Chapter 225

Deep inside the earthquake-resistant cave, a pale blue heating element steadily releases warmth, keeping the surrounding temperature constant at 25°C, a stark contrast to the ongoing devastation caused by the earthquake outside.

Su Jing sat cross-legged on the platform built from manganese crystal modules, her eyes slightly closed, a faint aura of spiritual energy surrounding her.

For the past two weeks, the earthquakes have continued, gradually shifting from the initial magnitude 12 quake to high-frequency aftershocks. She took advantage of this relatively safe time to consolidate her cultivation at the peak of the first level of Foundation Establishment. The spiritual energy in her dantian became increasingly profound and refined, and her range of perception quietly expanded to 3 kilometers.

Little Jin, who was lying next to her, suddenly raised his head, his little ears twitching rapidly, and pointed his paws toward the cave entrance: "Su Jing, the tremors outside seem to have weakened a bit, but... the hollow sounds from underground are more obvious, like a large area of ​​land has collapsed!"

Its voice carried a hint of unease. For the past two weeks, it had remained highly vigilant, sensing no unusual movement within a kilometer. As the earthquake continued, the frequency of the "ground cavitation" vibrations increased.

Su Jing slowly opened her eyes, the spiritual energy in them dissipating. Her fingertips traced the spatial storage compartment on her wrist, bringing up the image from the external environment monitoring device—

On the screen, the original urban area was completely unrecognizable. Large swathes of land sank into the sea, and the exposed seabed rock layers continued to collapse in the aftershocks. Waves carrying debris and building remains submerged the former coastal city.

A line of striking red text popped up in the data analysis panel of the monitoring device: [Global land subsidence rate has reached 10%, 90% of coastal plains and loose mountainous areas have been submerged or collapsed, stability of remaining land plates: 30%, duration of aftershocks: unknown].

Just then, a system notification, clearer than ever before, rang in my mind, carrying an undeniable authority:

[System Final Mission Triggered: Earth's environment is on the verge of collapse, with a land subsidence rate of 10%, air pollution levels exceeding standards by 500%, a disordered magnetic field, and a completely unbalanced ecosystem. Final mission—collect 100 "Natural Cores" to repair Earth's environment.]

Task Description:

1. Definition of Natural Core: High-value, high-purity natural resources generated in various dungeons/apocalyptic scenarios, containing pure natural energy that can repair the Earth's magnetic field, purify the atmosphere, and stabilize tectonic plates;

2. Core types: including but not limited to high-purity mineral crystals, spiritual plants over a thousand years old, exotic beast cores/eggs, and high-level energy crystals (such as high-level demon cores);

3. Mission objective: 100 natural cores, any type, to be completed before the land subsidence rate exceeds 30% (estimated remaining time: 3 months).

4. Mission Rewards: After the Earth's environment is restored, the "Planet Guardian" privileges will be unlocked, the space will be upgraded (capacity increased 10 times), and the ultimate ability "Nature Manipulation" will be unlocked;

5. Mission Failure: The sinking rate continues to rise, Earth becomes a dead star, and all survivors and mission participants will perish with the planet's collapse.

Su Jing's pupils contracted slightly, and her fingertips clenched unconsciously—she had never imagined that the mission would be linked to the survival of the entire Earth. The definition of "natural core" instantly reminded her of the various high-value resources she had stockpiled in her space.

She raised her hand to activate the global terrain scan function of the monitor. The blue planet on the screen was covered with red cracks. 10% of the land had sunk into the deep blue ocean. The original continental plates were broken apart, like a shattered puzzle piece. In some areas, there were even red spots of magma eruption. The scene was shocking.

"Repairing the Earth's environment..."

Su Jing repeated the core of the mission in a low voice, her senses subconsciously expanding to the limit of 3 kilometers—outside the cave, small landslides caused by aftershocks were still ongoing, and most of the original city ruins had been submerged by seawater, with the exposed reinforced concrete structures teetering in the waves.

The distant mountain range broke into several sections, with parts of the mountain sliding into the sea, creating huge waves;

What alarmed her even more was that her intuition detected several powerful energy fluctuations from demonic beasts. They seemed to be attracted by the crustal movement and energy anomalies, gathering at the edge of the sinking landmass. Their auras were violent, clearly indicating that the deterioration of their living environment caused by the earthquake had made them even more bloodthirsty.

