Chapter 15: Pearl Within
"Wait a moment, I need to digest this."
Li Tianjia closed his eyes, gesturing for everyone to give him some time.
Liu Xiao naturally understood and signaled the others not to disturb him.
"Didn't you guys receive any system messages just now?" Liu Xiao asked.
"What messages?" The group looked confused.
"The reward notification for cross-tier kills."
"No, what rewards?"
"Physical attribute points..."
"Damn! Why didn't I get any?"
"Alright then." Liu Xiao had nothing more to say. Either the rewards only went to the killer, or they were distributed based on contribution. While the four of them had played important roles in the battle, their direct damage output against the lizardman was practically negligible.
"If you can get attribute points for this, Liu Xiao, does that mean you're basically Superman now?" Zhou Yuk asked curiously.
"One point for killing this thing. What do you think?" Liu Xiao replied irritably.
"That's way too little! We almost got ourselves killed fighting this thing, and we only get one point?! My stats are Endurance 6, Strength 6, Agility 7, Burst 7. I still feel so weak." Zhou Yuk casually revealed his attributes.
"Sprinters are all weak!" The Yang brothers mocked.
Damn it. With his initial all-5 stats, Liu Xiao suddenly didn't feel like talking to these sports majors anymore.
"By the way, why did you come into the woods?" Liu Xiao changed the subject.
"With the supplies you gave us, we didn't have to worry about survival in the short term," Yang Zhe said, rubbing his shoulder. "Li Tianjia thought we should prepare for the next step, so a few of us came to scout the woods for potential gathering spots."
"Speaking of which, why did you come back so soon? I thought you'd stay for the full half-month," Yang Zhao asked.
"I went back just to verify some things. Once I finished what I needed to do, I came back. Qiantang is in chaos right now—most adults are still in Origin Point. A city without people to maintain order... well, you can imagine."
"What about our situations?" Zhou Yuk was referring to their vegetative bodies back at school.
"Don't worry, you're all safely lying in the gymnasium. The Galactic Order is maintaining your bodily functions through low-temperature preservation. I checked on everyone. I also contacted your families through your elderly relatives—they're all being taken care of. But..."
"But what?" several of them asked at the same time.
"The girls' dormitory at the college caught fire. Ye Shan and three other girls... can't go back." Liu Xiao delivered the news reluctantly.
"This..."
The mood instantly turned heavy. They weren't stupid—they understood the implications.
"How could this happen?!"
Younger Yang Zhao punched a nearby tree trunk hard. As fellow sufferers and trusted classmates, they felt this loss deeply.
Compared to dying in Origin Point, losing one's Earth body was far worse—it meant the escape route was completely cut off.
"It's not completely hopeless."
"There's another way?"
"Bodies on Earth can be reconstructed. I haven't tried it myself, but given the Galactic Order's power, rebirth should be possible by spending merit points. The only condition is becoming an evolved being."
Hearing this, the group relaxed slightly. As long as there was a way forward, there was hope.
"What's your next plan?"
Li Tianjia suddenly spoke up. "I'm done processing. I heard what you all said earlier."
"I plan to explore deeper into the woods. There's a mountain there—a primary danger zone, but the strongest creatures shouldn't be worse than this one."
"If you're talking about that direction, I'll go with you." Li Tianjia pointed deeper into the forest.
Liu Xiao frowned. "Why that direction specifically?"
"I don't know. Something there is calling to me."
Liu Xiao narrowed his eyes, suppressing the urge to curse.
"Did you awaken some incredible ability?" he asked.
"No, nothing like that. I just feel drawn in that direction."
Liu Xiao felt a headache coming on. Why hadn't he gotten anything after evolving?
"Alright, let's go together!"
He agreed immediately. Li Tianjia wasn't dead weight—while his combat ability was lacking now, growth took time. Helping a reliable ally become stronger was equally meaningful.
"Guys, can we address the most pressing issue? I'm starving!" Zhou Yuk clutched his stomach dramatically. "I've been seeing stars since earlier!"
"Did any of you bring food?" Liu Xiao scanned the group.
In perfect unison, they all shook their heads.
Liu Xiao's eye twitched as he spread his hands helplessly. "I gave all my food to you before leaving. I don't have anything now."
His [Subpar Storage] only contained supplies and lizardman corpses—no edible items.
"Then what? We've been trekking deep into the woods for a long time. We'll starve before we make it back!" Zhou Yuk looked horrified.
"Let's cook this." Li Tianjia pointed at the corpse. "Think of it as grilled gecko."
