Leveling Up Like Crazy

[Transaction successful!]

Several minutes after it was listed, the stone pickaxe was finally sold.

"Much slower than before. Looks like a lot of players don't lack pickaxes anymore."

As players continued to develop, the stone pickaxe's most valuable period had passed. Its premium was no longer as high as before. Some players had already mined iron and were trading it in the plaza.

However, Bai Yi was not worried. He had already sold most of his stone pickaxes, leaving the rest for himself.

With his equipment ready, Bai Yi traded one unit of wolf meat for a raincoat. He had no desire to catch a cold.

Bai Yi walked into the yard and began enthusiastically gathering mud.

Before long, thirty units of mud were piled beside the shelter. But Bai Yi did not stop. While browsing the forum earlier, he had learned what materials were needed to upgrade the shelter from Level 4 to Level 5.

Bai Yi first piled up 130 units of mud in one go. The pile of mud resembled a small hill. Then he went inside and traded ten units of meat for one hundred units of stone.

Now came the main event. Standing in the yard with the log in hand, Bai Yi excitedly opened it. He planned to upgrade his shelter directly to Level 5!

[Upgrade shelter?]

"Yes!"

A familiar flash of white light passed by, and the shelter, along with the yard enclosed by wooden fences, expanded once more. Since he was standing in the yard, Bai Yi could only retreat alongside the white light.

When the white light faded, Bai Yi stared at the building before him in a daze.

The wooden house, once pieced together from sturdy timber, had transformed into a grayish-white stone house. Fine patterns could vaguely be seen on its walls, as though it had been made from some special kind of rock.

Bai Yi reached out and touched the wall. Its cold, hard surface carried a strange warmth, a texture unique to rock that had been compressed and reconstructed by the system.

After circling the stone house once, he estimated it to be around one hundred square meters. Yet the outer walls were a full thirty centimeters thick. Even torrential rain could not leave a trace of water on them.

He opened the log.

[Refined Stone House]

[Level: 4]

[Durability: 1000/1000]

[Capacity: 201/1000]

[Traits: None]

[Upgrade: 0/1000 stone, 0/100 mud]

[Description: Congratulations. You have successfully passed the beginner stage and now possess the basic ability to survive in this world.]

[Unlocked: Low Stone Wall, Workshop]

[Low Stone Wall: Can expand your territory. Construction cost per unit: 10 units of stone.]

[Workshop: Crafting tools in the workshop is 20% faster. The workshop can craft multiple tools simultaneously and can automatically craft tools, eliminating the need for players to manually click craft. Raw materials will be deducted directly from the warehouse. It can produce items at set times, locations, and quantities. Construction cost: 300 stone.]

Bai Yi gave it a rough look. The importance of the stone wall and workshop went without saying; both had to be built. But the most important thing now was to keep upgrading the shelter!

[Upgrade shelter?]

"Yes!"

After another familiar flash of white light, the shelter upgrade succeeded.

The Level 5 shelter had not changed much in material compared to Level 4. Its color had merely become darker, while the original single-story stone house had turned into a two-story villa.

A building made of the same material extended from the villa's eastern wall. It was the original warehouse. Starting from Level 5, the warehouse was no longer a spatial iron box, but had become a real storage room.

[Stone Villa]

[Level: 5]

[Durability: 2000/2000]

[Warehouse Capacity: 201/1000] (Expand one unit of capacity for 5 stone)

[Traits: None]

[Upgrade: Locked] (Can be upgraded after Level 5 is unlocked; unlocks after the beginner protection period ends)

[Description: During the beginner period, you can just lie back and relax.]

[Players may customize rooms (effective only the first time).]

Seeing this, Bai Yi traded another fifty units of jerky for four hundred units of stone and ten units of crude iron. He built both the workshop and bathroom, placing them on the first floor. At the same time, he moved the bed and table to the second floor.

After finishing the setup, Bai Yi ran to the warehouse. It stood right beside the shelter and could be entered either from outside or from within the shelter, making it very convenient.

The warehouse's interior was divided into ten neat compartments. Several of them held ten units of crude iron, a few pieces of wood, and a large amount of jerky scattered about. The other compartments were currently empty, waiting to be filled with supplies.

In one corner of the warehouse, the unknown bone flesh lay curled quietly inside a tin box. Up close, the patterns on its surface could be seen twitching weakly.

Having seen it too many times, Bai Yi no longer lost sanity merely by staring at it. He had a feeling that it might be needed for later shelter upgrades.

Afterward, he entered the newly unlocked workshop. When he saw what was inside, his breathing quickened.

Inside the several-dozen-square-meter room, a workbench forged from black metal gave off a cold gleam. A pale-blue holographic interface floated above its surface. Most eye-catching of all was the pyramid-shaped processing device in the corner, where three mechanical arms rested quietly folded between its angled faces.

"Achoo—"

To obtain enough mud, Bai Yi had run back and forth through the torrential rain outside. Now, he sneezed violently.

He hurriedly retreated into the shelter and warmed himself beside the stove. A kettle of hot water was boiling atop it. Bai Yi glanced at the downpour outside. He would not be going out again this afternoon.

Then he remembered that he had not bathed since arriving in the Mist World. Excited, he carried the kettle toward the bathroom, intending to take a hot bath.

Before bathing, Bai Yi went to the workshop and placed the Tang Dao Crafting Blueprint on the workbench.

[Tang Dao Crafting Blueprint detected (damaged). Load it?]

After Bai Yi clicked yes, the pale-blue virtual panel projected a three-dimensional structural diagram.

He set the crafting quantity and watched as the mechanical arms suddenly unfolded, automatically retrieving crude iron and wood from the warehouse.

In the blink of an eye, two Tang Daos began to take shape slowly at a visible pace.

[Using Tang Dao Crafting Blueprint. Durability -2. Crafting countdown: 19:59]

Bai Yi entered the newly built bathroom and saw that the showerhead was assembled from hollow bamboo. After pouring the hot water into the tank, he fetched some cold water to adjust the temperature.

Scalding water poured from the bamboo joints. Through the rising steam, Bai Yi's sharply defined back could vaguely be seen. Droplets slid over his bulging trapezius muscles and flowed down the groove of his spine.

Looking down, he saw that his once gaunt and weak abdomen now bore clearly defined abs, like the roots of an ancient tree intertwining. The scars covering his body gave off an untamed aura.

When he clenched his arm, his biceps tensed as if forged from steel. In just a few days, he had changed from a frail patient into a battle-hardened warrior.

After bathing, Bai Yi felt as though his entire body had become lighter. He changed into dry beast-hide clothes and stepped into the workshop.

The two Tang Daos stood quietly on the weapon rack. Bai Yi casually drew one and examined it carefully.

The Tang Dao's blade still carried the heat of the forge. Its handle was wrapped with leather cord tightly woven from wolf tendons, effectively preventing his hand from slipping.

Walking to the door, Bai Yi suddenly slashed through the downpour. A silver-white blade mark cut through the curtain of rain before being immediately filled by the rain that followed.

"Fine blade!"

Bai Yi praised it. If he did not still have a revolver, he might have considered using dual blades.

He carefully compared the two identical blades, keeping the one that felt better to him and planning to sell the other.

After lying down on the bed, Bai Yi eagerly picked up the log and muttered under his breath.

"This time, I'm going to get rich!"