Although killing monsters of a higher level didn't give much experience, the loot was abundant. Anything kept by the Foundation Establishment Realm Flame Rat leader is bound to be useful!
Spirit Stones, naturally, need no mention; they go directly into the account, safe and convenient for use anytime;
Carefully storing the Ores of various sizes, they can be a future income when smelted and purified into Spirit Stones in the Melting Workshop;
Artifact Refining Materials can be held in reserve to see if they're needed for upgrading weapons and tools, and if not, they can be sold at the Floating Market for cash.
After reviewing the details of the Teleportation Talisman, Jiang Yuan was delighted to confirm that it served as an alternative life-saving treasure just as he had thought.
"When drowsiness comes, someone offers a pillow, is there any loot more fitting than this?" He happily put away the Teleportation Talisman.
Tonight, he planned to hunt monsters and fish in the Wilderness. If other Demon Beasts appeared, he wouldn't panic; using the talisman to teleport home if things went wrong would at least preserve his life. It's not cowardice but prudence here as the treasures in the Wilderness game aren't as precious as his own life.
Jiang Yuan, trembling with excitement, picked up the last and greatest prize—the cultivation technique manual used by the Flame Rat leader!
With his wealth of reading experience, upon seeing the words "Profound Tier," he could deduce that the cultivation techniques in the Wilderness game were likely divided into Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Levels.
To obtain his first manual as a game novice and not have it be the lowest level was already quite fortunate.
At least in this aspect of luck, he hadn't experienced even in the two-plus years since graduation; throughout his bland life of over twenty years, he hadn't even won a "Get Another Bottle," let alone such treatment.
He took a deep breath and opened the undoubtedly valuable cultivation technique manual to see what was inside.
As a child, he'd been curious about the martial arts manuals of the Shaolin Temple, wondering what content could possibly lead to mastering ultimate martial arts.
If he memorized the contents of the Heaven-Burning Scripture, could he cultivate in reality? Were there limitations like Spirit Root, talent, or Spiritual Energy?
[Do you want to learn the Heaven-Burning Scripture?]
With full curiosity and anticipation, Jiang Yuan opened the book but barely glanced at the chaotic drawings. The system promptly popped up with a query.
Without hesitation, he selected "Yes," and a progress bar appeared on the pages haphazardly marked with human body outlines in red and green. The percentage jumped continuously, and after a few seconds, it prompted again—[Heaven-Burning Scripture study completed, Skill Level 0, can increase experience through effective usage]
"Oh, what was I expecting?" He looked blankly at the newly added skills page in his personal interface, only to find the entire Heaven-Burning Scripture thin volume covered in gaudy, extremely simplistic depictions of human meridians in red and green, utterly incomprehensible. It had no reference value, not even basic aesthetic value.
The constantly cheerful piano solo background music typical of a farming mini-game style still played tirelessly in his ear. Even though the scene changed, the absence of a mute button had him a bit tired of it.
Casually stuffing the book into his Storage Bag, Jiang Yuan rubbed his face to calm down, amused by his own naive and childish thoughts.
Expecting a genuinely cultivatable technique invented by a farming game and imagining practicing it in the real world—was he so tired from a day's work that his mind had gone haywire?
Being able to play a farming game and bring crops into reality to sell and make money was already an excellent cheat, what more did he need?
One shouldn't be too greedy!
With half a minute left until six o'clock in the evening, he stepped out of the thatched hut, looked up at the sky wanting to feel the shock of the Wilderness descending once more, and then check the effect of the Divine Mountain Statue before exiting the game to dine and rest.
Just as he was about to steady himself, a sobbing and non-sobbing, deep yet powerful wail sounded from behind, like an ancient bronze bell reverberating throughout the heavens and earth!
"Woooo~"
The sudden "Ghostly Wail" numbed his feet and buzzed his ears, scaring Jiang Yuan to instantly recall the content on the parchment. Could it be the Teleportation Array behind the Iron Wire Vine making noise?
