After burying the bones and the zombies, Shanhai asked a curious question. 

In the first cycle, those who died before the final battle against the zombie horde—like the Colonel—couldn’t participate in the cycle. But in the second cycle, they and Wu Yun had all perished first. How could they still appear in the third cycle? 

Jian Xingyi smiled. “Speaking of that, it’s another safety net—a contingency plan the Doctor and I discussed earlier. Do you know why there are heroes’ tombstones on Peace Mountain? It’s for this very reason. We loaded key individuals into the system as a precaution, just in case. It’s a protective measure. The only pity is that the system can only accommodate five; any more than that is impossible. We exploited a glitch to let Wu Yun and Cangshui take up one of those slots. That’s why Cangshui hasn’t been able to regain his legs after several reincarnations—their mechanisms aren’t complete.” 

I see… 

Shanhai thought to himself, no wonder there are still tombstones on Peace Mountain even though it’s a cycle of reincarnation. And at that moment, Jian Xingyi began to feel dizzy again. He looked down and saw that all the exposed skin on his body was mottled blue. While he still had his wits about him, Jian Xingyi immediately opened the synthesis machine to craft a potion. 

But upon opening it, he realized—oh my… he hadn’t even obtained the Reishi mushroom yet! 

He’d thought the Red Spider Lily was the hardest ingredient to obtain, but he’d forgotten that the Reishi mushroom wasn’t exactly a walk in the park either. Jian Xingyi scratched his head. Just as he was about to use the Wish Bottle, he suddenly remembered something. 

He could still synthesize it! 

He hadn’t yet decided whether to open the two S-rank seeds he’d obtained from the Ice Lake Nirvana directly or try his luck with synthesis—either way, it was a long shot… so he might as well give it a shot. 

Jian Xingyi took a deep breath. He first synthesized quite a few of the remaining seeds to build a safety net. 

After synthesizing quite a few with the expected lack of results, Jian Xingyi took a deep breath, clutching the Koi Necklace in one hand and the Shanhai in the other as he tapped the screen. 

Breathe in some good luck, breathe in, breathe in!! 

He’s already this unlucky—he’s even been infected. Surely giving him one successful synthesis shouldn’t be a problem, right? 【Player 【Xinghe】, do you confirm synthesizing 2 S-rank seeds into 1 SS-rank seed?】 Yes!

【Seed synthesis in progress: 10%, 20%…】 

After clicking “Synthesize,” Jian Xingyi—who wasn’t feeling well to begin with—was so nervous she felt like she was going to throw up. 【Seed Synthesis Loaded】 

【Seed Synthesis Successful! Player 【Xinghe】 has obtained an ultra-rare SS-grade seed!】 

!!! It worked! 

It worked……!!! 

Jian Xingyi’s fingers trembled slightly as she tapped to open it, revealing a bag of seeds shimmering with golden light in his inventory. Good, good, good… 

It was worth waiting until now to summon it with such 

devotion! Jian Xingyi continued to open it with reverence. 

【Variety: SS-Rank Rubber Tree x30】 

【Description: The foundation of all creation.】 

【Source: Synthesizer.】 Good news: it’s a great item. 

Bad news: it’s not a Reishi mushroom. 

Ugh, ugh, ugh, waaah… 

Well, it’s not like it’s completely useless, but… 

Jian Xingyi planted the rubber trees with a heavy heart. 

He had no idea what purpose this served. Could it be something like a vine? But this is SS-grade, after all! In any case, she planted it first and then dutifully used the Wish Bottle… 

“Hm? What’s this?”

Shanhai frowned slightly from the side, pointing at the tombstone of the Second Group. 

They hadn’t been paying attention for a moment, and now the tombstones were covered in flowers. 

This made sense; in fact, almost every grave they’d encountered had bloomed, allowing him to collect the flowers, as if the deceased had left something behind for him. 

This time, it was a red spider lily, but just like the flowers on the 01 and 02 tombstones, it was an item that couldn’t be picked. The red spider lily only had an effect when there was just one flower, but Jian Xingyi was still delighted—after all, she could still collect essence points, and with a bit of luck, it might even drop seeds! 

