Chapter 85

Chen Shicheng's worries came true.

After the Tai Sui, whose body was the size of a grinding mill, lunged into the small hill of flesh, it immediately wrapped a large lump of flesh inside and swelled a circle.

Then it deflated at a speed visible to the naked eye, just like a balloon being let out of air.

According to its eating speed, the food just harvested might not even be enough for it to eat for a day, and don't forget, Chen Shicheng still has a big eater in his bosom.

"No wonder they say raising kids is hard."

In less than a minute, the Tai Sui had eaten a gap out of the small hill of flesh; Chen Shicheng quickly piled the remaining flesh to the other side, preventing the Tai Sui's appetite from blowing up and destroying all the stored provisions.

After using his Divine Perception to stop several attempts by the Tai Sui to change where it ate, it seemed to understand something, and it calmly buried itself in the flesh hill, no longer eating from the pot while staring at the basin.

After a few minutes of cleanup, the forest trail littered with corpses was also cleared out; aside from the blood mixed with sand on the ground, all the animal carcasses were thrown into the Storage Bag.

Chen Holy looked back toward the gathering place that had shown no movement for a while, thought it over, then jumped back onto the tree and affixed another Illusion Body Talisman.

Getting the monsters wiped out in a sweep is probably a rare occurrence; Gan Jiang and Mo Ye might even bring people back here again, and he wanted to see if he could trap them once more.

After trapping that wave, his gains were truly huge; besides storing food for the two little ones, his Experience Points reached level 8 (155/100).

Moreover, most importantly, he could also extract a large amount of Merit Points.

【Eliminate the swarms of wild monsters besieging the gathering place, save the residents' lives, the Stealing Heaven Pendant's special effect activates—extract this time's 177 Merit Points? (Remaining uses: 3/3)】

"Extract!"

【Merit Points: 1108】

Seeing the Merit Points return to four digits, Chen Shicheng finally felt somewhat reassured.

And by pulling this trap, he also incidentally verified some of his earlier guesses about the Stealing Heaven Pendant.

When he first entered the game, that grandfather and grandson were clearly in no danger, yet after he wiped out the mountain bandits blocking the door, he still gained Merit Points, so afterward he deliberately looked up some information.

Since ancient times, people have believed that as long as I don't do bad things or get involved, moral corruption has nothing to do with me.

Hence came sayings like "If it doesn't concern me, I keep my distance" and "A gentleman stays far from the kitchen."

The inner meaning is that the deed isn't mine, the living creatures killed in the kitchen aren't mine, so none of this concerns me; even if I eat meat, it's only out of necessity, and I still maintain my gentlemanly virtue.

But in the eyes of Heaven, all things are but straw dogs.

As long as you are alive, having breathed a mouthful of air, you yourself will generate karma that damages the atmosphere.

Even if you die and are buried underground, with your corpse turning to dust, you will still generate karma from the grave destroying vegetation, harming your yin virtue.

Of course, some people do good deeds for their own Merit Points, regularly donating money, giving out porridge, or repairing bridges and roads, always thinking they are good people.

But in Heaven's complex judgment, as long as someone connected to you does even a bit of wrongdoing, you share in that karma, whether that person ate your porridge or walked the road you repaired.

Even if one spends a lifetime doing good deeds and eating vegetarian, being regarded by society as a great good person, they may still end up as a resident of the eighteenth level of hell after death.

After all, in Heaven's view, plants are also considered life on par with humans, so eating vegetarian counts as boundless killing karma.

Therefore, before one's karma is offset by Merit Points, no one can accumulate even a bit of Merit Points. Chen Shicheng entered the game with over fifty Merit Points, which likely relates to his lifelong law-abiding life in a peaceful era, and also to his great luck.

But under the power of the Stealing Heaven Pendant, Heaven's Merit Point judgment standard is completely overturned; it's simply a matter of ignoring the facts—I truly did do good deeds.

Just like this time, Chen Shicheng lit the Soul-Attracting Incense, causing wild monsters to result from the impact on the gathering place; although he wiped out all the monsters, eliminating the danger at its bud.

But if Heaven's judgment were followed, merit and fault could not cancel each other; karma would inevitably deepen, and Merit Points would be out of the question.

Yet the Stealing Heaven Pendant disregards all that; as long as I do good deeds, I must receive the due Merit Points, so Chen Shicheng gained 177 Merit Points for saving the gathering place.

The only pity is that he faced only a small portion of the wild monsters on the outskirts of the gathering place; the rest were blocked by other players outside.

If all the wild monsters had been slain by him, calculating at 10 Merit Points per head, his haul this time would almost rival that of the millet yield increase.

"Ow-woo."

Just as Chen Shicheng regretted being unable to clone himself and thus couldn't single-handedly deal with all the wild monsters, a sudden yawn came from within his bosom.

"La Tiao woke up!"

Chen Shicheng's eyes lit up; he quickly took La Tiao from his bosom and, without thinking, flung an appraisal at it.

【La Tiao: Bloodline Awakening (1%)】

【Level: Lv. 0】

【Jing: 1+1 (Bloodline bonus: for each 1% bloodline awakened, Jing +1, Qi +0.5)】

【Qi: 1+0.5】

【Shen: 1】

【Skills: Tear Bite, Pounce Strike, Blood Flesh Devour (natal divine ability),??? (natal divine ability)?,???? (natal divine ability).】

(Note: When bloodline concentration reaches 50%, the second natal divine ability awakens; at 100%, the third awakens; devouring blood and flesh can increase bloodline concentration, and the higher the level, the stronger the effect.) Chen Shicheng never expected that a single bloodline awakening would actually cause La Tiao's level to disappear.

But thanks to that, he also managed to appraise La Tiao's underpants, and this is also the first time, after obtaining the Eye of Bai Ze, that he has appraised such detailed information.

"La Tiao isn't evolving—it's a bloodline atavism!"

Looking at the detailed information appraised by the Eye of Bai Ze, Chen Shicheng almost popped his eyeballs out.

A marten unexpectedly obtained during an escort mission actually possesses an unusual bloodline—something he never could have imagined.

Moreover, this bloodline looks anything but simple; just having three natal divine abilities already exceeds Hui Siye, who only has one Five Ghosts Translocation ability—by this reckoning, La Tiao's bloodline is at least two levels higher than Hui Siye's.

Most importantly, Chen Shicheng pinched the back of La Tiao's neck, repeatedly observing its flashy new fur.

Gradually, La Tiao's new appearance began to coincide with a certain mythical creature's magical treasure.

However, after observing for half a day, he still couldn't find the pair of wings under the ribs, making him hesitant to confirm La Tiao's specific atavistic bloodline.

(End of chapter)