Just then, a middle-aged man in the crowd ahead grew excited.
"Wonderful! Boss Lei leveled up! It'll be even easier for us to avenge Chen Jun now."
"Old Wang, what exactly happened to Chen Jun?"
"Ah! Here's what happened. Chen Jun and I were scouting ahead. As soon as we reached that grove, we ran straight into two venomous nine-ring snakes. We realized we were in trouble and turned to run."
"Unfortunately, Chen Jun was too slow. One of the giant snakes caught up and swallowed him in one gulp. I awakened a speed talent, so I was a little faster. I lured the other snake away and fled here."
"Luckily, you all arrived too, and we managed to kill this giant snake... Ah! This place really... really is terrifying!"
At this point, lingering fear filled the middle-aged man's face.
Lei Jue listened silently, his expression solemn.
In just these few hours, he had already established absolute authority within this group of newcomers, and everyone respected him as their boss.
Even though the middle-aged man was ten years older than him, he still had to call him "Boss Lei."
"Let's go! We'll avenge Chen Jun! Old Wang, lead the way!"
Lei Jue spoke calmly.
"Boss Lei, follow me!"
Old Wang hurried forward to lead the way.
The group immediately headed toward Qin Feng's hiding place...
After eavesdropping on their conversation, Qin Feng figured something out.
The person swallowed by the venomous nine-ring snake he had killed earlier was probably the Chen Jun Old Wang had mentioned.
Just then, Lei Jue's group drew near.
Qin Feng hurriedly held his breath and crouched in the bushes, carefully concealing himself.
He wanted to wait until they left before going over to extract from the giant snake's corpse.
But as the group passed his hiding place, a pretty girl in blue jeans seemed to notice something. She abruptly turned to look toward where Qin Feng was hiding.
"Who's there?!"
The pretty girl's name was Liu Yan. At that moment, she was staring warily at the bushes ahead.
As it turned out, she had a hearing talent.
With less than ten meters between them, she had heard Qin Feng's heartbeat.
Her sudden outburst startled everyone, and they all turned toward Qin Feng's hiding place.
"Who's there?"
"Come out!"
Everyone went on guard.
In this world full of lurking dangers, they could lose their lives at any moment. No one dared let their guard down.
In the bushes, Qin Feng sighed helplessly and had no choice but to stand up sheepishly.
Still, he was not worried at all.
Even if all seven members of Lei Jue's group joined forces, they would be no match for him.
"It's you!"
Liu Yan looked at Qin Feng in some surprise, as though she knew him.
Qin Feng froze for a moment.
He did not think he knew this woman.
"Liu Yan, do you know him?"
Old Wang asked casually.
Liu Yan paused, then thought of something, and her pretty face flushed slightly.
She did not actually know Qin Feng. It was just that everyone's profile picture and name were displayed in the chat channel.
Of the thousand people in this beginner village, most were rather unfortunate-looking. Only a handful were handsome.
Qin Feng was one of them.
Liu Yan was something of a looks enthusiast, so she had paid attention and naturally remembered Qin Feng.
She simply had not expected to run into him here.
But she could hardly say she had remembered him because he was handsome.
"Well... I saw his profile picture in the chat channel, so I remembered him. His name is Qin Feng."
Liu Yan feigned composure.
Then she looked at Qin Feng again. "Qin Feng, what are you doing here?"
"Just passing through!"
Qin Feng answered calmly.
Liu Yan sighed. "It's dangerous out here in the wilderness. Wandering around on your own can easily get you into trouble. Not long ago, something happened to one of our teammates."
At this point, she seemed to think of something and turned to Lei Jue.
"Boss Lei, why don't we let Qin Feng come with us? It's quite pitiful, him roaming out here alone, and quite dangerous too."
Old Wang agreed. "Boss Lei, with what happened to Chen Jun, we're one person short. Why not let Qin Feng join us? He can fill the gap in our fighting strength."
Hearing this, Lei Jue nodded slightly.
In the early stages, there was a large gap in strength between humans and ferocious beasts.
Humans were no match for ferocious beasts of the same level, so cooperation was inevitable.
All sorts of factions, large and small, would certainly emerge in the future.