Jian Xingyi turned around with a smile and activated his skill. 

【Harvest Successful, Absorbed 【Essence】 x24】 

【Harvest Successful, Absorbed 【Essence】 x20】 

【Harvest successful, absorbed 【essence】 x17】 

It was more than the essence value from the third trip to the island, yet not as terrifying as the first trip’s numbers—but overall, it was still more than enough. The essence value obtained in this memory bubble, combined with the Amaryllis and previous gains, totaled 900 points! 

Jian Xingyi was extremely satisfied. 

【Harvest successful. Congratulations to the player on obtaining an S-rank seed!】 

【Collection successful, obtained 【Reishi】 seeds x40】 

Jian Xingyi: “?” 

Huh? 

Huh??? Huh… 

Holy cow!!!!! This is a jackpot!!!!

My wish has come true in the most unexpected way—how dramatic! 

Jian Xingyi’s mouth twitched. 

Thanks to him, he’d made his dream come true for the second time! What do you call that? Planning ahead for the “future”! Jian Xingyi was a little surprised—so the lingzhi was S-rank after all, not SS-rank. But regardless, he had obtained it! Jian Xingyi immediately synthesized the medicine and took it. 

The potion was like an elixir of immortality; as soon as Jian Xingyi drank it, he felt a wave of comfort wash over his entire body. The chill he’d been feeling, along with the aches in his body, vanished instantly. 

Jian Xingyi breathed a sigh of relief. 

He was alive—and he’d made it without using a single Wish Bottle. Just as he expected! 

Then the two of them opened their terminals to let everyone know they were safe. 

Xinghe: 【I’ve fully recovered and have also discovered a method to synthesize a cure for the infection. It will be available in the store soon. Thank you all for your concern.】 

【Aaaah, Xinghe, I’m so glad you’re okay, sniff sniff!!! That’s wonderful—good deeds really do come back to you!】 

【Holy crap? Is that even Chinese? Synthesize, treat infections, and administer medicine?】 

【Holy crap—the boss can even figure this out???】 

Everyone was in disbelief; the guild members were all stunned. 

Xinghe: 【I only found out from Shanhai that you all went to such trouble for me, even risking your lives to find the Red Spider Lily. Thank you all!】 

Heiye: 【No problem. We teamed up with the folks from Grapevine Peak, so it wasn’t dangerous. We didn’t find the Red Spider Lily, but we did discover quite a few strange and useful things… I’ll sort them out and send them to you later.】 

After explaining the situation, they briefly wrote up a report on what they’d seen and found and posted it in the admin group. 

Yu Shen: 【Oh my god… Reading this gave me the chills. Thank goodness it was just me and Wan Yu on Rainforest Mountain this time—I didn’t drag any of you into it. And since Wan Yu is dead, we managed to get through this crisis.】

Bai Jie: 【It wasn’t entirely Wan Yu’s fault. Based on your account, we were definitely lacking in timing, location, and teamwork last time, and we didn’t have the support system either. Fortunately, everyone was very united this time, and Xinghe’s call was answered by all.】 

Cangshui: 【So when can I go take a look?】 

Cangshui couldn’t wait to see these walls they’d built on their own, without relying on the system. The advantage of building them yourself was the high degree of freedom; the downside was having to find the materials yourself. 

Xinghe: 【Just use the trade portal to teleport over. I’ve already granted you teleportation permissions to the island for the second run.】

Cangshui: 【Great!】 

Cangshui and his group teleported over to meet them. Without wasting any time on small talk, Cangshui and Wu Yun quickly began inspecting the city walls. 

“Unfortunately, it’s hard to identify the materials… I think we’ll need some time to figure out what they are,” Cangshui said with a frown. “But it won’t be easy to find them—after all, these are in-game materials.” 

Jian Xingyi suddenly thought of an item. Jian Xingyi said, “You guys take your time figuring this out here. Shanhai and I have something to attend to, so we’ll head out first.”

“Oh, okay!” 

Shanhai followed Jian Xingyi as they teleported to the snow-capped mountains. He asked curiously, “What’s going on?” Jian Xingyi said, “There’s an item I’ve been holding onto for a while—I just couldn’t bring myself to use it. Now, the time has finally come.” Jian Xingyi took out the Snow Spirit Talisman from his backpack. 

