CHAPTER 245: CHAPTER 245

Qingran narrowed her eyes and folded her arms. "Then why did I have to crawl through missions and conditions just to unlock basic abilities? They just... get them. Head-on. I nearly died before I even got azure flames, and it’s not like I can decay steel or unmake reality."

A beat passed in her mind before Lingquan answered, and when he did, his voice dropped to something quieter. He didn’t sound mocking for once.

[What rank do you think I am, Qingran?]

She blinked, caught off guard by the shift in tone.

[I’m the very best. Top of the hierarchy. S-Tier Legendary, Rank 1. Meaning I know your ending from the beginning. I wasn’t assigned to you by chance. You currently have the Omni Alchemist module. That wasn’t a minor thing. That was the first fragment of the Omni-Potent system.]

Qingran stilled. "What... do you mean?"

[You didn’t just get a system. You are a system in the making. You are on the path of the Omni-Potent, Qingran. It isn’t a fixed ability like decay or illusion. You have access to all of it. Alchemy. Riftwalking. Healing. Fusion. Terraforming. It only unlocks as you evolve.]

Her heart beat faster.

[You could be a god in your world. It’s only a matter of time. Your abilities are unlimited. And that... is worth the while.]

-_-

[What you don’t believe me? You’ve only unlocked 2% of the system...]

Qingran’s breath caught in her throat.

Two percent?

She stared at the flickering light above her head, her expression unreadable.

"Only two percent... and I can already do what I do now?" she muttered. "You’re telling me that the flames, the purification, the rift transportation—that’s barely scratching the surface?"

[Exactly.] Lingquan’s voice carried a smug satisfaction now. [You’ve already outpaced 80% of other system users without realizing it. Because you didn’t get abilities—you earned them.]

Qingran clenched her fists slowly, pulse drumming in her ears.

"Then what the hell happens at ten percent?"

[Ten percent is when you stop following missions... and start issuing them.]

She froze.

[At twenty percent, your flames won’t just purify corpses... they’ll rewrite corrupted genes. At thirty, you’ll start crafting matter. And at fifty...]

Lingquan paused.

[Well. Let’s say space and time won’t be so strict with you anymore.]

Qingran’s mouth went dry. "And the catch?"

[You’re living the catch.]

There was no teasing this time. No smirk in his voice.

[To wield the Omni-Potent system is to walk through fire. There are no shortcuts. You have to grow into it. Mold it. Survive it. And if you don’t... well, the system will simply wait for the next host.]

She hated that.

The idea that something could just... move on from her. Like she was temporary. Like she was dispensable.

Qingran grit her teeth.

"I’m not letting you go. Not now. Not ever."

[Good.] Lingquan said softly. [Then we’ll go the whole way together.]

Qingran let out a slow breath and looked up to find the others still talking.

Xu Tianming was animatedly recreating his atom-blasting pebble, with Fang Yuxi shouting "Put that down!" while Yu Song calmly conjured a small phantom bird to distract her.

Meng Nian was laughing softly now, an almost rare sound.

Her team was growing.

They were getting stronger.

But so was she.

And unlike them, her growth had no ceiling.

"Then let’s make it count," she whispered under her breath, fingers tightening. "No more waiting to unlock power like breadcrumbs. We’re going all the way."

Lingquan’s response was almost amused.

[That’s more like it, my stupid little host.]

Qingran exhaled, a slow, tempered breath... and her eyes glinted with something dangerous now.

[You still got 31 months until the apocalypse ends. Might be a walking nightmare at that time. You just have to show this new users, the right way of using a system.]

Qingran nodded, they still had time to work on that. What they didn’t have time for was the objective.

It was only a matter of time before the people in here got affected, but how were they supposed to locate the cure?

Was it already created?

And then hidden somewhere?

"Lingquan I need clues.."

[Well..I can’t say I know much.."

-_-

"Give me something to work with here.."

