Chapter 124: The Power of Lightning

Despite the extravagant dinner spread, no one had any appetite left; they simply wanted to finish quickly so Fang Xia could go into his room to level up. Compared to eating, they were far more interested in Fang Xia’s second ability.

In less than half an hour, they had wrapped up the meal.

"Yunyun, don't clear the dishes yet. We can keep eating once Brother Fang is done. Such a joyous occasion calls for drinking until we drop," Jing Ru said. Even in these circumstances, she still hated to see anything go to waste.

"Fine. If I manage to gain a second ability, the whole team will take a day off tomorrow, and we’ll drink until we drop tomorrow night," Fang Xia decided. Naturally, none of the others had any objections.

Jing Ru happily began preparing for the celebration. She, too, was full of confidence in Fang Xia. The other women sat in the living room, some reading, others balancing the books.

Fang Xia took the talent potion and one thousand Tier 3 upgrade crystals into his room alone.

"Oh, I think I forgot something. I also rolled a standard upgrade potion. Who is that for? I forgot to ask Brother Fang," Bai Xing realized belatedly. She decided to just wait until Brother Fang came out; it was definitely meant for Li Xiaochun anyway.

Fang Xia sat alone on his bed, surrounded by upgrade crystals. He looked at the pale purple talent potion in his hand and, after a moment's thought, decided to set it aside for now. He would wait until he reached Tier 5 to consume it; perhaps the success rate would be higher at a higher level.

He calmed his mind and looked at the azure upgrade crystals, feeling a bit more at ease. The last time he went through this was during his promotion to Tier 4, and the pale green of the Tier 2 crystals had made him incredibly anxious.

He grabbed one and tossed it into his mouth. Same formula, same taste—it melted instantly. Having done this many times, Fang Xia was now quite calm about the leveling process. He used both hands to shovel them into his mouth; there was no need to chew.

Fang Xia had always believed that these things were just energy crystals and that there should be a way to extract the energy without having to eat them, much like the spirit stones in the fantasy novels he read before the apocalypse. But since no one knew how, they were stuck with the crude method of consuming them. Looking at that Tier 5 zombie, it didn't seem to have any sophisticated methods either; it just ate them. Even the instinct of low-level zombies was to eat.

While his mind wandered, his hands didn't slow down. Within a few minutes, he had consumed three or four hundred of them. The power of a Tier 4 combatant was truly terrifying. The process followed the same pattern as every previous upgrade. With calm efficiency, he reached Tier 5.

"Ability upgraded successfully."

"Teleportation: Reach any location within a 200-meter radius centered on yourself instantly. Ignores obstacles, can carry two people. Can be used three times per day."

His Teleportation had upgraded again; the range had doubled, and he could now carry more people. At this rate, by the time he reached Tier 8 or 9, could he teleport an entire team at once? Just thinking about it was exhilarating.

In addition to the ability upgrade, Fang Xia’s physical constitution had been greatly enhanced. He realized that the improvements became increasingly terrifying as he progressed. He was now strong enough to take on all the Tier 4s in Dawn City at once. The biggest gain was his speed. In his eyes, the speed of Tier 4s was sluggish; they couldn't possibly land a hit on him.

Killing that Tier 5 zombie before had truly been a matter of luck. If he hadn't had Teleportation and Bai Xing hadn't had Shadow, they wouldn't have stood a chance against a Tier 5, unless they used human waves to wear it down. Those two abilities had compensated for their lack of speed, while their weapons provided the necessary attack power, allowing them to successfully slay the beast. Even then, Bai Xing had nearly perished.

Now that he was Tier 5, it was time to look at the talent potion. He didn't know if he would succeed this time. He took the potion from his spatial storage, the pale purple liquid soothing to look at. After staring at it for a long while, Fang Xia finally uncorked the bottle and downed it in one gulp.

He stopped overthinking it. Life or death was up to fate. He just hoped he would get an ability; he really wanted to experience the thrill of being a dual-ability user.

A dozen seconds later, the sensation he felt when he first awakened his ability returned. It felt as if something were trying to crawl out from his brain. This, he assumed, was the ability he was about to awaken.

*There's a chance,* Fang Xia thought with a grin.

But as the thing tried to emerge, it suddenly stopped. Fang Xia didn't know how to guide it, so he could only watch awkwardly. A few seconds later, the entity seemed to discover a problem and abruptly retreated.

Last time, this was likely the reason he had fainted. Now, his mental strength was much greater; although his head throbbed with intense, piercing pain, he gritted his teeth and endured it. When he sensed that the thing had fully retreated, he was left speechless. *You crawled out that far, just come out already! You're wasting the opportunity! What happened to the dual ability?*

Fang Xia grew restless. Just as he thought it was over, the sensation returned. He quickly calmed himself to focus. In his mind, a new entity appeared. He could clearly feel that it was slightly different from the previous one—perhaps in its aura, or perhaps its level. But he couldn't dwell on that, as the pain surged once more.

"Damn it, why do I have to suffer the same agony twice for one ability awakening? Is this intentional?"

Complaining didn't reduce the pain in the slightest. Fang Xia could only rage helplessly. He didn't know how much time passed—it felt like an eternity, yet also like a fleeting moment. He wished he would just pass out like last time, so he wouldn't have to feel anything, especially not twice.

Finally, the pain stopped as abruptly as it had begun, leaving Fang Xia confused. Had it stopped? Had it not? He waited several minutes before confirming that the pain was truly gone.

"Ability awakened: Lightning Control."

As soon as this thought finished, his head began to ache again. *Are you kidding me? Is there no end to this?* But this time, the pain was much milder. He realized it was because he was now a Tier 5, and the newly awakened ability needed to synchronize with his system.

After a while, it finally came to an end.