Survival in the Apocalypse: Max Level Drop Rate with Abundant Resources

Shen Xi slid off the wall, kneeling on one knee, with the Pangu Axe stuck in the ground, barely managing to stay upright.

Mouthfuls of blood gushed from the corners of his mouth, dripping onto the shattered stone slabs, a horrifying sight.

But Shen Xi ignored her own injuries.

He stared intently ahead, at the epicenter of the explosion.

Gu Changsheng was still standing there.

The gaunt figure stood rooted to the spot, frozen in his punching stance. His fists remained outstretched, the poisonous mist on them completely dissipated, revealing his mangled, bloody hands. The bones of all ten fingers were shattered, the flesh torn and peeling, white bone fragments piercing the skin, and drops of blood trickling down his fingertips.

He had a penetrating wound in his chest.

A long, diagonal gash stretched from his right shoulder to his left waist. The skin and flesh were torn open, the ribs were broken, and through the wound, one could even see the writhing internal organs.

He also had injuries on his face.

His left cheek was charred by lightning, the skin carbonized to reveal the crimson muscle beneath. His right eye was struck by flying debris, the eyeball shattered, and black blood flowed down its socket.

But he was still standing.

Shen Xi's pupils suddenly contracted.

"It's over..."

He murmured, his voice hoarse, his mind reeling.

That old guy is too strong.

He had already used all his strength. The third all-out attack, imbued with lightning and fire and infused with bloodlust, coupled with the suppression from the Kyoto backlash, still failed to kill the old man on the spot.

Judging from his appearance, he was only seriously injured.

If Gu Changsheng still has the ability to fight back...

Shen Xi gritted his teeth, trying to stand up. But his legs gave way, and he knelt down again. The side effects of the Bloodlust Berserk had begun to manifest, and a wave of weakness washed over him. The backlash of -30% to all attributes left his body feeling completely drained.

He could barely stand, let alone fight again.

"Could it be...?"

Shen Xi's heart sank.

Just then...

"Uh...ah..."

A hoarse, intermittent groan came from ahead.

Shen Xi suddenly raised her head.

Gu Changsheng was still standing in the same spot, but the crimson light in his cloudy eyes was fading at a visible speed.

His body began to tremble.

It was like a convulsion out of control. The blood vessels under the skin throbbed wildly, the muscles twitched, and the bones creaked and cracked.

Then, his skin began to crack.

The cracks started from the inside, like the shattering of porcelain. The cracks began from the piercing wound on his chest and spread wildly outwards, crawling over his shoulders, his neck, his cheeks, and his entire body.

Within each crack, purple arcs of electricity leaped and golden-red flames burned.

That was Shen Xi's power of thunder and fire.

It did not dissipate in the explosion, but instead invaded Gu Changsheng's body, destroying the old monster's body from the inside.

"No...it's impossible..."

Gu Changsheng's voice was hoarse and broken, each word sounding like he was using up his last bit of strength.

"I...I've lived for over two hundred...two hundred years...how...how could I possibly die at the hands of...a mere...young brat..."

He lowered his head with difficulty, looking at his cracked hands, at the purple arcs of electricity and golden-red flames surging from the cracks.

Those cloudy eyes were filled with resentment.

"You...you will...avenge me..."

The moment the words left his mouth, Gu Changsheng's body exploded completely.

His body crumbled like a sand sculpture. Starting from his feet, his body turned into countless tiny black particles that drifted in the air. Then came his waist, chest, shoulders, and head, collapsing layer by layer, turning into dust.

The black particles drifted in the air, were blown away by the night wind, and disappeared into the darkness.

Gu Changsheng is completely dead.

[Killed 1 level 13 human unit, +17 experience points!]

The system notification sound arrived late.

But Shen Xi had no interest in looking at it.

He leaned on the Pangu Axe, kneeling on one knee amidst the ruins, panting heavily. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, his ribs throbbed with excruciating pain, and blood continued to seep from the wound on his hand. The weakness from his bloodthirsty frenzy made him feel as if he had been hollowed out, lacking even the strength to lift his hand.

But he forced himself to stand up.

because……

The system reward did not appear.

The Dominator System's mission, "Exterminate the Gu Family," has been completed. Gu Tianxin has been killed, Gu Changsheng has been killed, and most of the core members of the Gu family have been eliminated. Logically, the mission should be finished, and the rewards should have been distributed.

But there was nothing there.

There was no notification of task completion, no notification of reward distribution, and no other messages.

Shen Xi frowned.

He remembered.

Gu Changsheng possesses a legendary passive skill: Undying Witch Soul.

[Undying Witch Soul (Legendary, Passive): The soul resides within a "Life Tablet" crafted using arcane techniques. Upon physical death, if the Life Tablet remains intact, the soul can be resurrected within 7 days through a special ritual. As long as the Life Tablet remains unbroken, the witch soul endures.]

Shen Xi's face darkened.

If Gu Changsheng had transferred his soul to the life tablet beforehand, then what he just killed was just an empty shell.

Seven days later, this old thing will come back to life.

"This is troublesome."

Shen Xi gritted his teeth and used the Pangu Axe to stand up. The weakness made him sway, but he forced himself to stand firm.

