Humanity faced life-and-death trials every single moment.
Feng Moxi grew increasingly anxious.
She had no idea how much longer the iron door would hold.
Even knowing it might be pointless, she pushed herself to cultivate even faster.
Suddenly, a sharp sting shot through her palm.
A faint golden light emerged from her hand before vanishing almost as quickly as it had appeared.
Although it lasted only an instant, Feng Moxi caught it.
For the first time since her rebirth, genuine joy appeared in her cold eyes.
“This… this is a metal-element ability?”
In her previous life, she had longed endlessly to awaken an elemental ability.
She had dreamed about it countless times.
Yet her body had never shown the slightest sign of awakening.
Years later, after watching nearly everyone around her awaken one ability or another, she had finally accepted reality.
Because of her own limitations, she could only develop enhanced physical strength.
She had struggled through the apocalypse relying on nothing more than that.
She never expected this new body to possess such outstanding talent.
She had actually awakened an elemental ability while cultivating.
It was an unexpected blessing.
“Heh…”
A faint smile curved Feng Moxi’s lips as she looked at the monster still tirelessly slamming itself against the door.
Leaving this place would no longer be a problem.
There was no need to rush anymore.
She turned her palm upward.
Golden energy gathered in her hand before condensing into a short blade of shimmering light.
With a flick of her wrist, she fired it toward the wall.
Thud!
Dust exploded from the impact, leaving behind a small hole.
Still…
The attack had obvious limitations.
She couldn’t unleash it continuously.
After one strike, the energy nearly dried up.
If she wanted stronger and more sustained attacks, she would have to continue cultivating.
Fortunately, in her previous life she had spent years studying elemental abilities and observing other awakened survivors.
Although she had never possessed one herself, she understood their use surprisingly well.
Luo Yunxi, who had been secretly watching the entire time, stood frozen in shock.
Her mouth hung open.
Th-this…
That wasn’t magic.
It was an elemental ability.
She had read plenty of post-apocalyptic novels before the world ended.
She never imagined those stories would become reality.
Quietly, Luo Yunxi pinched her own fingers.
Nothing happened.
She gritted her teeth and gathered every ounce of strength she had, desperately trying to force some mysterious energy into her fingertips.
Nothing.
Disappointment filled her face.
She looked at Feng Moxi with obvious envy before silently retreating to the corner again.
Only with her back against the wall did she feel the slightest sense of security.
The basement gradually fell silent once more.
The banging upstairs became more and more sporadic before disappearing altogether.
Only then did the girls collapse onto the floor in relief.
But before long…
The monsters outside became restless again.
The battered iron door shook repeatedly under heavy impacts.
“Heh… heh…”
Their horrifying growls rose and fell without end.
The girls instinctively held their breath.
No one even dared breathe too loudly.
They couldn’t wait any longer.
Golden light gathered around Feng Moxi’s fingertips once again.
She looked calmly toward the rusted iron door.
“I’m leaving.”
She spoke quietly.
“You can decide for yourselves.”
With that, she turned and walked toward the staircase.
A dirt-covered girl suddenly lunged forward and wrapped both arms around Feng Moxi’s legs, sobbing.
“You can’t leave! If you go, the monsters will get inside!”
“Let go.”
Feng Moxi’s voice was icy.
“No! I’d rather die than let go! If you leave, we’ll all die!”
Before she had even finished speaking, two more girls rushed over and clung tightly to Feng Moxi.
The timid, broken girls had suddenly become desperate.
Their frightened expressions twisted into hostility, as though Feng Moxi herself were about to kill them.
Feng Moxi gave a cold laugh.
“So you’d rather starve to death in here?”
As if answering her question, loud growls echoed from their empty stomachs.
Another day.
If she had just one more day, she was confident she could reach the Innate Realm described in the cultivation technique.
The basement might be temporarily safe.
But without food or water…
None of them would survive for long.
Soft sobs filled the room again.
The girls’ emotions, suppressed for so long, finally erupted.
One after another, they slowly released Feng Moxi’s legs.
Then they buried their faces in their hands and cried openly.
Only Luo Yunxi remained different.
Although sadness filled her eyes, determination shone within them as well.
Feng Moxi shook her head.
In the apocalypse…
The worst thing anyone could become was weak.
She herself was living proof.
She had been murdered by her own cousin.
As for these girls…
Their fate depended entirely on whether they could awaken the will to survive.
The noise inside the basement once again caught the monsters’ attention.
Their growls drew closer.
Soon, the pounding against the iron door resumed.
The frightened girls immediately fell silent.
Feng Moxi slowly climbed the stairs.
The closer she came to the door, the more violent the impacts became.
She briefly tested the gigantic sword within her spatial artifact.
Still no good.
She remained too weak to summon it.
Taking a deep breath, she focused her mind.
Golden light swirled around her fingertips before forming a razor-sharp blade.
Without hesitation, she thrust it into the door’s lock.
Twist.
Click.
The lock broke apart.
The iron door swung open.
The monster that had been throwing itself against the door stumbled forward in surprise.
Before it could react, Feng Moxi drove a powerful kick into its chest, sending it sprawling backward.
The monster quickly lunged at her again.
She sidestepped with practiced ease.
A golden blade flashed.
It pierced straight through the back of the monster’s skull.
The creature didn’t even finish its growl before crashing lifelessly onto the ground.
Feng Moxi narrowed her eyes and surveyed her surroundings.
It was an abandoned courtyard.
The moment she killed the monster, two or three more wandering nearby caught the sound.
Their stiff, twisted bodies lurched toward her.
Their eyes were clouded gray-white.
Black veins bulged grotesquely across their faces and arms, making them appear terrifying.
These were newly mutated monsters.
Their movements were slow and clumsy.
This was exactly what monsters looked like during the earliest days of the apocalypse.
Not far away lay two mangled corpses.
Dark blood pooled beneath them.
Their intestines spilled across the ground, giving off a nauseating stench.
Almost all the flesh had been eaten from their bodies.
Only their mutated heads remained, still opening and closing their mouths with guttural growls.
Although their faces had been destroyed beyond recognition…
Feng Moxi immediately recognized them.
They were the two men who had entered the basement before.
Even though these early monsters moved slowly, they possessed terrifying strength.
Their bones had also become incredibly hard.
They were far from easy opponents.
Watching the monsters shamble toward her with stiff, awkward movements, Feng Moxi remained perfectly calm.
Their speed was pitifully slow.
With two swift strikes, she crushed the heads of the monsters lying before her.
After two days of cultivation, her body had already become much stronger.
Combined with the instincts she had developed during four years of surviving the apocalypse, her reactions were exceptionally fast.
Unfortunately…
Her metal blades still lacked endurance.
Her eyes suddenly caught sight of something nearby.
Two iron rods stained with dried blood lay on the ground.
Without hesitation, she dashed forward and snatched one up.
Gripping it tightly, she swung it straight at the nearest monster’s head.
At that exact moment, another monster let out a hoarse roar and lunged toward her from the side.
Its jaws were only inches away.
“Ah!”
Standing just inside the doorway, Luo Yunxi gasped and instinctively covered her mouth.
Feng Moxi was gradually being surrounded.
Although she clearly knew how to fight, these mutated monsters were vicious creatures.
One careless mistake…
One bite…
And it would all be over.
Just then, another monster noticed Luo Yunxi.
With a guttural roar, it suddenly charged straight toward her.