Chapter 84: One Day

Wang Rushi used her multifuctional biology knife to gut the rabbit, her movements quick and efficient, leaving behind only the pelt.

Given her family’s status, a mere first-quality inferior rabbit skin would have been beneath her notice. However, this pelt was different – it was a trophy she had hunted herself in the world of the demonic countries, holding great sentimental value.

With everything packed, the sky had darkened. Pei Zhenxiu enveloped them in spiritual energy, leading the group towards the Tianchang City.

Pei Zhenxiu had a separate courtyard at the Tianchang City, and this is where they returned. The courtyard had ample rooms, providing everyone with their own individual space.

“Li Zhen, are you planning on keeping your findings today or selling them?” Mr. Zuo approached Li Zhen with a concerned question.

“I would prefer to sell them!” Li Zhen didn’t want to drag these ingredients around.

If left unattended for long periods, these materials would develop unpleasant smells. The processing he had done was only basic; without further refinement, they wouldn’t store well over time.

He also lacked the time to refine them properly; instead, he’d rather use that time for cultivation practice.

“Come with me, I’ll take you to sell them!” Mr. Zuo, having anticipated this, promptly guided Li Zhen along.

The location for selling materials was a large hall where specialized assessors evaluated and purchased items. Li Zhen and Mr. Zuo joined the queue, awaiting their turn.

“We’re at an official government collection point,” Mr. Zuo explained to Li Zhen as they queued. “The Xian Nation forbids selling monster materials to any non-governmental collector. All materials must be handed over to the Xian government for disposal!”

“Is it really only possible to sell to the government?” Li Zhen couldn’t help but confirm.

“Although they say that, if you have spatial items, you can completely avoid selling here. No one will ever come to check on you!” Mr. Zuo smiled, his eyes twinkling with understanding.

The rules here were applicable only to ordinary cultivators. Those with spatial items enjoyed certain privileges that didn’t jeopardize the system.

As they spoke, Li Zhen reached the front of the queue.

He placed his materials onto the table, where an inner disciple began inspecting each one individually.

“Mid-grade first-rank Forest Leopard pelt with damage level 3, four mid-grade first-rank Forest Leopard teeth, mid-grade first-rank Earth Dragon pelt with damage level 2. Total value is 53,000 credit points!” the inner disciple announced.

Li Zhen glanced at Mr. Zuo, who nodded, indicating there were no issues.

With that, the inner disciple transferred the credit points using his identity bracelet, and the transaction was complete.

“Is monster hunting really that lucrative?” Li Zhen remarked with delight as they made their way back.

“You hunted the monster beast alone and still need to account for the talismans you consumed. Normally, a squad would hunt a monster beast of the same rank, and the kill would be divided among several people, so each person doesn’t get much!” Mr. Zuo shook his head and explained.

Li Zhen was taken aback. When he heard Mr. Zuo mention consuming talismans, he immediately thought about the affair with the thunder. He hadn’t explained clearly and let Mr. Zuo misunderstand.

Mr. Zuo’s other words were indeed reasonable. Even Li Zhen, without using Dragon Might, found it very dangerous to hunt monster beasts in the Monster Kingdom world.

Encountering a mid-grade first-rank monster beast was already tough. If he faced a high-grade first-rank or even a second-rank beast, escaping with his life would be the best outcome.

Of course, monster beasts had territorial instincts, and the stronger they were, the less likely they were to stray from their territory. Therefore, within areas defined as safe zones, no excessively powerful monsters could appear.

Back at their lodgings, the forest leopard meat Li Zhen had brought back had been transformed into a meal by Wang Rushi. Pei Zhenxiu, not wanting to eat mid-grade first-rank fare, left it to Mr. Zuo and the four students for dinner.

“Tomorrow let’s still group up and move together!” After witnessing the power of the monster beasts, Fang Congzhi proposed.

If not for Pei Zhenxiu’s intervention today, he feared he would either have died or suffered grave injury. He was genuinely frightened now.

“I agree!” Shi Xuan nodded his consent.

Wang Rushi pondered for a moment before reluctantly agreeing as well.

“You can form a team, but Li Zhen will act independently—it’s more beneficial for him,” Mrs. Zuo interjected, noticing Li Zhen’s hesitation.

With Pei Zhenxiu accompanying them as their guardian, safety was no longer a concern.

The only drawback was the relatively weaker combat abilities of Wang Rushi, Shi Xuan, and Fang Congzhi. Even if Wang Rushi and Shi Xuan exerted their full strength, they could only hope to confront a mid-grade monster. By employing their trump cards, they might manage to slay a few first-rank mid-grade beasts, but such excessive use of their trump cards would be overly wasteful and yield minimal improvement for them.

