"Crackling--"
Sparks were flying everywhere.
A delicious aroma wafted from the meat skewers burning over the fire.
Zhao Yuan looked at them, hesitated for a moment, and then picked up a string of them.
Conversation could be heard from the side.
"... Speaking of which, we've killed over thirty Calamity Beast since we came out this time, haven't we?" A middle-aged man's excited voice rang out.
Zhao Yuan turned her head and looked over, correcting her:
"To be precise, there are thirty-seven, including seven Fourth Tier Calamity Beast and one Fifth Tier Calamity Beast!"
"Well, is that good enough?"
The middle-aged man, looking somewhat dusty and disheveled from being out for several days, waved his hand, his face beaming with a bright smile.
"Speaking of which, Zhao Yuan, this is the first time our team has killed so many Calamity Beast while hunting, isn't it?"
"Yes, it's the first time, and we also have to consider the low-level Calamity Beast we had to abandon due to the journey!" Zhao Yuan nodded, her gaze shifting to a slightly younger figure. "But we should thank Yusen for this. If he hadn't advanced to the Fourth Tier and could detect further, we probably wouldn't have been able to kill so many Calamity Beast!"
"No, no, no, it's just because I was lucky and encountered a lot of Calamity Beast along the way!" the young man said, waving his hand subconsciously.
"Alright, kid, it's your credit, it's your credit. Just agree, it's fine!" The middle-aged man patted him on the shoulder. "Speaking of which, because of this, you should get a lot more Origin Crystal this time!"
Upon hearing this, the young man paused for a moment, then smiled sheepishly without replying.
"What about me? How much will I get?" another team member who hadn't spoken before asked.
The middle-aged man glanced at him and said, "You? You're probably the least!"
"Huh? How is that possible? I'm only a little weaker than the captain, Old Chen, and Sister Zhao, right? I'm still a bit stronger than Lu Ning, aren't I?" the man said in horror.
The middle-aged man retorted, "There are only five of us in total. You're weaker than the captain, me, and Zhao Yuan, so you're at least fourth. And Lu Ning is a scout. It was one thing when we were at Third Tier, but now that we're at Fourth Tier, he deserves a lot of credit for killing so many Calamity Beast. You're the least deserving, aren't you?"
"Huh? No..."
"What? Xiao Yu, you think Lu Ning played a very minor role? Not as good as you?!"
"No, that's not what I meant. I meant..." She paused, then said angrily, "Damn it! I should have awakened a functional ability too!"
"You've got to be kidding me, you really want to give it to me...?"
Beside her, Zhao Yuan watched the scene unfold with a smile on her lips.
Because of the fruitful harvest this time, everyone's mood has indeed improved a lot!
The group chatted amongst themselves.
Suddenly, the middle-aged man Chen Zhuo, said:
Do you think the gap between us and Captain Shen will widen in the future?
As soon as he finished speaking, Captain Xu Yu, who had been silent until now, subconsciously looked at Chen Zhuo.
Zhao Yuan was taken aback for a moment, then asked, "Why are we suddenly talking about Captain Shen?"
"Yes!" Lu Ning nodded in agreement, expressing his own confusion.
"Look at this! In one battle, Captain Shen's battle merits can basically be exchanged for a number of Origin Crystal with a Origin Power content equivalent to Fifth Tier Origin Crystal, or even more."
Chen Zhuo gave an example to illustrate,
"We're lucky if we can exchange for Origin Crystal with the same Origin Power content as Late Fourth Tier Origin Crystal Origin Crystal in one go. Even if we go hunting during our downtime, we can only get one more at most. Two Late Fourth Tier Source Origin Crystal are still far from what Captain Shen can get in a single battle! If we continue training like this, won't the already large gap become even bigger?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Ning and Xiao Yu were taken aback and subconsciously began to ponder.
"That's not necessarily true!" Xu Yu said.
"Huh? Captain, isn't that right?" Chen Zhuo asked, somewhat puzzled, when the captain spoke.
The others also looked over.
Xu Yu looked at Chen Zhuo and asked, "Do you feel that your advancement speed can compare with that of Tier 2 warrior?"
"Of course we can't compare! They're only..." Chen Zhuo paused, then said as if suddenly realizing something, "Captain, you mean that at lower levels, the advancement speed is faster, and the higher the level, the harder it is to advance? So we won't be too far behind Captain Shen?"
Xu Yu nodded and said:
"To temper one's physique to its limit at the Fifth Tier, even more Origin Power is required. So, despite the higher value of the Origin Crystal obtained by Captain Shen, he might not be able to do it faster than you."
"Furthermore, as you all know, after reaching the Fourth Tier, simply tempering the body isn't enough to advance further. You also need to continuously optimize your Configuration; otherwise, you won't be able to manage so much Origin Power!"
Chen Zhuo remained seated and nodded heavily.
That's true, but...
"How did Captain Shen grow up like this? I heard Captain Shen's only 23, and that's the traditional Chinese age reckoning! How could he have cultivated to this level at such a young age?!"
There was no response; some people frowned in thought, while others remained silent in a daze.
Chen Zhuo wasn't surprised. When he raised the question, he hadn't considered, or rather, didn't think it could be addressed by his teammates...
"I know that!"
An unexpected response rang out.
Chen Zhuo paused for a moment, then subconsciously looked towards Xiao Yu.
The others nearby also looked over.
"What do you know?" Chen Zhuo didn't know what to say, so he could only ask this subconsciously.
"Legend has it," Xiao Yu said, raising a finger and shaking his head slightly, "That when Captain Shen was born, a strange phenomenon occurred in the sky: purple aura came from the east and lingered for three days, which is why he looks the way he does now!"
"..."
silence.
The crowd's eyes held a sense of speechlessness.
Chen Zhuo's lips twitched slightly, and he laughed and scolded:
" Xiao Yu, stop reading those cringeworthy novels! 'Purple Qi Comes from the East, Lingering for Three Days'? Why don't you just say it's a sage reincarnated?!"
"That's not impossible!" Xiao Yu laughed heartily.
Everyone fell silent.
"Alright, what era are we living in? Stop with all this superstition!" Zhao Yuan said helplessly.
"However, Captain Shen is really amazing! So young, so strong, and so smart! Although it's not very obvious, our Shuofang City will indeed suffer fewer casualties in the overall battle than North-Pacifying City!" Xiao Yu said with great interest.
"The captain isn't bad either, is he? If it weren't for the captain, we might not even be sitting here right now!" Zhao Yuan said.
Upon hearing this, everyone instinctively looked towards Xu Yu.
Both are relatively young, both are very capable, and both are very intelligent...
"Indeed, if it weren't for our captain, we might have been in danger from the Sharp-Winged Bird and Flying Thunder Ape we encountered earlier!" Chen Zhuo nodded.
" Sister Zhao and Brother Chen are only in danger, but without the captain, I would really be dead!" Lu Ning looked at Xu Yu, his tone revealing a hint of barely perceptible respect.