【You have obtained 1 Ten-Treasure Meat Assortment】

【You have obtained 10-Treasure Meat Assortment x2】

If the system had a mind of its own, it would definitely be baffled right now.

Cen An sat in the spacious living room, with five portions of Ten-Treasure Meat Platter arranged on the solid wood table before him.

The Ten-Treasure Meat Platter is made from ten different types of mutant beast meat. Depending on the mutant beast’s level, it is classified as “Low-Grade,” “Mid-Grade,” or “High-Grade.”

Specifically, the Low-Grade Ten-Treasure Meat Platter is made from Level 1–3 mutant beasts, the Mid-Grade from Level 4–6 mutant beasts, and the High-Grade from Level 7–10 mutant beasts.

The Ten-Treasure Meat Platter can only be used for praying at divine statues. Cen An had used them once before and obtained a Raindrop Essence Cup; the condensed dew essence even saved Xiao Ji’s life.

Now, Cen An has made five more portions. Why?

What else could it be! There’s just too much mutant beast meat at home—there’s no room left!

Over ten thousand portions of mutant beast meat! It would burst his backpack if he tried to carry it all! Besides, a portable backpack is such a powerful tool—he can’t possibly use it all just to store mutant beast meat!

So now, that mountain of mutant beast meat is still piled up in the courtyard of the ability-users squad’s base!

Thanks to the frenzied energy in the mutant beast meat, its shelf life is actually longer than that of ordinary meat. In early summer weather, ordinary meat starts to go bad after just a day or two out in the open, and it’s inedible after four or five days.

But with mutant beast meat, it can last about ten days.

Even if Cen An had the time to turn it all into feed or bait, it would only last a fortnight to a month.

Just think of how many animal pens he’d have to build and how many animals he’d have to catch in the mountains to use up all that feed!

Mr. Cen ran the numbers in his head and immediately thought about quitting the game…

Fortunately, he remembered the only source of storage items. Time flows differently inside the Spatial Miscellany Box; storing mutant beast meat inside is no different from leaving it out… But then again, if the divine statue could grant one storage item, perhaps it could grant a second?

The number of prayers offered to the Obsidian Statue is cumulative, but aside from being trapped in the mine last time and this mutant beast attack, Cen An had only prayed once a day, so the count hadn’t accumulated.

This time, he really had no choice. Cen An was so busy he didn’t even have time to drink water; he hadn’t prayed to the statue for five days, and today marked the sixth day. Cen An counted the meatballs on the table, then raised his hand to conjure another one.

A total of six portions of Ten-Treasure Meat Platter: four low-grade and two high-grade.

The rigid statue was brought out once more and placed reverently on the table. Cen An held a plate of Ten-Treasure Meat Platter and shoved it right in front of it. The statue dutifully emitted a white glow.

“Just an ordinary item…” Cen An looked a bit troubled and muttered under his breath, “Give me something good, will you…”

Clink. A small porcelain bottle fell onto the table.

【Soul Nourishing Elixir Category: Medicine Grade: Common

Effect: Nourishes spiritual energy and the soul.】

Cen An tilted his head; it wasn’t exactly ordinary. The raw material for the Soul Nourishing Elixir is the Spirit God Flower, a mutation of the Three-God Flower. While the Spirit God Flower is rare, the Three-God Flower is not hard to come by. Because it is so common, the Soul Nourishing Elixir is consequently classified as only Common grade.

Still, this potion is quite suitable for Senior Lin, Captain Shi, and the others.

Cen An put the small porcelain bottle away. Ah, come to think of it, he still had four Soul-Nourishing Stones here—just enough to make two pieces of spirit-nourishing jewelry to give them…

Keeping that in mind, he picked up another portion of Ten-Treasure Meat Platter. The divine statue emitted a white glow once more, and with a click…

【You have obtained Soul Nourishing Elixir x1】

Hmm.

