Kangcheng was located in the central region of the Huaxia Federation, surrounded on all sides by mountains.
Encircled by ranges, Kangcheng was known for having some of the best and most nourishing air in the entire country. It was even called the most suitable place for retirement, which was why Gu Qing had returned here to recuperate from his lung condition.
Of course, Kangcheng was also his hometown. For most people, returning home in old age and settling where they once began was one of life’s deepest longings.
If not for taking Su Mei to seek medical treatment, and his own follow-up consultation, he would never have left Kangcheng to return to Yanjing.
In the original novel, the closest black hole domain to Kangcheng appeared inside Jinding Mountain, and the beast tide that eventually broke through Kangcheng originated from there.
From Kangcheng to Jinding Mountain was a little over two hours by car. It was a famous 5A-level scenic spot near the city.
The mountaintop was said to be bathed in sunlight year-round, with rolling seas of clouds, resembling a celestial realm. Standing at the peak felt as if one were immersed in a golden summit, which was how it got its name, Jinding Mountain.
But fortune and misfortune always coexisted. Under the influence of the black hole domain, the vegetation around the golden summit was the first to mutate.
Sheng Xia decided to take a risk.
Tomorrow at dawn, she will head to Jinding Mountain. Whether she gained anything or not, she would immediately go to Xifeng City afterward.
Xifeng City was the closest major city to Kangcheng, a metropolis with a population of tens of millions. In the original novel, it was also one of the more intact cities within the Huaxia Federation and later developed into its second-largest defense stronghold.
As long as she made it into Xifeng City, her safety would be far more guaranteed.
However, reaching Xifeng City required passing through several small dimensional domains. The locations of those domains were all clearly known to Sheng Xia through the original host’s memories.
As long as she avoided them carefully, she would be able to reach her destination safely. Moreover, since mutations had only just begun, only a few stray mutated beasts had emerged from those domains. As long as she was cautious of mutated plants and insects, there would not be much danger.
After planning her route for tomorrow, Sheng Xia turned off her phone and fell asleep. She did not even draw the curtains, allowing the red moonlight to spill across her body.
She could feel that within the Blood Moon’s glow, her spatial storage was subtly changing, and the spiritual power in her mind was becoming more abundant.
These changes seemed to be moving in a favorable direction, so she did not worry about them and simply drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, news flooded every platform and television station.
Sheng Xia woke up at six on the dot. To her surprise, in just one night, her spatial storage had expanded tenfold, and the area of her spiritual farmland had also increased by ten times.
It was as if heaven had granted her a cheat ability, and she rather liked this cheat.
Her spiritual power had also become far more abundant, allowing faster storage and retrieval of items.
Sheng Xia happily discovered that she herself was gradually evolving toward a spiritual-type ability user.
If her spiritual power grew even stronger in the future, she might even be able to manipulate objects remotely and turn spiritual energy into physical attacks.
Following her principle of never wasting anything, Sheng Xia cheerfully emptied her entire home.
While eating breakfast and browsing the news, she also received a notice from school teachers. The college entrance examination had been postponed, and all students were temporarily on holiday at home.
Not having to go to school meant she no longer needed to rack her brain for excuses to take leave.
Unknown domains might continue to expand, and governments around the world had unanimously suspended all large gatherings, urging people to stay at home and avoid entering unknown areas.
After breakfast, Sheng Xia headed to the bus station.
Although the situation was still unclear, daily life continued as usual for most people, and the station was still operating normally.
However, many had already developed a sense of crisis and were stocking up on supplies, as if only hoarding enough food could bring them peace of mind.
The locust disaster described in the novel had not yet been widely reported in the news. Sheng Xia suspected it had been suppressed by higher authorities.
Partly because the outbreak had only just begun, and partly to prevent panic. Once news spreads, it could trigger global food hoarding and make the situation even worse.
Sheng Xia understood that the current calm was only an illusion. Within a week, all of this information would be exposed, and the Apocalypse was only a matter of time.
She boarded the earliest bus to Jinding Mountain.
Wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap, carrying a simple backpack, she sat quietly at the back of the bus and closed her eyes to rest.
The tourists on the bus seemed unaffected by the news. The vehicle was full of people eagerly heading toward Jinding Mountain to enjoy its scenery. For a moment, Sheng Xia felt slightly dazed.
Tourism… It seemed like this was her first time.
She did not know whether the black hole domain described in the book would appear in this life, but it did not matter. She would go and confirm it first.
If it was not there, she would treat it as a trip.
The tour bus arrived smoothly at the foot of Jinding Mountain at around ten in the morning. The sun was high in the sky, the weather bright and clear.
The only problem was that the mountain had been closed. From today onward, it no longer accepted tourists, and the government would soon send troops to station there.
Early that morning, staff had lost contact with people at the summit. When they took the cable car upward, they discovered the peak was engulfed in a black domain, frightening them into immediately reporting it and shutting down the scenic area.
A large group of tourists was loudly protesting at the ticket office.
However, Sheng Xia was satisfied.
Everything was proceeding exactly as in the plot.
Taking advantage of the commotion, she quietly slipped away, avoiding the staff and entering a side path that led up the mountain.
Jinding Mountain was vast. Only the highest peak was covered by the black domain. Even for a physically fit person, it would take six to seven hours to reach the summit on foot.
Sheng Xia’s goal was clear. She intended to reach the outer edge of the summit region and search for flowers and plants that had begun mutating due to the black hole influence. These would become priceless treasures in the future.
She was already familiar with the mountain from previous visits in the original host’s memories, so she moved quickly along the trail without hesitation.
After more than two hours of climbing, it was now noon. The summer sun burned fiercely overhead.
Sheng Xia decided to rest briefly and eat something to recover her strength.
Just as she took bread and bottled water from her space and had a few bites, she noticed two people approaching, panting heavily and supporting each other as they walked toward the shade where she was resting.
Sheng Xia was startled.
Luckily she had a backpack to conceal things. Otherwise, pulling food out of thin air would have scared them to death.
The two were none other than a young man and woman who had been on the same bus as her earlier.
They were dressed stylishly and looked like they came from well-off families, the type who often traveled for leisure.
Sheng Xia’s guess was correct. They had flown from Xifeng City specifically to tour Jinding Mountain and were unwilling to leave empty-handed.
Young people always had a sense of adventure. Even after staff repeatedly warned them about the black domain at the summit, they refused to believe it without seeing it themselves.
So when they noticed Sheng Xia sneaking away from the crowd, Xia Xiaoxue immediately urged her boyfriend Xu Mu to follow her.