Chapter 7: Spirit Herb, A Surprising Discovery

The chat channel was a flurry of activity, with numerous profile pictures constantly popping up. Each avatar displayed the user's true likeness, accompanied by their name.

Cai Kun: "This Stone Ape Beast is way too strong! We thought the beast was alone and could be an easy kill, but who knew it was as tough as a turtle? Our five-man squad was almost wiped out. Luckily, we realized that while it’s incredibly durable, its movements are sluggish. If you run into one, don’t be reckless; just kite it slowly until it dies."

Wang Gang: "I’ve encountered a Stone Ape Beast too. Thankfully, Zhuang Liang spotted its weak point early on. With the help of Liu Qian and the others, our squad took it down without a single injury. It even dropped a Stone Ape Essence—consuming it adds 3 points to strength."

Huang Li: "Wow, as expected of the big shots! You guys make killing a Stone Ape Beast look so easy."

Feng Yu: "Speaking of which, I just found a Stone Ape Beast corpse with a cyan treasure chest next to it. Could this be the one the big shots killed?"

Zhuang Liang: "A treasure chest? That wasn't us. The Stone Ape Beast we killed didn't have a chest nearby."

Huang Peng: "Good heavens, then it must have been another squad. Our rookie village is truly full of hidden talents! How high are you guys leveled?"

Wang Gang: "I’ve reached level 2, and my combat power is currently 189."

Cai Kun: "Darn, you’re already level 2? My five-man squad has killed over ten level 1 beasts, and we’re still not even halfway to leveling up."

Zhao Qiang: "It looks like your squad is the strongest elite team in District 118."

Wang Gang: "Haha, you're too kind."

Zhuang Liang: "Everyone, you're being too modest. I still believe there is always someone better out there."

Cai Kun: "You’re being too humble, boss! Hahaha."

Ye Chuyun remained a silent observer, choosing not to post anything. He wasn't surprised that Wang Gang had reached level 2; in his past life, Wang Gang’s squad was indeed the top-tier team in District 118. It was a pity that if not for [that incident], District 118 would have thrived.

However, Ye Chuyun’s current focus was on leveling. Wang Gang’s level 2 was the highest in the district, but the level leaderboard would only unlock once someone reached level 3. The first person to hit level 10 would receive a Gold Treasure Chest. This was an opportunity Ye Chuyun could not afford to miss. The higher the grade of the chest, the harder it was to obtain. It was said that in his past life, a man named Nakamura had sacrificed thousands of lives just to obtain a Dark Gold Treasure Chest. Now, all Ye Chuyun had to do to get a Gold Treasure Chest was reach level 10—the difficulty was incomparably lower.

With this in mind, he pulled out his Treasure Chest Detector, intending to search for chests while hunting lone beasts to level up.

***

Northeast of the Poison Mist Swamp.

[Killed level 1 Green-Clawed Beast, gained 10 energy points.]
[Killed level 1 Green-Clawed Beast, gained 10 energy points.]
...
[100% drop rate triggered. Items have been automatically placed in your storage space; please check.]

*Roar!*

A flash of cold light, and the Green-Clawed Beast was decapitated, its body thumping onto the ground. Beside it lay three other Green-Clawed Beast corpses, all similarly dispatched. Ye Chuyun stood panting, his hand gripping the Green-Claw Machete as he surveyed the carnage. He had followed the detector from the southeast to the northeast of the swamp without finding a chest, but he had stumbled upon four resting Green-Clawed Beasts. Using tactical maneuvers, he lured them out one by one and slaughtered them; in less than ten minutes, the group was wiped out.

*Hum!*

Four streams of white light surged into Ye Chuyun’s body. He felt a wave of warmth as the level progress bar appeared in his mind: Level 1 (80/100). He only needed to kill two more beasts to reach level 2.

[Notification: Green-Clawed Beast Essence consumption limit reached (9/10).]

Killing the four beasts had granted him four [Green-Clawed Beast Essences], which increased his strength by 8 points upon consumption. He also obtained three Green-Claw Machetes, which he decisively reinforced.

[Green-Claw Machete +5: Attack +25, Strength +10, Tier 1 Equipment.]
[Notification: Your Green-Claw Machete has reached the maximum reinforcement level.]

His combat power rose to 217, completely outclassing Wang Gang’s level 2 stats. Additionally, he gained 20 God-Demon Coins, a skill stone, and a skill book.

[Strength Boost: Tier 1 skill. Increases strength by 20 points for 30 seconds. Cooldown: 2 minutes.]

Now he had three combat skills at his disposal, enough to challenge even level 2 beasts. After dealing with the Green-Clawed Beasts, Ye Chuyun approached a bubbling swamp pool. Inside the pool grew a six-petaled, purple herb about half a foot tall. He immediately cast an identification spell.

Name: Purple Star Grass
Grade: Tier 1 Spiritual Herb
Effect: Causes systemic paralysis if ingested raw; can be used in alchemy.

"It really is Purple Star Grass!" Ye Chuyun felt a surge of joy. He had only gone after the beasts because he caught sight of this herb. If he possessed an alchemy furnace, he could refine spiritual herbs into pills. In his past life, he was an intermediate alchemist, working for a second-rate faction called [Shadow] to refine pills for others, earning only ten thousand God-Demon Coins a month. Alchemy was undeniably one of the top three life professions in the God-Demon World—a true jack-of-all-trades skill.

In this new life, he would choose to become an alchemist again. Alchemists could continuously produce pills, which he could use for himself or to cultivate subordinates. A master-level alchemist could single-handedly elevate a third-rate faction; this was no exaggeration. Therefore, he couldn't pass up these herbs; he would collect them to increase his proficiency once he became an alchemist.

After harvesting the Purple Star Grass, Ye Chuyun pulled out the detector once more.

[Ding, scan complete. A treasure chest has been detected 83 meters to your front-right.]

"Found it!"

Ye Chuyun’s face lit up as he quickened his pace in the direction indicated by the device.