Chapter 207 - 142: Price and Reward, Frenzied Sweep

Chapter 207: Chapter 142: Price and Reward, Frenzied Sweep

The fifteen Dusk Sacrificial Towers produced 240 units of Dusk Fire a day.

In addition, there were three Black Iron mines, two medium-sized Lumberyards, and two quarries.

And the medium-sized Soul Stone Mine they had discovered that morning.

Without Xia Wanyin’s help, even if Shen Xing had [Jack’s Telescope] to see through the Fog, it would have taken at least four or five days.

Besides all that, there were the rewards from the Rain God Statues.

They had found a total of seven statues.

The items they obtained included:

Rain Dew Pearl (Gold) x14

Ancient Tree Guardian Seed (Purple) x12

Tree-man Warrior Seed (Blue) x65

And one more type of Gold-Quality seed: Seed of the War Ancient Tree (Gold) x2.

After being planted and cultivated for a full month, it could grow directly into a Tier Two Boss Level War Ancient Tree that possessed four major Skills and was extremely powerful.

Thanks to their perfect teamwork, it was safe to say they had hit the jackpot on today’s expedition.

Xia Wanyin acted as their human radar, locking onto targets, while Zha Ji’s superior mobility allowed them to reach each location quickly.

Then, Shen Xing would undo the Rain God Chains, obtaining the highest reward at no cost.

Under normal circumstances, an ordinary Lord might not even find a single [Rain God Statue] in a day, let alone sweep through an entire area.

Shen Xing split these resources evenly with Xia Wanyin, taking one extra Tree-man Warrior Seed for himself.

Feeling the spoils of war in her inventory, Xia Wanyin wore a satisfied smile. "Today’s haul was incredible. It’s more than all the resources I’ve gathered in the past week."

"Thank you so much, Shen Xing."

Shen Xing smiled. "I should be the one thanking you."

She had helped him uncover so many resource points and find so many statues. Strictly speaking, Shen Xing was the one who had gotten the better end of the deal.

Of course, they had already partnered up so many times that there was no need to quibble over such minor details.

"You’re welcome! You’re my friend, and friends are supposed to help each other," Xia Wanyin said with an innocent smile.

After a pause, she continued, "But we’ve already explored all the Rain God Statues and resource points within a dozen or so kilometers of here."

"If we want to keep exploring, we’ll have to go farther out, but we might also encounter stronger monsters."

Shen Xing had noticed this as well.

Around both his territory and Xia Wanyin’s, the levels of the monsters that appeared increased in tiers.

The farther away they went, the higher the monsters’ levels and the stronger they were.

While flying over an unfamiliar Black Forest earlier today, they had even sensed the auras of peak Tier Two and even Tier Three monsters.

For safety’s sake, they had ultimately steered Zha Ji away from that area.

Shen Xing pondered for a moment before saying, "Let’s call it a day. We’ll go back and process our resources, then explore in a different direction tomorrow."

He had plans for a meal with Qin Lang and Xu Jiayi today.

Calculating the time, the two of them should be arriving soon.

Xia Wanyin thought for a moment, then suggested, "Okay! Then how about we go check out the place marked on that Treasure Map tomorrow?"

Shen Xing remembered that too. Not long after the Rain God expansion started, she had found the location on the Treasure Map and had invited him to explore it with her.

Now that the expansion was over and the surrounding resource points were uncovered, it was a good time to go investigate.

"Where exactly is this place you’re talking about?" Shen Xing asked.

"It’s in that mountain range to the north."

Shen Xing’s heart skipped a beat. "You mean... the Black Heaven’s Wings Mountain Range?"

"Mhm," Xia Wanyin nodded. "But we have to go two or three kilometers deep into the mountains. There’s a hidden entrance at the bottom of a canyon."

"If we follow the entrance all the way down, we’ll find the underground ruins."

Shen Xing thought for a moment and nodded. "Alright, let’s go there first thing tomorrow and check it out."

