Divine Nest

Scrape! Scrape!

As night fell, Zhang Yuan sharpened his knife in the small courtyard before the thatched cottage, working by moonlight.

It was a wood-splitting knife, one foot three inches long and as wide as a palm, forged from tenfold-tempered iron. It was the most valuable weapon he possessed.

Zhang Yuan sharpened it with great care, patiently honing the blade bit by bit until it was razor-sharp.

At the same time, he ground away the anger and restless gloom in his heart.

When faced with great matters, one must keep a tranquil spirit. Only through stillness could one find peace; only through peace could one deliberate; only through deliberation could one gain!

Having lived two lives, Zhang Yuan understood deeply that when facing hardship and danger, anger alone could not solve anything.

What had happened today had a root cause.

That root was the squire Chen Deping.

Chen Family Village was the ancestral home of the Linhe Chen Clan. Most of the villagers bore the surname Chen, but many years ago, the Chen Clan had moved to the County Town to prosper. Their main tie to Chen Family Village was no more than an ancestral shrine.

In truth, the Linhe Chen Clan had long since established a new ancestral hall in the County Town.

Chen Deping belonged to a collateral branch of the Chen Clan. For some unknown reason, he had suddenly moved to Chen Family Village.

Chen Yuanwai's household numbered several dozen people and possessed ten household guards. In Chen Family Village, that was a crushing advantage from an entirely different level. Coupled with an appointment from the county yamen, his control over the village's authority was beyond question.

There was simply no power to resist him!

It was said that after settling down, Chen Deping also intended to seek the position of Town Head.

These bits of news had been told to Zhang Yuan by Granny, the neighbor who had come by earlier. Nine times out of ten, they were rumors deliberately released by the Chen family.

Zhang Yuan knew very well that with his current strength, he could not contend with the Chen family at all. If he did not want to abandon his home and mother to flee the conscription, then he could only find a way to earn five taels of silver, survive this crisis first, and worry about the rest afterward.

But how difficult was it to earn five taels of silver!

A family of five in the County Town spent only around ten taels a year on food and clothing.

Five taels could buy one or two mu of farmland in Chen Family Village!

Though mountain village fields were not as valuable as those around the County Town, the Zhang family did not possess even half a mu. In the past, Zhang's Mother had woven straw sandals day and night and taken them to the County Town to sell, barely managing to raise Zhang Yuan.

Now that Zhang Yuan had finally gained the ability to support the family, a squire had suddenly appeared, intending to ride on their heads and suck the marrow from their bones!

Clang!

Zhang Yuan raised the wood-splitting knife in his hand. Its blade gleamed like snow, cold enough to seize the soul.

It also reflected the killing intent in his eyes.

Drawing a deep breath, Zhang Yuan stood and looked into the distance.

The Mountain Range beneath the cloak of night rose and fell without end, like a gigantic dragon lying dormant—immense beyond measure, and incomparably dangerous.

"Cough, cough!"

Zhang's Mother's voice came from the inner room. "Yuan Baby, it's already very late. Rest early."

"I know, Mother," Zhang Yuan replied.

He returned to his room, closed the door, and lay down on the wooden plank bed, closing his eyes to sleep.

The long night passed quietly.

Early the next morning, before dawn had broken, Zhang Yuan got up and washed up simply. He then strapped a woodcutting knife at his waist, slung his Hunting Bow over his back, took a waterskin and some dry provisions, and left the village for the mountains.

Over the past three years, although Zhang Yuan had exhausted every means and still failed to move Hunter Gao's heart of stone, he had learned some hunting skills from the man and saved up several weapons.

He had entered the mountains alone to hunt many times already and possessed considerable experience.

In fact, this body of Zhang Yuan's had talent. He had a huge appetite and great strength, but because he had long been unable to fill his belly, that talent had never had the chance to show itself.

Only after learning how to hunt over the past few years had his circumstances improved somewhat.

It was precisely because of his extraordinary strength that Zhang Yuan had the confidence to venture deeper into the mountains and see whether he could gather precious medicinal herbs or hunt large prey.

This was a path he had never taken before.

The mountains were high and the forests dense. As Zhang Yuan continued onward, the little trail beneath his feet quietly disappeared.

This stretch of mountains was called Thousand Peak Mountain. It extended for hundreds of li, its terrain steep and perilous, with peaks standing thick as a forest. Most of it was covered in primeval woodland.

Other than a rare few who were highly skilled and bold of heart, no one dared to venture into the depths of Thousand Peak Mountain.

For besides savage beasts, there were strange and eerie things in the mountains!

