Thirty-fourth Stage of the Thoroughfare Vessel Realm

Rong Xianxian slept soundly through the night. Before dawn the next day, she packed up her tent, stowed it in her SUV, and shoved Er Leng—who had been stuffed into the same large hemp sack she used for scrap the day before—into the trunk.

It was still early. As the sentries opened the main gate, a black SUV drove out.

"So early? Huh, only one car. Probably just patrolling nearby," one of the sentries muttered to himself.

After driving about a hundred meters or so, figuring it was no longer safe to proceed further, Rong Xianxian let Er Leng out of the trunk.

"What are you doing?" Er Leng looked at his surroundings. Realizing they were outside the safe zone, he shrank back in fear, assuming she intended to silence him.

With the alcohol having worn off overnight, Er Leng wasn't actually stupid. He remembered exactly what he had done the day before. Sneaking into a stranger's home in the dead of night to ask if they needed a man? How had his brain short-circuited like that? He had been completely manipulated by Yang Chao.

"Ma’am, I was wrong! I was drunk, I blacked out, I fell for someone else's trap. I was brain-dead for a moment, I absolutely didn't mean to offend you, please, I beg you, don't kill me!" Er Leng’s mind was surprisingly sharp at this moment. Seeing that Rong Xianxian had a child with her, he assumed she must be soft-hearted and wept as he pleaded without hesitation.

Rong Xianxian felt the urge to find some water to rinse her eyes. Watching a burly, grimy man sobbing with snot and tears streaming down his face was an unbearable sight. She felt a headache coming on. She waved her hand to stop him, but he ignored her. "Stop!" she finally shouted, desperate to get some peace and quiet.

"Get out of here! I never intended to kill you," Rong Xianxian said impatiently, pointing toward the safe zone. She had initially felt a bit guilty about taking his belongings and had intended to offer some compensation, but his wailing had instantly ruined her mood.

Er Leng stopped his howling instantly, wiped his eyes, and carefully observed Rong Xianxian’s expression. He scrambled to his feet, took a few tentative steps, and then bolted. He sprinted away with the speed of a lightning bolt, disappearing into the distance in an instant.

Rong Xianxian watched until Er Leng had safely made it back into the safe zone, then drove back toward her residential complex. Having acquired the cultivation technique she had learned in her past life, she was in a pleasant mood.

On the highway, there was no one to clear the fallen branches, debris, and trash. The potholes caused by battles between monsters and humans remained unrepaired, making road conditions much worse than before. Fortunately, Rong Xianxian was driving an SUV, which handled the terrain with ease. Furthermore, without traffic lights, unpredictable pedestrians, or chaotic electric bikes and tricycles, the drive was much more relaxing.

"Hum." With her mind clear and focused, the barrier she had been suppressing for so long suddenly gave way like a dam bursting. She had broken through.

Rong Xianxian quickly pulled the car to the side of the road. After obtaining the *True Spirit Scripture*, she had already studied the cultivation techniques required for post-breakthrough stages.

She began to circulate her inner energy, feeling every joint, muscle, blood vessel, and bone marrow in her body as spiritual energy was drawn out and surged toward her Dantian. Simultaneously, every part of her body was automatically absorbing spiritual energy from the surrounding atmosphere, like a siphon, in a continuous stream.

If the spiritual energy flowing toward her Dantian was like a trickling stream, then the energy being absorbed from the atmosphere was like a raging storm. Her joints, muscle fibers, blood vessels, and bone marrow were stretched, torn, and widened. The pain was excruciating.

Rong Xianxian frowned and quickly took two beast cores from her sachet: a large one from the Giant Lizard Monster and a smaller one from a large bird. She swallowed the small one in one gulp and held the large one in her mouth, waiting for it to slowly shrink. Fortunately, she couldn't see herself; she imagined her stretched-out jaw must look quite ridiculous.

As the beast cores dissolved into her body, they transformed into streams of pure essence. As this essence flowed into her Dantian along with the spiritual energy, her chaotic Dantian was continuously expanded. The speed at which the spiritual energy converged increased, while the essence continuously repaired her hidden injuries, mended torn muscle fibers, and soothed her aching joints, bones, and blood vessels.

Her cheeks ached from holding the large core, but it finally shrank enough for her to bite it into pieces and swallow it. With a constant supply of pure essence and smooth, abundant internal energy, a clear Dantian was rapidly carved out. In the very center, a bright flame illuminated the entire space.

The breakthrough was a success. She didn't know what others' Dantians looked like, but Rong Xianxian was very satisfied with her own. The area around her Dantian felt warm, and her entire body felt as light as a feather.

*Bang!* The car shook violently. "Awoo—" A low growl came from outside. A monster the size of a calf, covered in armor, was ramming the car with the single horn on its head, seemingly trying to flip it over.

With her current equipment and skills, this lone, small monster was an easy target. She wanted to test the increase in her combat power after the breakthrough.

"Mom, I want to fight the monster too!" little Luo shouted excitedly, his dark eyes sparkling.

Rong Xianxian looked at the monster outside. Heavy armor, short legs—it was a defensive-type monster, not an agile one. Little Luo and Xuanxuan were both wearing protective leather armor, and the road offered a wide field of vision with no room for ambushes. It should be fine.

She agreed.

The three of them stepped out of the car to face the monster. Rong Xianxian took charge of guarding and monitoring the surroundings for any movement. Little Luo swung a large axe wildly, while Xuanxuan had a small black bird perched on her shoulder, chirping as if cheering them on, maneuvering the Phoenix Umbrella with ease.

Little Luo had only practiced martial arts with Cui Lie for a few months and had not yet begun cultivating the *True Spirit Scripture*, so he couldn't refine spiritual weapons. Therefore, the fiery red Flame Bow was kept in Rong Xianxian's sachet. However, when they were at home, Little Luo often practiced with the Flame Bow using arrows fashioned from simple wooden sticks.

In close combat, while Little Luo's axe was sharp, the monster's defense was even higher, and every strike only made it more ferocious. By comparison, Xuanxuan's Phoenix Umbrella was far more formidable. In its attack mode, the umbrella transformed into a spear over three meters long; every thrust of the tip drew blood.

Seeing that the two children had been attacking for a long time without success, and that the monster was bleeding more and more, the scent of blood growing stronger, Rong Xianxian worried that it would attract more troublesome monsters. Besides, the children were still young and lacked stamina; their breathing was already becoming ragged.

Rong Xianxian took the narrow-bladed curved knife from her sachet, activated her light-body technique, and reached the monster. She activated the Soul-Suppressing Bell—if a problem could be solved in one strike, she wouldn't use two. With a sharp *clink*, she drove the blade into where she estimated the monster's heart to be. Stunned by the bell, the monster couldn't dodge. As the blade pierced its body, she pressed a button on the handle that caused the tip to rotate. *Bang!* The monster’s eyes widened, and it collapsed heavily to the ground as a ball of light detached from its body.

She was lucky. It had been over a month since the apocalypse began; whether or not a monster dropped loot was entirely up to chance.

Rong Xianxian grabbed the item from the light orb. Without time to examine it closely, she quickly called the children back to the car. Her surveillance had already picked up the sound of heavy footsteps rushing toward them; the scent of blood had clearly attracted a larger monster.

If they didn't run now, when would they?