"Wasteland" and Blue Star run on different timelines.
It's deep into the night in Jiang City, but in Dawn City on the wasteland, it's broad daylight.
Dawn City, Outer City Area.
In a dim and secluded alley.
The girl sat cross-legged on the ground, her eyes tightly shut.
Suddenly.
Swish swish—
A swirl of sand and wind materialized out of nowhere around her.
The sand formed fist-sized whirlwinds, howling as they spun.
But...
The whirlwinds didn't last long and quickly faded away.
"It worked!"
The girl opened her eyes, brimming with excitement.
"Congratulations, miss, on successfully awakening your attribute and becoming a true Tier One Evolver!"
On both sides of the alley.
The four buzz-cut young men on guard finally breathed a sigh of relief.
To get enough Pollution Crystals for the miss, they'd spent endless hours digging outside the city until their arms went numb…
"Thanks for your hard work!"
Yin Yao stood up from the ground, sincerely expressing her gratitude.
"It was nothing, really."
The lead buzz-cut young man waved his hand, then changed the subject and asked, "Miss, may we know what attribute you've awakened?"
"Sandstorm," Yin Yao replied.
To be honest, she was a bit surprised herself.
In her previous life, she awakened 'Mind Control' as her attribute.
Back then, Yin Yao was pretty excited—it sounded powerful, after all.
But not long after, she became completely withdrawn.
Mind Control is powerful, sure, but... the mutant beasts and infected bodies scattered across the wasteland have no minds!
That's just damn hard to stomach!
Of course, Yin Yao had heard that high-tier mutant beasts and infected bodies not only had minds, but their intelligence was no less than humans'.
But...
Those existences were nothing like what a mere Tier Three Yin Yao could handle.
Forget provoking them—even looking at them twice would make you explode on the spot.
In contrast.
This lifetime she awakened 'Sandstorm'. Its future potential may not look as impressive as 'Mind Control', but in the early stages her Combat Power is way better.
Especially—
The wasteland world, with sand everywhere, makes it easier for her to use her Ability.
"Sandstorm?"
Across from her.
The buzz-cut leader was taken aback, but soon caught on.
"Isn't that a fusion of 'Wind' and 'Sand' attributes?"
Just as he finished.
Yin Yao shook her head: "Not quite."
"In this world, single attributes are much more powerful than those that appear 'fused' like mine."
As she spoke,
Yin Yao glanced toward the center of Dawn City.
"Compared to the pure 'Light' attribute of the New City Lord, my 'Sandstorm' is on a whole other level beneath..."
"Attributes have their own hierarchy."
"The purer the attribute, the stronger the combat power and the greater the potential."
"The more blended the attribute, the more limitations, and the tougher the path ahead."
Yin Yao spoke softly.
Thinking on this, Yin Yao couldn't help but remember Yu Jin.
"That guy..."
"Not only are all his attributes incredibly pure, but the sheer number is mind-blowing."
"Normally, awakening two or even three attributes already makes you the strongest among Evolvers of the same tier."
"But Yu Jin is said to have dozens, maybe hundreds of attributes—no one's ever seen him use the same one twice!"
Yin Yao shook her head, marveling.
In her past life, Yu Jin's strength was almost unfathomable.
Otherwise, why would the first thing she think of after rebirth be to cling to his thigh?
"Miss, what do you need us to do next?"
"Keep heading out of the city to dig Pollution Crystals?"
"The Pollution Crystals from that last area are nearly depleted..."
The buzz-cut youth spoke, breaking Yin Yao's train of thought.
"No need."
Yin Yao took a breath and spoke gently.
"Now that I'm a Tier One Evolver, Pollution Crystals are almost useless—too many and they'll even increase my own Pollution."
"Pollution?"
The buzz-cut youth didn't get it.
Yin Yao didn't explain, just turned and walked toward Dawn City's gate.
...
...
Ten minutes later.
Yin Yao, with her four bodyguard youths, walked out of Dawn City.
Half an hour later.
The five left the Buffer Zone.
Buffer Zone—
The relatively safe area within a certain distance from the Refuge City.
