Studying in the special class was intense, but every two months, they also had an exceptionally long break of nearly fifteen days.
This world had no summer or winter vacations, only long midterm breaks during their studies.
These fifteen-day breaks gave the middle school students, newly minted beastmasters, time to nurture their own contracted beasts.
After all, at school, studying occupied ninety percent of their time.
And some enhancements to contracted beasts were relatively private matters, unsuitable for public places like school.
Jiang Ziliu had already made preparations, planning to use these fifteen days to obtain the Soul Crystal resources he needed.
This was how he used Probability Judgment.
"What are the chances that I can find Soul Crystals within an area extending 100 kilometers east of Base No. 12?"
10%!
That was the result Probability Judgment gave, indicating that Soul Crystals existed east of Base No. 12.
"What are the chances that I can find Soul Crystals within an area extending 50 kilometers east of Base 12?"
0!
Probability Judgment returned zero, which meant the Soul Crystals existed only within the area between 50 and 100 kilometers east of Base No. 12.
"What are the chances that I can find Soul Crystals within the area between 50 and 75 kilometers east of Base 12?"
43%!
The range in which the Soul Crystals existed narrowed further.
"What are the chances that I can find Soul Crystals within the area between 50 and 60 kilometers east of Base 12?"
67%!
"What are the chances that I can find Soul Crystals within the area between 55 and 56 kilometers east of Base 12?"
80%!
"What is the probability that this Soul Crystal is no more than three meters underground?"
100%!
Through step-by-step Probability Judgments, Jiang Ziliu had now determined the precise area where the Soul Crystal lay.
But after carefully comparing it with the map of exotic beast distribution outside the base, he had a bad feeling.
"What is the probability that this Soul Crystal is guarded by a Silver Rank exotic beast, a Star-Patterned Gale Swift Leopard?"
100%!
Jiang Ziliu felt it was a pity. Although he had discovered the exact location of a Soul Crystal,
the owner of this Soul Crystal was the Star-Patterned Gale Swift Leopard in that area; it belonged to that beast.
This kind of exotic beast possessed wind-attribute power. Although its strength was slightly below that of an ordinary Silver Rank exotic beast, its speed rivaled that of a Quasi-Gold Rank exotic beast.
Moreover, its hearing and sense of smell were exceptionally keen, giving it extremely powerful searching abilities.
It could be said that without Quasi-Gold Rank strength, if Jiang Ziliu encountered this kind of exotic beast, he would most likely face certain death, delivering himself to its doorstep as food.
Finding a Soul Crystal yet being unable to touch it left Jiang Ziliu feeling disappointed.
Fortunately, he had already used this method to determine the location of one Soul Crystal. He could also use similar judgments and a process of elimination to find Soul Crystals that might exist elsewhere.
Keeping track of his Dark Energy, Jiang Ziliu used Probability Judgment every day to search for possible Soul Crystal locations and determine whether he could obtain them safely.
After a week of attempts, three days before the break, Jiang Ziliu finally determined the locations of three Soul Crystals. All three were unclaimed, so perhaps he could find them safely.
After repeatedly investigating conditions in the wilderness, Jiang Ziliu selected one of these targets.
It was the site of an ancient city's ruins to the south. The conditions there would allow him to obtain a Soul Crystal relatively safely.
The break soon arrived!
After making preparations, Jiang Ziliu began his wilderness exploration plan.
He prepared over a thousand small iron beads for his SSS+ skill, Electromagnetic Manipulation.
After all, the electromagnetic cannon was currently his most powerful means of attack.
There was also the equipment his parents had prepared for him, compressed rations, a lighter, a simple cold-weather sleeping bag, and other items.
He had prepared many kinds of supplies, but they were all very small and did not amount to much even when packed together.
After making thorough preparations, he left home early one morning.
Afraid that his parents would worry, he did not dare tell them he was going into the wilderness. He only said that he was heading into Dungeon Space for a relatively long period of adventure training.
As long as someone was confirmed to be human, entering and leaving through the base gates was not difficult.
The reason for the lax controls was still to promote trade. After all, a great many rogue beastmasters and beastmaster groups passed through every day.
Strict inspections would cause severe congestion.
After leaving through the base's southern gate, Jiang Ziliu advanced along an S-shaped route.
What if someone had set their sights on him and was waiting directly ahead?
No exotic beasts above Gray Rock Grade were allowed within ten kilometers of the base. Nearby military outposts conducted regular patrols and clearances.
This area was relatively safe.
Jiang Ziliu summoned the Azurite Rock Man and the Transformed Lightning Snake, sending the Azurite Rock Man ahead to keep watch while he followed thirty meters behind.
The Mutated Lightning Snake concealed itself behind him, moving through the grass and shrubs while watching for anything preparing to ambush him.
Within one kilometer of the base, it was very safe.
