Chapter 47: Supplies Within the Ring

Chapter 47 Supplies Within the Ring

Facing Liu Qingzhi's request to split up, Qin Zhe was not particularly surprised. After all, the purpose of this trip was to track down the Eagle Nation people. If they acted together, given the vast expanse of the scorched earth, heaven knows how long it would take to find anyone.

The issue was... when would the Student Union's reinforcements arrive?

What if they got too lucky and found the targets immediately, only to face a concentrated enemy force? How would they fight then?

Liu Qingzhi had clearly considered this aspect.

She casually retrieved a small sword from her own spatial storage and handed it over, saying, "This is a communication command sword crafted by the academy using special methods. You only need to direct your intent to send a distress signal, and anyone from the academy nearby will sense it. If you encounter the Eagle Nation people moving in a group, do not act rashly. Hide first, send out the distress signal, and wait for our people to arrive before making a move. Understand?"

"Got it. You be careful too, Department Head."

Qin Zhe took the small sword and stored it inside his spatial ring. At this juncture, he knew anything else he said would be useless, so he preferred to be direct.

"Remember to exercise caution and not be too reckless."

Liu Qingzhi gave her final instruction, rose into the air, and shot away toward the distant horizon, sending a voice transmission: "There is one last thing you need to pay attention to. Remember to observe before using the communication command sword. The Dean previously told me that a female student went missing along with those dozen Eagle Nation people. She is James's guide and may have been brought into the secret realm. Currently, we are unsure if she was coerced, so rescue is not our primary consideration for now. What you must handle with care is that she belongs to the academy and will likewise sense the distress signal."

Tang Xiaoyou was inside the Cold Moon Secret Realm?

Receiving the voice transmission, Qin Zhe felt a jolt of surprise, sighing inwardly at the complexity of the situation as he stroked the Cold Moon Divine Hound beneath him.

"Erha, it's just the two of us now."

"Woof!"

The Cold Moon Divine Hound barked, turning its head with a very human-like expression of disdain, as if to say, "My name is Erbao, not Erha."

Finding this amusing, Qin Zhe patted it and said, "Let's go, start searching. Don't go too fast."

Though Liu Qingzhi had already departed, the Cold Moon Divine Hound, being a spirit beast endowed with human-like intelligence, understood his command and immediately resumed running.

Riding on the back of the Cold Moon Divine Hound, Qin Zhe kept watch on his surroundings while also beginning to inspect his spatial ring.

With Liu Qingzhi's brisk and decisive pace, he had never found the opportunity to see what the Disaster Relief Bureau had given him. Now finally presented a chance.

Scanning the ring with his mental intent, Qin Zhe discovered that the interior space was surprisingly large, measuring over a hundred square meters.

Being spatial equipment as well, the storage pouch he had previously obtained from Zhou Wentong had an interior space so miserably small that it would fill up with just a few hundred spiritual stones.

Just for this ring alone, Qin Zhe felt he had profited.

At the moment, a pile of supplies was stored inside the spatial ring, with spiritual stones and spiritual treasures randomly piled together, looking as though they had been shoved in haphazardly.

Taking some time to separate the spiritual stones from the spiritual treasures, Qin Zhe unexpectedly discovered quite a few good items among them.

The spiritual stones were few in number—about three hundred middle-grade spiritual stones. Compared to the one hundred top-grade spiritual stones given by Wang Chongguo, this was merely small change.

However, among the spiritual treasures, quite a few spiritual fruits emitted dense spiritual Qi. Judging by the concentration of spiritual Qi, every single one of them was extraordinary.

Aside from these, the spiritual treasures included many non-edible spiritual materials. Some were metallic, some wooden, and some made of jade, encompassing a variety of textures that could be used as crafting materials for forging artifacts.

Qin Zhe had not yet dipped his toes into artifact crafting, but he could tell that these were all middle-to-high-grade goods.

The Disaster Relief Bureau was certainly not stingy; everything combined inside the ring might rival or even surpass the value of one hundred top-grade spiritual stones.

