The moment he entered the village,
what met his eyes was a sense of desolation.
The entire village was not large. He could see all of its houses at a glance, and there were only around thirty of them in total.
A small portion of the ground was covered with a layer of gravel and was fairly clean, but weeds grew everywhere else.
Judging by the varying heights of the weeds in different areas, someone must have cleared them from time to time.
All the houses were low, single-story buildings. A few of the better ones had clearly been built from stone bricks, but their grayish-white walls showed that even those relatively decent houses had stood for many years.
"Our village is small, but we do have a few vacant houses. If you do not mind, you can rest in the house up ahead."
The village chief's thick gray-brown beard, covering both cheeks and his chin, trembled as he spoke.
"Thank you for the trouble, Village Chief." Tang Zheng glanced at the house the chief had indicated, then thanked him.
"Hehe, it is only a small matter. It has been a long time since our village last had visitors." The village chief gave a gentle chuckle.
As the two spoke,
quite a few curious eyes and heads peeked out from the doors and windows of the surrounding villagers' homes.
Carne Village was not large. Naturally, any little disturbance was quickly noticed by everyone.
After offering a brief word of thanks, Tang Zheng entered the vacant house in the village beneath the gaze of the crowd.
Carne Village was actually quite ordinary, with nothing worth Tang Zheng's attention.
If he had to name something,
it would only be the girl named Enri.
She was the girl who had used an ordinary magic item, the "Goblin General's Horn," to forcibly summon an entire army.
Tang Zheng strongly suspected that she possessed some kind of Innate Talent akin to "extremely high affinity with Goblins."
For now, however, she was merely an ordinary girl.
Creak!
When he pushed open the wooden door, the joints connecting it to the frame gave an aged groan.
Tang Zheng entered the vacant house. It was exceedingly bare, containing only a wooden bed, while a thin layer of dust covered the floor.
Tattered spiderwebs hung from the beams overhead and the four corners of the roof.
The wood along the walls, where it met the ground, was slightly darker in color, likely due to dampness.
Tang Zheng had never expected good lodging in such a poor border village. The reason he had come to Carne Village was that it was the nearest village to the Great Forest of Tob.
Furthermore, since it lay within the territory of Hamsuke, the Wise King of the Forest, it was actually quite safe.
It took about a day to travel from E-Rantel to Carne Village, meaning a round trip required at least two days.
Although Tang Zheng had already replenished his supplies, he still had to guard against unexpected emergencies that might force him to leave the forest early.
Or situations where his supplies were overly depleted and insufficient.
At times like that, he naturally needed a place specifically for resting and recuperating.
Carne Village could not have been more suitable.
"If only I had prepared a 'Clean' Magic Scroll." Tang Zheng looked over the dust in the room and the spiderwebs on the beams, shaking his head slightly.
Sure enough.
Even after learning quite a bit from the Rock party about how adventurers prepared for trips, there would still be things he overlooked.
Tang Zheng could only clean the room himself and clear out a clean area.
Only then did he take a ceramic jar the size of a basketball from his toolbox and place it on the ground. He then took out a piece of bacon, broke it into uneven chunks, put them inside, and poured in water from his waterskin.
"Warming."
Tang Zheng extended a finger and touched the ceramic jar.
In less than half a minute, the clear water inside had begun to boil, gradually becoming a pot of meat soup that gave off a savory aroma.
"Setting everything else aside, this spell is at least extremely convenient for heating food." Tang Zheng inhaled the salty fragrance in the air, a faint smile appearing on his face.
A minute passed in the blink of an eye, and the simple meat soup was ready.
Tang Zheng took out a bowl, ladled himself a serving, and began eating black bread.
Even after boiling, the bacon still had a rather strong salty flavor. However, it went quite well with the dry, hard black bread.
Bacon was one of the staple foods adventurers carried in the wild. Because it was cured so heavily with salt, it was nearly impossible to eat directly.
It was often made into meat soup or used as a seasoning in place of salt. For adventurers engaged in physically demanding work, it was an important means of replenishing salt.
The fragrant aroma of the lightly salted meat soup drifted out through the window.
It immediately caused a small stir in Carne Village.
Carne Village's primary sources of income were wheat and other crops, as well as gathering medicinal herbs along the forest's edge.
Hunting wild beasts?
For villagers whose average level was only 1, that was an exceedingly dangerous undertaking.
Tang Zheng remembered that Carne Village should have a hunter with the Scout Basic Class, though he was at most around level 2.
He glanced at his status panel.
Genius 1LV + Sword Saint 6LV = Overall Level 7LV
The experience remaining from the two Eight Fingers members he had killed earlier, combined with the Goblins and small magical beasts he had slain along the way, had raised Tang Zheng another level.
The progress was not particularly slow.
Tang Zheng felt that within a few days, he should be able to raise the Mid-tier Class Sword Saint to its maximum level. After that, he would mainly focus on increasing the level of Genius.
Both Shalltear and Zesshi Zetsumei had their Priest Class at 10LV.
Tang Zheng did not know whether this was the Priest level requirement preceding Valkyrie, but reaching that level and maintaining consistency could not be wrong.
The next day, June 2nd.
As soon as dawn broke,
Tang Zheng finished packing and left Carne Village.
Before departing, he had specifically gone to see the village chief and paid five copper coins for the night's lodging.
The people of Carne Village were quite simple and honest. The village chief had not intended to accept it, but Tang Zheng had forcibly pressed the coins into his hand.
He would very likely return to Carne Village later. It was simply a way of building some goodwill in advance.
He could afford five copper coins.
The unique scent of the jungle—a mixture of branches, leaves, soil, and decay—wafted out from the Great Forest of Tob.
Rustle—
Tang Zheng stepped on thick layers of leaves and moss. Every step produced a rustling sound, like branches and leaves colliding and being crushed.
From deep within the jungle came the occasional calls of all kinds of animals and birds.
Tang Zheng gripped an iron sword and traveled eastward through the outer region of the Great Forest of Tob.
Of the three Forest Lords, the strongest and most difficult to deal with was Hamsuke, the Wise King of the Forest. With Tang Zheng's current strength, if he encountered him, he would not even be able to escape.
Do not let his adorable appearance in the anime fool you; that was only from Bone Lord's perspective. In reality, Hamsuke, the Wise King of the Forest, was an extremely terrifying magical beast!
As for the other two Forest Lords,
the Demon Snake of the West, Naga, was highly intelligent and also a Magic Caster, making it equally dangerous.
Only the Ogre was different. Though it was equally powerful, it was rather unintelligent and single-minded!
Most importantly, it was a Warrior. Aside from its astonishing regenerative ability and physical attacks, it had no other means of attack.
In the event of an unexpected encounter, Tang Zheng's chances of escaping an Ogre were clearly far higher than if he encountered the Demon Snake of the West, Naga, or Hamsuke, the Wise King of the Forest.
Lush, towering trees filled the surroundings. Sunlight passed through layer upon layer of obstruction and filtered through the dense canopy, falling in mottled patches across the ground.
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