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The wind eased among the trees, and the lingering warmth of sunset slowly faded. Throughout the forest, the light gradually softened and dimmed.

Lu Heng tightened his grip on his wooden spear and walked steadily onward, following the scattered notches on the tree trunks. Through the entire stretch of scouting, quarrying, and opening a high-tier chest, he had remained intensely alert. Despite his considerable gains, deep exhaustion had long since built up in both body and mind.

The surrounding woods were silent, with no animal cries or strange noises, no unusual stirring in the vegetation. After his full day of exploration and clearing out threats, this area would be safe enough for the time being. He only needed to focus on getting back to his shelter.

Before long, the familiar cliff came into view. The cave nestled in its rock face stood silently, the only secure foothold in this unfamiliar forest.

As he approached the entrance, Lu Heng slowed out of habit, carefully scanning the surrounding grass, crevices, and ground. Everything was undisturbed, with no fresh tracks or signs of crushed or overturned vegetation. It had remained quiet and peaceful throughout.

Once he confirmed there was no danger, he stepped sideways into the cave and reached up to pull the heavy wooden door shut.

With the soft click of the wooden bolt sliding into place, the evening breeze and every unknown danger lurking in the forest were shut outside.

The cave instantly fell quiet. Without the wind outside disturbing the silence, only his steady breathing lingered in his ears. In the fully enclosed, secure shelter, the nerves he had kept taut all day finally relaxed completely.

Lu Heng stood still for two seconds, fully dropping his guard from the wilderness. No place outside could compare to this feeling of security and ease.

He slumped onto the ground and raised his hand to light up his bracelet's screen, his gaze settling on the newly transformed storage space.

The five extra slots awarded for unlocking the black iron chest were particularly useful. His previously cramped inventory had instantly become spacious, with stone, food, beast materials, and assorted tools sorted into neat categories.

The expanded storage space seemed like a minor change, but it greatly eased the cramped conditions for storing supplies. In his struggle to survive, every bit of extra capacity gave him more room for error and a greater sense of security.

Lu Heng first took out his newly acquired abrasion-resistant hiking boots.

After days of traveling through the mountains and forests and crossing gravel riverbeds, his old shoes were badly worn. Their edges had frayed and their soles had worn smooth, leaving them uncomfortable underfoot and prone to slipping-a considerable hazard.

He bent down to change his shoes. The moment his feet slipped into the new boots, a snug, firm fit securely enveloped them. The uppers were tough and abrasion-resistant, and the thick, nonslip soles kept sharp gravel and hard ground from pressing into his feet. Both their protection and comfort far surpassed his old shoes.

He stamped on the ground twice, and their solid, secure feel was especially apparent. During future explorations of the difficult forest terrain, he would no longer need to worry about worn shoes or slipping.

After changing his shoes, Lu Heng took out the brand-new iron axe.

As his fingertips touched the axe, he distinctly felt the cold, dense metal, entirely unlike the stone axe he had used before. Forged in one piece, the axe was hard and substantial, its edge cleanly honed and sharp, without stone's loose, crack-prone structure.

This was the first metal tool he had obtained, and its significance was entirely different.

His previous stone axe had been extremely fragile, shaking and cracking whenever he chopped or struck with much force. Its poor efficiency at felling trees and quarrying stone had continually slowed his construction progress. Now, with an iron axe in hand, both cutting logs and shaping building materials would take half the effort for twice the result.

He hefted the iron axe in one hand. Its weight was balanced, and the grip felt right. He already had a clear idea of what to do. The hard stones pressed into the compacted silt in the dry riverbed he had visited that day were difficult to pry loose with only a wooden spear, costing both time and effort. With an iron axe hard enough for the task, breaking through the silt and levering out deeply buried stone would be much easier. He only needed to recover his strength to make up the remaining shortfall in construction stone.

After setting the iron axe securely against the wall, he took out the small piece of waterproof cloth.

