28: Establish a base

As they moved further away from the stronghold, various wild beasts and exotic beasts gradually increased.

The wild beasts and exotic beasts in the Star Realm were mostly similar to those on the planets connected by the Star Gate. The Star Gate's opening was arbitrary, and the surrounding flora and fauna would enter the Star Realm to grow and reproduce, with some evolving into exotic beasts.

Besides these, there were naturally wild beasts and exotic beasts native to the Star Realm.

Lin Ye, with another burst of Ruyi Strength, instantly killed a first-order exotic beast resembling a wild boar in front of him.

Wang Meng ran over to loot the corpse.

He was basically the one taking action along the way. Wang Meng was the vanguard, consuming a lot of stamina. Ma Junjie had to scout and warn, and his flames were not suitable for casual release in the jungle, as they caused too much commotion. (Low-level flames could not cause fires; the plants in the Star Realm had also evolved and had high ignition points.)

As for the two magic users, one found recovery difficult and was inconvenient to act, while the other, a healer, had no attack spells.

Thus, Lin Ye became the main damage dealer.

It had to be said that Ruyi Strength was truly cool. Lin Ye could instantly kill opponents without moving, exuding a master's demeanor.

"Finally, we have an ability, though it's only Bronze Level Iron Skin," Wang Meng said happily. This was considered everyone's first harvest.

"Bronze Level ability seeds are probably ten to twenty thousand, not very valuable. Most of them are used as inscription materials, but it's good luck to harvest the first ability seed," Lin Ye remarked.

Bronze Level abilities were completely worthless. Existing professional templates were basically Silver or Gold Level, or even Star Level. No one would use Bronze Level abilities to construct a professional template.

However, they were very useful as inscription materials. Inscriptions had many uses and great effects, and the main material for inscriptions was ability seeds.

"This Iron Skin ability, used for inscription, should be able to create a decent set of armor," Ma Junjie also said with satisfaction.

Not only for making armor, but inscriptions were also excellent materials for strengthening stronghold walls. Ability seeds basically never feared not being sold.

In high spirits, the group quickly arrived at Moon Lake. Moon Lake was vast, harboring a large number of aquatic exotic beasts, and wild beasts and exotic beasts would occasionally come here to drink.

The group looked at the second and third-order exotic beasts, eager to act. Exotic beasts in the jungle were too difficult to find, and once found, they were all wary and hard to track. However, there was a wide open area on the shore of Moon Lake.

This was an open area cleared by aquatic exotic beasts like otters gnawing on trees to build nests.

But they still prioritized establishing a base. They found a cave under a cliff about a hundred meters from the lake.

Lin Yao carefully sensed with her Soul Power.

"This cave is not bad; there's enough space, but there's a third-order Water Bear inside."

Wang Meng stepped forward without hesitation, gripping his massive wooden club, and resolutely charged into the cave.

Less than half a minute passed before Wang Meng rushed out like a gust of wind, followed closely by a colossal, three-meter-tall bear, entirely aquamarine in color!

Seeing this, everyone unleashed their unique skills. Ilene Ye swiftly waved her magic staff, and a dazzling light shield instantly appeared beside Wang Meng, precisely blocking the Water Bear's fierce claw attack; at the same time, Ma Junjie's entire body glowed golden. After completing his Dragon Transformation, he continuously spat out several scorching fireballs, which struck the Water Bear like meteors; Lin Ye, however, did not choose close-quarters combat but instead exerted force from his spot—a Vacuum Wave emerged; as for Lin Yao, she had already begun silently accumulating power, preparing to exert mental control over this behemoth.

The moment the light shield successfully blocked the Water Bear's attack, Wang Meng seized the opportunity. His body suddenly expanded to five meters in height, and the already enormous wooden club in his hand became even thicker as runes flickered.

Facing this mountain-like, majestic opponent, the Water Bear knew things were bad and immediately mobilized the blue water elements around its body to completely envelop itself, transforming into a giant water ball in an instant.

