Here They Come Again

"Mmm~"

Tang Zhixue walked out of the Shelter and stretched. "Nothing beats having a full stomach~"

Crack!

He stared at the branch in his hand for a moment. "Huh, that easy?"

Although he would leave the second-tier Clear Spirit Tree at the Shelter entrance intact for now, that did not mean he would not break off its branches.

His plan was to surround the entire Shelter with second-tier Clear Spirit Trees, then see whether anything changed when the Shelter leveled up.

But the moment he broke off a branch close to the ground, Tang Zhixue noticed something unusual.

Yesterday, breaking off this branch would have taken considerable effort. He had not expected to snap it off with just a little force today.

"Is the Blazing Tiger Fist that powerful?"

Tang Zhixue grinned at the branch in his hand. "My strength has increased so much! Looks like I should spend more time raising my proficiency in the Blazing Tiger Fist."

The second-tier Clear Spirit Tree was only three or four meters tall and had a limited number of branches.

So he divided the branches into pieces as small as possible, barely getting enough to surround the entire Shelter.

Of course, he would still need plant vitality afterward to grow these branches into actual trees.

Once that was done, Tang Zhixue went over to the Spirit Clarity Tree and used his talent to draw out its plant vitality.

Tang Zhixue used all this plant vitality to nourish the Clear Spirit Tree branches.

By the time the Spirit Clarity Tree fell, the Clear Spirit Tree branches planted right against the Shelter had all taken root in the soil.

Thud!

The tall tree fell, sending dust flying everywhere.

Tang Zhixue made no particular effort to trim the trunk. After all, it was already within the Shelter's grounds. Previously, he had only trimmed the branches to make it easier to drag the trunks back to the Shelter.

Crack!

Tang Zhixue broke off Spirit Clarity Tree branches and planted the cuttings far apart.

This time, he wanted materials for upgrading the Shelter, not another wall of trees.

[Shelter: Blazing Sun]

[Level: 2 (1000/1000) [Energy full, upgrade available]]

[Upgrade requirements: Supply materials yourself. The Shelter will upgrade automatically based on the materials provided (Note: The current amount of energy only permits the use of materials no higher than the second tier)]

[Function: Regional trading]

[Buildings: Martial Arts Space, Planting Cottage]

[Effects: Clear spirit evil-repelling, purification · temporary]

As with the first time its energy filled up, upgrade requirements had appeared again, but this time, they explicitly stated that materials above the second tier could not be used.

Compared with upgrading the Shelter to level two, this upgrade had more demanding requirements.

Previously, it had only required fifty Clear Spirit Tree trunks, but this time, it needed a hundred Spirit Clarity Tree trunks, each ten meters long.

"Wait!"

Tang Zhixue suddenly widened his eyes. "Where's my door god protection effect?! It was still there yesterday!"

Even when the Giant View Weird had broken through the door before, the door god protection effect had not disappeared. Yet today, it had vanished while he was not paying attention.

He hurried over to the Shelter's front door for a closer look.

The hole in the door was still there, and the Door God image on it was still as damaged as it had been yesterday. Nothing looked different.

"Why?"

Tang Zhixue looked at the Shelter's front door in confusion. "Why did it stop working today?"

"Sigh, hopefully putting up another Door God image later will give the Shelter the door god protection effect again."

Shaking his head, Tang Zhixue got back to work.

Unfortunately, even after working all day, he could not meet the Shelter's upgrade requirements. He would need another day.

There was no helping it. Using his talent took a toll on him, too.

He could recover his stamina by absorbing plant vitality, but not his mental energy. For now, Tang Zhixue could only replenish that through sleep.

Later, after he began feeling mentally exhausted, Tang Zhixue brought out a stool, sat outside the Shelter, and began reciting the Pure Heaven and Earth Divine Mantra.

Compared with the darkness inside the Shelter caused by the lack of a light source, Tang Zhixue preferred staying in the light.

"Heaven and earth in their natural order, let foul qi disperse. Within the cavern, mysterious emptiness..."

The words of the Pure Heaven and Earth Divine Mantra slowly left Tang Zhixue's mouth, and rays of light spread outward from him in all directions.

This continued until his surroundings gradually grew dim.

[Pure Heaven and Earth Divine Mantra · Master (238/1000)]

"Phew~"

Tang Zhixue stood up and stretched. "Not bad. My proficiency went up by a little over a fifth. At this rate, it should level up again in another two days."

He looked forward to seeing the effects of a higher-level Pure Heaven and Earth Divine Mantra.

Pat!

Tang Zhixue abruptly turned toward the woods, which were once again shrouded in silent white fog. Had... a sound just come from there?!

In the dim woods, the silent white fog at the edge of the Shelter's grounds gradually dissipated.

Wait, I'm not even reciting the Pure Heaven and Earth Divine Mantra?! Is this because of the mutated plants?

Soon, Tang Zhixue learned that his guess was wrong.

Pat! Pat! Pat!

The sound was soft. It was neither the wind nor the rustling of leaves. It sounded more like something wet striking the ground.

The sound gradually grew louder, and the area where the white fog was dissipating at the edge grew larger.

Shit!

Tang Zhixue cursed inwardly. He saw several bloated, indistinct figures slowly moving through the fog, while that continuous, sticky sound came from the ground.

The Giant View Weirds are back?! And there are so many of them! Damn it!!!

He could not forget those bloated figures. He had not expected to encounter them again today.

The Giant View Weirds did not approach. They merely paced along the edge of the white fog for a while, as though observing, or waiting for something.

Tang Zhixue did not panic. He stayed where he was, calmly watching the figures' movements.

After a while, the Giant View Weirds slowly retreated and disappeared into the depths of the fog.

"Phew~"

Tang Zhixue breathed a sigh of relief. "I didn't see the Junweng Weird today, but now that it's evening, I've run into those disgusting Giant View Weirds instead..."

It would have been a lie to say he was not nervous, but being nervous was one thing. He was not panicking yet.

Unlike yesterday, Tang Zhixue used several Spirit Clarity Tree trunks to block the front door completely today.

Before blocking it, however, Tang Zhixue made a point of grilling more than twenty skewers of meat and leaving them by the entrance.

During the event, Biting Spring Granny came every night, and Tang Zhixue did not want to miss a chance to receive a gift.

After dinner, Tang Zhixue browsed the chat channel and found that everyone was currently making steady progress. No one had suffered weird erosion.

Seeing this, he posted a reminder in the channel.

For now, there was no good solution. They could only find ways to raise their Shelters' levels and improve their purification effects.

After chatting with everyone for a bit, Tang Zhixue closed the panel and began reciting the Pure Heaven and Earth Divine Mantra again. "Heaven and earth in their natural order, let foul qi disperse. Within the cavern, mysterious emptiness; the great primordial radiance shines... swiftly, in accordance with the decree!"

But he stopped after reciting it just once.

He turned his gaze toward the storeroom. "Forging can be combined with the Pure Heaven and Earth Divine Mantra, so could tanning animal hides work too?"