"Yay!"

Seeing him agree, Xia Wanyin happily clenched her small fists again.

Just as the two had finished planning their exploration for the next day and were preparing to return to their territories, something happened.

Suddenly, an invisible force surged up from the ground, and Shen Xing instantly felt his body grow heavy.

It was as if an unseen giant hand was forcefully dragging them down.

"SCREECH!"

Zha Ji let out a startled cry, struggling to maintain its balance as it beat its wings furiously.

At the same time, the black earth beneath them began to heave and crack violently, muddy chunks of soil rolling to the sides.

Immediately after, enormous fingers burst from the ground like tombstones.

THUMP! THUMP THUMP THUMP!

The surfaces of the fingers were covered in wrinkles, their nails a grayish-white. Each one was as thick as a grown man’s waist.

When all the fingers had fully emerged from the ground, a monstrous creature appeared before them. It resembled a giant’s severed palm, but it had a grotesque eight or nine fingers.

[Adult Finger Insect]

[Level: 13]

[Potential: Elite★★]

[Attributes: Power 152, Spirit 138, Agility 147, Constitution 174]

[Skills: Gravity Control (By making a grasping motion with its fingers, it releases an invisible Gravity Field, reducing the movement speed of enemies within range by 30%–50% and pulling flying units to the ground).

Ambush (Lurks deep underground, Stealth +30%, Speed +50% on its first attack!).

Stone Throwing (Hurls a huge boulder, dealing AoE Physical Damage to the target with a chance to stun.)]

[Talent: Broken Finger Regeneration (When its body is injured, it can sever the damaged part, which will regenerate into a new finger after a period of time.)]

[Bonds - Finger Insect (10 Activated): All Finger Insects gain +10% movement speed, Ambush effect +20%.]

(Note: If you see a pile of strange rocks on the ground, I advise you not to go near them.)

"Finger Insects!"

Shen Xing’s heart leaped in shock.

But this time, it wasn’t a scare—it was a pleasant surprise!

Because this creature was one of the special lifeforms documented in the forum post about *Farming and Animal Husbandry*.

These Finger Insects possessed the ability of Broken Finger Regeneration and recovered very quickly.

Their fingers had firm flesh, rich in high-quality protein and abundant Energy, and were delicious whether grilled or stewed in soup.

In the resource-scarce Land of Mist, meat was a rare commodity.

"So many Finger Insects," Xia Wanyin said with her eyes closed, sensing the auras of the monsters below. "Most of them are Tier One, with a few Tier Two Finger Insects as well."

"But their Potential isn’t high, only Elite Level."

She turned her head and asked softly, "Shen Xing, should we go down and take them out?"

"No, that would be too much of a waste," Shen Xing decided instantly. "Let’s go back and get reinforcements. We’re going to capture this whole group of Finger Insects!"

With Reina’s combat power, killing this group of Finger Insects wouldn’t be difficult. The hard part was capturing them alive.

According to the records, Finger Insects were cunning creatures with astonishing survival abilities.

When they knew they were outmatched, they would burrow underground to escape.

It would be much harder to catch them then.

"Capture the Finger Insects?" Xia Wanyin was startled for a moment, but then she understood. "Count me in, then. My new Hero has a Chain of Light skill that can help you catch them. You can just give me two or three Finger Insects as my share."

"No problem."

Shen Xing agreed readily and had Zha Ji activate [Storm Wings] to accelerate, instantly breaking out of the Finger Insects’ Gravity Field.

WHOOSH—WHOOSH—!

Beating its wings, Zha Ji transformed into a streak of lightning high in the sky, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.

Seeing their prey escape, the group of Finger Insects milled about in confusion for a few moments before burrowing back into the ground.

The soil churned, and one by one, the giant hands burrowed back in like gophers, leaving only the top halves of their grayish-white nails exposed.

From a distance, they looked just like ordinary rocks.