The Entire Population Begins Cultivation

Helu City, Hongfu Tower.

A corner beside the staircase on the second floor.

Lin Yi held a Source Energy Crystal in his hand. Its source energy was slowly drawn out, then followed a strange path, circulating through his withered meridians with difficulty but steadily. As it brought a faint tingling warmth, like the winter sun, it silently nourished and strengthened his body.

He sank his awareness into himself, carefully savoring the long-missed, reassuring feeling of his strength slowly growing. The distant howls and explosions seemed to be cut off in another world.

This process of focusing on growing stronger was one of the few moments when Lin Yi had felt at ease while struggling to survive in his previous life.

Just then, hurried footsteps approached.

"Brother Yi, quick! Look at this!"

Chen Yu's face was flushed with excitement. He practically threw himself in front of Lin Yi, then shoved his phone into Lin Yi's hands.

Lin Yi was forcibly pulled out of his cultivation.

It felt like... well... it was a little annoying, to say the least.

But when he saw the light in Chen Yu's eyes, a mixture of joy and hope, he swallowed the words that had been on the tip of his tongue.

Never mind... I'll tell him next time. You can't shout right beside someone while they're cultivating...

It's only because it's me. If it were a novice who'd just started cultivating and didn't have enough control over source energy, getting distracted like that could make him lose control of the energy flow in the crystal. He wouldn't be seriously injured, but wasting a crystal would be inevitable.

Lin Yi grumbled to himself for a moment, then took the phone.

The familiar Emergency Center's official website appeared on the screen. But unlike before, when there had been only a solitary link, it was now filled with new content.

There were dense, formally formatted text announcements, as well as many concise but striking images.

The images showed the Abyssal Beasts identified so far, with captions beneath them such as "Abyssal Beast—Corrosive Abyss Wolf."

Lin Yi's heart gave a sudden leap, and his gaze quickly swept down the page.

[...After deliberation, the Supreme Command has decided to launch the "Spark" Survivor Shelter Plan, effective immediately...]

[...Based on current intelligence and analysis, the organisms invading from the alien space will officially be named "Abyssal Beasts." Their nests will be provisionally divided into six levels according to energy reaction intensity and overall threat level: Micro, Small, Medium, Large, Giant, and Main Nest...]

[...Attached are the features of each nest level, estimated territory maps, and a guide to identifying relatively safe "Gap Zones"...]

[...Attached is the full text of the Basic Source Energy Guidance Technique, an overview video, and an instructional video for Part One...]

[...Survivors far from designated settlements are advised, after ensuring their absolute safety, to carefully assess the risks and make their way to the nearest Nest Gap Zone when the opportunity arises. They may wait there for rescue or proceed to the nearest settlement to seek shelter...]

[...The military and local armed forces will make every effort to organize search-and-rescue operations and relocate survivors, protecting our compatriots as they make their way to settlements...]

[...All compatriots must be sure to save and record this information. Those sheltering in groups should conserve their phones' battery power and take turns using them when necessary. Electricity, communications, and the internet will be completely cut off in the near future...]

Every word struck Lin Yi's heart like a heavy hammer.

He found himself holding his breath.

How... how was this possible?!

Even Lin Yi, with all his composure, was momentarily stunned.

The official response was drastically different from what he remembered from his previous life.

In the first few days after the disaster began, the world had been nothing but chaos, like hell itself.

The government's vast war machine had bled itself dry trying to defend those critical strategic points. It had been powerless to help the civilians scattered across the country, and unable to contact them effectively.

It wasn't until three days after the disaster began that intermittent broadcasts announced the locations of a few large "safe zones" and urged survivors to make their own way there.

There had been no detailed maps of nest locations, no clearly defined concept of "Gap Zones," and certainly no full release of the Basic Source Energy Guidance Technique.

As for organized military search-and-rescue operations?

After so many troops had been spent fighting over strategic points, that had been little more than wishful thinking.

But Lin Yi could understand.

It wasn't that the government hadn't wanted to save people. It had truly been powerless—a brutal choice forced upon it. All it could do was prioritize preserving the last sparks of civilization's resistance and its core military forces.

But now?!

How long had it been?

From the start of the disaster to this moment, only half a day had passed.

It wasn't even dark yet!

The government had not only established a preliminary threat assessment system with astonishing efficiency, officially named the Abyssal Beasts, worked out the basic patterns of their territories, and drawn detailed Gap Zone maps, but had also announced plans for large-scale rescue operations and the establishment of so many settlements?

This efficiency, these decisions, this resolve... It was worlds apart from the tragic, helpless struggle of his previous life!

"But... why?"

After the shock, Lin Yi's thoughts raced.

Why?

Why was there such a huge difference between this life and his previous one?

"Could it be... because of my video?"