Thinking this, Qin Zhe transferred the items from his storage pouch into the ring, casually pulled out a spiritual fruit that looked substantial, and took a bite.

The moment the flesh of the fruit entered his mouth, a rich wave of spiritual energy gave him an ethereal, floating sensation.

Scanning his mental state bar, Qin Zhe was pleasantly surprised to find that his Essence Conversion talent had quietly increased by 1%.

Good stuff!

Resolving the spiritual fruit in a few quick bites, the entire fruit boosted his progress by 3%. Qin Zhe decisively pulled out another one and started munching.

Wealth? He didn't care about wealth. What he cared about was potential points.

Another spiritual fruit went down his stomach. This one was slightly lower in quality, boosting his Essence Conversion by 2%, but it was entirely acceptable. Qin Zhe didn't expect the fruit's efficacy to be as explosive as the Lava Heart; a noticeable improvement was enough.

After devouring a dozen or so fruits in succession, Qin Zhe successfully stuffed himself.

Looking at the large remaining half of the spiritual fruit in his hand, Qin Zhe glanced at Erbao beneath him, pondered for a moment, and extended his hand.

"Erbao, want some?"

Qin Zhe wasn't sure if the Cold Moon Divine Hound ate fruit, but since this beast looked so much like a Husky, it probably wasn't too picky.

Sure enough, seeing him hand over the spiritual fruit, the Cold Moon Divine Hound tilted its head, sniffed it, and with its eyes glowing with excitement, opened its jaws and swallowed it whole in one gulp, incidentally licking him to show friendliness.

Seeing this, Qin Zhe couldn't help but chuckle, vigorously rubbing the dog's head to wipe away a handful of saliva, and laughed.

"Erbao, oh Erbao, you might not be the Husky I'm familiar with, but I reckon you're at least a close relative of Huskies."

"Awoo?"

The Cold Moon Divine Hound turned its head, seemingly wanting to converse with him.

Raising an eyebrow at this, Qin Zhe thought that since it was already "chatting" with him, this creature was definitely a close relative of Huskies without a doubt!

...

Having traveled through the scorched earth for an unknown length of time, Qin Zhe still hadn't caught sight of a single person. As far as the eye could see, there was only barren, high-temperature scorched earth.

Coincidentally, before he knew it, he had arrived near the cave where he and Liu Qingzhi had previously taken refuge from the blizzard.

Pulling out his phone to check the time, Qin Zhe found that it was already dawn of the second day.

Seeing that the Cold Moon Divine Hound beneath him was gradually showing signs of fatigue after running through the scorched earth for several hours, he gently patted the dog's head.

"Erbao, let's stop and rest for a bit."

The Cold Moon Divine Hound was indeed exhausted. Hearing the command, it slowed down and came to a halt. Amidst heavy panting, its eyes scanned the surroundings with intense vigilance.

The environment within the scorched earth made it feel deeply unaccustomed and gave it a strong sense of unease.

Knowing why the Cold Moon Divine Hound had previously fled its habitat, Qin Zhe jumped off its back, reached out to stroke its soft fur, and placated it.

"Don't be afraid, there are no giants here. Even if there were, they wouldn't be able to hurt you."

Seeming to feel the comfort, the Cold Moon Divine Hound let out a low whimper and pushed its large head forward to nuzzle him.

Qin Zhe leaned his own large head in to nuzzle back, and completely unprepared, was sent staggering by the force. Helplessly pushing the dog's head away, he laughed and scolded,

"Look at you, such a big dog, why are you such a coward? You're not weak yourself; even if you encounter a lava giant, if you can't beat it, you can at least run, right?"

As he spoke, Qin Zhe glanced into the distance toward the location of the giant carcass he had previously slain, only to find that the area had completely transformed into a mountain ridge, leaving no trace of the giant's original appearance.

Sigh, wouldn't it be great if he could run into another giant?

The effects of devouring a Lava Heart were far superior to spiritual fruits!

Thinking thus, Qin Zhe looked at the Cold Moon Divine Hound's massive transformed size and said, "You look way too conspicuous. Can you shrink down a bit? I know a cave nearby, and with your size, you probably won't fit in."