly flowing through her body, then opened her palm and stared at it intently. Feeling her heart racing, she pursed her dry lips and focused. Suddenly, a flame appeared in her palm. The moment the flame appeared, her eyes lit up, and a radiant smile spread across her face.

“Fire-type ability,” Xiang Xu said with a smile, sensing the flame’s ability fluctuations. She added with satisfaction, “Stronger than Yan Yu’s.”

Huang Mengyao’s eyes shone even brighter.

She instinctively looked in Gu Ning’s direction, eager to show her the new ability once she woke up.

A soldier teased, “Xiang Xu, were you just guessing earlier? Why don’t you guess again—who’s next?”

Xiang Xu pointed directly at Cheng Ming and Jia Daozhang, saying, “These two, but I’m not sure who will wake up first.” Their ability fluctuations were almost identical, so Xiang Xu couldn’t tell who would wake up first.

They waited another half hour.

Cheng Ming and Jia Daozhang woke up almost simultaneously.

Third Brother couldn’t help but urge, “Quick, quick! Show us your abilities!”

Cheng Ming and Jia Daozhang exchanged a glance and both smiled.

Then they took a deep breath.

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through the room, and several wind blades began swirling around Cheng Ming, accompanied by the sound of cutting air.

“Metal, wood, water, fire, earth… what kind of ability is this?!” Third Brother asked in surprise.

Xiang Xu also shook her head, indicating she didn’t know.

Cheng Ming scratched his head and chuckled. “Maybe it’s a wind-type ability?”

“That would be another variant type,” Xiang Xu said, then turned to Jia Daozhang. “What about you, Daozhang?”

Everyone looked at Jia Daozhang.

Jia Daozhang’s already narrow eyes narrowed even further into a smug slit as he asked, “Don’t you feel like the room just got a bit colder?”

As soon as he said that, everyone noticed the temperature in the room had indeed dropped.

“Ice?!” Xiang Yi exclaimed, looking at the basin of water used to wash the cores, which had a thin layer of ice forming on its surface.

“The floor is freezing too!” a soldier shouted in surprise.

Everyone looked down and saw a layer of frost spreading across the floor, quickly turning into ice.

“Metal, wood, water, fire, earth… another variant type?!” Third Brother’s eyes widened.

Jia Daozhang chuckled. “Since it hasn’t been named yet, I’ll call it the ice-type ability.”

That left only Zhang Xiaobai and Gu Ning.

This time, they waited an hour.

Zhang Xiaobai slowly opened his eyes, feeling the weight of everyone’s expectant gazes.

He took several deep breaths to calm his racing heart, then extended his hand. With a thought, something appeared in his palm.

It was a flickering bolt of lightning, dancing across his hand and emitting a crackling sound. Just looking at it was intimidating.

“Metal, wood, water, fire, earth… another variant type?!” Third Brother’s voice rose in pitch.

“That looks seriously badass…” Luo Long said, awestruck.

“I feel like the later someone wakes up, the more powerful their ability is!” Zhong Xu finally blurted out.

Then all eyes in the room turned to Gu Ning, who was still unconscious.

Third Brother swallowed hard and said, “Then Gu Ning must be ridiculously powerful!”

Just imagining it sent shivers down their spines, leaving them speechless.

What they didn’t know was that everything that happened in this humble room today would be recorded in the history of the post-apocalyptic world, becoming a shining legend.

And today marked the beginning of that legend.