Preparations Before the Hunt

Rubbing his woozy head, the bearded Pei Chao gripped a machete and muddleheadedly followed Feng Buzhi over the city wall, arriving at an open space on the southern side of town.

Pei Chao yawned. He had not rested all day; while he had been lost in wild thoughts in the room just now, he had felt nothing. Now, a wave of weariness suddenly washed over him.

Realizing he was not in good shape, Pei Chao slapped his cheeks to wake himself up.

"Alright, let's prepare for training now."

Feng Buzhi spoke as he swept his gaze over the sand and stones around the clearing.

Pei Chao asked in confusion, "Training? Aren't we going to kill those Green-skinned Dwarves? Boss, didn't you say we were going to look for those Weird altars and obtain those special powers?"

Feng Buzhi shook his head. "Don't reach for the stars before you can walk. Now is not the time to obtain Weird power. What we need to do now is lay a solid foundation. Only with a firm enough foundation can we go farther after obtaining the Weird's power."

Pei Chao fell into thought. Boss Feng's words did sound somewhat reasonable.

Pei Chao asked, "Then how do we lay a solid foundation?"

Feng Buzhi said, "After training, we can use the [Basic Cultivation Assistance] of the crystal in the center of the square to strengthen ourselves and improve our basic physical qualities. You cannot train to break through your shackles, but you can do conventional weight training."

Pei Chao still looked puzzled.

Feng Buzhi said, "I remember you gathered some spider silk, right? That silk can be used as rope. I have some fabric I collected here. We'll make some simple sandbags now."

Pei Chao nodded. Not only had he twisted the spider silk into a rope several meters long, he had also made a ball of spider-silk thread.

Before long, Feng Buzhi and Pei Chao used their machetes to cut up the fabric and fill it with sand. Since there was not much fabric, Feng Buzhi and Pei Chao took off their shirts one after another, trying to pack in as much sand, dirt, and stone as possible.

And so, an hour later, Feng Buzhi and the bearded Pei Chao had weights tied around their limbs and waists.

These weights made from tattered cloth were extremely crude.

Without needles and thread, sand and dirt would easily leak out, so the weights were filled with large chunks of broken stone instead. This also meant that once worn, the weights painfully dug into their limbs.

Pei Chao bared his teeth in an ugly grimace. Training with weights like these was practically murder.

But seeing that Feng Buzhi wore the same weights, Pei Chao gritted his teeth and ultimately said nothing.

Pei Chao said, "Boss, the weights are ready. How are we training? Are we going to run?"

Feng Buzhi said, "The best training method is naturally actual combat. Next, we'll hunt the Goblins in the Mist."

Pei Chao said in shock, "We're going to kill those Green-skinned Dwarves like this? At night?"

Pei Chao picked up the machete beside him and swung it hard. Not only had his swinging speed noticeably slowed, but the stones tied to his arm also sent a stab of pain through him as he swung.

With weights like these on, he might not even be able to bring out seventy percent of his original strength.

And the Green-skinned Dwarves in the nighttime Mist were even more troublesome than they were during the day.

Pei Chao unconsciously took two steps back, the desire to retreat already budding in his heart.

He did not lack courage, but neither did he want to throw his life away like this.

Boss Feng might truly be powerful, but he was simply too insane. Perhaps... he was not suited to be Pei Chao's boss.

Thinking of this, Pei Chao shook his head at Feng Buzhi and took two more steps back.

"Boss, I..."

Pei Chao did not finish his words, but Feng Buzhi already understood what he meant.

Feng Buzhi sighed and said nothing more.

He had originally held some goodwill toward this bearded pirate and planned to lend him a hand. Perhaps he might even take him under his wing in the future.

Now, it seemed Pei Chao might not have that fate.

Without giving it much thought, Feng Buzhi walked toward the Mist. It was time to hunt Goblins and harvest Abyss Points.

