196: fishing

"Little Mouse?"

In the ruins, Wang Chen heard Susu's reminder and a smile appeared on his face.

But soon, he reined in his smile, returning to his expressionless state.

"There are many such guys in the Barren Land. As long as he doesn't show malice first, we don't need to bother with him."

Wang Chen subtly glanced at the top of the hill, conveying his thoughts to Ice Purity and Susu through their bond.

As a super-large monster gathering place, the Barren Land was a mixed bag of people.

There were ordinary Awakeners who struggled to fight monsters for resources to make a living.

There were also "Bounty Hunters" who regarded human lives as expendable, preying on their own kind to satisfy their selfish desires.

And even...

Quite a few individuals with more complex agendas.

Wang Chen had no intention of provoking these people. Since the Awakener observing from afar hadn't made any overt moves yet, he couldn't be bothered to deal with him.

"Oh!"

The two little ones replied, somewhat confused, then excitedly ran into the ruins to pick and choose.

As Level 90 monsters, the Swamp Basilisks' bodies were all valuable magical Materials.

Their hides were extremely tough and could be used to craft silver-tier leather armor. Their sharp teeth could be used for decoration or polished into bronze-tier weapons.

Although the previous battle was quite brutal, with most of the Swamp Basilisks torn to shreds, Wang Chen still gained a considerable haul after sifting through the remains.

More than ten complete Swamp Basilisk hides, plus five nearly undamaged elite Swamp Basilisk Materials.

The total value was approximately one million gold coins.

However...

While this was a substantial gain for a Awakener operating in the Barren Land, for Wang Chen, its value was just so-so.

"Even a mosquito's leg is meat. Let's just consider it snack money for the two little ones."

Putting the sorted spoils into his storage equipment, Wang Chen thought with a subtle feeling.

If it were his former self, such a gain would have made him grin for days, but now, with gold coins in his account measured in the hundreds of millions, it was merely passable.

"Master, Master, that guy is still hiding there. Should we catch this Little Mouse?"

After tidying up the spoils, Susu hopped onto Wang Chen's shoulder, speaking with anticipation, looking as if she wished for chaos.

"Exactly! Exactly!"

Ice Purity fluttered her wings nearby, her gem-like eyes also filled with excitement.

"This Little Mouse hiding there clearly has ill intentions. Let's teach him a good lesson."

"No rush."

Hearing the two little ones, Wang Chen rolled his eyes exasperatedly.

"We're not Bounty Hunters. You two restrain yourselves."

Patting Ice Purity's head, Wang Chen found a clean spot and sat down to recover his stamina.

Although the previous battle was short, it was extremely intense and consumed a good deal of his energy.

The Barren Land was fraught with danger, and he had to ensure he was at his Peak condition before encountering the next threat.

"I hope you seize the opportunity I'm giving you!"

Wang Chen subtly glanced in the direction of the hill, then waved his hand, taking out a small recovery potion, preparing to consume it.

"Understood, understood!"

"Master, you're going fishing..."

"I want to participate too!"

Seeing this, Little Ice Purity, who seemed to have thought of something, immediately became excited. She flapped her wings and flew to Wang Chen's side, then...

"Woo woo!"

She let out a weak cry, her flapping wings paused, and her body fell directly into Wang Chen's arms.

"This..."

Seeing this, Wang Chen nearly spat out the recovery potion he had just drunk.

Good heavens!

Where did you learn so many tricks?

Wang Chen stared at Ice Purity, dumbfounded.

...

...

In the distance.

On the hilltop.

Zhou Hai carefully concealed his Qi, his gaze fixed on the three figures below.

He was like a statue, or the most experienced hunter, stalking his prey.

However...

Upon seeing the spoils the three figures below had collected from the Swamp Basilisks, a flicker of fervor still passed through Zhou Hai's eyes.

"Ten complete Swamp Basilisk hides, plus five elite Swamp Basilisk Materials..."

"That's worth at least a million gold coins!"

After Zhou Hai estimated the value of that pile of spoils, even as a Rank 3 Level 95 Awakener, he couldn't suppress the greed in his heart.

He worked hard for a month in the Barren Land, and after deducting equipment repairs and potion consumption, his remaining earnings were only a little over two million gold coins.

If this job succeeded, even without counting the value of the items on that kid below, it would directly replenish his wallet, which had shrunk recently from preparing Materials.

For a moment.

Zhou Hai couldn't help but feel anxious.

"Why does this guy seem to have so little consumption? Did the battle just now not exhaust him?"

"That's impossible. For a Level 70 Awakener to be able to kill a group of Swamp Basilisks is already a fantasy. How could he not have paid any price?"

Watching the Materials below being put into storage equipment, Zhou Hai silently clenched his fists.

Normally, a Level 70 Awakener encountering dozens of Level 90 Swamp Basilisks, including five Level 95 elite Swamp Basilisks, would only face certain death.

For that kid below and his beast companion to survive was already an astonishing feat.

Zhou Hai absolutely refused to believe that they would have no consumption whatsoever.

In his opinion, the Level 70 Awakener below must have used some kind of potential-burning skill, paying a huge price to achieve such a feat.

Otherwise, such a result simply couldn't be explained.

But...

At this moment, the situation in the Swamp made Zhou Hai realize his own conjectures were full of contradictions.

The Awakener, who he thought should be exhausted and in a weakened state, still appeared energetic after collecting the spoils.

"This completely defies common sense!"

Thinking with shock, Zhou Hai was momentarily in a dilemma.

His greed for gold coins and his fear of the strength the Awakener had just displayed left him indecisive.

He wanted to retreat, but he couldn't bear to give up the astonishing gains so close at hand.

"Wait a little longer. If he still doesn't show any signs of weakness, I'll retreat."

Having made up his mind, Zhou Hai decided to observe for a few more minutes.

Just then, his pupils suddenly contracted.

He saw the Awakener below find an empty spot, sit down, and take out a recovery potion to consume.

And beside him, the beast companion that had previously transformed into a giant Incarnation, directly collapsed to the ground, weakened.