My Apocalypse System Arrives 10 Years Early

Chapter 447: Chapter 299: Resource Acquisition Can’t Keep Up with Upgrades, Tier Ten, Birth of an Endurance Inscription

Li Xiang helped his grandma plant vegetables, and with his help, their efficiency skyrocketed.

Take leveling the land, for instance. Whenever his grandma went to the kitchen for a drink or to the restroom, Li Xiang would use his Earth Superpower. He easily made the empty vegetable patch churn, tilling it back and forth several times. Not only that, but the soil also became perfectly level and loose, with uniformly sized particles—it was practically a work of art.

His Earth Superpower could be used on both large and small scales. On a grand scale, he could control a Titan’s Grip dozens of meters long, erect a fortress in an instant, or build a stone bridge. On a finer scale, he could perform ”precision tilling” in a tiny space, like weeding with surgical precision.

With his Earth Superpower, all the weeds were removed and the soil was loosened just right, without damaging the vegetables’ root systems in the slightest.

Needless to say, Li Xiang was a natural when it came to manual labor.

While chatting with his grandma, Li Xiang learned that his timing couldn’t have been worse. Jiang Cai’Er had been on break a few days ago and had eagerly come looking for him. Finding he wasn’t there, she stayed to chat with his grandma for a while, collected some peach gum, and left. Just yesterday afternoon, she had come back to have another meal with Granny Li Xiang before returning to school.

Li Xiang scratched his head. To be honest, the main reason he had rushed back was that he really missed Jiang Cai’Er, but he’d still managed to miss her. He could only sigh; he’d gotten so busy in America that he’d completely lost track of time.

’But maybe it’s for the best that we didn’t meet,’ he thought. ’That way, I won’t disturb Cai’Er’s studies.’ It was already April, and the college entrance exams were not far off. Once they were over, the two of them would have all the time in the world for themselves.

He had long since memorized the thousands of abstruse postures and breathing frequencies of the Star Dome Concerto: Simurgh’s Nine Melodies Dual Cultivation technique. When the time came, he would be sure to explore each and every one of them in depth with Jiang Cai’Er.

Jiushao was a famous form of ancient court music.

The *Bamboo Annals* record that in the first year of his reign, Emperor Shun of the Yu dynasty ascended the throne and ”composed the music of *Jiushao*.”

The *Rites of Zhou*, in the ”Spring Offices” section under ”Grand Master of Music,” states: ”The songs of the nine virtues, the dance of *Jiushao*.”

Yang Jiong of the Tang dynasty wrote in his ”Ullambana Rhapsody”: ”The *Jiushao* clangs, the six pitch-pipes sound; a thousand people sing, the eight-row dance is performed.”

This Dual Cultivation technique was incredibly profound. Among the thousands of Breathing Techniques the system had collected, it ranked sixth—not much lower than Li Xiang’s primary Cultivation Technique, the Shennong Longevity Spell.

Together, Li Xiang and his grandma planted many more vegetables in the gardens in their front and back yards: celtuce, lettuce, cucumbers, green beans, cowpeas, shepherd’s purse, ginger, loofah, water spinach, eggplant, and more.

For some, they sowed seeds, while for others that had already sprouted into small seedlings, Li Xiang helped with transplanting.

After several days of quiet cultivation at home, Li Xiang could no longer suppress his Realm. Late one quiet night, he broke through to Tier Ten. After all, with his long period of training in North and South America, the slaying of a Space Exotic Beast, and a daily diet of various Spiritual Medicines, a breakthrough was simply a matter of course.

It seemed he hadn’t encountered a single bottleneck since his rebirth.

The tenth Spiritual Power vortex formed in one of his kidneys, generating an ”Endurance” Inscription.

This was another ”minor Inscription,” but it tripled Li Xiang’s Endurance.

For example, he could previously sprint at an Extreme Speed of Mach 11 for eight minutes at most before he would be gasping for breath, his heart rate would be off the charts, and he’d be forced to rest. Now, however, he could maintain that same sprint for over twenty minutes.

After reaching Tier Ten, the Extreme Speed of his Divine Movement Technique had naturally increased as well, rising to about Mach 12. This meant that in a single, 24-minute sprint, he could cover 5,875 kilometers.

His cruising speed also increased, from the previous Mach 6–7 to Mach 8–9. His Endurance was even greater; whereas before he could run nonstop for six or seven hours, he now estimated he could run at Mach 8 for about twenty hours without a break.

There was a time when Li Xiang had looked down on his own Superpowers, thinking them too plain and unsophisticated—what were ”Giant Power” and ”Divine Movement” really? But he never imagined that once his Attributes were raised to a level so far beyond anyone else, they would become so... insane. No, ”insane” wasn’t even strong enough to describe it.

They were far more useful than all those flashy Superpowers.

It just went to show: the more fundamental something is, the more advanced it can become, and the higher its ceiling.

Li Xiang’s Otherworldly Warehouse had also upgraded again, with its edge length doubling.

The warehouse’s edge length had been 512 meters, and now it was 1,024 meters. As a cube, its total volume had expanded to 1,024 × 1,024 × 1,024 meters, for a total of 1,073,741,824 cubic meters.

To use naval displacement as an analogy, that was equivalent to 1,073,741,824 tons.

Even after his last warehouse upgrade, despite running around for so long—fighting his way from North America to South America and back again while plundering massive amounts of supplies—it was still only 80% full. Now that it had expanded to eight times its previous size, he couldn’t help but gasp. ’The speed at which I fill this warehouse can’t keep up with its expansion!’

But it didn’t matter. He still had eight or nine years; he could take his time filling it. As long as there were supplies in the warehouse, he wouldn’t panic.

