Survival in an apartment, starting with a stroke of luck on a plane

Qingmingzi was busy at the alchemy furnace when he saw Lin Yu enter. Without looking up, he said, "Your internal injuries are quite severe. Your strange power is very domineering, but it puts too much strain on your meridians. Come here, let me take a look."

Lin Yu walked over and extended his wrist. Qing Mingzi's spirit placed his fingers on his pulse point, closing his eyes to feel for a while.

"There are three minor tears in your meridians, and a new crack in the dantian wall." Qing Mingzi opened his eyes. "These were caused by the energy outburst. You haven't fully mastered that power yet, have you?"

"Yes, the power is too violent; I can only guide it, not completely control it."

"That's normal. Unlike the power you unleashed before, this power is extremely violent."

"Your current level can't sustain this; it's already good enough that you can guide it." Qingmingzi took out a jade bottle from his sleeve.

"There are three Mind-Concentrating Pills here. Take one a day, and with the help of cultivating the Purple Qi, you can recover in three days."

The gentle power that Qingmingzi mentioned is the divine power of Zhenjun. Although he is not a benevolent person, his divine power is indeed much gentler than that of the Third Prince.

Lin Yu didn't know the specifics of what happened either.

"Thanks." Lin Yu accepted the jade bottle.

"Don't thank me," Qingmingzi waved his hand. "If you die, I'll have nowhere to go. Living well is better than anything else."

Lin Yu didn't say anything more and took the pills to the Xuandu Purple Mansion.

For the next three days, Lin Yu recuperated in his Purple Mansion.

With the Mind-Concentrating Pill combined with Purple Qi cultivation, internal injuries heal very quickly.

Three days later, the tears in his meridians and the cracks in his dantian wall had healed, and his source energy had returned to its peak state.

His cultivation level improved slightly after the battle.

After that, he spent his time on two things.

The first thing was to practice the second move of the Demon-Slaying True Technique, "Fixed Calamity." He had already verified the power of this sword; even the demigod-level black-armored leader couldn't dodge its causal locking effect.

However, the consumption is too great, with mental and source energy consumption being more than five times that of the first move, and the user is also exposed to causal lock when drawing the sword.

He practiced repeatedly in his Purple Mansion, trying to reduce energy expenditure. After two days of practice, his energy expenditure decreased by 10%, which was quite effective.

The second thing was to study the remains of the Black-Armored Men.

Aura's analysis is complete.

The black-armored beings have a fixed energy frequency band, and the ability to interfere with the system panel is achieved through this frequency band.

This interference can be countered by equipping oneself with a device that emits a reverse wavelength.

Aura has already designed the blueprints for this device, and the Queen is mass-producing it using biomass and alloys from the remains of the Black Armored Men.

Three days later, the first batch of 10,000 "anti-jammers" was completed and equipped on the Zerg's elite units.

Lin Yu wore one himself too.

It was a small silver ring worn on the wrist that could release a reverse wave to counteract the black-armored man's system interference.

"If I encounter the black-armored men again, at least my control panel won't be affected." Lin Yu looked at the ring on his wrist and muttered to himself.

Day 40.

The system's core energy level dropped to 12%.

There are twelve days left until the system completely shuts down.

Aura's early warning network sent back a new message.

[An alien life form detected a large spatial fluctuation approximately 80,000 kilometers northeast of the divine body.]

The characteristics of this fluctuation differ from the spatial leaps of world fragments; it's more like... some entity actively opening a spatial channel.

"Actively opening a spatial passage?" Lin Yu frowned. "What level?"

[An accurate assessment is impossible, but the diameter of the spatial passage exceeds ten kilometers. The being capable of opening a passage of this scale must be at least at the pinnacle of the legendary realm.]

Above the legendary peak.

Lin Yu stood up and walked to the observation platform. He opened his Heavenly Eye and looked towards the northeast.

Eighty thousand kilometers is too far; the Sky Eye can't see it. But he can sense that an extremely large amount of energy is gathering in that direction, as if something is about to emerge from the spatial passage.

"Queen Insect, raise the entire clan to Level One alert. Have the Netherworld Emperor and Sugar prepare."

