At the end of the ’Pit Kill’, Gong Lixin saw no more evolved zombies. Only slow-moving primary zombies remained, and they didn’t pose a threat to the others. He turned and waved at the five armoured vehicles, signalling that they could collect the fuel.

  The door opened and the members of the other groups held their breaths as they moved far away from the deep pit. They rushed to the fuel depot as if a beast chased them.

  The five newcomers who joined in and followed their footsteps looked on in vain. They saw the ten people standing beside the pit with bored and lazy expressions. In the newcomers’ eyes, they now respected the ten people greatly. Although the team’s methods were mean- okay, it was ferocious! But these ferocious methods that had been used to deal with the zombies were too stimulating!

  The five people came back to Earth and respectfully greeted Gong Lixin before fleeing the scene.

  "Li Dongsheng, help them collect fuel. Others are free to move about and find whatever you’re interested in." Gong Lixin waved his hand, dismissing his team. With this shocking ’Pit Kill’, the evolved zombies nearby were not willing to approach so easily.

  "Okay." After the nine people agreed, they dispersed.

  Luo Dahai ran a few steps before turning back. He quickly said, "Boss, don’t forget to collect some Scutellaria seeds."

  "I know." Gong Lixin nodded. After Luo Dahai walked away, he turned his palm. Within his five-fingers, a white flame made of ice and fire formed, which was then shot towards the bottom of the pit.

  The black liquid was first sucked into his palm, which then turned into ice before shattering into a black mist. The black mist dispersed, leaving only small sand-like blue seeds. After the seeds fell into Gong Lixin’s hands, he dismissed the white flame.

  The seeds were then placed into his pocket before he sat beside the pit to recover his internal force. In one year, Song Haoran and Lin Wenbo had all entered the second-level high-grade. They would soon break through to the third-level. His team members were also in the second-level mid-grade. Only he and his four abilities still hadn’t broken through to the third-level and had stagnated at the peak of second-level.

  However, he was not in a hurry. In his previous life, he had been practicing since he was three years old. He had also taken countless remedies for improvement. At sixteen, he had only cultivated to the fourth-level. In this life, only after two years of cultivation and he had already reached the peak of second-level, which had exceeded his expectations. Therefore, as long as he was determined to cultivate, he would eventually breakthrough.

  After circulating his internal force through his body for 36 cycles, Gong Lixin opened his eyes and looked up at the sky. Four helicopters dispatched by the military had arrived and were hovering over the fuel depot. They transported a few tons of fuel brought up by power ability users in batches.

  As this was all happening, distant evolved zombies began moving towards them. However, after smelling the scents in the wind, they quickly re-thought their actions. Therefore, the following tasks were carried out safely.

  When the team members of the four groups had completed their tasks, their deep gratitude towards the last group suddenly became hatred. They saw Gong Lixin slowly stand up, and a white snow-like fire lotus blossomed in his hand before it was sent fluttering into the pit.

  The white flame, with its extreme heat and extreme low temperature, engulfed the creeping vines and bubbling pus. The black smoke diffused, and the pungent smell was much more intense than before.It was so intense that it drove any nearby zombies further away.

  Moments later, there was nothing left in the pit except for nuclei. The vast majority of them were first-level transparent crystal nuclei, but mixed within the pile were a few second-level nuclei. Tens of thousands of crystal nuclei flashed as the glare of the sun shone upon them, blinding everyone present. However, they could only suppress the greed in their hearts. They were forced to stand by and watch. No one dared to snatch the nuclei because this was something that belonged to Young Master Gong.

  "Li Dongsheng, come and pick up the crystal nuclei." Gong Lixin had long been accustomed to the crowd’s covetous expressions. He simply rose from where he sat and ordered Li Dongsheng.

  "Okay." Li Dongsheng waved his hand and took all the nuclei into his space. He turned to face the crowd smiling, and said, "For the mission this time, the nuclei awarded by the military is provided by our team and we will keep part of the nuclei for our team. After the mission is finished and we have reported to headquarters, the nuclei will be handed over to headquarters and they distribute accordingly based on the work done."

  Gong Lixin was still very young in terms of age and wasn’t great at communicating with others. His character was calm and steady, so Li Dongsheng, who was a smart person, became the team’s spokesperson in order to facilitate interactions with each team.

  His words instantly caused everybody’s eyes to widen. Everyone thanked Gong Lixin before boarding the armoured vehicle, ready to return. When the odor finally dissipated, the area would once again be occupied by zombies.

  Seeing the smoke in the air, the other members of the team immediately ran towards the armoured vehicle. Wang Tao and Ma Jun held a stack of books in their hands, their cheeks were bright red and they were excited.

  Before they got on the bus, the two took Li Dongsheng towards the rear of the truck. They mysteriously reminded him, "Hurry up, don’t let people see. When we go back to the base, we’ll give you two books."

  Li Dongsheng took two of the books. He saw two women, bare and entangled together and his eyes went round. He immediately threw away the book in his hand as if shocked by electricity.

  "What the? Pick it up quickly! Be careful not to let others see it or it will be taken away!" Ma Jun whispered.

  This was what they had found in the corner of a small bookstore on the street. During the apocalypse, women were scarce and these books were enough to make all men go crazy. The two found that these two books were more exciting than a second-level high-grade zombie nucleus.