Cen An solemnly picked up the stone statue and gave it a shake, then solemnly took out the Soul-Nourishing Stones. Right in front of the statue, he crafted two pieces of jewelry and asked Xiao Yi to deliver them to Captain Shi and Senior Lin.

To avoid any misunderstandings, he even held the stone statue as he watched Xiao Yi leave.

Stone Statue: …

Only after Xiao Yi’s figure had disappeared from sight did Cen An return with the stone statue, placing it solemnly on the table before bringing another serving of Ten-Treasure Meat Platter. The statue silently emitted a third white glow.

Gurgle, gurgle… A black sphere appeared out of thin air on the table.

【You have obtained Stink Bomb x1】

【Stink Bomb: Category: Item | Level: Common

Effect: When thrown, it emits a strong stench, rendering enemies unable to resist.

Note: Due to the unique nature of the Stink Bomb’s raw materials, it is not recommended to store it alongside food.】 Cen An silently moved the Ten-Treasure Meat Platter a little further away.

He actually had the recipe for stink bombs. So, regarding this special raw material… hmm…

He couldn’t help himself and said to the stone statue, “How about giving me two more bottles of Soul Nourishing Elixir instead? I wouldn’t mind that.” The stone statue hung its head in silence.

Cen An glared at it for a moment. Only three plates of the Ten-Treasure Meat Platter remained—one low-grade and two high-grade. After some hesitation, he chose the last remaining low-grade platter.

【You have obtained a Mixed Seed Bag x1】

【Mixed Seed Bag:

Category: Seeds

Rarity: Common

Effect: Due to an error by the seed cultivator, the types of seeds inside cannot be identified. Please plant with caution.】

That was fine enough; Cen An actually quite liked the mixed seed bag. Unlike mixed potions—you wouldn’t dare take medicine without knowing its effects—seeds were different. Just bury them in the ground, and you’d see what grows, adding an extra element of excitement.

As it happened, the Green Shade Mouse was there too. He placed the seed bag in front of the mouse. “I’ll leave it to you to plant this bag of seeds!” The Green Shade Mouse loved doing this; it clutched the seed bag tightly, refusing to let go. “Cheep cheep!”

Cen An rubbed his fingertip gently on its head.

There were only two plates of premium meat left. If this didn’t work, those tens of thousands of portions of mutant beast meat would be nothing but compost… Cen An sighed softly and offered up the second-to-last plate of meatballs.

The stone statue emitted a silvery glow—faint, yet distinct… Cen An’s heart leapt.

The silver light took over ten seconds longer than the white light. After those agonizing seconds passed, a white stone appeared on the table.

【You have obtained a Spatial Stone Shell x1】

Cen An jumped to his feet. “A Spatial Stone!”

He had the recipe! A Spatial Stone could be used to craft storage items!

Excitedly, he picked it up to take a look… “Oh, it’s a Spatial Stone Shell…”

It wasn’t exactly worthless, but it was nowhere near as valuable as a Spacial Stone. A Spacial Stone Shell Shell is the outer layer that encases a Spacial Stone Shell; it possesses a small amount of spatial power, but it’s not suitable for crafting storage items.

Cen An flipped through the recipes and discovered this item could be crafted into an item called a “Space-Splitting Ring,” whose function was to “enhance the offensive power of spatial energy.” It seemed to be intended for spatial-type ability users?

“Doesn’t that mean it’s only for Su Rui?” Cen An counted the ability users he knew—Su Rui was the only one with a Spatial-type ability. He casually crafted the item and stuffed it into his backpack, planning to give it to Su Rui the next time they met.

His gaze shifted back to the table, where only the last plate of “Ten Delicacies Meat Platter” remained. Cen An had all but given up. It was his own fault for grasping at straws in his desperation; praying to a divine statue was a bit like drawing cards—it was inherently uncertain. Pinning his hopes on this was just as unreliable as hoping to strike it rich with a lottery ticket.

