"Awooo! Awooo! Woo!!"
Little White Tiger Feng Bai was playing in the yard when, as Ye Fei sorted through his supplies, an angry howl rang out.
"Aow!"
The little fox's cry followed.
"..."
Ye Fei came out of the house and saw the wolves outside the fence, with the two Little Dumplings circling them. He hurried to place more Wooden Fences, trapping all the wolves that had delivered themselves to his doorstep.
[Wild Wolf, Combat Power 29, Sharp Claws and Sharp Teeth, Burst]
There were five wolves, each with identical stats, but no Wolf Leader.
Judging by the tracks in the snow, they had indeed followed the bloody trail left by the dragged bison carcass.
But these were not home-invasion monsters spawned specifically to attack him, so they all counted as wilderness monsters.
Ye Fei took out his Longbow, drew the string, and began taking aim. He wanted to test his attack power after his improvement.
With the bow fully drawn, he fired an arrow. One wolf's front leg was injured, and its health bar dropped by a tenth.
Though the damage was still pitifully low, Ye Fei was quite pleased.
At least it was a major improvement over last time, when his attacks had barely scratched them and it had taken dozens of arrows to wear down a single wolf.
There were several bundles of Wooden Arrows in his inventory. Ye Fei watched the wolves and began practicing his accuracy.
Accuracy was not something displayed in his stats.
It was essentially like his butchering technique: he needed plenty of practice, and skill would come with familiarity.
Besides, every arrow produced a different result. The stats only set his limits; the actual outcome depended on how he performed.
"Yip!"
Qingxue the Little Fox raised a paw and held back Little White Tiger, who wanted to approach. The two Little Dumplings stayed on the fence nearby to stop the wolves from escaping.
This fool! He mustn't interrupt while my human is practicing his attacks!
[Killed Wild Wolf, Survival Points +3]
One died, and the Survival Points were his.
That was the difference between wilderness beasts and attacking beasts. All the rewards for attacking beasts were settled together at the end.
With Survival Points coming in, Ye Fei worked even harder at drawing his bow and shooting. When the two bundles of Wooden Arrows in his inventory proved insufficient, he crafted several more batches at the Crafting Bench beside him.
Unused Wooden Arrows stacked in a single inventory slot anyway, so he simply turned all twelve beast bones previously dropped by the bison into Wooden Arrows and kept them in reserve.
[Killed Wild Wolf, Survival Points +3]
One after another, the wolves fell. By the time four fences had worn out completely and another eight had lost over half their durability, Ye Fei had finally worn down all five wolves.
The fence consumption was actually rather painful. Each fence cost ten units of basic timber, and at current market prices, one point bought sixteen units of basic timber.
But the more arrows he fired, the better Ye Fei's control of the bow felt. A little waste was worth it for the practice and improvement.
[Beast fang +10, claw +18, intermediate leather (green) +3, low-level leather +18, beast bone +26, Wild Wolf Meat +33, wolf beast essence stone +1]
He had used more than two bundles of Wooden Arrows, worn down some fences, and spent over half an hour. After gaining fifteen points, Ye Fei received these items as well.
He now had two Beast Essence Stones, one from the earlier bison and this new one.
He had neither a bison nor a wolf, so there was no need to distinguish between them. He simply gave one to each Little Dumpling.
[Pet: Feng Bai (Level 2 White Tiger Cub), evolving...]
Little White Tiger evolved immediately. The little fox tilted her head; eating one had little effect on her at her current level.
The evolution was quick. A few minutes later, Little White Tiger opened his big feline eyes in Ye Fei's hand, licked his palm, and rolled over happily.
[Pet: Feng Bai (Level 3 White Tiger Cub), loyalty 100, Combat Power 22, Sharp Claws and Sharp Teeth, beast king aura, Speed]
He had reached level three. Though he was still a cub, his Combat Power had increased considerably.
The level-three White Tiger Cub was already close to catching up with the level-five Snow Fox cub in Combat Power.
"Awooo~"
Little White Tiger played in Ye Fei's hands for a while, then jumped to the ground and went off to the side with the little fox to discuss who knew what.
They were probably chatting, anyway. Ye Fei could not understand them.
Having fed his pets everything suitable for them, Ye Fei began sorting out the other materials.
The materials he had listed from butchering the bison had now sold, bringing in another eighty-two points and taking his total to 550.
Looking at the materials in his inventory, he went back to continue sorting them.
Though he needed to keep some meat in reserve, there was no need to stockpile too much. His household was not short of food now.
He had previously had over fifty portions of Wild Wolf Meat, and now he had another thirty-plus. He simply listed eighty portions at two for one point, which would bring in forty points once sold.
Ten beast fangs at five points each came to fifty points.
Eighteen claws at two points each came to thirty-six points.
Since he had listed them at standard prices, and there was no telling how many players were in this game, they sold almost immediately. Another 126 points came in.
Three pieces of intermediate leather at ten points each came to thirty points.
Eighteen pieces of low-level leather at two for one point came to nine points.
Twenty-six beast bones at two for one point brought in thirteen points.
After selling all these items, Ye Fei looked at his current total of 728 points and could no longer contain his smile.
So much money!
He had both fighting power and money. The bison his two little companions had brought back, along with the wolves that had followed it, were all Survival Points-in other words, money in this world!
In high spirits, Ye Fei dug a hole and planted the Pine Seedling he had found that morning, then began considering what else to buy.
Opening the Survival Mall, he found the Spirit-Gathering Formation recipe and Spirit-Gathering Pill recipe that his Junior Schoolmate had mentioned earlier. Each could be purchased for 600 points.
But after buying those, he would also need the Alchemy Furnace priced at 700 points and the Artifact Refining Furnace, likewise priced at 700 points.
Among the items Ye Fei could see, the most expensive cost 700 points.
He could not afford a complete set of those yet, and he certainly could not buy anything for which he lacked materials. There were plenty of other options, though.
Scrolling down, Ye Fei spotted an item category that had not been there before.
[Cultivation]
Opening this category and looking at its only two items, Ye Fei suddenly understood.
This category only unlocked after a player evolved and chose cultivation as their path.
[Cultivation Fellow Disciple Aid Talisman: randomly sent to another player who also practices cultivation upon use; price: 500 points]
This aid talisman was the item that wealthy big shot from earlier had used.
But after buying the evolution fluid, Ye Fei had been desperately poor, so naturally he had not been able to see this item.
[Low-Level Golden Light Shield: a low-level defensive spell; requires a metal spiritual root of 3 or higher to learn; price: 700 points]
This was the second item. It looked like a book, with a pale gold, translucent shield on its cover.
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