In a frigid apocalypse, I went on a shopping spree with the reborn.

Despite rushing, Jiang Qingyue finally made it back to the shelter before dawn.

"Sister Xiaoyue, you're finally back." Long Jiuxing checked her over from head to toe, and only felt relieved after confirming that she was not injured. He then brought her a set of clean clothes: "I've boiled some bath water for you, take a hot bath and relax."

"Thank you for your kindness." To be honest, Jiang Qingyue also felt uncomfortable all over.

Although we had plenty of food and didn't suffer much during the twenty-odd days we were away, we still worked up a sweat every day traversing mountains and valleys.

I took a hot shower with Yan Bao and felt refreshed.

Before she could even recount what she had gained from the trip, Jiang Qingyue checked the time; there were only a few minutes left until midnight.

She quickly turned on all the lights in the shelter to make sure there was no shadow in the entire shelter.

Those few minutes felt incredibly long, as everyone waited for the fourth cold wave.

Finally, the announcement arrived: "The fourth cold wave has arrived, with temperatures reaching -100 degrees Celsius. This time, two new challenges have been added."

"First, the Shadow Demon. A demon born from resentment; the more resentment there is, the more Shadow Demons there will be."

"Second, the All-Heavens Arena Tournament."

"The fifth cold wave will arrive in a thousand days. Best of luck to everyone."

Jiang Qingyue read the announcement twice, then sent a message to Liu Yuyao with a serious expression: "Do you know about the All-Heavens Arena Tournament?"

Her expression was more solemn than ever before, even more so than when she first learned that the apocalypse was coming.

The Shadow Demon was known beforehand, but the All-Heavens Arena wasn't. It wasn't mentioned in Wang Dawei's second notebook, nor when she pressed him for details.

Now she only hopes that Liu Yuyao knows but hasn't said anything.

If Liu Yuyao didn't know either, it would mean that this so-called All-Heavens Arena Tournament didn't exist in her previous life.

"I don't know," Liu Yuyao replied quickly.

This result left Jiang Qingyue feeling utterly devastated.

A trial that didn't exist in my previous life has now appeared.

This means that the God of Eternal Winter can change the rules of the experiment at any time, and that the information she forced out of Wang Dawei, as well as the notebook in Liu Yuyao's hands, could become worthless at any moment.

Long Jiuxing obviously realized what was happening too. The two looked at each other, and for a moment they didn't know what to say.

After a while, Liu Yuyao sent another message: "I guess it's because the essence of the plant doctor allowed many people in the eighth district to survive. And everyone's strength in this life is obviously growing much faster than Wang Dawei recorded. Perhaps the God of Eternal Winter felt that the test was not enough, so he added this All-Heavens Arena Tournament."

Liu Yuyao's guess was exactly the same as Jiang Qingyue's, which was also the reason for her helplessness.

Their every move is under the watchful eye of the God of Eternal Winter. Once they become complacent, even more difficult trials will be added, forever pushing them to the brink of despair, forcing them to fight for survival and constantly push their limits.

For the Eternal Winter God, such an experiment would be meaningful. But for those being experimented on, for Jiang Qingyue and the others, many, many people would die.

Those who can survive on the edge of a cliff are extremely rare.

None of the top ten on the leaderboard are certain they will survive; the rest will only have it harder.

"Damn it." Jiang Qingyue felt a nameless anger rising within her.

They are like climbing a cliff, with the possibility of falling to their deaths at any moment. Even if they don't fall, for every step they take up, the cliff rises two steps higher, and they can never see the end.

Just as he was getting annoyed, Liu Yuyao sent a second message: "I want to push for the merger of the Eighth District. Everyone needs to work together as one. I'm willing to be the one to lead this effort, but I can't control the situation."

Jiang Qingyue replied, "You want me to come and keep things under control?"

Liu Yuyao: "Not bad."

"To reduce the Shadow Fiends, we must minimize resentment among the people. Unified, compliant management and reasonable allocation can minimize people's plight in the apocalypse, and resentment will naturally decrease."

"Furthermore, this All-Heavens Arena Tournament is clearly not about individual prowess, but rather a competition between different regions. We need to pool our resources."

"Now that the authorities are not in power, my idea is to first unite the grassroots forces and elect a leader. I think you are the one."

It must be said that Liu Yuyao was very calm and made a plan in a very short time.

Looking at her message, Jiang Qingyue realized that she wasn't really keen on being the leader.

With higher status comes greater responsibility. For her, who only pursued strength and did not covet power, the position of leader brought only endless responsibility and trouble.

At the same time, she also understood that Liu Yuyao was extremely ambitious. If Liu Yuyao could control the situation and become the leader, then there would be no chance for Jiang Qingyue.

Now, Liu Yuyao would rather take the lead herself, unify the grassroots forces, and then hand this completed pie to her, which must be extremely frustrating.