[Understood. Master, should we notify the elves and Aura?]

"Notification. Have the elves prepare defenses. Aura, activate all mechanical guards."

【Yes. 】

Lin Yu stood on the observation platform, staring at the void in the northeast direction.

The spatial passage was still expanding, and the energy fluctuations were growing stronger. He could sense a familiar presence at the other end of the passage—

The dark aura that shares the same origin as the Void Serpent.

But it's weaker than the Void Serpent.

It is not the Void Serpent itself. It could be other Void creatures attracted by the Void Serpent's aura, or it could be one of the Void Serpent's own kind.

Whatever it is, they're up to no good.

Lin Yu gripped the Demon-Slaying Sword tightly.

Twelve days.

The system core will shut down in twelve days.

At this critical juncture, something else emerged from the depths of the void.

He took a deep breath and channeled his source energy to its maximum.

come on.

He accepted whatever came his way.

In the void, the spatial passage to the northeast is still expanding.

Lin Yu stood on the observation platform, his Heavenly Eye fixed on that direction. The energy fluctuations in the passage were growing stronger, and he could sense a massive will brewing at the other end of the passage, as if something was probing the environment here.

"Queen, have you analyzed the energy characteristics within the passage?"

[Analysis in progress... Analysis complete. The energy in the channel contains 63% Void Origin Energy, 21% Unknown Dark Energy, and 16% System Dissipation Energy.]

Based on comprehensive assessment, the entity at the other end of the passage shares a common origin with the Void Serpent, but they are not the same entity.

homology.

Lin Yu's brows furrowed even more.

The Void Serpent's natal orb was injured by him, and it will not return for at least a month.

But if its own kind is attracted, that's a different story.

Lin Yu stood on the observation platform, staring at the expanding spatial passage in the northeast direction, his mind racing.

The channel diameter has exceeded 15 kilometers, and the energy fluctuations are twice as strong as they were ten minutes ago.

But there was no sign of the being at the other end of the passage emerging; it seemed to be testing the waters, or perhaps waiting for something.

"Queen, is the expansion rate of the tunnels increasing or decreasing?"

Monitoring data over the past 30 minutes shows that the channel expansion rate is decreasing, from an initial 200 meters per minute to 50 meters per minute.

Following this trend, the channel will stop expanding at around twenty kilometers in diameter.

Stop expanding but don't open.

Lin Yu pondered for a moment.

This suggests that the entity at the other end of the passage is also hesitating, or rather, it is waiting for the right opportunity.

"Maintain level one combat readiness for the entire clan, but not everyone needs to be on high alert," Lin Yu said. "Legendary units should take turns resting, and turrets just need to be kept charged. As long as the passageways aren't open, leave them alone."

【clear.】

Lin Yu turned and walked down from the observation platform.

He's not in good shape right now. The battle with the Black Armor Leader took a heavy toll. Although his internal injuries have healed, his mental energy hasn't fully recovered.

There's no need to stubbornly keep an eye on a passage that hasn't been opened yet.

He went to the insect hive first.

The main nest is located in the very center of the heart chamber. It is a huge structure made of fungal carpet and chitin, with a diameter of more than three kilometers.

The Queen resides in the deepest part of the main hive, commanding the entire swarm through the Zerg's mental network.

When Lin Yu entered the main hive, the queen was deploying a batch of newly hatched combat units.

Inside the main hive's hatchery, countless cocoons pulsate, each containing a developing Zerg unit.

"My Lord," the Queen's voice echoed in his mind, "you have arrived."

"Have the casualty statistics been released yet?"

[The results are in: 1.2 million combat units have been killed, including 400,000 worker bees and 800,000 combat units.]

Legendary units suffered three severe wounds, twelve minor wounds, and none died.

One million two hundred thousand.

Compared to the total of eight billion, this number is not large. But Lin Yu knew that these were all hatched little by little by the Queen of Insects over several months, and each one consumed a large amount of biomass and energy.

"How long will it take to replenish?"

With sufficient biomass reserves, the hatchery can make up for the losses in a day if it operates at full capacity.

However, legendary units take longer to recover; the heavily wounded Triton will require at least a month.

