Chapter 4: Summoning the Spirit Beast

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This video log seemed to have worked well; the system rewarded him with 30 development points.

Thirty development points were equivalent to completing another villager’s commission.

Satisfied, Chu Jiu extinguished the fire and returned to lie down on his haystack.

After a day spent collecting eggs and fishing, he soon fell into a deep sleep on the pile of hay.

When he awoke, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

Instinctively, Chu Jiu reached up to rub his eyes, only to find his arms aching in an indescribable way.

He tried to sit up—

His whole body ached! It felt as if he had slept all night on the hard bench in a waiting room.

Turning his stiff neck around, Chu Jiu couldn’t help but laugh bitterly:

He had always been a restless sleeper, and sometime during the night he had rolled off the haystack, ending up sleeping on the bare, hard wooden floor.

He sneezed twice and resolved that today he must build himself a proper bed.

Determined, he opened the “Crafting Manual” to the section on “Single Bed Construction,” carefully calculating in his mind the required dimensions of the wood and how the joints should be assembled...

Two hours passed.

He now understood exactly how to build a wooden bed.

Unfortunately, with his current carpentry skills, it would probably take several days to make this bed.

Was he really going to roll around on the floor again tonight, waking up aching all over?

Chu Jiu was just about to fret when the system notification sounded:

[Host has independently completed more than three crafting recipes and simulated the item construction process in the mind by reading books. The “Recipe Comprehension” skill is now unlocked!]

[Recipe Comprehension: After the host learns how to make an item, they can activate the corresponding recipe without physically crafting it, simply by completing a simulated production process in the background “virtual assembly line.”]

[Each use of “Recipe Comprehension” consumes spiritual energy. Please use this skill judiciously according to your condition!]

Huh?

So there was this shortcut as well?

Chu Jiu immediately activated the skill.

[Please simulate the crafting process of the required recipe in as much detail as possible. The more detailed the simulation, the less spiritual energy consumed.]

Suddenly, a “virtual assembly line” appeared in Chu Jiu’s mind, with several empty slots.

Next to each slot floated small icons representing materials and tools—wood, ruler, hammer, and so forth.

All Chu Jiu needed to do was drag these icons into the slots in the order of the bed construction process and specify their exact usage.

Muttering to himself that this system interface looked like a children’s game, he carefully dragged and labeled each item.

Moments later, the system notified:

[Spend 1 spiritual energy point to obtain the “Rudimentary Single Bed” recipe x1.]

[Would you like to spend the spiritual energy now?]

Yes.

[“Rudimentary Single Bed” recipe x1 obtained.]

[Recipe category: Tool]

[Recipe requirements: 1 spiritual energy point, 5 units of wood]

Chu Jiu exhaled in relief and pressed “use.”

[Estimated crafting time: approximately 120 minutes]

That was far faster than hammering away at the wood himself.

While waiting for the system to build the bed, Chu Jiu used the recipe from the book to weave a mattress out of straw.

Two hours later, a simple, natural wood-colored single bed appeared before him.

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Chu Jiu quickly laid his mattress on the bed and rolled around on it.

Not bad at all! Sleeping on it was much more comfortable than on the floor!

He had planned to craft a set of table and chairs as well—after all, eating meals squatting on the floor was rather disheartening—but he had run out of wood.

Checking the time, he decided to make a trip to the Forgotten Forest to chop more wood and catch more fish.

*

Not far from his small cabin, Chu Jiu spotted a young woman in a brown dress lingering beneath a signpost, glancing over at him every now and then.

Was she up to something?

Chu Jiu waved at her.

She stopped, returned his wave somewhat nervously, then quickly ran off.

Chu Jiu: …?

He shook his head, deciding not to think too much, and proceeded toward the forest.

*

Chu Jiu plunged deep into the dense woods, chopping down eighty units of wood in one go.

Exhausted and hungry afterward, he noticed his stamina had indeed dropped by five points.

Fortunately, he had dried fish in his backpack.

He picked ten of the poisonous-looking indigo apples from the mutated apple tree and sat happily beneath it, planning to combine the apples and dried fish for a quick lunch.

Just as he pulled out the dried fish, a strange “hissing” sound came from above.

Chu Jiu shivered instinctively.

He steadied himself and slowly looked up—

!

A monstrous creature at least two meters long, earthy yellow all over, coiled around the tree trunk like a giant python.

Its head—or what could be considered its head—was slowly extending toward Chu Jiu.

Its mouth was a cavernous black hole the size of a rice bowl, lined with a ring of razor-sharp teeth.

On both sides of its body, symmetrically arranged, were dozens of brown tentacles, constantly rubbing and waving, producing a chilling “hiss.”

