Lying Low at the Base

The "City of Radiance" has been cultivating the land west of the Alkolon Mountain Range for decades, but its focus has always been on advancing in the north.

The reason why the "Ashen Forest" has not been discovered in the southwest region is because there are several very dangerous fog zones in this area.

With more people losing their lives, fewer people will go.

If it weren't for the sudden news about the coal mine and the temple, the direction of land reclamation would probably still be heading north for many years to come.

The Plague Marsh is one of the most dangerous fog-shrouded areas that hinder hunters from exploring southwest.

The swamp here is inaccessible by large Mechanical City, so it can only be reached by small hunting teams.

But the mist in the swamp is thicker than on the plains, and no one knows what monsters lurk in the mire. There are many poisonous creatures, many magical beasts, and many unknown dangers.

Moreover, this area is also home to some strange and deadly creatures that have never been recorded in any ancient texts.

The closer you get to the "Ashen Forest," the larger the monsters, insects, and various plants become, and the more bizarre their shapes become.

[Overlord Blood Mosquito] A mosquito with a wingspan of over one meter, one bite can cause a boil the size of a basketball on the skin, often accompanied by a potentially fatal infection.

Named the "Thousand Hand Vine," this carnivorous vine, resembling a leech, can automatically sense living beings. Once it wraps around you, you'll find that the "grassland" within a radius of several hundred meters beneath your feet comes alive, as if countless tentacles are pulling you down into the ground. This plant is carnivorous.

The "Ghost Face Poison Moth," which follows the light source, swarms in at night once a fire is lit, leaving a trail of dust in its wake. If it gets on your skin, it can cause unbearable itching and make you scratch until your skin bleeds.

The mushroom named "Timo Mushroom" hides in piles of leaves, like a landmine. Touching it will cause it to explode violently, spraying you with corrosive acid.

The strange pitcher plant named "Gunflower" can shoot bullet-like fruits that can easily pierce human skulls.

Named.

There are countless strange creatures.

Almost every day, entirely new species not recorded in the encyclopedia are discovered, and almost every day, hunters die for all sorts of bizarre reasons.

This is where its name "Plague Marsh" comes from.

This swamp is a nightmare for Transcendent, a place to be avoided like a plague, deterring the vast majority of hunters who want to explore its secrets.

But this time it's different.

The main force marches out, sweeping away everything in its path.

Large-scale engineering steam locomotives would pave roads directly in the swamp, digging stones from elsewhere to fill the pits. The mage's [Swamp Solidifying Spell] could even solidify the soft, undulating swamp land.

This kind of first-level earth magic spell can fill several meters in a day with any magic apprentice. And the City of Radiance has hundreds of thousands of magic apprentices. With so many people, road construction is like a bulldozing machine, extremely efficient.

With solid ground, the large Mechanical City could then enter the swamp area and sweep everything in its path.

This was the first time that Rein had participated in the Wilderness Hunt.

He originally saw himself as a nobody, just there to hang around.

Staying outside the base would normally be somewhat boring. But he never expected that every day, hunters would bring out strange creatures from the mist.

Rein knew that his teacher, Ilubeck, liked to collect samples from different organisms and study their gene sequences.

Since the teacher isn't around, he's taken on this job for now.

Every day, he would post bounties in the base's "Mission Hall" to collect the strange creatures brought back by the hunters.

Then, some data is recorded, some live sample data is collected, and then the samples are made into specimens.

I was thinking of waiting until I met the teacher sometime to give him a surprise.

Others might not know why the plants and animals here are generally much larger than those on the plains, but Rein knows very well.

One of Ilubeck's research projects was titled "On the Influence of Air Environment on the Body Size of Organisms," which accurately explained why the organisms in this swamp area became so large.

A higher oxygen content in the air can lead to a larger overall size of organisms, that's one reason.

The fog here is denser than on the plains, which is the second most important point.

Ilubeck had long studied the mysteries of this world. He analyzed it and discovered some special components, including trace amounts of toxins, but also some special substances that could enhance the human body.

Ilubeck confirmed that fog has both harmful and beneficial effects on the human body, but he was unsure exactly what components are responsible for its effects. Because of the development of scientific research equipment, many theories are still in the "hypothetical" and "inferential" stages.

The fog in the "Plague Marsh" is very thick, so ordinary Transcendent must wear gas masks. Otherwise, over time, more and more toxins will accumulate in their bodies, endangering their lives.

But as far as Rein knew, Wudo and his Kolman Tribe didn't have, nor did they need, gas masks. Their respiratory tracts were directly exposed to the air; they could breathe simply by opening their mouths.

This is also because they grew up in the "Ashen Forest," where the fog is even denser than in the plains.

This also resulted in their tribe's warriors being more robust, with their height generally exceeding three meters.

Although no test samples confirmed this hypothesis, Rein also felt that the humans in this primitive tribe must have a much higher resistance to toxins than ordinary humans, and that long-term exposure to toxic gases had also made them much more physically robust than ordinary humans.

