Eight Level 5 Resources
"This pitch-black darkness always makes my heart race. I wonder how long it'll take to get through these black clouds."
The migrating group stopped, and the Cao family set up their shelters.
Cao Jiancheng looked around and said to his family, "And it feels like it got dark awfully fast today. Let's stay inside after dinner."
Cao Fengqi and the others nodded and glanced at the sky, feeling a persistent sense of foreboding as well.
Although the strange phenomenon in the sky and earth worried them somewhat, the Cao family had plenty of resources, so they weren't too frightened.
"One jin of flesh can increase physique by about 0.5."
At lunch, Cao Jiancheng ate a few bites of meat and felt his physique improve. Delighted, he said, "After removing the bones, hide, and teeth from that Mystic Devouring Beast, there were 160 jin of flesh altogether. That's enough for twenty people."
Cao Fengqi nodded. Each of them would reach the limit after eating about eight jin.
Trading the remaining hundred-odd jin would maximize their profit.
"Mmm, it's good! So good!"
Sitting on a stool and leaning over the table, Dabao clutched a piece of meat and ate with grease all over his mouth. He looked at Cao Fengqi and said innocently, "Uncle, can you scare me every day and give me this meat every day from now on?"
"..."
Cao Fengqi looked at him speechlessly. "Don't you worry, kid. Your uncle will do his best to scare you to tears once a day."
He picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth, savoring it too.
The Mystic Devouring Beast's meat wasn't as tough as he'd imagined. It was so soft and tender it melted in his mouth, its juices bursting between his teeth. A faint sweetness accompanied its savory flavor.
The slightly charred outer layer was chewy, and the fine-grained meat filled his mouth with rich flavor as he chewed, leaving a lingering aftertaste.
It was far, far tastier than Calamity Rat meat or cured meat.
As expected of an evil beast that fed on all kinds of resources.
He had a plan in mind. Perhaps one day he could have all the Mystic Devouring Beast meat he wanted.
And live an utterly extravagant life...
Cao Jiancheng and Liu Xiuxiu couldn't help smiling at the sight, and the family chatted as they ate.
Cao Fengqi polished off two jin of Mystic Devouring Beast meat in one meal without eating any rice, increasing his physique by one point.
He lay down on the couch and had the two little ones massage his shoulders while he digested. Only then did he return to his room, feeling content, and with a thought, enter the Lost Land once more.
Cao Fengqi appeared in the Strongman Martial Arts School in Desolate Town, full of energy.
"The Mystic Devouring Beasts have already found their path to death. Next, they'll follow in the Calamity Rat swarm's footsteps."
He looked toward the Mystic Devouring Beasts' territory, his eyes gleaming and a hint of anticipation on his face.
Because Mystic Devouring Beasts had no eyes, they relied on their noses and ears to distinguish everything. As a result, they didn't stray far from their territory unless the whole group migrated.
They fed on all kinds of resources, which gave him an idea.
That was-
Cao Fengqi took a piece of level 3 metal he'd prepared beforehand and went to the place where he'd encountered the Mystic Devouring Beast.
He set the level 3 metal on the ground, retreated about eighty meters, and hid behind a boulder.
"The Mystic Devouring Beast is a treasure from head to toe. If I hunt a few more, my family will be completely financially free."
Full of anticipation, Cao Fengqi waited there.
The rain in the Lost Land had stopped, leaving the surroundings unusually quiet.
Time ticked by, and Cao Fengqi waited patiently.
"Tap, tap, tap!"
Before an hour had passed, footsteps came from the darkness ahead.
Cao Fengqi was delighted when he heard them.
But his smile didn't last long. It soon froze.
Three Mystic Devouring Beasts appeared in his field of vision ahead.
Their heads were ferocious, and their auras were fierce.
When Cao Fengqi saw them, one of the three Mystic Devouring Beasts suddenly sniffed in his direction.
"Damn it, these Mystic Devouring Beasts don't play fair!!!"
Cao Fengqi's expression changed drastically at the sight.
Three Mystic Devouring Beasts had actually come at once.
His mastery of techniques gave him complete confidence against one Mystic Devouring Beast, and he could even try his luck against two.
But if he ran into three, all he could do was flee.
It was no exaggeration to say that if those three Mystic Devouring Beasts caught him, their bites and claws would shatter the Blue-Patterned Robe's defense.
"Besides, I don't have many arrows left. If I had dozens, I could try kiting them. Or if I had a level 4 greatsword and saber, I'd have a chance too. Right now, I can only run!"
Cao Fengqi didn't hesitate.
He lowered his waist and twisted, darting several feet away like a gust of wind.
He hadn't expected his first use of a technique to be for running for his life.
"Roar! Roar, roar!" "Roar, roar!"
The three Mystic Devouring Beasts immediately sensed Cao Fengqi's movement and were visibly stunned for a moment.
