"I can't believe it, she just said her superpower was still very weak..."
"If you can help a level six ability user like Vice Captain Qin break through to level seven when you're weak, what about when you become strong?"
...
A chorus of exclamations and praises erupted, but to Zhang Lan, they felt like needles piercing her heart: her heart ached so much! These people were simply "whoever feeds me is my mother," completely oblivious to how much effort she had put in for them, and now they were all acting as Li Nian's lapdogs...
Exhausted from the excessive energy expenditure, Chu Nian nearly collapsed. Immediately, a kind-hearted female ability user came over and helped her to the side, asking with concern, "How are you?"
Someone else handed over a bottle of water, another brought food, and yet another even offered a zombie crystal core that they themselves didn't need, saying, "You've lost too much of your abilities. I can't use this crystal core for now, but you can use it to recover!"
Chu Nian thanked everyone, but in the end only accepted the crystal core: it was truly a godsend for her right now!
Qin Hao was still ecstatic about his breakthrough and the comfortable feeling brought by his powerful level seven ability, and he was extremely excited. He discovered that after Chu Nian's energy output, his own ability was much purer than before.
Zhang Lan was even more frustrated; she discovered she could no longer discern the state of Qin Hao's body, which meant…
At the same time, Qin Hao discovered that he could see into Zhang Lan's body: Zhang Lan had always claimed to be at the early stage of level seven, but her current power level had clearly reached the middle stage of level seven.
So, he's currently at level seven... mid-to-late stage? Qin Hao was somewhat shocked by his discovery, and found it unbelievable: perhaps he had simply confused the energy states of the early, mid, and late stages of level seven.
It's not surprising that he had this idea, but Zhang Lan couldn't possibly be confused, after all, she had already entered the seventh level, and she also had memories from before her rebirth; before her rebirth, because she lived to three years after the apocalypse, they were both Saint Emperors who had already broken through to the twelfth level.
Zhang Lan previously only felt love for Qin Hao, but now she felt a strong sense of jealousy: Qin Hao was originally weaker than her, but now he was stronger than her. He had only received help from Li Nian once, but he had already broken through and directly advanced to the late stage of the seventh level. How could Zhang Lan, who thought that her strength was all earned through her own efforts, bear this?
Doesn't she realize that if she hadn't intercepted many resources that originally belonged to the original owner, could she have advanced to level seven so quickly? In her previous life, at this time, she was still in the late stage of level four, ranking at the back of the team, and only able to maintain a certain position in the team thanks to the Li sisters.
Qin Hao spent two hours stabilizing his cultivation level.
By this time it was already broad daylight. To avoid arousing suspicion, Zhang Lan had already led Zhang Gang and several other trusted team members outside to search for supplies.
Seeing that Qin Hao had stopped cultivating and was about to go find Chu Nian, many people with superpowers curiously gathered around him, asking about his condition and how he felt when Chu Nian channeled her power into him.
Qin Hao answered truthfully one by one, and even mentioned the exceptionally pleasant feeling he had when he received the superpower from Chu Nian, saying, "When I cultivated before and my superpower improved, although I would feel comfortable, it was far inferior to this."
The people with superpowers couldn't help but feel a little tempted after hearing this.
However, some people who prefer to act cautiously suggested: "Let's observe Vice Captain Qin's condition over the next two days. If there are no abnormalities in his physical condition or his abilities, then we can ask Nian Nian for help in improving and breaking through."
Some people, being cautious, felt that waiting a couple of days to see what would happen; however, some who had been stuck at a bottleneck for a long time were getting impatient, and some had already approached Chu Nian.
Chu Nian smiled and said, "No rush, you guys need to give me some rest time too! Besides, this is the first time I've used my special ability like this, and the follow-up situation is unknown. Let's check on Vice Captain Qin's condition first."
Hearing her say that, everyone quieted down for a while. Chu Nian, however, was secretly wondering if Zhang Lan had already begun plotting how to kill her after taking her people out.
Qin Hao had already come over to thank her.
Chu Nian said, "You're welcome. I've only been able to get to where I am today because of everyone's care. It's only right that I repay everyone."
Everyone assumed that after absorbing a level-six crystal core and unleashing a stronger power, she wouldn't have much power left in her body, and would probably have to continue working hard to improve it. Little did they know that her power had already reached the peak of level six after absorbing a level-six peak crystal core.
Qin Hao said, "I absorbed so many peak level six zombie crystal cores before without any effect. I thought I needed level seven crystal cores. I didn't expect that with your help, I could successfully break through with peak level six crystal cores, and even..." directly jumped to the late level seven?!
However, he is not sure which stage of level seven he is at yet. Saying that it is the later stage is just his guess, so he did not say it out loud.
During the early stages of a superpower, superpowered individuals can absorb zombie crystal cores across levels. For example, a level 2 late-stage superpowered individual can achieve a breakthrough by absorbing a level 3 early-stage crystal core.
However, once a superpowered individual reaches level six, attempting to absorb a zombie crystal core across levels carries considerable risk. Although level seven and the peak of level six may seem like just one hurdle apart, the energy intensity is vastly different. If a superpowered individual with slightly weaker meridians were to forcibly absorb it, their meridians would rupture, causing severe damage to their body, and some might even die instantly.
Therefore, just to be on the safe side, although Qin Hao had absorbed several peak level 6 zombie crystal cores in a row without breaking through, he still refrained from absorbing level 7 early stage zombie crystal cores.
He said that absorbing a level-seven crystal core would be extremely dangerous.
Compared to Chu Nian's energy output, everyone couldn't help but marvel: not only was there no danger, but Qin Hao also felt exceptionally comfortable.
Chu Nian remained calm in the face of everyone's praise. Only she knew that she was facing imminent doom, and if she didn't quickly come up with a solution, she would be dead. However, seeing that she had closed her eyes, seemingly recovering, everyone tactfully kept their distance from her and spoke in low voices, trying their best not to disturb her.
Zhang Lan and the others didn't return until noon, bringing back some food. Apparently, they went back to the underground parking lot they'd searched the day before, this time mainly searching the underground supermarket: they surprisingly found some food and water still inside.
But this time, they were not attacked.
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