Ji Xinghe gently patted the Dark Spirit Fruit on top of Xiao Sha's head.
Her gaze drifted unconsciously toward the corner. Xiao Xi was clinging to the wall, the three tender leaves on its vine drooping.
Seeing this, Ji Xinghe pressed her lips together. She didn't like overly sentimental pets. She didn't know how to comfort people, let alone pets.
She selfishly wanted only to train their abilities simply, so they could fight for her.
Sensing Xiao Xi's emotions, Ji Xinghe felt inexplicably annoyed.
But she didn't know that you only worried about a creature's emotions when you cared about it.
If you didn't care, you would simply give it the cold shoulder.
Looking at the vine hiding in the corner, looking so pitiful and wilted, Ji Xinghe felt a pang in her heart.
Remembering how they had fought side by side while exploring the island and guarding the island, her gaze gradually softened.
Before she could say anything, Xiao Xi hurried over. Its vine cautiously curled around Ji Xinghe's little finger. "Congratulations, Master! You've gained another mighty fighter!"
Sensing the complicated emotions in its master's heart, Xiao Xi forgot all about being angry and hurried over to curry favor, afraid its master might abandon it...
Ji Xinghe's heart softened. It was still just a little one, after all. She gently tapped the vine.
"Silly Xiao Xi, don't you remember? We can communicate with each other without going through a Contract Stone. You're all equally important to me."
Then she gathered the vine and the tree branch in her palm. "From now on, the three of us are family."
She opened the pet panel and swiped right to find Xiao Sha's attributes.
"West Tier Dark Spirit Tree, Xiao Sha (Plant Pet)" (Panel can be hidden)
"Master: Ji Xinghe (Player 001)"
"Level: 1 (69/200)"
"Attack: 45"
"Defense: 35"
"(Innate) Skills:
1: Nirvana Rebirth (As long as there are Dark Spirit Fruit seeds left in the world, I won't die.)
2: Fruit-Bearing (At each stage, I can bear a varying number of dark-element fruits, which can increase a creature's affinity for dark elements.)"
"Attributes: Dark 100, Wood 99"
After closing the panel, Ji Xinghe took out the Deformed Monster's corpse and used her innate Drain skill.
[Innate Drain successful, Constitution +0.1]
[Innate Drain successful, Constitution +0.1]
Her Constitution successfully reached 50.
Then she clicked to dismantle the corpse and obtained 50 units of Deformed Meat.
She casually took a few pieces of Deformed Meat and handed them to Xiao Sha. Seeing Xiao Xi's obedient, pitiful look, she pretended not to notice that its status read: Full, and gave her three pieces of fresh Beast Meat, too.
Seeing them enjoy their food, she continued sorting through her inventory.
"Mobile Wooden House: Contains 20 square meters of space and can be enlarged or shrunk. An essential piece of equipment for traveling."
"Gravity Room: One of the Training Room's functional rooms. Contains 50 square meters of space and can be placed in a Shelter or Training Room for use."
"Special Effect: Train at full intensity in the Gravity Room for two hours to gain +1 Strength. Training time can accumulate."
The Gravity Room worked much like the Treadmill: two hours of exercise granted one point in the corresponding attribute.
But there wasn't room for it in her Shelter for now, so she could only store it in her inventory with a heavy heart.
Next, she looked at the Skill Book that let her choose a skill.
"Skill Book: Allows you to freely choose a skill's attribute."
She opened her player panel.
Elemental Attributes: Metal 60, Light 99, Dark 61, Water 5
Skill Slots: Small Light Ball Technique (Level 1), Purification Technique (Level 1), Golden Sword Technique (Level 1)
Remaining Skill Slots: 3/12
Ji Xinghe already had two Light-element skills and one Metal-element skill. The two remaining attributes were Dark and Water.
Her Water attribute still wasn't high enough to support learning a skill, so...
[The player has chosen the following skill attribute: Dark]
[Drawing a Dark-attribute skill...]
[Ding! Congratulations, player! You drew the skill: Dark Invisibility Technique]
"D-Dark Invisibility Technique?" Ji Xinghe's mouth twitched as she murmured in disbelief.
Was this the invisibility she'd wanted as a child so she could escape school? Or the kind she'd dreamed of using as an adult to rob the rich and help herself?
Ji Xinghe excitedly clicked on the Skill Book.
"Skill Book: Learn this to acquire the skill 'Dark Invisibility Technique.'"
"Learning Requirements: Spirit > 20, Constitution > 15, Dark-attribute Affinity ≥ 80. The player's current attributes do not meet the requirements. Skill cannot be learned."
Ji Xinghe: !!!
The smile on her face froze.
Aaaaaah!
She screamed inwardly!
This was the first time she'd wanted a skill so badly. Ji Xinghe abruptly looked up, her eyes shining as she stared at Xiao Sha.
"Xiao Sha, dear Xiao Sha, do your best and hurry up and ripen those fruits..."
Sensing the scorching gaze behind it, Xiao Sha's trunk couldn't help but tremble.
The vine swayed on its trembling branch, then smacked it with a slap. The branch immediately steadied.
Inside the Shelter, Ji Xinghe held the last two blueprints.
A Swift Boots Blueprint and a Distortion Recovery Potion Blueprint.
"Swift Boots Blueprint"
"Required Materials (one pair): Wind Spirit Stone ×2, Cloth ×4, Beast Hide ×2"
She still had a pair of Swift Boots, so she wasn't planning to make another pair for now.
Impatiently, she opened the next blueprint.
"Distortion Recovery Potion Blueprint"
"Required Materials: White Ground Orchid Leaf ×1, Purple Raven Grass Leaf ×1, Green Heart Grass Leaf ×1, Drinking Water 500 ml ×1"
"Note: The potion must be made at a Medicine-Making Table."
Well, here was another item she didn't have.
Thinking of that, she opened the system panel and searched for [Medicine-Making Table] on the trading platform.
[This item is not currently available. Please try again later.]
Ji Xinghe refused to give up and clicked twice more.
[This item is not currently available. Please try again later.]
[This item is not currently available. Please try again later.]
Fine...
She knew it would be like this. She hadn't really been expecting much, honestly.
She opened the Chat Channel.
Chat messages flooded past.
Before you continue