That Crooked Tree Is Actually Not Simple

Zong Shen put the Kite Shield, Hunting Crossbow, and crossbow bolts into his personal inventory slots.

With an iron axe in one hand and an iron pickaxe in the other, he stood outside the small courtyard.

The Wolf Cavalry Colby had already disappeared without a trace.

Only the three simple-minded farmers remained within a few hundred meters of the courtyard, gathering resources.

After a bit of education, the work enthusiasm of the three farmers had improved to a certain extent.

Tie Zhu was working hard to chop down a dead tree as thick as a thigh.

Er Gou and Gou Dan were busy as well; one was gathering hemp in the bushes, while the other was diligently mining stone with an iron pickaxe.

Occasionally, they would even dig up a piece of black iron ore.

Zong Shen nodded in satisfaction.

He raised his wrist and glanced at his watch.

It was just past noon when he had first woken up.

At this moment, it was only about 1:40 PM.

The season here seemed to be spring.

The sunlight overhead felt warm and pleasant.

As long as these three simple-minded farmers maintained this efficiency.

By evening, there should be enough resources for Zong Shen to construct some basic and practical buildings.

Seeing the three farmers working diligently and the Wolf Cavalry out exploring, everything was moving in a positive direction.

For a moment, Zong Shen felt that the future was promising.

"Now, it's time for me to get to work as well!"

He said, full of confidence.

Just as he was about to choose a direction to gather resources.

He suddenly remembered his Strategy Module.

Since it was a strategy guide, shouldn't it know the detailed situation of this area?

As soon as this question popped into his head.

Immediately, golden strategy subtitles appeared before his eyes.

(This area belongs to the Avalon Kingdom, Lentax Great City, Bosbang, and the Azshara battlefield ruins.)

(That's right, the grassland beneath your feet was once part of an ancient battlefield. Eighteen thousand years ago, this was part of the elven city of Azshara, until the invasion of the Blood-Burning Legion turned it into ruins. After the vicissitudes of time, it now belongs to the territory of the Avalon Kingdom.)

Zong Shen looked at these two lines of golden text.

It seems this world has an incredibly grand and epic background.

The Elves, the Blood-Burning Legion, and even the Avalon Kingdom have appeared.

Avalon culture also has its origins on Earth.

It is an important island in the legend of King Arthur, a holy land in Celtic mythology, and the center of faith for the ancient Druid religion.

"In that case, doesn't this world also have dragons?"

He clicked his tongue in wonder.

"Right, I almost forgot the important stuff."

"Is there anything good nearby?"

Zong Shen patted his head, remembering his business.

He asked directly without beating around the bush.

His heart couldn't help but fill with anticipation.

If the Strategy Guide could even provide this kind of information, it would be too insane!

The next moment, golden text slowly appeared before his eyes.

(Let me whisper a secret to you: that crooked tree 50 meters to the southeast of the territory is actually not simple. Pick up your iron pickaxe and go enjoy the joy of digging in the soil under the tree.)

There really was a hint!

"Holy crap! It hit the jackpot!"

Zong Shen couldn't help but let out an exclamation, instantly attracting the attention of the trio of farmers working nearby.

"What's wrong, my lord?"

"What hit the jackpot?"

Er Gou whispered to Gou Dan, who was standing beside him.

"I don't know..."

"But as loyal subordinates, I think we should go and ask."

Gou Dan said very cleverly.

When it came to bootlicking, they were quite sharp.

So, they hurriedly left their resources and tools where they were and trotted over eagerly.

Tie Zhu, who was gathering resources further away, saw the scene of Er Gou and the others running over; although he didn't know what had happened, he naturally couldn't afford to miss out.

Thus, the three silly farmers scrambled to reach Zong Shen's side.

"Huff... huff..."

"Lord, we've come to protect you!"

"What exploded, Lord?"

The three of them panted, speaking one after another with great zeal.

Yet, they saw that Zong Shen's face was full of a smile he couldn't hold back.

This left the three farmers even more confused.

After Zong Shen calmed his mood.

He gave each of the three farmers a kick on the backside.

"What exploded?"

"Of course, it's freaking awesome!"

"Go on, get out of here!"

"Why did you come over? Hurry up and get back to work!"

Zong Shen waved his hand to shoo them away.

The three silly farmers came trotting over, and trotted right back off.

Zong Shen rubbed his hands together, looking around in high spirits, peering left and right.

"Southeast! Southeast! Southeast!"

"Right!"

"Where is the southeast?"

At this moment, a golden arrow appeared, pointing to Zong Shen's right side.

There, a bare, crooked tree stood, looking exceptionally conspicuous.

The goal was very clear!

Zong Shen put away his iron axe, leaving only the iron pickaxe in his hand.

He walked quickly toward that crooked tree.

The appearance of this crooked tree looked unremarkable.

The surrounding area was covered in dense green grass.

Zong Shen took a look at it.

He breathed onto his palms and rubbed them together vigorously.

He picked up the iron pickaxe and began to rake at the soft grass beneath the tree.

Clods of dirt and grass clippings flew everywhere.

After clearing away the weeds, the black, fertile soil beneath was revealed.

Then, Zong Shen began the digging operation.

More than ten minutes later.

A pit about half a meter deep had been dug under the tree by Zong Shen.

Suddenly, his pickaxe head seemed to hit something hard, and he couldn't help but lighten his movements.

He bent down, reached into the soil to rummage around, and pulled out the hard object he had grabbed.

Then, Zong Shen froze.

It was a skull.

It looked very similar to that of a human.

However, the eye sockets were somewhat larger.

This skull looked very unique.

The bone texture looked like jade—smooth, translucent, and extremely hard.

However, a pitch-black arrow was embedded in the back of this skull.

A full third of the arrow was stuck inside the skull.

Looking at it from the front, it actually looked like a piece of skull-aesthetic artwork.

At this moment, the golden Strategy Guide appeared right on cue.

(An elf from Azshara City eighteen thousand years ago might have some ancient elven items in his backpack.)

(In the Blood-Burning Legion, the Blood-Burning Arrow shot by an Evil Spirit Archer does not decay even after ten thousand years; it is a very fine arrow.)

Two prompts appeared one after another.

They made Zong Shen understand the cause and effect.

He had not expected that the arrow embedded in the skull was actually a treasure.

He first placed the skull on the open ground to the side, feeling no particular panic in his heart.

After all, the grassland beneath his feet was the ruins of an ancient battlefield from over ten thousand years ago.

Digging up some skeletal remains was nothing more than a normal occurrence.

He then reached out and rummaged through the soil, discovering a large quantity of scattered jade-like skeletal remains and a leather backpack made from the hide of some unknown animal.

It was actually able to resist decay for ten thousand years.

He carefully inspected the soil beneath his feet once more, and after confirming there were no other foreign objects, Zong Shen climbed out of the dirt pit.

He prepared to begin examining his spoils of war.