Clayne slowly opened his eyes.

The moment he did, he immediately noticed the difference.

The classroom looked clearer.

No...

It’s far clearer.

Even the dust floating through the pale morning light near the windows appeared sharper to him now. His sight no longer felt normal. It was like the world itself had become more detailed than before.

Then his hearing followed.

Low groans outside the room echoed more distinctly.

The scraping of shoes somewhere in the corridor below.

The faint crackling sound coming from the miniature thunderstorm within the Tiny Forest.

He could hear all of it.

Clayne slowly inhaled a plentiful.

Even the air itself felt different now.

But more than anything else...

He wanted to test his strength.

Immediately, he reached for the bent metal chair leg from earlier.

The cold metal entered his grip.

Then he squeezed.

Creeeak—

The metal bent smoothly.

Far smoother than before.

Earlier, he needed effort.

Now...

It felt much easier.

Clayne’s eyes widened slightly.

Then suddenly, an idea appeared in his mind.

He grabbed both ends of the metal and twisted it hard.

The metal groaned violently.

The chair leg curved.

Twisted.

Folded around itself.

Then—

Crack!

The metal snapped apart.

Clayne stared at the broken steel in his hand.

Slowly...

A grin appeared on his face.

"...A weapon."

He immediately examined the broken end.

The snapped section had become jagged and sharp enough to stab through flesh easily.

Without wasting time, he twisted another part of the metal, making the end narrower and more pointed.

Now it looked even more dangerous.

But before he could continue—

A horrifying smell suddenly slammed into him.

"...What the hell?!"

Clayne nearly gagged.

The stench was unbearable.

It smells rotten and even worse than a zombie outside, worse it slimy clung to his skin too.

Like sewage mixed with spoiled meat.

His face immediately twisted in disgust.

Then realization struck his head.

"...Oh no."

Earlier, while cultivating, he forgot to remove his clothes first.

Now his entire school uniform was soaked with black sticky impurities.

The foul smelling goo clung to his sleeves, chest, neck, and even parts of his pants.

Clayne immediately covered his nose.

"I’m gonna throw up..."

He hurriedly tried wiping some of it off using nearby cloth, but the smell only became worse.

Then suddenly, his ears heard a bad sound...

A rumble!

A faint thunderous sound echoed nearby.

It was tiny and clear.

Clayne froze for a second before quickly turning toward the miniature forest.

"...Right."

He immediately understood.

This tiny maiden Zi Yue was undergoing a tribulation.

Then his eyes slowly drifted toward the classroom door.

The barricaded desks still held firmly.

The undead outside continued pressing weakly against the entrance, but compared to earlier, their force no longer worried him much.

Clayne carefully pressed one hand against the desks.

The pressure from outside felt manageable now.

Much easier than before.

His cultivation had truly strengthened him greatly.

Then he looked back toward the Tiny Forest again.

Above Zi Yue, dark clouds continued gathering while tiny bolts of lightning flashed endlessly through the miniature sky.

Zi Yue herself remained seated cross legged below the heavens.

Thunder rumbled above her continuously.

Honestly... Clayne felt conflicted. If this happened yesterday... Or even earlier... He might have panicked and crushed the entire miniature world accidentally.

But now things were different.

Zi Yue was important.

She was his only guide to cultivation.

Without her, he would be blindly stumbling through everything alone. And since he could now hold the door much more easily anyway...

Why not wait? 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Nothing serious would happen.

At least...

That was what he thought.

Meanwhile, outside the classroom...

The mutated undead slowly crawled through the hallway.

Its elongated limbs scratched across the floor while its nose twitched repeatedly.

Sniff. Sniff. Sniff.

The creature kept smelling the air constantly.

Its pale eyes wandered left and right while searching for something.

Then suddenly, its ears perked up as it heard a rumble.

Tiny thunder echoed faintly through the hallway.

The mutated zombie froze instantly.

Its head slowly lifted upward.

The creature listened carefully.

Then another tiny rumble followed.

This time, the undead stopped sniffing completely.

Instead—

It immediately moved and sprinted fast.

Far faster than ordinary zombies.

Its elongated body rushed through the corridor directly toward Clayne’s classroom.

Outside the room, several ordinary undead still weakly pushed against the barricaded entrance.

The mutated zombie arrived silently behind them.

Then it stood there motionless, as if thinking.

On the other side of the door, Clayne leaned slightly closer toward the Tiny Forest while observing Zi Yue’s tribulation.

