After the rain of blood fell, a white crystal appeared where Zhao Xiaolu had originally stood.
As expected, it was another one capable of enhancing strength.
At the same time, two strands of black aura lingered in the air.
This black aura was likely Zhao Xiaolu's resentment from before her death.
"Why? Why…!"
"I was just not good at…"
"I hate this! I won't rest in peace—I curse you all to die horribly!"
"I'll be waiting for you in hell!"
…
After the voices faded, the two strands of black aura rushed out through the window.
Then they dissipated into the world.
Chen Jie withdrew the Heaven-Opening Axe and let out a soft sigh.
"Xiao Jie, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"
Xia Wanrou nervously grabbed Chen Jie's hand, checking him all over.
When Chen Jie had been controlled earlier and was about to be caught by Zhao Xiaolu, her heart had nearly leapt into her throat!
"I'm fine!"
Chen Jie gently patted Xia Wanrou's head.
This girl was still the same as in his previous life, caring about him so much.
After reassuring her, Chen Jie picked up the crystal left behind from killing Zhao Xiaolu.
Within the white crystal, there was a faint red glow.
This should be a low-tier spirit crystal.
Based on memories from his previous life, Chen Jie roughly remembered the quality tiers of spirit crystals.
From lowest to highest: inferior, low-tier, mid-tier, high-tier.
This low-tier spirit crystal, Chen Jie believed, could improve him further.
He gripped it, focused his mind, and began to absorb it.
A beam of white light seeped into Chen Jie's body.
Instantly, he felt a sense of complete comfort, as if every cell in his body was breathing.
Spring returned to the earth!
The aura around him surged significantly!
As expected of a low-tier crystal—it immediately advanced him to the peak of a Tier Two Awakened!
Because he possessed the Chaos Mysterious Yellow Body talent, his improvement after absorbing the crystal was far greater than that of others.
In the early stages of the apocalypse, absorbing a low-tier crystal would usually only elevate an average person to an early Tier Two Awakened.
But he had directly reached the peak of Tier Two.
However, as an Awakened's level increases, the number of spirit crystals required later will only grow more and more immense.
"Xiao Jie… what should we do next?"
Xia Wanrou glanced at the surroundings, now covered in blood, and held onto Chen Jie's arm as she asked.
This kind of horrifying and bizarre situation was her first time encountering it.
She had no idea what to do next.
"We've already awakened. What we need to do next is keep getting stronger."
"In the apocalypse, Awakened individuals possess power—but they are also coveted prey for monsters!"
"As the apocalypse progresses, monsters will continue devouring humans and each other, constantly evolving. The ones we face will only grow stronger!"
"To survive, we must keep improving!"
A sharp glint flashed in Chen Jie's eyes.
The apocalypse was filled with cruelty—the law of the jungle reigned!
To survive, they had to keep strengthening themselves.
Otherwise, the only fate would be hiding in sewers for a lifetime, eventually becoming food for monsters.
Hearing Chen Jie's words, Xia Wanrou fell into thought.
She didn't really understand how to improve.
She only wanted to stay by Chen Jie's side and protect him.
Anything that threatened Chen Jie—she would eliminate!
Kill them all!
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
The bloody scent left after Zhao Xiaolu's death attracted the attention of the monsters in the school.
The flesh of a higher-tier monster like her was a rare and nourishing feast for others.
After catching the scent, they began gathering toward Chen Jie's classroom.
"A large number of monsters are coming again. Let's go first!"
Chen Jie grabbed Xia Wanrou's hand, preparing to leave.
"Chen Jie, take me with you! Take me with you! My dad is a director of Guangyao Group. As long as you protect me, I guarantee you can enjoy endless wealth and glory. You can have as much money as you want!"
Huang Tian, the rich second-generation in the class, stepped forward at this moment.
Chen Jie's school was considered a top-tier institution, so it wasn't unusual to have wealthy heirs like him.
Huang Tian's family indeed had considerable assets—he usually came to school in a Ferrari.
But in the eyes of a rich young master, everything still came down to money.
To them, money could do anything…
"How ridiculous. This is the apocalypse—money? Do you think it's still useful?"
Chen Jie sneered.
This Huang Tian was truly naive!
Seeing Chen Jie's attitude, Huang Tian, who was used to being domineering, couldn't swallow his anger.
"Chen Jie! You poor bastard, your parents died early, and you've been scraping by doing odd jobs to study, you—"
Before Huang Tian could finish, Chen Jie's expression turned cold.
Frightened, Huang Tian immediately swallowed his words.
He suddenly came to his senses.
If Chen Jie wanted to, he could kill him instantly.
"Since you're so eager to die, I'll send you on your way first!"
Chen Jie grabbed Huang Tian's head, his expression ruthless, and twisted lightly.
In the next second, Huang Tian's head spun around.
His eyes bulged, tongue hanging out—completely lifeless.
The surrounding students, seeing this, recoiled in fear.
They looked at Chen Jie with terror.
To him, killing them now was as easy as crushing an ant!
After dealing with Huang Tian, Chen Jie took Xia Wanrou and walked out of the classroom.
"They left? What should we do?"
"No, we have to survive! Let's follow Chen Jie—that's our only chance!"
"Yeah! In this situation, we can only beg Brother Chen to take us along, or we'll end up eaten by monsters!"
…
After a brief discussion, the students grabbed table legs, brooms, and whatever they could find from the classroom, and followed behind Chen Jie.
Noticing them following, Chen Jie didn't drive them away.
First, they were still old classmates—he'd let them follow as long as they didn't annoy him.
Second… with so many people, they would surely attract plenty of monsters, right?
And with monsters drawn in, Chen Jie could use these classmates to farm kills and level up…
After clearing a few monsters in the hallway, Chen Jie arrived at the school convenience store.
He packed all the edible food inside into his backpack.
The other students also knew to gather supplies, but only dared to take what Chen Jie didn't want.
After sweeping through the entire convenience store and filling two large bags, Chen Jie finally decided to leave.
At this moment, Lin Shiyu, the former class sports committee member, ran up to Chen Jie with a fawning expression.
"Brother Chen, I'm strong—let me carry things for you! You and sister-in-law can just walk."
Lin Shiyu bowed and nodded, his face full of eagerness.
Seeing his attitude, and since the load was heavy anyway, Chen Jie handed it over.
However, if he dared show even the slightest sign of betrayal, Chen Jie would kill him immediately!
"Class Three—drop the supplies!"
Just as they stepped out of the convenience store, Chen Jie was surrounded by a group of people.