A huge thanks to the donations of GreenKitea, Katy, Jellyfish, and Violetkitty09 on kofi. Enjoy these bonus chapters!

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Until the weather issue was resolved, Qiyu didn’t want to take in any new territory residents for the time being.

The Screaming Lily of the Valley suddenly let out a shriek.

Qiyu didn’t hesitate; he went out immediately.

Even with the Sun-Turning Sunflower present, visibility at night was still inferior to that during the day, and the heavy rain further obstructed his view. 

Qiyu decided to unleash his mental energy. Within his “domain”—invisible to ordinary people—silver mental threads radiated out from him, spreading throughout his territory. He surveyed the area.

A small flock of swifts, sheltered by the heavy rain, was about to reach their territory.

Qiyu didn’t wait for the energy tower to act. 

Several water arrows materialized out of thin air, each piercing through several swifts in quick succession.

Before they even hit the ground, the flock of swifts had turned into white balls of light.

【Obtained swift Meat x8, swift Feathers x10, Level 1 Beast Crystal x1.】

【Successfully killed 19 Level 1 Mutant swifts. Event Leaderboard unlocked. Points Store unlocked.】

Only one Beast Crystal from 19 swifts? Qiyu curiously tapped the Survival Panel.

There was a new swift-shaped icon on it, so he tapped to take a look.

There was a points leaderboard, already densely packed with rankings.

The top spot was held by:

I Love Survival Game: 19

So that small flock from earlier—a total of 19 swifts—earned 19 points. In other words, killing one Level 1 swift earns 1 point.

Qiyu tapped the “Points Store” in the bottom-right corner. At first glance, his breathing quickened. 

Level 3 Shelter Blueprint: 120,000 points. 

Level 2 Shelter Blueprint: 60,000 points. 

Shelter Shield: 50,000 points. 

…

1 Advanced Farmland, 5,000 points. 

3 Intermediate Farmlands, 2,000 points. 

1 Beginner Farmland, 1,000 points. 

……

Basic Building Upgrade Blueprint, 1,000 points.  Basic Plant Seed Pack, 500 points. 

Basic Potion Material Pack, 500 points. Basic Alchemy Material Pack, 500 points.

……

Any Furniture Mystery Box, 50 points. 

Basic Food Mystery Boxes, 50 points. 

……

The rewards for this event clearly favor upgrading the Shelter. Qiyu’s heart skipped a beat as he looked at the Level 3 Shelter blueprint at the very top. 

The upgrade materials for the Shelter aren’t hard to come by at this stage; it’s only the Shelter upgrade blueprint that’s hard to find.

He couldn’t find any in Gold Hole City, and when he tactfully asked Guild Master Sean, the latter had no idea what a “shelter” was. He also found no relevant information at the Mage Guild shop.

He never would have imagined that this limited-time event to hunt swifts would actually appear!

120,000 points—which means 120,000 Level 1 swifts are needed.

If Qiyu had felt it was a hassle before, now he was worried about only one thing: Are there really enough swifts in the Star Forest? 

Zone Channel:

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: Holy crap, holy crap! Are there really this many good items in the Points Store?】

【The More I Involution, The Bitterer My Life Becomes: Just take a look at the points, sweetie. You’ve got to fight tooth and nail for any good stuff.】

【Liver Emperor: In a survival game, isn’t every day a fight for your life? At least with this event, going all out might get you some good stuff. Let’s grind!】

【Chocolate Candy Ball: Go for it, big shots! We little Karami players will just scrape by—even getting some soup or food packs would be great.】

【A Stray By The Road: Level 3 Shelter blueprints… I don’t think there’s been a server-wide announcement about this yet, right? Wonder which big shot will be the first to get it.】

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: I, Cockroach, am betting on Game Boss!】

【Irritable Brother: Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask @Cockroach Taste Is So Weird for a while—what’s the story behind that username?】

……

01 Survival Squad.

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: Wow, shelter upgrade blueprints—I finally have a chance to upgrade my wooden cabin!】

【Civil Engineering Brother: I just networked a bit and tried out all those guilds. Points can’t be transferred—that’s actually a good thing for us.】

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: You’re awesome, bro.】

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: This event… This Survival Game really knows how to get people fired up. Even an old-timer like me can’t help but get excited just looking at the rewards.】

【I Love Survival Game: Let’s all give it our best.】

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: Have all the top players come out of the woodwork? Haha, good luck to you too—let’s aim to be the first to get the Level 3 Shelter blueprint.】

【I Love Survival Game: Thanks, I’ll do my best.】

He almost laughed out loud at that by-the-book reply.

After leaving the zone chat channel, Qiyu refreshed the event page again.

He raised his eyebrows when he saw that the points leaderboard had changed. The top spot was now held by an old acquaintance.

“My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens,” with 89 points.

Qiyu:?

There were no more swifts in his own territory.

Does that mean he was attracting more swifts?

Furthermore, as the system has previously warned, mutated plants attract mutated creatures.

Then there’s the scent-tracing grass, which has now matured in large patches—it’s another plant that can attract mutated creatures.

What about his current favorite mutated creature, the swift?  Where are they?

