Tempting the Mantis

[Small Log +2]

[Small Log +2]

…

Jiang Cheng gathered the logs one by one. Soon, fine cracks began to appear on the surface of the giant tree in front of him at a visible speed. About ten minutes later, the tree exploded into sawdust and scattered all over with a bang.

Yaya and Tong Xiaorou had already seen this kind of situation, so they did not have any reaction. On the other hand, Liang Xin, who was gorging on the mantis meat, was shocked. However, she did not dare to look anymore after taking a glance. Her gaze turned to the left and right of the two girls, scanning the surroundings as she continued to eat the mantis meat.

Liang Xin could eat a lot and had a robust digestive system. However, it seemed nothing changed, no matter how much she ate. It was difficult for her flesh to grow. What she ate would be digested quickly to strengthen her bones and skin. Perhaps it was because her flesh could not store power for her, which left her perpetually weak and incapable of comparing to an average person.

Jiang Cheng could sense that her HP had always remained at 0.1. It would suddenly be suppressed by some kind of withered power just as it was about to increase to 0.2. Besides, she always seemed to be in a strange condition.

Jiang Cheng did not care much about it. He remained vigilant as he continued to gather logs in other areas. However, Jiang Cheng always kept Yaya and Tong Xiaorou by his side, not daring to let them out of his sight.

Liang Xin also maintained a five-meter distance from the two girls, silently guarding behind them. She hugged a mantis leg and ate it like she was enjoying the corn. The thigh meat of this evolved mantis was unexpectedly delicious. It was just like crab legs.

…

BANG!

Another giant tree exploded. Jiang Cheng continued to gather materials expressionlessly. He needed a large number of materials and many experiences to be stronger. Wherever he passed, the giant trees exploded and disappeared, including the roots. It left huge pits on the spot, and the others were gathered into materials. He could also gain experience while gathering materials.

This place might be close to the prairie. The way ahead might be even more dangerous with dangerous creatures like the evolved mantis. Jiang Cheng wanted to increase his strength quickly, but the increase in strength was minimal every time he leveled up. Therefore, increasing the limit in advance could accelerate his progress and help him become stronger faster.

After a long time, Jiang Cheng's Item Box was full. He frowned slightly. There were twenty slots in the box. Other than a few slots that contained food, Bison Hide, clothes, and so on, there were still over ten empty slots. Each slot had a maximum capacity of a thousand stacked items. It might seem like a lot, but the remaining slots could only hold over 10,000 pieces of log.

"By the way, how big is the Fuel Generator of this Campfire?"

Jiang Cheng retrieved the Campfire and opened the Fuel Generator. He tried to put all the logs he had gathered into it. On average, a single log could increase the burning time of the Campfire by one minute. However, he could only use the logs he had gathered personally as fuel. Any other logs were unallowed to be inserted into the Fuel Generator and were unusable.

Soon, more than 10,000 pieces of the log were in. It added more than 10,000 minutes to the time. However, the Fuel Generator of the Campfire did not show any signs of filling up.

"Could it be infinite?" Jiang Cheng was bewildered. After a moment's thought, he decided to continue gathering. He spent the whole afternoon and evening gathering hundreds of giant trees.

Liang Xin, who had been following behind, was dumbfounded. The trees in this area were massive, and each giant tree occupied a significant amount of space. In addition, this place was close to the prairie, so the trees were sparse. There were hundreds of giant trees that occupied a radius of several kilometers. In other words, Jiang Cheng had flattened the area within a few kilometers in a day and turned it into an empty lot.

'He was the harvester of the giant tree,' Liang Xin thought.

Jiang Cheng was unaware of Liang Xin's thoughts. He placed all the logs he had gathered into the Fuel Generator of the Campfire. However, apart from an increase in burning time to over 100,000 minutes, the Fuel Generator did not exhibit any other response. It was as if there was really no limit.

At first, Jiang Cheng was excited. He thought he had discovered a bug in the evolutionary process. He believed that even with his small Item Box, he could still put materials into the Fuel Generator. At least the logs could be in. However, he soon realized he was mistaken because the logs could not be reused. Moreover, the logs seemed completely transformed into data and fuel for the Campfire. It was irrecoverable back into logs.

"Seems like this bug can't be exploited."

Jiang Cheng shook his head regretfully. However, he was still satisfied when he saw that his experience bar had reached 90%. Although the amount of experience required for each level would increase exponentially as he progressed, he was still confident that his speed was fast enough.

Jiang Cheng ate when hungry and continued gathering materials after filling. It had been a cycle for the whole day. Due to that, his HP had increased by 0.1. It was 3.1 now. It would be 3.2 as long as he leveled up again this time.

The sky was dark. In order to prevent the mantis from ambushing, Jiang Cheng found a giant tree with a diameter of five meters. He created a tree hole shelter at a height of three meters.

Jiang Cheng could not mistreat Liang Xin since she was now part of their group. He also had to gather materials anyway. So, he created a hole at the bottom of the giant tree that was one meter in diameter and three meters deep for Liang Xin to live in.

Liang Xin was a little flattered. She immediately promised not to sleep too soundly and would be responsible for keeping watch. Anyway, her body was tough enough to withstand most sneak attacks. Therefore, she was the most suitable person for kept watching.

…

It was late at night. After Yaya fell asleep, Jiang Cheng and Tong Xiaorou had sex for a while. He left the tree shelter and went to the ground after she fell asleep.

"Sir." In the tree hole at the bottom, Liang Xin woke up instantly. She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw it was Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng nodded slightly. He swept his gaze around and sensed the frigid atmosphere permeating the air. With a wave of his hand, he summoned a Campfire and placed it on the ground.

POOF!

The flames leaped up to over two meters. It drove away the cold and darkness and cast light on the area beneath the giant tree.

Inside the tree hole, Liang Xin's eyes flickered with surprise when she noticed the sudden change in temperature. She felt that Jiang Cheng had become even more mysterious now that he could dispel the Yin Tide. Although the area of effect was small, it was still impressive. She had never heard of anyone who could dispel the Yin Tide.

Jiang Cheng looked at Liang Xin, "Go up and block the tree hole, but don't go in."

"Sir, are you tempting the mantis that ran away during the day?"

Liang Xin understood Jiang Cheng's meaning immediately. She did not ask any more questions and directly left her tree hole. Liang Xin used her chicken claw-like fingers to climb up the cracked bark of the giant tree. Soon, she reached the tree hole three meters high and sat down with her back against the tree hole.

Seeing this, Jiang Cheng began to practice his sword with peace of mind. It was true that he was tempting the mantis. It was because Jiang Cheng had a vague feeling that he was being watched. He suspected that the mantis had not gone far and was still observing him from a distance.

This feeling was really bad. Jiang Cheng needed to find a way to lure and eliminate the mantis, but he also knew he had to continue honing his skills. It was because he realized he only needed to sleep three to four hours per day to be energetic all day after becoming an Evolver. There was still so much time left. It would be a waste to continue hiding in the tree hole. Therefore, he could use it to practice his sword.

After all, it was a waste to hold such a good sword without knowing any sword techniques. Jiang Cheng had to rely on his instincts to train himself since he had no knowledge of the moves. He focused on practicing the basic slash, performing it from various angles, and mastering how to use the sword with one or both hands.

During this process, Jiang Cheng also focused on exerting his strength and attempting to unleash his sword instantly to increase its speed. If he had been fast enough, the two mantids would not have been able to carry out their attack during the day. Thus, Tong Xiaorou and Yaya would not have been ambushed because he could instantly kill one of the mantids.