Chapter 33 – The Enigmatic Figure

Chapter 33 – The Enigmatic Figure

As the magic missile shot towards the black wolf, a flicker of fear flashed in its eyes. It suddenly had a premonition – if this magic missile hit, it would surely die on the spot.

Regret filled its heart. If it had known this human was so powerful, it would have fled long ago. Even if its strength would drop back to mid-tier Level 1 after leaving the magic staff it guarded, that was still better than losing its life, wasn’t it?

But there was no medicine for regret in this world – not for humans, and certainly not for magical beasts like them.

In the final moment, it thought about dodging, but the magic missile was too fast. Before it could make any evasive movement, the missile struck its head.

And so, the black wolf died. It wasn’t the first Level 1 late-stage magical beast to exist in the main world, nor was it the strongest currently existing. But it was undoubtedly the first Level 1 late-stage magical beast to die in the main world.

Although Cheng Yang had killed the black wolf, the momentary delay allowed seven or eight gray wolves to close in. They lunged at him, their fangs sinking into his body before he could even react.

However, Cheng Yang’s physical defense had now reached 4 points. The gray wolves, with only 5 points of attack power, caused minimal damage. Still, those seven or eight bites took away nearly a tenth of his life.

*I can’t delay any longer,* Cheng Yang thought. He only had 52 magic points left, nowhere near enough to challenge this pack of wolves.

Without hesitation, Cheng Yang turned and sprinted back the way he came. His speed far surpassed the gray wolves, leaving them far behind in moments. After running about a hundred meters, Cheng Yang immediately sat down cross-legged to recover his magic points. In situations like this, even a few magic points could mean the difference between life and death.

About ten seconds later, when the gray wolves were less than twenty meters away, Cheng Yang could no longer sit still. He raised his magic staff and began attacking the leading wolves.

Two magic missiles shot out, taking down the front runners. But this consumed the 10 magic points Cheng Yang had just recovered. With about forty wolves remaining, Cheng Yang still couldn’t afford a direct confrontation.

However, without the black wolf’s threat, Cheng Yang’s pressure was significantly reduced. After all, his speed was four times that of the gray wolves. He could run some distance to recover magic points, then wear the wolves down through attrition.

The subsequent battle held no surprises. It took Cheng Yang about 20 minutes to finally eliminate the entire wolf pack.

As the last gray wolf fell, Cheng Yang let out a long sigh of relief. *In the future, I shouldn’t engage large groups of monsters alone unless I have enough magic potions,* he thought. *This was too inefficient – nearly half an hour for just over 50 spirit points, much less than I initially estimated.*

Cheng Yang quickly returned to where the wolf pack had gathered. The magic staff that had nearly cost him his life still lay quietly on the ground.

He rushed over and picked it up, its properties instantly appearing in his mind:

It was indeed a bronze-grade equipment – a tremendous stroke of luck! Although he had suspected it might be bronze-grade when he discovered the black wolf was a Level 1 late-stage monster, having the actual weapon in hand filled him with indescribable joy.

In truth, a bronze-grade weapon providing +4 attack wasn’t particularly outstanding. In his previous life, Cheng Yang had heard of a silver-grade weapon that provided a full +7 attack, enough to allow an early-stage Apprentice to fight above their level.

Moreover, these were just Apprentice-level equipment. There would be higher-grade equipment in the future – things Cheng Yang hadn’t even encountered in his previous life.

Equipping this new weapon presented a problem with his old Withered Wood Staff. Carrying it was inconvenient, but throwing it away felt wasteful. After all, every piece of equipment was precious to Falling Phoenix Village.

Cheng Yang found himself eagerly anticipating the construction of a jewelry shop. Such shops sold rings with built-in storage space – essential items for travel and adventure. However, storage rings were prohibitively expensive, beyond the reach of most people. Even if one appeared before Cheng Yang now, he could only look at it longingly.

In the end, Cheng Yang decided to carry the Withered Wood Staff, tying it to his back with a rope.

Continuing his journey, Cheng Yang would immediately attack any group of less than thirty magical beasts, swiftly eliminating them. With his current attack power, a single magic missile was enough to kill these Level 1 early-stage creatures.

