Chapter 42
The wind stops and the trees stop.
Sunlight streamed through the gaps between the leaves, and beneath a mossy boulder, a wildflower emerged, blooming into a small, pale yellow flower.
There was no trace of the spiritual cocoon beside the stone wall, only a little bit of ethereal spiritual energy lingering around Gu Qi.
Judging from her momentum, this breakthrough was obviously successful.
Gu Qi opened his eyes, a look of satisfaction on his face.
His cultivation successfully broke through the Golden Core stage, and his supernatural power core was also successfully separated. However, compared to the wood-type supernatural power which was already at level six, the water-type supernatural power was only at level four.
But after seeing the situation in front of her, she couldn't help but look puzzled.
"Jiucang, what is this?"
She looked at the little squirrel that was confronting Jiu Cang, and inexplicably felt that it looked familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere.
Before Jiu Cang could say anything, the mutant little squirrel suddenly spoke.
"Squeak!" Qiqi woke up. Long time no see!
The mutant little squirrel hopped in front of Gu Qi, took out a pine cone and handed it to her.
"Squeak!" Look, this is the delicious pine cone I told you about before, Qiqi, come and try it!
Because he didn't notice the mutant squirrel's malicious intentions, and because of the sense of familiarity, Gu Qi did not stop it from approaching.
Facing the pine cone handed to her, a distant picture emerged in her mind.
She placed a bag of pine cones in front of a little squirrel, which was picking and choosing while squeaking, its black eyes looking particularly bright.
The little squirrel tried to pass the pine cone to her several times, but seemed to be a little disgusted. Finally, it pushed the pine cone aside and squeaked at her. Although she didn't understand what the little squirrel meant at the time, she still nodded in cooperation.
"You are... Xiao Ping'an?"
Gu Qi asked uncertainly. The mutant squirrel in front of her was somewhat similar to the one she remembered. For example, their ears both had a small notch the size of a black bean. As for the rest...
In Gu Qi's eyes, most squirrels actually look similar, but the one in front of her seems to be twice as big as the little squirrel in her memory, with shiny fur, which is very different from what she remembered.
The most important thing is that even if animals still remember their past events after mutation, they will basically not have goodwill towards humans, and the stronger they are, the less likely they are to do so, and they may even hate humans very much.
“Squeak!” Yes! Qiqi remembered me! I knew Qiqi would still remember me!
Obviously, she encountered that one in tens of thousands probability, and Gu Qi was a little surprised.
After hearing Jiu Cang's words, she couldn't believe it. The mutant squirrel in front of her not only had good intentions towards her, but also helped her set up a formation to stop other mutant creatures that wanted to come and investigate when she broke through?
Moreover, the mutant squirrel has a very high talent for formations, and it directly trapped most of the mutant creatures that came over?
Gu Qi couldn't help but be stunned. When did his luck become so good?
It seems like... since Xiang Haoyu started to have bad luck, or to be more precise, since he failed to harm others and ended up hurting himself, her luck is no longer as bad as in her previous life.
Of course, what is more important is that she is strong enough. Otherwise, not to mention the beast-like zombies that ran back after traveling through time, the mutant groundhogs and mutant raspberries that grew together because of the spiritual jade would not be easy to deal with.
The same is true for some subsequent opportunities.
Thinking of this, Gu Qi's surprise faded. Rather than her luck getting better, it was more like she was strong enough to escape danger even if she encountered it.
"Zhi!" Qiqi, do you want to come to my house and have a look? I have a lot of delicious food there!
The mutant little squirrel looked at Gu Qi expectantly with its pair of black eyes, and pointed in the direction of its home, indicating that it was not far from here.
"Aqi, your sword." Jiucang flew up and handed the long sword to Guqi, saying, "Aqi, do you want to put those guys away? I found a few with good potential."
The blocked mutant squirrel bared its teeth at him in dissatisfaction, then ran to another tree a little further away, continuing to squeak and invite Gu Qi to its home to play.
Faced with the invitations from Jiu Cang and Xiao Ping'an, Gu Qi was silent for a moment and did not choose either one.
He turned to look at the stone wall beside him: "There are still some things that I haven't taken."
The lightning-type "blue-purple stone" inside was her original purpose for coming here.
