Throughout the night, Paul interrupted his cultivation every hour to empty the machines. He repeated this until the next morning, just after 8 AM, when he heard the first voices outside the house, likely belonging to his friends and their parents, who were listening to the news on the radio about what was happening in the world.
In total, Paul managed to wake up six times, collect money, and return to cultivating. Over the night, he earned 7,000 SP and advanced from Qi Gathering III to Foundation Establishment Realm II. With the help of his cultivation method, it was a breeze. Compared to the monsters of the apocalypse, his strength was now equivalent to that of a middle-level threat monster.
Paul's notifications were flooded with messages like [Ding, your Realm increased] and [Your Health, Stamina, Strength, Defense, Agility, and Endurance have increased], as well as exchange notifications from converting money to SP. Paul's status saw a massive leap due to his drastic realm advancement.
[Stats]
[Health: 10 > 300 - 100/100 > 3000/3000]
[Stamina: 80/80 > 2400/2400]
[Strength: 9 > 270]
[Agility: 6 > 180]
[Defense: 7 > 210]
[Endurance: 8 > 240]
[Intelligence: 7 > 210]
[Mana: 12/12 > 360/360 (3,6 MP/sec)
[Cultivation Talent: ∞]
[Overall Battle Strength: 337,5]
[Free Stat Points: 0] +
In essence, all his stats had increased fifteenfold, making him comparable to a genuine middle-level threat monster.
"Paul," he heard a voice calling from outside, followed by knocking on the large metal door.
"I'm coming," Paul called out, standing up from his cross-legged position.
Paul opened the door to find a group of teenagers. Thore, Hannes, Karsten, Jere, Eric, and the others stood before him, likely waiting for instructions as they didn't know what to do at that moment.
"The world has changed. Accept it; you can't change it," Paul said to the others, with a serious expression and an imposing voice.
"What should we do now?" Hannes asked. He knew what he could do from movies, but now that it was all real, they were hesitant, probably because they were afraid of making a mistake and becoming one of the zombies.
"We adapt," Paul replied. "Anyone who didn't receive a cultivation technique from me yesterday will get one now. Learn it as quickly as possible and cultivate. The world has changed, and we need to deal with it."
The group was confused. How did Paul know all this? Where did he get all this, and most importantly, where did the house come from so suddenly?
"What good will all this do us? If we get bitten, we'll become one of them anyway!" Thore asked, frustrated by the many changes and unanswered questions he still had.
"That doesn't necessarily have to be the case."
"The stronger you become, the more resistant you'll be, and one day, you might even become immune."
"That's why the most important thing for now is for you to get stronger and for us to build this camp so we can be protected from the outside world," Paul answered, giving the group some hope and a goal.
"How do you know all this?" Max asked, now curious about where Paul got all this information.
"In the museum we were in, I found scrolls that told of the apocalypse and contained the cultivation method."
"The scrolls I gave you or will give you contain information you need to apply to break through your potential. These boundaries are called realms. Some of you might know this from mangas or novels; it's the same."
"These realms are divided into Qi Gathering Realm, Foundation Establishment Realm, Gold Core Realm, Soul Wandering Realm, and Nascent Soul Realm. Each of these is further divided into nine stages."
"For now, learn the basics and try to break through to the Qi Gathering Realm, then come to me."
After explaining all this to his friends, Paul bought each of them an Essence Gathering Cultivation Technique.
"So, start by learning this, and then come to me. I'll take care of the food and security for now, and you focus on getting stronger."
Paul then bought four more houses for the remaining four and sent them to the houses to cultivate.
"Let's take care of the shelter first."
Paul opened the shop, searching for something like a giant wall from Attack on Titan or a massive barrier.
After some searching, Paul found a [Defense Array] that sounded promising.
[Defense Array]
[A defense array powered by surrounding Mana and Qi. It can also be powered by Qi Stones or Mana Crystals. The size can be adjusted up to 500m. It can block attacks from Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators and, if powered by Qi Stones or Mana Crystals, attacks from Gold Core Realm cultivators.]
[Info: The array can be combined with other types of arrays and can be repaired.]
[Quality: Rare]
[Quantity: ∞]
[Cost: 1000 SP]
[Buy] [Back]
The array seemed like the perfect choice for the camp. It was affordable, at least for Paul, could be modified and adjusted, and was huge. So large that Paul could use it to enclose the entire village and parts of the forest.
"I'll take it," Paul said and bought the array.
[Ding, Congratulations, you've bought [Defense Array].]
After purchasing it, it appeared in his inventory, and Paul used it immediately. He chose the main house of his parents as the center of the array, as it could serve as the shelter's hub.
----------
A few hundred meters from the village
A group of deer ran through the forest when one of the deer, apparently the youngest of the group, suddenly hit a transparent barrier and was stopped in its tracks. The deer was the last of the group and thus further behind than the others. Now, after this barrier appeared, it was separated from its group.
Excitedly, the deer ran along the edge of the barrier, not knowing what to do. Its parents were on the other side, almost out of sight, and it stood there, unable to follow.
Suddenly, a hole opened in the barrier, large enough for it to pass through. Excitedly, it ran through and caught up with its family.
---------
In the village
"So, I can change the barrier as I want. Interesting," Paul said after familiarizing himself with it. He couldn't describe how he could change the barrier, but he just had a feeling that he could do anything he wanted and see everything happening within a few meters of the barrier.
"Now onto the food."
Paul opened the shop again, searching for a solution to the problem. Of course, he could keep buying food, but that seemed too stressful, so he looked for a better solution.
Paul thought of something like a machine that could produce food on demand, like a wish machine, but for food. Normally, this would seem impossible or something from the distant future, but for Paul, it was a piece of cake.
"System, shop, create item." Paul decided to use the create function for the first time. He found machines, but not exactly what he wanted, so he decided to create one.
[Item Name]
[Description (Use)]
[Info: (optional)]
[Quality: (Calculated by the System)]
[Quantity: ∞]
[Price: (Calculated by the System)]
[Create] [Cancel]
After some thought and writing, Paul was ready.
[Food Creating Machine]
[A machine that can create any food you desire, powered by Mana and Qi Stones] [Info: None]
[Quality: Rare]
[Quantity: ∞]
[Price: 100 SP]
[Create] [Cancel]
After Paul created and bought the machine, he placed it in the main house's kitchen and bought 100 [low-quality Qi Stones] for a total of 100 SP. He inserted one into the machine and stored the others in his inventory.
Paul had now solved the problems of security and food. The only remaining issues were water and sleeping arrangements.
He searched the shop for machines and houses, and after some time, he spent 245 SP. Of that, 145 SP was for four houses and the necessary accessories, as there were not only the group of boys but also four families. The remaining 100 SP was for a water source that produced water using Qi Stones.
Paul placed the four houses in a row behind the other eight. The area these houses now occupied was 100 meters in width and, with the houses in the second row, 15 meters in depth.
The sight of the houses all lined up resembled an American suburb, just without streets. Additionally, the houses looked nicer compared to Paul's concrete house and had two stories instead of the security features of Paul's house. This is why the price was almost the same as that of the concrete house.
He then sought out the families to guide them to their houses.
"There are now houses outside for all of you. Each family can choose one. You can get food and drink from the kitchen," Paul said to the group of parents in front of him.
"How is it possible that houses just appear out of nowhere?" Eric's mother asked.
"The world has changed. Things like magic and mythical creatures are now real. You need to get used to it," Paul replied with an unchanged expression.
Now that Paul had taken care of the shelter, he could now go hunt.