This also perfectly aligns with the "inferences" in the research report left by his teacher.

Science is a door; once you open it, you will be captivated by its boundless wonders.

After reading Ilubeck's research materials, it was the first time that Rein developed a strong interest in the dazzling and infinitely possible field of biological science.

Two months have passed in the blink of an eye.

The base in the "Plague Marsh" is progressing well. Although the daily casualties among the hunters are not light, they have not encountered any large-scale monster attacks.

Rein also heard that the dangerous areas near the Ashen Forest had been almost completely devoured by the various hunter legions, and that it wouldn't be long before they would directly confront the Barbarian Tribe and launch a general offensive.

But none of this mattered to him; Rein simply stayed at the base every day, trying to survive and develop his character.

There hadn't been a large-scale war yet, and there weren't many wounded. The doctors in the camp were able to handle things calmly, and medical apprentices like him weren't getting any "good jobs."

Rein was happy to do so.

Everyone else was working hard to earn Contribution Points during this collective hunt, but as a medical apprentice, he didn't associate with people in the medical circle and didn't take on tasks proactively, so his Contribution Points earnings were naturally negligible.

But he didn't care; that's the confidence that comes from not lacking money.

He spends several hours each morning performing medical dissections, preparing medicines, and collecting specimens; his afternoons are dedicated to practicing martial arts; and his evenings are spent meditating.

His life, even just buying soy sauce, was very regular.

This day.

In the training room of the camp.

This place is a bit like an indoor gym from my previous life; it's quite crowded, with people practicing magic, martial arts, and marksmanship.

On the combat training platform, Rein was practicing his punches, sweating profusely.

"2995, 2996, 2997, 3000!"

The punches were powerful and forceful, and the sound of wind breaking through the air was incessant.

One thousand kicks, three thousand punches, and various weighted squats and jumps—this is the training plan he set for himself, and the amount of training increases every day.

Although the martial arts skills have been honed to a high level of familiarity in the "Mind Core's" dream space, the body's muscle memory and reflexes still require practical combat training.

Although he had been holding out for several months, Rein's combat strength was improving day by day.

Over the past few months, the [Corpse Stitcher] potion he took when he awakened his Transcendent has been almost completely digested and integrated.

Strength, perception, nerve reaction speed, resilience—all attributes have increased by one or two times compared to a few months ago!

Because he awakened with Excellent Gold Quality potion, his attributes are already significantly higher than those of ordinary Transcendent beings. Currently, judging solely by his physical stats, he is already among the top tier of Awakened - First Tier Awakened.

On the other hand, the high price of "Breath of Lightning" does indeed have its advantages.

At least when meditating using this Cultivation Method, the efficiency of increasing battle qi will be many times greater than before.

During this period, the amount of fighting spirit in his Qi Sea visibly increased by a large margin.

Moreover, because his fighting spirit is sufficiently abundant, he has now condensed his third "Gang Line" (罡线). Along with this, his progress in the [Great Strength God Art] (Hercules God Technique) is also remarkable. He practices the thirty-six movements diligently every day, using Gang Line to nourish his muscles, and has already reached the "initial understanding" level.

It's estimated that Uncle Sam, who taught him this Body Refining Secret Method, would never have imagined that someone would master it in just a few months!

The most direct benefit of mastering the Cultivation Method is a surge in strength.

Simply stepping into the threshold doubled his power!

To give a concrete example, when Rein first awakened his Transcendent, his strength was around 260 kilograms. Now, after absorbing the effects of the potion, it has exceeded 600 kilograms; with the added Monstrous Strength of the [Hercules Art], it has broken the 1,000 kilograms mark!

An increase in absolute strength means an exponential increase in combat ability, with improvements in punching power, speed, muscle toughness, and resistance to blows.

Moreover, with his strong physical abilities, Rein finally reached the threshold of unleashing his "secret technique".

The higher the level of a martial art, the higher the requirements.

The fact that Rein spent a lot of money to learn the "Six Forms of Combat Profound Meaning" requires a very high level of skill.

[Swift Movement] A rapid movement by stepping on the air with a loud popping sound. In addition to skill and mastery of the flow of battle qi, a minimum speed value is required.

The ultimate attack techniques, such as [Sky God Strike], [Cannon Fist], and [Storm Slash], also require a minimum absolute strength value to be cast.

Over the past few months, Rein has been diligently copying the Profound Martial Technique and skills demonstrated by the two masters in the "Dream Space," and has almost completely replicated them.

What he lacks now is the integration of his body and consciousness in reality.

Only through continuous arduous training and practical combat can one transform the "six profound mysteries" in their mind into combat power that their body can unleash.

Thanks to 'eaflon' for 1000 coins, 'Little Q Loves Reading' for 200 coins, 'Chen Jade G' for 200 coins, 'Blood Ice', 'Yunliu Machine', 'Rose Falling', 'Gan Liliang', '20181021103213185', 'Single Hook' for 200 coins, 'So Bored', and 'Leftless Bird'. Thank you for your support. Thank you.