Unexpected Joy

In this warmth, he felt the light before his eyes grow brighter and his vision clearer. Simultaneously, the muscles throughout his body contracted and relaxed in turns.

This sensation felt familiar, but before Chen Shouyi could fully grasp it.

The warmth came and went just as quickly, lasting only a few seconds before vanishing without a trace.

Feeling his body become somewhat light and airy, Chen Shouyi finally remembered.

Wasn't this the same feeling he had when he first entered this small island and the Book of Knowledge was transforming his body!

A thought crossed his mind, and he quickly opened his Status Panel.

Strength: 131
Agility: 131
Constitution: 138
Intelligence: 126
Perception: 11
Willpower: 118
Knowledge: Chinese Language (Mastery 6); Physics (Proficient 12); Chemistry (Proficient 11); Mathematics (Proficient 9); English (Proficient 6); Computer Science (Beginner 6); Culinary Arts (Beginner 5); Thirty-Six Body Tempering Forms (Proficient 8); Entering Tranquility to Refine the Self (Proficient 8); Swordsmanship (Proficient 12); Archery (Proficient 6)
Talent: Natural Healing
Energy Accumulation: 295

His attributes had changed dramatically.

Strength increased from the original 127 to 131, a gain of 4 points.

In addition, Agility, Constitution, and Intelligence had all increased by 3 points.

Even Willpower had grown by 2 points.

However, Chen Shouyi guessed that this was not due to his body's transformation, but rather the result of this life-and-death battle.

Chen Shouyi became more and more pleasantly surprised as he looked.

Although the increase this time couldn't compare to the previous gains of at least one or two points, it was like finding unexpected money under your mattress; you couldn't ask for more.

A Strength of 131 translated to approximately 350 kilograms, far exceeding the minimum standard for a Martial Artist.

After a period of excitement, he suddenly calmed down, a sense of doubt arising within him.

With Intelligence increasing by another 3 points, his thinking became more active.

His abilities in memory, observation, imagination, thought, and judgment had all improved.

He looked at the "fruit core" that seemed to have been ravaged.

He couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

When something unusual happens, there's bound to be a reason; this was definitely not a coincidence.

This "fruit core" had been kept close by the Barbarian chieftain and had shown no change. It was impossible for its power to be absorbed and transform his body the moment he got his hands on it.

If such a good thing existed, the Barbarian chieftain would have used it himself long ago.

If there was anything special about him compared to the Barbarians, it was only two points: First, he was not from this world.

Second, he possessed the Book of Knowledge.

The first point was quickly dismissed as highly improbable.

That left only the Book of Knowledge, which existed in his body in the form of the World Tree.

It had a distinguished origin, its material being the heartwood of the World Tree, and it had been refined into a divine artifact. Although it was already broken and its power was not evident, it still possessed some special abilities.

Unfortunately, there was too little information for him to make a specific judgment.

However, he vaguely felt that this thing was not benevolent. Looking at it filled him with a sense of disgust.

In fact, Chen Shouyi didn't know that this was the influence of his subconscious.

Although he had no memory of the mysterious, almost hypnotic whispers before, his subconscious had developed resistance and vigilance.

Of course, in the end, this was also due to Chen Shouyi's Willpower not being strong enough.

The "Tree God," while called a god, was still far from a true deity, merely a creature with divinity. Its abilities were still quite weak. A seasoned warrior could completely ignore or even completely block such interference.

Chen Shouyi squeezed it lightly. The fruit core was as fragile as dough, instantly shattering.

He rubbed his fingers together, feeling that the powder still contained some moisture.

It really was a fruit core.

He discarded the powder and clapped his hands.

Then, he pulled out the two arrows from the Barbarian's body one by one, hoisted his corpse onto his shoulder, and walked towards the sea.

It felt lighter than he had imagined.

Of course, he knew this was an illusion caused by his increased Strength.

Carrying the corpse, he walked step by step, carefully, trying to adapt to his newly increased attributes.

He had adapted to it soon enough, as the increase wasn't significant this time.

After discarding the corpses, he began to deal with the two dugout canoes that had run aground not far away.

Times have changed!

Last time, he worried that the dugout canoes left on the island would be spotted by passing barbarians, thus exposing him, and he had no choice but to push them into the sea.

But now, he naturally no longer needed to worry about that.

Instead, he was worried that they might be recovered by the barbarians after being pushed into the sea.

The dugout canoes were quite large, about four to five meters wide and ten meters long. The interior of the cabin was uneven and extremely rough, with dense, layered chisel marks everywhere. It was clearly dug out from a giant log.

At the same time, the cut edges of the chisel marks were not smooth, and the wooden structure itself was completely destroyed, with loose fibers everywhere. This indicated that the tools used for carving were not sharp and were the result of repeated blows with immense force.

How long would it take a barbarian tribe to build such a dugout canoe?

Chen Shouyi estimated that if there were enough people, it would take at least three to five years from selecting and cutting the raw wood to digging it out into a canoe.

After all, although the barbarians were far stronger than humans, the trees here were also dense and hard as metal, making the construction of such a large dugout canoe a monumental task for them.

This was even considering that the barbarian tribe had specialized craftsmen dedicated to building dugout canoes, who did not engage in other production activities.

In reality, it might have taken even longer.

Such dugout canoes were precious treasures that a tribe could pass down for decades or even centuries, and they were also important tools for obtaining fish and surviving.

Losing two of them would be a significant blow to the barbarian tribe, perhaps even equivalent to missing a few meals.

Chen Shouyi naturally could not let them get them back, not even a slight possibility.

He waded through the seawater and climbed onto a dugout canoe.

Immediately, various strange and foul odors assailed his nostrils.

He held his breath, picked up a rough rope woven from vine strips that was connected to a hole at the bow of the canoe, waded through the seawater again, and tied it to a rock on the shore.

Then, he secured the other canoe as well.

Of course, he did not forget the arrows on the floating corpses in the sea; he washed and collected them one by one.

This battle had shown him the immense power of bows and arrows in warfare.

A master of archery could often defeat stronger opponents by maintaining distance.

The barbarians were stronger and faster than him, but in the fight, all of them except the barbarian chief were killed in one blow.

After collecting all the arrows, Chen Shouyi found that eight were missing.

They had fallen into the sea and could no longer be found.

He didn't care. He wasn't short of money now. These metal arrows, given as a bonus, were worth about twenty yuan each. He could buy five for a hundred yuan and had already decided to buy another batch when he returned.

He picked up the war bow, clothes, and fur that were left on the ground. He glanced back before turning and walking towards the passage at the mountainside.

From a distance, he saw the Shell Girl flying in the air, seemingly quite excited.

When Chen Shouyi approached, she immediately flew to his shoulder, hopped excitedly, and shouted, "One... one giant was killed by you, one... one giant was scared away by you!"

Did she need to tell him that?

He already knew.

Chen Shouyi feigned indifference, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl into a smile.

At this moment, he remembered the timely reminder from the Shell Girl and felt he must reward her.

He patted his pocket and, unusually generous, fumbled out two small glass beads:

"Gems. For you, for discovering the giants!"

The Shell Girl immediately flew in front of him, happily clutching one bead in each hand, and said with a beaming smile:

"Great giant, you are such a good person!"