Then they leaped after him, pursuing him swiftly like cheetahs.
Sensing the Mystic Devouring Beasts chasing him from behind, he scowled.
He lowered his shoulders and drew in his hips, wrapping himself like a gale as he cut through the wind and charged through obstacles.
His entire body moved like the wind, charging straight ahead, unstoppable.
He pushed the Wind-Breaking Movement Technique to its limit.
Cao Fengqi felt like he'd been chased by a village dog, gone home to fetch a stick for revenge, and come back to find a whole pack of dogs waiting for him.
Scowling, he fled toward the edge of town.
"Roar, roar!"
"Roar!"
The three Mystic Devouring Beasts chased him for a full two kilometers before stopping, seeing that they couldn't catch him at all.
They roared unwillingly a few times in Cao Fengqi's direction, then slowly turned and left.
"Beasts that don't play fair."
"Good thing I had Flash!"
Cao Fengqi saw the script's warning disappear and glanced back.
"Forget it. I won't hunt you for now. I'd better get down to business and find out how far the Mystic Devouring Beasts' territory extends, and whether it covers [Klein the Apothecary's Shop] and [Mystic Artificer's Forge]."
He steadied his breathing, a look of regret on his face.
Danger lurked everywhere in Desolate Town. Fleeing wildly for two kilometers like that was extremely dangerous.
Cao Fengqi wasn't going to take that risk again.
He circled around the route along which he'd just been chased and carefully made his way back, searching for resources as he approached the Mystic Devouring Beasts' territory again.
"Another Ghost-Faced Spider. Spideys really are the best, always comforting me when I'm down on my luck."
Less than half an hour later, Cao Fengqi smiled at the script's warning ahead.
He took out the Evil-Breaking Bow and nocked two arrows.
"Whoosh, whoosh!"
With a Simultaneous Arrow Shot, both arrows sank into the Ghost-Faced Spider's head, killing it instantly.
He walked over, took its soul and silk, and continued feeling his way forward.
"Huh? That looks like a lake ahead. Is this West Water Lake in Desolate Town?"
After collecting the soul and silk, Cao Fengqi heard the wind stirring the lake water and looked over curiously.
He recalled the information on the map and frowned slightly.
"If this is West Water Lake, then according to the scale on the map, the commercial street should be about a thousand meters straight to my left. I've already passed [Klein the Apothecary's Shop], and I'm even close to [Mystic Artificer's Forge]."
Cao Fengqi had a bad feeling.
According to the information scanned by his cheat, the area to his left was still the Mystic Devouring Beasts' territory.
Just now, the cheat hadn't detected any resources to his left.
That meant... the pills inside [Klein the Apothecary's Shop] had most likely all been devoured by the Mystic Devouring Beasts.
Of course, there was another possibility: the apothecary had taken all the pills away when the disaster struck.
Either way, it wasn't good news for Cao Fengqi.
"No, I need to find a way to venture into the Mystic Devouring Beasts' territory tomorrow."
He was reluctant to give up, and a plan formed in his mind.
The plan was simple and similar to luring the Mystic Devouring Beasts, but he needed to prepare plenty of level 3 metal materials and some ordinary bows and arrows.
He would use the arrows to shoot the metal some distance away and attract the Mystic Devouring Beasts' attention, then venture inside himself.
He would make absolutely sure whether there were still treasures in [Klein the Apothecary's Shop] and [Mystic Artificer's Forge].
I do have an Evil-Attracting Music Box, but I can't use it tomorrow yet.
He thought to himself.
He couldn't carry out the plan today. The arrows he shot couldn't be recovered, and he couldn't waste the ten Evil-Piercing Arrows he had.
"For now, I'll keep going and find the edge of the Mystic Devouring Beasts' territory."
He carefully continued onward.
[Scan complete within a one-kilometer radius. Newly detected: 10 level 1 resources, 4 level 2 resources, 2 level 3 resources, and 1 level 4 resource.]
After he continued for a few hundred meters, the resources detected by the cheat noticeably increased.
There were more resources to his left as well.
Have I reached the edge of the Mystic Devouring Beasts' territory?
He thought to himself and kept walking without stopping. More and more resources were detected.
In the end, he determined the approximate extent of the Mystic Devouring Beasts' territory.
At the same time, based on the map of Desolate Town, there was a fifty percent chance that Mystic Artificer's Forge lay within the Mystic Devouring Beasts' territory.
"I'll look into it tomorrow. For today, I'll get those level 3 and level 4 resources first."
Cao Fengqi looked in the direction opposite the Mystic Devouring Beasts' territory. Several level 3 and level 4 resources were at the edge of West Water Lake.
He walked over.
[Scan complete within a one-kilometer radius. Newly detected: 5 level 1 resources and 8 level 5 resources.]
He hadn't gone a hundred meters before another notification from the cheat appeared.
He paused slightly. "???"