Soon, Clayne began following the cultivation method deep inside his head.

The Five Elements of Destruction Cultivation Method.

The name itself sounded absurdly grand, enough that if someone had told him yesterday that he would one day sit inside a classroom during a zombie apocalypse while practicing an immortal cultivation technique from a miniature world, he would have laughed at them without hesitation.

But now, none of those thoughts mattered anymore.

Because the moment he followed the breathing pattern and circulation route written inside his mind, something immediately changed.

He could feel it.

At first, it was a feeble feeling.

But he’s sure there was a strange warmth moving inside his body.

Then slowly, it became clearer.

It traveled through him in flowing streams, passing through places he had never noticed before, threading through his chest, his arms, his spine, and even the back of his neck. It did not feel painful. Instead, it felt natural, as if those pathways had always existed and were only now being awakened.

Clayne’s breathing slowed further.

His thoughts became calmer.

The exhaustion from earlier did not disappear completely, but it no longer pressed against him as heavily as before.

The cultivation method continued unfolding inside his mind, each step appearing with impossible clarity, guiding him without confusion.

It was strange. In fact... too strange.

He had never meditated before.

Never practiced breathing exercises.

Never done anything even remotely spiritual.

And yet now, as he sat there cross-legged on the classroom floor, everything felt smooth, almost frighteningly smooth, as though an invisible hand was guiding him forward while making sure he would not make mistakes.

Then suddenly, he remembered that tiny screaming figure earlier he just swatted like a fly.

That strange old cultivator soul.

The noisy thing that kept punching him.

Clayne’s brows twitched slightly.

"...Maybe it’s because of him."

The thought surfaced naturally.

That little soul had probably done something before dying, because no matter how strange this cultivation method was, there was no way he should be learning this quickly.

But he did not stop.

Because at this moment, strength mattered more than questions.

Outside the classroom, the world remained drowned in death. The groans beyond the barricaded door still existed.

The zombies were still there.

And if he wanted to survive, he needed power.

Real power.

Soon, the room around him slowly began to stir.

At first, it was almost impossible to notice.

The loose papers scattered across the floor moved slightly.

Dust resting on the desks trembled.

The curtains hanging beside the cracked windows fluttered gently despite the absence of wind.

Then the changes grew stronger.

The air itself began moving.

A faint current formed inside the classroom, circling around Clayne’s body like invisible streams gathering toward a center point.

The temperature changed.

The room became colder for a moment, then warmer immediately after.

The desks creaked softly.

The metal legs beneath them vibrated against the tiles.

The entire classroom seemed to breathe.

Outside, the low groans of the undead grew restless.

Several shadows passed by the narrow glass window on the classroom door.

Something beyond the barricade scratched weakly against the wood before wandering away again.

But inside the room, another kind of movement was taking place.

Invisible energy slowly gathered. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

It came from everywhere.

From the air.

From the walls.

From the old floor.

From the light spilling through the windows.

Tiny strands of unseen power drifted toward Clayne before sinking into his body one after another.

The moment they entered him, he shivered slightly.

It felt cold.

Then warm.

Then heavy.

Then strangely refreshing.

The energy moved through his body following the cultivation method, passing through the invisible pathways within him before finally gathering deep inside his lower abdomen.

Clayne’s breathing grew deeper.

His heartbeat slowed.

The sensation became stronger and stronger.

The invisible energy entering him no longer came one strand at a time.

It flowed continuously now.

Like a stream.

Then like a river.

His body greedily absorbed everything.

The Five Elements of Destruction Cultivation Method operated on its own rhythm, refining the energy almost instantly after it entered him.

Clayne could feel his muscles tightening slightly.

His senses sharpened.

Even with his eyes closed, he could vaguely sense the classroom around him.

The location of the desks.

The direction of the windows.

Even the groaning beyond the door sounded clearer than before.

At the same time, deep within the miniature forest resting nearby, faint winds swept across the tiny trees.

Leaves trembled violently.

The river shook.

The spiritual energy inside that tiny world surged chaotically as if reacting to something far greater than itself.

...

Far away from the school, atop a building several streets away, a girl stood quietly on the edge of a rooftop.

Her school uniform fluttered behind her while blood stains covered parts of her sleeves.

Several corpses lay scattered nearby.

Some had crushed skulls.

Others had deep cuts running across their necks.

Her breathing remained calm despite the scene around her.

But her eyes...

Her eyes were filled with shock.

She stared toward the direction of the school in the distance.

"No way..."

Her brows slowly tightened.

"Someone awakened their Paragenes this early?"

Disbelief flashed across her face.

That should not have happened yet.

At least, not this soon.

She had regressed back in time.

She remembered the future clearly.

The chaos.

