"Nice!"
Jiang Hao couldn't help praising him. Chen Xiaolin really did deliver as support.
Seeing that the Water Python couldn't move, Chubby charged straight over, raised both bear paws, and unleashed a flurry of blows on its head, shouting, "That'll teach you! How dare you eat the woman your grandpa has his eye on! I'll beat you to death, you beast!"
He only stopped when the Water Python's brains splattered out.
With the crisis over, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Jiang Hao walked up to Song Jie and Chen Xiaolin. Everyone had witnessed what the two had just done, and Chen Xiaolin's support in particular had been nothing short of perfect.
"Congratulations. From now on, you're officially our teammates. I think we can call off our bet. Whoever wins or loses from here on out doesn't matter. What matters is that I already have someone I like. Go get her! ＾０＾~"
He spoke that last part so quietly that only Song Jie could hear it, then gave his shoulder a meaningful pat. Those words of encouragement were clearly telling him that he could relax-Jiang Hao wouldn't compete with him for a woman.
Song Jie's eyes lit up, and he returned Jiang Hao a knowing look that only men would understand.
He had a full fifty-two points fewer than Jiang Hao. No matter how hard he tried, overtaking him would be difficult. It was a losing bet, so Jiang Hao taking the initiative to cancel it was clearly giving him a graceful way out.
"Jie, Hao actually seems like a pretty decent guy. Does that mean I won't have to take a dump while standing on my head?"
Song Jie's face darkened. Exasperated by his hopelessness, he snapped, "Have some ambition! You keep obsessing over that stupid thing every day, but he might've forgotten all about it. What, do you really want to take a dump upside down in front of everyone? Go on, then. Do it right now and let me see!"
Chen Xiaolin chuckled a few times.
Honestly, those two idiots were so loud, it was as though they were afraid someone might not hear them.
"How's Qianxun doing?"
Wen Ruxue answered frankly, "The poison is still spreading, and she has several broken ribs. It doesn't look good. Should we-"
Wen Ruxue had actually wanted to ask whether they should have her withdraw, but before she could finish, Chubby was the first to object. "No way. If she goes, we all go. I'll carry her. Once we're out of this swamp, we can figure out how to cure the poison."
Jiang Hao agreed. "That's right. We can't abandon a teammate. Let's wait a little longer. If her condition still doesn't improve, we can consider sending her out."
They had barely gone any distance, yet they were already down one fighter. Looking at Gongsun Qianxun again, they saw that she had fallen unconscious, and the hand bitten by the mosquito had swollen like a steamed bun.
"Let's go. There might be more danger if we stay here." With that, Chubby crouched down to carry Gongsun Qianxun on his back.
"Wait. My Beast Pet's skill hasn't recovered yet. If we wander around and go off course, won't all our effort be wasted? Let's deal with the Water Python first."
Jiang Hao took out the Folding Axe and walked over to the Water Python. He first had Chen Xiaolin remove the webs wrapped around it, then tried to skin it. Huh? He couldn't even cut through its skin?
The Water Python's hide was simply too tough.
"Let me try."
Song Jie merged again, raised a large saber, and painstakingly cut it open. Once the entire hide had been peeled off intact, Jiang Hao picked it up in delight and kept examining it from every angle.
"This hide is impervious to blades and spears. I've got a good idea. How about we make it into underarmor?" There was enough snakeskin here for all of them.
"That's a good idea. Snakeskin is tough, wear-resistant, and incredibly flexible. If we ever go onto a battlefield, it might even save our lives."
Excited, the two divided the hide into six portions.
Next came the snake meat and beast crystal. The Water Python's crystal was a high-grade beast crystal, and its strength had fallen between the Golden Body Realm and the Mountain Moving Realm.
Finally, there was the matter of who received the points. Under the Referee Panel's rules, whoever dealt the killing blow to a monster received the points, so this point went to Chubby.
With a little time still to spare, Jiang Hao opened the Survival Simulator to check for any useful skills. The moment he opened it, two notifications sounded.
Ding! You helped your teammates kill a Swamp Giant Python and gained five attribute points and skill points. Ding! Since you did not deal the final blow to the Swamp Giant Python, you cannot obtain a skill at this time.
Jiang Hao: ???
So that was how it worked? Without landing the final blow himself, he couldn't obtain a skill. It looked like he would have to fight harder for those kills in the future.
They weren't safe after that, either. After the Water Python came Swamp Crocodiles, Bloodsucking Insects, and other monsters. The most dangerous was a Toad Monster bigger than an ox. It had disguised itself as a haystack and suddenly attacked when Jiang Hao's team landed on it. That encounter nearly wiped out the entire team. In the end, Jiang Hao used Lure to draw the Toad Monster away, buying everyone a thread of hope and allowing them to escape its hunting grounds with a fright but no harm.
One day later.
The team finally emerged from the Fairy Spirit Mist Source's swamp. Looking at everyone's bedraggled state, they were overcome by the feeling of having survived a disaster.
More fortunately still, once they left the swamp, the poison in Gongsun Qianxun's hand stopped spreading. That was a good sign. As long as they found an antidote, they could cure her.