Little Jin sensed Su Jing's seriousness and tugged at her sleeve with its little paws: "Su Jing, this mission is so difficult... What are 100 'Natural Cores'? Can we find them?"

Its little face was full of worry. The previous polar night and earthquake had already shown it the cruelty of the apocalypse. The thought of the Earth possibly collapsing completely made it shudder.

Su Jing patted Xiao Jin's head, her gaze gradually hardening: "Naturally, the core is the high-value resources we collected before, such as high-purity gold crystals, thousand-year-old spiritual herbs, and high-level demon cores."

She stood up and walked to the observation point at the cave entrance, where the high-definition camera she had previously set up was installed. It could clearly capture the scene outside the cave—the seawater was still slowly rising, and it was less than 10 meters away from the cave entrance. If the land subsidence rate continued to rise, this earthquake-resistant cave would be submerged sooner or later.

"We must collect enough natural cores as soon as possible."

Su Jing had already made up her mind. She activated her spatial ability, and a light blue light appeared on her fingertips. She began to recall the various high-value resources she had stockpiled in the space: the 99% pure gold crystals extracted from the mineral vein dungeon she explored before the polar night.

Spiritual herbs that have survived for over a thousand years and grow within the spiritual field; a blue deer egg that was unexpectedly obtained while hunting high-level demonic beasts;

There are also high-level demon cores obtained from monsters such as the Ice Soul Beast and the Temperature Difference Beetle... These resources all meet the criteria of "high value from the dungeon".

The characteristic of "containing pure energy" is most likely the natural core required by the system.

Instead of immediately entering the space to sort things out, she first used the camera and her intuition to further confirm the safety situation outside.

The frequency of aftershocks has dropped to 3-5 per hour, and their intensity has also weakened significantly, but the trend of land subsidence has not stopped. Monitoring instruments show that "the land subsidence rate is expected to rise to 12% in the next 72 hours."

More and more monsters gathered outside the cave, including many powerful beings of the fourth rank or above. They fought each other for the limited living space. The smell of blood mixed with the salty smell of the seawater drifted into the cave with the wind, making Xiao Jin wrinkle his nose.

"It's too dangerous outside, we can't go out for now."

Su Jing turned off the camera, turned around and returned to the temporary safe zone. "Let's first sort out the existing supplies in the space, count the number of existing natural cores, see how many we still need, and then formulate a follow-up collection plan."

She knew that going out to collect resources now would be tantamount to suicide. The high-level monsters and unstable geological environment posed deadly threats. It would be better to first take stock of existing resources, identify the gaps, and then take targeted action.

Su Jing activated her spatial ability and led Xiao Jin into the storage space. As soon as they entered, three adult spirit deer immediately surrounded them. They seemed to sense the danger from the outside world, gently rubbing against Su Jing's palm. The male deer's antlers gleamed with a faint spiritual glow as they warily stared in the direction of the space entrance.

On the spirit field, the thousand-year-old spirit herbs grow lush and green, their leaves gleaming with a deep green spiritual luster. Twenty spirit herbs are neatly arranged, and the flower buds at their tips contain rich natural energy.

On the nearby warm jade shelf, the golden crystal stones are stored separately. Each one shines with a bright yellow light and has a purity of up to 99%. It is the most important output of the mineral vein dungeon.

Deep inside the storage compartment, three bluish-green eggs lay quietly. These were the bluish-green deer eggs that had been obtained by chance when hunting the bluish-green deer beast. The eggshells were covered with fine spiritual energy patterns, and one could clearly feel the life energy contained within them.

The high-level demon cores were stored in a specially made jade bottle. The 40 demon cores were neatly arranged, ranging from the third to the fourth rank. Each one emitted pure demon beast energy. Among them, the third-rank high-level Ice Soul Beast demon core was particularly eye-catching, with the most intense energy fluctuations.

Little Jin ran to the warm jade shelf, pointing at the golden stones with her little paws: "Su Jing, are these shiny stones natural cores? They feel warm to the touch, and the energy is so pure!"