Jian Xingyi had a total of three battle talismans: this one, the Heroic Spirit Battle Talisman, and the Wish Talisman. 

The Battle Talismans were old friends; they were currently equipped on Shanhai to gain experience. The Wish Talisman allowed him to give the Snow Spirit any item once a week and receive a small reward in return. Jian Xingyi did this every week, though he hadn’t received anything particularly valuable yet—most of the Snow Spirit’s rewards were dawn coins and leveling materials. 

But this Snow Spirit Talisman is different. 

【Snow Spirit Talisman: You may ask the Snow Spirit about a past mystery, a current dilemma, or a future prophecy—limited to once per month】 

This talisman can only be used once a month, and the cooldown is long, so Jian Xingyi had been reluctant to use it until now. Now he understands: the Holy Son is also a safety net they left behind, because as an NPC, he serves as a repository of knowledge. With the talisman, Jian Xingyi can now converse with him.

Originally, he could only ask one question per month, but after an upgrade, it increased to three questions, and then to three conversations. 

Each conversation lasts ten minutes, so Jian Xingyi now has a total of 30 minutes. 

Jian Xingyi activated the talisman. 

【Player 【Xinghe】 has activated the Snow Spirit Talisman and is about to enter 【the Mindscape of the Holy Son】】

When he opened his eyes again, Jian Xingyi found himself surrounded by a vast expanse of white, just as he had when he encountered the Holy Son in the dungeon earlier. 

Snow was falling all around. The Holy Son sat cross-legged on a platform, eyes closed in meditation, while the snowflakes swirled around him, piling up in a ring of snow at the base of the platform. 

Time was of the essence, and since the Holy Son had renounced his past and no longer recognized him, Jian Xingyi asked directly, “When is our final zombie tide?” 

This was the most pressing issue at the moment. 

How much time remained until the final battle, which the system had not yet announced? 

The Holy Son spoke, his voice echoing ethereally as if from a great distance, “Fifteen days.” 

……! 

Less than twenty days remained—this was already extremely urgent! 

Jian Xingyi swallowed hard and asked, “What will the final battle be like?” 

“It will combine elements of the first and second zombie waves.” 

Jian Xingyi understood—it would essentially be an upgraded version of the previous two. 

Jian Xingyi asked, “If we win and survive, will there be no more natural disasters or zombie viruses in the future?” 

“It will take five years for the game and reality to fully merge.” 

This matched Jian Xingyi’s speculation—in other words, as long as they survived, the Ark would be a success! 

After the Ark’s success, it would set sail for five years—meaning that once the system had been operational for five years, the game’s settings would completely fade away, but the real-world disasters would vanish along with them.

The optimization will be fully complete! 

Jian Xingyi continued, “What are the materials for the second-phase city walls?” 

“Island white sand, volcanic ash stone, and rainforest black mud.” 

Jian Xingyi silently took note and continued, “What about the proportions of these components?” 

“That depends on the land, climate, and environment. You’ll have to figure that out yourself.” 

“Oh…” 

If the Holy Son hadn’t become indistinguishable from the system after the sacrifice, Jian Xingyi might have seen a look of helplessness on his face. 

【Ding!】 

【Player 【Xinghe】 has only two minutes remaining of their ten-minute conversation time. Do you wish to activate the Snow Spirit Talisman to initiate a second conversation?】Jian Xingyi paused for a moment, then clicked “No.” He didn’t have anything else he wanted to ask for the time being. 

Oh… right. 

Jian Xingyi asked, “Do you think we’ll succeed?”

“60% chance.” 

Jian Xingyi chuckled softly. That’s enough. 

Before the Holy Son completely vanished, Jian Xingyi asked again, “Um… do you still remember me?” 

“……” 

“I wish you success.” 

The conversation ended. 

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Hiii!! With other stories about to end, here are our new ones. Check them out:

Global Survival: From a Small Wooden Cabin to a Magic Farm
Island Survival: Life-Type Player Farms and Hoards Goods.
Lord of the Wastelands
Transmigrating to the Beast World to Farm and Raise a Wolf