In an instant, it was as if the sky had suddenly changed color. A moment ago, it had been overcast with dark clouds, but now it seemed to be covered with a layer of blue ice crystals.
Chen Haiping felt a piercing chill come over him. Visible to the naked eye, a point of blue light burst forth in the midst of the jet-black sparrow swarm, expanding rapidly. In just a moment, nearly ten demonized sparrows were frozen into ice sculptures, and the rest, affected by the chill, were tottering.
Not far away, Eileen's pretty face was serious, her hands raised high. An ice-blue ice crystal arrow, as thick as an arm, was condensing inch by inch, then shot out violently, creating ripples in the air.
The ice crystal shot into the sparrow swarm and exploded, ice shards flying in all directions, with a fierce chill surging out...
It was ice-type superpower!
Chen Haiping never expected that this seemingly delicate girl was, in fact, an incredibly rare Awakener with a Special Ability.
Out of a hundred Awakeners, not even one would possess such a Special Ability!
It was something predestined, something Chen Haiping could only envy. Yet, Eileen's strength still took him by surprise.
From his previous perception, Chen Haiping had only assumed Eileen was an Awakener of little power. But now, watching Eileen, who wasn't even out of breath, casually conjuring ice crystals and wiping out this batch of demonized sparrows, he felt an indescribable shock.
For a newly Awakened ability user, no matter the ability, unleashing it once or twice would already be the limit. He had also seen the Sanctuary's number one, that ability user with the power of fire blast. Although immensely powerful, it was not sustainable.
By comparison, Eileen remained calm and collected. Whether condensing the chill into ice crystals or controlling their directed explosion, this girl still had energy to spare!
Chen Haiping would likely never understand what a professional system, Magic, or even High-level Puppets were in his lifetime. This was not his fault, for even Tang Yu himself only understood them on a superficial level.
Eileen breathed a light sigh, calming the magic power surging within her.
Compared to the intense shock inside Chen Haiping, she was... quite happy at the moment.
Everyone has a different definition of happiness. For some, it's the joy after a fine meal; for others, it's the thrill of a "five kills" "Super God." For Eileen, realizing her own value and being able to help the Lord was what made her truly joyful.
After the demonized sparrow swarm died, an invisible ripple emanated, flowing incessantly into her body like rivers converging into the sea.
In an instant, Eileen's crystal-like eyes widened.
She had awakened three years ago, but before discovering that incomplete Magic Book, Eileen hadn't found a way to enhance her power. Even though she could sense the strange energy around her body, her control over the Ice Frost Power was extremely weak.
Upon discovering the Magic Book, she comprehended the mage's most basic ability, meditation.
Meditation was the most fundamental method of increasing power. Other professions also had similar methods, which Eileen had heard about. However, the pure energy that surged into her body after killing the demonized sparrows was something she had never imagined before.
This power was so pure!
With just a little refining, it could be transformed into her own strength, faster than the rate of meditation by countless times, and with no side effects at all.
After three years of meditation, her power had reached the Second-tier Peak of the Awakening Tier. At the previous meditation rate, she might successfully break through to the third layer in six months. But now... Eileen believed that with more of this refinable energy, she might directly break through to the third layer.
Such a speed seemed like a dream.
Eileen recalled the Lord telling her yesterday that there would be a surprise called soul power when killing demonized beasts.
So this was soul power...
After dealing with this batch of courier demonized sparrows, Tang Yu was quite happy as well.
These demonized beasts were weak and had a low probability of yielding Source Crystals. However, the large numbers made Tang Yu quite pleased as he prepared to start the crystal excavation operation.
On second thought, he realized he was no longer alone. He had just established his first transportation team, which he could now call over to excavate the crystals and make full use of resources.
But Eileen, who appeared timid initially, looked different now. When she first arrived yesterday, she was bewildered and panicked, walking on tiptoe on the castle's gleaming floor... Yet now, facing these demonized sparrows, she appeared completely unflustered.
Tang Yu understood. While Eileen might be young and lack battle experience, she did go through a tough castle defense fight just yesterday. Compared to that, these demonized sparrows were nothing.
With a successful start, Tang Yu continued with his original plan, clearing out demonized beasts from the resort area, while also searching for any remaining usable items from the original Sanctuary.
Not until dusk, when the sky turned yellow, did Tang Yu return to the villa area.
Counting the Source Crystals in his pocket, Tang Yu smiled. Next up was the most exciting construction moment.
Commonly known as Consuming Crystal time.
Just as a few survivors were pushing carts from afar.
In the middle section of the villa area, a pile of debris resembling a small mountain of garbage had formed. Most of these were wreckage from damaged buildings, concrete boards with steel bars, and many broken tools. Whether before or after the apocalypse, these were things no one wanted. But for Tang Yu, they were exactly what he urgently needed.
"Move everything to Villa Number Three," he pointed.
Tang Yu indicated the inner side of the villa area, where Villa Number Three lay. Beyond it were Villa Number Two and a castle, with the castle set some distance from the high-hanging cliff at the back. Once an abandoned wasteland, it now served as the perfect place for Tang Yu to place his core buildings, the safest location.
Tang Yu intended for this location to be his forbidden area. By blocking off the front gap, he could seal it tightly. Although others couldn't access the core buildings without Tang Yu's permission, he still chose to isolate them from the reach of survivors to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Before long, several survivors dragged a huge pile of scrap to the front of Villa Number Three.
Villa Number Three was already quite dilapidated, littered with bullet marks, claw scratches, and even blackened spots from explosions. With the scrap pile added in front, it looked even more like a garbage heap.
This wouldn't do... Tang Yu shook his head slightly. After completing the main core buildings, this Territory needed proper management. If he wanted to develop it into a Sanctuary, its external appearance couldn't be so shabby. He didn't want to walk out of the castle every day to such a miserable sight.
Leaving the pushcarts and sending the survivors away, Tang Yu called Numbers One and Two to help move the valuable "scrap" to the vacant lot behind the castle.