Physical Training & Leaving the Valley

Because of Ye Hangzhi’s inexplicably gentle attitude, Huo Ze left without hesitation. He carried a bundle of firewood, a blade, and a hatchet. Jin Wu happily followed behind, and the two moved faster and faster, their figures appearing somewhat hurried.

Ye Hangzhi raised an eyebrow slightly and unhurriedly returned to his room to brew tea. He only hoped Huo Ze knew how to pace himself. After all, rolling down the mountain into the creek was much easier than climbing back up. These two mountains had not been officially developed, so the old path back would certainly be very long.

Regarding leaving a weak child alone on a rugged mountain path to face unpredictable dangers outside... Ye Hangzhi didn't have the slightest psychological burden. He had merely attached a strand of Divine Sense to a piece of Huo Ze’s hair.

Huo Ze’s figure gradually disappeared into the mountain forest. His speed was neither fast nor slow, each step steady, with no trace of haste left. He let Jin Wu lead the way to scout, remaining silent throughout the journey, his entire being becoming calm and aloof. Aside from occasionally wiping away sweat, Huo Ze performed almost no extra movements. He skillfully used his blade to clear branches blocking the path, drank water every half hour, and silently traversed half a day's worth of mountain trails.

Ye Hangzhi watched him from afar while drinking tea, suddenly feeling like he was watching a wilderness survival livestream... It was just a pity the host was a bit quiet. How many faces did this lad have? Ye Hangzhi found it interesting and simply brought the pot of braised meat into his room to eat while watching.

In truth, Ye Hangzhi didn't want to just sit around and waste his cultivation. But ever since he reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment, his speed of absorbing spiritual energy had slowed down significantly over the past two days. The Spirit Gathering Array was still operating normally, and a phantom of a Golden Core had already condensed in his Dantian. He only needed to accumulate enough spiritual power to break through, and it was best to be fully prepared.

The problem was, this accumulation speed was too slow, as if the entrance to his Dantian was restricted by some knot. He even had a clear feeling in his heart: simply burying his head in cultivation would not lead to success. This made Ye Hangzhi feel very surprised. Because in the Cultivation World, Ye Hangzhi was an anomaly who had never faced a bottleneck.

When he was young, he had once spoken arrogantly: "What is so hard about cultivation? Just sit down and absorb spiritual energy." Afterward, Ye Hangzhi was chased and cursed for two hundred years... It wasn't until he quickly broke through to the realm of a mighty expert that other cultivators shut their mouths and didn't dare curse him anymore. He fundamentally didn't understand the suffering of other cultivators, let alone why everyone had to travel the world, explore secret realms, kill one another, and frantically search for karmic opportunities.

It wasn't until this moment that Ye Hangzhi discovered things didn't seem quite so simple. It turned out bottlenecks really existed! This clear feeling of being obstructed felt very novel to Ye Hangzhi, and it made this world seem more real in his eyes. Encountering difficulties and obstacles in cultivation proved that he might truly belong here.

If he couldn't temporarily form his Golden Core, Ye Hangzhi wasn't in a hurry. He decided to first engage in a series of entertainment activities. For example, hugging the chubby Yu Long a few more times, idling around, and eating and drinking while watching the "livestream." Huo Ze’s year-round snow-cold expression was quite worth appreciating.

By now, it was evening, and the red sunset dyed the thin clouds. Huo Ze sat in the off-road vehicle, not even glancing at the corpses of the poachers scattered on the ground. His goal was very clear: first, fill the car with gasoline, then go to the supermarket to sweep the shelves. From beginning to end, Huo Ze didn't waste a single moment. He was very familiar with the roads on the outskirts of City A, as if he had been here countless times.

The outskirts of the city were sparsely populated, and transportation was underdeveloped; even a small clinic was rare. Since large hospitals were likely to be swarming with zombies, Huo Ze didn't go there this time. He turned into a small pharmacy and took all the bottles and jars he could find, loading them into the car. Along the way, he met almost no living people. Even if he did, when they saw Huo Ze’s clearly modified off-road vehicle, they wisely stayed away.

Encountering stray zombies on the road, Huo Ze either accelerated to avoid them or ran them over directly. If they didn't die, Huo Ze would grab his blade and hatchet and step out of the car, not even turning off the engine. His movements were extremely precise, either decapitating them with the blade or aiming the hatchet straight at the zombie's nape. Low-level zombies moved stiffly and couldn't even touch a corner of Huo Ze’s clothes.

Huo Ze knew how to use his ability well; he would drive with one hand while using the other to press against his cutting tools, the thin flame constantly burning, making the blades of the hatchet and knife almost red-hot. One strike was all it took. Meanwhile, Jin Wu was only responsible for "woofing" in encouragement, not lifting a paw.

After stocking up on a round of supplies, Huo Ze drove back immediately through the night, as if he didn't need sleep. He didn't go straight back to the Hidden Valley but casually ate a few bites of dry rations. Then, he drove the other car along the safe route he had cleared earlier, quickly collecting zombie crystal cores.

On the outskirts of City A, there were many zombies that had been beaten or run over to death, occasionally mixed with human corpses. Flies swarmed the bodies, frantically laying eggs to reproduce, and the stench was overwhelming. The scene was horrific, but Huo Ze remained expressionless.

He wore the rubber gloves he found in the small pharmacy and, carrying his hatchet, precisely and coldly searched for crystal cores among the piles of corpses. Currently, the use of these cores had not yet been discovered, and no one had the mind to split open zombie heads for research. Thus, Huo Ze harvested a great deal, filling an entire backpack.

The hatchet used to split skulls was completely covered in the blackish-green brain fluid of zombies, thick and sticky. Jin Wu circled the filthy hatchet, curious to give it a lick, but was fiercely swatted away by Huo Ze.

Finally, Huo Ze only drove one relatively clean car back to the Hidden Valley. The other car contained supplies that weren't immediately needed, such as quilts, gasoline, remaining toiletries, and several crates of stored mineral water.

Ye Hangzhi watched with great interest; this lad was indeed very capable. Therefore, he proactively walked out of the courtyard house to greet Huo Ze: "You're back?"

It was now late afternoon the following day. Having stayed up all night, Huo Ze’s face was somewhat pale. The murderous aura on him hadn't fully dissipated, but his expression gradually relaxed with each breath.

"I'm back." Huo Ze looked at Ye Hangzhi and gave a faint smile.

"Good," Ye Hangzhi nodded, then suddenly changed his tone, "I finished all the braised meat you made. I almost starved to death."

Huo Ze: ...

Huo Ze simply ignored Ye Hangzhi. With a cold face, he turned to open the car doors and trunk, and right in front of him, began taking things out and sorting them.