Cave Refuge

So, as they prepare to return to the surface, the family of Mr. Thompson's second eldest son intends to seize the opportunity to visit their old home. While the convenient means of travel in the past often made them overlook their home, in times like these, the bond of blood ties proved irreplaceable.

Without arguing with his in-laws, Mr. Thompson's second eldest son merely suggested that it was not suitable for his son-in-law and three young grandchildren to journey far. Thus, he wanted them to stay in Pengcheng.

Dong Tianyu's brother-in-law had relatively weak emotional ties with their relatives in his old hometown, seeing them only once or twice a year. He was unwilling to give up his stable life in Pengcheng and follow his father to move back to their old home, especially with their children.

Although the weather had warmed and Pengcheng, as a key transportation hub, had quickly restarted its railway transportation system, it was still rather challenging for ordinary people to travel by train.

Even though his family had connections, and there was a direct railway line to his old hometown from Pengcheng, he remained unwilling to leave with his father.

In the end, the father-in-law of Mr. Thompson's second brother and his wife planned to return to their old home first, while their son stayed behind to watch over the children.

After this family meeting, everyone understood the thoughts of the other members. With the snow just beginning to melt, and meltwater seeping into the former Refuge Center, the present situation in Pengcheng seemed to largely resemble the aftermath of the electromagnetic pulse disaster.

Thanks to the extraordinary skills of local artisans who hand-made and replaced many damaged parts, life now was even better than during the electromagnetic pulse era.

During the electromagnetic pulse sweeps, not only were pre-existing electronic devices completely destroyed, but newly made ones were also rendered unusable.

At least now, newly made electronics could be properly used, and many low-tech devices were back in operation.

Fortunately, previous natural disasters had only caused minimal damage to outdoor structures. As a result, the living standards in Pengcheng could be likened to the standards from four or five decades ago.

However, after experiencing several natural disasters, Pengcheng suffered severe population losses. Most deaths were among elderly people and infants, who had weak resistance to harsh conditions.

The young and middle-aged populace, who served as the backbone of society, also suffered many deaths, though their losses were a smaller proportion of the total population.

The present scene in Pengcheng was merely a microcosm of what was happening throughout Great Xia, and Great Xia, in turn, did not represent the entirety of Blue Star.

Just like the initial epidemic, while some countries like Great Xia had strong defenses in place and kept their death tolls low, others that relied on herd-immunity suffered high casualties.

The subsequent electromagnetic pulse hit technologically advanced countries harder than primitive tribes who didn't rely on electronic devices.

Great Xia was one of the few technologically advanced countries that didn't fall into chaos after initial disasters, and suffered one of the least losses in the ensuing Ice Age.

Some countries had even turned entirely into ice sculptures during the Ice Age due to inadequate preparation.

Even countries originally located in the tropics experienced outdoor temperatures dropping to negative sixty or seventy degrees after the Ice Age's arrival. This was a fatal blow for people who had never experienced such cold.

Currently, Dong Tianyu led a boring and monotonous life. Except for scheduled two-times-a-day cultivation using the Hall of Longevity system, he spent his time cleaning the chicken coop of his chick, Lujin. (He merely watched as the coop was automatically cleaned from the control room.)

He initially needed to refuel the generator in the Refuge Center. However, Dong Tianyu discovered that by spending a small amount of survival points, he could connect the oil supply pipeline of the generator directly to the earth's energy veins without his intervention.

Pengcheng remained under the control of the officials, and nothing chaotic happened outside. Coupled with Dong Tianyu's laid-back nature, he had no desire to make his life more complicated.

So, from the onset of snowfall to its melting, Dong Tianyu diligently cultivated inside the Refuge Center. Occasionally, he would step outside into the yard, standing on the platform at the entrance to appreciate the world outside.

He had no idea if his talent was lacking or if it was because he was too lazy, relying only on the cultivation aid system of the Hall of Longevity. Compared to the novel trope of building one's foundation in a hundred days,

Dong Tianyu had been cultivating for several months since he had started, and had only just broken through to the ninth level of Qi Refinement Realm.

When comparing his progress to reaching the third level of Qi Refinement Realm within a month, he had now spent two to three months advancing from the eighth level to the ninth level. His progress was slowing down significantly, and he had no idea how long it would take to reach the Foundation Building Stage.

On the other hand, he learned from the Hall of Longevity that upon reaching the tenth level of Qi Refinement Realm, one could attempt to reach the Foundation Building Stage. However, at this stage, the chances of success were quite low. There was no upper limit in the Qi Refinement Realm, and one can try to refine to any Qi Refinement Realm level they wish.

After entering the Qi Refinement Realm, the way to calculate progress became fixated. The tenth level of the Qi Refinement Realm was the baseline, reaching twice that amount of cultivation was the eleventh level, and three times that was the twelfth level, so on and so forth.

The higher the Qi Refinement Realm level, the lower the difficulty to reach the Foundation Building Stage. However, cultivators who wish to suppress their breakthrough can forcibly stop their cultivation, preventing them from stepping into the Foundation Building Stage.

In theory, a Qi Refinement Realm cultivator with a high enough level would overpower a Foundation Building Stage cultivator. However, in practice, most increase their Qi Refinement Realm level to enhance their chances of successfully reaching the Foundation Building Stage.

After all, if the Spirit Power gained during Qi Refinement Realm cultivation ranges from 0.1-1, then the Spirit Power gained during Foundation Building Stage cultivation would range from 10-50.

The range results from the variance in cultivation techniques. However, even the worst Foundation Building Stage technique would generate more Spirit Power during cultivation compared to the strongest Qi Refinement Realm technique.

According to the Hall of Longevity, normally, the probability of successfully reaching the Foundation Building Stage when at the tenth level of Qi Refinement Realm is 10%.

Once one reached the eleventh level of Qi Refinement Realm, the chances climbed to a high of 30%.

By the time one achieves the twelfth level of Qi Refinement Realm, the success rate of reaching the Foundation Building Stage shot up to about 60%. Because of the odds crossing the halfway mark, many choose this time to attempt their breakthrough.

If one continues to advance in the Qi Refinement Realm beyond the twelfth level, each subsequent level increases the chances of reaching the Foundation Building Stage by 3% - 5%. However, according to the records in the Hall of Longevity, few choose to breakthrough if they manage to advance to the fifteenth level or above.

After all, the leaps and bounds difference in Spirit Power gained from cultivation in the Qi Refinement Realm and the Foundation Building Stage within the same time frame makes it very hard to justify.

Dong Tianyu was not certain about the principles of transitioning from the Qi Refinement Realm to the Foundation Building Stage in other stories. However, according to the Hall of Longevity, it all boiled down to whether or not Divine Sense had been birthed.

The method was simple enough. They had to use the Spirit Power gained through cultivation to awaken their Divine Sense. The only caveat was that the process could not be interrupted in any way. If one failed to awaken the Divine Sense, they would need even more Spirit Power to attempt it again.

Therefore, Dong Tianyu had no intention of proving his genius by trying to awaken his Divine Sense upon reaching the tenth level of Qi Refinement Realm. At the same time, he did not wish to lackadaisically wait until he had reached the ninety-ninth level of Qi Refinement Realm before attempting it either.

Dong Tianyu decided to go with the flow, only attempting to reach the Foundation Building Stage once his cultivation had reached the twelfth level of Qi Refinement Realm.