The scene below truly looked unreal.

Bolts of miniature lightning crashed down from the tiny heavens repeatedly.

Each strike exploded with blinding light before slamming toward Zi Yue’s body.

The tiny maiden endured everything silently.

Her clothes fluttered wildly under the spiritual pressure while her spiritual Qi surged upward continuously against the heavens.

The clouds above churned violently.

Thunder roared nonstop.

The tiny valley trembled under every lightning strike.

At first, Clayne found it amusing.

Tiny thunder.

Tiny lightning.

Tiny clouds.

But after watching longer...

He slowly stopped finding it funny.

Because even though the scale was small, the pressure released from it somehow still felt real.

Dangerously real.

Then suddenly—

BANG!

A massive impact exploded against the classroom door.

Clayne jolted violently.

The sound was completely different from before.

Much heavier.

Much stronger.

Then—

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

The barricade shook violently.

The desks scraped hard across the floor.

Clayne’s face changed instantly.

"...What?"

Another violent slam followed immediately after.

The force was terrifying.

Far beyond ordinary undead.

Clayne became alert immediately.

Without hesitation, he rushed toward the extra chairs around him he prepared earlier near the barricaded door.

Then quickly twisted their metal legs apart one after another.

Crack!

Crack!

Crack!

Soon, several sharp metal rods rested in his hands.

Five weapons.

He quickly sharpened the broken ends further by grinding and twisting them against the desk edges.

The pointed tips became deadly sharp.

As much as Clayne had grown stronger...

He still had no intention of fighting zombies directly.

Their blood, their claws, their saliva, and their bites, any of those things might infect him.

So distance was safer.

Throwing weapons would be better.

Short distance combat was the only last option.

Another massive slam shook the barricade.

Then suddenly—

The pushing somehow stopped.

Clayne froze.

Silence filled the room briefly.

Then he thought it was gone, just liker ealier...

But then—

ASH!

The small glass window above the classroom wall exploded inward.

Glass shards blasted everywhere.

Clayne immediately tensed.

A dark figure forced itself toward the opening.

The mutated undead.

Its body twisted unnaturally while squeezing through the narrow air conditioner space.

Bones cracked loudly beneath its flesh.

The creature pushed harder, and harder, and harder.

The tiny thunderstorm inside the miniature forest continued rumbling behind Clayne, driving the creature completely mad with hunger.

The zombie forced itself deeper into the opening.

Its elongated claws reached inward.

Its jaws opened wide.

Clayne did not hesitate anymore to stay idle anymore. He might die anytime!

He immediately threw one of the sharpened metal rods.

Bang!

The metal struck the zombie directly in the mouth.

Several broken teeth exploded outward instantly.

The creature jerked backward violently.

But Clayne was surprised.

"...I hit it?"

He couldn’t believe it. Not just that he had hit it, but that he was this strong already.

Why did it feel like he wasn’t panicking? And somehow, he was adjusting like he can hit it next.

He shook his head. Enough of this. Even though he had hit it, the pointed end still failed to pierce properly.

The mutated zombie snarled loudly before forcing itself forward again.

Without hesitation, Clayne threw another weapon.

This time, the metal spun through the air much more accurately.

But again—

He missed the pointed side.

The flat surface slammed directly into the zombie’s eyes instead.

Bang!

Its eyes burst with blood instantly.

Dark blood sprayed across the broken window.

Clayne became even more surprised.

"I can really do this accurately?"

His hands tightened around another weapon.

Despite becoming blind from his attack, the zombie kept pushing itself inward. Its bones cracked horribly while forcing through the narrow opening.

Then suddenly, the tiny thunderous sounds stopped completely.

The classroom fell silent once again.

Even the zombie froze.

Clayne blinked.

"...What?"

He was just about to throw another metal rod when the mutated undead suddenly stopped struggling entirely.

Instead—

It began sniffing the air again.

Sniff. Sniff.

Then—

Its face changed, like fear appeared across it, and Clayne was not sure if it was real fear, but he was still alert.

Somehow, the creature immediately backed away from the window opening, it was fast, almost like it was desperate to go away, and then without hesitation, it fled, gone... just like that.

Clayne remained standing there with a sharpened metal rod still raised in his hand.

"...Huh?"

Silence filled the classroom.

The broken glass remained scattered across the floor.

The barricaded door was still pushed but it’s as weak as earlier.

And Clayne...

Was left completely dumbfounded.