What made Li Xiang happy was that Luo Feifei, Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, Lei Xiaohui, Lei Jiaming, Xu Xuan, and Zhang Youyou had all broken through to the next Realm as well.

The trials of their last trip to South America had likely played a key role.

Luo Feifei, like Li Xiang, had only chosen to break through because she could no longer suppress her power. She was now a Tier Seven Transcendent. She called Li Xiang, asking him to come over for a long talk to exchange notes and experiences.

Li Xiang went over that very night. He brought a bottle of Persimmon Spirit Wine, climbed through the window of Luo Feifei’s hotel suite, and spent the entire night exchanging insights with her.

Luo Feifei’s new Superpower was ”Sea Heart Chain,” which was, in essence, a Shared Vision ability. While in her Yunmeng Marsh or in seawater, she could release the Sea Heart Chain to connect with Li Xiang and share her vision.

Its current range was a radius of about six thousand meters.

Yunmeng Marsh was her previous Superpower, which allowed her to conjure a vast, dense white fog around herself—so thick you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. It allowed her to artificially create a ”home-field” advantage even in places with no water.

Li Xiang and Luo Feifei drank the Spirit Wine as they talked, speaking their minds freely. Both benefited greatly from the exchange.

At dawn, Li Xiang once again climbed out the window to leave, leaving a pouting, resentful Luo Feifei behind.

’Tch, that guy has no guts. Don’t tell me I’ll actually have to crash his wedding someday? That’s way too embarrassing; I could never do something like that.’ Fortunately, Luo Feifei was still quite young. She figured she could afford to wait.

Yao Yao’s third Superpower was ”Charm.” She secretly sought out Li Xiang to give it a test run, and—damn!—even with his Tier Ten Cultivation, Li Xiang almost failed to resist. It had to be said, this Superpower was terrifyingly effective.

Normally, while she was pretty, her looks were no match for Luo Feifei or Jiang Cai’Er. But after activating her Charm, her attractiveness was enhanced so much that it even surpassed theirs.

Of course, once she deactivated her Divine Techniques, she would ”revert to her original form.” But even without using the Charm Technique, relying solely on her Transformation Technique and Clone Technique, her appeal to men was no weaker than Luo Feifei’s—and was perhaps even greater.

As a result, tourists had recently taken to hitting on her and trying to ask her out, but Yao Yao sternly rejected them all. It had gotten to the point where Yao Yao decided to stop performing her dances at the National Style Tavern, letting the other young women under her management take her place instead.

”Don’t worry,” Yao Yao whispered, leaning close to Li Xiang’s ear. ”I’m saving myself just for you...”

Li Xiang felt a warm flush creep over him.

Zhao Xueqing’s third Superpower was ”Plant Communication,” allowing her to understand the true needs of plants. It was essentially a farming-type ability, also known as ”Spirit Plant Telepathy.” When she communicated with a plant, the two would enter a state of life-force resonance—a truly profound phenomenon.

For example, when she visited Li Xiang’s family vegetable garden and ”communicated” with a few of the chili pepper plants, she reported that they were deficient in phosphorus. Furthermore, the activity of their anthocyanin synthase had decreased, and they needed a calcium ion supplement.

Li Xiang then buried a mixture of bone meal and volcanic ash beneath the pepper plants, and sure enough, they began to grow more lushly, their petals and leaves taking on a healthier sheen.

Lei Xiaohui’s third Superpower was pretty badass: ”Starfire Transition.” She could place ”fire seeds” in an area, each one several dozen meters apart, and then instantly teleport between them. For now, the distance couldn’t be too great, and she could only place a dozen or so fire seeds at a time.

But even with these limitations, it was an incredible ability. She could dart back and forth within a several-hundred-meter area, appearing and disappearing like a phantom. Her self-preservation and assassination capabilities had been greatly enhanced.

...

Xu Xuan had written the report long ago. After he sent it over, Li Xiang read it carefully and offered some suggestions for revision. Xu Xuan and Zhang Youyou then revised it three more times before finalizing the draft.

After Li Xiang printed it, he used his Extreme Speed to get Luo Feifei’s signature, then had Yao Yao and the others sign it as well, before finally submitting it.

Not long after, the commendations were announced.

The group had once again earned military merits.

Li Xiang: Special-Class Merit.

Luo Feifei: First-Class Merit.

Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, Lei Xiaohui, Lei Jiaming, Xu Xuan, and Zhang Youyou: Second-Class Merit.

As for Yaki Toto, being a member of the Amazonian Tribes, he was not part of the official commendation system. Li Xiang planned to reward him privately later.

Seeing his cousins earn merits again, Lei Xiaonan was incredibly envious. But there was nothing to be done—he truly couldn’t cultivate Spiritual Power. However, he wasn’t discouraged in the least and trained in his martial arts even more diligently.

The people from the surrounding region, as well as their many fans, were already numb to the news that Li Xiang’s group had earned merits again.

Before, they might have shouted ”Badass!” or ”Holy shit!” but now, it was no longer anything strange.

And as a result, everyone’s military rank was promoted by one level.

Li Xiang was a Major, Luo Feifei was a Major, Yao Yao and Xu Xuan were Captains, while Zhao Xueqing, Lei Xiaohui, Lei Jiaming, and Zhang Youyou were Lieutenants.

Li Xiang pondered. ’If humanity wants to progress and live better lives, then during the Apocalypse, everyone must become like a dragon; everyone must be able to step into the Extraordinary Realm.’

But based on his experiences from his past life, relying on Breathing Techniques alone was definitely not going to be enough. He wondered if it might be possible to research some kind of drug or special species that could allow ordinary people to ”evolve” as well.

However, this was an incredibly difficult project, and the road ahead was long and arduous. He could only wait until the ”great scientist,” Jiang Cai’Er, truly came into her own with her studies before he could begin.