After resolving the trash can issue, Qiyu returned to the shelter. 

He opened the Survival Panel and selected the Trading section.

Initiated an automatic trade:

【Offer “1 Beast Crystal” in exchange for “10 Swift Meat.”】

He listed 50,000 Level 1 Beast Crystals.

Then he opened the zone chat:

【I Love Survival Game: I’ve posted a new listing in the Trading section—it’s an auto-trade. If you’re interested, check it out.】

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: Got it!】

【Little Old Me: Holy crap, you’re crazy @I Love Survival Game.】

【A Stray By The Road: I saw it too.  What’s a top player doing buying swift meat?】

By the time a few people had replied, red notification dots were already popping up one after another on Qiyu’s trade page.

This meant someone had purchased his item.

【Sapphire Raisin: Buying swift meat? Aaaah, I threw away so much of it before because I didn’t have enough backpack space.】

【Coke in a Thermos: Good thing I’m frugal—I’ve been piling the ones that wouldn’t fit in my backpack at the shelter. Now I’ve finally sold this stuff off.】

【Little Old Me: Game expert, does Swift Meat have some use we don’t know about? @I Love Survival Game.】

The survival squad group was also startled by Qiyu’s sudden commotion and asked him what was going on.

【I Love Survival Game: I won’t tell you what it’s good for—you guys probably don’t have a use for it.】

After all, Server 01 isn’t exactly short on drinking water.

His straightforward approach actually made some people hesitate. Quite a few who consider themselves smart said:

【I’m Not Full Yet: If a gaming big shot is doing this, he must have his reasons. I won’t sell just yet—I’ll wait and see.】

【Get Some French Fries: @I Love Survival Game, why not explain exactly what it’s used for? What’s the point of being so vague? Could it be that Swift Meat has some major use and you’re taking the opportunity to buy it all up?】

【A Stray By The Road: I’d think it’s common knowledge that anything in excess loses its value. Why do you guys think the swiftlet meat we have in this server—ranging from a few hundred to tens of thousands per person—has some major use or value?】

【A Stray By The Road: Of course, there might actually be one—but I really have way too much swiftlet meat. I’m trading some of it for Beast Crystals to secure my profits.】

【Liver Emperor: I traded some of mine too.】

【Irritable Brother: Am I the only one shocked by how rich this big shot is? How many Beast Crystals is that? I see the trade page already showing over 20,000 orders.】

【Little Old Me: A top player with over 200,000 points is messing with you?】

Even Little Old Me is pretty short-tempered these days because *My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens* is going on a rant against *I Love Survival Game*.

【My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens: I’m not selling it. He must have some ulterior motive for buying swiftlet meat—otherwise, why would he buy it?】

【My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens: Could it be that the next natural disaster in our region is a drought, and he found out through some channel and is buying up supplies in advance to prepare?】

Little Old Me rolled his eyes.

He knew he was a scoundrel—and scoundrels understand other scoundrels best. 

In his view, “I Love Survival Game”—while certainly no selfless do-gooder—was definitely not the kind of scumbag who’d abandon his conscience to profit from a disaster. 

If “I Love Survival Game” really knew what the next natural disaster would be, rather than trying to get rich off it, he—or one of those Civil Engineering Brothers—would likely have mentioned a thing or two about it in the regional chat.

His view was the same as that of “A Stray By The Road”: how much value could something have—something everyone in the region had, and in no small quantity—no matter how big it was?

Even if “I Love Survival Game” really had some special use for it, it would only be useful to him personally. As the number one player on the leaderboard, who knows—he might have some special connections.

Since he’d been blocked and couldn’t trade himself, he asked someone to help him secretly sell a portion of it, but he just gave a perfunctory response.

【Little Old Me: I agree—he’s definitely up to something. His intentions are far from simple!】 

01 Survival Squad：

【I Love Survival Game: I Have a Way to Sell Swift Meat.】

As soon as he said that, the group chat exploded:

【Civil Engineering Brother: Holy crap, is that for real?】

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: Just like the Gaming Expert I know—that’s so awesome!】

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: Your buy price is 1 Beast Crystal for 10 portions. How much do you sell them for?】

He was still worried about how straightforward this kid was, afraid he’d sell it at a fixed price, only to go through all that trouble for nothing and end up having to cover a huge commission himself. 

Before he could finish asking, he realized his words sounded a bit ambiguous. Just as he was about to explain: 

【I Love Survival Game: 1 Beast Crystal for 2 portions of Swift meat.】

【Civil Engineering Brother: That’s a decent profit.】

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: I went to trade it too. This stuff is really useless around here—might as well sell it and get some Beast Crystals.】

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: Holy shit, it’s sold out?!】

Qi Yu: ?

He had put up 50,000 Beast Crystals’ worth, which meant it could be exchanged for 500,000 portions of Swiftlet Meat.

Was it really that fast?

However, he recalled that there were currently a little over 72,000 players remaining in the District 01 channel.

500,000 portions of Swiftlet Meat, averaged out per person, was only about seven portions per head.

Furthermore, the automated trading listed this time didn’t have a purchase limit.

Some of the higher-ranked players on the leaderboard could easily trade for several thousand portions of Swiftlet Meat at once, even after keeping a portion for themselves.

Some of the top players on the leaderboard can easily trade in for several thousand portions of swift meat, even after keeping some for themselves. That really isn’t much.

He brought over 500,000 portions of swift meat.

Looking back at the regional channel, now that the trade had ended, those who had been hesitating and watching from the sidelines suddenly grew anxious:

【“How did it sell out so fast? Big shot, will you be buying again?”】

He didn’t reply. 

Qiyu immediately opened his communication orb. It happened to sync with the message:

【Your friend “God Has No Form” has sent you a gift.】

When he opened it, no fewer than five dishes and a bowl of soup appeared on the table.

