352: Chapter 352 Heading to the Central Region to Recruit People

The evacuation of survivors in the Southern Plains region had finally drawn to a close after continuing for several weeks. Qin Lin looked at the statistics on the System panel, his fingers tapping lightly on the control console.

[Lv9 → Lv10 Upgrade Materials collection progress: 87%]

Qin Lin's gaze lingered on the number "87%".

The upgrade conditions for Lv10 had been partially unlocked before the Spirit awakened. The list of Materials included high-grade crystals, rare metals, starry sky meteorite, dimensional fragment, and two new Materials.

tianxuan crystal core and psionic crystal.

The tianxuan crystal core was a condensation of the Spirit Core energy deep within the planet's core. He had collected some before, but it wasn't enough.

psionic crystal was a type of energy mineral unique to the Cultivation World, generated in large quantities only in areas severely eroded by dimensional rifts. The more dangerous the place, the more crystals there were.

There were more and more passengers on The Ark, and more and more children.

Qin An was already three years old. He could run, jump, and call out "Daddy," "Mommy," "Big Sister," and "Little Sister." The "Little Sister" he referred to wasn't one specific person, but rather every girl younger than him.

Qin Yuan was quieter than him, liking to sit by the window alone to watch the stars. Lin Wanwan said that her "Pure Spirit" talent gave her a natural affinity for the starry sky.

Qin Yue still loved to sing and could already sing several complete songs. Han Yurou would tell everyone she met, "My daughter will definitely be a singer in the future."

Qin Xu's ability to take things apart was getting stronger. Li Ying no longer bought new toys because they would be dismantled into parts less than half a day after being bought.

Qin Xue could draw complete pictures now. They were no longer messy lines, but flowers, trees, people, and The Ark that could be identified.

Xu Xue collected her drawings one by one, and she had already changed to her fourth folder.

Qin Lin walked out of the Bridge and strolled slowly down the corridor.

Most of the doors on both sides of the corridor were open, and through the gaps, he could see the women inside busy with their own affairs.

Qing Yue was sitting in her room, practicing Cultivation. Her belly was already very obvious, like she was carrying a small watermelon.

Hong Yao was sewing small clothes for her unborn child, and her needlework was quite decent.

Qing He was lying on the bed reading a book, her posture lazy.

He walked to the door of Murong Xue's room. The door was open. Murong Xue was sitting by the window, holding a book—a Cultivation Technique scripture in the common language of the Cultivation World.

Sunlight spilled down from the holographic screen, landing on her and casting her silhouette in a soft light.

Her skin was almost transparent in the light, like a piece of carefully polished jade.

Qin Lin stood at the doorway for a while. She didn't look up, but the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

"Come in. What are you doing standing at the door?"

Qin Lin walked in and sat down opposite her.

Murong Xue closed the book and looked at him.

With the help of the Transformation Room, her cultivation had already reached Foundation Establishment Perfection, just one step away from the Golden Core Stage.

Her temperament was different from when she first boarded the ship. Back then, she was like a trapped beast being hunted, full of thorns and vigilance in her eyes.

Now, her gaze was much softer. Although she still retained the reserve of a Young Miss from a noble clan, she no longer treated everyone as a potential enemy.

"The recruitment of people in the Southern Plains region is almost done. I plan to head to the Central Region."

Murong Xue's fingers paused on the page. "The Central Region?"

Her voice wasn't loud, but there was a complex emotion in her tone.

"Do you know what the situation in the Central Region is like right now?"

Qin Lin brought up the System's threat assessment for the Central Region and projected it onto the holographic screen.

[Tianxuan Galaxy Central Region Threat Assessment]

[Current Status: Highly Dangerous]

[Major Threats: Energy storms at the edges of dimensional rift, high-Rank Yao Beast sightings, melee battles between high-Rank Cultivators, unstable psionic crystal explosions]

[Recommendation: Upgrade The Ark to Lv10 before entering]

Murong Xue finished reading and remained silent for a while.

Qin Lin turned off the panel and looked at her.

"Is it possible that your family is still alive?"

Murong Xue lowered her head, her fingers gently stroking the page.

"I don't know. The night the Murong Clan was breached, my father died in battle, my mother disappeared, and my younger brother went missing. I escaped. As for the others... I don't know. The Central Region is in chaos right now; who has the heart to care about others?"

