Chapter 60: A New Beginning

The skill book dissolved into tiny starlight particles that merged into the little furball's body.

[Prompt: Your spirit beast companion, "Little Furball," has learned the new skill "Phase Stealth!"]

Seeming to feel the surge of new power within, Little Furball excitedly wagged its fluffy, oversized tail.

[Sister Liuli, look at my newly learned trick! Tuanzi is even more amazing now!]

At this moment, the surrounding starlight curtain receded like a receding tide, and the familiar pink-and-white spatial walls reappeared. Little Furball looked with a dazed expression at its master, who had just vanished and reappeared, as well as the purple light flashing and fading in her palm.

Su Liuli smiled as she scooped Little Furball into her arms, vigorously massaging its furry head and two fluffy tails. "Tuanzi! We've struck it rich! We're one huge step closer to you growing stronger again!"

Though Little Furball did not understand those complex items, it sensed its master's heartfelt joy and affection, immediately emitting a delightful purr. Its front paws clung to Su Liuli's lapels as it affectionately rubbed against her chin, its tail swaying contentedly.

[Sister Liuli is the best~]

Next, Su Liuli began processing her available supplies. Those useful for immediate combat enhancement were used, the helpful ones were kept, and the temporarily useless ones were listed on the trading hall to exchange for resources.

Holding the Skill Advancement Stone in her hand, Su Liuli lowered her head in contemplation. This stone was used to elevate the skill levels of players or special items possessed by players.

Su Liuli was torn between two items: one was the professional passive skill [Hands of Chronos], and the other was the active skill [Equilibrium] of the Hourglass of Chenshi.

[Hands of Chronos] was a skill that enhanced one's permanent attributes, and upgrading it would aid Su Liuli's long-term development.

[Equilibrium] allowed one to autonomously choose acceleration or deceleration within a limited deviation range.

After pondering for a long time, Su Liuli decided to upgrade [Hands of Chronos].

Firstly, she had already accumulated a portion of Time Crystals and Interspatial Sand Grains. Upgrading the Hourglass of Chenshi shortly would naturally elevate its skills accordingly, whereas she had yet to find a method to upgrade her profession.

Secondly, enhancing immediate combat readiness was, in Su Liuli's view, of paramount importance. No matter how much one accelerated or decelerated time, encountering someone whose strength far surpassed her own still carried massive risks.

[Skill Advancement Stone successfully used]

With a flash of white light, Su Liuli immediately checked her professional panel—

Chronos Chef
[Professional Trait: Your hands can capture the elemental rhythm within ingredients, displaying extraordinary affinity and control. Your dishes will better evoke the inherent essence of the ingredients, bringing unexpected attribute bonuses and mental delight.]

[Acquired Professional Passive Skills:
Hands of Chronos (Lv. 2): Activated upon successfully crafting a complete dish that meets basic quality requirements, granting two permanent random attribute bonuses.
Instant Fresh-Keeping (Lv. 1): Temporarily freezes the molecular motion of ingredients when sealing dishes, extending the fresh-keeping period to 12 hours. (This is a blessing bestowed upon the spokesperson by the Goddess of Time)]

[Acquired Professional Active Skill:
Chronos Rhythm Harmonization (Lv. 1, Cooldown: 2 hours): Consuming 5 points of spiritual energy, you can perceive the trajectory of the passage of time inside ingredients. By guiding the power of the time element, you can cause food to achieve superior flavor and effects.]

Fantastic!

At first glance, it only increased from one point to two, which did not seem like very much.

However, thinking about it this way, one day's harvest was equivalent to two days'.

This was simply a massive profit! Su Liuli thought cheerfully.

Su Liuli sorted the remaining items into their corresponding categories. Those taking up too much space were stored in her backpack, and multiple copies of the same item were also packed away. With a 30-slot backpack capacity, she was quite well-off!

While tidying up, Su Liuli caught sight of that mysterious seed, and the long string of numbers—999701—gave her a headache.

Good heavens! Why were there still so many left!

Never mind, I'll just wait slowly.

