Zhang Yuhe ate barbecue while watching the players in the chat channel talk nonsense. Seeing the miserable looks of others, he instantly felt that the barbecue in his hand was more fragrant.
To be honest, he was still not well-prepared. It seemed that, except for some psychological preparation, he had nothing else. He had resigned a month in advance and only prepared a knife.
Of course, no matter how much preparation he made, it wasn't of much use. After all, this was everyone's first encounter with Yufantian, and the information provided on the website was limited.
For example, the people who brought firearms were no better off than him. Firearms couldn't make a sound and weren't as effective as fire sticks. His long knife, however, could at least chop monsters and cut meat. It was simple and practical.
Zhang Yuhe felt that this long knife was worth the 50,000 blue coins.
"Continue to practice."
After eating the barbecue, Zhang Yuhe didn't waste any time. He sat cross-legged, and as his skills began to run, the surrounding spiritual energy slowly gathered toward him. He just wanted to practice now and didn't want to think about other problems at all.
For example, as some players had wondered, would there be ghosts at night? After all, this was a world of cultivation, and it seemed normal for there to be ghosts—especially since they were in the wilderness. The possibility wasn't small.
Some players also worried about being taken by wild monsters at night. However, Zhang Yuhe thought it was useless to dwell on such things. If they encountered them, they would deal with them then.
The next day, Zhang Yuhe woke up from his practice. The sun was shining. The night had passed peacefully, and he had advanced to the fifth level of Qi Refining.
"It's getting slower," Zhang Yuhe muttered as he looked at his progress. "It only took one night to level up."
If other players knew what he was thinking, they would rush over and chop him to death. Cultivation is inherently slow. Normally, it takes about ten days for a high-grade spiritual root to reach the first level of Qi Refining from a mortal. The exact time varies based on the level of diligence.
For middle-grade spiritual roots, it takes at least a month to reach the first level. As for low-grade spiritual roots, it depends on fate. If you're lucky, you can reach the first level in three to five months; if you're unlucky and not diligent, you might still be a mortal after two or three years.
It only took Zhang Yuhe one day to reach the fifth level of Qi Refining, which definitely broke Yu Fantian's training record. After all, his talent was exceptional.
Time passed slowly as Zhang Yuhe stayed in the Taoist temple practicing. Whenever he got hungry, he would go out to catch some game. He found that the chances of food "exploding" were very high. On average, for every two monsters killed, one piece of food would appear.
Mostly, it was various kinds of barbecues, with the occasional dry food. As for the skill secrets, magic weapons, and treasures he had been hoping for, he had never seen them.
Luckily, the drop rate for spirit stones was decent. Through his days of foraging, he had collected a dozen spirit stones. Zhang Yuhe wasn't sure if his luck attribute played a role, but every time he killed a monster, a spirit stone almost always "exploded."
Aside from sleeping, his time was mostly spent practicing and killing monsters.
A month later, Zhang Yuhe woke up from his practice, and a powerful aura spread from his body to the surroundings.
"Finally reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refining. It's time to go out and have a look."
It wasn't that he didn't want to continue practicing, it was just that he couldn't. He had no skills, and the system had only provided the Qi-Entraining Technique, which he could practice only until Qi Refining was complete. To continue practicing, he needed to find more advanced techniques.
Originally, he had thought of fighting monsters while practicing to see if he could discover some useful skill secrets. However, he was overthinking it; skills weren't that easy to uncover. The best way to obtain them was to start with the natives—either buy them or join their forces.
Over the past month, Zhang Yuhe had kept an eye on the chat channel. Although most players had either been buried by monsters or logged off due to various difficulties, there were still a small number of players hanging on. Some lucky ones had even found their way out of the wilderness and reached Yu Fantian's native city.
According to their descriptions, the native forces in the city included families and gangs, most of which were recruiting. To join, however, players needed to sign a contract. As long as you had spiritual root qualifications, even if you hadn't reached Qi training and weren't yet a real cultivator, you could be recruited.
Once part of the native forces, you would not only be given skill secrets but also receive a salary. The type of skills and the salary you would get depended on your personal strength and the power of the native forces.
If you didn't want to join the native forces, there were places in the city that sold skills. With enough spirit stones, skill secrets, magic tools, and magic treasures would be no problem.
Zhang Yuhe planned to find the native city first and then slowly practice the next set of exercises. There was no future in staying in the wilderness forever.
Zhang Yuhe stood at the gate of the Taoist temple and swung his long knife through the air.
With a flash, a tree five meters away fell.
Seeing the effect, he nodded silently. The strength of Qi training was impressive. Even without magic, he should be able to gain a foothold in a small place using brute force.
"Let's go."
He chose a direction and jumped forward quickly. He couldn't fly yet, but with his current strength, he could jump ten meters in a single bound.
If he were to compete in the Olympics, Usain Bolt wouldn't even see his back.
Zhang Yuhe rushed through the mountains and forests, not caring whether there were monsters. He had already explored the monsters in this area, and they weren't too strong. With his strength, he could do whatever he wanted.
He ran, killing any monsters that crossed his path, picking up the spirit stones they dropped. As for the barbecue, he was getting a little tired of it.
Roar...
A deafening roar suddenly echoed in the distance.
"It seems there's a big one. Let's go check it out."
Zhang Yuhe quickly turned and ran toward the source of the sound. Since a monster had appeared, he had to chop it down—no matter what, even if just for the spirit stones.
After a short while, he saw the source of the roar. It wasn't just one monster, but two, engaged in a fierce battle.
One was a spotted giant tiger, the other a blue bull larger than an elephant. Every time the giant tiger roared, it sprayed out rays of light, like invisible long knives, slashing at the blue bull.
Despite its thick skin, the blue bull still bore huge cuts. It wasn't weak, either; its horns flashed yellow light, and whenever the light flashed, earth spikes would emerge from the ground and pierce the giant tiger.
"Both of these monsters can cast spells?" Zhang Yuhe was shocked.
He had killed many monsters, but none of them had ever cast spells. These two were clearly exceptional.
Zhang Yuhe silently sensed the aura of both the blue bull and the giant tiger.
"They're both peak first-level monsters, almost breaking through to the second level."
Looking at the two powerful monsters, Zhang Yuhe hesitated. They seemed formidable, and he wasn't sure he could beat them.