But beyond one kilometer, it was entirely the domain of exotic beasts.
To be precise, the exotic beasts here were somewhat weaker than those in Dungeon Space. Some were hybrid descendants of the original invading exotic beasts and Earth's native wild animals, while others had evolved from Earth's native plants and animals in an environment of Dark Energy.
Compared with the exotic beasts in Dungeon Space that came from beyond the Gate of the End, they were somewhat weaker in every respect, but they still could not be underestimated.
Jiang Ziliu was now very thoroughly protected.
He wore leather armor underneath a layer of waterproof clothing, with protective covers over all his joints.
His entire head was enclosed in a waterproof hood, and he even wore a highly effective filtering mask over his mouth.
His trouser cuffs were tightly fastened as well.
It was not that he wanted to dress this way; this was the best setup for all Gray Rock Grade beastmasters adventuring in the wilderness.
The dangers in the wilderness came not only from visible, large exotic beasts such as wolves, tigers, leopards, eagles, snakes, pigs, and cattle, but also from various insects and unusual bacterial and fungal aberrations.
They were all more dangerous than large exotic beasts because their tiny size made their attacks silent and difficult to guard against.
Although this outfit looked ugly, it could protect him against the harm caused by these miniature insect-like creatures.
His precautions proved correct. Before he had walked far, he noticed something moving on his trouser leg.
After searching carefully, he discovered that a purple-striped leech was crawling up his trouser leg.
Jiang Ziliu gave a slight shake, and the tremendous vibrating force shattered it outright.
He was now a Quasi-Black Iron Rank life-form, with great strength and a powerful soul, allowing him to precisely apply his own strength to produce lethal vibrations.
Insects of this kind also counted as exotic beast life-forms. Their strength was at the Quasi-One-Star Gray Rock Rank, weaker than normal One-Star Gray Rock Rank creatures but stronger than ordinary life without Dark Energy.
As long as a beastmaster spotted one, killing it was not difficult.
But if it went unnoticed, it would silently invade the beastmaster's body, suck blood, produce offspring, and reproduce within its host, directly threatening the beastmaster's life.
The Purple-Patterned Leech was a parasitic, bloodsucking life-form that had evolved to reproduce through individual fission in environments abundant in Dark Energy.
Its vitality could not be underestimated either. The best method was to destroy all its tissues with vibrating force; only then could it be effectively killed.
Otherwise, larger fragments could easily recover and form smaller Purple-Patterned Leeches.
Throughout the wilderness, insects including bloodsucking mosquitoes, parasitic screw bugs, and ultraminiature fleas were likewise microscopic creatures that posed great danger to low-level beastmasters.
But once a beastmaster's level of life rose to Black Iron Grade, their skin, muscles, and immunity would evolve to become exceptionally powerful.
At that point, only a small number of relatively powerful microscopic creatures with higher levels of life and mutation could pose a threat to them.
Most insects could not even bite a hair off a Black Iron Grade beastmaster!
Higher-level Bronze Rank beastmasters possessed an even higher level of life and more terrifying bodily strength. Only one in ten thousand insect species could threaten them.
Silver Rank beastmasters could completely ignore attacks from these miniature exotic beast life-forms!
Even their mere vital presence was enough to collapse these little creatures' souls.
Thus, the dangers of the wilderness primarily concerned Gray Rock Grade beastmasters, whose level of life was relatively low.
They were the most numerous and also weak, facing an extremely wide range of dangers. They would often carelessly lose their lives in an unguarded moment.
This time, Jiang Ziliu had detected the threat in advance thanks to his keen perception.
If this kind of leech invaded his body, treatment would not be troublesome, but it would be extremely expensive and would cost him time and delay his affairs.
Books were never as real or as deeply affecting as seeing things firsthand.
Jiang Ziliu immediately checked his entire body, only to discover that in this brief span, another four Purple-Patterned Leeches had hidden on him without his noticing.
This made Jiang Ziliu break out in a cold sweat and gave him a deeper understanding of the wilderness's dangers.
He had to remember that his current position was still within the relatively safe area less than one kilometer from the base.
With so many Purple-Patterned Leeches here, it seemed "relatively safe" needed quotation marks!
After clearing away these hidden dangers, Jiang Ziliu became even more cautious. As he advanced and watched his surroundings, he also checked himself from time to time for any invading dangers.
Base No. 12 had been built on a small plain, but several kilometers to its south lay hilly terrain that was half forest and half grassland.
After crossing a small river, he officially entered one of the wilderness's more dangerous areas.
Jiang Biliu immediately activated Life Aura Concealment, hiding his presence with all his might.
At the same time, he also applied this ability to the Mutated Lightning Snake, allowing it to launch a concealed ambush at any moment.
Jiang Ziliu's pace slowed considerably as well. He would rather walk a little more slowly and make certain there was no danger nearby, allowing himself to advance more safely.