Judging from the previously obtained Wood Spirit Jadeite, Earth Spirit Jadeite and the Water Spirit Jadeite heart contained therein, the "blue-purple stone" inside is most likely the Thunder Spirit Jadeite.
A few minutes later, her guess was confirmed.
The treasure that the sparrow family was talking about was a thunder-type spiritual jadeite. The part exposed outside was the size of a basketball. After it was completely dug out, it was discovered that it was half a person's height, much larger than expected. The part exposed outside was only the smallest part of this spiritual jadeite.
There is even a palm-sized chalcedony heart in it!
This made Gu Qi sigh: "This place is really a Feng Shui treasure land."
Is it true that this is a place that breeds so many advanced mutant creatures? No wonder humans narrowly escape death, and zombies can't get out once they enter. With these things, the mutant creatures can't help but be powerful.
The only strange thing is why several different types of spiritual jadeite appear here together, when the surrounding area is obviously not suitable for the growth of spiritual jadeite.
The mutant little squirrel watching from the side tilted its head and scratched it with its little paws.
"Squeak?" This stone looks so familiar, I seem to have seen it somewhere.
Gu Qi looked at it in surprise. Before she could ask, the mutant little squirrel suddenly remembered something and jumped to the place where the thunder-type spiritual jade was dug out, and crawled in through the hole.
A moment later, it ran out holding a few pine cones that had turned into charcoal.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak..." Woohoo... All the food I saved with great effort has gone bad. I should have known not to use this stone to block it.
Gu Qi and Jiu Cang looked at each other and vaguely guessed the reason why several different types of spiritual jadeite appeared here.
After asking, the answer was indeed very similar to what I guessed.
Several pieces of spiritual jade were brought to this place by the mutant little squirrel.
It used the lightning bullet to block the cave entrance to prevent the stored food from being stolen. The other bullets were dropped by it accidentally, but they were hidden too deep by the mutant vines, so it couldn't find them and later forgot about it.
"Squeak!" Xiqi, do you like these beautiful stones? There are some even more beautiful ones near my home!
The mutant little squirrel quickly threw the pine cone that had turned into charcoal aside and invited Gu Qi to his home again.
"Sure." Gu Qi nodded in surprise. Who doesn't want more spiritual jade?
It can be used for cultivation to improve cultivation without side effects, and it can also replace some refining materials to refine spiritual weapons with better effects. It can even be used in caves to speed up the repair of caves. It can be said that it has only benefits and no harm.
Glancing at Jiucang, who lowered his head slightly and pursed his lips in silence, Gu Qi added, "But before I go to your house, I have something else to do."
"Zhi?" What happened?
"Let's deal with those mutant creatures outside first."
Jiu Cang raised his head, and the corners of his lips couldn't help but rise: "I have marked those with high potential for Ah Qi."
The mutant little squirrel jumped happily a few times and nodded its head in agreement.
"Squeak!" Great, great! Those guys are so annoying, always trying to break into my house and steal the food I hid!
Jiucang glanced at it, flew to Gu Qi's shoulder and landed, whispering: "It looks like it's homesick, it definitely doesn't want to go with Aqi."
Unlike him, no matter where Aqi goes, he is willing to accompany her.
So, Asuto looked at him.
Gu Qi: "...Have you forgotten our plan?"
The purpose of coming here is to get the piece of thunder-type spiritual jadeite, and the purpose of coming to the Death Mountains is to set up a cave in the central area.
Judging from what the mutant squirrel said, even if its home is not in the central area, it must be nearby.
Judging from other places in the Death Mountains, the most likely place to produce spiritual jade is the central area shrouded by the fog barrier.
Jiu Cang was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and asked with pursed lips: "Then does Ah Qi want to make a contract with it?"
Judging from Aqi's attitude, he should not treat this mutant squirrel, whom he has known for a longer time than him, like he does other mutant creatures, where he would beat them up just to make them submit.
If there is no contract, it doesn't matter even if you live nearby. After all, Aqi doesn't go out every day, so you won't meet him if he doesn't go out.
However, what Gu Qi and Jiu Cang could not have expected was that the mutant little squirrel was willing to sign the contract.
The reason given is -
"Squeak?" After making a contract with Qiqi, will I never forget the happiness I had with Qiqi?
Gu Qi was slightly stunned, then quickly understood.