After turning it over in his mind, Lin Yi felt the only variable was his video.

As a high-ranking official, Lin Yi had naturally reviewed the records of the government's early actions in his previous life.

The government had obtained a crystal containing the Basic Source Energy Guidance Technique early on. But the information inside only described abstract cultivation paths and methods of sensing energy; it gave no clear indication of the technique's power or practical value.

With the survival of human civilization at stake, and faced with an individual path to strengthening oneself that seemed completely unknown and "intangible," the senior decision-makers could hardly stake the fate of the nation and the lives of countless soldiers and civilians on it right away.

So back then, the highest levels of government had been forced to fight on two fronts.

On one side, they poured top resources into trying to decipher and learn the Source Energy Guidance Technique, to see whether source energy cultivation and source energy technology were real treasures or poisonous bait. On the other, they spared no cost in fighting for the strategic points they believed were crucial.

In the end, they became trapped in a war of attrition, suffered heavy losses, and missed the crucial early window of opportunity.

But in this life, things had changed.

His video seemed to have given the highest levels of government a shot in the arm, showing them a new, viable path to strength and a new way of fighting—one that might even be better suited to the new era after the collapse of the traditional industrial system.

"What incredible resolve!"

Even as the one who had set all this in motion, Lin Yi couldn't help feeling sincere admiration for the current decision-makers.

To make a strategic shift affecting the fate of the entire nation in such a short time, based on nothing more than a video, took extraordinary decisiveness and a profound sense of responsibility.

They were taking on the risk of being condemned as the ones who let their nation fall and their people perish if things went wrong.

Putting himself in their shoes, Lin Yi didn't think he could do it.

"Li Zhenguo... No wonder you kept hearing people talk about him..."

In his previous life, after rising to the upper ranks, he had often heard the old men gather together and sigh over the tangled state of affairs. "If only Commander Li were still here... If he were, things would never have turned out like this..."

They said this highly respected, iron-fisted commander, who had been able to keep all sides in line, had fallen gravely ill from grief as the situation deteriorated rapidly in the early days of the apocalypse and the casualty figures became appalling. He had passed away soon afterward.

Though his successor had also done everything he could, he had never possessed the same prestige, resolve, or strategic judgment. As a result, many sound decisions in the middle and later stages had failed due to internal bickering or poor execution, and the various factions could not be effectively coordinated.

If it had been Li Zhenguo who had seen the video and forced this decision through despite opposition... then everything made perfect sense.

Perhaps only he had the prestige and resolve to make such a thunderous decision with disaster bearing down on him.

"Brother Yi, look here! There's the full text of the Source Energy Guidance Technique, and your instructional video is attached afterward! There's also a video explaining the introductory section."

Chen Yu had no idea how tumultuous Lin Yi's thoughts were. Excitedly, he jabbed a finger at the phone screen.

"I actually understood the video explaining the opening section! Uh... I'm not saying your teaching was bad. That old guy was just so good at it..."

"..."

Lin Yi gave Chen Yu a helpless pat.

"That guy's definitely an expert at teaching. Of course it makes sense that he explains things better than I do."

He didn't take it to heart. Every field had its specialists. A scholar teaching elementary school math wouldn't necessarily do a better job than an experienced elementary school math teacher.

While Chen Yu was excited about understanding the opening section of the Guidance Technique, Lin Yi was more concerned about what this would mean.

"The age of global source energy cultivation is about to begin..."

Lin Yi only needed a moment's thought to reach that conclusion.

Because the decision Li Zhenguo had made would affect far more than just Xia Country.

It would affect the whole world!

With the apocalypse arriving so suddenly, countries around the world would naturally be in frequent contact, discussing countermeasures and sharing information.

For instance, Xia Country had stopped considering the use of high-yield nuclear weapons because the Ross Federation had already test-fired two of them on a remote ice field, with little effect.

Although plenty of low- and mid-level Abyssal Beasts had died, the high-level ones were almost unaffected. The nests also seemed to be illusory, just as before, and had ignored the nuclear attack.

This time, Xia Country had suddenly made a major policy shift and released the complete Source Energy Guidance Technique. It was hard to imagine that other countries wouldn't be affected.

After all, in their eyes, Xia Country wouldn't make such a move without reason.

They might not believe right away that a single video had made Xia Country change its policy. They would assume there were deeper reasons that hadn't been disclosed. But everything was already a mess, so they might as well follow suit and learn the technique.

In Lin Yi's view, releasing the source energy cultivation method early was an entirely beneficial move.

In his previous life, after internet and communications had gone down, the only way to learn the Source Energy Guidance Technique in the early stages had been to risk killing Abyssal Beasts and hope to get a crystal. Now, it was being given away for free, available with a single click.

On top of that, the overview and introductory lessons were included, greatly lowering the barrier to learning.