The Desolate Town Center Occupied by Evil Beast and Evil Spirit Races

"Huff, huff!"

Cao Fengqi's breathing quickened as he looked at the message.

Eight level 5 resources. That was simply absurd.

"They're on the northwest shore of West Water Lake, exactly 999 meters away."

Cao Fengqi suppressed his excitement and gazed in that direction, his eyes shining.

Ignoring the two level 3 items and one level 4 item nearby, he carefully approached the northwest shore of West Water Lake.

"Why does it feel noticeably warmer up ahead?"

He walked over three hundred meters without incident, but as he drew closer, he felt the temperature rising ahead of him. A sense of unease came over him.

Cao Fengqi stopped, hesitation on his face.

It was common knowledge in the Lost Land that if a strange phenomenon suddenly appeared, it was caused either by a treasure or by evil spirits or evil beasts.

Whichever it was, anything capable of causing such a phenomenon was definitely high-level.

If it's an evil spirit or evil beast, it's definitely no less terrifying than the Mystic Devouring Beast.

Cao Fengqi thought to himself.

Splash! Boom!

While he was thinking, a tremendous noise suddenly came from West Water Lake.

It was the deafening sound of lake water being churned up.

"Chitter, chitter!" "Awoo, awoo!"

A chorus of chaotic cries followed from within West Water Lake, numerous, piercing, and savage.

"Wh-what are those cries?"

Cao Fengqi looked at the pitch-black West Water Lake, a little over a hundred meters away, his expression intensely grave.

The sounds from the lake continued without pause, clearly moving forward.

And the direction they were moving in was where the eight level 5 resources lay.

Cao Fengqi's expression changed. After hesitating for a moment, he pulled out a Moon Spirit Stone and turned it on.

With a forceful swing of his right arm, he decisively threw it into West Water Lake!

The Moon Spirit Stone's light swept across the dark night sky and over the surface of West Water Lake, illuminating an area over twenty meters across.

"Chitter!"

A conspicuous strange cry came from the lake. The next second, Cao Fengqi saw an evil beast two meters in size leap out. It was pitch-black all over, with a monkey-like body and long fur.

Its shell-covered hand grabbed the Moon Spirit Stone straight out of the air.

In the Moon Spirit Stone's light, an exceptionally hideous face was revealed.

"It's a Water Ghost Monkey. There are Water Ghost Monkeys in this little lake, and quite a few of them too!!"

Cao Fengqi's expression changed when he saw the evil beast's face. "This is bad!"

Many evil spirits and evil beasts hated the light of Moon Spirit Stones, yet this Water Ghost Monkey had grabbed it without the slightest fear.

That was enough to prove its strength.

Water Ghost Monkeys were amphibious evil beasts that generally lived in water.

They were terrifyingly fast, their fur was as hard as steel, and they possessed considerable intelligence.

Most importantly, Water Ghost Monkeys were in no way weaker than the Mystic Devouring Beast. They were even stronger.

Without a moment's hesitation, he turned and fled.

Once a Water Ghost Monkey set its sights on him, there was no way he could escape at his speed.

Fortunately, the Water Ghost Monkeys in West Water Lake had not noticed him.

Cao Fengqi breathed a slight sigh of relief after retreating more than five hundred meters.

"This is going to be difficult. Those treasures have attracted a lot of Water Ghost Monkeys."

Cao Fengqi looked at the eight level 5 resources, a helpless expression on his face. "Or perhaps that's the Water Ghost Monkeys' lair."

He sighed and reluctantly looked away.

"I'll go get those two level 3 resources and that one level 4 resource."

Cao Fengqi looked to his left.

"Level 3 metal material. Bad review."

"Level 3 dilapidated equipment. Bad review!"

He obtained the two level 3 resources without trouble, then headed toward the level 4 resource ahead.

[One-kilometer radius scanned. Newly detected: 22 level 1 resources, 7 level 2 resources, 2 level 3 resources, 18 level 4 resources, 8 level 5 resources, and 4 level 6 resources.]

When Cao Fengqi was only about ten meters from the level 4 resource, another message came from his cheat.

His mouth fell open in shock, and he immediately looked over.

Within his field of vision, he saw the level 4, level 5, and level 6 resources all moving around over there.

Even though he could not see the targets and they were nearly a kilometer away, Cao Fengqi could not help swallowing.

"Fuck!"

He hurried over to the level 4 resource, saw it beneath a huge rock, and strained with all his might to lift the rock.

He reached out and grabbed the intact saber, then turned and ran.

He fled yet again.

He had fled three times in such a short span.

