The Whisperer

The post was titled: "Warning! Dark Elf Squad!"

Upon opening it, he found several pictures of monsters along with their attributes.

Their slender builds and pointed ears revealed their identity: Dark Elves.

The Dark Elf squad Papaya Star Spirit had encountered was configured similarly to the one Han Xing had met.

In the post, Papaya Star Spirit emphasized the Dark Elves' strength and intense aggression.

He had barely escaped with his life, nearly dying there.

He then warned the other survivors to pay attention to system prompts. If they saw anything mentioning "corrupted creatures," they absolutely must not enter, or their chances of survival would be slim.

After reading the post, many survivors could not help feeling relieved.

"Dark Elves... such powerful monsters. I hope I never run into them."

"Yeah. Good thing Papaya Star Spirit was willing to share this information, and good thing he was strong enough. If it were us, we might have died at the hands of the Dark Elves in a single encounter."

After reading the messages in the Chat Channel, Han Xing pondered.

Papaya Star Spirit had also encountered a Dark Elf squad, but what those Dark Elves had been guarding did not seem to be Spirit Spring Water. It was a Silver Treasure Chest.

"So not every Dark Elf has a water source nearby. They might be guarding other treasures instead."

Thinking of this, Han Xing relaxed slightly.

Because that meant he could monopolize Spirit Spring Water for a while longer.

However, it also reminded him that the survivors were steadily growing stronger. Soon, they would be able to solve their water problems on their own.

Han Xing immediately thought, I need to sell another batch of Spirit Spring Water while I still can. Once everyone stops worrying about water, it won't be worth much anymore.

With that in mind, Han Xing opened the Trading Channel.

Compared to yesterday, there were several thousand more trade listings.

A smile curled across Han Xing's lips.

"Everyone really worked hard. You must have found quite a few materials today, right?"

"After working so hard, you must be thirsty too, right?"

"So, would you like a sip of sweet Spirit Spring Water right now?"

Han Xing let out a string of sinister chuckles. Seeming to realize he had gotten a little carried away, he hurriedly wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth.

Then, he listed Spirit Spring Water again.

Compared to yesterday, this time there were many more exchange requirements for the Spirit Spring Water.

He removed green equipment blueprints and added other blueprints instead, such as various Territory Building and defensive structure blueprints. He also added Blood of the Strong, various herbs, mithril, and other materials as acceptable trades.

The appearance of Spirit Spring Water caused another sensation.

Though it was not as fervent as yesterday, Han Xing still traded for quite a few materials.

After two to three hours of trading,

Han Xing had spent a total of 432 liters of Spirit Spring Water and obtained three completely filled Storage Boxes containing 2,550 storage slots' worth of materials.

Among them were 21,643 Spirit Cores, 45,387 pieces of refined iron, 103 One-Star Beast Hides, 86,646 units of Rare Earth...

There were also Aether, Darkfire Stone, Moonflower Grass, and many other materials—a massive amount in total.

Of course, he had not managed to trade for a single piece of Blue Equipment or blueprint.

The other survivors were no fools. Naturally, they understood how precious such things were.

Unlike yesterday, when the Trading Channel was desperately short of water, some teams had now found at least some drinking water.

However, the healing effect of Spirit Spring Water was still unique for now. It had no competitors at all.

Han Xing pondered, There are still more than 800 liters of Spirit Spring Water left. I should be able to sell it one more time—tomorrow.

After that sale, the market for Spirit Spring Water will begin to shrink, and I won't be able to keep harvesting the players' materials.

But that's fine. The early preparations are mostly complete. Once I get hold of a batch of blue blueprints, I can use these materials to mass-produce equipment and sell it to the other survivors, starting a new round of harvesting.

Then I'll store away most of the materials. Once my territory reaches a certain scale, I'll begin mass-building large Defensive Fortifications and turn my territory into an impregnable fortress.

Then I'll get new equipment blueprints and keep this model going, growing bigger and stronger!

At that thought, Han Xing could barely conceal the smile in his eyes.

Han Xing had made a preliminary plan for his future development. He might encounter other situations along the way, such as version updates, and he would need to adapt accordingly.

However, no matter how things changed, he possessed an advantage that other survivors did not.

That was a 100% crafting success rate!

As long as he had the corresponding blueprints, even divine artifacts could be mass-produced!

He did not believe the other survivors could refuse equipment of higher quality and stronger attributes.

And as long as they had demand, Han Xing could reap enormous profits from it.

With that in mind, Han Xing raised his head and looked at the sky.

It was already late at night. After a full day of exploration and consecutive battles, he was feeling somewhat exhausted.

"That's enough for today. Fighting while fatigued isn't wise."

He checked the incubation of the Exotic Beast Egg on the system interface.

Remaining incubation time: 76 hours, 17 minutes, 48 seconds...

"More than seventy hours before it hatches. I hope the creature inside this Exotic Beast Egg won't disappoint me..."

Han Xing lay back down on the bed, preparing to sleep again.

Meanwhile,

Not long after Han Xing fell asleep, on another survivor's Sky Island Territory,

A middle-aged man wearing a mage's robe and holding a Bronze Staff was fighting a group of jungle boars.

He waved the staff in his hand, and a fireball the size of a washbasin gradually formed.

Then, without hesitation, he hurled the fireball into the herd of boars.

With an explosion, cries of agony rang out from the boar herd.

Immediately afterward, several ice arrows as thick as thumbs shot out, piercing bloody holes through the bodies of several boars.

At that moment, a massive Elite Monster charged out from the herd. Its eyes were bloodshot as it rushed toward the human mage like a small mountain.

The human mage remained calm. With a wave of one hand, he used an air blast to widen the distance between himself and the boar.

Then, a bolt of lightning suddenly fell from the sky, striking the elite boar squarely on the head.

Crack!

The elite boar instantly stiffened, black smoke rising from its body. The human mage beside it could even smell the scent of roasted meat.

The elite boar collapsed. Only ordinary boars remained on the Sky Island Territory, and the rest of the battle held no suspense.

After the boar herd had been completely wiped out, the human mage lifted his hood and revealed the face of a middle-aged man.

He was the leader of Whispers of God, the Whisperer, currently ranked second on the points leaderboard.

The Whisperer crouched on the ground, a faint smile on his lips. "Very good. This Sky Island has an area of twelve square kilometers. That'll add quite a few more points!"

He quickly merged this boar territory with his own Sky Island.

On the leaderboard, the Whisperer's territory points instantly surged from 164 to 176. He was only 8 points away from surpassing Han Xing and claiming first place!

The Whisperer pondered. "That Xinghe's points haven't changed for a while. Could it be... that guy went to sleep?"

He quickly thought of something and chuckled. "How leisurely. But this gives me an opportunity."

"Xinghe, while you sleep, I'll surpass you and seize first place. That Hidden Class Scroll will definitely be mine!"

After saying that, the Whisperer controlled his Sky Island and continued toward the next location.

But he failed to notice that his pupils had already become filled with Blood Veins.

Elsewhere, Black Hawk in third place and Papaya Star Spirit in fourth place were also exploring against the clock.

By the latter half of the night, the top three positions on the leaderboard quietly changed.