No wonder the NPC villagers considered it a haunting but couldn't specify it clearly, it was indeed terrifying!
"Mother, what's that sound?" Lin Chunxi, startled from sleep, grasped her mother's arm in terror, her pale face stark white under the dim firelight.
Today's events had been overwhelming, and everyone in the village was busy.
Her yellowed, fragmented hair quickly tied up in disarray, Lin Chunxi breathed heavily with her slender brows slightly furrowed.
"Mother, sister, don't be afraid!" Lin Chunsheng, only twelve, still bearing childishness on his face, almost jumped up to grab the wooden club beside him, his vigilant eyes watching the mostly stone-sealed cave entrance that faintly showed the sky, his voice trembling but firm: "This time we won't separate, I'll protect you!"
Qiao Mei set down her work and embraced her two children, soothing them softly: "Don't be scared, that's the haunting from Shuiyun Lake. It's far from here, and no matter how fiercely it haunts, it won't cross Catling Ridge."
Having finally escaped the mines, once it was bright and the wilderness had receded, everyone returned over Catling Ridge to the village devastated by demons while still hungry.
In the face of crisis, the survivors didn't have much time to mourn. They buried their dead relatives and reunited with lost family members. The villagers, weighed down by the loss of loved ones and the destruction of their homes, took inventory of remaining supplies, sought relatively safe shelters from the descending wilderness, hunted, gathered fruit, and prepared offerings for their faith, the Goddess Nuwa. During the plentiful spring, they hoped to quickly accumulate enough Contribution Value to obtain divine protection and rebuild their village.
After the night fell, the surviving villagers, led by the village chief, hid in a remote cave to avoid the demons.
Except for the slight pop of burning wood, the cave was quiet.
Some were too tired to sleep; others wept silently for loved ones; some stared at the fire, lost about the future, while more practical individuals like Qiao Mei, under the firelight, tended to sleeping children while busy with chores to make the following challenging days relatively comfortable.
The sudden "Ghostly Wail" startled the siblings Lin Chunxi and Lin Chunsheng, as well as the other villagers.
The adults reassured the children, murmuring softly, the originally quiet cave now resonating with a low, humming sound.
"Auntie, why hasn't anyone ever heard of haunting noises like this before?" Wan Mingchuan, wounded and having worked the whole day, looked fatigued despite his young, robust frame. His sharply defined features couldn't conceal his weariness given the inadequate food and strenuous farm work.
With his back burning and enough pain to lean against the stone wall for a respite instead of lying down, he worried about the young brother who saved him from the demons.
In the morning, when everyone mentioned hauntings, he thought they were just rumors, who knew such terrifying and indescribably eerie sounds actually existed. How would the blind Jiang Yuan cope?
"It might be because that heedless young man is living in Shuiyun Lake, and it has riled the ghosts that have been dormant for years," Qiao Mei replied, patiently explaining while watching the sky outside the cave darkening: "It's also my first time hearing such a fearsome sound. I heard about the ghostly happenings at Shuiyun Lake from my grandfather when I was a child.
It is said that long ago, before our Riverfront Village was blessed and became a Level One village, and while village people needed to hide at night, Shuiyun Lake was already a Level Three village.
The twenty or so households living there occupied large expanses of flat land. Every family was wealthy but unwilling to accept outsiders.
Even if people begged to work their fields for free in exchange for staying the night to evade the imminent wilderness dangers, it was to no avail. They lived a self-sufficient life, never dealing with outsiders.
Later, our Riverfront Village was finally protected by a Divine Statue, and we no longer feared. Our contact with the other side of the mountain, Shuiyun Lake, grew less.
Until one day villagers heard continuous, terrifying 'Ghostly Wail' sounds and, daringly, went to see what was happening at Shuiyun Lake, only to discover their village was mysteriously deserted!
Under the flickering firelight, Qiao Mei's deep voice added a chilling layer to the eerie story.
"Disappeared?" Lin Chunxi raised her head from her mother's embrace, curiously asked: "Did they all run away because of the haunting?"