You must find the life card.

As long as the life tablet is destroyed, Gu Changsheng will not be truly dead. He will return in seven days, and killing him then will not be so easy.

Shen Xi took a deep breath, suppressing her physical exhaustion, and activated her Eye of Truth.

Golden light swirled in his pupils as his gaze pierced through the ruins, the rubble, and the walls, beginning to search the fourth floor inch by inch.

There was nothing in the center of the hall.

The east wall is missing.

There is no passage on the west side.

There are no stone steps on the south side.

Shen Xi gritted his teeth and expanded the range of his Eye of Truth to its limit. His mental energy was being rapidly depleted, and his already weak body was teetering on the brink of collapse, but he dared not stop.

Time passed by, second by second.

One minute.

Two minutes.

three minutes.

Four minutes.

The side effects of his bloodlust and berserk state finally began to subside. The backlash of -30% to all attributes receded like a tide, replaced by a renewed sense of power. Although his injuries were still there, at least he could stand steadily.

Shen Xi felt the power returning to her body and continued her search.

Five minutes later, his gaze suddenly sharpened.

Deep within the fourth level, near the mountain wall, lies a space he hadn't noticed before. It wasn't an ordinary secret chamber, but a more hidden place concealed by the secret magic of the witch clan.

The special effects of the Eye of Truth pierced through the disguise, and Shen Xi saw what was inside...

A huge altar.

The altar was circular, at least fifty meters in diameter, and carved from a single piece of black stone. Its surface was covered with densely packed runes, identical to the characters on the bamboo slips he had seen on the third level—the ancient script of the Wu tribe.

In the center of the altar stood a tall stone pillar, its shaft also covered with runes. At the top of the pillar floated a ball of dark light, which swirled slowly like a vortex.

Deeper inside the altar, there was a small hut.

The door to the hut was tightly shut, and a faint black mist seeped through the crack. This mist was different from the poisonous fog; it was much denser and more eerie, carrying a chilling, decaying stench.

Shen Xi frowned.

"Could the fate tablet be there?"

He wasn't sure, but since it was the only place on the fourth floor that hadn't been searched yet, he had to go and take a look.

Shen Xi, supporting himself with the Pangu Axe, walked step by step in that direction.

After walking for about ten minutes, he finally arrived at the small house.

The door wasn't locked; only a thin layer of black mist swirled between the cracks. Shen Xi reached out and pushed the door open. The moment her fingertips touched the black mist, a bone-chilling cold spread from her arm throughout her body.

It's not cold, it's decay.

The feeling was like touching something that had been dormant for millions of years and was long dead.

Shen Xi took a deep breath and pushed the door open forcefully.

The moment the door opened, a strong, nauseating stench hit us.

The smell was like rotting corpses mixed with moldy herbs, or like aged blood fermenting for centuries in a damp basement. A multitude of suffocating odors intertwined, so intense that even Shen Xi, who had lived through ten years of the apocalypse, couldn't help but gag.

"This old man... hasn't cleaned this house in over two hundred years, has he?"

Shen Xi covered her nose and stepped into the small house.

The scene inside the house was even more bizarre than he had imagined.

Against the wall, there were several rows of wooden shelves filled with various bottles and jars. Some contained dark brown liquids, some held unidentified organs, and some were empty, covered in dust.

In the corner, there was a pile of old bamboo slips, some of which had fallen apart, with bamboo pieces scattered all over the ground.

In the very center of the room, there is a stone platform.

On the stone platform, there was a box.

The box wasn't large, only about the size of a palm, and it was entirely black with no decorations on the surface. But Shen Xi recognized at a glance that the box was made of Phoebe zhennan wood.

Before the apocalypse, Phoebe zhennan wood was an extremely precious timber, with even a small piece being priceless. This palm-sized box is carved entirely from a single piece of Phoebe zhennan wood, without any trace of splicing.

If a box can be made of this material, the contents inside must be extraordinary.

Shen Xi walked to the stone platform and reached out to pick up the box.

It was heavy in his hand, much heavier than he had expected. It felt substantial, as if it contained some kind of metal object.

He was about to open it...

His gaze suddenly sharpened.

Deeper inside the cabin, in the darkness, something was moving.

It was neither a shadow moved by the wind nor the churning of black mist, but more like the rhythmic wriggling of some living thing.

Shen Xi's pupils contracted slightly.

He turned his head and looked into the darkness.

The golden light of the Eye of Truth flowed within his pupils, and his gaze pierced through the darkness, revealing...

A rotting corpse.

No, not one, but two.

One big and one small.

The larger one was bound to an iron post with heavy chains, its body covered in dark gray bone armor, its scarlet eyes gleaming eerily in the darkness. A low growl escaped its throat, and the chains rattled as it struggled frantically.

The smaller one was curled up in the iron cage, emaciated and motionless. Its skin was an eerie bluish-white, almost transparent, revealing the veins beneath. Its eyes were tightly closed, and its breathing was weak, like a lifeless shell.

The bars of the iron cage were covered with densely packed runes, which glowed faintly, firmly trapping the thin, decaying corpse inside.