Spiritual qi would not recover immediately.
That was something Gu Mian remembered clearly—so clearly that it felt etched into her bones. In her previous life, people often mixed up the order of things, insisting that abilities awakened first and chaos followed. But that wasn't true.
Chaos always came first.
The world cracked long before it empowered anyone.
Before the skies changed color, before zombies roamed the streets, before abilities were shouted about in fear and greed—there was only fever.
A simple word.
A terrifying reality.
Spiritual qi would only begin to recover months later, when humanity had already lost its footing. That was when people across the globe would fall ill simultaneously, their bodies burning from the inside out, hospitals overflowing, doctors helpless. That fever was the real starting gun of the apocalypse.
Because after it passed, the survivors were no longer the same.
And so, cultivation could wait.
For now, brute strength, discipline, mental resilience, and preparation mattered far more.
It was mid-April.
They still had four months.
Four months before the apocalypse arrived in full swing—before society collapsed completely, before morality dissolved, before the world became a place where kindness was rare and weakness fatal.
Gu Mian stood in the training hall, watching her people move.
They were no longer clumsy, uncertain, or hesitant. Their movements were sharp, coordinated, purposeful. Sweat soaked their clothes, muscles burned, but no one complained.
She felt something warm settle in her chest.
Trust.
After adjusting their training regimes—reducing reckless overexertion while increasing mental endurance drills—she finally made her decision.
"I'm going to sleep for a while," she said calmly.
The room went quiet.
Not startled.
Not confused.
Just quiet.
Qin Yao was the first to nod. "Understood, boss."
No one asked why. No one asked how long.
They had learned something over the months—when Gu Mian made a decision, it was always because she had already seen three steps ahead.
Her family reacted the same way.
Gu Yunchen only studied her face carefully, then nodded. "Do what you need to do."
Gu Ruisheng's gaze lingered on her slightly longer, thoughtful, but he said nothing.
She smiled faintly.
They trusted her.
And she would not betray that trust.
---
The Gu family still had money—an almost absurd amount of it—and they didn't intend to let it rot uselessly.
This time, they shifted their focus toward jade.
Not jadeite.
Just raw jade ore.
It was cheaper, easier to acquire in bulk, and—most importantly—guaranteed to contain jadeite veins. Mountains of it were ordered quietly, purchased from multiple sources, shipped in staggered batches to avoid attention.
Even so, people noticed.
The Gu Mansion had been silent for an entire month.
No servants.
No guests.
No leaks.
Then suddenly, it moved again.
Trucks rumbled up the mountain roads. Heavy machinery followed. Jade ore—huge quantities of it—was unloaded day after day.
Those watching from afar were baffled.
"They sold everything."
"They built a fortress."
"They cut off all contact."
"And now they're buying jade?"
Speculation ran wild.
Some said Gu Yunchen had gone mad.
Some said he was laundering money.
Others whispered about secret research projects.
People tried to investigate—but there was nothing to investigate.
No servants remained in the mansion.
No insiders could be bribed.
The Gu residence had become a sealed world.
Curiosity had no choice but to choke itself and retreat.
---
Gu Mian lay down in her room, the familiar space quiet and dim.
She closed her eyes.
Then, slowly, she extended her mental strength.
Three hundred crates of jadeite were pulled into the spring.
At once, the space trembled.
The spring could not contain it.
Jadeite piled up, forming a mound above the water's surface. Spiritual qi surged outward violently, like a living thing finally freed from restraint. The sky of the space darkened, clouds swirling unnaturally. The ground cracked, then healed.
Gu Mian barely had time to register the sensation.
Her consciousness slipped.
And she fell into deep sleep.
---
Tang Guo was also moving steadily toward his own fate.
Every day, he trained until his muscles screamed. He learned to push his body past limits he had once believed absolute. His space ability had broken through to level two—small, but significant. Space blades formed faster now, sharper, more stable.
His relationship with Xiao San had changed in quiet, dangerous ways.
From strangers.
To acquaintances.
To friends.
And then—something more.
It wasn't loud or dramatic.
It was shared meals after training. Silent understanding. Standing side by side without speaking.
Sometimes their hands brushed.
Sometimes their gazes lingered too long.
Three days ago, they had kissed.
Just once.
Tang Guo didn't dare push further.
Not yet.
Not before the apocalypse.
Xiao San's gang members had warmed to him as well. They liked that he never acted like a young master despite his wealth. They liked his discipline, his seriousness, his refusal to waste resources.
Tang Guo also prepared weapons.
Guns first—accuracy, recoil control, firing under pressure. Then blades—swords, sabers, daggers. He coated them with space energy, reinforcing their structure until they felt indestructible.
He even made plans.
When the apocalypse began, he would go to a museum.
Some weapons were better forged by history.
Months passed like this.
Quiet.
Heavy.
Suspended.
---
By the first week of August, hospitals began to overflow.
The symptom was always the same.
Fever.
High.
Relentless.
Unexplained.
Tang Guo didn't hesitate.
He urged Xiao San to stockpile at least a year's worth of necessities—food, water, medicine, fuel, batteries. Prices were already twitching upward.
Xiao San listened.
Three days later, deliveries filled his property.
Tang Guo stood among the stacks, his chest tight with a mixture of relief and fear.
The new world was coming.
---
Gu Mian woke in the third week of July.
The moment she opened her eyes, she knew.
One crate.
Just one crate of jade was enough to push her to level seven.
She laughed softly, almost giddy, and entered her space with her body, plunging into the spring like a child returning home.
"It's incredible…"
She surfaced glowing, power humming beneath her skin.
When she contacted her family, the news shocked even her.
Almost everyone had reached level two.
Gu Ruisheng and Gu Yunchen stood on the threshold of level three.
Light blades could now be formed instantly. They practiced compression—turning blades into needles, bows into arrows, controlling density and lethality with frightening precision.
Her team had advanced rapidly as well.
Each awakening felt less like coincidence and more like destiny clicking into place.
Wei Xuming—fire.
Qin Yao—water.
Bun San—lightning.
Luo Yuhua—plants.
Mu Xia—earth.
Qing Ruofu—wind.
Huo Xu—metal.
Bai Ying—ice.
Xu Qian—healing.
Hao Yun—darkness and corrosion.
Bu Tong—space.
Li Qiao—psychic.
Ming Baixu—space.
And that was just her team.
Back at the Gu Mansion, her siblings awakened like a storm breaking loose.
Abilities bloomed one after another, mutated, layered, terrifying.
Gu Shao—cold fire.
Gu Bai—time and telekinesis.
Gu Xing—order.
Gu Tian—metal creation from mental power.
Gu Ling—blood puppetry.
Gu Ming—dark wind and earth.
Gu Ping—ice corrosion.
Gu Ruan—poison plants.
Gu Qian—healing.
Gu Luo—lava.
Gu Tianming—earth and space.
Gu Tianxing—water and fire.
Gu Ruanxing—space and psychic.
Gu Xia—water corrosion.
Gu Yao—mutated metal.
Gu Qin—boiling water.
Gu Xu-An—poison fire.
Gu Chan—fire and lightning.
Gu Yan—healing and essence manipulation.
Gu Xiaoxin—poison water and wind.
Gu Tan'er—earth and psychic.
Gu Mian stared at the list for a long time.
"…What a lineup."
It was terrifying.
It was ridiculous.
And it was inevitable.
Of course the research institutes would come for them.
Of course the world would covet them.
But by then—
The Gu family would no longer be prey.
And the world would already be burning.
-