However, despite the water ball's strong defense, it ultimately struggled to withstand the fierce attacks launched by everyone working together. Finally, with a loud bang, the water ball exploded, and the Water Bear was severely wounded as a result.

Seizing this opportune moment, Lin Yao decisively cast a stun spell, successfully causing the Water Bear to fall into a briefcoma (daze). At this point, this once invincible giant beast in the vicinity completely lost its ability to move and soon died tragically at the hands of the group.

Wang Meng fumbled around for a while and pulled out a drop-like ability seed.

"Not bad, he actually got the Water Bear's most powerful ability, Water Control," Wang Meng said happily.

Water Control, a Silver Level ability, a lower-tier substitute for Water Element Control. Although not many people used it, it was good for crafting staves and was worth over a million.

Lin Ye secretly nodded, feeling that Wang Meng's luck was really good. It seemed he could let him open boxes in the future.

The group cleaned up the cave. The Water Bear was quite clean, which saved them a lot of trouble.

The cave was quite large, and Wang Meng condensed stone pillars to reinforce it just in case.

Lin Ye exclaimed, "Brother Wang, you're amazing! With these skills, you must have been an architect for several years, right?"

Wang Meng proudly said, "My dad taught me this since I was little. As a Colossus, how can you properly control earth elements without some skills?"

Ma Junjie sighed, "Wang Meng, you really are a treasure boy."

This point was unanimously affirmed by everyone after Wang Meng cooked. Even with few seasonings, Wang Meng found some wild vegetables to go with the hunted meat, and the food he made was surprisingly good. Everyone marveled at the amazingness of the treasure boy Wang Meng.

The first day was basically spent establishing the base.

Sharpening the axe doesn't delay chopping wood. Lin Ye, with one punch per large tree, processed them, obtaining high-quality Star Realm specialty wood, and carried it to the base.

Wang Meng transformed into a master builder, using earth elements to construct male and female dormitories, and also used the wood Lin Ye acquired to make five beds. He also partitioned off a room to serve as a storage room.

Ma Junjie transformed into a carpenter, his hard Dragon Claws planing various daily necessities.

Lin Yao and Ilene Ye were organizing items, making the beds, cleaning the two dormitories, and placing three glowing beads in the living room and two bedrooms to serve as lighting.

They were busy until evening. During this time, they also built a water tank, and Lin Ye and Ma Junjie carried many buckets of water.

After the water tank was full, dinner was almost ready, and everyone, tired from the day's work, began to enjoy Chef Wang's cooking.

"Everyone cooperated very well today. Now, let's discuss what to do tomorrow so we can be well-prepared," Ma Junjie said, gnawing on a bear's paw.

Lin Ye spoke first: "I think we can clear an open area by felling the trees near the cave, enclose it with wooden fences to build a simple stockade, and leave a clear space. This is both to facilitate defense against exotic beasts and to reserve a training ground."

"We can also build training equipment to cultivate in our free time. At the same time, we need to build a smoking area to smoke food for storage, so we don't have to worry about rainy days and daily consumption."

Everyone looked sideways. As expected of a cultivation fanatic, his first thought was cultivation.

Lin Ye was indeed anxious. His skill point income for the day had dropped by thirty percent, and most of it came from chopping trees.

Skill points were not only generated by cultivation, but also by combat, labor, and all efforts. But they had been traveling for so long today.

However, everyone agreed. This suggestion was very reasonable, both for safety and for cultivation.

Although the two magic users didn't need physical exercise, only meditation, they still needed a place for spell practice.

"I think we should thoroughly explore the composition of the exotic beasts nearby soon to facilitate hunting. Once we're settled, we should focus all our efforts on hunting. Although this trial doesn't rank performance, we should fight more to improve our own combat strength," Lin Yao suggested.

Ability users indeed gained more progress in combat.

This was also the purpose of this trial. If they always stayed in a safe place, they wouldn't train ability users with courage.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Um, can we build a bathroom? I won't waste water; I'll shower every three days, and I'll wash in a bathtub," Ilene Ye, who rarely spoke, asked softly. She knew this suggestion wasn't ideal and would waste a lot of everyone's time.