Rise of the Wasteland in Cultivation

Gu Tong and Yi Hua, the two punishers, waited outside the small world for about half an hour, but the Ninth Elder still did not come out, which made them secretly curious.

With the Ninth Elder's abilities, he should be able to deal with the scavenging boy named Leng San very quickly. Although the Seventh Saintess has awakened the ability to manipulate minds, she should not pose a threat to the Ninth Elder.

But Elder Jiu has been inside for so long and still hasn't come out. Could something have happened to him?

Just as the two punishers were secretly speculating, a spatial rift appeared out of thin air in front of them. Then, a figure flashed and a handsome young man with a topknot appeared out of thin air. He was about fifteen years old, with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, and had an otherworldly temperament.

Gu Tong and Yi Hua initially thought it was the Ninth Elder who had come out, but they were surprised to find that it was actually a young man who looked very familiar.

"You're that scavenger kid, Leng San?" Gu Tong finally recognized Leng San and exclaimed in astonishment, "You've grown so much taller in just two months?"

"Two months?" Leng San's face showed a strange expression. He had clearly been in the small world for two years, so why did he say two months?

Liquid Man Yi Hua was also full of doubt. Although Leng San's changes were quite significant, he still recognized him at a glance. He wondered, "Could this kid have taken some kind of growth-enhancing drug? Or is there some secret treasure in the small world that would make him suddenly grow taller after taking it?"

It turns out that time inside the small world is not synchronized with the outside world. Not only is it not static, but the flow of time inside is actually 12 times faster than outside. Therefore, Leng San and Chen Xi stayed in the small world for two years, while only two months passed outside.

It's no wonder that the liquid man and the bronze man were surprised; Leng San had grown so much taller in just two months.

Of course, despite being surprised by Leng San's transformation, the liquid man and the bronze man still surrounded him from the front and back, demanding, "Boy, how did you get out of the interlayered space? Did you manage to see our Ninth Elder?"

"Is the Ninth Elder you're talking about the old man with the black cloak and the silver sun mark between his eyebrows?"

"That's right, that's our Ninth Elder. Is he still inside?"

Leng San nodded calmly and said, "He is indeed still inside, but he is already dead."

"Dead?" The bronze man and the liquid man exchanged a surprised glance. "How did they die?"

"I killed him!"

The bronze figure scoffed, "You think you can kill our Ninth Elder? You can't even beat me and Yi Hua."

It's obvious that the bronze man's mindset is still stuck two months ago, when Leng San was indeed no match for him and the liquid man.

"Do you want to give it a try?" Leng San raised his machete.

"Let's give it a try!" Gu Tong immediately turned into metal, becoming a golden bronze figure, and took a step to grab Leng San's neck.

The liquid man warned, "Watch out for his vines!"

However, Leng San did not use the Green Vine Talisman. Instead, he casually slashed at the hand that the copper hand was grabbing. The latter, confident in its strong defense, did not dodge or flinch. Instead, it flipped its wrist and grabbed directly at the blade.

Hehe, this time he's tried to show off but ended up looking stupid. The current Leng San is not as strong as he was when he was only at the second level of Qi Refining. With a crack, half of the bronze man's hand was sliced ​​off on the spot.

"Ah!" The bronze man screamed in agony as the metallic color on his body quickly faded, revealing that half of his right hand had been severed, and blood was gushing out.

Liquid Man Yi Hua was shocked, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets. He knew how monstrous Gu Tong's defense was after he became metal; even a chainsaw couldn't easily cut off his hand. Yet Leng San had managed to slice off half of Gu Tong's hand with a single stroke.

"Impossible, you...you've become this strong?" The bronze man was both shocked and furious, the intense pain from his severed hand distorting his face.

Leng San shook his head and said casually, "Come at me all at once, don't blame me for not giving you a chance."

Gu Tong was furious: "Kid, you're arrogant enough. It seems there really are rare treasures in that small world, otherwise your strength couldn't have increased so quickly. Yi Hua, let's join forces and kill him."

As soon as he finished speaking, the liquid man turned into a puddle of liquid, flowing rapidly towards Leng San's feet. At the same time, Gu Tong also turned metallic again and attacked Leng San.

The two used this fighting style last time they faced off, leaving Leng San completely helpless. But times have changed.

Just as the liquid man was rapidly flowing to Leng San's feet, the latter suddenly snapped his fingers, and an arc of electricity crackled and struck the pool of liquid.

Liquids are conductive, and the liquid man felt a tingling sensation all over his body, immediately and involuntarily reverting to his human form.

Without any hesitation, Leng San raised his knife and struck. Before the liquid man could even react, his head flew off, rolling a long way, blood gushing from his neck, and he died on the spot.

Gu Tong shuddered in fright. This kid could actually generate electricity?

Just as Gu Tong was startled, Leng San had already slashed him on the head with his blade. With the full force of the spiritual power of the third level of Qi Refining, the machete became as sharp as mud.