Cen An muttered to himself rather rudely, then casually placed the last plate of meatballs on the altar. The next second, he froze—the stone statue seemed to be emitting a golden glow?

Immediately, the golden light intensified. The tiny statue seemed to transform into a miniature sun, blindingly bright… Yet Cen An didn’t dare blink. What on earth had he drawn?

Then a system prompt popped up: 【You have obtained a Rock Crystal Colossus x1】

【It is on its way. Please wait patiently.】 A Rock Crystal Colossus?

On its way?

Cen An froze for a second, suddenly recalling that huge, pitch-black creature in the mine shaft… He’d drawn this thing?

Before he could process it, the ground seemed to tremble slightly, and shouts from the villagers came from outside: “Why are the trees on the mountain falling? It looks like something huge is coming!”

“Oh no, not another beast tide…”

!!!

Cen An snapped to attention and bolted out the door. “Wait, don’t be afraid—it’s one of us!” He realized that didn’t sound right. “One of us… Anyway, don’t be afraid!”

He dashed out like a little whirlwind. The beast tide had already passed, and the ability-users squad had resumed their patrol. Just as Cen An reached the village entrance, he ran into squad members racing down from the mountain.

Wang Lie, leading the group, was running so fast his feet were kicking up sparks. A red signal rocket shot into the sky as he shouted frantically, “Enemy attack! Something huge is coming! Everyone get back and hide—”

Cen An moved even faster than him, shouting, “Don’t run! I can explain! Listen to me—”

Both men were shouting at the top of their lungs, neither able to make out what the other was saying. Finally, Qu Yue, who had rushed over from the village, stopped them and led them to Shi Long.

Without pausing to catch his breath, Cen An blurted out, “It’s a Rock Crystal Giant Beast—it’s here for me. It’s not a mutant beast; it won’t harm people. It has a gentle temperament and produces rock crystals, which can be made into the rock crystal daggers you use.”

After listening, Shi Long said earnestly, “Mr. Cen, can you guarantee it won’t harm anyone?”

“I can.” From the moment the Rock Crystal Giant Beast was summoned, it had become his pet; he could control its actions at any time. Shi Long nodded. “Very well. Since it is Mr. Cen’s pet, you may handle it as you see fit.”

Cen An let out a sigh of relief and offered his sincere thanks.

He turned away, his head already aching. What on earth was the deal with that statue? How had he ended up drawing this thing? Wasn’t this just asking for trouble…? He hadn’t even seen a Rock Crystal Colossus in his previous life—how was he supposed to take care of one in this one…? Could he just send it back to the mine?

The ground was shaking more and more violently. Not far away, on the mountain, he could already see that massive black shadow.

It was a full circle larger than the little cabin, entirely pitch-black, like a moving shadow. Its features were impossible to make out; only a dark, shadowy outline was visible. It didn’t move quickly, but each step covered a great distance, and it soon arrived at the entrance to Yongning Village.

The villagers were terrified at first and scrambled to find places to hide, but when they heard Cen An say it wouldn’t harm anyone, they peeked out curiously.

“Wow, it’s huge! How did Boss Cen get it?”

“It must eat a lot, right? Will it eat all the animals on the nearby mountains?” 

“Its eyes aren’t red—is it not a mutant beast?”

“Where are its eyes, though…”

The village was abuzz with chatter.

Perhaps because it had become a pet, Cen An could vaguely sense the Rock Crystal Giant Beast’s thoughts.

Who would’ve thought that a creature this massive was actually still a juvenile… A childish voice echoed from deep within the beast: “Looking… looking for my master. Hungry… I’m hungry…”

Cen An gave a mental command, saying to it in his mind, “Stop.”

The giant beast did indeed stop, tilting its head slightly as the voice echoed in his mind once more: “Master… where is Master…”

Cen An exhaled in relief. “I’m right here. Look ahead.”

Sure enough, the giant rock crystal beast looked over, beaming, “Master!”

Cen An soothed it with a few words and asked, “Can you find your way back to the mine?”