"Danger everywhere, absolutely everywhere. There's a group of Water Ghost Monkeys at West Water Lake to the west, the commercial street area on the left is the Mystic Devouring Beast's territory, and farther ahead between the two, closer to the town center, numerous powerful Wraith Remains are gathered."

"Even a Transcendent who came here could lose their life if they weren't careful."

Cao Fengqi's expression fluctuated.

This time, he was certain that those numerous moving resources were Wraith Remains.

And they were Wraith Remains clad in level 6 metal material. It was hard to imagine how terrifying they would be.

Cao Fengqi did not stop until he had retreated four or five kilometers. Looking at the desolate town, which resembled an abyss, he felt his scalp tingle.

"Go deeper into the desolate town and there are evil spirit and evil beast races everywhere. Unless I become a Transcendent, there's a ninety percent chance I'll die if I dare venture deeper."

His eyes were full of wariness. "Even with my cheat!"

"Sigh!"

After a long while, Cao Fengqi sighed and gradually turned his gaze toward the Mystic Devouring Beast's territory.

Compared with the Water Ghost Monkeys and the Wraith Remains farther in, the Mystic Devouring Beast was relatively easy to deal with.

"That's enough exploring for today. I'll prepare to venture deeper into the Mystic Devouring Beast's territory tomorrow."

Having made his decision, Cao Fengqi looked at the location of the underground safe house displayed by his cheat and headed straight there.

He wanted to dig up some level 3 metal material.

"This level 4 long saber is a good find!"

Back in the underground shelter, Cao Fengqi looked at the long saber he had just obtained.

[Mystic Cold Saber: level 4 quality]

[Effect: A long saber imbued with a chill. After it cuts a target, the chill enters the target's body and makes it stiff.]

"It has a transcendent effect. Very powerful."

He casually swung it, then nodded in satisfaction. "I was just short of a melee weapon. Now my equipment is basically complete."

Defense: the level 4 Blue-Patterned Robe.

Ranged attack: the level 4 Arcane Musket and Evil-Breaking Bow.

Melee: the level 4 Mystic Cold Saber.

Support equipment: the Evil Concealment Armor and night-vision goggles.

"With another level 4 Mystic Cold Saber, I should be able to kill two Mystic Devouring Beasts for sure if I run into them."

Cao Fengqi made a quick assessment. "It'll also give me a bit more security for tomorrow's operation!"

With that thought, he took the saw and cut the remaining two thousand-plus jin of level 3 material into pieces.

After working for several hours, he returned to the shelter, exhausted.

"Dabao, Xiaobao, come give your uncle a massage."

Cao Fengqi checked the time, walked out of his room, and called out.

"Okay, Uncle, come on over."

When Xiaobao saw him come out, she looked at him with bright eyes and patted the soft sofa to beckon him over. In a sweet voice, she asked, "Uncle, did you find anything good?"

"No, I had the worst luck today."

Cao Fengqi shook his head and lay down on the sofa.

"It's okay. Mommy said Uncle is already super, super amazing."

Xiaobao was much more sensible than Dabao, clever and sweet-tongued. She smiled and comforted him.

The two little ones were already being very considerate, one massaging his shoulders and the other his legs.

"Hehe!"

Up ahead, Cao Jiancheng, Liu Xiuxiu, and Liu Chunying were practicing the Frenzied Sealing Saber Technique with their sabers. They could not help smiling at the sight.

"Fengqi, don't be in such a hurry to explore the desolate town. When you have time, you can practice your saber technique and movement technique more. Sharpening your axe won't delay the chopping. Once your skills improve, exploring will be easier."

Cao Jiancheng advised his son, "Tomorrow we'll find time to go to the Spirit Forger's shop and buy a level 4 long saber."

"No need," Cao Fengqi replied with his eyes closed.

"You still need a level 4 melee weapon. Now that you have the Arcane Musket, you can put off practicing Nine-Shot Archery for a while and train your saber technique first."

Cao Jiancheng said earnestly, "One ranged weapon and one melee weapon, and you'll be completely covered."

"No need. I just got a level 4 long saber."

Cao Fengqi continued.

Cao Jiancheng: "???"

He had just gotten a level 4 saber?

"Uncle, you... you..."

Xiaobao, who was massaging his legs, paused and looked at him, her face full of confusion. "Didn't you say you had bad luck?"

Cao Fengqi felt a pang of regret when he thought of the eight level 5 resources, and a sense of helplessness when he thought of how he could only flee desperately from one powerful evil beast or evil spirit after another. "I did have bad luck. Little girl, you don't know how miserable your uncle had it just now."

Liu Xiuxiu pursed her lips and could not help saying, "Fengqi, it's not good to show off in front of your family."

Cao Fengqi turned his head toward his mother, stunned.

Wait, how am I showing off?

I really did have bad luck!