"Phew... phew..."
On the Wilderness, Lin Tuo wore only a thin shirt, his body slightly leaning forward as he maintained his fighting stance.
Yet dense beads of sweat seeped from every pore. Blown by the cold wind, they froze into a frosty mist.
Before him, the Wasteland Savage Bear's body was still twitching. Its blood had stained the ground red, and its corpse was rapidly cooling.
Only after confirming that it had been killed did Lin Tuo's taut nerves finally ease, his racing heart gradually returning to normal.
The battle just now had looked extremely simple, lasting only a single exchange. Yet that simple movement had placed no small burden on Lin Tuo's body.
It could be called the strongest strike he could currently unleash.
His choice not to meet it head-on was not because he lacked confidence in his strength, but because Lin Tuo believed his own defenses were far inferior to those of this Wasteland creature.
By comparison, using combat techniques to kill it was far more effective.
Of course, that was also because the other side possessed relatively low intelligence. If Lin Tuo had faced a human with rich combat experience, he definitely would not have won so cleanly.
"During battle, my body's absorption of Aether really does increase."
He let out a deep breath. Feeling the unprecedented activity of the cells within him, as well as the tingling sensation of Aether seeping into his tendons and bones, Lin Tuo's gaze grew brighter.
Stopping the car to fight Wasteland creatures was neither a matter of showing off his courage nor simply the joy of encountering prey.
He had another purpose.
During this period, Lin Tuo had continued exercising every day and carrying out "Body Tempering," but he had discovered that its efficiency was clearly declining.
At first, climbing the "Heavenly Ladder" once could digest 5 points. Later, it became 4, then 3... and after that, it even took two days to digest a single point.
This was no surprise. The further life evolved, the greater the difficulty became.
Lin Tuo believed that he had encountered a "bottleneck," and had been troubled by his inability to break through it.
Until earlier, when Mine Town fought Hua Xi, he had clearly sensed the activity of Aether. Now, after killing the Wasteland Savage Bear, he had confirmed it:
"Fighting to the death can greatly speed up Body Tempering progress!"
It was not surprising.
Previously, Lin Tuo had merely tempered his body through training, making it difficult to activate his entire body. In a real battle, however, one's mind became intensely focused, and every cell in the body was forced awake.
A fight lasting only a few seconds activated the body far more thoroughly than days of training.
Only by forcing himself to the limit and digging out his potential could he temper his body to the greatest extent.
Moreover, Lin Tuo had realized that although his strength was not weak, he severely lacked combat experience. Hunting Wasteland creatures could also make up for this shortcoming.
"I didn't expect an unexpected gain. It seems I can stay here a few more days."
Lin Tuo muttered to himself.
After resting where he stood for a while, his blood and qi circulation returned to normal. Lin Tuo immediately felt a wave of cold and hurried back into the mountain hollow, putting on his down jacket, gloves, and other clothing again.
As for Hua Xi, only now did she finally come back to her senses. Her little face was frozen red, and her expression was exceedingly complicated. There was lingering fear in her eyes, along with curiosity.
She said nothing, merely stared blankly at Lin Tuo as if she wanted to make flowers bloom from his face.
"What are you looking at?" After changing clothes, Lin Tuo frowned.
"Ah, no... I... it's just..." Hua Xi became tongue-tied, and her tone softened considerably.
If she had previously still entertained the thought of recovering her strength and seizing a chance to escape, she had now completely abandoned it.
She knew very well that with the combat strength this mysterious man had displayed, capturing her would be as easy as turning over his hand.
Yet alongside her fear, her curiosity grew even stronger.
She even felt that perhaps following this person would not be bad. At least her safety would be guaranteed... uh, provided he did not have some vile habit of abusing prisoners.
"Where are we, roughly?" Lin Tuo glanced at the girl in confusion, feeling that some strange thoughts were spinning around in her head.
But he could not be bothered to think about it and simply asked.