Qiyu didn’t look, but due to the changes in rankings, a new discussion had popped up in the regional channel:

【I Am Domineering: All I can say is that some lifestyle professions, no matter how strong they are in the early game, are still pretty ineffective when it comes to real, hands-on combat.】

【Hundred Demons Retrograde: Who wouldn’t agree? As the saying goes, ‘When my neighbor hoards grain, I hoard guns; my neighbor is my granary.’ Haha, no matter how well a lifestyle profession develops, doesn’t it still just end up as a health pack in the late game?】 

【Irritable Brother: Seriously, guys, don’t you think you’re acting just like clowns jumping around on a stage? As soon as you have a slight advantage, you start bragging and showing off and belittle others, only to get your face slapped—and the cycle repeats.】

【Irritable Brother: I’m actually a little curious—it seems like the top player in the game has never even acknowledged you guys, so why do you hate them so much?】

Although no names were mentioned, looking at the “Lifestyle Occupations” at the top of the list, aside from “I Love Survival Game”—that “farmer” whom the Temple hates with a passion—who else could it be?

【I Am Domineering: Is “I Love Survival Game” your father? He’s so protective. Does Dad even know he has such a dutiful, wonderful son?】

【Irritable Brother: I’d be all for sucking up to him—I don’t mind at all. Too bad the big shot’s so mysterious.】

【I Am Domineering:?】

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: Ah, I’d love to have the game’s big shot as my godfather, too. Who wouldn’t want a powerful, tough-talking-but-soft-hearted, emotionally stable big dad in this lonely and helpless survival game?】

【I Am Domineering：？】

Need a Little Money to Save Me was secretly watching the drama unfold—look here. He really wants to burst out and brag, “I’m almost done sucking up to him!” 

But after that traumatic experience at the Temple of the Gods last time, I can only quietly enjoy it on my own.

“My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens” watched the discussion in the zone chat and snorted coldly.

His class was “Monster Hunter,” and one of his class skills gives me a chance to get double loot after killing mutated creatures. 

During this points event, the points earned from killing swifts triggered the skill effect, resulting in double points.

He’d just had some good luck—a group of swifts he encountered triggered the double drop right away, sending his points soaring to first place and putting me way ahead of everyone else.

He looked at the points store and smiled with confidence: Wasn’t this event tailor-made for him? This time, there was only one other participant—a single farmer. How could he possibly compete with him? 

The farmer himself had no idea that he had started competing with someone again.

He was still puzzling over why so few swifts were appearing on his side when, just as that thought crossed his mind, the screaming lily of the valley in the field began to scream frantically.

Qiyu had now figured out some patterns: the sound and frequency of the screaming lily of the valley’s cries were related to the enemies attacking. Like this time—they were screaming much more urgently than before.

“Something big’s coming!”

He snapped to attention and projected his spiritual energy.

In the darkness, a grayish-white “cloud” was rapidly approaching his territory.

His Survival Panel updated simultaneously with a warning: among this flock of swifts, aside from Level 1 swifts, there were actually more than a dozen Level 2 swifts!

Qiyu didn’t wait for the swifts to enter his territory either; he immediately unleashed dozens of streams of water arrows to blanket them, finishing off any stragglers with additional water arrows.

He chose to use water arrows because he’d discovered that, in this kind of weather, casting water-element spells consumed less mana.

He also had another thought: Earlier in the resource zone, he’d wielded the Giant Wood Heart Staff all day, and upon returning, he’d discovered his attack power had increased by two points.

This suggests that one’s attributes can be enhanced through “training.”

Similarly, magic should also be able to be improved through practice and real combat. Swifts are numerous and relatively weak, making them ideal targets for practicing magic.

【Killed 64 Level 1 swifts and 13 mutant swifts; obtained 45 swifts meag and 60 swift feathers. Obtained 13 Level 1 Beast Crystals and 3 Level 2 Beast Crystals.】

This time, there were clearly a few more drops.

Looking at his score, his total in the I Love Survival Game has risen to 148, putting him back in first place.

Qiyu did a quick calculation: excluding the 1 point per Level 1 swift, the 13 Mutant swifts yielded a total of 65 points. In other words, each Mutant swift killed is worth 5 points.

Channel 01

【Irritable Brother: …See, I told you so.】

【I Am Domineering: It’s just good luck. Who can’t take down a swift? Isn’t this mode just about whose shelter happens to get invaded by more swifts?】

【Irritable Brother: That makes a lot of sense, but you weren’t so smart just a moment ago.】 

【I Am Domineering: Irritable Brother, huh? You better not end up in my hands!】

【Irritable Brother: Look at that—he’s getting worked up again.】

……

Ever since the first batch of swifts appeared, they’ve been coming in sporadically—almost nonstop. Roughly every half hour, another batch of swifts shows up.

Qiyu held his ground at the 10 o’clock position the entire time, not letting the energy tower or the mutated plants intervene, and single-handedly eliminated all the swifts. As a result, his score had already reached 1,600.

His inventory now contained a total of 849 swift Meats, 827 swift Feathers, 203 Level 1 Beast Crystals, and 29 Level 2 Beast Crystals.

Qiyu paused his actions.

His magical energy was still fairly abundant; killing Level 1 swifts didn’t require him to go all out, and during the breaks between rounds, he could replenish his magical energy through cultivation. Overall, the consumption wasn’t significant.

He didn’t plan to continue.

For one thing, he needed rest himself.

But more importantly, ever since the swifts appeared, there’s been a little one in the territory crying out for food.

The demon vine.

Chu Qiyu hadn’t used “Whisper of Nature,” and, absorbed in practicing magic to slay monsters, hadn’t noticed it yet.

It wasn’t until the third or fourth round that a powerful emotion suddenly appeared in his mental realm—without the need for “Whispers of Nature.”

“Hungry!”

“I want to eat…”

“Save some, save some…” 

Qiyu was startled and immediately cast the “Whispers of Nature” spell, only to have his mind instantly flooded with the word “hungry.”