"A month is too long," Lin Yu thought for a moment. "Does Aura have any technology that can accelerate the Zerg's recovery?"

Aura provides a bioenergy acceleration technology that can increase hatching speed by 40%.

However, this technology requires additional crystals of the system's core energy, and we currently have limited reserves.

Crystallization of the system's fundamental energy.

It's that stuff extracted from the remains of the black-armored men. With the remains of 470,000 black-armored men, the amount of crystals extracted should be considerable.

"How's the extraction of the black-armored man's remains going?"

[Currently 60% complete, with an estimated three more days needed. Upon completion of all extractions, it is expected to yield approximately 12,000 units of the system's primordial energy crystals.]

Twelve thousand units.

Lin Yu didn't really grasp the concept of this number, but the Queen of Insects said it would be enough for the Zerg to use for a long time.

"Take out a portion first and use Aura's technology to accelerate incubation. The restoration of legendary units should also be prioritized."

【clear.】

Lin Yu walked around the main hive, checking the hatchery and gene bank. The Queen had recently been adjusting the Zerg's genetic sequence based on Aura's technology, attempting to make combat units more energy-efficient.

Good progress. The new generation of armored velociraptors is already being tested. Its energy consumption is 15 percent lower than the old model, while its combat power has increased by 10 percent.

"How well are you digesting these technologies?" Lin Yu asked.

[Aura has already absorbed 40% of its non-military technologies, primarily applying them to energy conversion, automated manufacturing, and gene editing. Military technologies are currently unavailable due to access restrictions.]

"We'll talk about military technology later," Lin Yu said. "Let's focus on making the best use of what we have first."

He stayed in the main nest for about half an hour, and then left.

After leaving the main nest, Lin Yu encountered the Netherworld Emperor.

She was leaning against a pillar formed by a fungal carpet, toying with a ball of dark golden death energy in her hand, her soul fire slowly swirling in her eye sockets. Seeing Lin Yu emerge, she raised her hand.

"Are you done with your work?"

"Hmm." Lin Yu walked over. "What are you doing here?"

"The Queen Insect said there's no movement in the passage for the time being," the Netherworld Emperor shrugged. "Just taking a stroll."

Her body was much more solid than before, and there were more fine patterns on the dark gold bone armor, which was a change after absorbing a large amount of death energy and divine body essence.

The giant scythe in her hand leaned against a pillar, and there were still some black marks on the blade—the blood of the black-armored man.

"Are you healed?" Lin Yu glanced at her side, where the black-armored leader's energy had grazed her, leaving a crack in her bone armor.

"Almost there." The King of the Underworld stretched his back. "Death energy repairs quickly, but the loss of our core essence needs to be replenished slowly."

She paused, then asked, "What do you think of that passage in the northeast?"

"We're still observing. As long as the passage isn't opened, nobody knows what's inside," Lin Yu said. "What do you think?"

"I don't think it's the Void Serpent," said the Netherworld Emperor. "The Void Serpent, when it's coming, it just charges straight at you; it doesn't dawdle and open a passage for ages. This one here seems more like... hesitating."

"hesitate?"

"Yes. They're hesitant about coming in." The Netherworld Emperor's soul fire flickered. "They were probably attracted by the energy fluctuations from the previous battle, but they're unsure if there's any danger here, so they're opening a passage to scout ahead."

Lin Yu thought about it and felt that this analysis made sense.

The battle with the Black Armor Leader was earth-shattering; it wasn't uncommon for demigod-level energy fluctuations to travel tens of thousands of kilometers through the void. It's normal for something to be attracted to it.

"If it's just coming to scout ahead, a fight might not break out," Lin Yu said.

"It's best if we don't fight," the Netherworld Emperor said, pursing his lips. "I just finished fighting 470,000 iron shells; I don't want another one right away."

She crushed the ball of death energy in her hand and clapped her hands.

"Oh, by the way, Tangtang was looking for you earlier, saying she had something to show you."

"What is that?"

"I don't know, it's all so mysterious." The Emperor of the Underworld chuckled. "You'll find out when you go and see for yourself in the garden of the small world."

Lin Yu nodded, bid farewell to the Netherworld Emperor, and headed towards the small world.