This may be the key reason why mutant creatures find it difficult to get along with humans in a friendly manner. As time goes by, even if they still have the memory, they will gradually forget the emotions of getting along with each other, and then become indifferent. Finally, they regard humans who contain energy as food, and their appetite will be aroused when they see them.
Those pets that were very close to humans before the end of the world would initially stay with humans and protect them after they mutated. However, after a while, some of them ran away, and some even directly devoured their owners.
She nodded, confirming what the mutant squirrel said.
"Squeak!" Then I want to make a contract with Qiqi. I don't want to become like those other guys, whose meat is not tasty at all!
Watching the mutant little squirrel sign a contract with Gu Qi, Jiu Cang tugged at his sleeves.
Then he pulled off the mist that made up his sleeves, looked at Gu Qi carefully, and seeing that she didn't notice, Jiu Cang silently pressed the mist back.
Looking at the ball of white light that represented the equal contract, the mist on Jiu Cang's body gradually faded from gray and turned back into white mist.
No matter how many exotic plants and beasts Aqi has contracted, he is the only one who has signed a soul contract with Aqi!
Even Aqi's natal sword was gone! Without a soul contract, it was only through his intervention that it succeeded in following.
Seeing Jiucang lowering his head, seemingly lost in thought, his aura and color changing slightly from time to time, Gu Qi frowned slightly: "Jiucang?"
The changes are so frequent, could it be that he has secretly used the original power again, causing the core to become unstable?
Jiu Cang, whose thoughts had turned from depression to secret joy, looked up in confusion: "What's wrong with Ah Qi? Can't find the mark?"
"The mark can be sensed."
Gu Qi looked at him with concern and worry: "Why don't you go back and rest for a while, and don't use your spiritual power for the time being."
"Ah?" Jiu Cang was a little confused. He didn't use his spiritual power?
He soon figured out the reason, and the white mist instantly turned light pink. Without further explanation, he just nodded and said, "I'll listen to Aqi. I'll go back and rest now."
If Aqi knew that he had frequent mood swings because the mutant squirrel knew her before her... Thinking of this, the color of the pink mist gradually deepened.
Jiu Cang looked away embarrassedly and hurried back to the cave.
But he still had some doubts in his heart.
Why did I feel depressed when I found out that Aqi knew the mutant squirrel first, and that he was always attracted by the mutant squirrel and didn't look at me; and when I mistakenly thought that Aqi chose to visit the mutant squirrel's house and forgot what I said?
Is this the possessiveness that I’ve heard other spirits talk about?
Jiu Cang felt that it was somewhat different, because when Aqi contracted other strange plants and beasts, he did not have this feeling.
After confirming through the cave that there was no problem with the core of Jiu Cang's origin, Gu Qi finally felt relieved and turned to look at the mutant creatures that were tied up by the mutant squirrel with a formation.
Among them, mutant beasts account for the majority. After all, there are not many mutant plants that can move. Comparatively speaking, they are not fast, and they don’t like to "watch the fun" as much as mutant beasts.
"Squeak!" Qiqi hit the guy first because he always wanted to break into my house.
It was a mutant snake, coiled around a tree. Its body was thicker than the tree. Its eyes were cold as it looked at the human and the mutant squirrel that suddenly appeared in front of it. It hissed with its tongue, as if evaluating something.
The battle is about to begin.
The mutant snake, vaguely sensing a threat from Gu Qi, swung out several ice blades and headed towards... the mutant squirrel.
"Squeak!" You're a stinking snake that bullies the weak and fears the strong! Shameless!
"Squeak!" Humph! I'm not someone you can easily bully, you stinky snake, just wait!
The mutant little squirrel jumped to avoid the ice blade, then it... turned its head to look at Gu Qi.
"Squeak!" Qiqi, help! It bullies me again QAQ
Before it asked for help, Gu Qi had already rushed forward with a dagger in hand, leaving only a fleeting afterimage.
This fourth-level mutant snake had no markings on its body, and it was obvious that its potential was not high. In addition, it looked a bit scary. Gu Qi had no intention of taking it into the cave. She quickly dealt with the mutant snake with a bloody mouth that was trying to swallow her.
An ice-blue crystal core was obtained.
Next, Gu Qi collected dozens of fourth-level crystal cores, including the common fire, earth, and water types, as well as the rarer ice, wind, and space types.
There is even a level five mutant plant and a level five mutant beast, but compared to their high levels, their potential is so low that it is unsightly.
