64: Chapter 64 Peeping

Five hundred meters to the west of Fengyan Slope, in the shade of the mountain, three men dressed in yellowish-brown clothes with dark, cracked faces and dry, peeling lips huddled together furtively.

They were thin and gaunt, with a sharp look in their eyes. They were all armed—daggers at their waists and rifles slung across their backs.

Just looking at their travel-worn appearance made it clear they had been wandering in the Gobi Desert for a long time.

"Lai Kun, how does the situation look?"

The scruffy, short-haired man looked over at the gaunt, sinister-looking man on his right.

The man named Lai Kun licked his cracked, peeling lips and said, "It's confirmed. They've even built a stronghold."

"Scarecrow Town really struck it rich this time, hiding it so well."

The triangle-eyed man on the left sneered, letting out a chuckle with an unreadable meaning.

Li Bo narrowed his eyes. "No wonder Big Brother sent us out to investigate. He said new monsters appeared in the Gobi Desert, so something special must have happened. Scarecrow Town usually goes to the Black Market on time, but they were a bit late this time, making our brothers go for nothing."

Liang Tao paid no attention to his brother's complaints. If Scarecrow Town hadn't acted so abnormally, they wouldn't have locked their sights directly on them.

He asked in a deep voice, "What's the situation in the stronghold? How many people are there? Can you confirm if it's an Infinite Building?"

Lai Kun shook his head. "I can't tell how many people are in the stronghold, but judging by the camp's size, it could probably house several hundred people. They have veterans in their camp who sent out patrols. I didn't dare get too close for fear of being noticed early. As for the Infinite Building, though I didn't see it with my own eyes, since they went through so much trouble and the outer walls are covered in massive vines identical to those monsters, it's bound to be real."

Liang Tao narrowed his eyes, adopting the look of a hunter. "Scarecrow Town wants to quietly make a fortune. They've probably hoarded a lot of transcendent materials, likely aiming for the transcendent potions at the Black Market."

Scarecrow Town had suddenly taken over such an Infinite Building; no one knew how long they had been here or how much they had obtained. Combined with their original Scarecrow Farm, their accumulation rate of transcendent materials was much faster than that of ordinary camps.

However, if Zhao Kun and his people wanted transcendent potions, wouldn't the Three Wolves Gang want them too?

"Brother Tao, what should we do? Go back and tell the boss?"

Liang Tao spat out a mouthful of sand and said, "Nonsense! With a camp of this scale, who else can take it down besides the boss and the others coming over? But since they've even built city walls, the boss might not want to launch a brute-force assault. We need to find a clever way. Guan Yue, Li Bo, you two stick to the old method and find a way to cause some trouble."

Guan Yue and Li Bo slightly narrowed their eyes, a cunning glint flashing in them, looking just like two bloodthirsty foxes on the desert plain.

"Don't worry, Brother Tao. It's not our first time doing something like this."

---

"89 Vine Parasite Corpses, 54 Parasitic Fungus Vines, 2 Vine Skulls, 1 Vine Spider Nurse..."

Looking at the mountain of monster corpses piled up in front of them, Feng Bo, Xiang Nan, and the others were already numb with shock.

They threw these monsters out from the corridor, dropping them one by one into the courtyard area, eventually piling them up like a small hill.

Even though they were a nine-person exploration team, all they did today was heavy manual labor.

"Xiang Nan, stop blabbering and hurry up and drag these monster corpses into the cafeteria building. Besides the transcendent materials, a lot of parts on them can be put to good use."

Feng Bo urged Xiang Nan to hurry up and work. With so many monster corpses, carrying them out one by one would take until nightfall, not to mention butchering them to extract useful materials.

"Brother Feng, I can't do it, I really can't. How long will it take for Huang Han and the others to bring the people from the camp? We killed around 100 monsters today. Tomorrow, once the boss gets into his groove, he might clear out the entire administration building, and there will be even more monsters then. With just the few of us, we definitely won't be able to manage."

Xiang Nan wasn't joking, nor was he complaining about too much work; with literally just the nine of them, they really couldn't handle that much.

Downstairs, only four of them were handling the monster corpses, while upstairs, Xu Yan took the other two to gather supplies floor by floor while searching for other useful materials.

Just these two tasks were enough to leave them exhausted.

"They should be here in a moment."

Seeing how fast Wang Ting was clearing the building, Feng Bo knew that the leader he was following was far stronger than Zhao Kun and Fan Da.

Even the legendary Transcendants were probably only at this level.

He immediately dispatched two men to return to the outpost and bring back more labor to complete this major land clearing.

However, contrary to their expectations, Wang Ting didn't stop this time.

Carrying the vine skull tyrant blade in hand, he walked straight toward the administration building.