The small world was connected to a corner of the heart's ventricle, with a dark golden spatial portal at its entrance. Lin Yu passed through the portal and entered the small world.

The little world is already quite impressive.

A blue planet tens of thousands of kilometers in diameter, seven-tenths ocean and three-tenths continent. The continent has mountains, plains, rivers, forests, as well as vast areas of fungal carpet and valleys of elixirs opened up by the Zerg.

The air was fresh, carrying the scent of grass and earth. It was completely different from the warm but stuffy biomass aura inside the divine body.

Lin Yu walked towards the garden along a path formed by fungal carpets.

The garden is Sugar's territory, located in the southeast corner of the small world continent, near a lake.

The queen insect used fungal carpets and bioluminescent plants to create an open space for her, where she planted many things.

From afar, Lin Yu spotted Tangtang.

She squatted in the garden, with Jinling perched on her shoulder. The two of them were looking at something on the ground.

"Big brother!" Tangtang stood up and waved when she saw him.

Lin Yu walked over and glanced at where she was squatting.

There was a row of tiny buds on the ground, just emerging from the soil, their leaves a pale golden color, shimmering slightly in the sunlight.

"What is this?"

"The sunflower seeds have sprouted!" Tangtang exclaimed excitedly. "The ones I planted before were given to me by Auntie the Queen Insect, but these are seeds I collected myself! Look, they've already grown!"

Lin Yu squatted down to take a look. A dozen or so tender shoots were arranged neatly, each one looking very vigorous, and the pale golden light on their leaves was even brighter than the previous ones.

"He's good-looking," Lin Yu said.

"Right, right!" Tangtang's eyes crinkled with laughter. "The Queen Insect said the genes of these flowers are stable now, so we can keep planting them. We'll have lots and lots of sunflowers in the future!"

Lin Yu patted her head without saying anything.

Tangtang then took him for another walk around the garden. She had planted quite a few things, including sunflowers, some glowing plants collected from forest fragments, several common herbs transplanted from the Valley of Spirit Medicine, and even a small sapling—cultivated by the Queen of Insects using the genes of the World Tree. It grew very slowly, but its leaves were emerald green and looked beautiful in the sunlight.

"What's the name of this tree?" Lin Yu asked.

"I haven't decided yet." Tangtang tilted her head and thought for a moment, "How about calling it Little Green?"

"Whatever."

Tangtang chuckled twice, then suddenly seemed to remember something, took a small object out of her pocket and handed it to Lin Yu.

"Big brother, this is for you."

Lin Yu took it and saw that it was a dried flower. It was a dried sunflower, with its petals pressed flat and tied with a thin string, emitting a faint golden light.

Lin Yu looked at the dried flowers in his hand and remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he put the dried flowers into his storage space.

Thanks.

"You're welcome!" Tangtang smiled happily.

Lin Yu stayed in the garden for a while longer, watching Tangtang water the flowers and Jinling chase butterflies among the flowers—those butterflies were bred by the Queen Insect, they were not aggressive, and their wings had luminous patterns, making them very beautiful to fly around in the garden.

Then he went to the Valley of Spirit Medicine.

The Valley of Spirit Medicine is located in the center of the Small World Continent, a valley surrounded by mountains.

The valley is filled with all kinds of medicinal herbs, from the most common century-old ginseng to the legendary Nine-Turn Rejuvenating Grass, you name it.

Qingmingzi was in the alchemy room deep inside the Spirit Medicine Valley.

The alchemy room was a small house built of jade. A wooden sign hung at the door with the four characters "Qingming Alchemy Room" written by Tangtang in a crooked hand.

Lin Yu pushed open the door and went in, and a strong medicinal fragrance wafted towards him.

Qingmingzi was squatting in front of the alchemy furnace, holding a palm-leaf fan in his hand, fanning the fire at a leisurely pace.

His soul was much more solid than before. He was wearing a blue Taoist robe, and his gray hair was tied up in a bun. He looked like an ordinary old alchemist.

"You've arrived?" Qingmingzi said without looking up. "Sit."

Lin Yu sat down on a chair nearby and looked at the flames in the alchemy furnace.

