“Yes.”
More than a dozen crystal cores instantly floated in front of Feng Moxi.
Xiaoying flapped its transparent wings and said casually,
“These things contain a little energy, but their grade is far too low. They’re practically useless. At the very least, you’d need the inner core of a third-tier demonic beast. After refining it, it would actually be of some use to you.”
“It would be better if you simply focused on proper cultivation.”
“They’re really that useless?”
“Mm.”
“The spiritual energy inside them is too impure. It would take hundreds, even thousands, of these before you’d notice any real effect. Still, something is better than nothing, so they’ll do for now.”
Xiaoying sighed.
“If only we had spirit stones.”
Feng Moxi’s eyes flickered.
In her previous life, even these “useless” crystal cores that Xiaoying looked down upon had become one of the most valuable resources in the apocalypse.
They were the closest thing to currency.
They were the foundation of survival.
They were also the greatest treasure for ability users seeking to advance.
Countless people had risked their lives over something as small as a single crystal core.
“What are spirit stones?”
“They’re the currency used by cultivators. They can also be used for cultivation.”
Xiaoying looked somewhat regretful.
“Unfortunately, the previous owner of this space failed during a breakthrough. Every spirit stone was consumed in the process. Whether you can find more now depends entirely on your own fate.”
That was hardly helpful.
Where could cultivators even be found on the Nether Sphere now?
Where would she find such opportunities?
At least in her previous life, she had never heard of either.
Compared to that, crystal cores seemed much more realistic.
“Thank you, Xiaoying.”
Feng Moxi smiled faintly.
“From now on, keep secretly collecting crystal cores for me whenever you can. They’ll be useful to us.”
“Alright.”
Most of the people inside the temporary shelter had already fallen asleep, their soft breathing filling the room.
Luo Yunxi wasn’t foolish enough to cultivate openly in front of everyone.
Feeling safe enough, she had already drifted into a peaceful sleep.
Feng Moxi leaned quietly against the wall to rest.
Even so, her divine sense remained extended outside, constantly monitoring the surrounding area.
The entire neighborhood was eerily silent.
Everything seemed frozen in place.
Yet that very stillness made her even more uneasy.
No one dared continue their journey that night.
Fortunately, the night passed without incident.
The next morning, everyone left the building and continued moving forward.
Only a handful of monsters wandered near the small bridge, allowing the group to clear them away much faster than before.
As Feng Moxi looked toward the rows of buildings lining the street, she noticed a small clothing shop not far away on the right side.
When they had cleared this area previously, they had started from the left.
Now, however…
Faint sounds of fighting drifted from behind the buildings on the right.
Even the number of monsters over there seemed noticeably smaller.
Almost instinctively, Feng Moxi and Chaoyang exchanged a glance.
Someone had clearly slipped over there ahead of them.
A trace of interest appeared in Chaoyang’s eyes as he surveyed the rows of single-story buildings.
“Who would’ve thought these old houses would be sturdier than the others? They’re still mostly intact.”
He grinned.
“There should be plenty of supplies inside.”
The moment he finished speaking, his four bodyguards, all dressed in black with equally expressionless faces, charged toward the buildings.
Their Tang sabers flashed through the air.
Lining up shoulder to shoulder, they immediately began cutting down monsters.
Simple.
Direct.
Efficient.
Not a single movement was wasted.
Meanwhile, Wan Yong’s group escorted the middle-aged woman and the young boy into one of the buildings on the left.
Even Luo Yunxi and Sima Yue split off toward another direction, quickly entering combat.
Feng Moxi’s gaze shifted slightly as she quietly moved toward the right side.
For some reason…
She had an unsettling feeling.
When she reached the corner of the building, she cautiously leaned out just enough to peek toward the source of the fighting.
A series of clanging sounds immediately drew her attention.
Behind the row of houses, the narrow alley was piled high with monster corpses.
The entrance to one of the shops had been forced open.
A group of people was currently battling the monsters pouring out from inside.
Among them…
One team was confronting an enormous mutated Golden Retriever.
The beast bared its sharp teeth while strings of disgusting saliva dripped from its mouth.
