"Yes, it's only just mutated, so there's not much spiritual energy yet. Besides, you're already at the Qi Refining stage, so you can eat it."

"Okay! Mom, do you know how to cook rat meat?"

"meeting."

"That's good!"

While Zuo Qingya and Zuo Haijia were living comfortably, the other places where the earthquake struck were devastated. Just as Zuo Haijia said, the city's skyscrapers collapsed in an instant, the streets were swallowed by cracks, and human civilization seemed to have fallen apart overnight.

In many places, even if people have already rushed to open spaces with their families to seek refuge, they cannot escape being swallowed up by underground fissures.

Humans are truly insignificant. Even with preventative measures, we cannot escape the ravages of nature. Moreover, this is a global disaster; just imagine how many people will die—it's countless.

Following the earthquake, especially in areas near the sea, the undersea earthquake triggered a massive tsunami. The tsunami waves spread rapidly for hundreds of kilometers, causing devastating impacts on coastal areas. People living by the sea faced the serious threat of their homes being destroyed, casualties, and property damage. In particular, some people who were unwilling to evacuate with the main force were completely wiped out in the tsunami.

In response to the risks of earthquakes and tsunamis, residents and governments in coastal areas have taken a series of preventative measures, including establishing tsunami warning systems, developing evacuation plans, strengthening earthquake-resistant building standards, and raising public awareness of disaster prevention.

When an earthquake occurs, timely warnings and effective emergency responses can reduce losses, but even with these preventative measures, earthquakes themselves can cause buildings to collapse, roads to break, and infrastructure to be damaged in coastal areas.

This will not only directly impact residents' lives, but may also block rescue channels and exacerbate the disaster's effects.

Before the disaster, governments and households had already established emergency reserves of food and water, including non-perishable foods, bottled water, and long-term stored foods.

However, due to disruptions in the transportation network, roads for food and water to be transported from storage depots to the disaster area were blocked, forcing them to be carried out on foot. Rescue teams also mobilized quickly, but their efforts were hampered by the earthquake and tsunami.

The reconstruction work will require a great deal of resources and time.

Just as people were praying that the disaster would pass, overnight, when they woke up, they found that the rate of biological evolution around them had accelerated, with some species showing significant increases in size, enhanced abilities, or new physiological characteristics.

As some species grow rapidly, ecosystems undergo dramatic changes. The original food chains are about to be broken, and new predator-prey relationships may be formed.

In this situation, some people naturally awaken under the stimulation of spiritual energy and are able to manipulate the elements of nature, such as fire, water, wind, and earth, for attack or defense.

"Host, host, you can level up now."

"Do you have enough points?"

"Just enough to upgrade."

Zuo Qingya thought for a moment and said, "Let's upgrade!"

"Okay, host, the system is about to upgrade, please prepare."

"Um."

Just after the upgrade was completed, Zuo Qingya heard Zuo Haijia shout.

"Xiaoya, the rat meat is ready. Come out and have a taste."

"good."

Zuo Haijia broke off a rat leg and handed it to Zuo Qingya: "Here, have a taste."

Zuo Qingya took the rat leg, smelled it, and thought it smelled alright, but she didn't know if it would taste good. Zuo Qingya carefully took a bite, and it was crisp and tender.

"Mom, it's actually pretty delicious!"

"If it tastes good, eat more."

Zuo Qingya never expected that this mutated rat, when turned into a delicacy, would actually taste so good. After finishing it, she wanted to eat more.

"Mom, the plants outside have grown."

"Um."

"Although we've taken refuge in the mountains, it's not entirely safe. The area has the most diverse flora and fauna, making it ideal for our training."

"All right!"

The next day, Zuo Qingya was taken to the mountains by Zuo Haijia, ostensibly for training.

But Zuo Qingya felt that her mother was simply a stepmother. What kind of biological mother would throw her daughter to be abused by tigers? Every time Zuo Qingya came home, she was lying flat on her back. And that wasn't all; she was also put into a pot to be boiled. Zuo Qingya felt like she wanted to die from the taste.

After being cooked, Zuo Qingya became lively and healthy again, but she was repeatedly abused every day.

In this secluded mountain, Zuo Qingya is being chased by a tiger bigger than a house. Zuo Qingya cries loudly as she tries to hide, while Zuo Haijia follows behind the tiger.

Another day of utter torture. This is the eighth time Zuo Qingya has been tortured. She has no power to fight back at all. She remembers the first time she was tortured, Zuo Qingya was so scared that she fainted. Now she can only keep her little fingernail.

If Zuo Haijia hadn't been following behind, Zuo Qingya would have thought that her mother wanted to eliminate her and take advantage of her system.

Now Zuo Qingya can only hide, but it's much better than before. Today she held on for another half a minute before the tiger stepped on her, and then Zuo Qingya knew nothing more.

Being abused in real life is one thing, but Zuo Qingya is also being abused in the system game. Because Zuo Qingya levels up, the trash she picks up changes. At the beginner level, she picks up ordinary trash, but after leveling up to the intermediate level, the trash she picks up is actually the corpses and internal organs of various animals and plants. Fortunately, the reward after transformation is still rare seeds.

However, it's no longer something the body urgently needs, but something that can be grown based on one's own imagination. For example, if you imagine what a spaceship looks like in your mind, you can grow a spaceship. The only drawback is that this thing needs a lot of spiritual energy to grow. Without spiritual energy, what is grown is just an empty shell, much like a plastic toy.

Spiritual energy? She's just a lowly cultivator in the early stages of Qi Refining, where would she get so much spiritual energy? Keep cultivating!

When Zuo Qingya woke up, it was already noon the next day. Great, she had breakfast and lunch together.

After Zuo Qingya finished eating, she thought she had been tortured by a tiger again. Unexpectedly, Zuo Haijia took her to the city, which Zuo Qingya could hardly believe.

"Mom, where are we going?"

"Go to the city."

"oh."

This is no longer a road; it's practically a dead road. The road has been completely taken over by green plants. And it's only been a few days! You can already tell how fast plants grow. Along the way, Zuo Qingya felt that being tortured by a tiger would have been better! This road is so difficult to walk on. If you're not careful, you'll get entangled by the mutated plants and unable to move. Zuo Qingya was a little envious of her mother. Look at the difference.

"Mom, can you put a protective shield on me too?"

"cannot."

Hearing this answer, Zuo Qingya was not surprised, because this was the Nth time she had asked this question, and the answer was still no.