Even when encountering larger groups, Cheng Yang would charge in, cause chaos, then retreat. If the situation allowed, he would return to continue the slaughter. Everything was for spirit points – it didn’t matter if he wiped out the entire group.

The only regret was that since obtaining the Spirit Bone Staff, Cheng Yang hadn’t encountered any more wild treasures. Correspondingly, he also hadn’t run into any Level 1 late-stage magical creatures.

After traveling about two kilometers, Cheng Yang’s spirit points had increased by over 300. Combined with the original 600+ points and those gained from the initial wolf pack, his total spirit points once again exceeded 1000.

He was now about a kilometer from the outskirts of Xiangcheng City, and Cheng Yang began to proceed more cautiously. He remembered that in his previous life, there had been a massive group of magical beasts on this road leading to Xiangcheng City. The monster groups surrounding the city had been a major factor in why humans hadn’t ventured out until three months after the apocalypse began.

After the initial earthquake, the world’s terrain had undergone massive changes. Each city was now surrounded by a chasm as if cut by a knife – bottomless and about seventy to eighty meters wide. There were four passages, each over a hundred meters wide, in the cardinal directions – the only ways in and out of the main city.

As for how many monsters were on these passages now, Cheng Yang had no idea. In the early days of the apocalypse, he wouldn’t have dared attempt to pass through.

Back then, Cheng Yang hadn’t explained this to Li Wanshan and the others. Some things, if known too clearly, would only raise more suspicions.

Now, as he approached the passage, Cheng Yang still felt uneasy. In his previous life, the situation around each city had been different. Some had only about a hundred monsters around their passages after two or three days, while others had accumulated over a thousand.

…

Meanwhile, as Cheng Yang left Falling Phoenix Village, Yuan Jianze of Xiangcheng City had just sent out his newly-transformed soldiers.

Yuan Jianze had a good understanding of these new soldiers’ combat capabilities. It was precisely because he understood that he was more worried about the magical beasts. If they couldn’t cultivate a large number of combatants, the magical beasts might completely bury humanity.

After making arrangements, Yuan Jianze stepped into one of six ancient-style buildings. Above the door were three characters: “Alchemy Room.”

Yuan Jianze only intended to look around. From the information he received when stepping through the light curtain, he knew these buildings allowed the purchase of items, or rather, game props. However, the currency wasn’t the paper money of old, but something called spirit points.

Obviously, no one had spirit points now, so purchasing anything was out of the question. His purpose in entering was to see what good items were available, so he could plan accordingly.

However, the moment Yuan Jianze stepped through the Alchemy Room’s door, he was stunned.

Even if there had been a dragon inside, it wouldn’t have shocked Yuan Jianze as much as what he actually saw. It wasn’t a dragon, but a person.

A living person, dressed in ancient-style clothing, looking to be about forty years old.

Yuan Jianze could swear no one had entered this Alchemy Room before. Moreover, the man’s attire didn’t resemble anyone from Xiangcheng City.

Who was this person?

A ridiculous thought suddenly occurred to Yuan Jianze – could this be a god?

Yuan Jianze cautiously approached and asked, “May I ask who you are? How did you come to be here?”

The man smiled slightly, “Welcome to our shop. What would you like to purchase? …Hmm? You don’t even have a single spirit point? You’re too poor. Come back when you have money.”

A bitter expression flashed across Yuan Jianze’s face. Here he was, a military district commander, being looked down upon. But he didn’t dare retort, instead adopting a very humble attitude, “I wanted to ask, sir…”

“You’re really annoying! If you want information, go to the tavern. This is an alchemy room – we only sell pills,” the man said sternly. With a wave of his hand, Yuan Jianze felt a tremendous force push him out.

When Yuan Jianze steadied himself outside the door, his expression was grim – not because of the loss of face, but from shock at the man’s power. He had no idea how he’d been pushed out.

Yuan Jianze then visited the other buildings, only to meet the same treatment. It seemed these “people” were all money-grubbers. Upon discovering he had no spirit points, they immediately kicked him out.

PS: Can I mention that we were just a few collections short of 100 yesterday? Brothers, let’s work hard! Today we continue pushing for 100…