41: Chapter 41 Some Secrets About Superpowers (Abridged)

Time flew by!

Several hours had already passed.

Ye Fan stood slowly outside the Li family villa, gazing at the pitch-black sky with a face full of emotion.

During his previous back-and-forth with the system, he had already gained a thorough understanding of most of the things he wanted to know.

At the beginning, there were some things the system didn't want to tell Ye Fan, but it couldn't withstand his shameless persistence.

Ye Fan learned a secret from the system regarding the evolution of Supernatural Abilities.

The secret was that when one's Supernatural Ability reaches a critical point and needs to break through, in order to overcome the bottleneck of that stage...

...one needs to use a zombie crystal core of the same attribute as their Supernatural Ability.

Simply put, if one's Supernatural Ability is fire-attributed, to advance from Rank 1 to Rank 2, they would need to use a Rank 2 fire-attribute zombie crystal core to possibly upgrade their ability to Rank 2.

And so on by analogy!

However, this wasn't something Ye Fan needed to worry about; for him, the problem simply didn't exist.

"Sigh, it seems I really am lucky!" Ye Fan said, staring blankly at the night sky and sighing.

At that moment, Li Chongan slowly approached Ye Fan and spoke respectfully, "Master, the thirty-odd people we sent out to find zombie crystal cores have almost all returned now."

"Mm, I see. Have them get some good rest first! We'll talk about the rest tomorrow." Ye Fan didn't turn back to look at Li Chongan; his gaze remained fixed on the night sky, as if he were admiring some rare, beautiful scenery.

At this moment, there was nothing in the sky.

There was only a vast darkness and a sky full of dark clouds, firmly blocking out the stars and the moon.

"Yes, Master!" Li Chongan nodded quickly, then reached into his pocket and pulled out two zombie crystal cores. Approaching Ye Fan, he spoke slowly, "Right, Master! This is what they gathered today."

Only then did Ye Fan gradually snap out of it, his gaze falling on Li Chongan, who was holding a transparent zombie crystal core.

Ye Fan paused for a few seconds before slowly reaching out to take the transparent zombie crystal core from his hand.

"Mm, you did well!"

"This is only what I should do," Li Chongan said hurriedly and respectfully.

A faint smile appeared on Ye Fan's face as he asked in a level voice, "By the way, do you know any of the patterns regarding the advancement of Supernatural Abilities?"

"Reporting to Master, I really don't know about that."

"Oh! I thought you would know! Then how did you and your son Li Hao become Rank 2 Ability Users?" Ye Fan stared at Li Chongan, asking with a hint of disbelief.

Being stared at like this by Ye Fan, Li Chongan didn't feel a hint of fear or guilt; instead, he reminisced seriously.

"Master, you might not know! Originally, my Li family supported at least several hundred people, but in a single night, almost all of them turned into those gruesome zombies."

"Fortunately, these zombies aren't very intelligent. After several days of desperate fighting, we finally wiped out those who had turned!"

"However, while we were disposing of the zombie corpses, we found some strange crystal cores inside a few of them—two or three in total."

"Of course, we had no idea what these zombie crystal cores were for. We thought about throwing them away, but we were a bit reluctant."

"So, we conducted an experiment right there and had a survivor eat one of those zombie crystal cores."

"In the end, we found that the person who ate the zombie crystal core not only had no physical issues but actually gained a special ability."

Li Chongan's face was expressionless, just like Ye Fan's earlier; his gaze was fixed blankly on the horizon as he continuously recalled the scenes from before.

At this moment, Ye Fan didn't feel a hint of boredom; instead, he stood there in a daze, listening meticulously as Li Chongan recounted his story.

During the process, he couldn't help but nod slowly.

This was his way of responding!

"At the time, Li Hao and I were both extremely shocked. We even threatened that person, saying they must never leak this matter."

Li Chongan paused for a few seconds.

"And then?" Ye Fan quickly followed up.

"Then... then Li Hao tried it himself. To our surprise, he actually succeeded in gaining a special ability."

"I was very worried at first, but seeing him succeed, my heart was filled with joy and excitement."

"It was as if I had learned some great secret. After the success of those two, my confidence was overflowing, so I consumed the last zombie crystal core as well."

