Tasting a Hundred Herbs

Wang Wu had not shown himself of his own accord for five days straight. So he was still alive, and that was pretty good.

After all, he truly did not hesitate to view this Cultivation World with the utmost malice.

It was now late at night on the sixth day. The Sprites in the valley were bustling about, and the place was full of life.

Wang Wu also crawled out from the grass, using Level 5 Danger Sense to scout the way. He stopped every few steps, only continuing after confirming the situation around him.

After cautiously making his way to the stream, he first drank his fill, meeting his daily baseline of 50 Satiety. Then he took care of his personal hygiene and, while he was at it, sent some warmth downstream.

Once that was done, he climbed ashore and began feeling around in the dark for edible wild vegetables.

These past few days had been rather difficult. Wild vegetables were bitter and unpalatable, sometimes even poisonous, and the key problem was that they provided too little Satiety.

Fortunately, after several days, he had gradually grown accustomed to this plain and meager life. He had also accumulated a little experience. For instance, he had discovered a certain plant that looked ordinary aboveground but had an enormous root system, shaped much like a piece of ginger.

Wang Wu named this thing Yellow Ginger.

It contained quite a bit of moisture. Eating one piece increased Satiety by 15 points, making it the decent wild vegetable he focused on digging up.

He fumbled about with his claws. Whenever he found one, he carefully dug it out and crunched it down. Though it was somewhat bitter, it was truly not bad.

Unfortunately, there was not much Yellow Ginger. He had to search for a long time before finding one. Digging up five in a single night already counted as a bumper harvest.

Occasionally, he would feel around and find a mushroom. That depended on luck. Sometimes nothing happened; sometimes the amount of warmth he sent downstream multiplied several times over...

This little life of his was actually rather comfortable.

But Wang Wu would not be satisfied with it. After all, he could not keep squatting in the grass forever. He could do this during summer and autumn, but what about winter?

His Level 5 Stealth was not omnipotent. It was not as if squatting down in a bare patch of open ground would make it work. It needed cover from the surrounding environment to take effect.

So he had been pondering the idea of digging out a cave dwelling.

Every day, while crouching in the grass, he paid close attention to his surroundings. Whenever he had spare time at night, he went to investigate in person.

After considering the matter from every angle and conducting on-site surveys, he really did find a suitable area for digging a cave dwelling.

It was on the eastern side of the valley.

This valley had mountains on both sides. Most of the mountains to the west were sunny slopes.

Sunny slopes were great. When the sun came out, they were the first to receive its light, making them the best choice for absorbing Golden Particles.

Otherwise, by the time the sun climbed overhead and finally shone on the shady slope, sorry, there would be nothing left. All told, there were only around nine minutes.

Thus, the vegetation on the shady slopes was shorter and sparser than on the sunny slopes, and there were fewer Sprites as well—though not none.

In fact, the crest of a shady slope was the crest of a sunny slope. That was really the territory of the big shots.

For example, the top of the cliff occupied by the Scorpion King became a shady slope on the other side, but who would dare make trouble near there?

Wang Wu had thoroughly considered this point, which was why he chose to observe for a long time.

He familiarized himself with the Sprite chieftains on every ridge along the eastern side of the valley.

The answer was naturally shocking!

Yes, as expected, every hilltop—even the peak of a very low little hill—had leader-class Sprites. Their exact strength was unknown, but they were definitely not to be provoked.

It was such a pain in the ass. It was like back on Earth: every profitable business and avenue in every field was packed with people, competitors gathering like clouds.

The competition was insane.

But a cave dwelling had to be built.

So, after half a month of investigation, half a month of deliberation, and half a month of preparation, Wang Wu finally selected a location for his cave dwelling and planned out the excavation.

The cave dwelling would be on a shady slope on the eastern side of the valley. Its main body would be a relatively gentle, low hillock, clearly much shorter than the surrounding ridges. This would help him avoid encountering overly powerful Sprite tribes.

It was about three hundred meters from the stream running through the center of the valley. That was a little far, but it did not matter. A bit of extra effort was nothing.

The main thing was to guard against summer flash floods inundating the valley.

Second, this cave dwelling was about seven hundred meters from the cliff territory of the Flame Scorpion King.

It was about six hundred meters from the low hill territory of that Black Centipede.

It was about four hundred meters from the large tree occupied by the Black Spider colony upstream.

And it was a full nine hundred meters from the mountain cat that looked terrifyingly dangerous even from afar.

It was not that he was reluctant to leave these familiar Sprites. The truth was that, over the past two months, this was the area he knew best.

He practically knew which Sprites inhabited every area, their activity patterns, where Yellow Ginger was most abundant, where mushrooms were most plentiful, which wild grasses would poison him if eaten, and so on.

Over the past month and a half, there had been a torrential rainstorm every so often, and occasionally a moderate rain that lasted for days. In any case, rainfall was abundant, and there were plenty of mushrooms. The more mushrooms he ate, the greater his chances of mushroom poisoning.

Wang Wu had truly been put through the wringer, but his gains were not small either. His Plant Toxin Resistance had now accumulated to (3/10). If he ate poisonous mushrooms or the like again, he would no longer vomit and have diarrhea.

He had also found several herbs that could treat diarrhea.

These were all intangible assets.

Besides that, he had scarcely ever eaten his fill over the past month and a half, but every day he could still gain 0.1% or 0.2% Growth Rate.

Added together, that gave him 4.1% Growth Rate, bringing his total Growth Rate to 30.4%. However, over the past few days, the ripe berries Wang Wu gathered had been growing more and more plentiful.

Every day, he could gather enough for 200 Satiety. When luck was good, he could even reach 300 Satiety.

"Could autumn be approaching? It's time to make a move."

Thus, on a clear night, after Wang Wu filled his belly as usual, he cautiously arrived at the designated location.

He was becoming more and more like a native of this valley. He could practically pass through the territories of all the Sprites without a seam and without being discovered.

This was a dense patch of grass, twenty meters in a straight line from the shady-slope cave dwelling he intended to dig.

He planned to start here and dig a tunnel over.

Extending his sharp little claws, Wang Wu first dug out a circle of wild grass, roots and soil included, and set it aside. Then he began digging downward.

He placed the excavated soil on a large leaf he had prepared beforehand, the same kind the Gray Rat Knights had once used to transport berries. It was a fine treasure, useful not only for carrying supplies but also for collecting dew.

Wang Wu did not pursue excavation speed. He only cared about being cautious and reliable.

Whenever he dug out some soil, he used his claws to crumble it evenly, then carried it over a dozen meters away and scattered it evenly through the grass.

Once the pit was large enough to hold him and allow him to turn around inside, he stopped digging. Instead, he went to the shrubbery, bit off some tough branches, and densely laid them crosswise over the entrance. He covered them with soil, then placed the excavated turf over that.

Next, he made several more trips, carrying back stream water to pour over it. This ensured the wild grass would not wither and die. Ideally, it would grow together with those branches and become a single whole.

That way, he would be able to easily move this simple turf trapdoor in the future without worrying that the wild grass on top would die from being moved too frequently.

After finishing all this, he patiently waited until dawn. Using the light before sunrise, he erased every remaining trace nearby once more. Only then did he burrow into the grass and begin his usual period of hiding.