The fabric was tightly woven and pliable, with excellent resistance to water and damp. Although the cave sheltered him from wind and rain, the temperature difference between day and night in the forest was considerable, and moisture could easily seep through gaps in the wooden door. Over time, the building materials and food inside would grow damp and spoil.

Lu Heng cut off a small piece of the cloth and carefully fitted it over the gaps in the wooden door, sealing every opening that let in drafts or damp. He neatly folded and stored the remaining cloth for covering supplies or providing temporary cover in the future.

After putting all his equipment in order, Lu Heng took out the metal lighter.

He flicked the wheel with a fingertip. A crisp scraping sound rang out, and a small flame instantly sprang to life, bright and steady.

The matches he had previously found in an ordinary chest could start fires, but they were consumable, limited in number, and easily ruined by damp. This metal lighter could be used repeatedly, withstood light breezes and moisture, and was far more reliable and practical than matches. It completely removed his worries about starting everyday fires.

He lit the firewood prepared inside the cave. Orange light instantly spread out, illuminating the entire cave and dispelling the slight chill after nightfall as warmth slowly filled the cold rock chamber. Beneath that warm glow, the fatigue accumulated from the day's fighting and travel slowly eased as well.

Lu Heng rested briefly, then took the basic processing station out of a storage slot.

With a sweep of faint light from his bracelet, the processing station automatically settled onto the ground and unfolded. The equipment activated successfully, and a floating control interface lit up clearly. Looking at the orderly processing equipment before him, he felt a genuine sense of advancement.

From handling every material with his bare hands at the start to owning a processing station of his own, his means of survival had long since moved beyond their initial primitive state. He could finally rely on equipment to process materials precisely and forge his own weapons.

Lu Heng immediately brought up the bone dagger forging blueprint. The interface indicated that processing required only one portion of hard bone, a simple and clear material requirement. His only primary weapon at present was a wooden spear, which was adequate for thrusting from a distance but offered no close-quarters fighting capability. If a mutant beast ambushed him at close range, that weakness would be magnified enormously, putting him in extreme danger. This bone dagger was precisely the key to filling that gap.

Without hesitation, Lu Heng placed the bone on the work surface and confirmed the start of the forging process.

The processing station operated with a low vibration, its internal mechanisms working precisely. The entire piece of bone was automatically cut and shaped, undergoing fully automated precision processing that hand grinding could not remotely match.

In just over ten seconds, the equipment stopped. A finished bone dagger lay quietly in the center of the work surface. Its bone was hard and fine-grained, its blade straight and even, and its edge sharp and gleaming. The handle fit his palm, and its weight was just right.

Lu Heng reached out, gripped the handle, and made a light practice slash. The blade swept cleanly through the air with a keen swish, giving a distinct sense of cutting power. Its cold touch in his hand felt utterly real. From now on, he had his wooden spear for long-range thrusts and his dagger for close combat, providing both offense and defense and fully addressing the weakness in his fighting capabilities.

Once his thoughts had settled, he lit up his bracelet again and opened the shelter upgrade panel.

The upgrade requirements were clearly listed: thirty units of standard logs and thirty units of standard stone.

He had already stockpiled enough logs in advance to meet the requirement fully. The stone entry clearly displayed fifteen units, exactly half short.

Looking at the clear shortfall in supplies, Lu Heng settled on tomorrow's plan. He would rest well tonight and fully recover his strength, then return to the ancient riverbed with the iron axe at daybreak. With the axe's hardness and striking power, he could easily break through the compacted silt and pry out the high-quality stone buried deep beneath it, gathering the remaining fifteen units in one trip. Once he had all the stone, he could begin upgrading the shelter immediately.

The firelight flickered, and warmth filled the cave. Inside, his equipment was new, his weapon finished, his supplies orderly, and the path ahead clear. A day of dangerous travel had all become tangible gains in strength. Within the shelter, cut off from every danger outside, only solid security remained. All the pressure accumulated over days of travel dissipated, leaving only rest before he began the next stage of his expansion plan.