On the contrary, several level 2 and 3 mutant beasts that were almost eaten by nearby mutant creatures had higher potential and carried the mark of Jiu Cang on their bodies.
Gu Qi, whose cultivation level has been raised to the Golden Core stage and whose supernatural powers have reached level six, was extremely fast and successfully rescued them before they were eaten. The contract process was also smooth.
If these contracted mutant creatures were somewhat resistant at first, feeling that they had just escaped from a wolf's mouth and entered a tiger's den, they changed their minds after entering the cave.
Those with high potential can feel the benefits of the cave more, and their intuition tells them that staying in this place is beneficial to them.
The last trace of resistance disappeared instantly after feeling Gu Qi's strength.
It is a world where the strong prey on the weak. Now that they have been captured by such powerful humans, not only are they not dead, but they can also live in such a good place. These mutant creatures quickly accepted the current situation, which saved Gu Qi and Jiu Cang a lot of effort.
After all, the contract can only ensure that the mutant creatures cannot do anything harmful to Gu Qi and the cave, but it cannot guarantee that they will actively do things. The difference between doing things obediently and doing things actively is quite large.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak!" Qiqi, come quickly, this guy who always steals my food almost ran away!
"Squeak!" Its stomach is so bloated, as if it just ate something!
Gu Qi looked in the direction pointed by the mutant little squirrel and found that it was exactly where Jiu Cang's last mark was.
The specific location of the mark was the bloated belly of the mutant beast whose original form could not be seen.
"Squeak!" This thing is getting stinky! I knew something bad would happen if I ate something carelessly!
The mutant little squirrel raised its paw to cover its nose in disgust, unwilling and afraid to approach the mutant beast.
It was a level six mutant beast, not very big in size. Its fur had almost rotted away, and there were many bulging tumors. Its eyes were extremely scarlet, and there was a small hole in its head, through which one could see the gray-black brain matter.
"yue!"
The mutant little squirrel covered its nose and climbed to a higher place, no longer looking at this guy who was becoming uglier and uglier.
Gu Qi's face also looked a little ugly.
It’s not because the level six mutant beast is difficult to deal with, but because this guy with tumors all over his body and rotting flesh is too ugly, the kind of ugly that is disgusting, and it emits a stench that is stronger than that of a zombie.
She decisively blocked her sense of smell, then covered her dagger with a layer of ice-blue water film before attacking the mutant beast that was staring at her with its scarlet eyes as if it were looking at food.
But rather than calling it a mutant beast, she would rather call it a zombie beast, a combination of a zombie and a mutant beast.
When the mutant beast eats the flesh and blood of zombies and cannot resist the zombie virus, it will become like this.
However, mutant beasts basically do not eat zombies, they only selectively eat crystal cores. Most of those that eat zombie flesh and blood will not be affected, or will die directly from brain damage caused by the zombie virus.
Therefore, in the apocalypse, both mutant beasts and zombies are common, but zombie beasts are extremely rare.
In contrast to their rarity is their strength.
It is very difficult to fight and very easy to be infected, and even those with special abilities are not immune.
A level five mutant may not be able to defeat a level four zombie beast, and there is a high possibility that he will be infected during the battle and then become food for the zombie beast.
“clang!”
The dagger and the zombie beast's claws collided with each other, making a sound of metal collision.
Gu Qi's sword was aimed at the zombie beast's head, while the zombie beast's claws were aimed at her heart, but neither of them succeeded, and both were blocked by the other.
His arm was slightly numb from the shock, Gu Qi frowned slightly, and decisively replaced his supernatural power with spiritual power.
The zombie beast waved its claws again, wanting to eat the heart of the human in front of it. Its intuition told it that this would be more delicious than anything it had eaten before.
With a "chi" sound, the dagger cut off the zombie beast's sharp claws, and smelly red and black blood flowed out from the broken end.
The zombie beast stood there in a daze, seemingly confused as to why this human could cut off its invincible claws. The next second, it let out an angry roar and opened its mouth to bite the human's tender neck.
However, it not only bit the air, but also sensed extreme danger.
It not only came from the human in front of it who suddenly became much more powerful than before, but also came from inside its body.
Although he didn't understand why the zombie beast suddenly stopped moving, Gu Qi still swung his sword to cut off its neck and picked out a gray-black crystal core from its fallen head.
