Thanks to GreenKiTea for the kofis! Enjoy the bonus chapters!

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

What could be at the bottom of the well?

The well was an old-fashioned rural design, still using a pulley and rope, and built from stacked stones.

Jian Xingyi leaned close to the well and peered inside.

It was a dry well, pitch black inside; he couldn’t make out anything. But since the chickens had just jumped in there and there hadn’t been any commotion since, that at least meant it was safe inside.

Jian Xingyi didn’t dare jump down recklessly. He tied a rope to the edge of the well and slowly climbed down, holding onto it.

When he reached the bottom, Jian Xingyi discovered a surprisingly spacious area—it looked as though it had been deliberately excavated.

Compared to the bottom of a well, this place looked more like a basement.

Jian Xingyi took out the torch from his backpack—one he’d prepared earlier for the Thousand Bells Snow Mountains—to illuminate the surroundings, and then… he was speechless.

This place… must be a warehouse the villagers dug specifically to store things, right?!

The basement was even larger than he’d imagined. Jian Xingyi also spotted a light source not far away—it was another well. This suggested the basement served as a communal storage area for all the villagers, with more than one entrance.

Holding the torch, Jian Xingyi surveyed the area. It was filled with cabinets, sacks, and goods. Among them were plenty of dry rations—clearly supplies stockpiled to weather a disaster.

Jian Xingyi surmised that perhaps the villagers here had collectively stockpiled supplies to prepare for a zombie horde, but had ultimately failed.

Moving further in, Jian Xingyi saw the same chicken from earlier pecking at a bag of feed. He also noticed the floor littered with scattered, damp, and spoiled rice and food scraps.

Jian Xingyi thought for a moment and decided not to take the food; he feared that if he did, the animals left behind might die.

He had made up his mind.

He’d take a gamble!

He wouldn’t die from going without a few bites of food now, but if these animals were still alive the next time he came, he’d reap a huge benefit!

Weighing the pros and cons, Jian Xingyi decided to forgo the fragrant meat and his own appetite.

Jian Xingyi looked around the warehouse, his mind racing with ideas.

His backpack slots were, after all, limited, and they were already full. Aside from items, Jian Xingyi had stockpiled quite a bit of food inside—after all, he had enough to both list for sale and keep for himself. Not only that, but the animal meat was taking up countless slots.

As far as he knew, he was the only one who could enter this area. Perhaps others existed, but they hadn’t been discovered yet; however, the conditions required to gain entry were undoubtedly arduous.

What if he treated this place as his warehouse?

In the game world, Jian Xingyi couldn’t store items outside his backpack; he’d get prompts like “Cannot place items in this area” or “Home storage limit reached.” But this… was the real world! It wasn’t subject to the backpack slot limits of the “game world,” but instead used the “real world’s” capacity for storage, which made all the difference. As long as there was a corner, he could stuff things in.

Jian Xingyi tried placing three pieces of game meat on the shelf.

—Nothing happened.

Yay!!

His inventory was already on the brink of overflowing at any moment, and if the nearby fields could truly be saved by the green vines and put to use, his inventory would definitely be insufficient.

In that case, he’d treat these three pieces of prepared meat as an experiment. He’d leave them here. If he really could return to this air wall next time, and if the animals and meat were still there…

Just thinking about it made Jian Xingyi feel the future was bright.

After Jian Xingyi grabbed the rope and climbed back up to the ground, he received a message from Shanhai.

Shanhai: 【Is it convenient to use the anchor point? I can come in now.】

Jian Xingyi was speechless.

Shanhai actually found a way??

How did he do that…

After Jian Xingyi activated the Symbiotic Anchor Point, Shanhai responded immediately and appeared right before his eyes the very next moment.

Jian Xingyi: “……!”

Jian Xingyi couldn’t help but ask, “What did you do?”

Shanhai said, “I went through the hidden S-rank dungeon in Fire God’s Belly and earned a wish.”

Jian Xingyi: “……”

Jian Xingyi stammered, “You told me to wait half an hour, and that’s all it took to clear the dungeon?”

While we were chatting away, this guy just breezed through an S-rank dungeon????

Not only did he clear the dungeon, but he was still chatting with me…! No wonder Jian Xingyi was puzzled as to why Shanhai, who usually replies instantly, took a while to respond just now.