If he wanted to expand his influence, he needed to establish his own faction and get more people to join him.
Having thought this through, Lei Jue looked at Qin Feng.
"Qin Feng, show us your attributes and talent. As long as they aren't too bad, I'll take you in."
Lei Jue spoke calmly, his tone somewhat condescending.
Hearing this, Liu Yan immediately brightened. "Qin Feng, hurry and display your personal information for Boss Lei!"
Old Wang added, "Qin Feng, our Boss Lei is a level 2 powerhouse. You're pretty lucky to get to team up with us."
At these words, everyone smiled.
As far as they were concerned, once Qin Feng heard that Lei Jue was already a level 2 powerhouse, he would definitely join them.
To their surprise, Qin Feng said calmly, "No need. I prefer being alone."
With that, he turned and left.
Everyone froze.
Holy shit!
Had they heard that right?
This guy had actually rejected Boss Lei's goodwill.
Didn't he know that Boss Lei was not only a level 2 powerhouse, but also possessed a powerful D-rank talent?
For a moment, they could not wrap their heads around it.
Lei Jue was stunned too.
He watched Qin Feng's retreating figure, feeling somewhat annoyed.
"Let's go! We won't force him!"
With that, he led the way.
Everyone followed, though they kept muttering, unable to understand Qin Feng's behavior.
"Ugh! This guy really..."
Watching Qin Feng's retreating figure, Liu Yan stamped her foot in irritation before leaving with the others...
Before long, Lei Jue's group had gone far away.
Only then did Qin Feng quietly return.
He had no desire to team up with these people. Not only would that expose his trump cards, it would also slow his progress.
Soon, he reached the snake's corpse and began extracting...
[Endless Extraction successful! Gained 2 energy attribute points!]
His energy had increased again!
Qin Feng was delighted.
With that, he had extracted from every kind of level 1 ferocious beast in the Beginner Plains. There was no need to stay any longer.
He immediately headed toward the edge of the Beginner Plains to search for new ferocious beasts...
Not long after Qin Feng left, cries of surprise rang out elsewhere from Lei Jue and the others.
At that moment, in the grove.
Lei Jue and the others saw the giant snake Qin Feng had cut open, and every one of them stood rooted in shock...
A thick smell of blood hung over the scene. The giant snake's entrails were spilled all over the ground, and a human corpse lay beside it-Chen Jun's body.
Everyone stared blankly for quite a while before someone spoke.
"Judging by how dry the blood at the scene is, this giant snake died earlier than the one we killed."
The speaker was a young man wearing glasses named Qi Jie.
Before coming to this world, he had been a student at a Project 985 university, and he enjoyed reading Conan novels.
"Qi Jie, are you saying they killed it faster than we did, and they're stronger than us?"
"Yes!"
Qi Jie nodded slightly, then stepped forward to examine the snake's corpse.
A moment later, shock appeared in his eyes.
Lei Jue hurriedly asked, "Qi Jie, what did you find?"
Qi Jie looked up. "Boss Lei, if my analysis is correct, one person probably did all this, because there is only one person's set of footprints here. And look at the snake's wound. A slash straight to its vital spot, seven inches below the head-a one-strike kill!"
Everyone was shocked at these words.
"My god! A one-strike kill! An expert! This was definitely an expert!"
"No way! This snake's scales have incredibly high defense. I couldn't break through even after dozens of slashes, and that person cut through them in one strike?"
"That's why we're saying they're an expert!"
Lei Jue also drew a deep breath. "A one-strike kill! Even though I'm already level 2, I wouldn't dare say I could beat a level 1 ferocious beast alone. That person actually killed a giant snake in one strike. Could they be a level 3 expert?"
Qi Jie drew a deep breath. "We don't know exactly what level that person is, but one thing is certain: they have the strength of a level 3 powerhouse, and they're a lone wolf!"
"A lone wolf? Qi Jie, do you think that person could be Qin Feng?"
Liu Yan's voice rang out among them.
Qi Jie's eyes lit up. "Oh! Now that you mention it, that's really possible!"
Everyone froze at these words.
Then, as though something had occurred to them, they exchanged looks.