Crack! Crack!
At nightfall, in the small courtyard in front of the thatched cottage, Zhang Yuan sharpened his knife under the moonlight.
The knife was a firewood knife, thirteen inches long, palm-width, made of ten-forged iron, the most valuable weapon he owned.
Zhang Yuan sharpened it very seriously, patiently making the blade extremely sharp bit by bit.
At the same time, he also ground away the anger and irritability in his heart.
Calm in the face of major events, only when calm can one be peaceful, only when peaceful can one think, and only through thinking can one achieve!
Zhang Yuan, having lived two lives, deeply understood that mere anger would not solve any problem when facing difficulties and danger.
Today's incident had its roots.
The root lies in Landlord Chen, Chen Deping.
Chen Family Village is the ancestral land of the Linhe Chen Clan; most of the villagers have the surname Chen, but the Chen Clan moved to the county town many years ago, with merely an ancestral hall tying them to Chen Family Village.
In fact, the Linhe Chen Clan had already established a new ancestral hall in the county town.
Chen Deping, being from a collateral branch of the Chen Clan, moved to Chen Family Village for unknown reasons.
Landlord Chen's family consisted of dozens of people, with ten household servants, which was an overwhelming force in Chen Family Village, even more so due to their assignment by the County Government Office, thus holding power in the village was inevitable.
There was simply no resistance!
It's said that Chen Deping even intends to seek the position of Village Chief after settling down.
These news were told by a neighbor granny who had just visited and are likely rumors intentionally spread by the Chen Family.
Zhang Yuan understood very well that with his current abilities, he couldn't compete with the Chen Family, so unless he wanted to abandon his family and mother to flee service, he had to find a way to earn five taels of silver to get through this tough time first.
But earning five taels of silver is no easy task!
It's known that a five-member family in the county town spends only about a dozen taels of silver in a year for food, clothing, and expenses.
Five taels could buy an acre or two of land in Chen Family Village!
Though the farmland in the mountain village isn't as valuable as that around the county town, the Zhang Family currently doesn't even have half an acre. In the past, Mother Zhang made straw sandals day and night to sell in the county town, barely managing to raise Zhang Yuan.
Now that Zhang Yuan is able to support his family, suddenly a landlord comes along to oppress him!
Clang!
Zhang Yuan raised the firewood knife in his hand, the blade shining brightly and gripping one's heart.
Reflecting the killing intent in his eyes.
Taking a deep breath, Zhang Yuan looked into the distance.
The mountain ranges stretched endlessly under the cover of darkness, like a hibernating giant dragon, immense and extremely dangerous.
"Cough, cough!"
Mother Zhang's voice came from inside: "Yuanwa'Er, it's very late, rest early."
Zhang Yuan replied, "Mother, I know."
He returned to his room, closed the door, collapsed onto the wooden bed, and fell asleep with his eyes closed.
The long night quietly passed.
At the crack of dawn, before the sky was fully light, Zhang Yuan got up, washed up briefly, then with a firewood knife on his waist, a hunting bow on his back, carrying a water bag and dry food, he left the village heading for the mountains.
In the past three years, although Zhang Yuan couldn't soften Hunter Gao's stony heart, he learned some hunting skills from him and gathered a few weapons.
He had been hunting in the mountains alone many times, gaining considerable experience.
In fact, Zhang Yuan's body had talent, he ate a lot, and he had great strength, but because he was hungry for long periods, his talent could not be exerted.
With his acquired hunting skills in recent years, the situation had improved significantly.
With exceptional strength, Zhang Yuan had the confidence to venture deeper into the mountains to see if he could find precious medicinal materials or hunt large prey.
This was a path he'd never taken before.
The mountain was high and the forest thick; as Zhang Yuan progressed, the small path on the ground quietly disappeared.
These mountains were known as Qianfeng Mountain, spanning hundreds of miles, with dangerous terrain and jagged peaks, most of the area covered in primordial forest.
Apart from a few skilled and bold individuals, no one dared venture into the depths of Qianfeng Mountain.
Because in addition to beasts, there were eeriness!
Zhang Yuan came to hunt, not to seek death, so upon observing changes in the surrounding mountains and forests, he did not continue forward.