She looked up at Qin Lin, a light in her eyes—not hope, but unwillingness.

"You want to go to the Central Region because there are women you want there too, right?"

Qin Lin nodded.

"But we can also collect Materials for upgrading The Ark along the way."

He projected the list of upgrade Materials; the icons for the tianxuan crystal core and psionic crystal were gray, indicating they had not been fully collected.

"These two Materials are only found in the Central Region. The psionic crystal in the Southern Plains region has been contaminated by rift energy and the purity is not enough. The Central Region is close to the edge of the rift, so the crystal purity is the highest, but it is also the most dangerous."

Murong Xue stood up and walked to the window, looking at the gray, gloomy sky outside.

The Ark was still sailing slowly over the Southern Plains region, and the distant horizon was still gray.

"When do you plan to leave?"

"Next week."

Murong Xue turned to look at him.

"I'm going too."

Qin Lin looked at her; there was no hesitation in her eyes.

"Okay."

The Ark began to decelerate, moving slowly from the Southern Plains region toward the Central Region.

Qin Lin was not in a hurry because the upgrade Materials had not yet been gathered, and the Lv10 upgrade conditions for The Ark still needed some time to be fully unlocked.

He planned to fly slowly along the way, collecting resources while also further improving the cultivation of the women on The Ark.

The System updated the resource scan results every day.

Qin Lin discovered that the closer they got to the Central Region, the more reactions there were for psionic crystal, but the energy storms around them also became more frequent.

The Ark's protective shield barely needed to consume energy in the Southern Plains region, but now it was beginning to show slight fluctuations.

One day, Han Yurou asked Qin Lin in the living room: "Brother Lin, is the Central Region very dangerous?"

Qin Lin thought for a moment: "More dangerous than the South."

"Then why are we going there? To die?"

Li Ying sat up from the massage chair and glanced at Han Yurou:

"No one will think you're mute if you don't speak."

Han Yurou pouted: "I was just asking."

"Because the upgrade Materials are on the way to the Central Region. If The Ark isn't upgraded, we will be in great danger. The children haven't grown up yet, and we cannot wait."

The living room went quiet for a moment.

Su Yuran was holding Qin An on the sofa, and Qin An had fallen asleep in her arms.

Su Yuran looked down at her son's face, her fingers gently brushing across his forehead.

"Qin Lin is right; we cannot wait, and the children cannot wait either. The rift won't stop just because we are afraid; it is constantly expanding. We must upgrade The Ark and leave this world before it arrives."

No one said anything else.

The Ark continued to fly toward the Central Region. The land outside the window changed from gray-white to gray-black, and the energy of the rift permeated the air, blocking out the sunlight.

The sky was always gray and gloomy; there was no longer any difference between day and night.

After The Ark had been flying for a few days, the System popped up an alert.

[Extreme disaster area detected ahead]

[Distance: Approximately 500 kilometers]

[Disaster Type: Psionic storm + dimensional rift fragment storm]

[Threat Level: High (Lv9 The Ark protective shield can withstand it, but energy consumption will increase significantly)]

[Resource Detection: A large amount of high-purity psionic crystal and tianxuan crystal core exists in this area, expected to satisfy the remaining Materials required for Lv10 upgrade (approximately 60%)]

[Recommendation: Enter with caution]

Qin Lin looked at the alert, his fingers tapping lightly on the control console.

High risk, high reward.

The psionic storm and the dimensional rift fragment storm were superimposed on each other; he had never seen this combination of disasters before.

A psionic storm was a riot of high-concentration spiritual energy, while a rift fragment storm was a phenomenon of spatial instability at the edge of a dimensional rift. Combined, the power wasn't 1+1=2, but 1+1=10.

He pulled up more detailed data.

The storm's range was huge, covering an area of hundreds of kilometers, extending from the ground to the outer edge of the atmosphere.

There were strong energy fluctuations in the center of the storm, the purity of the psionic crystal was extremely high, and the reserves of tianxuan crystal core were also considerable.

According to the System's estimation, as long as they could stay in the storm for a period of time, most of the remaining Materials needed for the Lv10 upgrade could be gathered.