The Rock Crystal Colossus shrank back. “No… I won’t go back. It’s all dark… and silent… I’m scared…”

It hurriedly added, “I’ll be good. I’ll give Master stones… lots of them…” Then rock crystals began clattering off its body.

Its pitiful little expression tugged at his heartstrings.

Cen An’s heart softened instantly. “Fine, if you don’t want to go back, you don’t have to. But let’s make a few ground rules: you can’t hurt the villagers, you can’t destroy the village houses, and if there’s a beast tide in the mountains, you’d better let me know.”

With each rule he stated, the Rock Crystal Colossus gave a nod. Finally, he asked, “By the way, what do you eat?”

The Rock Crystal Colossus seemed unsure how to answer. It looked around, picked up a roaring rabbit from the ground, and stuffed it into its mouth just as it had with the Melisus, saying, “I eat this…”

Cen An was taken aback. “You eat mutant beast meat?”

He was just about to say, “Actually, I have plenty of that here.” But then he thought better of it… Wait a minute…

He had a lot of mutant beast meat he didn’t know what to do with, so he asked the divine statue for help. The statue casually tossed him a Rock Crystal Colossus… Now the problem was: how much mutant beast meat could a Rock Crystal Colossus—bigger than a house—eat in a day?

Aha, the problem of mutant beast meat was finally solved—and there wasn’t even enough.

Cen An casually marked off a spot and had the Rock Crystal Colossus stay there, then ran home and flipped the statue face-down on the table.

You never gave me any face when I asked for it! You can just stay face-down from now on! I’m so mad!

Lately, there’s been no shortage of news in Yongning Village.

Captain Shi’s days of sleeping on straw and enduring hardships—or putting on a show to trick people—to catch criminals are a thing of the past. Now, the hottest topic of conversation is the giant beast that Xiao Cen is raising on the eastern edge of the village.

The thing is huge and black. Although Boss Xiao Cen says it doesn’t bite, no one has dared to get close to it yet. Not just the villagers—even the members of the ability-users squad are too scared to approach it.

Every day, everyone could only look on in awe as Boss Xiao Cen carried bucket after bucket of mutant beast meat to feed his pet.

The turning point came on the third day after Dahei’s arrival. Yes, the villagers had given the Rock Crystal Beast a simple nickname: Dahei. (The first time Cen An heard that name, he nearly lost his composure.)

That day, Zhao Yougen went up the mountain to chop firewood. Normally, since he’d exchanged his points for Cen An’s black iron armor, going up the mountain wouldn’t have been dangerous.

However, that day, he had given the black iron armor to his daughter to wear, and she had begged him not to go out that day, urging him to rest at home. But the old man couldn’t sit still. Thinking that he’d gone up the mountain without any equipment before and nothing had happened, he sneaked off on his own.

That’s when he encountered a red-tailed Fox.

That fox was incredibly cunning. It knew the people of Yongning Village were a tough bunch to deal with lately, so it deliberately followed Zhao Yougen around for a whole day, making sure he was just an ordinary old man before pouncing to devour him.

Zhao Yougen was terrified, but thanks to the fact that the red-tailed Fox had followed him all day, he was almost back near the village by the time it happened, so he hurried toward the village. But after all, they were still in the mountains—how close could he really be to the village?

The old man ran and ran for his life. Just as he reached the foot of the mountain, the red-tailed fox had already caught up to him, its jaws nearly snapping at his heel.

Zhao Yougen was so terrified he froze. Spotting the Rock Crystal Colossus at the eastern edge of the village, he leaped down the steep mountain path, shouting, “Mr. Cen, save me—”

The Rock Crystal Colossus actually turned its head. It wasn’t very smart, but it did remember its master’s name. As it turned, it saw a tiny biped running down the slope.

