The grappling hook successfully latched onto the crystal tree, and with the naked eye one could see frost rapidly spreading from the hook to the rope, forming a solid ice line.
The moment Sheng Xia heard the “ding,” she quickly wrapped the rope around the car door.
The moment she let go, the freezing energy had already reached her. In the next instant, even the car door and the entire vehicle were turned into an ice block.
Sheng Xia broke out in a cold sweat. That was close, just a fraction of a second slower and she would have become an ice sculpture herself.
Jinbao, the moment it saw the hook succeed, shot forward instantly. The frost spread to its feet, but to Sheng Xia’s surprise, it did not affect Jinbao at all.
It moved swiftly along the rope and reached the crystal tree, staring at the translucent fruits with drool almost dripping from its mouth.
Seeing this, the beasts across the chasm finally erupted into chaos.
The leading wolf-type beast let out a roar. Behind it, many wolf beasts surged forward without hesitation, throwing themselves toward the crystal tree as if they no longer feared the ice ants.
They trampled over their own kind, clearly treating their subordinates as stepping stones.
Sheng Xia’s expression darkened slightly. She had not expected these wolves to sacrifice their own kind just to pave the way for their king.
The wolf king leapt across the battlefield in a few agile jumps, and the other beasts immediately followed its example, using their subordinates as living bridges.
Sheng Xia hurriedly warned Jinbao.
“Jinbao, hurry, they’re coming!”
Only then did Jinbao extend its golden claws. With a swift motion, it cut down two fruits in an instant and slid back along the rope toward Sheng Xia.
Sheng Xia did not even have time to be surprised. She grabbed a baseball bat and struck the frozen rope hard. The rope could no longer hold and snapped instantly.
Over on the other side, the wolf king had already reached the crystal tree.
The freezing power of the tree seemed to have no effect on it. It quickly swallowed one fruit and immediately retreated using the remaining bodies of dead beasts as stepping stones, not lingering for even a moment.
The massive commotion seemed to agitate the ice ants surrounding the crystal tree.
They began to move frantically as if coming alive.
Very quickly, the corpses used as bridges could no longer hold, and many beasts fell into the ice ant field the moment they approached the tree, where they were swallowed whole.
In the end, only four fruits remained.
Under the fading light of the setting sun, the remaining fruits slowly fell from the branches and disappeared into the snow without a trace.
Sheng Xia stared in shock.
So they really were time-limited fruits.
Jinbao seized the moment and shoved one fruit into Sheng Xia’s mouth while holding another and happily eating it itself.
Sheng Xia instinctively bit down. The flesh was not cold as expected, instead it was tender, juicy, and filled her mouth with a strange, refreshing sweetness.
After swallowing a few bites, she suddenly wondered whether she would turn into an ice sculpture afterward.
At the end of the fruit, she spat out a crystal-clear seed, which she casually planted into the black soil in her spatial storage.
After sensing her body for a while, she realized with relief that nothing had gone wrong.
Instead, a gentle energy flowed through her entire body, and the biting cold around her completely disappeared.
Her heart stirred. She raised her hand and gathered a water sphere, then slowly reshaped it until it turned into a sharp ice spike.
Sheng Xia was overjoyed.
This fruit had actually granted her ice power. Combined with her existing water-element ability, she could now freely transform water into ice and move effortlessly through this frozen world.
This was amazing.
She had truly struck gold by accident.
Sheng Xia happily hugged Jinbao and rubbed it repeatedly, her eyes full of uncontrollable joy.
Now she had another life-saving ability. Survival in this apocalypse would no longer be so difficult.
Looking at the car frozen into an ice block beside her, she reached out and activated her newly gained ice power.
In an instant, the ice covering the car melted away completely.
Sheng Xia tested it and found the car still worked, so she stored it back into her spatial storage.
Jinbao really was a treasure, her lucky star.
After eating the fruit, Jinbao fell into a deep sleep. Sheng Xia carried it and returned to the mountain wall where she had rested before.
Since no beasts could cross here, she could finally sleep in peace.
She set up her tent again, prepared her sleeping gear, cooked a pot of meat soup, and enjoyed a rare, comfortable meal before resting.
She slept soundly until she woke naturally at noon.
After packing up, she checked the crystal tree once more before preparing to find her way out.