According to Yin Yao's explanation—
Mutant beasts and infected bodies rarely showed up inside the Buffer Zone.
But once outside, that's when you face the real danger of the wasteland!
Their goal this trip? Mutant Beasts.
"We need to hunt Tier Two Mutant Beasts and extract Tier One Crystals from their bodies."
Yin Yao had barely finished speaking.
They'd just left the Buffer Zone not long before—
Whoosh—!
A black shadow suddenly shot out from underground.
The shadow moved so fast it screamed toward the buzz-cut youth.
Skrrt—!
The professionally trained youth dodged as quickly as he could, but still ended up with a long bloody gash on his arm!
"Mutant Beast?"
"What tier is this? It's so strong!"
The youth was shocked.
He was basically the Soldier King of their team!
And now?
One encounter, and he's already wounded!
"Tier Two."
Yin Yao answered.
Then added: "The weakest of Tier Two."
The buzz-cut youth's expression immediately changed.
Swish—
The next moment.
Yin Yao raised her hand, wind and sand swirling beside her.
The four other young men instantly sharpened their focus, each pulling out a big machete from behind. They'd brought these along specifically for outings like this.
Whoosh—!
The shadow shot out from underground again.
This time,
The sand-laden wind whirl blocked its path.
"Eeeeee—!"
The shadow screeched.
Now they could see—it was the size of a basketball, eyes blood red, fur standing up like spikes... a rat!
"Damn it!"
Ye Fan, the leader with the buzz cut, felt his face burning.
He—Soldier King—wounded by a mutant rat!
If word gets out, where does the name Ye Bingwang go?
"Die!"
Ye Fan bellowed, charging with his machete.
"We're with you!"
The other three buzz-cuts moved quickly too.
As for Yin Yao—
She tried her best to control her limited, fist-sized mini 'Sandstorms', blocking the Tier Two Mutant Rat's path.
...
An hour later.
The giant mutant beast was dead.
Yin Yao dug a grey geometric crystal out of its body.
"Tier One Infection Crystal!"
Yin Yao's face lit up with joy.
She hadn't expected her luck would be so good—the first Tier Two Mutant Beast she hunted actually had a crystal!
Plus,
This mutant rat was the weakest type of Tier Two Mutant Beast—otherwise, her group wouldn't have managed to take it down.
Of course,
Killing this rat came at a steep price.
Soldier King Ye Fan was already gone.
Of the other three buzz-cuts, only one remained, scratched and smeared with blood, face slashed by claws.
The missing three were killed by the mutant rat—straight up dead, ready for respawn…
...
...
"Phew—"
"Finally made it back."
Dawn City.
Yin Yao, exhausted, dragged herself through the city gate.
To escort her back, the last buzz-cut youth had tangled with another mutant beast on the way and was forced to respawn as well.
Yin Yao may have awakened, but as a Tier One she wasn't strong yet, nor could she maintain her abilities for long.
But…
This trip, though costly, netted her a 'Tier One Infection Crystal'.
With this crystal, Yin Yao could continue to advance—she couldn't yet promote to Tier Two, but at least she was getting closer.
"Eh?"
"Senior Sister Yin?"
"Whoa! What happened—you're covered in wounds?"
The surprised question made the weary Yin Yao look up instinctively.
"Chen Gang?"
Yin Yao recognized him as Yu Jin's roommate.
"You..."
Yin Yao was about to speak.
Next second—
Her beautiful eyes widened, her bloody face full of disbelief!
"How do you have that!"
Yin Yao's voice almost cracked.
"Eh?"
Chen Gang was a bit dazed—he noticed she was staring at his right hand.
More precisely—
At the grey-black geometric crystal clenched in his right hand.
"Oh, this?"
"I just logged in and someone handed me one, said it was... a welfare from the New City Lord for his subordinates?"
"I never figured out what the thing's for?"
"Senior Sister, do you know what it is?"
Crack crack—
Yin Yao clenched her fist!
Does she know?
Of course she knows!
It's exactly the thing she risked her life for—losing four bodyguards in the process!