Qiyu was surprised: “Such a lavish spread?”

Dan Xingyu said with a smile, “After all, I’m living the good life today; I’ve been enjoying fragrant white rice—don’t I have to show off my cooking skills? Prove my worth?” 

Qiyu immediately zeroed in on the key point: “What do you mean, ‘fragrant white rice’? Was it good?” 

Dan Xingyu: “……”

Oh, he forgot this is an alien who doesn’t get Earth references. 

He cleared his throat. “It’s not actual rice. It just means this is my thank-you gift for the ice shards and the temperature-regulating magic array you gave me.”

Qiyu: “…Oh. So, how is it? Does it work well?” 

“It works really well.” He’d just painlessly gained four adopted sons. 

Qiyu’s tone carried a hint of pride: “I picked it up after just one demonstration from my teacher. He called me a genius. An undisputed genius,” Dan Xingyu chimed in enthusiastically. “I can’t even make heads or tails of those magical runes.” 

Having received the praise he wanted, Qiyu began eating with satisfaction. 

Dan Xingyu knew his habits, and the two of them quietly finished their dinner, separated by the communication orb.

“I have something to send you.” Two voices rang out at the same time.

“Something for me again?” Dan Xingyu exclaimed in shock. “I’m really going to turn into a gigolo!”

A gigolo?

Qiyu thought back to their previous meeting in the resource zone. Hmm, he hadn’t really paid close attention, so he couldn’t remember if Dan Xingyu had fair skin or not. 

He could only say, “It’s so hot over there, and you’re still turning into a ‘Little White Man’? That’s impressive.” 

Dan Xingyu:“……”

He held back and said, “Well, I guess it’s because I don’t tan.”

The two initiated a trade with each other.

【Received 500,000 Swift Meats.】

【Received 50,000 Fire Dragon Hides, 1 Fire Dragon Thermal Underwear Set Blueprint, and 1 Fire Dragon Leather Jacket Blueprint.】

Qiyu remembered that during their previous conversation, the other person had mentioned that fire dragon hide was both insulating and waterproof.

Dan Xingyu had clearly kept this in mind as well: “It’s freezing over there—it must be really cold. This should be perfect.” 

Qiyu asked him, “How much did you pay for them?”

“One Beast Crystal per hide.” The drop rate for Fire Dragon hides isn’t particularly high. Aside from Beast Crystals and Fire Dragon hides, the most common drop from slaying a Fire Dragon is meat. 

Dan Xingyu asked, “Does your server want Fire Dragon meat? They drop a ton of it, and it’s disgusting. If you do, I can buy it up for a really low price.” 

Leather goods are the kind of thing that might come in handy at any moment. But with so much meat—and bad-tasting meat at that—many players in Server 88 are too lazy to even pick it up. 

Qiyu recalled a message he’d seen earlier in the server chat and hesitated: “Maybe? I’ll ask around.”

Since the Swallow Outbreak, it’s become rare to spot other mutated creatures in the Forest of Stars. He remembered some players complaining that they’d run out of food if things kept going this way. But now, thanks to the points event, players can open food mystery boxes.

Food mystery boxes cost 50 points each and contain quite a few items, so players shouldn’t be short on food for the time being.

Dan Xingyu: “Alright, just let me know if you need any.”

Qiyu: “Mm-hmm.”

He told Dan Xingyu, “For swift meat, the buyback price in our district is 1 Beast Crystal for 10 portions. I’ll make a lot of Beast Crystals this time, and when the time comes, we’ll split the Beast Crystals we earn 50-50.” 

Dan Xingyu felt as if he could see the little man’s eyes sparkling when he said, “make a lot of Beast Crystals.” 

He gave a soft “Mm-hmm”: “Okay, we’ll split it evenly. When the time comes, I’ll split the Beast Crystals I earn with you too.” 

“Then we’ll both strike it rich.” The mage, who had been making money all along but had never actually been wealthy, let his eyes betray his anticipation. 

After their conversation ended, Qiyu studied the blueprints Dan Xingyu had sent him.

【Fire Dragon Leather Jacket: Waterproof, warm, defensive. Crafting Materials: Fire Dragon Hide ×1.】

【Fire Dragon Thermal Underwear Set: Retains heat, keeps you warm, provides defense. Crafting Materials: Fire Dragon Hide x1.】

Qiyu set about crafting a set.

The “Fire Dragon” leather jacket is a dark red, long trench coat that feels like leather to the touch. 

The thermal underwear set consists of a long-sleeved top and a pair of long pants; it feels soft and fluffy to the touch and looks like it’s designed to be worn next to the skin. 

Qiyu found it amazing: the exact same leather could be used to make two garments with completely different textures. 4 Qiyu put it on himself, and within a few minutes, he could clearly feel his upper body getting warmer.

He made a few more sets and posted them in the 01 Survival Squad group:

【I Love Survival Game: Try this out.】

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: The game big shot has shared another great item—wow, thanks, boss.】 

【Civil Engineering Brother: Are these… thermal underwear? And leather jackets?】 

【I Love Survival Game: I’m planning to sell these and want you guys to test them out.】 

【Civil Engineering Brother: OK, I’ll give it a thorough review!】 

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: Got it!】

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: What does the review involve? I want to join too!】

He closed the survival panel.

Qiyu took three books from his backpack.

*Advanced Theory and Practice of Magic Circles*, which he’d obtained from a diamond chest.

As well as the physical training manual *The Great Guardian* and the martial art *Ghost Step*, which he had purchased at great expense.

He was interested in every single one. 

But it wasn’t the massive tree formed by a magic array in the sanctuary—it was *Advanced Theory and Practice of Magic Arrays* that captivated him the most. He gently opened the book, which looked incredibly valuable at first glance.