My Apocalypse System Arrives 10 Years Early

Chapter 576: Chapter 356: Earth Vein Passage Envoy

The Middle East. A black fog shrouded the land, so dense you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. The former desert had long ago become a frost-covered ice plain.

The temperature hovered at a minimum of -90°C. Mounds of ice, dozens of meters high, stood silently. Inside one was a nest of ”Star Remnant Rift Beasts”.

The reason Li Xiang had come here was for this very nest of special Space Exotic Beasts.

He had discovered that killing this type of Exotic Beast had a high probability of rewarding him with a Space Gemstone. And Space Gemstones were both incredibly rare and valuable.

Consequently, these ”Star Remnant Rift Beasts” were also quite rare—both in their total population and in the number of individuals within a single pack.

However, their average strength was also quite high.

This nest of Star Remnant Rift Beasts, for instance, contained only thirty-seven individuals, but among them were four at Saint Tier and sixteen at Tier Fifteen or higher.

The carapaces of these Exotic Beasts looked as if they were sculpted from blue-white frost. From the nebula-like patterns on their joints grew sharp, Ice Ridge-like bone spurs. In terms of appearance, they were actually quite beautiful.

Deep underground, Li Xiang’s Earth Escape Spirit Light sent out faint, earthy-yellow ripples. His Nine Nether Falsehood-Breaking Gaze pierced through dozens of meters of thick ice, locking onto the positions of the four Saint Tier Exotic Beasts.

’It’s a shame they live in ice caves instead of rock caverns or earthen nests. Otherwise, I could just bring the whole thing down on them.’ Li Xiang’s eyes glinted as he sighed internally.

However, these Exotic Beasts were too powerful; a simple cave-in wouldn’t be enough to kill them. A direct assault was the only way.

After all, Li Xiang was now Tier Twenty-Six, and his various Attributes were monstrously high. His speed, in particular, surpassed even many Divine Tier beings.

In all the martial arts under heaven, only speed is absolute.

Fast. He was too fast. Li Xiang appeared above one of the Saint Tier Exotic Beasts as if he had teleported. The sharp spear tip of his White Jade Golden Hook Rod, wreathed in his Tier Twenty-Six Spiritual Energy and backed by 1.5 million jin of Giant Power, plunged viciously into the weak spot on its neck.

A single, lethal blow. It was just that devastating.

Pale blue beast blood splattered across the ice, releasing plumes of corrosive steam.

”ROAR!” The remaining three Saint Tier Exotic Beasts reacted, lunging at Li Xiang in unison.

The shockwaves from the battle caused the ice cave to collapse. The Exotic Beasts below Saint Tier scattered in a panic, but any that were slightly too slow were annihilated by the residual force from Li Xiang’s White Jade Golden Hook Rod.

For any creature below Saint Tier, a direct hit meant instant death; even a glancing blow was fatal.

Notifications for Achievement Points, Spiritual Medicine, and Extraordinary Items continuously popped up in his mind, but Li Xiang had no time to spare them a thought. His exquisite Staff Technique was a perfect blend of hard and soft styles. Moving at an Extreme Speed of Mach 80, his figure darted left and right, up and down. Each ”teleportation” covered several hundred meters, and he was so agile it was as if dozens of Li Xiangs were attacking all at once.

About three minutes later, the three Saint Tier Exotic Beasts fell one after another, letting out roars of unwilling fury.

’If it weren’t for the Space Gemstones, I wouldn’t have killed you. It would have been great to take you as Spirit Beasts.’ Li Xiang’s Beast Taming: Azure Qilin Guide still had many ”Imperial Decree” slots open, and he was eagerly seeking worthy candidates to fill them.

Li Xiang then moved out, hunting down and killing the Star Remnant Rift Beasts that hadn’t managed to flee far. This time, he obtained a total of three Space Gemstones. Not every Star Remnant Rift Beast dropped one; the probability was simply higher with them.

Soon, he had successfully forged three bracelets, setting a glittering Space Gemstone into each. The internal space of each bracelet was a massive eight to nine hundred cubic meters. Li Xiang stored the Exotic Beast corpses inside. Some could be sent to Jiang Cai’Er for research, while the useless materials could be used as fertilizer.

As for eating them, that was out of the question. The meat of Space Exotic Beasts was rarely palatable; its texture was extremely sour and tough, making it impossible to swallow. Given a choice, no one would eat such a thing.

Although super-rice had a poor texture, it was a supreme delicacy compared to the meat of these Space Exotic Beasts.

The corpses were bone-chillingly cold to the touch, their bodies containing an extremely dense Ice Cold Spiritual Power. An idea occurred to Li Xiang: ’Perhaps these Exotic Beast corpses can be used to cultivate more cold-resistant crop varieties, or even an Ice Spirit Seed. This will require Xueqing to play to her strengths.’

「Over the next few days」, Li Xiang searched the globe, specifically hunting for Star Remnant Rift Beasts. If he came across an Underground City being besieged by a large number of Exotic Beasts, he would step in to help. He usually performed decapitation strikes, killing the Saint Tier leaders before weaving through the Exotic Beast Army as if it were a Land of No One. Wherever he passed, Exotic Beasts were sent flying like rice before a harvester, prompting the soldiers and citizens of the Underground City to cheer, ”It’s Li Sheng! He’s come to reinforce us!”

Thus, their morale soared.

With his speed, along with his Invisibility and Earth Escape Superpowers, Li Xiang could appear and disappear like a phantom. Self-preservation was more than guaranteed.

「Ten days later」, he had gathered a total of thirty-six Space Gemstones. Li Xiang forged them all into bracelets, each engraved with a serial number: ”Earth Vein Passage Envoy 01-36.”

With the entire world frozen over and the surface overrun by hordes of Space Exotic Beasts, trade between nations—and even between individual Underground Cities—had been completely cut off. However, mutual trade and support were essential for survival. Therefore, Li Xiang planned to recruit Extraordinary Beings with the Earth Escape Superpower, form 36 transport teams, and once again shoulder the heavy responsibility of global logistics and trade.

Furthermore, this would be the perfect opportunity to deliver and share some of the high-yield crop seeds cultivated by Zhao Xueqing with the various Underground Cities.

He hadn’t had a surplus of large Space Gemstones before, so the plan had been shelved. Now that he had collected thirty-six of them, he could finally begin.

Shen Wenqian was in charge of reviewing the qualifications for advancement among Extraordinary Beings and was intimately familiar with their personnel database. Li Xiang decided to entrust the task of ”recruiting worthy talent” to her.

Li Xiang’s figure blurred, and he arrived in France. Erin’s base was also under attack by Space Exotic Beasts.