He began to search for prey in the vicinity.
Using his experience, Zhang Yuan quickly found a beast trail nearby.
Following this trail, he found a babbling creek half a mile away.
This discovery made Zhang Yuan's eyes light up!
He hid himself next to a large rock by the creek.
Then Zhang Yuan grabbed a handful of dry grass powder from his waist pouch, evenly sprinkling it over himself, and waited patiently with his hunting bow.
This dry grass powder effectively concealed the human scent from prey and was a staple consumable for hunters.
Zhang Yuan had good luck today. He waited less than half an hour before seeing a young deer emerge from the bushes not far away.
It pricked up its ears, cautiously scanning the surroundings, and after ensuring safety, lowered its head to drink water.
This fawn, having just left its mother's protection, didn't know that just a few dozen steps away, a sharp feathered arrow was steadily aimed at its vital spot!
Whoosh!
In the next moment, the arrow left the bowstring, swiftly covering dozens of steps, hitting the young deer's heart.
It let out a shrill cry, instinctively turned to flee, only to collapse to the ground after a few steps.
Blood gushed from the wound!
Ha!
Zhang Yuan couldn't resist a fist pump, nearly shouting in excitement as he succeeded with one shot.
Though small, this deer could be sold for at least one tael of silver in the county town, a good start indeed.
If he continued to have such luck today, earning five taels of silver wouldn't be a problem!
Zhang Yuan hurriedly put away his hunting bow and ran towards the downed prey.
But just as he reached the young deer's corpse, two notifications suddenly appeared in his line of sight!
[Discover Gene Body Suitable for Containment!]
[Divine Nest Activated!]
These notifications were strikingly conspicuous, appearing too suddenly, causing Zhang Yuan to stumble, nearly faceplanting on the spot!
He quickly steadied himself, his heart filled with indescribable amazement.
"Hiss~"
As Zhang Yuan doubted he was hallucinating, a sharp burning sensation from the back of his left hand instinctively made him drop the hunting bow in his hand.
Raising his hand, Zhang Yuan was stunned to see a mark on the back of his hand that wasn't there before.
This mark was composed of three dark gold hexagons, with a blank triangle in the middle, seemingly imprinted under the skin, appearing extremely mysterious.
"Isn't this…"
Just as this thought flashed in Zhang Yuan's mind, the two notifications in his view silently disappeared, replaced by a brand new data panel.
[Host: Zhang Yuan]
[Divine Nest: Level 1 (3%)]
[Host Body: None]
[Qi Blood: 75/75]
[Source Material: 0]
Such a mark, such a panel, and such data!
Zhang Yuan was completely stupefied.
This was precisely the profession badge and panel of the Divine Nest Hunter from his favorite game, "Illusory Trace," from his past life!
Though the profession panel was greatly simplified, without character attributes, talents, equipment, and other data, Zhang Yuan, having played as a Divine Nest Hunter for ten years, knew it all too well.
In this life, having awakened his memories, Zhang Yuan often thought back to the days he spent playing games.
Those were beautiful and happy memories.
He knew he could never return to his original world, but he never dreamed he would see this familiar emblem and panel again.
Could it be that persistent thoughts really do echo back?
Zhang Yuan couldn't help but laugh, a hearty laugh, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes!
It was only with great difficulty that he managed to stabilize his emotions, but the excitement and thrill within only increased.
Having struggled for years in this new world, Zhang Yuan finally awaited his destiny-changing opportunity!
Why didn't it appear sooner?
He gently touched the Divine Nest emblem on the back of his left hand, then quickly began a search on the spot.
He searched for the gene body that could be contained by the Divine Nest.
The Divine Nest is the power source for Divine Nest Hunters, similar to the Magic Source for Mages, the Sea of Qi for Warriors, the Sacred Heart for Knights.
It can absorb specific life forms to gain special abilities to be conferred onto the host.
Greatly enhancing combat abilities.
Divine Nest Hunters are a late-game profession, the more life forms contained in the Divine Nest, and the higher their genetic level, the stronger the abilities granted to the host.
But reality differs from a game, where one can't perform actions with a single click.
Therefore, for Zhang Yuan, the immediate priority was to find the gene body that had activated the Divine Nest!