She left behind an egg as a parting gift.

In an instant, a storm of yellow sand surged from not far away, roaring like a tidal wave, nearly suffocating.

"It's a sand surge!"

In an earthquake, you can hide in a triangle zone; in a mudslide, you run sideways; in a flood, you head for higher ground—there is always a sliver of hope. But how does one escape a sand surge?

Encountering it means being buried alive, with not even a breath of air left.

A creaking sound echoed in her ears, as if leather straps were snapping one after another.

Liang Zuan had also noticed the sand surge. Controlling the roots and stems of the plants, he tilted the mountain beneath him.

The mountain, weighing tens of millions of tons, snapped countless roots; even the toughest bast fibers gave way.

Deep beneath the surface, roots broke and regrew in rapid succession.

Break.

Grow.

Over and over, growing stronger each time...

Surveying the earth from above, Liu Yi quickly noticed Liang Zuan’s desperate efforts amid the cataclysm.

He sat cross-legged not far away, his entire body entwined with vines that glowed a vibrant green, resembling the morning star shining in the dark.

Hang in there!

Terror raised every hair on her body, but she dared not disturb him, only silently cheering him on.

"Rumble—rumble—"

As the sand surge was about to engulf the mountaintop, the mountainside suddenly split open with a chasm as grand as the heavens, blocking the sand’s advance.

Darkness yawned like an abyss, so terrifying it sent shivers down the spine, yet it became their salvation at the end of the world.

The fissure spread with a thunderous roar, devouring everything in its path...

No one knew when the sky’s collapse and the earth’s cracking finally ceased. Overhead, the moon, round as a disk, parted the clouds and emerged, draping a silver veil over the scarred land.

The vines around Liang Zuan gradually receded, revealing his true form.

His face was deathly pale, sweat beading on his forehead.

At this moment, his body had only fused to the fifth rank of his past life’s powers—barely enough to stave off such a calamity.

"The earthquake is over! We survived!" Liu Yi’s almond eyes sparkled as she looked at him, eager to share the elation of surviving disaster.

Even as a fragile beauty, he possessed a unique charm, as if time itself had stopped for him.

Her heart ached for him, and she wished she could rush over and reassure him, “Don’t be afraid, beautiful one, your big sister loves you~”

"Are you feeling unwell? How can I help you?"

"Cough, cough!" Liang Zuan waved her off, indicating he was fine.

In her previous life, Liu Yi had been confined to a laboratory and never had the chance to learn to control her powers or use them well, but since she and Liang Zuan both possessed wood abilities, she could sense the unruly force of wood energy rampaging through him—draining his body as it forcefully healed.

She propped up the little electric scooter from the grass, loaded Liang Zuan on, and headed up the mountain.

Her vision was sharp, and she noticed that not all buildings atop the mountain had collapsed; some could serve as temporary shelter with a bit of repair.

The shockwaves from the quake had devastated the roads, leaving them full of potholes.

Everywhere she looked, high-rises were gone. The ancient-style town was buried in wasteland, reduced to ruins.

Even the most luxurious villa estates had either collapsed or were marred by deep cracks, all suffering various degrees of damage.

Fortunately, the mountain under their feet, protected by Liang Zuan, was the least damaged in the area.

At the summit, they found a small manor—a former holiday hotel, now just what she needed.

It wasn’t large, covering a dozen or so acres, surrounded by fruit orchards and farmland; even the lotus pond had dried up.

A winding path led to a two-story building in the old style, still elegant despite the scattered rubble.

All personnel had long since evacuated to shelters, and the place was silent as the grave.

"Hang on a bit more, I’ll get us settled soon." Liu Yi half-dragged, half-supported him to a stone bench by the door.

No key? No problem.

She deftly twisted the handle and jimmied the lock. Inside, lacking a key card, she simply dismantled the locks with a few well-placed blows—efficiency above all.

The previous occupants had left in a hurry, so the rooms and bedding remained, though thick with dust.

She quickly swapped the dirty bedding for clean ones from her storage space, doing her best to make the sickly beauty comfortable.

Thinking ahead, she also took out anything she’d need soon, to avoid Liang Zuan discovering her storage ability.

She wanted to learn from him how to improve her wood powers, but her storage space was her trump card, not to be revealed lightly.

At the door, Liang Zuan’s condition worsened—his skin prickling with pain, warm fluid slowly seeping from the corners of his eyes, nose, and ears.

It was the aftereffect of overusing his powers; he had to regulate himself and stabilize his energy as soon as possible.

Misfortune seldom comes alone—just as he was about to regain stability, the bird-shifting power, awakened by accident in his past life, suddenly erupted.

His body had only just advanced to the fifth rank, yet he had wielded a sixth-rank ability in defiance of his limits. His energy channels were a mess, and the bird power was too fierce—just like Liu Yi's snake form, it could spiral out of control at any moment.

If he lost control, nothing living would remain nearby—not even a little white snake could stop him.

A flash of her smiling face, baring her little white teeth, crossed his mind.

Anyone else, he might not care. But he did not want to hurt her.

So be it. A rebirth, to live again...

"Where did he go?" Liu Yi happily came out to bring the sickly beauty inside, only to find him missing.

She climbed a tall tree and gazed into the distance: the world lay desolate, scarred as far as the eye could see.

"How could such a big, beautiful man just vanish?"

Hmph, if he wanted to leave, he could at least have said goodbye. After all, they’d been through life and death together...

Feeling gloomy, she glanced down by chance and spotted a pile of clothes tucked behind the stone bench, wrapped around a large pink eggshell, the size of an adult’s head. The shell was speckled with pink and purple flame-like markings.

Sharp-eyed, Liu Yi recognized Liang Zuan’s clothes.

He was particular—even when leaving, instead of a note, he left behind an egg as a parting gift.

But what kind of egg was this...

Bird egg? Snake egg? Chicken, goose, or turtle egg?

Forgive her ignorance, but she had never seen or heard of a pink flame-patterned egg.

Still, since it was the sickly beauty’s farewell gift, she decided to store it away.

If a little chick hatched, she’d have a companion...

Oh right, she hadn’t fed the pair of puppies in her space yet!

Normally, puppies need feeding every two or three hours, but fortunately, they’d been kept in her space at a suitable temperature.

She mixed some milk powder, adding two drops of spirit spring water.

The hungry pups gobbled it down, not pausing even as they choked a little.

Perhaps thanks to the spring water, the two rescued little ones were recovering well, feeding with far more energy than before.

They were well-behaved; as long as they were fed, Liu Yi had nothing to worry about.

Once the puppies were settled, she began her egg-incubation project.

But where could she find an incubator these days?

She had seen on the internet how to make a warming box with a light bulb, turning it on and off by hand to maintain a steady temperature. But electrical work was not her forte—she was good at picking locks and brute force, not wiring circuits.

So she turned her gaze to the puppies.

Heh, she wrapped the pink egg in a coral fleece blanket and tucked it into the dog bed in her storage space—instant warmth!

A while later, she checked the temperature again and adjusted the egg’s position.

Whenever she fed the puppies, she’d just turn the egg as well...