Compared to other crystal-like cores, this one from the zombie beast is not very good-looking and exudes an ominous aura.
Unlike other crystal cores which only have the color of the corresponding element and no smell, this gray-black crystal core also emits a fishy, unpleasant and disgusting odor.
After getting the sixth-level crystal core, Gu Qi wanted to summon a ball of fire to burn it clean without even looking at it.
The crystal core of the zombie beast is not only different in appearance from others, it also contains a very powerful infectious virus. Not to mention absorbing the energy in it, just touching it can cause you to be infected and become a zombie.
In the previous life, a person with superpowers brought it back to the base because he didn't know this. Due to his high level of superpowers, he was not infected when he first touched it, but he later tried to absorb the energy in the crystal core and then instantly turned into a zombie.
In addition, the zombies transformed in this way are more infectious than ordinary zombies. For a time, those psychic teammates who wanted to control him were also infected and turned into zombies, and finally the entire base was destroyed.
That base became a zombie city, and later became a very famous dead city in the apocalypse. Other zombie cities had a glimmer of hope for survival, but people who entered this zombie city were either eaten or infected and turned into zombies, with no one surviving.
Gu Qi knew more because she had been tricked into going in there before. If a person with special abilities entered there, even if they were not injured and just stayed there, they would be infected, which was enough to show how dangerous it was.
Even she was almost eaten by the zombies in there.
That’s right, this type of zombie even eats its own kind.
If those zombies never strayed too far from the transformation site for some unknown reason, the remaining humans in the previous life would probably not have survived until the end of the apocalypse.
Just before Gu Qi used his magic to summon the Yin Fire, Jiu Cang suddenly said, "Aqi, wait a moment."
Although he was a little confused, because it was Jiu Cang who was speaking, Gu Qi stopped the magic and continued to use spiritual power to seal it.
Could it be possible that the cave could purify this crystal core?
As she looked at him with doubt, Jiucang came out of the cave, pointed at the crystal core and said, "Aqi, look at the middle of it."
"Huh?" Gu Qi looked at the center of the crystal core in surprise, "What is this?"
There is a very light green color in the middle of the gray-black crystal core, half the size of a sesame seed, which cannot be seen without careful observation.
After sensing the aura, Gu Qi could be sure that the green dot, half the size of a sesame seed, was definitely not originally part of the zombie beast's crystal core.
Suddenly she thought of something and looked down at the belly of the zombie beast.
The mark is gone.
The zombie beast's belly also became flat.
On the contrary, the small green dot in the crystal core vaguely has the aura of the Jiucang mark.
A guess came to Gu Qi's mind, and he asked in disbelief, "Could it be that the potential level seven mutant creature is inside?"
Jiu Cang nodded, then shook his head and explained: "It's not level seven, it's level nine."
Not only Aqi, he was also extremely surprised after discovering it.
He was not surprised that this potential level nine alien plant could survive in this crystal core filled with foul aura, but he was surprised that its potential was higher than he had previously perceived.
"Potential level nine..."
Gu Qi looked at the crystal core in his hand in some surprise. You know, the ninth level of potential that Jiu Cang mentioned is not the ninth level of superpowers in the apocalypse, but the level in the world of immortal cultivation.
Level nine, which means its upper limit is tribulation.
This is no longer an ordinary spiritual plant or beast. To be honest, a spiritual plant or beast with potential level nine can be called a divine plant or beast.
"Aqi can plant it in the second piece of pure land."
"I will isolate that piece of pure land. Before it sprouts, Aqidu is not allowed to enter that piece of pure land again, and is not allowed to plant anything else in it."
It seems that this thing is still polluting. Gu Qi nodded in understanding: "It just so happens that the cave has just been upgraded, so let's set up a few more formations around it."
After burning the corpses of the zombie beasts on the ground, Gu Qi handed the crystal core, or seed, to Jiu Cang.
When it was planted, Gu Qi's face showed surprise again.
The cave that had just been upgraded to level three was upgraded again!
It’s not just level four, but it’s jumping directly to level five!
Gu Qi couldn't help but mutter, "What the hell is this thing?"
No wonder I had never heard of zombie beasts in the Death Mountains in my previous life. I guess they were killed by this mutated plant that had grown from potential level seven to potential level nine.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