Since its master had forbidden it from harming the villagers, the giant beast didn’t move. It watched as the biped leaped onto its back, followed by a pastry. The Rock Crystal Beast thought for a moment, then, keeping its back steady, picked up the pastry and ate it, happily squinting its eyes as it lay down.

This is delicious! Just as I thought, following my master around means there’s always something tasty to eat.

As for Zhao Yougen, the old man was initially scared stiff. His jump had been purely instinctive—if he hadn’t jumped, the red-tailed fox would have bitten him in the back!

But he never expected to land right on top of the Rock Crystal Beast!

No matter how gentle a giant beast might be, it certainly wouldn’t tolerate someone riding on its back!

When the colossus moved, Zhao Yougen thought his time had come. In his mind, he went over every memory of his daughter, wife, and granddaughter… Then, when he opened his eyes, he saw the colossus devouring the red-tailed fox.

Not only that, but the beast didn’t even throw him off. After devouring the red-tailed fox, it simply lay down.

Zhao Yougen froze, tentatively running his hand over the fur beneath him—it felt soft and thick… The beast let out a purring sound, just like a cat.

Zhao Yougen stood there for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing. “No wonder it’s Boss Xiao Cen’s pet—this is the guardian beast of our Yongning Village!”

From then on, all the villagers knew that this giant beast not only had a gentle temperament but also saved people! And it didn’t eat anything else—it specialized in devouring mutant beasts! The villagers were thrilled and gathered around to see it.

Some, with a boldness that came from who knows where, even went up the mountain specifically to lure mutant beasts, leading them right to the Rock Crystal Beast so it could devour them!

Perhaps they found it thrilling and fun, or maybe, for ordinary people, the chance to kill a mutant beast once and for all was too rare to pass up.

In the end, the two sides developed a tacit understanding: a single glance from the villagers was all the Rock Crystal Beast needed to know—snack time! And so, the name “Dahei” was born.

By now, even the children in the village aren’t afraid of Dahei anymore.

That day when Cen An went to feed Da Hei… no, the Rock Crystal Beast, he saw Qu Huihui leading a group of little tykes from the village as they climbed up Da Hei’s leg toward his back.

Not only did Dahei not struggle, but he even lowered his body a bit to make it easier for the little bipeds to climb.

The children must have been there countless times before; their movements were very practiced. In less than half an hour, Dahei was covered with little ones. Some of the kids were incredibly bold, even jumping onto its head and reaching out to touch its nose.

In response, Dahei merely lifted an eyelid and exhaled a puff of air through his nostrils, making the child giggle.

Cen An’s mind froze for a moment. He began to wonder: was it he who was abnormal, or were the villagers of Yongning Village the ones who were… Not only that, but the members of the ability-users squad were also quite fond of this giant.

Especially the younger members like Xiao Ji—they’d often kill a mutant beast and not even bother to extract the crystal core, just grab it by the leg and bring it straight to Da Hei. Da Hei now recognized the members of the ability-users squad; as soon as he saw them, he’d open his massive mouth, and the squad members would chuckle as they tossed the mutant beast inside.

The two sides work together in perfect harmony.

The Rock Crystal Beast wasn’t exactly a restless creature to begin with, and Da Hei was quite content with this life of having food served right to him. In short, Da Hei—no, the Rock Crystal Beast—and the villagers got along harmoniously, and Cen An breathed a sigh of relief.

Based on his observations over this period, Cen An had a pretty good idea of the Rock Crystal Colossus’s appetite.

At first, perhaps because it was starving, Dahei—no, the Rock Crystal… never mind—for the first few days, Dahei ate five or six hundred portions of mutant beast meat every day. Later, its appetite stabilized, and one hundred fifty to two hundred portions a day were enough.

On top of that, with the villagers and the squad members feeding it daily, Da Hei was living the high life.

Cen An did the math: he could easily afford this amount of food, and with the leftover mutant beast meat, he could even activate the Ranch System. He’d been busy working on that for the past few days.

Inside the small cabin, the new wooden bed was already finished.

