In the following days, Katherine continued experimenting by sensing the way spirit nts absorbed corpse cores, continuously ripening fruits and vegetables, and selecting nts that might react to corpse cores.


    This experimentation was extremely tedious and boring, and her own Chi capacity was limited.


    Although she was nurturing ordinary nts, the sheer quantity was overwhelming.


    Therefore, she focused mainly on evenings when she had no other ns to conduct these ripening and selection experiments.


    Finally, tonight, after exhausting her Chi once again, she found a nt among dozens that showed a faint reaction to the corpse cores.


    Excited, unable to wait until the next day, she dragged Grace along to practice the Hun Yuan Technique together to restore their Chi.


    Finally, in thete hours of the night, she ripened the nt that showed a faint reaction to the corpse cores, expending all her energy to fully mature the potted tomato seedling.


    Seeing the branchesden with bright red tomatoes, they couldn''t contain their joy.


    Coincidentally, Elijah arrived at that moment, and they excitedly recounted everything to him.


    Though Elijah didn''t see the fluorescent glow characteristic of spirit nts on the tomato seedling, after tasting one, he did sense the trace amounts of Chi within.


    As the saying goes, the first step is always the hardest, and this sessful first step meant they were on the right track!


    Having a low Chi content was okay; they could continue to cultivate and select.


    More importantly, these nts they cultivated themselves, containing trace amounts of Chi, could be propagated on arge scale.


    Little by little, a qualitative change woulde sooner orter.


    Thinking of all this, Elijah couldn''t contain his joy at the time, hugging and touching Katherine affectionately, eventually involving Grace unavoidably...


    Last night, Katherine and Grace had worked tirelessly into the early hours, so Elijah decided not to wake them in the morning.


    He went downstairs alone and found a quiet spot outside to practice his daily Hun Yuan Technique.


    After finishing his morning exercises and returning to his vi, Elijah discovered Emily eagerly waiting for him on the ind.


    Taking advantage of everyone being upied with breakfast preparations, Elijah ripened another growth stage of zombie grass into awakening readiness.


    Following his usual process, he made a potion and handed it to Emily.


    Emily was ecstatic and, under everyone''s watchful eyes, she drank the potion and sessfully awakened her ability!


    Her ability, like Abigail and Quentin''s, focused on defense.


    Pairing well with Gabriel''s offensive speed-based abilities, they formed a bnced team—one focusing on defense, the other on swift attacks.


    Emily was naturally thrilled as she had long desired such capabilities. While her offensive skills were not exceptional like some others, her newfound defensive strength greatly enhanced her sense of security.


    After breakfast, Emily joyfully departed, and Elijah tasked Katherine with arge quantity of corpse cores.


    Her primary mission was to ripen the seeds obtained from the mutated tomato nt from yesterday and nt them all in the greenhouse, with Grace assisting on the ind.


    These tomatoes didn''t require special ripening; they would grow by absorbing corpse cores.


    Katherine would then select and cultivate nts with high efficiency in absorbing corpse cores, aiming to gradually breed varieties closer to spirit nts.


    Katherine believed these tomatoes had already be apletely new species and suggested Elijah name them.


    Seeing the bright red fruits packed with miraculous Chi, Elijah decided to call them "Red Fruit No. 1."


    With Katherine''s tasks set, Elijah, apanied by Charlotte, Daisy, Olivia, and Lily, drove to the coastal service area.


    There, they met up with Gabriel and Quentin''s group, preparing to head to another mall in the southwest direction.


    Emily oversaw the coastal service area while Fiona, with Zoey''s assistance, managed inventory there. Zoey, learning of Emily''s morning awakening, worked even harder.


    Quentin and hispanions had cleared the route to their gathering point smoothly, but beyond that, they encountered increasing numbers of zombies pouring onto the streets from various buildings and neighborhoods.


    Despite Quentin''s efforts to clear them the previous night, the zombies continued to appear.


    However, with Quentin and Elijah working together, they quickly dispatched the zombies.


    Quentin had spent the night practicing body forging techniques and, though not yet fully proficient, had already felt significant physical improvement, a sentiment shared by Ivy and Zachary.


    While Ivy and Zachary had not awakened as early as Quentin, Ivy guarded the gathering point, and Zachary managed the gas station, allowing them ample time for practice.


    Seeing their progress motivated Quentin to redouble his efforts, aware that Ivy and Zachary might surpass him if he ckened.


    Nevertheless, Quentin wasn''t overly concerned, knowing physical fitness didn''t equate tobat prowess.


    Ivy, despite limited experience fighting zombies, and Zachary, who had faced life and death situations with him,gged behind inbat skills.


    Witnessing Charlotte effortlessly dispatch zombies left Quentin astonished.


    Her movements were simple yet effective, devoid of unnecessary actions, akin to a gazelle''s swift horns.


    Charlotte''s mastery of body forging techniques was truly remarkable.


    Daisy, Lily, and Olivia also impressed Quentin and his team with their decisive and efficient kills of the zombies. They were no weak women but rather a group of Valkyries in battle!


    Gabriel''s performance restored their confidence somewhat, but even inbat, Charlotte guided Gabriel, visibly improving his fighting abilities.


    This made Quentin and hisrades envious, prompting them to study seriously alongside him.


    Meanwhile, Elijah remained rtively idle during the journey, observing everyone attentively.


    Whenever he spotted a well-preserved zombie, he would swiftly capture it, imnt a Seed of Consciousness, and feed it two corpse cores.


    Elijah nned to cultivate another batch of zombies so they would have a variety of abilities for future outings.


    With asional stops to clear zombies along the way, the two groups unknowingly arrived at their destination.


    After gradually getting ustomed to each other, Charlotte gradually evolved into the true leader of the two groups.


    Upon reaching the mall, she organized the clearing operations based on each person''s abilities and weapons,mencing their work to purge the sprawling mall.


    Unlike the previous mall they had upied, this one was significantlyrger, integrated with a skyscraper, and upied a vast area, teeming with numerous zombies.


    It even housed a few advanced first-tier zombies, two of which had awakened abilities. However, Elijah swiftly dealt with them.


    The team continued clearing until dusk, barely securing most areas of the mall. However, their activities seemed to have attracted more zombies to the perimeter.


    With nightfall approaching, clearing the zombies surrounding the mall would take too long!


    Although Elijah wasn''t afraid of nighttime operations, he had to consider the others. Therefore, the group unanimously decided to spend the night inside the mall.


    This was part of their pre-departure n, ensuring their absence from the base didn''t cause concern.


    Moreover, they now controlled the underground supermarket, ensuring ample supplies for food and drink.


    That night, Elijah diligently practiced throughout, regretting he couldn''t enjoy another yful evening with Jasmine. He missed the bumpy ride back to his room from outside the vi.