"Fortunately, I was also very lucky, and nothing went wrong..." Speaking to this point, there was a faint, imperceptible tremor in Li Chongan's voice, and his fingertips unconsciously rubbed his sleeve.

Li Chongan's throat bobbed a few times as he continued, "I also seemed to be blessed by heaven and gained this special ability!" He quickly extended his palm, staring slowly at his own palm with a gratified smile appearing on his face.

"After we learned about the effects of these zombie crystal cores, we didn't hesitate to spend a large amount of food to recruit other survivors to find more zombie crystal cores for us."

"As for how our Supernatural Abilities actually reached Rank 2? We really don't know! I only remember that the two of us each used about five or six zombie crystal cores." Li Chongan smiled, speaking with a bit of embarrassment.

"You father and son have pretty good luck! If I'm not mistaken, among the zombie crystal cores you used, there should have been some relatively special ones, right?" Ye Fan glanced at Li Chongan beside him, then his gaze fell back on the horizon as he spoke slowly.

Li Chongan was silent for a moment, then as if suddenly remembering something, he said quickly, "That's right! Among the zombie crystal cores I used, there was indeed one that was dark gray. As for my son Li Hao, I'm not too sure."

With a thought from Ye Fan, a dark gray zombie crystal core instantly appeared in his hand, and he tossed it up and down quickly.

"Like this?"

"That... that's right! It was just like that, except the zombie crystal core I used wasn't quite this big." Li Chongan stared at the zombie crystal core in Ye Fan's hand with a look of shock, then spoke up quickly.

"Seeing as your attitude is quite good, I'll reluctantly tell you a secret." A faint smile appeared on Ye Fan's face as he spoke slowly.

"Ah! What secret?" Li Chongan was slightly stunned and asked cautiously.

"Of course, don't spread this secret for the time being," Ye Fan cautioned with a smile.

"Yes, I definitely won't spread it."

"Mm! This secret is about the advancement of Supernatural Abilities. From what I just heard, your ability to become a Rank 2 Ability User was purely down to good luck!" Ye Fan walked a couple of steps with his hands behind his back, glancing at Li Chongan.

Upon hearing Ye Fan's words, a flash of excitement appeared in Li Chongan's eyes, but he suppressed it firmly, not letting it show on his face.

"Actually! For this Supernatural Ability advancement, you can usually use any zombie crystal core. But when you've absorbed enough power and reached a critical point where you want to break through! I have a method..." Ye Fan deliberately slowed his pace when he reached the last sentence.

Li Chongan stared at Ye Fan with a serious expression, as if he wanted to engrave every word Ye Fan said into his brain.

He didn't dare to let his mind wander for a second, afraid of missing a single word Ye Fan said, and he pricked up his ears meticulously.

Seeing this, Ye Fan first chuckled, then slowly spoke the final sentence, "That is to use a zombie crystal core with the same attribute as your own Supernatural Ability! Furthermore, the zombie crystal core needs to reach the corresponding rank."

"Ah! Use a zombie with the same Supernatural Ability?" Li Chongan was a bit confused by what he heard, his face full of bewilderment.

"That's right! I'll give you an example and you'll understand!" Ye Fan said with full confidence, then his face took on a serious expression as he said earnestly, "Take you for example; the Supernatural Ability you possess should be earth-attributed, right?"

"Correct! The ability I possess is indeed an earth-attribute Supernatural Ability." Li Chongan nodded hurriedly in agreement.

"When your Supernatural Ability reaches the peak of Rank 2 and you want to rise to Rank 3, then you must use a Rank 3 earth-attribute zombie crystal core. Do you understand?"

"Mm!" Li Chongan nodded repeatedly.

Despite this, his face was still full of doubt, as if he were a bit dazed!

"What? Do you have a question?"

"This lowly one indeed has one more question, and that is: do these zombies really possess special abilities too?" Li Chongan thought for a moment and asked quickly.

"Yes." Ye Fan said only that single word, his tone full of certainty.

Ye Fan immediately added another sentence, "However, they are extremely rare! Therefore, these zombie crystal cores with special abilities are very precious!"

Although Li Chongan heard Ye Fan's answer, the look of doubt in his eyes didn't diminish much.

