Two streams of pure, mighty energy surged like overflowing floods, rushing toward her fingertips and forcefully expanding the blood vessels in her meridians.
Every inch of her blood vessels felt as though it were being licked by raging flames, or repeatedly pierced by countless fine needles. No—not needles, but red-hot iron spikes, stabbing, drilling, and twisting from the inside out.
The veins that had initially been delicate and fragile were forced to stretch and thicken, their very structure forcibly reshaped.
The stabbing, tearing, and burning pain piled on top of one another, as though someone were pulling out her tendons one by one, stretching them, then putting them back inside her.
Ji Qingyan trembled violently. Cold sweat poured down her forehead and soaked her pale cheeks.
She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails nearly pierced her flesh.
The incredible pain assaulting her was excruciating; every moment of expansion and reshaping in her meridians felt unbearable.
She gritted her teeth and held back several soft groans of pain in her throat. Her eyes were bloodshot, like a ferocious beast trapped and driven to the brink of despair.
Pain.
This hurts so much.
Yet in the midst of this agonizing torment, the mesospace in her mind began to shake violently.
Chaos Space, which had initially been only ten square meters in size, filled with green Dao light. The dense fog seemed to be split apart by a hand, revealing the scene below.
The black earth spread outward, expanding several times over. It became increasingly fertile and dark, giving off the scent of damp soil.
The spring, which had initially only dripped slowly, began to flow continuously with a tinkling sound. Its current grew faster, rapidly expanding into a clear, refreshing spring.
The spring water radiated a fresh, soothing fragrance. Just looking at it, one could feel the force of life nourishing all things.
Along the edge of the land, tender green grass sprouted from the earth one blade after another, brimming with vitality like a soft green carpet spread across the black soil.
On one side of the newly formed land, a simple yet spacious two-story villa stood prominently.
The house was bright and airy, and the living room furniture—including the tables, chairs, sofa, and storage cabinets—was neatly arranged.
The kitchen and bathroom on the first floor were fully equipped. Several bedrooms on the second floor were spacious and clean, furnished with beds, wardrobes, and other household items, making them comfortable and livable.
A spacious, separate storage area had been built beside the villa. The space was open and bright, large enough to store a massive amount of supplies.
Two additional functional rooms had also been prepared inside the area.
One was the Pill Refining Room, with tables, cauldrons, and medicine racks arranged in alternating rows, fully stocked with all kinds of equipment in an antique style.
The other was a medical room, where all the medical equipment, medicines, and books she had previously gathered were neatly sorted, categorized, and clearly organized.
Ji Qingyan's heart pounded.
Her space... had been upgraded!
Not only had her space changed, but her body had also undergone an extraordinary transformation.
She could clearly feel that some kind of restraint inside her body had shattered, and cool qi slowly flowed through her entire body and inside her meridians, making her feel refreshed and invigorated wherever it passed.
With the slightest movement of her fingertips, she could subtly influence the vitality of the plants and trees around her.
She could even “hear” the withered potted plants in the shop cheering.
They greedily absorbed the wasted energy from the air, their withered leaves trembling slightly as they desperately seized every drop of life.
Even more astonishingly, deep inside her Dantian, a tiny vine sprout curled and coiled.
It had only two pale green leaves, which swayed from time to time like a baby stretching after waking up, radiating innocent softness and charm.
A wood-type ability.
It turned out that her self-healing ability came from an Awakened wood-type ability.
Only then did Ji Qingyan realize what was happening.
No wonder she had always vaguely sensed the unusual movements of plants around her on her journey from the hospital to here—the sighs of the withered trees by the roadside, the trembling of weeds in the corners, and the final sobs of potted plants before they withered.
It was precisely because of her sharp perception that she had managed to avoid the wandering zombies several times and pass through the obstacles without any major incidents.
Before she could fully comprehend the new power inside her body, a muffled groan suddenly sounded in her ears.
Ji Qingyan abruptly opened her eyes.
Only then did she realize that Gu Jinfeng beside her was in terrible condition, facing a situation a hundred times more dangerous than hers.
When that pure, surging wood-attribute energy flowed into Gu Jinfeng's body, the delicate balance between his lightning and ice elemental abilities was immediately disrupted.
The three powers collided with a deafening roar.
The freezing power of ice and the devastating power of lightning combined with this gentle yet fiercely aggressive wood-attribute energy—
With their wildly different, mutually repelling properties, they crashed and collided chaotically inside Gu Jinfeng's meridians like three starving beasts trapped in a cage, locked in a life-or-death struggle.
The ice froze his Bloodline, the lightning scorched his skin, while the wood-attribute power pierced through and expanded, constantly repairing the damage.
The three powers restrained one another and refused to yield. Every inch of his meridians was tortured by a ceaseless cycle of tearing and healing, layers of pain sweeping through his entire body. He could lose control of his powers at any moment and damage his Foundation.
Gu Jinfeng's muscles tensed, and the veins on his forehead bulged, winding from his temples down to his neck like writhing earthworms.
