This was life, and civilization too

Reflecting on oneself three times a day was very important.

There had indeed been many shortcomings in today's fight.

For example, Su Changsheng should not have rashly used his tail as a ground-smashing weapon just to maximize his attack power. What if the yao underground had suddenly released poison?

It was not as though he could not cast the Stone-Shattering Art in midair. Its power would merely have been slightly reduced.

Moreover, he had been right not to approach and inspect the aftermath of his first attack, but he should not have remained there and cast the Stone-Shattering Art twice more in succession.

His goal had not been to kill the stalker outright, but to prevent that yao from continuing to follow him. After one Stone-Shattering Art, fleeing far away would have been the best choice, regardless of whether the underground yao was dead.

After all, what if the yao sent out a message, or other yao came toward the noise?

Of course, that had also been one reason he had left the underground yao's remains untouched. There had certainly been plenty of flesh, enough to tempt any yao. But processing it would have been troublesome, and digging it out directly under those circumstances had been impractical.

The best choice had still been to flee immediately. After all, he could obtain flesh through trade. Putting himself in danger for it would have been extremely unwise.

Of course, saying that was one thing; claiming he felt no pang of regret would have been a lie. Still, the underground yao's corpse was buried right there. In this freezing weather, it would not spoil, and he could always inspect it later.

There was another advantage to doing this.

If the remains were still there, that would prove the underground yao had been acting alone. If they were gone, Su Changsheng would have to be even more careful when venturing out in his Half-Demon White Snake identity.

In short, there had been no major problems with this operation, but there had certainly been plenty of minor ones. After all, this had been his first battle against an enemy, so some shortcomings had been inevitable. He simply needed to review them carefully and correct them in the future.

After a round of reflection, midnight arrived before he knew it.

Survival points +50

Rating: good

-First blood, clean and decisive, with exceptional resolve. As the saying goes, even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit. Though this was your first battle, you acted with remarkable decisiveness. After sensing danger, you quickly weighed the advantages and disadvantages and struck with all your strength. This greatly benefits your survival.

-As though standing above a deep abyss and treading on thin ice, you secured every step. Even when suddenly confronted with danger, you considered the whole situation. With care and caution, you understood what to take and what to leave, what you could do and what you could not. Only through both relinquishing and gaining can you reap the proper fruit.

Survival points: 387

He had received another rating, along with a full fifty survival points.

Sure enough, baiting offenders into a trap was a viable approach. Murder and arson earned a golden belt-that was exactly how it worked.

After that, Su Changsheng stayed home studying demon art runes and did not venture outside.

Several times, he could not resist wanting to visit the battlefield and see whether the yao corpse was still there. After all, that was an enormous lump of blood food.

But he forcibly restrained himself each time.

It was not time yet. He needed to wait a little longer; impatience could lead to grave mistakes. The location was remote, after all. If the underground yao had no accomplices, the chances of other yao discovering it were probably low.

Over the next few days, his cultivation continued as unshakably as ever. His schedule was packed: breathing exercises, studying runes, making runes, and occasionally digging tunnels for a change of pace.

Just like that, calm returned.

Only the Half-Demon Grounds remained in chaos.

The Black Tiger Yao was still nowhere to be seen, and the Wailing Ghosts had not appeared either. The Wolf Yao ruled the territory that had originally belonged to the Black Tiger Yao and was accelerating his consolidation of it.

Unlike the Black Tiger Yao, who had operated alone, the Wolf Yao had quite a few lackeys under him, either Werewolves or little wolves.

Relying on the Wolf Yao's intimidating presence, these fellows threw their weight around in the Half-Demon Grounds and exploited other yao. Every Half-Demon seethed with complaints, and peace was scarce. Some even began to miss the days of the Black Tiger Yao's rule.

Only after losing something did one learn to cherish it.

Su Changsheng was disturbed from time to time as well. But bearing in mind that the King of Hell was easier to deal with than his petty imps, he simply handed over a Hair-Shedding Talisman to get them off his back.

