"Damn it!"
Ye Fei watched Big Fox climb the tree despite its health dropping to a third. When it stubbornly lunged at him, he let go of the trunk and jumped.
He had climbed pretty high. Dropping more than ten meters like this, he lost almost half his health, even though the snow cushioned his landing enough to keep him from breaking an arm or leg.
He grabbed a Blood-Replenishing Pill and shoved it into his mouth, not caring how well it worked. Then he pulled the axe with only 5 durability left out of his pocket and thrust it straight at Big Fox as it jumped down after him and lunged.
[Durability: 0. Axe disappeared.]
Big Fox caught the axe in its jaws as he thrust it forward. It took no damage at all and bit away the axe's last few points of durability.
Seeing that Big Fox had only a sliver of health left after injuring itself in the fall, Ye Fei shoved another Blood-Replenishing Pill into his mouth, bit down on it, and kicked at the fox's wound.
Kicking its head should have done more damage, but he did not want his foot bitten off. This thing could crush an axe in a single bite. Even if the axe had barely any durability left, it still looked far too vicious.
Its claws raked his calf, inflicting a bleeding status. Knowing his health was plummeting, Ye Fei swallowed another Blood-Replenishing Pill to stay alive.
While he fought Big Fox at close quarters, the little fox, who had been left stunned in the tree when Big Fox jumped down, jumped after it.
Qingxue the Little Fox also lost half her health in the fall, but that did not stop her from lunging straight for Big Fox's throat.
Seeing the little fox rush over, Big Fox opened its jaws and bit at her belly.
Just as its teeth sliced open the little fox's belly, its long-battered health bar finally emptied.
[Snow Fox killed. Survival Points +3.] [Brave soul: You fought bravely despite an enormous gap in Combat Power. To encourage your courage, you have been awarded 10 Survival Points.] [Snow Fox corpse: Can be harvested.]
Ye Fei's vision was a little hazy. Even with Blood-Replenishing Pills, replenishing his health alone could not heal all his injuries.
Fortunately, the rewards were substantial enough to offer him some comfort.
He had originally had six Blood-Replenishing Pills in his pocket and had gulped down three in quick succession. Now he crouched down, scooped the little fox out of the snow, and fed her another.
Half the fur on the little white bundle lying in his palm was stained with blood.
After she swallowed the Blood-Replenishing Pill, the wound on her belly finally stopped bleeding and seemed to be gradually scabbing over at a rapid pace.
"Ying..."
Qingxue the Little Fox wanted to say something, but her voice was too faint to make out, fragile and feeble.
"Let's go home."
Holding the little fox, whose health bar was slowly rising, in one hand, Ye Fei grabbed the Snow Fox's corpse with the other and slowly headed home.
On the way, he spared a glance at his status panel and took out two Spirit-Replenishing Pills. He swallowed one himself and gave the other to the little fox.
Energy might not restore health, but being more alert should help them recover faster.
His own health bar had stabilized at two-thirds, so he stopped taking Blood-Replenishing Pills. He only had two left and needed to save them for emergencies.
If he had not swallowed those Blood-Replenishing Pills quickly enough, he might have died before the fox did.
By the time he dragged the fox's corpse home, there was still a while left before dark, but Ye Fei no longer wanted to go out.
He placed the injured Qingxue the Little Fox on the bed. Watching her fall asleep as soon as she lay down, with her health bar recovering at a snail's pace in her sleep, put him somewhat at ease.
If Big Fox had not already set its sights on him, he would definitely have chosen to leave rather than fight.
The gap in strength was too great. If his aggro had not been so high, and Big Fox had turned to target the little fox first, both of them would already have died in the snow.
After settling the little fox in, Ye Fei went out to the yard and first processed the Wild Rabbit corpse he had left hanging from the cord attached to the dismantling knife.
That gave him another 2 pieces of meat, 1 piece of low-level leather, and 1 bone.
Next came the fox.
Ye Fei quickly skinned it. Perhaps because the hide was so badly damaged, it only yielded 2 pieces of low-level leather and 1 piece of green-quality intermediate leather.
After that came 6 pieces of fox meat, 5 bones, 2 portions of beast sinew, 4 claws, 2 teeth, and 1 special fox Beast Essence Stone.
[Beast Essence Stone (fox): Material. Can be used to refine pills, make medicine, or serve as an experience pill for fox-type pets.]
Birds and beasts that reached a certain level could drop Beast Essence Stones.
These stones had many uses, but what mattered most to Ye Fei right now was how useful this one was to his little fox.
The other materials were still piled on the ground. Ye Fei left them there for now, since they would not despawn for three hours.
He went inside and placed the Beast Essence Stone in front of the little fox. Still asleep, she raised her paws and hugged it. Sleeping did not stop her from taking a bite.
She bit into the Beast Essence Stone, chewing it up and eating it bit by bit, and a faint white glow appeared around her.
[Pet: Qingxue (level 2 Snow Fox cub). Level-Up in progress...]
There was no special notification, just a Level-Up.
This Level-Up did not keep Ye Fei waiting long. The result appeared in less than a minute.
[Pet: Qingxue (level 3 Snow Fox cub). Loyalty: 100. Combat Power: 15. Sharp Claws and Sharp Teeth, Speed. Recovering from injuries.]
The Level-Up was soon complete. Apart from her Combat Power rising from 10 to 15, she had also gained a new trait, "Speed."
He had seen it on Big Fox's label earlier, too, but had not noticed it moving particularly fast. Perhaps it had underestimated them at the start and had not used this special ability.
As long as there were no other problems, that was enough. He still needed to figure out how to organize all his things.
[Item sold.]
The sudden notification made Ye Fei stop by the door and lean against it as he opened the trading interface.
[Item sold.]
Another notification popped up. What a coincidence-they had been bought at almost the same time.
The 5 pieces of low-level leather and 5 beast bones brought in 10 points altogether.
He now had 34 points.
Although 34 points hardly made him rich, there were new things available for him to buy in the Survival Mall.
Before opening it, he silently hoped there would be something useful, then brought it up.
[6-Slot Storage Cabinet Crafting Recipe. Sale price: 30 points.]
A recipe for crafting a Storage Cabinet. He could finally clear out his Inventory.
Without hesitation, he bought it.
[Craft 6-Slot Storage Cabinet: Basic timber ×20.]
It required very few materials. Ye Fei still had a little timber left, just enough to make one.
[6-Slot Storage Cabinet: A storage cabinet for the home. Each slot has a maximum storage capacity of 200.]
A minute later, the Storage Cabinet was finished.
It was a small, square cabinet with a footprint of one square meter and a height of one and a half meters.
The front of the cabinet was divided into two columns, with three doors on each side, making exactly six...
To store something, he needed to open a cabinet door and put an item from his Inventory inside.
He could also move things directly with his mind without taking them out of his Inventory first, but he still had to open the door by hand before he could do that.
Before you continue