Wow…??

Jian Xingyi chuckled lightly, “If you’d told me sooner that this was your method, I still have two Savior Wish Bottles stashed in my inventory.”

Shanhai shook his head, “It’s different. The wishes granted by dungeons are of a different tier than those provided by your Savior System. Your wishes can accomplish much more—they shouldn’t be wasted here.”

Coincidentally, since Shanhai doesn’t visit the Fire God’s Belly often, there was still one dungeon left here that hadn’t been cleared.

The A-rank dungeon wishes aren’t enough, the Savior System’s are too precious, and the S-rank dungeon wishes… are just right!

Jian Xingyi asked curiously, “So what did you wish for?”

“I asked that our Shared Anchor Point be usable regardless of time, space, or location.”

This was much more cost-effective than directly wishing to walk through an invisible wall.

Jian Xingyi was delighted too; this meant their Unity Anchor had now been upgraded to be unrestricted!

Without further ado, Shanhai led Jian Xingyi to the edge of the black hole.

This direction was actually easy to find—just follow where the zombies were gathering.

Shanhai pulled out his motorcycle and had Jian Xingyi sit in front.

The zombies in Huoshen’s Belly were certainly tougher than those on Peace Mountain, but with no lava or spirits present—it was a straight-up brawl—so Shanhai remained on high alert.

“Roar…”

As the throttle was twisted open, the roar of the engine drew the surrounding zombies toward them. These hideous monsters craned their necks, laboriously shifting their twisted limbs to turn and face them, then let out hoarse screams as they lunged forward.

Jian Xingyi thought to himself, “Now Shanhai is going to rack up another huge wave of zombie kills on Grapevine Peak.”

Bang!

Bang bang!

Once again, Jian Xingyi helped Shanhai steady the vehicle, while Shanhai wielded both his spear and rifle. With tremendous strength, he swung the spear, which, to Jian Xingyi’s eyes, looked like nothing more than a slender stick—yet it possessed enough force to part the dense horde of monsters in the sea of zombies.

The two successfully charged into the black hole. After leaving the air wall and the sea of zombies behind, Jian Xingyi looked at the lush trees all around and immediately widened his eyes.

……He had almost forgotten that the plants that had grown after the volcanic eruption possessed extremely high essence values!!

Jian Xingyi immediately began darting around like a monkey returning to the mountains.

【Collection Successful, Absorbed 【Essence】 x30】

【Collection Successful, Absorbed 【Essence】 x28】

【Collection Successful, Absorbed 【Essence】 x34】

……

There really is a lot!

Shanhai chuckled softly.

That’s exactly why I asked why we chose to come right after the volcanic eruption.

Shanhai looked around; this area was also ideal for logging. The newly grown trees were dense and of high quality, yielding a substantial amount of wood.

Jian Xingyi was bouncing around energetically, gathering essence, while Shanhai followed behind him, silently chopping down trees.

The two of them worked like this for half a day, during which they also hunted quite a few rare and exotic beasts.

After nightfall, the two finally sat down to rest.

Jian Xingyi brought out a plate of… loaches.

Shanhai: “…?”

Jian Xingyi laughed, “I haven’t tried them yet, but I think they’ll be delicious! Want to have some?”

Shanhai was just a little surprised, but he’d eat them anyway. “Sure.”

Jian Xingyi had also prepared a plate of braised beef, a bowl of lamb soup, and a plate of stir-fried spring bamboo shoots. There was even watermelon for dessert.

Foods that others treated as treasures—some even with special bonuses—were just everyday meals for Jian Xingyi.

After all, no matter what, Jian Xingyi’s original purpose for farming was simply to improve his own life.

One was socially anxious, and the other was quiet, so they didn’t say much, just sitting quietly and comfortably, resting and eating.

Jian Xingyi picked up a piece of stir-fried loach and put it in his mouth.

The loach and chili peppers had been stir-fried until golden brown. Once in his mouth, it was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, not at all slimy, and the chili peppers had brought out a savory, slightly fishy aroma.

Delicious…!

Jian Xingyi’s farm was now up and running, fulfilling his dream of eating meat by the mouthful.