He had plenty of those anyway, so it did not hurt.

Still, this showed that the world was growing ever more chaotic. When troubled times approached, petty officials led the way.

Besides cultivating, Su Changsheng also stepped up his stockpiling of supplies. During this period, he secretly assumed another form and slipped into the Yao Market to trade some Concealment Runes.

He occasionally encountered the Fox Woman, but she did not see through Su Changsheng's disguise. As for whether she would discover Concealment Runes of similar quality entering the Yao Market, that had nothing to do with him.

The one trading with her was the Half-Demon White Snake. What did that have to do with me, Su Changsheng?

Over several consecutive days, as he watched the food stores at home grow increasingly abundant, his spirits rose as well.

With food at home, there was no need to panic.

The more blood food, the better.

However, his efforts to trade for blood food did not last long. As the crisis in the Wilderness intensified and nearly all the various remains had been scavenged, the price of blood food began to soar, while the price of Concealment Runes gradually fell.

By the time Su Changsheng met the Fox Woman for their agreed half-monthly trade, the price of Concealment Runes had already fallen below twenty jin of blood food apiece.

It had essentially returned to where it had been three months ago, and it looked likely to keep falling. Prices for other materials were dropping along with it, so Su Changsheng took the opportunity to buy another batch of talisman-making materials.

Now that he was studying intermediate runes, he consumed enormous quantities of materials each day. As far as he was concerned, the more materials, the better.

"I have about 480 jin of blood food, and enough talisman-making materials to last me over a month. There's also one piece of Wraith Beast Blood Food, along with various finished runes."

Counting on his fingers, Su Changsheng tallied his recent gains bit by bit. Since transmigrating, he had alternated between hunger and full meals. His home had never been so well stocked.

Although his current life was austere and monotonous, hardly one of plentiful food and fine clothing, it was enough to put a yao's mind at ease.

"My skin has been getting unbearably itchy all over these past few days, and an extremely thin film of oil has even begun seeping onto my scales. My shedding period should be coming soon. Unless something unexpected happens, it'll be at the end of this month, a few days earlier than I predicted."

"I've reached the beginner level with the Healing Talisman, but I only have one finished talisman. This thing is even more absurdly difficult to make than the Purification Talisman. There are still some parts of the Little Venom Dragon Shedding Art I don't understand. This innate rune originating from a pureblood Lesser Yao is harder than I imagined."

"Still, after studying it for so many days, I should be close to succeeding. I ought to be able to make it before I shed."

Su Changsheng rambled to himself. His eyes were bright and vibrant, shining with anticipation and yearning for life.

At that moment,

the bitter wind still howled outside, across a world of ice and snow.

Yet the tunnel was warm and comfortable for a yao.

A safe shelter, ample food, and progress he could see with his own eyes-with these three things, a yao's life was satisfying enough.

Early the next morning,

Su Changsheng cut himself one jin of blood food and activated a Flame Rune, heating a large bowl of snow into piping-hot water.

The brief heat produced by a rune would not attract heat-loving Wraith Beasts. That was the answer he had obtained through his cautious tunnel digging over the past several days.

He soaked the rock-hard frozen blood food in the piping-hot water and waited a little while. Once he saw it soften, he eagerly brought both broth and meat to his mouth.

"Hss!"

The scorching blood food and water flowed down his throat into his belly. His cold stomach filled with warmth, and for a moment, Su Changsheng could not help shuddering all over.

A tingling, aching sensation immediately rose from the tip of his tail, spread through his whole body, surged into his heart, and seeped into his eyes.

He had not cried. Something had merely gotten into his eyes.

Having once again tasted what warmth was, Su Changsheng felt countless emotions rise within him, impossible to put into words.

There was excitement, sorrow, happiness, and grief. Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty-the hundred flavors of life were all there.

"I suppose this is life..."

"This... is civilization!"

The world was bitter, and you and I were both struggling to cross its waters.