Chapter 108

Wang Shan slowly opened his eyes; inside the cave only the Moonlight Stone emitted a faint, dim light. He moved his stiff body, the severe pain in his chest still present, but compared to last night, it had improved considerably.

Although the effects of the First Order Return Spring Pill and Nourishing Spirit Pill were weak, they at least kept him alive.

"System, open the Mall." Wang Shan thought silently.

The screen lit up, the dazzling array of goods still made his mouth water, but alas his purse was empty.

He now had only 3 Spirit Plant Points left, not enough to buy even the lowest-grade First Order Return Spring Pill.

"Really… he's in a tight spot." Wang Shan gave a bitter smile.

What he lacked most now wasn't medicine, but the skill to survive, and how to obtain more Spirit Plant Points in this perilous Man Yun Mountain Range.

His gaze swept over, and he quickly found his target.

【Basic Outdoor Survival Knowledge Compendium: Includes trap making, direction identification, water purification, simple shelter construction, etc. Price: 1 Spirit Plant Point.】

【Simple Trap-Making Toolkit: Includes fine animal tendon sinew, trigger-type mechanism parts, small metal spikes, etc. Price: 1.5 Spirit Plant Points.】

"This is it." Wang Shan exchanged without hesitation.

Knowledge flooded into his mind instantly, as if he had known it all along. A small set of tools also appeared in the corner of his storage bag.

He spent a total of 2.5 Spirit Plant Points, leaving 0.5 point. Better than nothing.

"Elder Wang, you're awake?" Li Hu and Zhang Mei had been guarding nearby; seeing Wang Shan open his eyes, they hurried over.

"How do you feel?" Zhang Mei asked softly, her big eyes full of worry.

"Much better." Wang Shan nodded, his voice still a little hoarse, "Is it morning yet?"

"Just barely dawn." Li Hu replied, "We didn't dare go out."

"Hmm, being careful is appropriate." Wang Shan pushed himself up using the stone wall, "Come on, let's go out and have a look; we need to set things up around the cave."

"Set up? Set up what?" Li Hu asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Of course it's to welcome a big gift from the Wan family's rascals!" Wang Shan grinned, though his smile was somewhat sinister.

The three arrived at the cave entrance, and the morning light filtered through the dense foliage, casting dappled spots of light.

Wang Shan surveyed the surrounding terrain, pointing to several concealed grass patches and trees, and said, "Li Hu, here, here, and there, dig a few small pits, not too deep—just enough to trip someone. Remember, don't pile the excavated soil nearby; scatter it farther away and cover it with fallen leaves."

He then turned to Zhang Mei: "Zhang Mei, you're handy; go gather some vines and leaves of similar color, and we'll camouflage the cave entrance again."

"Oh… okay!" The brother and sister, though they didn't quite understand what Wang Shan intended to do, still sprang into action.

Wang Shan then took out the animal tendon sinew and some small parts from the tool kit, and began busying himself along several possible paths near the cave entrance. At times he tied the thin cord between two small trees, just at human ankle height, and cleverly attached a few small stones; if someone stepped on it, the stones would collide and make a sound. At other times he buried some spiked flip-plates underground, covering them with a thin layer of soil and fallen leaves, making them virtually undetectable without close inspection.

Li Hu returned after digging the pits, watching Wang Shan tinker with those strange oddments, scratched his head: "Elder Wang, what are you… doing?"

"They're early-warning traps, plus a little surprise." Wang Shan said without looking up, "We're now jumpy as a startled bird; the Wan family's people will surely comb the mountains like mad dogs. These things don't need to kill the enemy, but at least they can buy us some reaction time."

Zhang Mei also used vines and leaves to re-conceal the cave entrance more hiddenly; looking at Wang Shan's clever arrangements, her eyes sparkled with curiosity: "Elder Wang, have you… learned these before? You're amazing!"

Wang Shan smiled: "Walking the jianghu, if you don't learn a few life‑saving skills, even the grass on your grave will grow three feet high."

This knowledge partly comes from the system, and partly from his accumulated experience in this and previous lives.

After working for more than a double hour, seven or eight simple traps and camouflages had been set up around the cave. Though crude, in this environment they already served a considerable purpose.

Li Hu looked at these arrangements and exclaimed, "Elder Wang, if your skills were placed in our camp, those responsible for guard duty would all have to learn from you!"

"Alright, stop the flattery." Wang Shan waved his hand, "These are just the most basic measures, better than nothing. True defense still relies on our own vigilance."

He thought to himself, he needed to quickly obtain some Spirit Plant Points; otherwise this little bit of savings wouldn't even be enough to stuff between his teeth.

