12: Chapter 12 Arrival in Xinjian Ningcheng

After finishing the high-grade treasure chest, Lu Yuxuan opened the remaining mid-level treasure chests.

Two more storage rings, a high-tech tent, a high-tech bath, and so on...

Lu Yuxuan kept a black gold dagger and a black gold blade for herself.

She distributed the rest to Gu Na, Tao Shuishui, and Tao Mumu...

"Opening chests can actually be exhausting. Where should we go next?" Lu Yuxuan asked.

"Let's just walk around!" Even though Mu Cheng didn't see a new hidden hint.

By now, he had figured out the pattern of these hints; they only appeared once a day, allowing him to encounter at least a Trader or a high-grade treasure chest.

As for danger, there were still hints for that...

"Now that we have storage rings, let's go scavenge some supplies!" Gu Na suddenly suggested.

Tao Mumu agreed. "Mm-hmm, I'll listen to Sister Na."

"Alright! Let's go to the shopping mall's supermarket warehouse." Mu Cheng thought for a moment and agreed.

After all, he would definitely need to recruit people after establishing Menglou Pavilion later. Preparing more now was perfectly fine...

They encountered many First-order Zombies along the way, but they were all easily dealt with by the group, requiring no action from Mu Cheng at all.

They didn't return to the Xinhua Hotel until the sky was beginning to dim.

"Brother Cheng, today's haul: 8 storage rings, 560 grey crystals, 8 second-order modification potions, 3 high-tech tents..." Gu Na gave a brief report.

Mu Cheng: "Distribute them freely among yourselves! Also, find some time to awaken your bloodline and increase your strength."

"Mm-hmm, I'll awaken it once I get back." After Gu Na left the 32nd floor, she returned to the 31st floor and began her bloodline awakening.

Lu Yuxuan had already started, and the same went for Tao Mumu and Tao Shuishui... they had all begun awakening their bloodlines.

Six hours later, Lu Yuxuan had just finished awakening when Mu Cheng, like a starving ghost, started talking to her about the ideals of life...

More strange sounds...

"Oh my god, it's starting again. When will this ever end?" Tao Mumu complained.

Perhaps because they were too tired, Gu Na and Tao Shuishui had already fallen asleep. The young ladies in the high-tech tents...

...were also sleeping soundly...

Early the next morning.

"Brother Cheng, wake up. I've already made breakfast." Lu Yuxuan called out as she placed two plates of fried noodles on the table.

Mu Cheng woke up groggily, his first reaction being quite strange.

Where was the hidden hint?

"Forget it." Not thinking too much about it, he quickly washed up and finished breakfast...

Then he gathered the young ladies to head out.

Even without a hidden hint, Mu Cheng's group still had a bountiful harvest...

Day after day passed. Seven whole days had gone by without any new hidden hints appearing.

"It's really strange. It's been seven days, and no new hints have appeared?" Mu Cheng felt quite puzzled.

"Brother Cheng, I want to start recruiting new members." Gu Na felt the time was right and asked for Mu Cheng's opinion.

Mu Cheng didn't think much about the hidden hint issue.

"You decide."

"Why don't we go to New Ningcheng to develop? I heard they've already cleared out all the zombies there," Lu Yuxuan suddenly suggested.

Tao Mumu agreed. "I heard that too. The young ladies' strength has reached the second-level Thousand-Jin, and some even have second-order abilities... I think we really can go to New Ningcheng."

"New Ningcheng? Let's gather the young ladies and head there tomorrow morning!" Mu Cheng was also surprised.

To think the newly built Ning City... would appear so quickly. Next would be the Great Earthquake, followed by an attack from wild animals.

Mu Cheng had experienced this in his past life, but he couldn't be sure if it would happen again...

Early the next morning, after gathering the young ladies, Mu Cheng led the large group toward New Ningcheng.

Not long after they set out, Mu Cheng's hidden hint appeared again.

[Great Earthquake countdown: 239 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds... Please make sufficient preparations.]

[Warning! Warning! A large number of zombies detected ahead.]

[Warning! Warning! A Third-order Zombie detected ahead.]

[1 top-grade treasure chest and 1 Trader detected ahead.]

...and so on, a massive list of hidden hints.

"The Great Earthquake... it really is coming. Regardless, we should head to New Ningcheng first before making any plans." Mu Cheng couldn't worry about too much.

He drew his black gold blade and immediately became extremely cautious.

Sure enough, they soon discovered a large batch of First-order Zombies ahead. The young ladies were also very fierce.

They just went in and fought!

In less than ten minutes, the zombies' bodies were piled high...

"Brother Cheng, is that a Third-order Zombie?" Lu Yuxuan's voice suddenly came from ahead.

"Tell the young ladies to fall back." Mu Cheng didn't dare to be careless... after giving Gu Na a quick instruction.

He hurriedly caught up to Lu Yuxuan.

It was indeed a Third-order Zombie. Its size was about the same as a normal human, not much different from a Second-order Zombie.

However, it was wearing black gold armor... and in an instant, it sent Lu Yuxuan flying.

"This guy is strong. Let me handle it!" Mu Cheng struck with his black gold blade.

But this level of attack... was completely unable to damage the Third-order Zombie.

"Brother Cheng, I'll help you too."