It ran to the edge of the spirit field, sniffed the thousand-year-old spirit herbs, and said, "And these herbs, their spiritual energy is even stronger than before, they must be too!"

Su Jing nodded and began to count them one by one: "Golden Crystal Stones, 99% purity, 30 were extracted before, all of which meet the requirements;

These are millennium-old spiritual herbs, each with a lifespan of over a thousand years. There are 20 of them, and each one is an independent natural core.

Green deer eggs, containing pure life energy, 3 pieces;

There are 40 high-level demon cores, tier three and above, among which the high-level demon core from the Ice Soul Beast has the purest energy.

As she counted the items, she used her mineral powers to record the quantity on the warm jade plate. Each time she confirmed a category, she marked it with her spiritual power to avoid duplication or omission.

The final count on the warm jade plate clearly showed: 30 gold crystal stones + 20 thousand-year-old spirit herbs + 3 green deer eggs + 40 high-level demon cores = 93.

"Seven more are needed."

Su Jing frowned slightly as she looked at the numbers. "The gap isn't too big, but the remaining 7 must be high-value, high-energy materials. Ordinary ores or low-level demon cores probably don't count."

She walked to the "Uncategorized Resources Area" in the space, where various resources she had collected before were piled up: low-purity ores, ordinary spiritual herbs, second-tier and lower-level demon cores, various mechanical parts... These resources either lacked sufficient energy purity or contained too little energy, clearly not meeting the requirements of a natural core. Su Jing sifted through them one by one, categorizing the unsuitable resources into the "Spare Resources Area," leaving only a few resources that might meet the requirements: a Crimson Flame Crystal obtained from the volcano dungeon, two peak second-tier demon cores, and a five-hundred-year-old spiritual herb. However, after careful perception, she discovered that the energy concentration and purity of these resources did not meet the previous standards, and they were unlikely to be recognized as natural cores by the system.

"It seems we'll have to go out and find the remaining 7."

Su Jing sighed and put away the warm jade tablet. "The land subsidence outside is still ongoing. The dungeon entrance may relocate due to geological changes, or new high-value resources may be exposed in the previous dungeon areas."

She knew that the subsequent collection missions were destined to be dangerous, with the gathering of high-level monsters and the unstable geological environment posing enormous challenges. However, in order to complete the final mission and stop the Earth from continuing to collapse, she had no room to back down.

The three spirit deer are in good condition, with abundant spiritual energy, and can even provide assistance when necessary;

Xiao Jin's perception ability has been improved to 1.5 kilometers, enabling it to warn of danger in advance, making it an indispensable helper.

She stepped out of the space, returned to the cave, activated the monitoring device, and began analyzing possible collection locations.

Based on past life memories and intuition, although part of the mining area in the western suburbs of the city has been submerged, the core mining area is located deep underground and is likely not submerged, possibly containing higher purity gold crystals.

The deep-sea replica entrance in the coastal area may have been exposed due to land subsidence, and there may be a natural core containing ocean energy inside;

In the northern volcanic region, although the earthquake triggered a magma eruption, the energy concentration of the Crimson Flame Crystal may have increased significantly due to geological changes, reaching the standard of a natural core.

"First, lock in the western suburbs mine instance and the northern volcano instance."

Su Jing marked two locations on the monitoring device. "Once the aftershocks weaken a bit more, we'll set off to collect the remaining seven natural cores."

She knew that time was of the essence, and that every increase in the rate of land subsidence would make the restoration of Earth more difficult. She had to act quickly and complete the mission within the three-month deadline.

Outside the cave, aftershocks struck again, the ground shook slightly, and rocks fell from the cave entrance, but Su Jing's gaze grew even more resolute.

She sat cross-legged, circulated her spiritual energy once more to consolidate her cultivation, and made final preparations for her upcoming expedition.

Little Jin lay beside her, its little ears pressed tightly against her scalp, constantly monitoring the outside world. It knew that the journey ahead was destined to be full of dangers, but as long as it was with Su Jing, it had the courage to face anything.

On the monitor's screen, the land subsidence rate was still slowly ticking, and the fate of the Earth hung by a thread.