"Huh?" Hua Xi froze for a moment, then turned her head and carefully identified their surroundings, mainly the outlines of the distant mountains. Hesitating, she said, "I can't say the exact location.
But I remember this should be northwest of Mine Town.
If I remember correctly, heading due north leads to Black Stone City. It's a city controlled by Burning Fire Company, with troops stationed there. But with your strength... as long as you're careful, there shouldn't be anything to worry about."
After a pause, seeing Lin Tuo sitting there with a stern face and saying nothing, she continued:
"To the south are the central mountain ranges. Driving is nearly impossible there; you can only travel on foot. It's very desolate."
"The east and west are about the same, though the east is safer and has slightly more human gathering spots. To the west, there are more Mutant Beasts.
It's more dangerous, but the odds of encountering Old Era ruins are greater too."
After hearing Hua Xi's explanation, Lin Tuo lowered his head and did not immediately state his position. Instead, he switched his consciousness back to his true body and used "Full Map Vision" to take a rough look.
Although he could not see the details clearly, the general terrain did not differ much from what Hua Xi had described.
"Then we'll go west." Lin Tuo switched his consciousness back to his Avatar and spoke from the driver's seat.
"Huh? Why?" Hua Xi could not understand.
"Mind your status." Lin Tuo did not explain. He quickly started the vehicle and headed west once more.
Hua Xi stared blankly for two seconds before hurriedly saying:
"Fine, but at least cut up that Savage Bear and bring it with us. It can all be sold for money..."
Yet the only response she received was the vehicle's thunderous rumble as it charged forward without turning back.
After confirming that battle could speed up Body Tempering progress, Lin Tuo became somewhat reluctant to leave.
A so-called "city" was nothing more than an enlarged version of Mine Town.
Compared to that, practicing his marksmanship without restraint in the Wilderness and occasionally getting out to fight held far greater appeal.
Though Hua Xi was full of complaints, as a prisoner, she could not say anything. She could only curl up in the car and doze off.
Before she knew it, an entire morning had passed. The sky was still dim, but it had reached the brightest time of the day.
"Pssh..."
He found a sheltered mountain hollow, turned the key, and shut off the engine. Lin Tuo touched his nose, frozen red from the cold, and felt a little tired.
Driving around without purpose and hunting all morning had ultimately consumed too much energy.
Especially now that hunger was washing over him, making things even harder to bear.
"Mmm, why did we stop?" Hua Xi, half-asleep in the back seat, forced open her eyelids and asked blankly.
Lin Tuo pushed open the car door, thought for a moment, then hauled her entire body out and tossed her onto the snow. "Lunch break."
"Huh?" Hua Xi stared blankly for a moment before jolting upright. "It's time to eat, right?"
"Heh, I thought you'd slept so much you forgot about that." Leaning against the car door, Lin Tuo teased her.
Hua Xi sat on the ground without the slightest regard for appearances and wrinkled her nose. Perhaps because she had grown familiar with Lin Tuo's temperament along the way, she was no longer so nervous. Frankly, she said:
"I've been starving for ages. My stomach's shriveled up. You never mentioned eating, so wasn't sleeping the only thing I could do to reduce my energy consumption?"
"Tsk, you sound pretty experienced."
"Of course. We Wasteland Hunters spend all year outdoors. If luck is bad and we can't catch any prey, going a day or two without a meal is perfectly common.
My record is nine days straight without food. When I got hungry, I just grabbed a handful of snow to eat, and I still pulled through."
Hua Xi seemed rather proud when speaking of this.
Lin Tuo fell silent for a moment and gave the young girl another look before saying:
"Enough showing off your glorious achievements. At the very least, I'm not going to let my prisoner go hungry. I can't afford to lose that kind of face," Lin Tuo said flatly.
Hearing this, Hua Xi was delighted, then said:
"Then we need to hurry and hunt something. Ah, you killed so many earlier. Even if you'd only thrown one or two into the car, we could have eaten for several meals."
