Bear Gallbladder Soup, Increased Health

System Announcement: "Attention, all survivors. The level rankings have been updated."

Upon hearing the announcement, survivors across every region of the world opened the rankings.

The survivors of Region 174 were no exception.

However, the rankings exceeded everyone's expectations.

Region 174 Level Rankings First Place: Cao Xing (Level 4, 1%) Second Place: Wu Xinghu (Level 3, 25%) Third Place: Zhou Bo (Level 3, 14%) Fourth Place: Ren Yixu (Level 3, 10%) Fifth Place: Fang Long (Level 3, 7%) Sixth Place...

Seeing the ranking list, Region 174's chat channel fell silent for a moment.

Then came an overwhelming flood of messages.

Chen Hua: "Holy shit! It wasn't Fang Long or Wu Xinghu—the top spot actually went to Boss Cao Xing!"

Tao Mumu: "I really didn't expect Boss Cao Xing to be first. He's insanely strong!"

Liu Dashu: "How did Boss Cao Xing do it?"

Everyone was expressing their shock.

A survivor named Du Rong said, "I don't think everyone needs to be this surprised. Boss Cao Xing is the man who killed a bear. It's no surprise that he took first place."

"Haha, I think Boss Cao Xing deserves it too. Thanks to his bear meat, my whole family improved their attributes. Not only did we survive the life-and-death crisis, but we've also gradually begun developing our territory."

"That's right, that's right. I'm completely convinced that Boss Cao Xing deserves first place."

The chat channel was nearly unanimous in its praise of Cao Xing.

After all, the bear meat he had sold had truly helped quite a few people.

Meanwhile, Fang Long, Zhou Bo, and the others all wore rather unpleasant expressions.

"Damn it! How did that brat get first place?"

Fang Long's face held a trace of anger and disbelief.

But he quickly calmed down again.

Fang Long slowly let out a breath. "Luckily, it's only a one-level gap. There are still three days until the Newbie Protection Period ends—more than enough time for me to catch up!"

On the other side, an interested smile appeared on Zhou Bo's face as well.

"Interesting. I originally thought that kid was just lucky, and that offending Fang Long meant he was finished."

"Now it seems he really does have some skill."

Zhou Bo opened his friends list and clicked into a private chat. "Go. Use your connections and find out where this Cao Xing came from."

They were all struggling to survive, and he was just asking acquaintances through private chat, yet he made it sound so grand—"use your connections."

At that moment, inside the Lord's Hut.

Outside the window, snowlight reflected brightly as the cold wind howled.

Inside the room, the warm stove radiated heat.

The little wooden bed creaked, and the temperature beneath the covers rose rapidly.

The beauty's face was flushed red. She turned her head aside, too shy to meet Cao Xing's eyes, while her hands tightly clasped around his neck.

"A-Xing... A-Xing..."

Her calls were long and ethereal.

The room was filled with the sweetness of passion.

After a long, ethereal, coquettish cry, the movements in the room gradually subsided.

Liu Muxue lay limp in Cao Xing's arms, her eyes filled with a dreamy haze.

At that moment, they heard the system announcement as well.

Liu Muxue arched her swan-like neck, excitement shining in her eyes. "A-Xing, you're in first place! You're amazing!"

Cao Xing shook his head, unconcerned. "It's only temporary. Until I secure the reward, I can't afford to relax."

Liu Muxue looked at him with admiration. "Even so, that's still incredible. There are tens of thousands of people in Region 174!"

Cao Xing smiled. "We'll have to keep working hard tomorrow too. Let's see if we can get you into the top ten and snag a reward."

Liu Muxue nodded lightly and clenched her little fists. "Mm-hmm! I'll work hard!"

Perhaps because she moved too much and brushed against certain places, Liu Muxue's face flushed again.

She cautiously looked at Cao Xing, only to find that he was looking at her too.

Cao Xing lowered his head and kissed her again.

"Mm..."

The beauty was soft and gentle. Her body, stiff at first, gradually relaxed.

Her body twisted like a water snake as she actively wrapped herself around Cao Xing.

The nighttime temperature began to plummet.

Yet the temperature inside the room continued to rise...

The two spent a wonderful night together.

Early the next morning.

Cao Xing saw several system notifications.

[Your territory building: Small Shelter has been constructed successfully...]

[Your territory building: Basic Elemental Arrow Tower has been constructed successfully...]

Cao Xing's eyes immediately lit up. "The arrow tower has been built!"

Through the window of the Lord's Hut, Cao Xing saw a fifteen-meter-tall hexagonal tower standing at the edge of the Campfire.

The entire tower was built from stone, and the faint elemental fluctuations coming from it carried an intimidating presence.

If enemies approached within six hundred meters of the camp, the arrow tower would automatically attack. It was extremely powerful!

Cao Xing said with satisfaction, "Very good. Now I won't have to worry about the territory's safety, at least. Those Polar People can also head out to gather resources more safely."

At the same time.

A knock sounded at the door.

Cao Xing and Liu Muxue got dressed and looked toward the door. "Come in."

Four Flower, one of the residents, carried in a bowl of bear gallbladder soup and a serving of roasted bear meat.

A rich aroma of meat wafted through the room.

Four Flower said softly, "My lord, the bear gallbladder soup and roasted bear meat you asked me to prepare are ready. Please enjoy."

Cao Xing nodded. "Put them on the wooden table."

Both ingredients could improve attributes.

Bear gallbladder could directly increase health by 200 points, while bear meat could increase strength and constitution by 2 points each.

For Cao Xing and Liu Muxue, both were considerable improvements.

This was also what Cao Xing had instructed the residents to do yesterday.

Four Flower nodded, then respectfully took her leave.

Cao Xing then brought Liu Muxue to the dining table.

He took a few bites of the bear meat first.

In an instant, his mouth was filled with the rich fragrance of meat.

Cao Xing praised, "A professional chef really does have excellent skills."

A system notification appeared.

Successfully consumed Bear Meat (Blue). Attribute increase gained: Strength +2, Constitution +2.

As expected, he had gained an attribute increase.

Then, Cao Xing used his chopsticks to pick up some bear gallbladder from the bowl.

What puzzled him was that even after taking several bites, he still had not received a system notification about an attribute increase.

"Hmm?"

Cao Xing was somewhat confused and continued eating the bear gallbladder.

Only when he was nearly full did the system notification finally appear.

Successfully consumed bear gallbladder. Maximum health increased by 200.

Cao Xing's expression brightened. "So I have to eat half the bear gallbladder to gain the attribute increase."

"By the looks of it, the remaining half can provide another increase."

He then looked at Liu Muxue beside him. "Muxue, come over too."

"There's still half the bear gallbladder left. It should be enough for you to gain an attribute increase as well."

Liu Muxue obediently walked over. She picked up the chopsticks Cao Xing had used and began eating directly.

The bear gallbladder soup was delicious, and it took Liu Muxue several minutes to finish it.

Then she looked at Cao Xing excitedly. "A-Xing, my health increased too."

Cao Xing nodded.

One bear gallbladder had given them a total of 400 additional health. That was quite good.

Unfortunately, this kind of food was only effective the first time it was eaten.

At that moment, a system notification sounded.

Survivors, congratulations on surviving the third night of the Frozen Era.

Newbie Protection Period remaining: 2 days, 22 hours.

Weather forecast: There will be a light snowfall tonight. The lowest temperature will reach -70°C. Please take precautions against the cold.