A huge thanks to GreenKiTea in Kofi for the kofis. Enjoy these bonus chapters!

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【I Love Survival Game: God Has No Form,  you’re so kind.】

Although his tone was a bit odd, he was clearly concerned about my well-being. He said solemnly:【From now on, whenever I take down a high-level mutated creature, I’ll give you all the meat.】

【God Has No Form: I know, I know—aren’t you already keeping all your rations stored here with me?】 That’s different, Qiyu thought to himself.

He gave this food to God Has No Form—half for his own consumption, and half as payment for cooking and living expenses. But the meat from mutated creatures was specifically meant for God Has No Form’s cultivation.

Never mind, he couldn’t be bothered to explain—after all, they hadn’t encountered any yet.

【I Love Survival Game: Is there anything you’re particularly short on?  I think I might have some here.】

【God Has No Form: “Don’t worry about it. I’m not lacking anything—I’m already the richest person in Zone 88.”】 

He muttered under his breath, “Thank goodness it was me he ran into. Otherwise, with how laid-back he is, anyone else would’ve had their underwear swindled right off them.”

He knew Qiyu’s habits—if he was still talking to him, he  must be eating—so he urged him:

【God Has No Form: Hurry up and eat. Isn’t it really cold where you are? Your food’s getting cold.】

【I Love Survival Game: Okay.】

He closed the chat window and focused on eating. 

The soup tasted just like the one he’d had that morning—delicious, with a strange, delicate fragrance—and he drank half a bowl in one go. Compared to the meat he’d eaten before, the texture of this high-level mutated creature’s meat was quite different.

As he ate, before Qiyu could even appreciate the meat’s tender, soft, and springy texture, it dissolved into a stream of pure energy and was swallowed. 

Qiyu：……

How should he put it? It’s good—really good—and it does smell amazing, but it just doesn’t feel quite right when he eats it. 

He’d now developed his own philosophy about food: to really enjoy meat, you have to chew it thoroughly and savor every bite. 

Realizing what he was thinking, Qiyu silently told himself he’d really gotten too big for his britches. With such a delicacy to eat, how dare he complain that it wasn’t perfect?

Still, God Has No Form was right—he really couldn’t eat too much of this high-grade exotic beast meat. After finishing one steak, Qiyu clearly felt “full.”

He hadn’t felt this way since becoming a Level 3 mage.

Thanks to his magical power, going several meals without eating had no effect on his body. Similarly, with ordinary food, even if he ate a little extra, he never felt “stuffed.”

This steak didn’t look like much, yet it was surprisingly filling.

He didn’t know that God Has No Form had never even expected him to finish it.

The flesh of a Level 5 Mutant Energy creature contained an immense amount of energy. God Has No Form had originally estimated that, given his physical strength as a mage, finishing half of it would be about all he could manage.

He had no idea that his mage friend possessed an Attack stat as high as 48—a level even many strength-based players could only dream of. Qiyu was unaware of this as well.

He was shocked by his inability to eat it, and he recalled what God Has No Form had said earlier. “You mages with your frail little bodies”—wasn’t that just saying outright that mages have low physical strength? 

Qiyu, who suffered from extreme fear of insufficient firepower, immediately felt anxious. 

He opened the Magic Guild store and began searching for any way to improve his physical strength.

Answer 1: Use items that boost your physical constitution. For example, potions and attribute-enhancing fruits. 

Answer 2: Learn physical training techniques or martial arts.

Answer 3: Craft equipment with high defense attributes.

For defensive gear, he has the Guardian Mage Robe.

Items that boost physical constitution are sold at the Mage Shop. After searching for cultivation techniques and martial arts, he found them.

【Agility · Ghost Step: Created by an unknown necromancer. The following notes are from the unknown necromancer himself: Due to my extraordinary talent and too many enemies, I once held the record for being relentlessly hunted for two consecutive years. Ghost Step was created during a burst of inspiration while being pursued; when mastered, it allows one to manifest countless clones, with movements so bizarre that it’s impossible to distinguish the real from the fake.】

Price: 50,000 gold coins.

【Technique · Earth Guardian. Created by Earth Magister Rain. Note: The best-selling mage physical training technique, which has received countless positive reviews from sellers.】

Price: 100,000 gold coins.

……

Qiyu looked through several descriptions, and these two were the ones that appealed to him the most.

One is a movement technique that looks incredibly powerful, and the other is the best-selling physical cultivation technique. What’s more, these two are also the cheapest of their respective types.

Qiyu began to ponder: As for movement techniques, he had just acquired a stack of “Blue Sky Wings,” so for now, they weren’t a top priority. 

…Although this “Ghost Step” was currently the only one he could afford.

