My Apocalypse System Arrives 10 Years Early

Chapter 74: Chapter 72: Breakthrough to Tier Two, Surprise Reward

Li Xiang activated only the ”Giant Power” Attribute. It had no side effects, so he worked for another two-plus hours straight. Then, ”Giant Power” turned gray and entered a cooldown state. He would have to wait 24 hours before he could use it again.

However, the Ice and Snow City Wall was nearly complete. It was over fifty meters long, about two meters high, and one and a half meters wide. He had flattened the top so people could walk on it. He even used a shovel to roughly carve out the shape of battlements, but they would need more detailed work later. Otherwise, it would look too crude and spoil the visual effect.

As for the area it protected, it didn’t cover the entire backyard. Instead, it enclosed a large patch of land around the main house and the kitchen.

Enclosing the whole yard would have been too much work, and the wall’s effectiveness as a windbreak would be greatly reduced at a greater distance.

Next, he planned to build a European-style Ice and Snow Castle in the center of the open space, like the playground slide-castles found in some residential communities or parks in big cities.

Li Xiang had an artistic streak and the stamina to match. With Jiang Cai’Er often coming over to help and offer her own ideas and suggestions, the Ice and Snow Castle turned out beautifully, a truly magnificent sight.

All the children from the village ran over to climb and play on it. Li Xiang built three ice slides, and the kids lined up to zip down them one by one. Their silvery laughter echoed through the backyard, a testament to their boundless joy.

It was just a bit rough on their pants. Since the slides were made of ice and snow, their bottoms would get wet very easily.

Jiang Cai’Er put on some light makeup and dressed up as ”Princess Elsa.” She walked along the Ice and Snow Castle, singing, ”Let it go, let it go, can’t hold it back anymore. Let it go, let it go, turn away and slam the door...”

It had to be said, Jiang Cai’Er had a real talent for singing. She sang the theme song from *Frozen* with the same feeling as the original. Li Xiang recorded the whole thing and planned to use it as one of the background music tracks for his future videos.

Li Xiang thought, ’My social media channel is so professional. Even the BGM is sung by the Saintess herself.’

Even without a professional sound card or a recording studio, the audio quality was amazing. It sounded first-rate!

It was a pity he couldn’t write songs and the system didn’t have that function. Otherwise, it would have been even better to write a few original pieces for Cai’Er. Maybe she could have even broken into the entertainment industry.

However, the entertainment industry was a murky world, and with the Apocalypse approaching, it had no future.

Hadn’t he seen it in his past life? Luo Feifei, a top Celestial Empress at the height of her fame, had also switched careers to become an Extraordinary Being, spending her days fighting and killing.

During the Apocalypse, social order collapsed and might made right. If she had continued as a mere performer, she would have only been toyed with by others.

Running a social media channel was one of Li Xiang’s ways to make a living. He had originally started it just to give it a try. If it didn’t work out, he would have figured something else out. As a ”chosen one” with a system, was he really going to starve to death?

The main reason he pursued a side hustle was that farming in the countryside wasn’t very profitable. It was a low-margin business, and you could easily lose money. With this year’s snow disaster, many fruit and coffee trees were going to be ruined. For farming, even with perfect weather, a lot still depended on the heavens.

Although his Breathing Technique and Body Techniques were derived from life and farming, they only enhanced his personal combat abilities, focusing on physical fighting. They didn’t grant him the ”Mana” to change the weather.

Unexpectedly, getting the channel started went smoothly, so he decided to stick with it.

He couldn’t just resort to stealing or robbing, could he?

Playing the stock market? He really had no idea how. He hadn’t paid attention in his past life, so he had no clue which stocks would soar.

As for selling the Extraordinary Items rewarded by the system, he couldn’t bear to part with them. He didn’t even have enough for himself, so how could he sell them? Besides, could something so precious even be sold?

Possessing a treasure invites disaster. It would only lead to trouble and misfortune.

In his past life, many Extraordinary Beings had fought to the death over these items, killing for treasure...

The video of him beheading the wild boar with one strike had become even more popular, and Li Xiang’s follower count had already surpassed 800,000. When some fans learned that Li Xiang had already ”prepared” the boar and posted photos of the curing meat, they asked if they could buy some.

The wild boar meat was a deep red color with plenty of lean muscle and not much fat, making it look very appetizing.

With the severe snowstorms continuing, prices were soaring. Regular pork had already shot up to 50 yuan per pound, and the price of wild boar meat naturally rose with it.

In the past, wild boar meat was already about three to eight times more expensive than domestic pork, with prices fluctuating based on region and market conditions.

Li Xiang set the price at 160 yuan per pound for the smoked wild boar meat, which was a bargain. Fans were clamoring for it, but since delivery services hadn’t resumed yet, he could only accept pre-orders for now. The quantity was also limited; he would only supply about 100 pounds.

He only had a little over 380 pounds of fresh meat to begin with. Smoking would cause it to shrink by an estimated 40-50%, leaving him with about 200 pounds. He planned to give 50 pounds to his Little Aunt, keep 50 pounds for himself, and sell 100 pounds, which would earn him around 16,000 yuan.

Some fans did the math for Li Xiang and were extremely envious.

With prices skyrocketing, Li Xiang not only got to eat freshly butchered wild boar for free, but he could also sell it for profit. The key was that it wasn’t farmed; it was a ”mountain delicacy” from the deep mountains.

Wild boar is indeed a mountain delicacy. Its meat has a unique texture and is rich in nutrients. Because the boars are constantly active in the wild and eat a healthier diet, their meat is much chewier than domestic pork. While it can have a gamey taste, that’s easily eliminated by flash-frying it with dried red chilies and other strong spices. A fragrant dish of stir-fried wild boar with dried red chilies could make someone who normally eats one bowl of rice devour several more.

It was just that making smoked meat was a lengthy process. The boar meat needed to be cured, then air-dried, and then he had to cut pine branches to smoke it. Fortunately, with delivery services still suspended, there was no rush.

The second item rewarded by the system was three Tier Five Mutated Spirit Grasses: Purple Profound Truffles. They were essentially Black Truffles, but at the Mutated Spirit Grass level—and a relatively high Tier Five at that.

The best he had ever obtained before was a Tier One Spirit Grass. The Medicinal Power of this Tier Five item was no small matter.

Jiang Cai’Er had only just started her training, and his grandmother was an ordinary elderly woman. Li Xiang didn’t dare give it to them, fearing they couldn’t withstand the violent Medicinal Power of a Tier Five Spiritual Medicine. So, this time, he had to eat it all himself.

He simply roasted them over a charcoal fire and then ate them raw, chewing on them like steamed buns. The fragrance lingered in his mouth.

He had to admit, Tier Five was incredible. Potent waves of Medicinal Power were absorbed into his body, making him feel hot all over. After eating all three, he couldn’t take it anymore. He jumped into the yard and went through a set of fist forms, and his Realm broke through with a bang!

A second Spiritual Power Vortex formed inside his body, located in his right calf.

System: ”Congratulations, Host, for breaking through a Realm. You are awarded 500 Achievement Points and have received a surprise reward: System’s Otherworldly Warehouse side length x2.”

The warehouse space was a cube. Previously, its side length was 1 meter, with a volume of 1 cubic meter. Now, the side length was 2 meters, giving it a volume of 8 cubic meters.

He had been on the verge of a breakthrough for a while, just shy of forming the second Spiritual Power Vortex, possibly because this world lacked Mysterious Particles.

Then, with the Tier Five Spirit Grass in his stomach, its abundant Medicinal Power made the breakthrough happen naturally.