Chapter 71

Chu Nan, who was quite injured, let out a sigh of relief when he saw someone come to his aid.

Xu Zhi's skills were astonishing; with just one glance, Chu Nan knew he must be a Level 5 Awakened. This time, it wasn't Chu Nan who needed to run, but the female Undead who would have to flee.

Sure enough, as soon as the female Undead got up, Xu Zhi rushed forward, his Mountain-Cleaving Saber aimed at her neck.

The female Undead's body flickered, and a part of her hair was stretched taut by the spider silk. The Mountain-Cleaving Saber struck the taut hair.

Taking advantage of the situation, the female Undead severed the hair that was stuck, and the taut strands broke as the saber fell.

The female Undead let out a sigh of relief and retreated. Xu Zhi roared and took a step forward, approaching like a dragon walking and a tiger pacing.

Suddenly, the female Undead's long hair sprang out, like sharp arrows, aiming at Xu Zhi's face.

Xu Zhi was slightly startled and hurriedly retreated, but then he noticed the female Undead had retracted her hair and was already twenty meters away.

Xu Zhi frowned slightly, somewhat alarmed by the female Undead's bizarre hair. He gave up chasing her and watched as she sped up and eventually disappeared.

The others also caught up, and with their full efforts, the remaining fifty or so Undead and Zombies were finally eliminated.

Chu Nan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, panting heavily. Since becoming a Level 5 Awakened, this was the first time he truly felt physically exhausted and fatigued.

"Brother, are you okay?" Xu Zhi put away his Mountain-Cleaving Saber, looking at the ground covered with corpses, his face filled with surprise as he looked at Chu Nan.

Chu Nan slowly supported himself to stand, shook his head, and said, "Thank you."

Xu Zhi smiled and said, "What's there to thank? I'm Xu Zhi, how should I address you?"

Seeing that Chu Nan was also a Level 5 Awakened and had killed so many Zombies and Undead, Xu Zhi was very impressed and spoke very politely.

Chu Nan gave his name and looked at the ground, where there were at least three hundred corpses. He felt a bit excited.

Especially the corpse of the Bone-Armored Undead.

The pineal gland of the Bone-Armored Undead contained enough primal force to match that of a hundred ordinary Zombies.

If he extracted the pineal glands from all these corpses, absorbed the primal force, and devoured it, Chu Nan knew without a doubt that he could break through his current realm and awaken to a more powerful level.

The primal force he had absorbed was already quite substantial.

However, with Xu Zhi and others present, and being quite injured himself, Chu Nan couldn't conveniently extract these pineal glands for now, to avoid arousing suspicion. He had his own plans.

"Brother Chu, why don't you join us? It's already dark, and we just found a lot of food," Xu Zhi said excitedly. A team like his, with someone as strong as Chu Nan, would greatly enhance their strength and survival capabilities.

"Yeah, the boss is really nice. These past few days, we've all relied on him to survive. By the way, our resting place is very close. This damned city is terrifying during the day, and even more so at night. Why don't you rest with us for the night?" The skinny man looked at Chu Nan, also very excited.

Chu Nan neither confirmed nor denied, but finally nodded and said, "That would be a bother."

Seeing him agree, Xu Zhi laughed and said, "No problem, Brother Chu, let's go. We have a new companion."

The team of twelve became thirteen. Chu Nan picked up the spider claws and silently followed. He didn't plan to act with these people, but he was quite injured and needed a place to rest for the night. Moreover, he couldn't forget about the pineal glands in the corpses.

They returned to the place where they had found the food. Everyone worked together to move the large concrete blocks and each took as much food, drinks, and water as they could carry, then headed to their base. Chu Nan silently memorized the location and route.

The sky was completely dark.

A moon with a faint red hue quietly climbed into the night sky, and a faint, umbrella-shaped glow rose from the distant Jiangtian City.

Chu Nan turned back, squinting his eyes, and knew that once night fell, the Gaia Monument would emit a gentle light, enveloping the area.

In this light, as long as one was not dead, any injuries could be easily healed.

Xu Zhi, who was leading the group, suddenly twitched his ears and stopped abruptly, whispering, "Everyone, wait!"

The others stopped. The skinny man asked, "Boss, what's wrong? Did you hear something?"

"There's movement about 800 meters away... Hmm? One person and one dog... They're heading this way." Xu Zhi frowned as he spoke.

Although it was dark, affecting everyone's vision, his hearing was unaffected.

Chu Nan looked at Xu Zhi and suddenly realized he was a good companion. With him, any movement within a kilometer would not escape his ears, making it impossible to be ambushed or surrounded by enemies.

When Xu Zhi mentioned one person and one dog, Chu Nan's heart stirred. They stopped, and soon, sounds came from the distance.

A figure was leaping continuously, closely followed by another dark shadow.