As for the “Earth Guardian”—a body-forging technique with high sales and many positive reviews—he really wanted it.

The only drawback is his lack of funds; he has 74,963 gold coins, nearly 25,000 gold coins short.

In his backpack, the most valuable item was undoubtedly a level 3 magic crystal worth 100 gold coins, and he still had 176 of them.

But he certainly couldn’t sell this.

There was another way to make money: they carve magic scrolls and sell them.

Although he’d just knocked himself unconscious, Qiyu didn’t have any lingering fears about inscribing magic scrolls. On the contrary, after his previous experience, he felt that his control over magic was better, and he was confident he could inscribe them more efficiently now.

He just needed to keep an eye on the quantity; inscribing 100 scrolls a day would be about right.

100 scrolls—taking the Fireball spell as an example. Buying materials from the Magic Guild store costs 2 gold coins, and selling them yields 10 gold coins.

If he switches to a higher-level spell, such as “Spirit of Fire,” the selling price will be higher, but it will also require more time and magical energy.

Fireball is relatively easy to make and offers good value for the effort. Based on 100 Fireballs—costing 200 gold to make and selling for 1,000 gold—the profit is 800 gold. It takes a month to save up 25,000 gold.

In a month, whether he visits the traveling merchant in Gold Hole City or waits for a real traveling merchant to come by, either option is more profitable than this. 

Selling magic scrolls to players in the area?

Qiyu shook his head: “Magic scrolls are too valuable. If I sell them cheaply, I might as well just give them to the Guild Shop. To sell them for their true value, each one would have to go for at least 20 gold coins.” 

Players have gold coins, so that would mean 20 emerald crystals or 20 Level 1 beast crystals. It’s just as difficult to break into the market that way.

As he was pondering this, a message suddenly popped up on his Survival Board.

【Announcement: Resource Zone Open This Month: Starting now, players holding Resource Zone cards may enter the resource zone by presenting their cards.】 

Immediately afterward, a prompt appeared:

【Player “I Love Survival Game,” do you wish to enter the resource zone?】

10-minute countdown to select.

01 Survival Squad:

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: Did you guys just get a system notification? Resource Zone.】

【Civil Engineering Brother: What’s a resource zone?】

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: Yes.】

【I Love Survival Game: I got a system notification.】

So, only players with resource zone cards receive system notifications? He opened the zone chat and, sure enough, players were asking about it.

Clearly, there were more than just one or two players in Zone 01 who owned the resource zone card.

【Need a Little Money to Save Me: Gaming Master, did you get the notification?】

【Need a Little Money to Save Me: After getting burned last time, I’ll never dare to show off anything in the zone channel again.】

【Need A Little Money to Save: I was just about to send you a card, but it says I can’t send it.】

【Need A Little Money to Save: Holy crap, I’m so scared! What’s this resource zone for? Not all players with cards go there—what if I run into someone who kills to steal loot?】

A message from Need A Little Money to Save Me also popped up.

【I Love Survival Game: I got a system notification.】

He recalled what they had told him.

【I Love Survival Game: Special zones in the resource zone—go in to search for resources. What color is your card? I only know about the green safe zone, where players aren’t allowed to attack each other.】

【Need A Little Money to Save Me: That’s great! I have a green card.】

【Need A Little Money to Save Me: Thanks for letting me know, Gaming Master.】

【I Love Survival Game:…】

He closed the chat window and saw that people in the zone channel were still discussing this:

【I Love Survival Game: Here’s what I know: There are all kinds of resources in the resource zone. Resource cards serve as entry tickets, and each card can be used once. Green cards indicate safe zones.】

After saying that, he left the zone channel.

He then opened the chat window with God Has No Form:

【I Love Survival Game: I’ve got it. I might not have time to reply tonight, so no need to make dinner for me.】

【God Has No Form: What a coincidence—I’m in the same boat. I might not have time tonight either.】

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

【Received 10 charcoal-grilled meat skewers.】

Qiyu looked at the wooden skewer, over a meter long, with a generous string of meat chunks threaded onto it. The golden-brown skewers were generously sprinkled with spices, and the aroma was so tempting he couldn’t help but swallow hard. 5

【God Has No Form: Eat this if you’re hungry. Pair it with some fruit yourself.】

Dan Xingyu had actually prepared a large batch yesterday—he’d used half a Sky-Ripper to make a variety of dishes. 

He didn’t know why himself—Qiyu had clearly sent him enough to share, telling him to pair it with fruit to save a lot of money. But he did just that, preferring to give them to “I Love Survival Game” at every meal. 

He thought deeply: “Maybe it’s the sense of ritual that comes from eating with my dining partner.”