15. Luring Monsters

Day Six of the Apocalypse: The fierce winds gradually subsided, the torrential rain eased, and the sky seemed freshly washed.

Rong Xianxian glanced outside; the storm was waning, promising a fine day ahead.

Her cultivation was based on a supreme foundational technique called the True Spirit Sutra.

Last night, Wang Lin had slain a wolf monster and obtained a skill manual titled the Spirit Invocation Art, a common-level foundational skill manual.

Comparing the two, she realized that her True Spirit Sutra opened over six hundred acupoints and vital passages within the body through spirit infusion, whereas the Spirit Invocation Art only activated four hundred and seven.

While cultivating the Spirit Invocation Art would grant swifter advancement, the True Spirit Sutra clearly held greater potential; it formed the very foundation that directly influenced future combat strength.

The stage of spirit infusion involved drawing spiritual energy into the body to fortify the flesh. The more acupoints and passages cleared, the more spiritual energy the body could store, expanding and strengthening the muscles, veins, bones, and skin.

The Spirit Invocation Art had three tiers: the second was the Pulse Rushing stage, and the third, the Qi Bridge stage. In her previous life, she only reached the spirit infusion stage, having only glanced over the latter two. She had assumed that new skills would be similar to her prior cultivation and that she could simply adapt the later stages; now, it seemed she would need to seek out the True Spirit Sutra from her past life.

It appeared that supreme foundational techniques were rare and not easily acquired.

After completing her routine two hours of cultivation, she saw dawn breaking and took from the fridge the rich broth she had prepared days before. She washed some baby bok choy and cooked a large pot of noodles, deciding to add more than a dozen eggs. She then served the portions for herself and her son.

In the guest room, the patient Jiang Jie rested, attended by Wang Lin.

Last night, Wang Lin reported that among the new arrivals, only one named Ren Cheng was openly dissatisfied with the proposal to team up for monster hunting. He even tried to sow discord, claiming they shouldn’t be led by a woman. This angered Wang Lin so much that he nearly came to blows with him and wanted to expel him on the spot. After some mediation, the situation finally calmed.

This was far better than she had expected. Although the apocalypse had just begun and societal order still held some sway, and hearts had not yet broken down completely, disputes over food and displays of force were still common even in peaceful times.

She informed Wang Lin to handle distributing the food.

After breakfast, Rong Xianxian began dissecting the wolf monster’s corpse with her son. The wolf’s pelt was valuable; until it was fully removed, she didn’t want Wang Lin and the others handling it. The pelt’s defense was average and could be cut through with a sharp pair of shears.

She intended to craft the pelt into a mat.

It would provide moisture resistance and warmth, ideal for travel and especially useful in the cold winter.

After peeling off the pelt, she opened the chest cavity to inspect the heart but found no inner core. She then handed the miscellaneous storage room over to Wang Lin, Xia Kai, and Cui Lie.

Regarding Cui Lie, the man who had been forcibly dismembered, Rong Xianxian inexplicably found him more agreeable.

The wolf meat was unpalatable, so she did not intend to eat it; instead, she planned to use it as bait. The bones would serve for traps and weapons since they were hard and sturdy. She briefly explained the requirements and uses to them.

Let them handle it as they wished; dissecting alone would take her all morning—no reason not to employ extra hands.

She recalled Liao Yong’s eager look as he said, “Sister Rong, I share a dorm with the boss. I’m definitely on your side. You can’t just abandon me!”

She couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time, unaware there was even tension within their dorm. She decided to use him as a mole to stir division and unite all possible forces; anyone useful would not be left out. With some reluctance, Liao Yong returned to the next room.

Entrusting the tasks to Wang Lin, Rong Xianxian resumed teaching her son the Lightness Skill, while also studying an introductory talisman-making manual.

With her current spiritual energy reserves, she could only craft a few simple talismans.

This was beyond expectation; in her past life, talisman masters were scarce—not only because talisman manuals were rare but also because the art itself was complex and difficult to grasp, requiring exceptional aptitude and innate constitution.

Could it be that she herself possessed such outstanding aptitude and constitution?

If so, her previous life had truly wasted such a gift.

Little Luo watched his mother smile to herself, waving his small hands before her eyes.

“Mom, I finished running. What’s next?” The boy spoke calmly, neither flushed nor breathless.

Rong Xianxian looked at the large sandbag tied below his knees and immediately felt concerned.

Her son was too young; she had initially refrained from letting him do weighted training, fearing it might stunt his bone growth.

But there was no better training method. Most gym equipment in the training room had been used by his father and were designed for adults, unsuitable for children.

Right, Cui Lie had practiced traditional martial arts; she should consult him.

Having made up her mind, she planned to seek Cui Lie’s advice later.

In her pocket, she found a small bell—the item wrapped within yesterday’s small glowing orb. She hadn’t expected such good fortune. A pack of wolves might only drop one or two rare items, given the individual wolf’s relatively low combat power.

This small bell was a rare item, requiring mental energy to activate, a soul-attack weapon. She named it the Soul-Calming Bell.

Had she possessed this bell earlier, mental attacks on the wolf monsters would not have been so arduous.

Although the bell was merely a conduit, mental energy channeled through a medium was vastly more effective than dispersing into the air to influence enemies through magnetic fields.

Seeing the clear weather and sufficient manpower, she planned to start work in the afternoon—hunting monsters and gathering treasures.

She wrapped the marinated lamb chops, pork chunks, and chicken legs in foil and placed them in the oven, setting the timer. She looked forward to rewarding everyone upon their victorious return.

Approaching the storage room, she checked on their progress.

“Sister Rong, look at these wolf monsters’ bones—so thick and sturdy!” Xia Kai held up a large thigh bone. Wang Lin and Cui Lie looked pale; they seemed unaccustomed to the task.

Unexpectedly, Xia Kai appeared quite enthusiastic—yes, a promising medical student.

The storage room resembled a crime scene, blood and flesh strewn about in chaotic disorder.

She directed them to sort and store everything properly, clean up, and then discuss the team lineup for the afternoon.

Jiang Jie needed time to recover; Xia Kai and Liao Yong’s skills were average, so they would train a few more days. Ren Tian and Wang Qirui were skilled but not well known to the group, and weapons were limited.

The final decision was to keep the neighboring group uninformed. Rong Xianxian, Cui Lie, and Wang Lin would form a trio to lure and slay monsters, with Xia Kai providing support.

Rong Xianxian wielded a whip and curved blade, while Cui Lie and Wang Lin each carried a wolf-tooth club. They also took a bag of wolf meat, deliberately doused with blood to entice the beasts. The three stood back to back in a triangular formation, ready for the monsters to take the bait.

A sharp birdcall pierced the air, and a golden-winged bird monster appeared in sight. As Rong Xianxian swung her curved blade to engage, a loud, harsh caw sounded—a black bird, resembling a raven magnified dozens of times, also emerged.

Rong Xianxian shouted, “Move!” Only to find two monsters had appeared at once.

She chastised herself for impatience. After the downpour ceased, starving monsters were roaming in search of blood. She realized the early stages were chaotic, with no clear territories established.

She had foolishly formed a small team to lure monsters out. Thankfully, they were on her own rooftop; had this been unfamiliar territory, they would have been nothing more than easy prey.