After seeing off the people from the base, Lu Heng looked at the three thousand Level 4 crystals that had appeared in his spatial storage, feeling a surge of excitement.
With the resources he now possessed, he no longer needed to kill zombies himself; people would deliver crystals to him. His spatial storage was also well-stocked with various foods and other supplies, allowing him to truly relax.
However, certain developments prevented him from truly taking it easy. In this world, no one could completely transcend all worldly concerns.
Standing on the city wall once more, he gazed at the scenery outside. The early winter sun, unimpeded by clouds, exposed the surroundings to Lu Heng’s sight with its dazzling light.
The area outside the city remained as vast and empty as ever. Fallen City was exceptionally well-located, with open plains stretching in all directions. The few low-rise buildings that existed before the apocalypse had been leveled by the previous administrators.
All that met his gaze were a few scattered zombies wandering around. The presence of living people in the city was too faint for the zombies to detect. Those that stumbled upon it would linger for a while before moving on, searching for other places with the scent of life.
Descending from the city tower, Lu Heng called out to Lin Yu, "Your body's functions have all been adjusted. I plan to help you rapidly increase your level so you can be safer in the apocalypse."
"Brother Lu, I've barely killed any zombies outside. My combat ability is still too weak," Lin Yu admitted honestly, worried about his lack of combat experience against zombies.
"You don't need to worry about that. As long as you are strong enough, unless you encounter a survivor of the same level ambushing you, those zombies are nothing to fear."
With that, Lu Heng brought out all the magic crystals from his spatial storage. Lin Yu was currently only at Level 2 of his abilities, and Lu Heng didn't have any Level 3 crystals. Therefore, the only way to rapidly increase his power now was through magic crystals.
Fortunately, the supply of magic crystals below Level 4 was sufficient to allow Lin Yu to upgrade his fire and wood attributes to Level 12 and his ice attribute to Level 11.
Having made his preparations, Lu Heng sorted out the magic crystals. "You should upgrade your fire attribute first. This is a magic crystal. You've consumed one before, but that only activated another designation."
"Mm, Brother Lu, can this magic crystal only enhance one attribute? It seems different from crystals."
"These are extracted from the bodies of creatures called magical beasts. Uh, like Blood Wolves. Blood Wolves are a type of magical beast, and their bodies contain different kinds of magic crystals. Each type of magic crystal, when consumed, can only increase the level of one attribute."
"Magical beasts? How are they different from mutant animals?"
"Have you ever seen an animal like a Blood Wolf in this world? Or have you seen one by looking through old records?"
"No. The wolves I saw on television before were mostly grey or various shades of earthy yellow. Even wolves living in northern regions only had white fur. When I first saw a Blood Wolf, I was very surprised and looked up some information. There are wolves with red fur abroad, but their fur doesn't resemble that of a Blood Wolf. There shouldn't be wolves with such pure red fur in this world."
"Mm, it seems you've been studying a lot these past few days. I brought these Blood Wolves back from another world. The animals there are different from those in our world. They collectively refer to those animals as magical beasts."
"Another world?" Lin Yu seemed to have thought of something. He looked up at Lu Heng with surprise, "Brother Lu, when you said you went out before, did you go to another world?"
"Mm."
In the apocalypse, Lu Heng's strength was already enough to dominate. Therefore, he decided to reveal some things to Lin Yu. Fortunately, the boy was quite adaptable and didn't like to pry into matters.
"Are there zombies in that other world?" After a moment of silence, Lin Yu murmured again. This world was originally beautiful. Before the apocalypse, Lin Yu had many plans for his future.
For example, after graduating from high school, he planned to study abroad. His family's financial situation was good, and they could afford to support his life overseas without any burden.
But the apocalypse descended so suddenly, completely shattering his dreams of a future life. That beautiful life had truly become just a dream.
"No. Besides magical beasts like Blood Wolves, people's lives there are somewhat similar to what we know of certain ancient dynasties."
"Oh, it's good that there are no zombies. I see you've also domesticated the Blood Wolves, Brother Lu. They aren't aggressive towards people after being domesticated."
"In that world, magical beasts generally do not provoke humans. However, every few years, there is a beast tide. I don't yet understand the specific reasons for this. And from the Blood Wolves, you can see that being bitten by them does not cause mutation. They simply kill humans, or kill them with their ability attributes. However, based on my initial understanding of magical beasts, they are mostly acting in self-defense."
"It's good that they don't mutate into zombie-like creatures. That world sounds truly wonderful," Lin Yu murmured. Then, his gaze turned resolute as he looked at the magic crystals Lu Heng had selected.
He picked up a crystal and quickly swallowed it. Immediately, a warm current flowed through his body, continuously cleansing his meridians and physique.
After absorbing the energy from one magic crystal, Lin Yu picked up another and swallowed it. In this manner, his ability level quickly broke through to Level 6, and the system also prompted that his enlightenment level had risen to Level 2.
"Alright, now continue to upgrade your wood and wind attributes. The Level 1 magic crystals I picked out can only help you reach Level 6 at most."
Lu Heng spoke up to stop Lin Yu, as consuming more Level 1 magic crystals would yield diminishing returns and be a waste of time. If he wasn't worried about Lin Yu’s body exploding from consuming high-level magic crystals, Lu Heng would have directly used them to upgrade him.
Lin Yu nodded. He could now feel a significant improvement in his five senses and physical strength. He couldn't hear the occasional sounds of mutant animals outside the building before, but now, he could sense the footsteps of zombies walking along the city wall simply by releasing his sensory probe.
Without any delay, Lin Yu once again swallowed the Level 1 magic crystals for his wood and wind attributes one by one.
As the prompts in his mind indicated his enlightenment had reached Level 2 for all attributes, Lin Yu stopped again.
"Brother Lu, all my ability attributes have reached Level 6," Lin Yu said with some delight. He then spread his palm, and three different energy bodies appeared in succession.
"Then continue. You can now consume Level 2 magic crystals."
"Okay."