Three people had surrounded it, and both sides were locked in a fierce battle.
The team fighting the mutated Golden Retriever consisted of one woman and two men.
All three possessed supernatural abilities, and their attacks were impressively powerful.
Large patches of the Golden Retriever’s fur had already been torn away, exposing bloodied flesh beneath.
Its appearance had become terrifying.
It lunged with lightning-fast bites before retreating the instant an attack failed.
Its crimson eyes glowed with an eerie light as it prepared for another strike.
The three humans gripped their broadswords tightly.
Maintaining a triangular formation, they advanced and retreated with perfect coordination, never daring to lower their guard.
The remaining four members had already eliminated the monsters inside the shop and immediately hid indoors.
Their strength clearly wasn’t enough to assist in the battle outside.
Feng Moxi’s expression stiffened.
A sharp pain suddenly pierced her chest.
Her heart skipped violently before the feeling vanished just as quickly.
Even if she were dreaming…
She could never mistake that face.
The beautiful woman wielding wood-element abilities…
Wasn’t that her cousin from her previous life?
Wan Wanxin.
She had never expected to meet her this soon in this lifetime.
There was no avoiding it.
If Wan Wanxin had simply allowed her to die cleanly…
Or had abandoned her outright…
Perhaps Feng Moxi wouldn’t have hated her quite this much.
After all…
If you lost because you were weaker than someone else, that was simply fate.
What Feng Moxi could never understand…
Was why Wan Wanxin had chosen to make her suffer through endless torment.
Why she had refused to let her die peacefully.
The pain in Feng Moxi’s chest intensified once more.
It was as though countless claws from the apocalypse were tearing apart her flesh piece by piece before slowly devouring it.
The agony was enough to shatter her soul.
Meanwhile…
Wan Wanxin had always stood above her.
Her eyes filled with ridicule.
Looking down at Feng Moxi as though she were nothing more than a pathetic joke.
Darkness flickered across Feng Moxi’s eyes.
She immediately withdrew her divine sense and quietly clenched her fists.
Leaning against the wall, she shook her head gently, forcing herself to calm down.
After a brief moment, she peeked out again.
Just as she had expected…
The other two men were equally familiar.
One of them was Yao Zichong.
He had an ordinary appearance and a dull, honest personality.
He possessed a fire-element ability.
Throughout her previous life, he had remained loyally by Wan Wanxin’s side.
He had secretly loved her for years but never found the courage to confess.
Even when Feng Moxi died in her previous life, Yao Zichong had still been following Wan Wanxin faithfully.
He had watched helplessly as feelings gradually developed between Wan Wanxin and Hu Jie.
Then Feng Moxi’s gaze landed on the other man.
A fierce crimson light flashed deep within her eyes.
His name was Zhang Tao.
Short, compact, and physically powerful, he was a strength-type mutant.
During the early days of the apocalypse, his combat ability had been fairly impressive, and he had killed numerous monsters.
From the very beginning, he had despised Wan Wanxin’s “useless” younger cousin.
More than once, he had openly asked Wan Wanxin to hand Feng Moxi over to him.
After Feng Moxi firmly rejected him, his behavior only became worse.
He targeted her openly and secretly on countless occasions.
There had even been one time when he cornered her while she was alone.
His intentions had been utterly disgusting.
Had Yao Zichong not happened to stumble upon them by chance, Zhang Tao would likely have gotten what he wanted.
From that day onward, Zhang Tao bore a grudge against both of them.
Fortunately, as supernatural abilities became increasingly dominant later in the apocalypse, strength-type mutants gradually fell behind.
Zhang Tao slowly disappeared from Feng Moxi’s life.
Two years later, during a monster-clearing operation, he had finally met his end.
The monsters had torn him apart and devoured him.
Compared to Wan Wanxin, the person she hated most…
Zhang Tao was the one she found truly revolting.
Watching Feng Moxi sneak around with only half her head peeking out from behind the wall, her expression changing over and over again, Chaoyang became intensely curious.
A grin slowly spread across his face.
“There has to be something interesting going on.”