Thinking this, Su Liuli cuddled Little Furball and slowly drifted off to sleep.

[Beast Taming Survival Game, Day 11]
[Calamity Cycle: Spore Dust Storm]
[Today's Mileage: 10 kilometers]

This damn game was just like this; not only did it increase harsh weather conditions, but it also raised the daily mileage, constantly elevating the standards.

If you couldn't keep up, you were eliminated.
That was the cruel reality.

The vast grassland outside had been completely engulfed by a turbid, grayish-yellow gale, with visibility plummeting to less than five meters.

Fine dust, mixed with strange, glowing spore particles, swept across the earth like a blizzard.

The Spore Dust Storm had arrived!

"Chenshi, reset the time management schedule," Su Liuli said in a composed voice.

"Received! Sister Liu." The Chenshi sprite immediately unfolded a clear schedule on the light screen within Su Liuli's mind:

[Suggested Schedule Optimization Plan During Spore Dust Storm]
[Breakfast, washing up, and checking the integrity of dust-proof devices recommended from 6:30 to 7:00]
[From 7:00 to 11:00, enter the space every half hour to disinfect and eliminate spores, preventing spore accumulation from reducing movement speed and flexibility; when encountering supply boxes or collectible items with light spots, prioritize letting Little Furball use the skill "Phase Stealth" to collect them]
[From 11:00 to 14:00, lunch and nap, check the integrity of dust-proof devices]
[From 14:00 to 19:00, enter the space every half hour to disinfect and eliminate spores, preventing spore accumulation from reducing movement speed and flexibility; when encountering supply boxes or collectible items with light spots, prioritize letting Little Furball use the skill "Phase Stealth" to collect them]

[From 19:00 to 22:00, dinner, opening supply boxes, trading, washing up, checking the integrity of dust-proof devices, and remaining alert for potential eerie monsters when opening boxes, taking defensive precautions]
[From 22:00 to 23:00, practicing combat within the spore dust storm]
[From 23:00 to 6:30 the next day, seven and a half hours of ample sleep]
[Total: Leisure time estimated to reach 14 hours]
[PS: Special attention: Once a large-scale spore dust storm erupts, it is recommended to immediately enter the space for shelter to prevent injuries or being swept into the black fog along the roadside]

Su Liuli looked it over. The main time slots of the time management schedule remained unchanged, with special designs tailored to the spore dust storm added.

How she missed the days when she had a vehicle!

Looking at the 9 vehicle fragments (1/30) in her backpack, Su Liuli sighed from the bottom of her heart.

With a vehicle, there would be no need to advance while exposed to harsh weather.

That morning, Su Liuli chose to make pan-seared gale rabbit chops, which increased spiritual energy and defense by one point each. She sat by the dining table eating with Little Furball while checking the trading status.

Not bad; she had exchanged for quite a few basic building materials, evolutionary stone fragments of various attributes, some blueprint fragments, and even furniture and toys.

However, what satisfied Su Liuli the most was that she had successfully traded for a Spatial Evolutionary Stone fragment (1/3)!

This meant that Little Furball could advance to level three.

And this was right after the novice protection period ended!

If she remembered correctly, the last time a player in the game upgraded their spirit beast companion to level three was almost at the end of the first calamity cycle.

Yet for her, it had only been 10 days, and her spirit beast companion could already reach level three!

Feeling immensely pleased, Su Liuli hurriedly used the workbench to synthesize a complete Spatial Evolutionary Stone, then communicated with Little Furball to initiate the upgrade.

Before long, the familiar system broadcast arrived once again.

[Congratulations to Doomsday Outlaw for becoming the first player across the entire server to upgrade their spirit beast companion to level three. Would you like to broadcast this to the entire server?]

Su Liuli chose [Yes] without the slightest hesitation.

Now that the novice protection period had passed and they had entered the first calamity cycle of the Beast Taming Survival Game, the reward for the server-wide broadcast was no longer as simple as a Silver Mystery Box, but had been upgraded to a Golden Sacred Chest!

Su Liuli rubbed her hands together in eager anticipation—