His jaw was tight and rigid, and muffled groans continued to escape his throat. His shirt was drenched in cold sweat and clung tightly to his body, outlining the contours of his taut muscles.
He gripped Ji Qingyan's wrist tightly, his knuckles white and veins bulging as he fought with all his strength against the churning power inside him, not daring to relax even for a moment.
Boom—!
A sudden, thunderous explosion rang out.
A tremendous wave swept outward from the two of them, cracking the ground and spreading fractures in every direction like a spiderweb.
The rack was violently overturned and slammed into the wall with a shrill metallic clang and clatter.
The powerful shock wave hurled them both backward. Ji Qingyan's back struck the wall, and she groaned in pain as blood churned in her chest.
“Cough, cough...”
Gu Jinfeng clutched his chest. Blood continued to flow from the corner of his mouth, dripping down his chin and onto his black shirt, leaving a dark stain.
The energy inside his body had completely run wild.
Lightning and frost lashed across his skin in turns. One moment, his arm was covered in a layer of white frost; the next, several electric arcs crackled across his chest—a scene of ice and fire at once.
The wood-attribute energy that followed close behind forcibly repaired his ravaged body. A faint green light flashed over the wounds, only for the newly healed skin to be torn apart by the next wave of ice and lightning.
One destruction followed another—a cycle of torment.
The three powers continued to collide and pull against one another, every inch of his meridians suffering the double torment of tearing and healing.
Gu Jinfeng trembled uncontrollably. The veins on his forehead bulged, his eyes squeezed shut, and his teeth clenched so tightly they chattered. Occasional groans of pain slipped between his lips and teeth.
This seemingly invincible man was now being tortured to the verge of collapse by the overwhelming energy.
“Oh no! His energy is out of control!”
Holding back her dizziness, Ji Qingyan tried to crawl to his side and grab his hand.
Instinctively, she tried to channel the wood-attribute energy she had just awakened, but found herself at a loss. The three powers were intertwined too deeply and too tightly, like a tangled mess, and touching one would affect the entire situation.
She was so anxious that sweat poured from her body.
Gu Jinfeng clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and used the last of his strength to suppress the uncontrollable energy inside him.
But then—
Graaaar—!
The howls of zombies outside sounded in the distance, growing denser and louder as they drew closer.
The pure energy that had just been released was intensely tempting to the zombies, which instinctively craved life and flesh. It was like throwing a fresh piece of meat to a pack of hungry wolves.
That pure force of life drove the wandering corpses into an even greater frenzy. Their roars grew louder, shaking the windows.
Roar—roar—!
A massive number of infected people rushed in, their footsteps slightly shaking the ground. They surged from every direction, completely blocking both the front and rear entrances to the shop.
The sound of cars slamming into the doors and windows rang out without pause. The wooden back door was riddled with cracks, the glass windows rattled, the shutters shook violently, and their fastening bolts came loose one by one.
It looked as though the whole thing would be smashed apart by force.
By now, Gu Jinfeng was exhausted from suppressing the uncontrollable energy inside his body. His breathing was ragged and heavy, and he could not even get up to fight.
He knelt on the ground, his arms supporting his slightly trembling body, his fingertips digging deep into the cracks in the floor.
Although Ji Qingyan had awakened a wood-type ability, she still did not know how to use it. Her foundation was shallow, and her power was weak.
The energy left over from before still clung to her body, but she could not even begin to activate it, let alone use it in battle.
She could not stop them.
Neither of them could stop them.
Gu Jinfeng forced open his heavy eyelids and looked at the young man beside him.
Ji Qingyan's face was deathly pale, and strands of hair on his forehead were damp with sweat and stuck to his smooth brow.
Yet there was no retreat, no fear, and no despair in those eyes—only a stubborn, almost obsessive determination, as though they were saying: I refuse to accept my fate.
Gu Jinfeng chuckled softly.
His laugh was gentle, carrying the ferocity of someone trapped in a desperate situation while also concealing a tenderness even he himself did not realize was there.
He turned to look at Ji Qingyan. His deep eyes reflected the young man's slender figure, and his voice was low and hoarse, as though it had been sanded raw.
“Doctor Ji, are you scared?”
Ji Qingyan did not answer.
His mind raced like an overloaded machine running at full speed.
Both the front and rear doors were blocked, leaving no way to retreat. As for fighting, they were both exhausted and had no chance of winning. As for hiding...
He gritted his teeth, his fingertips unconsciously tightening as he gripped Gu Jinfeng's hand.
Has the apocalypse only just begun, and am I really going to die here?
Thousands of resentful emotions surged inside him like a tidal wave.
He had not even used his trump card yet—the portable space he had just used—so how could he accept this fate?
Bang—!
Suddenly, a deafening sound exploded in his ears.
The wooden door, already battered beyond endurance, collapsed completely and shattered into pieces. Splinters flew like rain, and the fragments scattered across the floor.
A horde of zombies poured through the opening. Their skin was bluish gray, their eyes grayish white, and their mouths were torn open to their ears, saliva dripping from their lips...
A foul, stinging stench assaulted Ji Qingyan's senses, like an invisible hand clamping around his throat.