The evolution.

The mutation of humanity.

And among all of those things, the awakening of Paragenes was supposed to take time.

Some people awakened early.

But even then, the timing mattered.

Yet right now...

Someone inside her school had awakened ahead of schedule.

Earlier than even her.

"That’s impossible..."

She muttered quietly.

Then slowly, her expression became complicated.

Because she knew what that school would soon become a death trap.

In her previous life, one of the first large-scale undead mutations happened there.

Countless students died before they even understood what was happening.

The corridors became rivers of blood.

The classrooms became feeding grounds.

And those who survived...

Most of them wished they had not.

The girl exhaled slowly.

Even if someone had awakened their Paragenes inside the school, survival would still be nearly impossible.

Not while surrounded by that many undead.

Not while trapped in the middle of an outbreak zone.

A faint sigh escaped her lips.

"...Your luck is terrible."

Then her eyes changed. It became cold and sharp.

Without hesitation, she reached behind her back and pulled out a machete.

The blade reflected the morning light faintly.

Below the rooftop, an undead wandered near the street.

Its movements were stiff and uneven.

The girl stepped forward.

Then jumped.

Her body descended rapidly through the air before landing directly behind the creature.

The machete flashed.

A wet sound echoed.

The undead’s head rolled across the pavement.

Thuck!

"Should I help him?"

Suddenly, after looking in that direction for a little while, she said, "Oh well... if more like him appeared, I might."

...

Back inside the classroom, Clayne slowly opened his eyes.

The moment he did, he froze slightly.

"...Holy shit."

The words slipped out before he could stop them.

He could feel it.

His body felt different.

It was much much lighter than before.

The fatigue weighing him down earlier had weakened greatly.

Even his mind felt clearer than before.

He slowly clenched his fist.

The strength inside it no longer felt ordinary.

Then suddenly—

His nose twitched.

A horrible smell hit him immediately.

"...What the hell?"

Clayne looked down.

Black dirt covered parts of his arms, neck, and chest.

It looked thick and sticky, almost like muddy oil mixed with sweat.

The stench nearly made him gag.

"...Impurities?"

He remembered reading about this kind of thing in novels.

Cultivation cleansing the body and removing toxins from within.

At first, he found it ridiculous.

Now it was happening directly to him, no way he could find it ridiculous.

Fortunately, he took his clothes earlier.

Clayne stared blankly for a moment before slowly wiping himself clean using pieces of cloth from inside his bag.

The process took a while, the dirt seemed stuck stubbornly to his skin.

Eventually, after cleaning himself as best as he could, he leaned back against the desk and waited for the remaining dampness on his body to dry.

Only after that did he finally put his clothes back on.

The smell still lingered faintly around him.

But honestly...

He did not care anymore.

This was a zombie apocalypse.

There were corpses walking outside.

Compared to that, body odor felt meaningless.

Clayne slowly calmed himself.

Then another thought surfaced in his mind.

His strength.

He needed to know how much the cultivation changed it.

His eyes drifted toward a nearby chair.

The old metal.

Heavy enough that bending it with bare hands should have been impossible.

Clayne reached out slowly.

His fingers wrapped around one of the metal legs.

It was solid and not that cold like he thought it would be.

For a second, hesitation appeared in his eyes.

Then he tightened his grip.

And bent it.

The metal slowly curved inward with a painful screech.

Clayne’s mouth opened little by little as he stared at it.

The chair leg continued bending.

Easily like it was nothing but soft clay.

His breathing stopped.

His eyes widened further.

"No way..."

He’s sure he’s not capable to do that earlier.

He’s absolutely sure of it.

He immediately looked at his own hands.

Then back at the bent metal.

Excitement exploded inside him so suddenly that he nearly stood up right there.

He wanted to jump.

He wanted to laugh.

He wanted to test more things.

But he forced himself to calm down.

Because no matter how strong he had become, the reality outside had not changed.

There were still hordes of undead beyond this room.

And this strength...

It was not enough yet.

Not even close.

He needed more.

More cultivation.

More power.

More ways to survive.

Still, his head felt slightly dizzy after cultivating earlier, as though his mind had been strained by the process.

"...I’ll continue later."

Clayne exhaled slowly before leaning back slightly.

Then his eyes drifted toward the miniature forest again.

At first, he only looked casually.

But then—

He froze.

"...Huh?"

There were people inside again.

Two tiny figures stood within the forest.

Both wore dark robes.

Both carried swords.

And both were staring directly at a familiar girl nearby.

Zi Yue.

Clayne’s eyes widened slightly.

"She’s back?"

The atmosphere inside the miniature world felt

tense immediately.

Then suddenly—

The two figures shouted furiously.

"Give it to us!"