Chu Nan's eyes were sharp, and he saw that the leaping figure was a thin, black-clad man with long arms and legs, moving very quickly.

Tightly following behind was a dog, but it was enormous, larger than a South China tiger, with thick fur standing on end, making it look even more imposing. Its eyes glowed with a cold, eerie light, like a demon in the darkness.

Chu Nan's heart skipped a beat when he saw the dog—it was Cane Ear.

Cane Ear had tracked him from the suburbs to Jiangtian City and then disappeared, but he never expected to encounter him again at this moment.

Cane Ear's body had grown even larger, and his speed, strength, and agility had become even more terrifying.

Chu Nan was certain it had evolved again.

The thin, black-clad man who was fleeing had terrifying skills. His right hand had five claws that had specially evolved, each about a foot long. With a casual swipe, these claws could cut deep into a concrete wall.

The sharpness of these claws was no less than that of Chu Nan's spider claws.

This black-clad man was clearly a Level 5 Awakened, and his awakened gene power was the special evolution of his right hand's five claws.

These claws could retract to a normal state or extend to about a foot long. Their hardness and sharpness exceeded that of steel blades.

However, despite being a Level 5 Awakened with such terrifying claws, the black-clad man was fleeing from Cane Ear.

Chu Nan, also a Level 5 Awakened, originally thought that with his magnifying glass, he had an additional way to absorb primal force, so his evolution speed should be faster than others. But now he suddenly realized that Level 5 Awakened individuals in Jiangtian City were as common as cabbage.

Su Yao's parents, Su Xianyi and Miao Xiu, were Level 5 Awakened.

Chu Nan could勉强 accept this because Su Xianyi and Miao Xiu were martial arts experts, starting from a higher base.

However, on this journey, he had encountered a team led by Xu Zhi, who was a Level 5 Awakened, and now he had run into Cane Ear and this black-clad man, who had also reached the Level 5 stage.

"It seems the survival pressure in Jiangtian City is extremely harsh. Those who have survived until today are not simple," Chu Nan thought to himself.

He had come from the suburbs to Jiangtian City and encountered few Zombies or Undead. Without the magnifying glass, he would not have reached the Level 5 Awakened stage.

But the survivors who had lived in Jiangtian City from the beginning were different.

After the earthquake, the entire city had become a world of monsters, with countless Zombies reviving.

To survive, these survivors had to constantly fight, so those who had stayed in Jiangtian City from the beginning evolved much faster than he did.

Just like Chu Nan, he had encountered hundreds of Undead and Zombies just by walking around.

"From the earthquake to today, those who have survived in Jiangtian City are not weak," Chu Nan thought, noticing that the thin, black-clad man had seen them and was running towards them.

Cane Ear suddenly saw a group of people gathered and stopped abruptly. His cold, eerie eyes flickered, and then he saw Chu Nan.

"This guy is still alive, and he has evolved... To be able to chase a Level 5 Awakened black-clad man to the point of fleeing, Cane Ear must be at least a Level 5 mutant," Chu Nan stared at Cane Ear, who stopped about thirty meters away, clearly very alert.

Xu Zhi waved his hand slightly, and the group put down their food and spread out, intending to surround Cane Ear.

Cane Ear's cold eyes glanced at the group, then he suddenly turned and leaped onto a pile of rubble, disappearing into the darkness.

With Cane Ear gone, the thin, black-clad man who had fled to them let out a long sigh of relief, retracted his foot-long claws, and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"This dog is really bizarre," the black-clad man said, turning to see Chu Nan and Xu Zhi and others, a smile on his face. "Thank you all. Without you, I wouldn't know how to get rid of this dog."

Chu Nan said, "You're already a Level 5 Awakened, and you're still afraid of this dog?"

The black-clad man was taken aback and said, "How do you know I'm a Level 5 Awakened... Oh, are you also a Level 5 Awakened?"

Seeing Chu Nan nod, the black-clad man's face showed a hint of surprise, seemingly not expecting anyone else to have reached the Level 5 Awakened stage besides himself.

"My name is Su Hui, a Level 5 Awakened. How should I address you all? What levels are you? That damned dog... really gave me a headache. Thank you all." Su Hui bowed deeply, very politely.

---

**Recommended Book:**

**Title:** Evolution in the Apocalypse

**Author:** Yechaxiang

**Synopsis:** On the day of the disaster, the prelude to the end of the world began.

On that day, humanity entered its darkest moment, and from then on, human civilization began to advance rapidly.

Terrifying alien species invaded Earth, and an unknown fear enveloped the world. What will become of humanity?

During an Earth defense battle, Jiang Chen died unexpectedly, but when he awoke, he found himself back to the days before the disaster.

A mysterious Light Pivot system gave him the hope to protect his loved ones and survive. Everything started anew!