Lingquan sighed [Well. There are hundreds of people in this zone and in one particular person, the cure is hidden in their body..]

Qingran’s brows furrowed, what did he mean by hidden.

"Dont tell me we’ll have to open the person up to find the cure.."

[Not necessarily, I’m afraid the person will become the cure.]

-_-

Qingran narrowed her eyes, her voice a touch wary. "What do you mean the person will become the cure?"

[Exactly what it sounds like,] Lingquan replied, his voice quieter now. [The cure you’re looking for... isn’t a vial in a lab or a miracle shot waiting on a shelf. It’s walking. Breathing. Someone in this zone.]

She stilled.

"You’re saying the cure is a person?"

[Yes. One of the hundreds in this area. In one of them, the immunity has already evolved. Their blood carries the blueprint.]

"That’s.." Her words caught. "How is that possible?"

[Mutation. Luck. Systemic anomaly. Pick your explanation. But the fact remains: one person survived an exposure they shouldn’t have. And in doing so, their body developed a countermeasure to the infection.]

Qingran’s thoughts raced.

"And you’re only telling me this now?"

[I didn’t want to overwhelm you.] Lingquan sounded almost defensive. [You only just hit two percent system unlock. You didn’t have the ability to isolate a bio-signature before now. But you do now.]

She exhaled slowly. So that was it. Not a chemical, not a formula. A person.

"Do they know?"

[No. They wouldn’t feel different. Their body adapted silently. No one would suspect. But with the Omni Alchemist module... you can find them.]

"How do I start?"

[Begin narrowing by anomalies. People who should’ve been symptomatic, but aren’t. Those who had contact with infected zones and didn’t turn. You’ll need to observe. Talk to them. Your instinct and the system will do the rest.]

"Give me something more specific. Anything. I can’t screen every single person blindly."

[You’ll have too, I can try to give a specific location, but you’ll still have to scan the location when you get there..]

"Alright. At least I’ll know where to look. They may likely have to leave as early as dawn tomorrow.."

But what if she left, what about the people here?

"Is there a way to not let the people here get affected?"

[You can’t make a cure for something without know what the virus is..]

Qingran sighed "I suppose it is.."

"What happens if someone kills them before we find them?" she asked, her voice low.

Lingquan didn’t answer right away. Then..

[Then the cure dies with them.]

Qingran closed her eyes, head dipping forward. The stakes just went from high to catastrophic.

She opened her eyes again. "You said I can isolate bio-signatures now. How?"

[You’ll need a few things. Concentration. Proximity. And time. You won’t get a blinking dot on a map, you’ll get a pattern. A reaction. The system will begin to resonate when you’re near the one who carries it.]

"So it’s like a compass?"

[More like a heartbeat. Yours will respond to theirs. When you get close, your flames will flare not in defense, but in recognition. It’s built into your evolution path.]

That was something, at least.

Still, it wasn’t fast enough.

If other people were searching blindly, desperate for a win, someone might stumble on the person without realizing what they held.

Or worse, suspect they were infected and..

She rubbed her temples. "I have to move quickly."

[And quietly] Lingquan added. [If word spreads that the cure is a person, you know exactly what these people will do.]

She didn’t need him to explain.

Desperate survivors.

Power-hungry ability users.

People who’d lost families, friends, futures. If they caught wind that someone among them carried salvation in their blood, they’d tear the zone apart trying to find them.

Not for the right reasons.

Not to help.

To possess.

To control.

To experiment.

Qingran glanced toward her group again.

Xu Tianming had put the pebble away, now arguing good-naturedly with Fang Yuxi over whether psychic abilities could interfere with metal-based ones.

Yu Song was watching quietly from the side, and Meng Nian had moved to check the time from the window.

They were strong, but they weren’t invincible. And more importantly, they were still human.

And humans panicked.

"We’ll need to head out tomorrow..." she said under her breath. "Get ahead of the others."