Everyone: "..."
Once the decision was made, they got to work without further discussion.
Zhou Yuk kicked the lizardman's head aside—the sight was too disturbing.
The Yang brothers gathered dry firewood and soon had a fire crackling.
Just as they were about to start roasting their cuts—
"Shit! We can't eat this! I almost forgot it's poisoned!"
Liu Xiao threw his piece down and signaled for the others to do the same.
"Then what?" Zhou Yuk looked pitiful.
Without a word, Liu Xiao laboriously dragged a complete lizardman corpse from his [Subpar Storage]—his first kill.
The group stared in stunned silence.
After proper preparations, the five of them finally sat cheerfully around the campfire, watching the lizard flesh sizzle and pop.
The meat turned a golden brown, glistening with yellow fat—visually quite appealing.
First bite—Hm? So tough! Can't chew!
Oh!
Realizing he'd bitten the skin, Liu Xiao tried the other side.
Mmm! Tender texture, melts in your mouth!
Who knew this monster would be so delicious!
After exchanging glances, they immediately abandoned all decorum and began devouring the meat ravenously.
Just as Liu Xiao was enjoying both the meal and the dopamine rush, Zhou Yuk casually remarked, "Not bad! This lizardman barbecue temporarily boosts Endurance by 1 and Strength by 1!"
Huh? Liu Xiao was baffled. What now?
"True. That previous beast only gave +1 Endurance. I wonder how long this effect will last," Li Tianjia commented calmly.
Wait, you too?! Liu Xiao stared at Li Tianjia's nonchalant expression—as if this was completely normal.
"Last time it lasted thirty minutes. Let's time this one," Yang Zhe chimed in.
"Too bad we didn't eat some before fighting this guy earlier. Wouldn't have gotten so wrecked," younger Yang Zhao added.
Liu Xiao's gaze darted between them.
Am I not eating enough?
Is Mercury in retrograde? Is my destiny to be a jinx?
Why am I getting nothing?
It's just tasty food that fills my stomach—how are they getting stat boosts?!
Liu Xiao suddenly wanted to cry—from sheer frustration.
Am I not normal? No elemental affinity, fine. Li Tianjia gets summoned after evolving, but me? Even eating meat—they get bonuses while I get nothing?
What's the meaning of this?! Picking on archers?!
Heaven above! Earth below! Didn't know you guys played favourites!!
Liu Xiao raised his head, eyes glistening with indignant tears.
"Look, Liu Xiao's choking! Tears are coming out!"
Zhou Yuk nudged Yang Zhe, whispering.
[Spirit Talent: Pearl Within - Passive Activation]
[Absorbing intelligent creature's physique - Slight physical attribute improvement]
Huh? What's this?!
Did Origin Point take pity on my miserable circumstances?
Liu Xiao hurriedly checked his stats—no changes.
Puzzled, he took more bites. The message reappeared.
[Absorbing intelligent creature's physique - Slight physical attribute improvement]
Now unsettled, he checked again—still no difference.
After two more repetitions, just as he finished a large portion, a new message arrived.
[Absorbing intelligent creature's physique - Strength +1]
Holy shit.
Finally understanding, Liu Xiao realized the earlier messages indicated he was consuming a powerful creature's flesh, thus gaining strength—but insufficient quantity hadn't triggered a visible stat increase yet. The principle of quantitative to qualitative change.
This was huge!
Eating high-tier creatures' meat could permanently boost stats!
While others got temporary buffs, he gained permanent enhancements!
Wasn't this overpowered?
[Query detected regarding Spirit Talent from intelligent being 87242-82231-25241-2241. Exchange 10 Galactic Order merit points for related knowledge? Origin Point approval confirmed. Exchange?]
[10 merit points consumed]
[Spirit Talents are latent abilities within a spirit. Vast differences exist between talent types. As they remain hidden when inactive and require specific activation conditions, neither self nor others can detect them via spiritual energy. Currently documented Spirit Talents: 92,819. Confirmed activation methods: 51,112.]
[Query detected regarding Pearl Within from intelligent being 87242-82231-25241-2241. Exchange 1,000,000 Galactic Order merit points for related knowledge? Origin Point approval confirmed. Exchange?]
What?
This Pearl Within talent—just asking about it costs this much?
Origin Point! Is it because my name "Xiao" has four "mouth" radicals that I ended up like this?!
Liu Xiao raised his head, tears of happiness welling up!
"Look! He's choking again!"