There are many people as strong as Liu Yuyao, and these people do not respect her.

Jiang Qingyue is an option.

"Let me think about it," Jiang Qingyue replied with three words.

Liu Yuyao replied again: "I'll take the lead in making the initial contact; you have plenty of time to consider."

"However, I must remind you that what's in the pot must be in the bowl. If the Eighth District loses in the struggle with the outside world, it is very likely that the Eternal Winter God will abandon the Eighth District."

"No one can predict what will happen then. But after all the resources are taken back, you will be stuck here forever, and there will be no hope of resurrecting your parents in the First Experimental Zone."

That's all I have to say. Think it over carefully.

Jiang Qingyue was helpless. She hadn't said she wouldn't be the leader, so why was she being scared?

"Sister Xiaoyue," Long Jiuxing said, having led the babies through the shelter, "we've checked it; there are no Shadow Demons. Shall we leave now?"

Just as Jiang Qingyue was about to shake his head, he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye that the girl's eyes showed no fear of the Shadow Demon, but rather a hint of eagerness, much like when she first saw a zombie.

"Longlong, calm down. Shadow Fiend isn't a zombie; killing it won't get you anything."

"I know," Long Jiuxing said. "Shadow Demons don't have a physical form, so they won't get my clothes dirty like when I kill zombies, meaning I won't need to take a shower."

Okay, Jiang Qingyue understood everything. This wasn't about the treasure; it was purely about killing the Shadow Demon.

Is he that belligerent?

She didn't understand; killing them wouldn't drop any treasures, and in her view, it was just a thankless task.

Looking at Yan Bao and the others, apart from the usually lazy Little Grey, they were all full of fighting spirit.

What else can we do?

It's your own child, so you can spoil them.

Take out the Snow Concealment Bow and put on the lamp hat you prepared earlier.

The family of five, fully prepared, proudly opened the door to the shelter.

The light from the DVD player dispelled the darkness at the entrance to the shelter.

Jiang Qingyue saw several dark figures twist their bodies unnaturally the moment the light swept over them, escaping the light's range in an extremely eerie way.

Jiang Qingyue led the way, the three little ones were in the middle, and Long Jiuxing brought up the rear.

When the family of five arrived at the open space in front of the shelter, the overhead lights were very bright, but even the brightest lights could only illuminate a limited area. Beyond the light, there were countless scarlet eyes covering the mountains and fields.

The Shadow Fiend's body blended into the night, leaving only pairs of eyes of different sizes visible.

They were densely packed, covering the entire mountainside, all lurking outside the lights, eyeing them menacingly, as if they would rush up and tear them apart and devour them the moment the lights went out.

Jiang Qingyue was dumbfounded: "How long will this killing go on?"

Yan Bao asked curiously, "Chirp chirp?" Is everyone so resentful?

The little one sniffed: "Hiss?" Why is there no smell?

Little Grey was worried: "Coo coo?" Will it make me lose weight from exhaustion?

Long Jiuxing remained silent: "..."

He had only gripped the Blazing Fire Cudgel tightly when his hand felt weak even before he struck.

She underestimated the resentment of the people and the number of Shadow Fiends.

"Liu Yuyao's concerns are valid." Jiang Qingyue had to admit that if they didn't reduce everyone's resentment and let it fester, wouldn't there be too many Shadow Demons to deal with?

The only reason the Shadow Fiend is afraid of light is that even if you can't kill or defeat it, you can use a disc drive to disperse it. Otherwise, just with that many of them, they could exhaust even the strongest warriors to death.

"How come you're alright?" Jiang Qingyue suddenly looked at the Corpse King CEO next to her.

This guy had been guarding the entrance to the shelter, where there was no light. The Shadow Fiend fled the moment she came out. Clearly, before she left, the Shadow Fiend was in the same place as the Corpse King.

The Corpse King CEO shrugged, "It doesn't know either."

The shadows acted as if they couldn't see it, completely ignoring it. It tried to punch them twice, but it was like hitting thin air.

Judging from its expression, Jiang Qingyue roughly guessed that the Shadow Demon and the zombies were both species that the Eternal Winter God had placed in the Eighth District, and it seemed that they were keeping to themselves.

"I'll give it a try."

Jiang Qingyue raised his bow and shot an arrow at the Shadow Demon with the largest eye.

It was too far away; even with Jiang Qingyue's current eyesight, she could only see that the two eyes were dark, as if the lights had been turned off.

"Looks like it's not all that great..." Before the words were finished, a bizarre scene unfolded.

After the two large eyes went out, four other eyes of the same size appeared beside them.

Split?

Merge?

"Hiss..." Jiang Qingyue gasped.

After one was killed, the one next to it absorbed the Shadow Fiend's energy and quickly grew into a Greater Shadow Fiend.

"Damn, if they keep killing and being absorbed by those around them, won't the Eighth District eventually create an unimaginably huge Shadow Fiend?"