With a loud bang, Gu Tong's metallic head was cleaved in two. This time, he died without even letting out a scream. His heavy body crashed to the ground, and only then did it slowly fade in color and return to its normal human form. But his split head could never be restored.

These two punishers knew the secrets of the small world, so Leng San killed them cleanly and efficiently without hesitation. To avoid leaving any traces, he even buried their bodies in the small world as fertilizer.

After cleaning up the mess, Leng San took Chen Xi and left the small world. After getting their bearings, they headed towards Camp C-361.

When the two returned to the camp, they found that Camp C-361 was no more. All twelve security towers had collapsed, and everything of value had been taken away, leaving only some broken containers and bones scattered everywhere.

A desolate wind blew across the abandoned camp, and through the youthful ponytail in the morning light. The girl remained silent, seemingly lost, yet also reminiscing about the more than one year she had lived here.

Leng San was also quite moved. The original owner of this body was born and grew up in Camp C-361. All his life and memories revolved around Camp C-361. Now, Camp C-361 has been completely destroyed.

"Xiao Xi, let's go!" Leng San said softly, taking Chen Xi's little hand and walking through the abandoned camp, stepping on the dead bones scattered on the ground, towards the direction of Camp C-444.

If it were two years, Leng San didn't think Ye Wenrou and the others would still be waiting for him at Camp C-444, but if it were two months, it was probably still possible.

When Leng San left the small world, he specifically tested it and found that the flow of time in the small world was indeed much greater than that in the outside world, about 12 times faster.

In other words, although he had cultivated in the small world for two years, only two months had actually passed in the outside world, which was quite amazing.

Chenxi possessed strong spiritual power, but her physical strength was only average. After walking five kilometers, she was already feeling exhausted. So Leng San carried her on his back, channeling his spiritual power to run at full speed, occasionally tossing a Swiftness Talisman or two at his feet, making it seem as if he were riding on clouds.

However, two legs can't keep up with the speed of wheels. Without transportation, Leng San was unable to reach Camp C-444 before dark, so he had to spend the night in the city ruins.

As the sun sets and night falls, darkness reigns over the land.

Influenced by the original owner of this body, Leng San used to be afraid of the dark, but now he is not. This is probably what is meant by "skill breeds courage".

With his cultivation at the third level of Qi Refining, plus the protection of the Golden Thunderwood, Leng San was not afraid of zombies or invisible ghosts. Even if he encountered armored corpses, he was confident that he could deal with them with ease.

Of course, Leng San didn't want to provoke a large horde of zombies, so he found a place to spend the night before nightfall and planned to continue his journey at dawn.

This is an abandoned middle school dormitory building. Looking out the window, you can see a lonely basketball hoop on the playground. Due to years of acid rain corrosion, the metal frame around the backboard has long since rotted away, and the glass backboard is shattered all over the ground.

As the last rays of the setting sun disappeared on the horizon, Leng San drew the dusty curtains, plunging the dormitory into darkness.

Leng San took out a glowing energy ball from his backpack, and its soft light instantly illuminated the entire dormitory.

The student dormitories all use double-decker iron-framed beds with thin plywood boards. Due to the erosion of time, many of them have become brittle and break easily when pressed.

Leng San searched the entire dormitory floor before finding two barely usable bed boards. Chen Xi slept on the upper bed, and he slept on the lower bed.

Yes, it's time for them to sleep in separate beds. The little girl has grown into a young lady, and her figure is gradually becoming more defined. It's not appropriate for them to sleep together anymore.

Leng San lay down fully clothed, but the clothes were too short, with his hands and feet sticking out. He thought to himself that once they arrived at Camp C-444, he would first need to buy some clothes for Xiao Xi and himself.

The dormitory walls and under the beds were covered with graffiti, including limericks and the Three Character Classic, but most of them were messages of encouragement for the college entrance examination. Even those who knew nothing about the college entrance examination could feel the youthful spirit of struggle emanating from these messages.

The latest message was posted on May 8, 1998, 30 days before that year's college entrance examination. Half a month later, a global nuclear war broke out...

"Brother, I can't sleep," Chenxi from the upper bunk suddenly whispered. "Can I come down and sleep with you?"

"No way!" Leng San refused decisively.

Chenxi climbed down, hugged her pillow, and stood by the bed without saying a word, just staring at her with her dark, lacquer-like eyes.

Leng San sat up helplessly, and Chen Xi immediately beamed and nimbly climbed into bed to lie down.

"This is the last time," Leng Santie said impartially. Chenxi nodded without hesitation, but probably ignored him.

Leng San frowned and listened intently. The night was unusually quiet; there were no roars of zombies or mutated beasts, but... there was singing!

Yes, someone was singing. The singing was faint and indistinct, sometimes near and sometimes far, which was very strange.