Before anyone could react, Lu Yuxuan also came to help, but unfortunately, she underestimated the Third-order Zombie's strength.

It grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up... and black energy could clearly be seen entering her body.

Mu Cheng instantly flew into a rage, releasing his Ice Attribute Ability to temporarily freeze the Third-order Zombie.

"Xiao Xuanxuan... are you okay?" Mu Cheng pulled Lu Yuxuan into his arms.

"I'm in so much pain, Brother Cheng, kill me!" Lu Yuxuan was in unbearable agony, her body beginning to convulse.

There were clear traces of black blood on her neck... and the black blood could be seen invading her face and entire body.

"Drink this." Mu Cheng hurriedly took out a third-order detoxification potion and poured it down Lu Yuxuan's throat.

"Sister Yuxuan... what happened to her?" Tao Mumu was clearly terrified.

Fortunately, the third-order detoxification potion began to take effect. Her complexion improved significantly, and her body stopped convulsing.

The black blood slowly receded, but she had already fallen unconscious...

At that moment, the Third-order Zombie broke free from the ice restraint!

"She should be fine. Take good care of her. Leave this Third-order Zombie to me." Mu Cheng finally let out a deep sigh of relief.

After handing Lu Yuxuan over to Gu Na, he immediately unleashed his Lightning Attribute Ability.

But its effect on the Third-order Zombie was still negligible; it wasn't affected at all.

"Can Brother Cheng... handle the Third-order Zombie?" Tao Shuishui also became worried.

Gu Na held Lu Yuxuan and retreated. "Let's fall back! Leave the rest to Brother Cheng."

"Shuishui, let's fall back too! Staying here will only make Brother Cheng worry." Tao Mumu pulled Tao Shuishui away.

They quickly returned to the other young ladies' side, watching with unease as Lu Yuxuan remained unconscious.

"Damn it, a second-order ability is far from enough." Mu Cheng already felt exhausted.

The Third-order Zombie was not only powerful but also as smart as a child; unlike Second-order Zombies that blocked attacks with their hands, it knew how to dodge.

It would actually evade attacks.

"Let's try the Black Vine!"

Mu Cheng had no other options left and brought out his final trump card, the Black Vine.

Controlling the Black Vine with his consciousness... he tightly entangled the Third-order Zombie.

Then, the Black Vine began to devour the Third-order Zombie.

What was going on? The Third-order Zombie was being devoured by the Black Vine? Could it be that the Devouring Bloodline can devour zombies?

Mu Cheng looked on in confusion, but in this situation, he could only wait and see... what would happen next.

As time passed, the Third-order Zombie was completely devoured by the Black Vine, forming a black strange crystal.

"It's a black crystal. Could it be that my bloodline devours zombies... and then turns them into strange crystals?" Mu Cheng couldn't be sure.

grey crystals can cure minor illnesses, white crystals can cure all diseases, as for black crystals...

They can even regenerate missing limbs.

As for the highest-tier star-glow crystal, Mu Cheng wasn't very clear about it, because even in his past life, he had never seen one.

But he had heard of them.

"Never mind. Although this black crystal is precious, I should give it to Xiao Xuanxuan." Mu Cheng didn't care about the cost.

He picked up the black crystal... and fed it directly to Lu Yuxuan.

A black crystal was equivalent to ten thousand grey crystals. Not only did the wounds on her body heal completely...

...but her physical strength also increased significantly, breaking through to the fourth-level Thousand-Jin!

"Am I not dead?" Lu Yuxuan woke up groggily.

Soon, she was back to normal...

Tao Mumu's tears started falling. "Sister Yuxuan... you scared us to death. Don't ever do anything foolish again."

"Alright, since everything's fine, let's continue our journey. We must reach New Ningcheng before dark." Mu Cheng was only acting tough.

In reality, he was more worried than anyone...

Soon, the young ladies set off again in a grand procession. With Lu Yuxuan, the goddess of luck, the treasure chests they encountered...

...were basically all black gold weapons or better. They also found many high-tech lunch boxes in the low-level treasure chests.

Finally, after six full hours, they arrived at the outskirts of New Ningcheng.

Mu Cheng knew New Ningcheng better than anyone and led the young ladies straight to the Trading Center.

"You can apply for a faction here and buy territory. Nana and I will go up." Upon arrival, Mu Cheng went straight inside.

Gu Na followed closely behind.

"Seriously, men are all such scumbags." Hearing him call her "Nana," Lu Yuxuan instantly became jealous.

"Hehe, Sister Yuxuan... are you jealous? Do you think Brother Cheng will be lured away by Sister Na?" Tao Shuishui suddenly chimed in.

She usually loved to gossip... so she naturally wouldn't miss such a great opportunity to tease Lu Yuxuan.

"I am not! I'm going to tickle you." Lu Yuxuan, unable to take it, went over to tickle her.

Tao Mumu felt completely speechless... but didn't know what to say.

"Sir, is there anything I can help you with?" Seeing Mu Cheng approach, the receptionist young lady asked politely.

Mu Cheng got straight to the point. "I want to apply for a faction and buy a piece of territory."

Upon hearing this, the receptionist immediately became enthusiastic and hurriedly brought out a large pile of documents.

"Applying for a faction costs ten grey crystals. All the territories in New Ningcheng are listed here. Take a look at which one is suitable, and then we can discuss the price."