After making a round outside the shelter, Lan Qingyou had found a Material Treasure Chest and spotted quite a few monsters she hadn't seen before.
Especially those slow-moving things that looked like lumps of mud.
If she wasn't mistaken, they were probably the Ooze Monsters mentioned in the channel.
Curious, she flew over to take a look and discovered a marsh not far from her shelter.
The marsh was full of Sludge Monsters.
People might be fighting monsters elsewhere, but no one was here.
The reason was simple: these things were completely immune to physical attacks—or, rather, physical attacks barely affected them.
Only powerful magic attacks could deal any real damage.
Naturally, not many people were willing to waste time here.
She looked up at the sky.
The Sun was nearly overhead, so Lan Qingyou headed back.
On the way, a foul smell of blood drifted through the air.
Lan Qingyou looked over and saw an E-Rank Dire Wolf lying dead in the forest undergrowth.
The wolf was about three meters long. Its head had been smashed open, and its left foreleg and part of its belly were missing.
Not far away, a Man-eating Flower lay sprawled on the ground like a wilted flower, motionless. It was dead too.
It looked like they'd killed each other.
After all, if a human had done it, the wolf wouldn't have been left in such "good" condition.
Since she hadn't gathered many materials today, she might as well use its blood to stock her Material Warehouse.
Intrigued, Lan Qingyou grabbed a Vine nearby and floated down.
Standing in front of the Dire Wolf's corpse, she took a Mineral Water bottle from her Medicine Bag, then drew the Dagger at her waist and began collecting its blood.
Monster blood could be used in alchemy, but she hadn't needed any before, so she hadn't bought any.
After filling three Mineral Water bottles with wolf blood, Lan Qingyou put them in the Material Treasure Chest to keep them from coagulating. Then she went to the Man-eating Flower and scraped some liquid from its petals.
What else on monsters could be put to use?
Lan Qingyou thought for a moment, Dagger in hand, then cut off a few of the Man-eating Flower's Tentacles and collected two bottles of something she wasn't sure whether to call blood or juice.
Right, there were also the wolf's teeth, eyeballs, heart, and liver.
Oh! So the Dire Wolf's Crystal Core was next to its heart? That was the first time she'd learned that.
She'd cut off two of its hind legs to take home, too. Gu Xiaobei was great at cooking those, and they were tender, with a texture like beef.
Especially that Dire Wolf Meat Shreds Stir-fried with Green Peppers. It was absolutely authentic!
Once she'd finished, Lan Qingyou finally let out a breath.
Without the Moonlight Stone Dagger, processing all this would have taken quite a bit of effort.
Squelch...
Just as Lan Qingyou was about to leave, something seemed to fall out of the wolf's belly.
It was fist-sized and looked all sticky and gooey.
Lan Qingyou examined it closely for a while before realizing it was probably a chick.
Its belly rose and fell, so it seemed to still be alive.
It had probably been swallowed whole by the Dire Wolf.
Maybe she could wash it and eat it?
Remembering the Steam Pot Chicken Gu Xiaobei had made, Lan Qingyou couldn't help swallowing.
The chick didn't have much meat, but what if it tasted really good?
After all, Colored Feather Chicken tasted great.
So Lan Qingyou reluctantly pinched it between her index finger and thumb and headed back to her shelter.
After washing the chick by the stream, she went to the desk and sent the wolf legs and chick to Gu Xiaobei.
But the Small Screen informed her that living creatures couldn't be transported...
"Hmm... I'll keep it for testing medicine, then."
Lan Qingyou thought about it, unsure what else to do with it.
She was developing new medicine, after all. Keeping a chick around that could give her timely feedback on a drug's effects didn't seem like a bad idea.
Although the Small Screen could appraise things, the results were only literal.
Take Healing Potions, for example. They looked like something you drank, but they had different effects whether taken orally or applied externally.
She poured a Healing Potion down the chick's throat, then poured another over its body, and set it on a towel folded over twice. That should do for now.
Then she took out the materials she'd collected and appraised them.
[Incomplete Wolf Fang (E-)]
[Use: Can be used for decoration, alchemy, or making Magic Items.]
[Description: Who dug this up? Their technique is even worse than that of a novice hunter in the village. One star!]
[Dire Wolf Blood (E)]
[Use: Can be used for alchemy.]
[Description: Not everyone likes blood. Maybe you can sell it for a fortune to some wealthy, stupid alchemist.]
[Dire Wolf Liver/Heart (E-)]
[Use: Can be used for alchemy or cooking.]
[Description: It has a hole in it. Even a stupid alchemist wouldn't want to use it.]
[Man-eating Flower Sap (E)]
[Use: Can be used for dyeing.]
[Description: An excellent item for coloring cloth. Plenty of cloth merchants like this stuff. Of course, those less reputable alchemists also like using it to dye their potions and pass them off as something else.]
[Man-eating Flower Vine (E)]
[Use: Can be used for crafts.]
[Description: Flatten it and let it dry, and you'll get fine fibers from the Man-eating Flower Vine.]
It seemed there wasn't much she could use.
Lan Qingyou clicked her tongue and ignored the Small Screen's jabs at alchemists.
Wasn't it perfectly normal for alchemists to be rich?
They were the sort who'd buy a bowl of soy milk, drink it, then pour out another bowl.
After tossing the mostly useless heart and liver to Gu Xiaobei, she set about brewing potions.
The whole day passed in a flurry of activity, giving Lan Qingyou a different experience from reading.
Especially when she'd personally cut up a Dire Wolf and gathered materials from the Man-eating Flower.
No wonder Albert had told her to gather materials herself whenever possible.
After doing it herself and getting a firsthand feel for the process, she felt she'd gained a new understanding of Dire Wolves, Man-eating Flowers, and the alchemical materials they yielded.
Since she'd spent the day making Mana Potions, and still had to trade with Li Huai, Lan Qingyou finished dividing up the +50 Mana Potions and looked at her friends list.
To her surprise, Li Huai still hadn't replied.
The man liked to take the initiative. He wasn't the type to sit around waiting for her to contact him.
Had he run into trouble?
It was almost nine at night.
If he still hadn't returned by now, he was probably in serious trouble.
Lan Qingyou guessed.
After all, he was always out working. Running into danger was only to be expected.
After thinking it over, Lan Qingyou decided not to worry about it. At worst, she'd lose a few potions. It wasn't a big deal.
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