In truth, she was also still thinking about the jerky and honey they had found in that room in Mine Town. Unfortunately, the situation had been too urgent then, and there had been no time to take them. What a pity.
"Those things are crawling with parasites. I don't want to eat them." Lin Tuo shook his head. He had never intended to eat Mutant Beasts.
"Then what do we do? Dig up wild vegetables? There don't seem to be any nearby." Hua Xi frowned, unable to stop herself from analyzing the situation.
Lin Tuo said blandly, "I have my own method. Wait here for a while. Heh, of course, if you want to run, I won't stop you."
After saying that, Lin Tuo took nothing with him and slowly walked toward a nearby patch of forest.
The forest was not large, but it was dense. These trees were mutated varieties too, exceptionally resistant to cold. Even in this harsh winter, branches and leaves grew from them, though their appearance was bizarre and frightening.
Some areas within the forest also grew edible wild vegetables, but Lin Tuo clearly had no interest in them.
After confirming that the surroundings were safe, Lin Tuo's eyes grew unfocused as he switched his consciousness back to his true body.
Lishan Martial Arts School, in the study.
Lin Tuo opened his eyes and checked the time. Outside the Sandbox, it was still late at night, around two or three in the morning.
At this hour, ordering delivery was difficult, but quite a few restaurants in Yangcheng City's urban district were still open.
Lin Tuo immediately withdrew his Avatar, switched the Evolution Sandbox to "Observation Mode," and placed the Avatar on a food street somewhere in the city.
He found a restaurant and ordered rice and stir-fried dishes. After thinking about it, he also ordered an extra-large serving of barbecue, since it had more meat... while waiting for the food to be prepared.
He then went to the twenty-four-hour supermarket across the street and bought canned food, beer, snacks, and a case of bottled water.
By the time he finished buying everything, both hands were completely full.
Only then did he find a secluded spot and use his true body to bring the Avatar and the pile of food out of the Sandbox.
After that, he switched back to "Creation Mode" and placed both the person and supplies inside.
The items first shrank, then enlarged again. Once they entered the Wasteland, they were normal-sized. There was no possibility of a grain of rice becoming larger than a house after being put inside.
This was also part of Lin Tuo's exploration and use of the Sandbox's Rules.
The entire process took only twenty minutes.
When Lin Tuo reappeared in the Wasteland forest carrying a huge pile of food, he could not help looking in the direction of the vehicle and muttering:
"I wonder if she ran off. Well, if she really did, then I can only blame her for lacking the luck to enjoy this feast."
Thinking this, Lin Tuo quickly left the forest and sped toward the mountain hollow.
Very soon, he saw his car, as well as Hua Xi sitting obediently in the snow.
The young girl was looking around in boredom. When she saw him return, she visibly let out a breath of relief and sprang up from the ground. Then she suddenly sniffed and widened her eyes.
"You... what is that?"
"Food."
Lin Tuo explained blandly. He pulled a piece of waterproof cloth from the car and laid it on the ground as a tablecloth, then tossed the pile of things onto it.
After thinking for a moment, he untied the ropes around Hua Xi, then shoved a steaming boxed meal into the young girl's hands and urged:
"Hurry and eat. There are barbecue skewers too. In this weather, they won't taste good once they get cold."
With that, he plopped down and picked up his chopsticks first.
Across from him, Hua Xi sat down and looked at the stir-fried dishes and rice in her hands. Feeling that indescribable fragrance, her entire brain crashed.
Thanks to readers: i Dixin, Even If Muted I'll Still Show Off, Wang bai, Demon Taro, Bread84, Pian Que Refuses to Cross-Dress, Great Luo Heaven's Candle Dragon, Wu Wu Wu Fog, Li Shipu, Buy a Bottle of Sweet Water—I Won't Drink It, I'll Wreck It, and Demon God Azathoth for your support!
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