As for why Li Chongan asked this question, it was precisely because in all these days, he had never encountered a single zombie with a special ability.

So after hearing what Ye Fan said, his heart was filled with confusion.

Li Chongan quickly hid the doubt in his eyes, bowed respectfully to Ye Fan, and thanked him quickly, "Thank you, Master, for telling me these things."

"There's no need for thanks; this is something you should know. As long as you follow my arrangements well in the future, there will naturally be no lack of benefits for you." Ye Fan held the dark black zombie crystal core in his hand and tossed it quickly in front of Li Chongan, speaking with a smile.

"Yes, whatever Master asks me to do in the future, I will certainly not hesitate!"

"Mm, good, I like people like that." Ye Fan nodded quickly, speaking in a satisfied tone.

"If Master has nothing else, then I will take my leave."

"Mm, go on, go on!" Ye Fan waved his hand quickly at the middle-aged man beside him.

After Li Chongan took his leave and departed, Ye Fan was left standing alone. Looking at the pitch-black sky, he let out a slow sigh.

"Sigh, just when will this apocalypse end?"

Then, he said to himself, "It's getting late, I should head back and rest too. I need to hurry and complete the system tasks to increase my strength!"

A playful smile appeared on Ye Fan's face as he let out a yawn and then stretched his limbs.

After finishing all this, he then turned around with a smile and walked toward the mansion.

...

Inside Ye Fan's room.

Su Wanqing sat blankly on Ye Fan's bed, her hands hugging her fair, delicate feet. When she saw Ye Fan enter the room...

...her face was covered in a shy blush. Her gaze drifted toward Ye Fan from time to time, and she sat on the bed shyly without saying a word.

Following the decision made by the three of them, it was her turn tonight to serve Ye Fan well.

Ye Fan approached the bedside with a wicked smile and sat down directly on the bed, quickly reaching out to support Su Wanqing's chin.

He quickly brought his body close to Su Wanqing's face and chuckled softly, "Are you staying with me tonight?"

"Yes... yes..." Su Wanqing's earlobes instantly turned hot, even redder than her cheeks. She didn't dare to look Ye Fan in the eye, and her shy voice was even a little stuttery.

"Don't worry! I'll definitely be gentle tonight. You're so fair and delicate, and since it's your first time, I definitely won't bully you."

"Ah~ what? I don't understand!" Su Wanqing's face was completely flushed, her voice a bit clingy, and she spoke quickly with a shy expression.

Hearing Su Wanqing's words, the smile on Ye Fan's face grew even wider, "It's fine! You'll understand in a bit anyway."

"Hmph!"

With that, Ye Fan directly...

Early the next morning!

Ye Fan slowly woke up from a sweet dream and saw Su Wanqing beside him, still fast asleep.

A tender smile appeared on Ye Fan's face as he reached out to tidy the strands of hair falling over Su Wanqing's cheek.

However, right at that moment...

Ye Fan's face broke into a smile.

In his mind, the system's voice suddenly rang out.

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the system task!]

[Reward obtained: 30 system points × 5]

[Reward obtained: physical enhancement serum 10ml × 5]

[Reward obtained: Lightning Talisman × 5]

[Reward obtained: Star Blade × 5]

Listening to these rewards, Ye Fan nodded slowly and said in a low voice, "Mm, not bad! I just wonder when I can get the next stage of rewards!"

Just as Ye Fan's words fell!

The system's voice rang out in his mind once again. Ye Fan's eyes instantly widened, "Oh! There's more?"

[Ding! Detected that Su Wanqing has successfully become pregnant!]

[Congratulations to the host for completing the system task!]

[Reward obtained: 300 system points × 5]

[Reward obtained: Three basic attributes—Strength, Speed, and Body Hardness—have each been upgraded to A+]

[Reward obtained: Metal Ability (Rank 1) Object Control—can control any metal object within a fifty-meter radius for own use.]

[Reward obtained: rapid recovery serum 10ml]

[Reward obtained: Star Blade × 20]

Listening to the series of reward announcements, a look of satisfaction appeared on Ye Fan's face.

He gently stroked Su Wanqing's nose with his finger and said softly, "Yo! I didn't expect you, little girl, to have such good 'luck' with pregnancy! You conceived after just one night."

...