  Li Dongsheng returned to Earth and quickly placed the books into his space. Gong Lixin came around and had an inquiring gaze. Ma Jun, looking like a thief that stole something good, patted Gong Lixin’s shoulder and whispered into his ear, "Xiao Gong, let’s go back. We’ll give you something good enough to make your blood boil! Haha!"

  Wang Tao and Li Dongsheng also held similar wretched smiles. Gong Lixin, who was confused, got on the bus. Looking at their abnormal behaviour, Song Haoran grinned and his eyes flashed as he thought silently.

  Back at the base, Ma Jun pulled Gong Lixin into his room and quietly stuffed a book into his arms. He grinned and said, "Xiao Gong, you can go back and study the book. Broaden your horizons, ah!"

  "What horizon?" Gong Lixin lowered his head and tried to take the book out and look at it. However, Ma Jun quickly smothered it back into his pocket. He whispered, with a cautious look in his eyes, "Don’t let outsiders know that this is a martial arts manual! Study and protect it with your life!"

  Martial arts manual? That really couldn’t be seen by outsiders. Gong Lixin nodded and stuffed the book into his pocket before saying goodbye to Ma Jun and the others who were behaving weirdly and walked to his room.

  He changed out of his military uniform and quickly took a cold shower. He then sat cross-legged on his bed and took out the ’martial arts manual’ to prepare to study. The cover of the book was dark blue and had no pictures, only the big characters of dragon and phoenix were scrawled across it with four big characters.

  Sure enough, it was a martial arts manual, but Ma Jun gave it to the wrong person. This manual should be used by a woman. Gong Lixin thought about it and decided to send the book to Ling Yin later.

  Just as he was about to open the book and browse its contents, somebody knocked on his door. He had already heard footsteps outside earlier, so he got out of bed and tip-toed to the door before opening it.

  Song Haoran stared at the boy’s narrow waist, buttocks wrapped in shorts and his long white legs for a few seconds. His throat became parched. The blood in his face quickly circulated and made his knife-like face twist and change into different shades of red.

  He licked his lips and stepped forward to hold the boy’s buttocks. He dragged the boy into his arms like a babe and yelled, "How many times have I told you, don’t run around barefoot, you’ll get sick."

  Holding Gong Lixin and moving into the room, he gently put him on the bed. Song Haoran inadvertently kneaded his buttocks and smiled as he asked, "What are you doing?"

  "Ma Jun gave me a martial arts manual. I was preparing to study it." Gong Lixin pointed to the book on the bed.

  Seeing the four cursive characters on the cover, Song Haoran raised his brows and picked up the book to take a look. A picture of a naked man and woman entangled together jumped out as soon as the book was open. The whole book contained nothing but those kinds of images and the paintings were exquisite. It was a fine art in Xiao Huangshu, but Song Haoran’s face became darker and darker.

  "Big Brother Song, what’s wrong? You shouldn’t want to practice the exercises inside, it’s for women. Be careful or the book will go up in flame!" He saw black smoke uncontrollably coming out of the hand that was holding the book. The page was lit on fire and Gong Lixin pulled his arm to stop him from burning it all.

  "Martial arts method. For women?" Song Haoran indulged in the other’s train of thoughts and slowly put away his ability into his body and the red light in his eyes also gradually faded as well. He looked with a hint of anxiety at the teenager who was reaching out to save the book. He hesitantly opened, "Lixin, have you read this book yet?"

  "Hn." Gong Lixin put down the book in his hand and said with a sigh of relief. "This is a martial art for women. Ma Jun must have made a mistake. I’m going to give it to Ling Yin later."

  Song Haoran stared at his crystal clear eyes. The undulating anxiety and violent beating in his chest all dispersed in an instant, turning into pure joy. He reached out to hold the boy in his arms and chuckled.

  The man’s deep laughter echoed into his ear and his hand rested on the other’s broad chest, feeling the vibration of his chest and his strong heartbeat. Gong Lixin inexplicably blushed and he lowered his eyelashes shyly. During the year Song Haoran had become more and more intimate with him, and he had gotten used to it for a long time. But he had never felt like this before. He felt that this embrace was so hot, but he still refused to leave it.

  He laughed and planted kisses all over Gong Lixin’s face and neck. Gong Lixin blushed furiously, which brought out his fair porcelain skin even more. The water in his bright eyes was like a layer of crystals. He looked more beautiful than ever, and Song Haoran loved him more than ever. Song Haoran squeezed his lower abdomen and clenched his teeth as he slowly released his embrace, and whispered, "I’ll hand this martial art book to Ling Yin in your stead. You’ve been working all day. Please have some rest."

  Seeing the teenager blinking his big, wet eyes, Song Haoran smiled stiffly and pulled over the sheet to cover the boy’s light and long bare legs. He then picked up the book with all five fingers on the black cover and quickly left. Such a pure Lixin, although extremely attractive, he does not know how to handle it.

  Closing the door and standing against the wall for a long time, he waited until the heat in his body subsided before he went to Ma Jun’s room with a dark face.

  He cautiously guarded the boy for so long. Even if the beast in his heart screamed wildly and wanted to swallow the boy whole, he had to bear it. Just a little bit more to infiltrate the boy’s heart and love him wholeheartedly. If, before that moment arrived, the boy ends up in the arms of a woman, he would certainly be incapable of stopping himself from killing someone! No one could destroy the feelings he had carefully cultivated!