As he walked, he looked at the exchange items from the Vine Spider Nurse, narrowing his eyes slightly as he considered what to redeem.

[Bloodthirsty Poison Web (Trait): Centered on yourself, forms an ethereal toxic vine web during battle, inflicting poison erosion on hostile monsters within a 30-meter radius and devouring blood for self-recovery — 400 monster points]

[Spiritual Spider Core (Trait): Condenses consciousness into a mental core, granting basic mental perception, mental spike abilities, significantly boosting mental resistance and skill stamina — 300 monster points]

[Vine Webbing (Creation): A restraint-type creation possessing mild toxicity and self-repair capabilities. Capable of restraining elite-level monsters among lower-tier anomalies; restraint strength and duration depend on monster power — 250 monster points]

[Vine Spider Spine (Trait): A special physical trait derived from the Vine Spider Nurse's human torso, secreting special transcendent factors that significantly enhance the body's self-healing and recovery capabilities — 400 monster points]

[Vine Spider Nurse (Servant Beast) — 400 monster points]

The Vine Spider Nurse provided a total of three traits, one creation, and the standard Servant Beast option.

"Bloodthirsty Poison Web enhances continuous damage and sustained combat ability when dealing with groups, Spiritual Spider Core boosts mental power, and Vine Spider Spine enhances self-healing and recovery. Add to that the Vine Skull's Power Vine Heart, and it's truly comprehensive—and none of them are weak. If I can exchange for all of them, my physique will reach a whole new level."

Wang Ting smiled slightly, thought for a moment, and made his decision.

"Exchange for Power Vine Heart."

In an instant, a surge of powerful energy flooded into Wang Ting's body, followed by persistent pain.

Wang Ting endured it for half an hour. When the pain vanished, a powerful force erupted from within his body, as if he had undergone a complete transformation.

His already powerful physique stepped up to a new level, with his strength increasing by around 4,000 kg. Such a powerful physique could no longer be described by a term like "humanoid beast."

Converting 4,000 kg to tons gave 4 tons, which was equivalent to the weight of a heavy pickup truck.

Possessing such power, Wang Ting could effortlessly flip a heavy pickup truck.

A powerful physique brought all-around enhancement from muscles and bones to skin. Although the degree of enhancement varied, its strength was enough to inspire awe.

With his current strength, a single punch could easily shatter ordinary bricks or concrete walls without rebar.

Redeeming the Power Vine Heart became the final piece of the puzzle for Wang Ting's life ascension. The stacking power of various traits jointly pushed him to achieve a life elevation. His body felt as if it had crossed a boundary in an instant, his cellular structure resonating with the transcendent factors inside him.

He focused on his panel and indeed noticed a difference.

[Collector: Wang Ting]

[Life Tier: Tier 1]

[monster points: 111 points]

[Recorded Monsters: Scarecrow... Vine Skull, Vine Spider Nurse]

"Tier 1 Life Tier..."

Wang Ting pondered. The distinction between Tier 0 and Tier 1 Life Tiers likely lay in the degree of authority over controlling transcendent factors.

The transcendent factors in his body became even more active, as if intertwined with every single cell in his body.

He felt like a fish entering a pond from a desert. The surrounding transcendent factors began to resonate with him, allowing him to leverage a sliver of this world's rules using the transcendent factors within his body.

If this continued, perhaps one day he could master the authority over transcendent factors, existing alongside them and reaching an immortal state.

As soon as the thought arose, Wang Ting immediately snapped out of it. "That kind of existence might not even be achievable at the pinnacle of Transcendants. It's better to keep my feet on the ground."

With his mind settling down, he knew he had merely knocked on the door to the transcendent world and gained a bit of authority to channel transcendent factors. To become stronger, he still needed to record more and stronger monsters.

"Time for the administration building."

A flash of battle intent appeared in Wang Ting's eyes. With his strength currently at its peak, he strode boldly into the administration building.

Roars of monsters echoed from inside the administration building, followed by violent impacts and the sound of blades slicing through flesh.

Although there were many monsters inside the administration building, facing a powerful existence like Wang Ting, they appeared somewhat fragile. Not a single monster could overpower him in single combat.

After about half an hour of slaughter, the administration building was completely cleared out.

A Vine Skull hidden within attempted to engage in hand-to-hand combat with Wang Ting, but this time, its body was shattered by a single brutal punch from Wang Ting. The Vine Skull's bones fractured, and its massive body twisted like a pretzel, completely unable to withstand the blow.

With the Vine Skull dead, even though the Vine Parasite Corpses and Parasitic Fungus Vines swarmed in groups, they could not resist Wang Ting wielding his vine skull tyrant blade in slaughter. Ultimately, they all turned into his hunted spoils and heaps of transcendent materials.