It took nearly a month of wandering, but with Jinbao’s help she finally found the correct direction. When she stepped out of the snowy domain and returned to the highway ramp, it felt like waking from a dream.
She silently remembered the name carved on the sign: “Mountain Mist.”
She did not know if she would ever return here again.
She retrieved her car and continued driving slowly along the road, planning to find a place with signal or human presence so she could contact Su Mei.
She had been missing for over a month. Su Mei must be worried sick.
After traveling intermittently, she finally saw a relatively intact city ahead.
She quickly drove toward it.
From afar, she could already see newly built city walls. To avoid attracting attention, she stored the car and continued on foot.
At the gate, defenses had been set up, and many people were lining up to enter the city.
Sheng Xia changed into dark, worn clothes, smeared dirt on her face, and made herself look like a refugee.
She placed Jinbao inside her hood, packed some biscuits and water into her backpack, and joined the end of the queue.
Only then did she notice that most people were refugees who had fled here.
They looked pale and hollow-eyed, moving forward like walking corpses.
Sheng Xia found the scene unsettling, but she was not a saint. She only felt sympathy and nothing more.
Beside the long queue was a shorter line consisting of awakened individuals.
A month ago, the Federation had announced that humans were beginning to awaken abilities, granting them powers to fight mutated beasts.
Cities offered preferential treatment to ability users and even encouraged them to join the military.
Awakened individuals now had many choices: join the army, form hunting teams, or work as mercenaries.
Ordinary people without abilities, if they survived, could only flee to major cities for refuge.
Refugees without status could only take the most basic, low-level jobs.
After a brief hesitation, Sheng Xia stayed in the refugee line.
Staying low-key meant survival.
An hour later, she finally reached the gate, paid the entry fee with a small bag of biscuits, and was allowed inside.
Inside the city, she was directed to a relief station where she received a new communication device.
It was a wearable communication watch that automatically bound to the user through fingerprint registration.
It was satellite-linked, supporting positioning, calls, messaging, and internet access, a newly developed high-tech device.
After binding her identity, Sheng Xia immediately searched for Su Mei’s contact and dialed her.
At that moment, Su Mei was working at the military hospital.
When her wrist communicator rang, she did not pay attention at first. Only when she glanced and saw Sheng Xia’s name did she freeze completely.
She thought she was hallucinating. Sheng Xia had been missing for a month, how could she possibly be calling?
Her hand trembled as she answered.
“Mom, it’s me, Sheng Xia. Are you okay? I miss you so much.”
Hearing the real voice, Su Mei was both shocked and overjoyed.
“Sheng Xia, you’re alive, sob… are you okay? I’m fine, I miss you too!”
After talking for nearly half an hour, Sheng Xia finally hung up. Being cared for felt truly good.
Su Mei immediately informed Gu Qing and Gu Ziyan.
Both had been deeply worried during Sheng Xia’s disappearance, and now hearing news of her brought them relief.
That evening, at the Gu residence.
Gu Qing and Gu Ziyan invited Su Mei over as soon as they received the news.
“Xiao Su, where is Sheng Xia now? Is she really alright?” Gu Qing asked anxiously the moment he saw her.
He had been shocked when he heard the news. Gu Ziyan had even gone to Kangcheng again half a month earlier and searched for an entire day without finding anything.
They had kept this from Su Mei to avoid disappointing her.
No one expected Sheng Xia to suddenly reappear.
Su Mei smiled gently. “Old Master, thanks to you, Xia Xia is fine. She is now in a city called Kangba.”
Gu Qing nodded, greatly relieved.
Gu Ziyan still felt uneasy without seeing her in person.
“I’ll go pick her up immediately,” he said.
Su Mei stopped him. “Ziyan, don’t worry. Xia Xia said she has awakened an ability and can protect herself. She told us not to worry.”
“What ability?” Gu Qing asked curiously.
“Spatial storage ability,” Su Mei replied with pride. “She said she is very strong now and wants to travel with adventure teams to gain experience. She told me to wait for her safely in Yanjing.”
Gu Qing and Gu Ziyan exchanged a glance, both showing delight.
Just when they were in need of such talent.
“Miss Mei,” Gu Ziyan said urgently, “can you call her again now? I need to speak to her immediately.”