Jian Xingyi picked up a piece of lamb, then followed it with beef.

Mmm…

Delicious!

Jian Xingyi’s mouth was covered in grease, but it didn’t look messy—rather, it was quite cute. Shanhai found watching Jian Xingyi eat quite appetizing; it made the already delicious food taste even better.

Jian Xingyi, on the other hand, thought Shanhai ate quietly and gracefully. He was handsome too, a real pleasure to look at—and very appetizing.

The two silently watched each other eat.

When they were nearly finished eating, Jian Xingyi excitedly opened his backpack.

Before the volcanic eruption, Jian Xingyi had already collected a batch of essence points from the bats, amassing nearly two thousand. He then spent the afternoon gathering more while chopping down trees with Shanhai among the newly sprouted plants. Now, Jian Xingyi had a total of…

3,050!

It was safe to say he was quite wealthy!

Jian Xingyi was over the moon and began thinking about how to use these essence points.

Upgrading a B-rank farm to an A-rank required 5,000 points, which was simply out of the question for him.

Jian Xingyi felt that, in order to be able to purchase those livestock farms the next time he returned to the Air Wall, he should focus on expanding the farming area of his own homestead for now.

This afternoon, he and Shanhai had hunted quite a few beasts, including those from the Thousand Bells Snow Mountains earlier, so his inventory was well-stocked with cattle and sheep.

However, the initial expansion would cost 500,000, and the walls would require funds as well…

Jian Xingyi was a bit troubled.

He checked the time; it was past midnight, and there were still… seven days left until the zombie tide.

Exactly one week.

Jian Xingyi checked the guild’s statistics.

Everyone in the guild was currently following Grapevine Peak in killing zombies and chopping down trees. Jian Xingyi had been chopping trees this afternoon as well, while Heiye and the others were working hard to sell weapons and materials. The overall numbers were rising, especially the zombie kills—in just a single day, they had jumped by over 10,000.

But they were still a long way off from the dawn coin goal.

Long Live for A Hundred Years

380,000,000 / 750 000 000 dawn coins

630, 000 / 750,000 Wood

62,000 / 150,000 Zombies Killed

Jian Xingyi frowned and turned to look at Shanhai. “Besides buying and selling, is there any other way to make money quickly? How do you guys usually make money?”

Jian Xingyi even started thinking, “Maybe I should sell the potato chips and soda in my bag… Maybe I could make a little money that way?”

Shanhai paused for a moment and said, “Run high-difficulty dungeons.”

Jian Xingyi thought to himself, “That’s true. High-difficulty dungeons—like the ones with wish rewards—let you directly wish for massive amounts of dawn coins.”

Jian Xingyi scratched his head. “Are there any other dungeons I can run? I’ve already cleared the Peace Mountain, Lava Volcano, and Snow Mountain dungeons with wish rewards. The difficulty is too high—even with you guiding me, I might not be able to handle it…”

Shanhai began to think as well.

Indeed, take the S-rank dungeon in Fire God’s Belly—which is essentially an advanced version of Nectar and Ambrosia—the combat power requirements are too high; Jian Xingyi definitely couldn’t handle it.

Shanhai said, “Each map has only one dungeon, unless it’s an advanced version.”

For example, Fire God’s Belly is the advanced version of Lava Volcano, so the dungeon will naturally have a higher difficulty.

Shanhai: “Do you want to try the Heart of the Snow Mountain, deep beneath the Thousand Bells Snow Mountain—the advanced version of the Snow Mountain Saint? The Thousand Bells Snow Mountain dungeon has always tested one’s resolve more than combat power. Maybe we can give it a shot.”

Jian Xingyi asked curiously, “Have you been there before?”

“I’ve been to the Heart of the Snow Mountain, but I haven’t run the dungeon.”

Wow…

Shanhai hasn’t even run it?

But that just means this dungeon can offer substantial rewards for both of them!

Jian Xingyi exclaimed excitedly, “Then let’s give it a shot! If it doesn’t work out, we’ll use our Wishes or Treasure Bags to save ourselves!”

Shanhai nodded; he also had some hidden items stashed away, like the Anchor Points he’d considered using during the previous volcanic eruption.

“Then we’ll set out tomorrow.”