They immediately began searching for medicinal herbs to treat Gongsun Qianxun's poisoning. Patchouli happened to be able to counter this poison. It could treat malaria, dysentery, and other ailments, and favored warm environments with plenty of sunlight.
Before long, Jiang Hao found some patchouli, crushed it, and applied it to Gongsun Qianxun's swollen hand.
By the time they finished, darkness had fallen. The Wuji Mountains were far more dangerous at night than during the day, and after a day of intense combat, everyone's nerves had been stretched to their limit.
Now that they could relax, exhaustion washed over them.
Jiang Hao started a fire. Sitting around it, they watched the pieces of snake meat begin to sizzle with fat, and none of them could help swallowing.
Song Jie and Chen Xiaolin had spent the past ten days craving meat, eating their meals to the aroma of Jiang Hao's grilled fish. Now they could finally satisfy their appetites.
When the two took their first bites of hot, fragrant meat in ten days, they nearly cried with gratitude. They could have hunted monsters and roasted them themselves, of course, but who else would think things through as thoroughly as Jiang Hao and bring seasonings?
Other seasonings aside, they hadn't even brought salt. Anything they roasted would have been utterly tasteless. They might as well gnaw on their rock-hard dry rations.
"Delicious! This is so good! I never thought the snake meat I used to turn my nose up at could be such a heavenly delicacy. It melts in your mouth, and the flavor just lingers!"
"Hao really knows how to enjoy himself. If this were Snow Spirit Fish, it'd be even better."
Watching the two wolf down their food so pitifully, Chubby suddenly felt fortunate. At least he had made the right choice by sticking with Hao!
Deep into the still night.
The Wuji Mountains were especially quiet at night. With stars overhead, mountains at their backs, and insects chirping by their ears as they drifted to sleep, the day's exhaustion faded away without them noticing.
Every night, Jiang Hao took Big Hen into the Simulation Game to level up. His mental energy recovered in the game as well, so even without sleeping, he was still full of energy the next day.
Just as he was getting into the killing in the game, an urgent, discordant voice rang out at an inconvenient moment.
The voice sounded extremely anxious. By the time he exited the game, the others were awake too. Chubby shouted, "What's wrong? What's wrong? What hap-holy shit! Army Ants! Where did all these Army Ants come from?"
The moment Jiang Hao heard the name Army Ant, he perked up. There was no other reason: missing out on a hundred million last time had left him regretting it for over a month. Now that he had encountered Army Ants again, he couldn't let this opportunity slip away, no matter what.
Even the fire burning in the center of camp had failed to stop them. A circular wall had been erected around the camp, and the one who had woken everyone was Chen Xiaolin.
It was his turn to keep watch.
It wasn't really a circular wall at all. It was the Heavenly Net Chen Xiaolin had laid around the camp using spider silk. Even that couldn't hold back the Army Ants' assault, so he had immediately sounded the alarm.
Where had these Army Ants come from?
That was the question on everyone's mind.
Jiang Hao sniffed hard. Suddenly, he caught the scent of honey in the air.
"Who brought honey?"
Everyone exchanged looks, then shook their heads to show it wasn't them.
That was strange, but now wasn't the time to investigate. If the Army Ants broke through the Heavenly Net's blockade, they would be in serious trouble.
Without another word, Jiang Hao, Chubby, and Song Jie immediately prepared for battle. Working with Chen Xiaolin, they each defended one side, while Wen Ruxue activated Magnetic Field Rally.
Jiang Hao released Big Hen and had her fly into the air. Whenever she spotted Army Ants about to climb over the Heavenly Net, she sent a Fireball down at them.
Fire was a devastating weapon against Army Ants. With a single fireball, hundreds upon thousands of them were instantly burned into charred corpses amid thick smoke. A foul smell gradually spread through the camp.
Jiang Hao opened the Survival Simulator to look. Good grief-the densely packed notifications instantly flooded the screen.
Ding! You killed an Army Ant and gained 1 skill point. Ding! You killed an Army Ant and gained 1 skill point. Ding!
Wait, why were there only skill points and no attribute points?
Could killing and devouring be two completely different things?
To test his theory, Jiang Hao directly controlled Big Hen and had her start eating.
Big Hen landed atop the Heavenly Net and began pecking at the Army Ants like a chicken pecking grain.
Ding! Your Beast Pet devoured an Army Ant and gained 1 attribute point and 1 skill point. Ding!
So that was it!
Watching Big Hen's attribute points and skill points soar, Jiang Hao nearly laughed aloud.
This felt so fucking good.
But before he could enjoy it for long, Big Hen stopped eating.
What was this?
She was too full!
It would have been a lie to say he wasn't disappointed, but Big Hen was already stuffed. He couldn't force her to eat herself to death just for attribute points.
He soon made peace with it. Even without attribute points, there were still skill points. He had been worrying about Wind Orb's low level anyway, so why not seize this chance to grind it straight to the maximum?
He really wanted to see just how powerful a max-level Wind Orb would be against groups of monsters.
After that, two eggs dropped every ten seconds.
Fireball and Wind Orb took turns bombarding the Army Ants.
Before you continue