In monster hunting, it’s ideal to have significantly greater combat power than the beast itself; this ensures a more successful and efficient hunt.

“Here’s the dissecting knife I bought for you,” Wang Rushi said, taking out the knife and handing it to Li Zhen.

Li Zhen then realized he had forgotten to buy a dissecting knife when he went out with Mrs. Zuo.

In truth, Mrs. Zuo had intended to lend Li Zhen his own dissecting knife, and knowing Li Zhen’s family wasn’t well-off, he hadn’t mentioned it. However, he didn’t expect Wang Rushi to have thoughtfully taken care of it for Li Zhen.

“How much credit do I owe you? I’ll transfer it right away,” Li Zhen said, taking the knife.

“Yesterday, you paid for mid-grade spirit meat, and I didn’t give you any credit points for it!” Wang Rushi said with some dissatisfaction.

Li Zhen didn’t reply further, simply putting away his dissection knife.

Returning to the room assigned to him, he found the spiritual energy quality to be among the low-tier second-grade. Instead of using space-related divine abilities to travel through it, he utilized this low-tier second-grade spiritual energy to cultivate the “Seventeenth Edition Foundation Qi Refining Technique.”

His water spiritual root had reached Water 21, so during this cultivation session, blue water spiritual energy accumulated in his dantian.

He also noticed that after advancing to the fourth layer of Qi Refining, his efficiency in cultivating the Seventeenth Edition Foundation Qi Refining Technique had improved significantly.

After finishing the Seventeenth Edition Foundation Qi Refining Technique, he continued by cultivating the Black Iron Body.

With the abundance of mid-grade metal-type magical artifacts, his progress in this body refinement technique remained relatively swift.

Later, he spent an hour drawing talismans, finally retiring to sleep at 3 A.M.

At 6 A.M., he rose from bed.

Pei Zhenxiu had arranged for first-grade mid-quality spirit rice to be prepared, with no other breakfast options. They hastily ate before setting out.

This time, Pei Zhenxiu did not use her spiritual energy to carry them, instead letting them move on their own.

The group walked away from Tianchang City, maintaining a certain distance from each other without straying too far apart.

This way, if anyone was in danger, they could signal for help from their teammates.

Pei Zhenxiu’s rescue could only be a last resort. They were here to hone their skills, not play games. To do that, they had to face the very real possibility of life and death.

As planned the previous day, Li Zhen decided to act solo again.

Their hunting range was within ten miles of the Tianchang City. Mr. Zuo didn’t participate in the hunt, instead staying with Wang Rushi’s squad to offer assistance.

Just as before, Li Zhen activated an inferior-grade ‘Lightening Talisman’ and ‘Diamond Talisman’ for himself. Equipped with a mid-grade longsword, he ventured into the wilderness, away from the city walls.

Though he couldn’t detect Pei Zhenxiu’s presence, he was certain she was nearby, watching.

Therefore, he carefully concealed his true Body Tempering strength, only displaying his battle capabilities.

Unless he fully unleashed his power, his cultivation realm couldn’t be discerned merely by observing him. This allowed him to keep his Body Tempering secret intact.

As he walked, Li Zhen reviewed a document on his identity bracelet. It contained detailed information about the monsters near Tianchang City.

This was a document Pei Zhenxiu had shared with him, containing rich information about every type of monster beast: their behaviors, characteristics, weaknesses, and the valuable materials found on their bodies. It was even more detailed than the school textbooks.

Although Pei Zhenxiu hadn’t explained its source, Li Zhen could tell that it must have been meticulously compiled by some cultivators. He decided not to ask Wang Rushi if she’d received the same document; If she hadn’t, using it at today’s lecture might be awkward, he thought.

Looking over these resources, Li Zhen quickly realized there might have been issues with yesterday’s fight against the Earth Dragon.

The Earth Dragon’s skin was incredibly strong, nearly impenetrable by a cultivator in early Qi Refining. However, it wasn’t invincible.

If one could lure the Earth Dragon to open its mouth, striking inside would be the best strategy. The deepest parts of its mouth were vulnerable, making them a critical weak spot for severe damage.

Li Zhen scanned through the document. His memory was quite good; after skimming once, he could largely recall the content. With several more readings, it would be practically unforgetable.

As he reached five kilometers, all the beasts he encountered were low-grade herbivore monsters. These posed no significant threat to human cultivators and would often flee upon sighting them.

Li Zhen paid them little mind, as the materials they offered were too meager to be worth his attention.