Zhang Yuan had come to hunt, not to court death. Once he noticed the changes in the surrounding terrain and forest, he stopped advancing.

He began searching the area for prey.

Drawing on his experience, Zhang Yuan soon discovered an animal trail nearby.

Following it, he found a babbling stream half a li away.

His eyes lit up at the discovery!

He concealed himself beside a large boulder by the stream.

Then Zhang Yuan grabbed a large handful of dried grass powder from his waist pouch and sprinkled it evenly over himself. Holding his Hunting Bow, he waited patiently.

This dried grass powder could effectively mask a person's scent and prevent prey from catching their smell. It was a common expendable carried by hunters.

Zhang Yuan's luck was good today. He had waited less than half an hour when he saw a Fawn dart out from the brush not far away.

It pricked up its ears and warily looked from side to side. After confirming that it was safe, it lowered its head to drink.

This Fawn, which had only just left its mother's protection, had no idea that beside a rock several dozen steps away, a sharp feathered arrow was steadily aimed at its vital point!

Whoosh!

The next instant, the arrow flew from the bowstring, crossing several dozen steps in the blink of an eye and striking the Fawn squarely through the heart.

It only had time to let out a shrill cry before instinctively turning to flee. Yet after only a few steps, it crashed headfirst to the ground.

Blood gushed from its wound!

Ha!

Having landed his shot, Zhang Yuan could not help pumping his fist, nearly crying out in excitement.

Though this deer was small, it would fetch at least one tael of silver in the County Town. It was a fine opening catch.

If his luck remained this good all day, earning five taels of silver would be no problem at all!

Zhang Yuan hurriedly put away his Hunting Bow and ran toward the fallen prey.

But just as he rushed in front of the Fawn's corpse, two notifications abruptly appeared in his vision!

A containable genetic organism detected!

Divine Nest activated!

The two notifications were glaringly conspicuous and had appeared with extreme suddenness. Caught off guard, Zhang Yuan stumbled and nearly fell flat on his face like a dog chewing shit!

He hastily steadied himself, his shock beyond words.

"Hiss—"

Just as Zhang Yuan began to suspect he was hallucinating, an intense burning pain from the back of his left hand made him instinctively drop the Hunting Bow he was holding.

Raising his hand, Zhang Yuan was stunned to discover that an emblem had appeared on the back of it at some unknown time.

The emblem consisted of three Dark Gold hexagons with a blank triangle in the center. It seemed branded beneath the surface of his skin, without protruding at all, and appeared profoundly mysterious.

This is...

The thought had only just surfaced in Zhang Yuan's mind when the two notifications in his field of vision quietly vanished, replaced by an entirely new status panel.

Host: Zhang Yuan

Divine Nest: Level 1 (3%)

Host Organism: None

Vitality: 75/75

Source Essence: 0

Such an emblem, such a panel, and such data!

Zhang Yuan was completely dumbfounded.

This was the class emblem and panel of the Divine Nest Hunter from Phantom Traces, his favorite game in his previous life!

Though the class panel had been greatly simplified, lacking data such as character attributes, talents, equipment, and so on, Zhang Yuan had played a Divine Nest Hunter for ten years. He could not have been more familiar with it.

After awakening the memories of his previous life in this one, Zhang Yuan would occasionally recall the days he had spent playing games.

They had been beautiful, joyful memories.

He knew he could never return to his original world, but he had never dreamed that he would see this familiar emblem and panel again.

Could it be that what one never forgot would surely echo back?

Zhang Yuan could not help laughing, laughing wildly and freely, until tears shimmered at the corners of his eyes!

It took him quite some time to calm himself down, yet the excitement and exhilaration in his heart only grew stronger.

After struggling bitterly for years in this new world, Zhang Yuan had finally received his own chance to defy fate and change his destiny!

Why had it not appeared sooner?

He lightly stroked the Divine Nest emblem on the back of his left hand, then immediately began searching the area as quickly as possible.

He searched for the genetic organism that could be contained by the Divine Nest.

The Divine Nest was the source of a Divine Nest Hunter's power, akin to a mage's mana source, a warrior's sea of qi, or a knight's sacred heart.

It could contain specific living organisms, gaining their special abilities and bestowing them upon the host.

Greatly increasing combat strength.

Divine Nest Hunter was a class that came into its own in the later stages. The more organisms the Divine Nest contained, and the higher their genetic level, the stronger the abilities granted to the host.

But reality was different from a game. There was no one-click operation.

So for Zhang Yuan, the most urgent matter was to first find the genetic organism that had activated the Divine Nest!