Chapter Eighty-Three: Setting Out into the Wilderness

To upgrade a first-tier Tenfold Fertility Card to the fifth tier required 103 late-stage fourth-tier Bloodthirsty Mosquito cards. Upgrading fifteen cards consumed 1,545 late-stage fourth-tier Bloodthirsty Mosquito cards. This left him with 514 Bloodthirsty Mosquito cards, which he also set to begin reproducing. Among them, there were 400 females and 114 males.

Sometimes, upgrading higher-tier cards required high-tier Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes as material, but using the same high-tier mosquitoes for low-tier card upgrades was a waste. After arranging everything, Lu Sheng placed the cards meant for the Scarecrow Avatar onto it. Once finished, he quietly slipped out of the settlement and released his Scarecrow Avatar.

Wait… he seemed to be lacking transportation; riding a giant crocodile would be far too conspicuous. Fortunately, the male Bloodthirsty Mosquitoes were no longer needed. Utilizing them, Lu Sheng upgraded the White Cloud Horse to the fifth tier, completing his preparations.

His true body returned to the settlement to resume daily life, while the Scarecrow Avatar began exploring the world. Lu Sheng intended to interact with this world in a way unlike any other.

He chose not to upgrade the Frogman Spear or the Rapid Breeding Device. The fourth-tier Frogman Spear was sufficient for now, and upgrading the Rapid Breeding Device to the fifth tier would require a fifth-tier Source Pearl, which he didn’t possess, so there was no need to attempt it.

This excursion with his avatar was purely for resource collection and to allow him to travel the world. With spatial positioning, the avatar had no need to return.

...

Riding atop the fifth-tier White Cloud Horse, Lu Sheng immediately realized its remarkable qualities. The saddle adjusted itself to fit him perfectly, offering a sense of protection. He felt that as long as he stayed on the horse’s back, no matter what happened, he would remain safe.

This alone made him feel the upgrade was worthwhile. But this was just surface-level—the true improvements lay in the horse’s speed and endurance.

The Scarecrow Avatar and he shared the same origin, allowing him to experience everything the avatar felt. Clearly, even low-tier items underwent significant changes when promoted to high tiers.

Galloping on the White Cloud Horse, Lu Sheng began his exhilarating ride.

Within the forested mountains, the White Cloud Horse moved as if on level ground, leaping five or six meters with ease and clearing dozens of meters in a single bound. Its speed was astonishing, thrilling him with the rush one gets from racing at high velocity.

Freedom—unbridled galloping. At that moment, Lu Sheng felt like a wild stallion set loose.

What pleased him most was that he no longer needed to worry about the terrain’s roughness! On the horse’s back, he felt not the slightest discomfort.

It was afternoon. At a normal pace, it would take a full day to reach the Reflowing Desert, but with the White Cloud Horse, he arrived at the nearest wilderness camp before dusk.

Wilderness camps were similar to settlements. They existed in dangerous wilds, with leaders who were at least fifth-tier powerhouses. These camps provided shelter and supplies for those hunting in the wild, as well as protection for residents. Of course, spending the night there cost money.

Unlike the main city, which charged a first-tier Source Pearl, the fee here was much steeper—a third-tier Source Pearl per person.

At night, any outsiders still remaining would be approached by camp members to pay their fee. If one only came to purchase supplies and did not stay overnight, no fee was charged. Selling supplies was also part of their business.

Riding the White Cloud Horse, Lu Sheng passed many monsters and dungeons along the way, but he didn’t waste time stopping. Hunting those monsters or clearing dungeons held little meaning for him; the rewards were too meager to be worth his time.

His primary goal in the wilderness was to obtain Reflowing Sand; only after that would he consider other matters. He might search for monsters of high quality and unique abilities—that could pique his interest.

The wilderness camp was well-hidden and not particularly large, accommodating at most three hundred people. Most camps were of this size; anything larger would risk monster attacks.

He put away the White Cloud Horse. At the entrance, a guard complimented him, “That White Cloud Horse of yours looks impressive!”

“Of course, my White Cloud Horse is of no low rank.”

“How high could it be? The Horse King is only third-tier. Yours looks like a top-tier second-tier at best,” the guard surmised shrewdly. Seeing Lu Sheng’s silence, he felt confident in his assessment and smiled smugly.

Lu Sheng had no desire to correct him—it wasn’t as if he could have the fifth-tier White Cloud Horse trample the guard to prove its worth.

Every camp in the wilderness belonged to some power.

Doron News Agency!

He had learned about them in Ox Beetle City. The Doron News Agency in the wilderness was different from the one in the city. Out here, they only sold information-packed newspapers, updating every three days with records of major events in the wild.

As for selling or investigating information on commission, the Doron News Agency in the wild did not offer such services. To establish such a wide-reaching organization, the owner, Doron, must have been exceptionally capable.

Lu Sheng bought a newspaper for a third-tier Source Pearl—a steep price, but worth it. He needed intelligence on the wilderness, both for collecting Reflowing Sand and planning his next move.

The newspaper was two days old; a new issue would come out tomorrow. It contained extensive information: cultivation resources, spirit fruits, the habitats of high-quality monsters, unique-ability monsters, monster gathering points, powerful monster dungeons, and reports on who had found valuable items in each area.

All of it was valuable intelligence—locally known but not widely spread. The Doron News Agency thrived by collecting and selling such information, earning a fortune.

Frankly, such a business was easy to run, and other forces could have done the same. Yet, as far as Lu Sheng knew, in this region surrounding the wilderness, no other organization specialized in intelligence.

After reading the newspaper, one piece of news caught Lu Sheng’s interest.

“A giant White-Flame Blue-Scaled Bird has appeared in Tiantan Mountain. Its size is enormous, and its quality reaches the blue tier. This has attracted many factions attempting to capture it, but the bird is extremely wary, fleeing swiftly at any sign of approach. So far, no group has succeeded in catching it.”

If, after returning from the Reflowing Desert, the bird was still at large, Lu Sheng intended to capture it himself. He had no avian monsters yet, and with its great size, he could finally experience the thrill of flight.