Chapter 3: The Spotted Insect King

By the time Xiao Shi arrived at the grove where the Five-Colored Spirit-Tail Sparrows were raised, it was already noon.

The scorching sun was high in the sky.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

In this shimmering light, Xiao Shi looked up at the Five-Colored Spirit-Tail Sparrows flying overhead.

These sparrows were significantly larger than common sparrows. When fully grown, they could reach the size of a hen.

Their feathers were tough, and their nature was fierce, roughly equivalent to the second level of martial arts training.

However, the Five-Colored Spirit-Tail Sparrow was a vital resource for the Red Tiger Sect not because of its strength.

The Five-Colored Spirit-Tail Sparrow was valuable from head to tail.

Its blood and feathers were crucial materials for forging weapons.

Most notably, its tail feathers were key to significantly enhancing an item’s quality.

Additionally, the meat of the Five-Colored Spirit-Tail Sparrow was delicious and could significantly boost one’s physical strength after consumption.

Someone once calculated that the enhancement from eating one Five-Colored Spirit-Tail Sparrow was roughly equivalent to completing three hundred cycles of cultivation, which would normally take an average person fifteen days of training.

Most importantly, frequent consumption of the Five-Colored Spirit-Tail Sparrow could even lead to the development of powerful beastly energy within one’s body!

These benefits made the Five-Colored Spirit-Tail Sparrow a crucial resource for the Red Tiger Sect.

While sect members could exchange their contribution points for these sparrows, the cost was as high as eight thousand points per bird!

Such a steep price meant few could afford them.

Xiao Shi, for instance, had accumulated less than a hundred contribution points so far…

Shaking his head, Xiao Shi shifted his gaze from the sparrows in the sky to the ground. Taking advantage of the solitude, he began to dig for worms and ants.

After a while, his efforts yielded little: only three earthworms and no ants at all.

Xiao Shi frowned, realizing that this world was vastly different from his previous life on Blue Star.

Ants were common in his previous life, but here, they were nowhere to be found.

Although he didn’t find many earthworms and no ants, Xiao Shi did manage to catch two spotted insects.

These insects were similar to beetles, with vibrant spots on their backs and long antennae on their heads.

In this grove, spotted insects were abundant and almost everywhere.

Xiao Shi soon realized that catching these spotted insects might be more practical than digging for earthworms.

He decided to abandon the earthworms altogether and focus on finding spotted insects.

Whether on the ground, in the trees, or among the plants, these spotted insects were everywhere.

Xiao Shi put the captured spotted insects and the three earthworms into a cloth bag, deciding to deal with them later.

By evening, Xiao Shi returned to his room with a bag full of spotted insects. His efforts had paid off; he estimated he had caught at least seventy or eighty insects that afternoon.

This was far more efficient than digging for earthworms.

Excited and eager, Xiao Shi carefully reached into the bag, grabbed a wriggling spotted insect, and placed it on the ground. Like cracking a walnut, he smashed it with his fist.

Smack!

With the strength of someone at the fourth level of martial arts, Xiao Shi crushed the insect, causing its purple-red blood to ooze out before its body shattered and exploded.

A porcelain bowl fell out.

[Name: Porcelain Bowl]

[Type: Bowl]

[Grade: Mundane]

[Description: A common dining utensil]

[Note: Quite fragile, handle with care]

“Next,” Xiao Shi muttered.

He tossed the bowl aside, grabbed a second spotted insect from the bag, and smashed it with his fist.

Smack!

This time, a light golden coin fell out.

[Name: Martial Coin]

[Type: Currency]

[Grade: Mundane]

[Description: The currency used in this world]

[Note: Enjoy the happiness that money brings]

“Keep going!”

Xiao Shi pulled out another spotted insect and crushed it with a punch.

A pink undergarment fell out.

[Name: Undergarment]

[Type: Clothing]

[Grade: Mundane]

[Description: A woman’s undergarment]

[Note: You can wear it too, if you have a special preference]

Xiao Shi: “……”

“Again!”

Smack!

This time, it was a jug of wine.

[Name: Delicious Fruit Wine]

[Type: Wine]

[Grade: Mundane]

[Description: A wine brewed from unknown fruits, exceptionally tasty]

[Note: Even if you don’t like drinking, you’ll love this]

Xiao Shi took a swig from the jug. The sweet and tangy flavors, with a hint of bitterness, filled his taste buds and refreshed his senses like the scent of freshly bloomed violets.

“Great wine!”

Xiao Shi’s eyes lit up.

Despite having tried many wines in his previous life, this was the best he had ever tasted.

Just as the notes suggested, he found himself captivated by the wine, even though he wasn’t a drinker.

Reflecting on the food bun that had dropped earlier, he concluded, “The food and drink items dropped are incredibly tasty!”

With this in mind, Xiao Shi took another sip of the wine before continuing to pull out and crush more spotted insects.

Chopsticks, a copper mirror, a chicken leg, a blanket, a wooden basin, a flute…

The pile of items in front of Xiao Shi grew larger and larger, but the pill he longed for never appeared.

His brows furrowed deeper with each failure.

After crushing over fifty spotted insects, all he got were mundane items.

Not a single pill.

Just as he was about to continue, he felt a sudden, painful grip on his finger, as if caught in a vise.

“Huh?”

Xiao Shi looked down and saw a much larger spotted insect, nearly twice the size of the others, biting his finger.

“Gotcha!”

Xiao Shi’s eyes flashed with recognition. He had noticed this insect’s size when he caught it earlier.

Ordinary spotted insects had no combat power, but this one had the strength equivalent to the first level of martial arts.

It must be the Insect King.

Xiao Shi grabbed the Insect King, threw it to the ground, and smashed it with his fist.

Smack!

Even the Insect King couldn’t withstand Xiao Shi’s punch and was crushed instantly.

However, unlike the others, its body remained intact, and a brown-covered book fell out.

[Name: Arc Flash (Earth Rank)]

[Type: Movement Technique Manual]

[Grade: Martial Level]

[Description: The signature movement technique of the Origin Sect, combining speed with formidable power]

[Note: Face the wind!]

“A movement technique manual!!”

“And an Earth Rank manual at that!”

Xiao Shi’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

Manuals were typically divided into four ranks: Heaven, Earth, Mystical, and Mortal.

In the Red Tiger Sect, there were many sword, blade, and movement techniques, but they required contribution points to learn.

The higher the rank, the more points needed.

With few missions completed, Xiao Shi had few contribution points. He couldn’t even afford to learn the lowest Mortal Rank techniques.

But now, this Earth Rank movement technique manual was worth as much as the Supreme Potential Pill!

“After killing so many spotted insects that only dropped mundane items, this Insect King dropped a martial-level manual…”

Xiao Shi’s eyes shone with understanding.

“If I’m right, it’s related to the creature’s strength…”

“Ordinary spotted insects might also drop martial-level items, but the probability is low. It might take hundreds, even thousands of kills.”

“But killing a stronger Insect King yielded a martial-level manual instantly…”

“So the conclusion is, the stronger the creature I kill, the higher the grade of items it drops!”

“Their strength corresponds to different levels.”

“Spotted insects, mosquitoes, earthworms—these creatures correspond to ordinary people’s level, so they drop mundane items.”

“The Insect King, with strength equivalent to a martial artist, corresponds to the martial level, so it dropped a martial-level manual!”

“If that’s the case…”

“I need to find creatures corresponding to the martial artist level to kill, to efficiently obtain martial-level items!”

End of Chapter 3