Snowy Stone Forest

It was daytime.

But the sky was dark and the cold wind blew across the land, and some stone forests even collapsed and fell to the ground as a result, turning into a pile of rubble.

On the ground, Linsey and Red struggled to move forward.

The gale, of course, couldn't stop the two Constitution Awakened Ones, but the icy air blasted into their eyes and pierced their nostrils. The feeling made them neither want to open their eyes nor breathe.

The journey itself became a torment.

Such extreme weather, in other worlds, might be explainable by natural principles.

But this happens to be the Black Mountain World.

The Dragon Beast's act of extracting the World Source Material has caused significant temperature fluctuations in this world. Even if a strong wind were to blow, at this altitude it should be blasts of heat, not the biting cold winds we see now.

Moreover, this strong wind did not appear overnight.

The Dragon Beast is influencing the airflow in the Thousand Mountains Stone Forest with some kind of skill. It was just a gentle breeze a couple of days ago, but this change has not diminished but has been getting stronger and stronger, eventually turning into today's gale.

Braving the cold wind that obstructed her vision, Hong shouted, "Linsey, do you think that beast is scared?"

"It knows I'm determined to go to Black Mountain and kill it, but it doesn't dare to kill me, so it's desperately trying to stop us!"

Linsey also responded with a wry smile:

"I simply can't think of any other possibility!"

"This guy's reaction actually confirmed our suspicions; he's scared!"

"But let me tell you this in advance!" Red continued, "I'm not going to sacrifice myself to kill the enemy! We'd better think of a plan before we get to Black Mountain."

Snap—

In the biting wind, Hong stepped onto a round stone.

She steadied herself and continued asking Linsey questions:

"By the way, don't you have a lot of random stuff?"

"Have you prepared the secret technique to take down that beast beforehand?"

Linsey answered Red's first request, "Don't worry, I would never sacrifice my comrades to kill the enemy!"

Hong waited a few seconds, then spoke with a hint of a smile, "I understand what you mean!"

Sometimes, not answering is also a form of answer!

The fierce winds that were blocking our progress were clearly summoned by the Dragon Beast.

Linsey dared not be careless about this matter, and facing the cold wind blowing on her face, she began to lie. "Then I will tell you honestly, I haven't thought of a solution yet."

"Hahaha. You're out of ideas too, aren't you?" Hearing that Linsey had no idea, Red became happy instead. "That's okay, I'll go all out when the time comes, you just watch!"

"..."

A week later, the gale was still raging in the Thousand Mountains Stone Forest.

The Dragon Beast seemed to realize that the strong wind alone could not stop the two of them from moving forward, and the temperature in the wind began to drop accordingly.

Several more days passed, and then a blizzard struck.

The sky was completely shrouded in dark clouds, and the world was a vast expanse of white. The snowflakes swept up by the wind were like waves crashing on the beach.

With the naked eye alone, nothing can be seen anymore.

However, Linsey has the skills of [Handheld Radar], [Compass], and [Map].

With the help of these Game Player' skills, the blizzard had almost no impact on the route.

For Linsey and Red, the problem actually lies in their survival.

Such terrible weather made it almost impossible for them to obtain food through hunting. The strong winds that had previously ravaged the area had destroyed all the towering trees, making it even more difficult to obtain fuel.

There is almost no difference between night and day.

So after crossing the ditch, Linsey called out to Red, "Red, let's stay here a little longer today."

"First, dig a tunnel down, not too deep, just two or three meters below the surface!"

Under a vast expanse of white snow.

The sparks from the Meteorite Pickaxe and the cold gleam of the Iron Pickaxe appeared and disappeared intermittently.

The two quickly went underground. Linsey stuck a torch at his feet and then smeared several stones on his head.

Clang clang clang—

The tunnel was sealed off.

Through this not-so-thick gap, the sound of wind and snow outside became faint and strange, as if demons were roaring outside.

Hong, holding Iron Pickaxe, asked:

"What kind of wicked idea did you come up with today?"

"Prepare resources. We can't hold out in this weather if we only go out and not come in." Linsey said, then began to direct the operation. "Now, widen this tunnel a bit. Dig to the east, and I'll dig to the west. Leave a few pillars in the middle for support so it doesn't collapse."

The two awakened beings began working underground.

With the sound and shadow of swinging Iron Pickaxe, the simple tunnel was dug into a cave, which gradually expanded in area.

Half an hour later.

This underground space is quite large, with pillars supporting it every few meters, and torches for lighting.

While the environment may be somewhat lacking, the atmosphere already possesses a rare warmth.

Linsey lit a simple campfire, casually pulled out his sleeping bag, and shouted to Red, "That's enough, there's plenty of space!"

"You can go and rest first; I'll handle the rest of the work myself."

"..."

He threw down his red-handled pickaxe and walked straight to the campfire.

"You said it yourself, so don't try to solve it by yourself and wake me up later."

"Haa—"

The girl yawned, crawled into her sleeping bag, and began to rest.

After sending Hong away, Linsey took a deep breath. "Time to get to the real work!"

The work to come will all depend on the skills of the [Game Player], and there is really no way to get Red's help.

The first thing to replenish is water resources.

This task was the simplest; Linsey dug an Infinite Water Pool and easily replenished it with fresh water.

Then there's the fuel.

Linsey took out two seeds; they didn't need to be buried in the soil or watered.

He simply placed the seed on the ground, touched his chest with his right hand, and the power of the Forest Brooch began to take effect.

swish swish swish —

The plant-growth-inducing ability took effect, and the two seeds quickly grew and sprouted, soon forming a dense thicket.

Rather than relying on Resource Conversion and then slowly cultivating them.

Using the [Forest Brooch] directly for catalysis consumes more Essence, but the efficiency is incredibly fast! After Linsey cut it down, the fuel was also replenished.

Finally, there's the food.

Hunting is simply not an option in icy, snowy conditions.

Although the Meat Biscuit were unpalatable, they were Linsey's last rations.

So, much like cultivating plants in Glass Greenhouse in Hidden Borderlands, Linsey cultivated Farmland in this underground space, planting crops that had been Resource Conversion.

"..."

"Turning seeds into Resource Conversion is still too wasteful of Essence."

After a busy half-day, Linsey was not physically tired, but mentally exhausted, and had also used up most of her Essence.

The result was that the number of seeds for both vegetables and staple foods increased several times over.

He wiped his sweat and returned to the campfire.

Linsey's daily habit of setting up camp prompted her to open the map.

"Ah?"

Linsey's eyes widened in surprise.

Because on the expanded map, amidst the raging snowstorm, several Red Dot are moving on the distant ground!