Feng Buzhi's figure grew fainter and fainter in the Mist...

Pei Chao stood frozen in place. His reason told him that staying here was the right choice, but a voice in his heart told him to catch up with Feng Buzhi, or he would miss something important.

For some reason, Pei Chao thought of his former self.

He remembered the first time his past-life self had boarded a ship and become a pirate who lived by the blade, one who could die at any moment. Back then, his heart had been just as torn.

"To hell with it! At worst, I die!"

Pei Chao gritted his teeth, clenched the machete in his hand, and charged into the Mist...

Seeing that the bearded Pei Chao had ultimately caught up, his eyes brimming with resolve, Feng Buzhi smiled. "Since you chose to follow, have you made your decision?"

Pei Chao nodded. "Yes, I've made my decision. I'll risk it all with you, Boss!"

Feng Buzhi said, "Good. Since you have made up your mind, you will cultivate alongside me from now on. Do you remember the flask I gave you? You can drink it now."

Pei Chao unscrewed his flask and saw Feng Buzhi unscrewing an identical one. Following Feng Buzhi's example, he took a sip as well.

"It kind of tastes like black coffee."

Pei Chao savored the liquid in his mouth. Soon afterward, an Eerie Whisper like the buzzing of bees arose in his mind, filling him with a drunken sort of dizziness.

The amount Pei Chao drank was about the same as the patients had consumed, around ten milliliters. However, because he had already reached the Clear Mind Realm, his resistance to the Eerie Whisper had greatly increased, and he did not become completely blank-eyed like those madmen.

He merely felt the world spinning, as though he had drunk himself into a blackout.

Pei Chao shook his head, then looked at Feng Buzhi beside him.

He had copied Feng Buzhi and taken a sip, and he had even drunk less than Feng Buzhi. Yet Feng Buzhi seemed completely unaffected, unlike Pei Chao, who kept swaying unsteadily.

Could the liquid in Feng Buzhi's flask be different from his?

Pei Chao frowned. "Boss, is the liquid in your flask the same as mine?"

Feng Buzhi said, "Mine has some additional toxins in it, and it tastes worse too. If you want to train your body's resistance to Weird poison, you can try some, but don't drink too much."

Pei Chao suspiciously accepted the flask Feng Buzhi handed over.

As he unscrewed it, a pungent moldy stench rushed out, making him feel nauseated.

Pei Chao cautiously took a small sip.

After that, his dizziness intensified, while a fierce pain erupted in his abdomen. Then, centered on his abdomen, that pain swept through his entire body.

"Hiss... it hurts, this..."

Pei Chao crouched down in agony. At that very moment, Feng Buzhi's warning reached his ears.

"Five Goblins are coming."

Pei Chao gritted his teeth and stood up, gripping the machete in his hand tightly.

He was in terrible condition right now.

The dizziness made it difficult for him even to sense the passage of time. It was like constantly switching between double speed and half speed while watching a video; everything around him was a chaotic mess.

Pei Chao desperately focused. By the time he realized what was happening, a Green-skinned Dwarf had already rushed in front of him, vicious-faced as it thrust a short sword at him.

"Bold little bastard!"

Pei Chao roared and slashed forward, chopping off the Green-skinned Dwarf's head, though he was injured as well.

He touched the wound on his chest. The Green-skinned Dwarf's short sword had just sliced open his upper chest.

Thinking of the danger he had just faced, Pei Chao began panting uncontrollably.

The thrill of brushing shoulders with death was intensely stimulating, enough to lessen his dizziness somewhat.

He looked around and discovered that besides the Green-skinned Dwarf he had just killed, four other Green-skinned Dwarf corpses had appeared nearby at some unknown point. Boss Feng had likely killed them.

Without continuing to inspect the corpses, Pei Chao raised his head.

Faintly, Pei Chao saw several green eyes emerge in the Mist ahead. More Green-skinned Dwarves were coming...