A mental image popped into Chu Jiu’s head: [Low-Level Bizarre Worm. Highly aggressive with strong attack power. Other details unknown.]

He was certain he had never seen such an ugly insect in any of his reference materials.

Now, staring eye to eye with the monster—well, eye to mouth—Chu Jiu broke out in a cold sweat.

But since he had already died once and was a traveler who had seen great things, he wasn’t completely petrified and was able to reason out the situation.

Clearly, this bizarre worm had taken him as prey.

Had his “Shape Concealment” skill failed? Was the monster too high-level for the skill to work?

Chu Jiu pondered for a few seconds, then looked at the dried fish in his hand:

Either the monster’s level was too high, or the fish smelled so delicious and rare that it was drawn over by the scent.

Regardless of the reason, he had to run.

Without hesitation, Chu Jiu spent 15 spiritual energy points to activate the active skill “Grease the Soles.”

Seconds later, a red alert appeared:

[“Grease the Soles” failed; host did not manage to escape.]

Chu Jiu gasped sharply, slid down to the ground, then rolled forward, ready to flee using his own stamina.

But above him, the bizarre worm sprang forward, landing squarely on the ground and rearing up like a venomous snake, blocking his escape route!

Chu Jiu froze for two seconds, then had an idea.

He threw the grilled fish with all his might in the opposite direction.

After tossing three pieces, a breeze blew the fish’s aroma upwind toward the creature.

The worm’s many tentacles twitched, following the fragrant scent, and it turned away, slithering toward the fish.

Chu Jiu dared not hesitate; summoning his sprinting strength, he ran and leapt out of the dense woods.

*

By the time he returned to the Pioneer’s Cabin, Chu Jiu was panting heavily, his stamina down to just two points.

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He gulped down two mouthfuls of water, ate some dried fish, and rested for a long while, still shaken.

Standing before the tattered window, he nervously glanced toward the forest, worried the monster might follow and that horrible circular mouth might suddenly burst from the ground.

Just as he fretted, the system notification sounded:

[Host has met the hidden condition “Return to Pioneer’s Cabin after monster attack!”]

[Received system gift: “Pioneer’s Cabin Repair Manual” x1]

[Host may use the Manual to repair, expand, and upgrade the Pioneer’s Cabin]

[Note: As the host’s Pioneer level rises, the Manual’s content will grow richer. Please use it wisely.]

After the prompt, a glowing golden book appeared before Chu Jiu.

Opening the first page, he read:

“The Pioneer’s Cabin possesses innate special properties to resist monsters.

Property effective range: radiates outward from the cabin’s outermost facilities, with radius depending on the facility’s nature.

Without auxiliary facilities, the radius is 20 meters.”

…In other words, no monsters would come within 20 meters of this cabin.

Reading this clear statement, Chu Jiu felt somewhat relieved.

However, to enlarge this safe zone, he would need to add external facilities.

He flipped through the Manual and saw that building a simple fence could extend the safety radius by another 10 meters.

He read the fence construction instructions and activated “Recipe Comprehension.”

After dragging saws, hammers, and wooden planks around in the virtual assembly line for a while, Chu Jiu obtained the fence recipe.

[Recipe category: Facility]

[Recipe requirements: 20 development points, 20 units of wood, 1 spirit beast]

Hmm, he had enough development points and wood…

One spirit beast?!

Building a fence required a spirit beast?!

…Could it be that all facility recipes needed a spirit beast to construct?

Chu Jiu found this hard to believe, so he looked up the instructions for repairing windows and doors in the Manual.

After spending time comprehending those recipes, he confirmed—

Indeed, a spirit beast was required to build any facility.

Chuckling bitterly, Chu Jiu put the Manual away, glanced at the darkening sky, and thought to himself that, given the situation, he should eat first.

He might as well grill some small fish—he had lost three portions of dried fish today after all.

Such a pity.

*

Planet Arsa.

Tonight, an unknown livestream appeared again on the StarNet.

On the screen, a neat and well-behaved boy was formally recounting his day’s experiences.

He said many things had happened today.

The best part was that he had built a wooden bed and mattress, so he no longer had to sleep on the floor.

At this, a relaxed smile spread across the boy’s face, showing just how happy having a bed made him.

Across the room, Lu Qingyan watched the projection, her eyebrows slightly raised.

The boy paused for a moment, then shook his head with a hint of regret and sorrow:

“But there was also something bad today.”

“When I was chopping wood outside, I encountered a monster worm.”

“To lure it away, I had to throw away three portions of grilled fish—it was such a waste.”

“That was enough grilled fish to last me a whole day!”