Made from timber, hardwood, and softwood, the bed was comfortable and soft, and even had some fatigue-relieving properties.

Two beds, one large and one small, were neatly arranged in the bedroom. The headboard of the smaller bed was carved with childish patterns—little rabbits, kittens, and the like. These weren’t pre-installed by the system; Cen An had carved them by hand.

No wonder Xiao Yi couldn’t sleep for the first few days after the bed was finished. He would often run his fingers over the carvings, and before he knew it, dawn would break.

Then the little guy would quietly get up to clean and make breakfast. He always felt he wasn’t doing enough. His older brother was so kind—he had to do a little more, and then a little more still, just to let a tiny bit of the gratitude filling his heart spill out.

After the bed was finished, Cen An calculated that the leftover wood would be enough to build several animal sheds. So, he opened the system.

【Farm Name: Harvest Farm Level: 3

Experience: 21,550/50,000

Wealth: 3,024 Silver crystal cores, 31,607 crystal cores

Land Owned: 9 (Fertile Black Soil x8, Fertile Sandy Soil x1)

House Upgrade System: Unlocked

Fish Pond: Unlockable for 1,000 crystal cores

Ranch System: Unlockable for 3,000 crystal cores

Backpack: …】

Cen An was already very familiar with this information. He scanned it at a glance and immediately clicked to open the Ranch System.

【Unlock the Ranch System?】

【Yes】

【Unlocking the Ranch System… Please wait…】

【Your Ranch System has been unlocked. Go check it out!】

The crystal core dropped by 3,000, and Cen An opened the Ranch System.

【Stables you own: 0 

Animals you own: 0

Buffs you have: 0

Note: Nothing is happening on your ranch】

He then opened the barn construction system: 【Small Barn, Medium Barn, Large Barn, Special Barn】 Since the ranch system was just getting started, Cen An naturally chose the Small Barn.

【Materials required for a Small Barn: Wood x500, Stone x100, Feed x100, Water x20】 Cen An had all these materials on hand, so he clicked “Build” immediately.

The system prompted again: 【Please select a location for the livestock shed】

A small livestock shed isn’t very big, so it wouldn’t be a problem to place it right in the yard. However, after giving it some thought, Cen An decided against it. He wasn’t just building a single shed—he wanted to build a ranch, so he definitely needed to plan it out properly now.

Mr. Cen got up and went outside, walking around the courtyard once before settling on a spot north of the small wooden house.

The small cabin was located at the northernmost edge of the village; beyond it lay the mountains, with an open field stretching between the house and the hills.

Because it was adjacent to the mountain, the ground there was slightly elevated. It wasn’t level enough for farming, but there were no restrictions on using it to build a barn. The only problem was that this land didn’t currently belong to Cen An.

That wasn’t a problem, though. Land in the village wasn’t in high demand, so acquiring it was quite simple. It didn’t even cost any money—all he had to do was register with the ability-users squad.

Cen An didn’t waste any time and headed straight to the ability-users squad.

As soon as he walked in, he happened to run into Team Leader Shi, leading his team out.

Cen An took a quick look and saw that the team was almost in full attendance. He instinctively asked, “Team Leader Shi, are you busy? I’ll come back another time.”

“We were just about to look for you.” Shi Long stopped him and invited him inside.

“Two things,” Shi Long said after a brief pause. “The first concerns future transactions between the squad and Mr. Cen.”

“Oh, that.” Cen An felt relieved, guessing that Shi Long likely wanted the squad to purchase produce from him under the squad’s name, rather than having individual squad members come to him separately as they had before.

That wasn’t a bad idea; it would save him a lot of trouble. Besides, since they’d be buying in bulk, he could afford to offer a slight discount. With that in mind, Cen An smiled and was about to speak.

But the very next second, Shi Long’s words nearly made him bite his tongue.

Shi Long looked at him intently, his tone steady. “Mr. Cen, have you ever thought about becoming the leader of the ability-users squad?”