Apocalypse: Why did you provoke her? She's a cultivator.

Chapter 148 Heading to the State Capital Base
It took a full eight hours for the lightning tribulation to gradually subside.

As the last bolt of tribulation lightning dissipated into the sky, Ye Qiumian's nascent soul in her dantian fully opened its eyes, its gaze mirroring her own—calm yet sharp.

She slowly inhaled and exhaled, feeling the surging spiritual energy within her body.

Nascent Soul stage achieved!

But when she looked down into the depths of the cave, she paused slightly.

The spiritual veins that were originally visible to the naked eye and shrouded in white mist have now thinned by more than half, as if half of them had been forcibly removed.

The rich spiritual energy dimmed almost visibly.

Just then, a soft rustling sound came from behind.

Ye Qiumian turned around and was facing an unknown, mysterious tree.

Its branches and leaves have become more lush, with a faint golden sheen on the edges of the leaves, and its roots gently wriggle in the cracks of the rock wall.

Before she could react, a thick root suddenly lashed out like a whip, precisely wrapping around her waist.

It wasn't very strong, but it carried an irresistible force.

"Hello?" Ye Qiumian was stunned for a moment, and before she could ask, the root suddenly flicked.

Ye Qiumian felt dizzy and disoriented. The next second, she was thrown out of the cave and landed with a "plop" on the grass below the cliff.

When she looked up again, the vines at the cave entrance moved automatically without any wind, slowly closing up.

They hid the tree and the half-damaged spiritual vein back into the darkness, and the cave entrance was completely sealed off.

Ye Qiumian touched her back, which was sore from the fall, and looked at the tightly closed cave entrance, feeling both amused and exasperated.

Is this tree throwing a tantrum because she used half of her spiritual vein?

She stood up, brushed the grass clippings off her body, and felt the spiritual energy of the Nascent Soul stage within her body. Although it had stabilized, it still needed some time to fully settle.

She was just thrown out, which saved her the trouble of being reluctant to leave.

Summoning her flying artifact, Ye Qiumian stepped onto it and ascended into the air, leaving the cliff behind.

If you calculate the time, it has been a year and a half since the outbreak of the apocalypse.

Looking down from the air, the scenery was completely different from what she had seen before she went into seclusion.

The small town, which was once sparsely populated, is now mostly in ruins.

A faint stench of decay permeated the air, and occasionally a few high-level zombies could be seen wandering among the ruins.

They are more ferocious in appearance and faster than before.

She flew over several towns of survivors from her memories, some deserted except for dried bloodstains, others completely overwhelmed by hordes of corpses, their roars audible from afar.

The small town was almost completely destroyed.

A sense of melancholy swept through Ye Qiumian's heart. With a slight twitch of her fingertips, a fireball accurately struck a zombie that was trying to jump up and attack her, burning it to ashes.

She thought of Chu Qingyang and the others, of Xiao Bin's family, and of the relocation of Xin'an City—they said they were going to the state capital base.

Now, only the official base remains as the last bastion for the survivors.

With a thought, the flying artifact changed direction and flew towards the location of the state capital base.

The closer they got to the city, the more noise they saw on the ground.

Occasionally, you can see teams of superhumans in uniform clearing out zombies along the way.

There were also makeshift sentry posts by the roadside, where people were observing the sky with binoculars. When they saw her flying artifact, surprise flashed in their eyes, but they did not attack rashly.

Obviously, the closer an area is to the state capital base, the more heavily fortified it will be.

Ye Qiumian piloted her flying magical artifact, leaving a faint streak of light across the sky. The scene below gradually transitioned from desolate ruins to an area showing signs of human activity.

Security bases, large and small, are scattered across the land like isolated islands.

These bases are mostly surrounded by high walls, some with weapons mounted on top, and the figures of patrolling people can be vaguely seen, forming a stark contrast with the desolate towns in the distance.

She tried to release her divine sense, and after breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, the range of her divine sense had expanded considerably compared to before.

At this moment, the view within a five-kilometer radius is clearly visible.

Busy crowds inside the base, and scattered zombies wandering in the woods outside the walls.

It can even detect the energy fluctuations that escape during the training of superhumans within the base.

Even so, despite scanning base after base with his divine sense, he still couldn't reach the boundary of the state capital base.

It seems the rumors were true; the scale of the state capital base far exceeds that of ordinary bases, and it is still quite a distance from these small and medium-sized bases.

During the flight, she keenly sensed several subtle probe waves sweeping past her.

Following the source with his divine sense, he discovered that on the tops of several slightly larger bases below, there were uniquely designed radar devices that were silently scanning the air and the ground.

These high-tech detection methods were clearly developed by humans in the post-apocalyptic world to guard against zombies and unknown threats.

Ye Qiu Mian didn't want to attract attention as soon as she arrived in this area, so after thinking for a moment, she quietly put away her flying artifact when she approached a cluster of bases ahead.

The moment she landed, she took out an off-road vehicle from her spatial storage bag.

She had collected these in Pinglian County, and now she could finally use them.

Start the off-road vehicle and drive slowly along a dirt road worn into the ground by the wheels.

As I walked through this cluster of bases, I encountered many people who seemed to be in a hurry.

Most of them were survivors carrying supplies or base guards wearing uniforms.

She stopped at a checkpoint and asked a guard who was registering people coming and going, "Excuse me, which direction should I go to get to the state capital base?"

The guard looked up at her and saw that she had a cool and aloof demeanor and was dressed in clean clothes. He felt inexplicably afraid to be negligent.

He pointed northeast: "Just drive straight along this road, pass three checkpoints, and then drive for about a hundred kilometers. The road signs over there are very clear, just follow the signs."

He paused, then added, "The state capital base is the largest base in this area. You just came from somewhere else, right? Remember to register at the East Gate 1. The checks are very strict."

"Thank you." Ye Qiumian nodded in thanks, started the car, and drove in the direction he pointed.

As the guards had predicted, the road signs along the way clearly pointed to the state capital base.

The occasional checkpoints only involved a simple identity check, without much further questioning.

The road conditions gradually improved, and there were more vehicles and pedestrians on the road, most of them heading in the same direction, obviously all heading to the state capital base.

After driving for nearly two more hours, a huge dark shadow finally appeared on the horizon ahead.

As the distance closed, the dark shape gradually became clearer; it turned out to be a continuous wall of high walls.

The wall, made of some unknown material, gleamed with a cold, hard, silvery-white luster and stretched almost to the horizon.

The luster shimmered faintly in the sunlight, its magnificent presence awe-inspiring.

This is the state capital base.

Ye Qiumian followed the flow of traffic, slowly approaching the enormous city.

Finally, the SUV stopped in front of an entrance marked "East Gate 1".

There was a long queue at the entrance, with people walking and driving, all undergoing strict checks by guards.