"What are you refining?"

"A batch of Rejuvenation Pills, for the Zerg's legendary units," Qingmingzi said. "Their core strength has been significantly depleted; relying solely on their own recovery is too slow."

"How's the result?"

"One pill can restore about 10% of your original essence; you can eat a maximum of three a day. Combined with your Purple Qi cultivation, the recovery speed can be doubled." Qing Mingzi fanned the fire. "How are your own internal injuries?"

"Alright. The Mind-Concentrating Pill is working well."

"That's good." Qingmingzi nodded, then stopped fanning himself and turned to look at Lin Yu.

Lin Yu stood up. "Thanks."

"What are you thanking me for?" Qingmingzi picked up the palm-leaf fan again and continued fanning the fire in the alchemy furnace. "With you alive, I can refine pills. If you die, my remnant soul will have nowhere to go."

Lin Yu didn't say anything more, turned around and walked out of the alchemy room.

After leaving the Valley of Spirit Medicine, Lin Yu wandered aimlessly in the small world for a while.

The system issue weighed heavily on his mind, but he didn't panic—panic wouldn't solve the problem.

All he needs to do is do everything he can and then see the results.

He went to the Xuandu Purple Mansion first.

The Purple Mansion is located in the northern part of the small world continent, a mountain shrouded in misty purple energy. He took the statue of the True Lord from his storage space and placed it in the hall at the highest point of the Purple Mansion.

Lin Yu entered the hall and sat down on the prayer mat in front of the statue of the True Lord.

The statue remained unchanged; the face of the True Lord Qingyuan Miaodao was majestic yet serene, with his third eye on his forehead slightly closed. A faint golden light flowed across the surface of the statue, the True Lord's divine power circulating on its own.

Lin Yu closed his eyes and began to cultivate.

Purple energy surged in from all directions, flowing through his meridians and nourishing his body and source energy.

After breaking through to the mid-level of the Legendary Realm, his source power became much stronger than before, but he still had a long way to go before reaching the high-level of the Legendary Realm.

He cultivated while pondering Qingmingzi's words.

Elevate privileges.

Become stronger.

Both of these things require time and resources.

In terms of access, he is currently at the third level, while Mr. Fang is at the seventh level and knows many things that he does not.

However, there are many suspicious points about Mr. Fang now, and he cannot be completely trusted.

In terms of becoming stronger, his cultivation speed is already very fast—with the multiple blessings of divine body origin energy, purple qi, and source power, he is several times faster than ordinary players.

However, the transition from mid-tier to high-tier Legendary is a major hurdle that cannot be overcome simply by accumulating resources.

He needs an opportunity.

Just as his previous battle with the Black Armor Leader allowed him to break through to the mid-level of Legendary, he needs a sufficiently intense battle or a sufficiently profound epiphany to break through the barrier of the high-level Legendary.

But there is no fighting now.

The spatial passage to the northeast is still slowly opening, and the things inside are taking their time to emerge.

Lin Yu wasn't in a hurry.

If there's no battle, focus on training; every little bit helps.

He cultivated in his Purple Mansion for about four hours, circulating his source energy through dozens of major cycles, and his physical condition recovered to its best.

Then he left the Purple Mansion and went to the surface of the divine body.

The spatial passage to the northeast is still there. Its diameter has expanded to eighteen kilometers, and according to the queen's prediction, it will stop expanding in a few hours.

The energy fluctuations in the passage were much stronger than before, but there was still no sign of anything coming out.

Lin Yu stood on the observation platform and used his "Sky Eye" to observe for a while.

The Heavenly Eye's vision pierced through the passage, vaguely revealing the scene at the other end—a void, much like the void where the Void Serpent resided. Something was writhing in the darkness, but it was too far away to see clearly.

"Queen, is there any movement in the tunnel?"

No. The entity at the other end of the channel still shows no signs of movement. However, its energy fluctuations are slowly increasing, possibly indicating the accumulation of power.

"Gathering strength in preparation for entering?"

[Uncertain. They might be preparing to leave.]

Lin Yu thought for a moment and said, "Continue monitoring. Notify me immediately of any changes to the channel."

【clear.】