Chapter 28: Pure Sheep Set

A new day began, and as usual, the group gathered at the south gate.

After a morning of intense battle, Su Ning and Qiao Duoduo were the first to reach level eight.

During the ten-minute lunch break, Su Ning looked at the two new bicycles she had just acquired and was slightly speechless. She wasn’t sure if she was just getting arrogant, but these blue-quality vehicles were treasures others could hardly obtain. And as of today’s lunch, Su Ning already owned five of them.

“Shall we try going in another direction this afternoon?”

Though the other side was scattered with clumps of black creatures, unclear in shape, and the mice there offered nothing new, perhaps the monsters on the other side would bring new rewards. But cautious Su Ning would never be the first to “try her luck.”

“I agree,” Qiao Duoduo seconded.

“I agree too,” Huoyang said. His principle was always to follow his wife.

Following the principle of majority rule, the Ma siblings lost their say.

So, in the afternoon:

Qiao Duoduo led the monsters first. She drew her bow fully and released an arrow, hitting a black, clumped creature not far away.

The creature rose and moved. Su Ning finally realized what it was—a basin-sized giant spider, not counting its legs.

When the spider entered Huoyang’s attack range, he stepped forward and stomped on its head.

Only then did everyone see the small text above the spider’s head: “Lv. 8 Big-Belly Round Spider.”

The spider thrashed in pain. Its front legs scratched Huoyang’s ankle, making him pull back his foot.

The spider quickly backed up and spat a stream of white sticky fluid, hitting Huoyang’s left foot.

Huoyang was startled, stepping back, and then tried to lift his foot—but it couldn’t move.

“Damn it! My foot won’t lift… it’s stuck!”

“Damn spider!”

Qiao Duoduo and Ma Shangfei positioned themselves on either side, drawing the spider’s attention and taking turns attacking.

Soon, the spider died. Its saliva lost its stickiness, freeing Huoyang.

“Fighting this thing must be hard to coordinate!” Ma Shangfei remarked, examining the spider corpse.

Su Ning recalled Huoyang’s stance and thought there might be a better way.

“If we both step on its belly, maybe it’ll work.”

“But the spider would struggle, and we couldn’t stand stably.”

Su Ning looked at the questioning Qiao Duoduo, pulled out some Golden Osmanthus wood from her bag—long pieces about the thickness of a wrist and over two meters long.

Su Ning quietly approached another spider, made a small jump, and stepped on its abdomen. Supporting herself with two pieces of wood, she stood firmly on the spider.

The spider thrashed in pain but failed. It spat forward randomly—benefiting Su Ning on its back.

“See the range in front? Go around it, approach from the back, and sneak attack its rear. The saliva can’t reach there.”

Following her instructions, the four approached from behind. Indeed, the spider could only be killed obediently this way.

At that moment, Ma Shangting suddenly spoke:

“Can I step on it?”

Su Ning and Qiao Duoduo exchanged glances, unsure, while Huoyang awkwardly explained—he wasn’t worried about anything else, but if something went wrong, Ma Shangfei might not handle it.

“This isn’t 100% safe either,” he said.

“I know, but this is the only thing I can do for everyone on our journey,” Ma Shangting immediately interrupted to explain. Seeing the others silent, she continued:

“Sister Su Ning is a priest. If she stands there holding the wood and stepping on the spider, how could she heal everyone in time? I don’t have much attack power, but even if I fail, the spider can’t kill me instantly. Sister Su Ning would save me. The rest of you are fighters—losing one attacker would significantly slow down the kill speed. So there’s no one more suitable than me.”

Her reasoning was logical and reasonable.

Su Ning found it amusing. Qiao Duoduo found it unusual. Huoyang thought, well, she was right—this plan should work.

After a moment of silence, Ma Shangfei spoke:

“Then let’s do as she says!”

He bowed to Su Ning.

“Please take good care of my sister.”

Su Ning felt slightly awkward and responded stiffly:

“No need. We’re all teammates—I’ll naturally look after Shangting.”

Ma Shangting took the wood, approached the spider, and leapt. At first, she was a bit afraid and unsteady, but after adjusting slightly on the spider’s back, she stabilized.

Gradually, the others relaxed.

By the time they returned at night, Ma Shangfei’s face was full of uncontrollable smiles, proud as if watching his daughter grow.

Even though Ma Shangting had learned to step on spiders, Su Ning remained cautious.

She took out a two-meter Golden Osmanthus staff, arm-thick in diameter, thinned and smoothed in the middle, with a groove on top set with green crystals, and the bottom hollowed to embed a sheep spine.

After considerable effort, the staff was excellent. About two meters high, thick at both ends, thinner in the middle, gem-encrusted at the top, sheep-bone embedded at the bottom—a strange, mixed-style creation.

Looking at the strange staff, Su Ning admired her own creativity—how she could combine unrelated materials into such an eclectic piece.

Seeing it was still early, she also took out rabbit leather.

“No, can’t use rabbits,” she thought. “This has to be a pure sheep set—sheep leather, sheep bones.”

A small lamb-leather vest, reinforced externally with sheep ribs, looked oddly magical.

Four leather pieces were strung with a belt around the waist, forming a simple leather skirt. The pieces overlapped for mobility, though accidental exposure was possible.

The outer layer was reinforced with sheep leg bones. Taking out the sheep-bone hat, staff, leather vest, and skirt, she silently completed the set.

“Beep, congratulations! Crafting successful. Item detected: Four-piece set. Assigning attributes…”

“Beep, please name the set.”

“Pure Sheep Set”—truly all sheep: leather, bones, everything.

“Beep, naming successful.”

“Beep, Item: Hat attribute assigned. Please name the hat.”

“Sheep-Bone Hat”—indeed, part of the set. Delightful.

*“Beep, naming successful.

Item: Sheep-Bone Hat
Grade: Green
Required Level: 8
Attributes: Constitution +5
Craftsman: Su Ning”*

“Beep, Weapon: Magic Staff attribute assigned. Please name the weapon.”

“Sheep-Bone Staff”—a magic staff! Perhaps because of the death-element bone she added?

*“Beep, naming successful.

Weapon: Sheep-Bone Staff
Grade: Green
Required Level: 8
Attributes: Intelligence +8, Agility +3 (green crystal bonus)
Craftsman: Su Ning”*

“Beep, Item: Top attribute assigned. Please name it.”

“Sheep Leather Vest”—sleeveless, essentially a top.

*“Beep, naming successful.

Item: Sheep Leather Vest
Grade: Green
Required Level: 8
Attributes: Constitution +3, Strength +2
Craftsman: Su Ning”*

“Beep, Item: Bottom attribute assigned. Please name it.”

“Sheep Leather Skirt”—pure sheep leather.

*“Beep, naming successful.

Item: Sheep Leather Skirt
Grade: Green
Required Level: 8
Attributes: Constitution +3, Agility +2
Craftsman: Su Ning”*

“Beep, full set bonus triggered: Constitution +10.”