Returning to the cave, Wang Shan had Li Hu and Zhang Mei rest first, while he himself sat cross-legged and sank his consciousness into the system.

He took out a few withered seeds from his storage bag; these were the seeds of a first‑order spiritual herb, Blood‑Vine Spirit, which he had unintentionally obtained while at the camp. Blood‑Vine Spirit can replenish qi and blood, and is somewhat useful for refining healing pills.

"System, can these be planted in your space?"

【Ding! Detected a first‑order lower‑grade spiritual plant, Blood‑Vine Spirit seed, plantable in the system's initial spiritual field. Plant?】

"Initial spiritual field? There's this too?" Wang Shan was startled, then realized the system had quite a few functions.

"Plant! Can it speed up growth?"

【Ding! The spiritual energy concentration in the system space is 1.5 times that of the outside world, which can slightly accelerate spiritual plant growth. Consuming Spirit Plant Points can further boost growth speed, but current Spirit Plant Points are insufficient.】

"Fine, I get it." Wang Shan pursed his lips, looking at the pitiful 0.5 Spirit Plant Points, and could only give up.

He placed those few seeds into the system space; a small spiritual field about a zhang square appeared in his consciousness, the seeds fell and were automatically buried in the soil.

"Better than nothing, at least it's something." Wang Shan consoled himself.

Over the next few days, the three temporarily settled in the cave.

Wang Shan set aside time each day to point out some wilderness survival skills to Li Hu and Zhang Mei.

"Li Hu, look at this grass: its leaf edges have fine serrations, the stem covered with white fuzz; this is 'Spike Dragon Grass,' mildly toxic and inedible, but its juice can be used to repel some small insects."

"Zhang Mei, these red berries look bright, but birds and beasts avoid them; they're likely highly toxic, so definitely don't pick them."

Wang Shan pointed to an inconspicuous clump of gray grass: "This is 'Gray Rock Mushroom,' growing in damp rock crevices, non‑toxic and edible, providing a bit of stamina. But note, it often grows alongside a toxic fungus called 'Phantom Snake Slime,' similar in color but with a smoother cap; if ingested by mistake, it causes hallucinations."

Li Hu stared, stunned: "Elder Wang, how do you know all this? You're practically more knowledgeable than the old herb‑gathering masters in our camp!"

Zhang Mei also nodded vigorously, her eyes full of admiration. She used to only know how to follow adults in picking familiar wild vegetables and fruits; she never imagined there were so many intricacies here.

Wang Shan merely gave a light smile: "After suffering enough losses, you naturally come to understand."

He wouldn't say that these were all knowledge poured into him by the system, plus some of his own experience summed up.

In his leisure time, Wang Shan would occasionally "close his eyes to nurture his spirit," actually observing the growth of the Blood‑Vine Spirit in the system space.

"Huh? It's growing this fast?"

However, in just a few days, those seeds had sprouted and grown into seedlings about an inch tall, their leaves beginning to show a faint blood‑red sheen.

"It seems the acceleration effect of the system space is not bad." Wang Shan felt pleased inside; this was much faster than growing outside. With Blood‑Vine Spirit, he could refine some low‑order qi‑blood pills, which would greatly aid his injury recovery.

That day, Zhang Mei went out to look for a water source, but when she returned her face was ashen, a red rash had broken out on her arm, and her breathing was somewhat rapid.

"Brother… I… I think I touched something poisonous…" Zhang Mei's voice trembled.

Li Hu, upon seeing this, instantly panicked: "Mei Mei, how are you? Where does it feel uncomfortable?"

Wang Shan rushed over upon hearing the sound, glanced at the red rash on Zhang Mei's arm and her condition, furrowed his brows: "You've been poisoned by miasma! What did you touch?"

"I... I passed through a patch of low shrubs, it was all misty, I didn't pay attention at the time..." Zhang Mei said with a sobbing tone.

"Don't panic." Wang Shan said in a deep voice, immediately took out a small jade bottle from his storage bag, poured out a bluish-green pill, "Open your mouth."

Zhang Mei subconsciously opened her mouth, Wang Shan shoved the pill in.

"Is this... an antidote pill?" Li Hu recognized this kind of pill; it's also available in the camp, but the quantity is scarce, very precious.

Wang Shan nodded; this was still, as a precaution, he had exchanged the scarce Spirit Plant Points from the system mall for a 【First-Order Clear Miasma Pill】, specifically to counter some common low-grade miasma toxins.

After the pill entered her belly, Zhang Mei quickly felt a cool qi dissipate inside her body, her breathing became much smoother, and the red rash on her arm began to slowly fade.

"Good... much better..." Zhang Mei exhaled, her face regained some color.

