Have you ever heard of the spiritual energy tide?

Rong Xianxian used her eyes to signal Shang Yuge to continue.

Shang Yuge felt a wave of frustration in his heart. What was that look supposed to mean? Shouldn't she be eagerly pressing him for details with an urgent tone?

"Zhang Xiaoxiao's biological brother led a small team of thirty to forty people, following the military to scout the outside world, but they never returned. The plan at the time was just to check out the nearby Binyang—a mere hundred miles away. Half a month has already passed; even if their vehicles broke down, they could have walked back by now." After finishing, Shang Yuge glanced at Rong Xianxian again.

Rong Xianxian grew a bit impatient. "Is that all..."

"Actually, someone from that team has already returned." Shang Yuge's lowered voice carried an eerie undertone.

Rong Xianxian shivered involuntarily.

What was going on?

"I happened to run into the messenger, but he was heavily injured and died right after delivering the news." Shang Yuge smiled slightly, though it was unclear what he was thinking.

Rong Xianxian felt he might actually have some mental issues.

Someone died, and what are you smiling about?

Could it be that you killed him? Rong Xianxian felt a trace of suspicion.

"The reason the military hasn't sent any news back is because they failed to find their destination and instead suffered heavy casualties. The external environment has undergone tremendous changes: mountains have shifted, roads are broken, and rivers have changed course. There are strange flowers and exotic herbs, towering giant trees, icy pools, and colossal beasts. Sensing something was wrong, Zhang Jiangliu even discovered a vast patch of glossy ganoderma on his return journey. Zhang Jiangliu was severely injured and sent someone back to ask for reinforcements. I have the map he drew." Upon hearing Shang Yuge's words, Rong Xianxian felt a massive wave crash in her heart.

In her past life, Rong Xianxian had followed the safe route explored by the military. Although the geography had changed, it wasn't nearly as exaggerated as Shang Yuge described.

If what Shang Yuge said was true, then beneath that dangerous environment lay tremendous opportunities.

With her strength still relatively formidable in this life, should she really continue to cower conservatively inside the city just for the sake of safety?

"Aren't you afraid I'll spill the beans by telling me all this?" Rong Xianxian felt a complex mix of emotions; this ought to be Shang Yuge's secret.

Judging by Zhang Xiaoxiao's worried tone earlier, Zhang Jiangliu's plea for help had been covertly suppressed by Shang Yuge and never reported.

The map had also fallen into his hands.

"Do you really think you want to tell Zhang Xiaoxiao? Believe it or not, she'd probably think you were just trying to sow discord," Shang Yuge said with a carefree attitude.

"Communication is cut off, monsters have descended from the skies, and various treasures can be 'dropped' by defeating monsters—not to mention the changes outside the city that we haven't witnessed yet. Have you never wondered why this is happening?" Shang Yuge asked coaxing in a guiding tone.

"Why? Do you know?" Rong Xianxian muttered inwardly. In her past life, she had lived for nearly a year without ever hearing the authorities give a clear explanation. There were all sorts of guesses: some talked about dimensional theories, claiming it connected to a different space; others argued for alien conspiracy theories, suggesting that humans were being farmed, and that both monsters and humans who cultivated successfully would eventually be harvested.

"Have you ever heard of spiritual energy tides?" Shang Yuge's words left Rong Xianxian deep in thought. She had indeed heard of this concept in her past life.

At the time, it was predicted that a massive explosion of spiritual energy would occur one year after the apocalypse. Unfortunately, Rong Xianxian was burned to death before she could reach that point. Thinking about it now, despite being reborn, she didn't really hold any significant advantages. Having lingered at the bottom of society in her past life, struggling for basic warmth and survival, her understanding of the world's changes was extremely limited.

The current concentration of spiritual energy was much lower than at the very beginning of the upheaval between heaven and earth, and Rong Xianxian also knew that in the days to come, spiritual energy would only grow scarcer.

"You know I studied geological survey. A professor in our department was an enthusiast of ancient world research. He once told us that the Earth we live on today is merely the skeleton, or rather the cast-off husk, of the ancient Earth." Shang Yuge stopped there and watched for Rong Xianxian's reaction.

"Skeleton, cast-off husk..." Rong Xianxian was stunned by these two terms.

"Now that spiritual energy is reviving, the ancient Earth is about to come back to life as well," Shang Yuge said, his voice trembling slightly with a concealed fanaticism.

"The gods in ancient mythology had the ability to soar through the skies, burrow through the earth, move mountains, and drain seas. The vastness of the Four Seas, the immensity of the Eight Desolations, and the sheer size of the exotic beasts recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas—could they all just be baseless guesses by the ancients?" There was an unsuppressible excitement in Shang Yuge's voice.

"Xianxian, don't listen to that ignorant nonsense about doomsdays or disasters. This is the arrival of a grand era, a new era, a new world. If we seize the opportunities at the dawn of this grand era, perhaps soaring through the skies and attaining eternal life will no longer be mere fairy tales in the future. I know you are already a cultivator, and the petty squabbles right now aren't even worth mentioning. Are you willing to join hands with me to contend for this grand era?" Unusual light flickered in Shang Yuge's eyes.

"Have you forgotten? The one who should be joining hands with you is Zhang Xiaoxiao; you two are husband and wife. Oh, right, you withheld vital information and let her brother fall into desperate peril. Is this what you call sleeping in the same bed with different dreams?" Rong Xianxian felt a certain schadenfreude.

"If she hadn't schemed against me back then, we wouldn't have ended up where we are today. Earlier, when I wanted to divorce her, Zhang Jiangliu even used my family to threaten me." Shang Yuge's expression remained unchanged, but his tone turned icy cold.

"Don't dwell on the past. Whatever problems exist between you and your wife are your business, and they have nothing to do with me. I'm not going to meddle in other people's affairs. Do you really think a few words like this are enough to make me spare Zhang Xiaoxiao?" Rong Xianxian wore an expression that said, *you're dreaming*.

"Isn't this news important? Do you have any idea how many lives were sacrificed to obtain it? If it weren't for you, do you think I'd bother telling anyone else? Do you know that sometimes seizing even a sliver of initiative allows you to stay one step ahead of others? You're a traditional Chinese medicine doctor—you should know the efficacy of glossy ganoderma, and you should also know the value of strange flowers and exotic herbs. Compared to these, what are the things in a supermarket worth?" Rong Xianxian found herself unable to refute him.

"Fine then! I can give up this supermarket, but the things we've already gathered cannot be left behind." Rong Xianxian turned around, preparing to leave.

"Xianxian, leave me an address. I have one last thing to take care of, and once it's done, I'll come find you." Beneath Shang Yuge's calm expression, his voice carried a faint tremor of excitement.

Rong Xianxian desperately wanted to roll her eyes at him. Could he not understand human speech? Wasn't her refusal obvious enough?

"Trust me, I'll protect you both, treat your child as my own, and we'll never be separated again." Ah, after all these years apart, Shang Yuge had truly learned how to put on a performance.

Rong Xianxian felt a deep sense of disgust, recalling her past life when Zhang Xiaoxiao, having learned of Shang Yuge's relentless pursuit, had acted magnanimously and approached her, willing to call her a sister right in front of Shang Yuge and support each other.

At the time, the feeling had been as repulsive as swallowing a dead fly.

Even though Rong Xianxian had never had any intention of going back to him back then, she had still been thoroughly sickened.

Wondering if beating him up right now would help clear his head?