It's generally agreed that the larger an individual is, the stronger it is. But if they were to create a truly colossal creature, would they still be able to defeat it?

"Isn't there any way to dispel the resentment of these Shadow Demons?"

"I don't know either," Long Jiuxing shook his head.

This is troublesome. Jiang Qingyue really didn't expect that after killing the Shadow Demon, its energy would not dissipate into the world, but would be absorbed by the people around it.

Long Jiuxing: "Sister Xiaoyue, shall we continue killing?"

The three babies all stared at Jiang Qingyue. They had come out full of fighting spirit, just to have a big battle, but was there still any need to fight now?

These things don't seem to be very strong in combat; they just can't be completely killed, or perhaps her Snow Concealment Bow can't kill them.

Even though she thought the possibility was slim, Jiang Qingyue still said to Long Jiuxing and the others, "I'll stay behind. You guys turn off the lampshades and go try it."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Long Jiuxing rushed forward with his stick, wielding it with great force.

Wherever it swept, countless red eyes disappeared.

Jiang Qingyue could see it clearly from a distance. After dissipating for a moment, the shadow demons with smaller eyes around him rapidly grew, and their eyes became much larger.

Seeing that Long Jiuxing was having a great time, Jiang Qingyue didn't call her back, but instead looked at Yan Bao and Zaizai.

The three little guys also had a combat power of 200,000, and they dealt with these little Shadow Demons with ease. Unfortunately, like them, they still couldn't completely kill the Shadow Demons.

Seeing that these shadow demons posed no threat to Long Jiuxing and the others, Jiang Qingyue sent Liu Yuyao a message: "How can we completely kill the shadow demons?"

"You're asking me?" Liu Yuyao was speechless.

Why do you ask her all these questions?

Most importantly, she won't give me any money. Doesn't she know she's very poor right now?

Jiang Qingyue was speechless: "How come you don't know anything? That guy Wang Dawei, didn't he even remember this?"

"I'm not Wang Dawei, how would I know?"

Feeling guilty after being rebuked, Jiang Qingyue touched the tip of her nose. What's wrong with Liu Yuyao? She seems to be holding a lot of resentment today.

Looking at the countless shadow demons in front of him, Jiang Qingyue felt that perhaps one of them was created by Liu Yuyao's resentment.

But this thing can't be killed, and there's no benefit to killing it. It's also afraid of light. So, wouldn't it be better to carry a light source with you so you can ignore these things?

There's absolutely no need to waste time killing them.

It seems like it really works.

The personal terminal flashed and a message popped up from Liu Yuyao: "Are you planning to ignore these Shadow Demons?"

Jiang Qingyue was speechless and replied, "Did you install a surveillance camera in my head?"

Liu Yuyao: "Let me tell you, this is only the initial stage. These Shadow Demons will evolve, just like zombies."

"Once they become powerful enough, they won't be afraid of light anymore. Moreover, their speed will increase, and the larger they are, the stronger they will be. At that point, they won't be able to be killed in one hit."

"Moreover, their bodies blend into the night, and the only thing you can see is their eyes, which are extremely difficult to find when they are closed."

"But there's an advantage to Shadow Fiend growing larger: all its energy is concentrated in one place. Strong individuals, with their keen sense of power, can use this method to lock onto it."

"Thank goodness," Jiang Qingyue patted her chest in relief.

Sure enough, she was too naive. How could the Dog God let her ignore this thing so easily?

"Thanks for the reminder. I'll treat you to dinner another day." After saying this politely, Jiang Qingyue turned off her personal terminal.

Pick up the Snow Concealment Bow and start shooting at their eyes. Let's combine these things into a bigger one first.

Otherwise, when these things become immune to light, they won't even be able to leave their homes, because the mountains and fields will be covered in these things.

More importantly, these things are everywhere, and their energy is too weak and too dispersed, making them extremely difficult for them to detect.

Only by combining them into a larger one can the location be roughly pinpointed using that energy.

Drawing the bow and shooting an arrow, once, a hundred times, a thousand times...

Jiang Qingyue couldn't even remember how many arrows she had shot. These things, like first-tier zombies, posed no real threat; they were just exhausting.

By dawn, Jiang Qingyue was so exhausted that she could barely lift her arms.

When the first ray of light pierced the clouds, these things seemed to vanish into thin air, without a trace.

"Where did he hide?" Jiang Qingyue searched everywhere, but there was no trace of him.

I tried to sense the powerful energy, but to no avail.

"Could it be because the synthesized one isn't big enough?"

I scratched my head, but could only give up.

Long Jiuxing and the others were exhausted. This was different from killing zombies. In the past, when killing zombies, at least you could see corpses everywhere and get a lot of crystal cores.

Now that Shadow Fiend has disappeared, it's as if they've been blowing air all night.