Li Hu then let out a breath, looking gratefully at Wang Shan: "Elder Wang, thanks to you! Otherwise..."

"Be careful from now on; in the Man Yun Mountain Range, danger lurks everywhere." Wang Shan cautioned.

After this incident, Li Hu and Zhang Mei became even more convinced of Wang Shan, prostrating themselves in admiration. In their eyes, Elder Wang was not only powerful in strength and meticulous in thought, but also a hidden master of alchemy!

A few days later, the warning trap Wang Shan had set up around the cave entrance showed some movement.

"Swish—" a few small stones collided, making a faint sound.

"Something's there!" Li Hu immediately became alert.

Wang Shan signaled them to be quiet, quietly came to the cave entrance, slipped open a crack to observe outside.

All that could be seen was an unfortunate "Iron Claw Rabbit" tripped over by a taut beast-sinew rope, lying on the ground, futilely kicking its legs.

"It's a first-order low-grade Iron Claw Rabbit demonic beast, not much of a threat." Wang Shan breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Hu volunteered: "Elder Wang, I'll take care of it!"

"Be careful."

Soon, Li Hu returned carrying the completely dead Iron Claw Rabbit.

Wang Shan took the rabbit, skillfully skinned it and extracted the inner core. Unfortunately, it was only a first-order low-grade demonic beast; its inner core's spiritual energy was impure, so its value was low.

【Ding! Recycled the corpse of a first-order low-grade Iron Claw Rabbit demonic beast (complete), gained Spirit Plant Points: 1.2 points.】

【Ding! Recycled the inner core of a first-order low-grade Iron Claw Rabbit demonic beast (poor quality), gained Spirit Plant Points: 0.8 points.】

Total: 2 Spirit Plant Points.

"Even a mosquito is meat." Wang Shan muttered to himself; although it wasn't much, at least there was some income.

Over the next few days, they continued to capture several similar small demonic beasts via the traps, such as "Sharp-Toothed Rat", "Banded Snake", etc., all first-order low-grade, occasionally a couple of first-order medium-grade, adding up to over ten Spirit Plant Points.

This let Wang Shan verify that his initial idea of "using war to sustain war" was feasible. Although the efficiency was low, at least he had a steady source of Spirit Plant Points.

With these Spirit Plant Points, Wang Shan immediately exchanged them for several First-Order Return Spring Pills and Nourishing Spirit Pills, speeding up injury recovery considerably.

At the same time, the Spirit Blood Branches in the system space gradually matured; Wang Shan harvested them and began trying to concoct pills within the system space.

【System-assisted pill refinement function activated, can increase the success rate of low-grade pills and reduce material loss.】

"There's this good thing too?" Wang Shan's eyes lit up.

He poured in the Spirit Blood Branches and some other auxiliary medicinal materials exchanged from the system mall, choosing to refine the most basic 【First-Order Blood Supplement Powder】.

A flash of light, the pill was formed.

Although it's only the lowest-grade pill, for them right now it's already a timely relief.

That day, Wang Shan watched the Spirit Plant Points slowly increase on the system panel, and his brows furrowed again.

"Relying on these little gains, when will we ever save enough for the expenses to go to Ghost Sorrow Cliff? Not to mention having to deal with the Wan family's pursuit."

His current strength is only at the early stage of the ninth layer of Body Refinement, still boosted by pills, foundation unstable. The Wan family's leader, however, is at the peak of the ninth layer of Body Refinement, with many capable followers beside him.

"No way, we must think of a way to pull off a big score!"

He suddenly remembered a function of the system—scan and analyze.

"System, can you scan and analyze the weaknesses of demonic beasts?"

【Ding! Yes. The system can perform data analysis on demonic beasts within the scan range, including their rank, skills, weaknesses, etc. The scan range and analysis depth are related to the host's strength and system level.】

"Oh?" Wang Shan's eyes brightened, "Then if I encounter a demonic beast, can you tell me how to fight it most efficiently?"

【Ding! Can provide combat advice.】

"Great! Excellent!" Wang Shan slapped his thigh.

This is literally a function tailor-made for him!

He previously only thought about relying on the system to exchange finished goods, overlooking the system's own auxiliary capabilities.

"Looks like just waiting by the stump for a rabbit won't cut it; we need to take the initiative, seek out valuable targets!"

A glint of sharpness flashed in Wang Shan's eyes. He recalled the introduction of "mutant demonic beasts" he had seen before; those guys are worth far more than ordinary demonic beasts!

"Fortune favors the bold; Wan family... you wait for me, once I recover I will surely make you pay blood for blood!"

His gaze swept toward the dark forest depths outside the cave, a place full of unknowns and danger, but also equally full of opportunity.

A new plan gradually took shape in his mind.