CHAPTER 83: CHAPTER 82: XIJIANG RIVERBANK (PART 2)

Wang Wu’s Level 10 Passive Concealment was deactivated immediately, and based on his Level 2 Spirit Essence, he swept away all the Golden Particles within a fifty-meter radius.

However, due to the broad surface of the river and the expansive plains on the shore without mountains to intercept ahead of time, the Golden Particles here were much more abundant than those in the valleys, so much so that his frenzied absorption didn’t even make a ripple.

Moreover, another crucial reason was that the diffuse reflection of the light helped him conceal more than half of it.

The fish and shrimp nearby completely ignored the sudden appearance of Wang Wu, continuing to splash frantically on the water’s surface, the splashes soaring. Plus, with the diffuse reflection of the sunlight, the entire river surface appeared to have been covered with a layer of golden carpet, it was truly spectacular.

It was impossible to discern who was absorbing more or who was more outstanding, all the fish and shrimp type Little Demons looked as if they were draped in a golden light.

This was undoubtedly Wang Wu’s chosen land.

He absorbed to his heart’s content, and in just one minute, he gathered 300 points of Spiritual Qi and could absorb no more.

For the limit for Level 2 Spirit Essence was like this.

Wang Wu hesitated for a moment, then caution won out. He didn’t rush to consume Spiritual Qi to continue absorbing Golden Particles, but instead, taking advantage of the golden shimmering surface of the river and its special light and shadow cover, he began to swiftly capture the active fish and shrimp.

It was really too easy; there were too many of these fish and shrimp, too silly as if they were bewitched, completely indifferent to the danger around them, their intelligence levels on par with land Little Demons of several lower levels.

In just one minute, Wang Wu swallowed more than a dozen sizeable fish and shrimp in one go, smoothly reaching 700 points of Satiety, and then he directly entered Level 10 Passive Concealment, swimming to the cliff under the river bank, continuing to lie in wait.

As expected, because there were too many fish and shrimp type Little Demons, even though the river surface was broad and unobstructed, and there were plenty of Golden Particles, in just two minutes, the Golden Particles reduced by several magnitudes, then a slaughter ensued on the river’s surface.

Big fish ate small fish, small fish ate shrimp, and even some River Patrol Water Demons emerged from nowhere, wantonly slaughtering.

Moreover, from the east and west banks of Xijiang, a multitude of birds swooped down like lightning, swiftly snatching a fish from the river.

Among these were the Black Mountain Sparrow, Little Red Bird, Crows, Gray Magpies, and over a dozen small-sized eagles.

This was simply an epic feast.

Wang Wu estimated that in less than two minutes, at least twenty to thirty thousand bird-type Little Demons had emerged from both banks.

"Was it also like this when the King of Xijiang was around? Isn’t this crossing the line!"

Wang Wu was utterly amazed. With such rampant slaughtering methods, how could the entire Xijiang bear such a disaster for its fish and shrimp!

If there were a few promising Little Demons among these, they’d be directly hunted down, surely the King of Xijiang wouldn’t like that, right.

Of course, the exact truth of the matter wasn’t something he could you measure or speculate about, as the King of Xijiang clearly had good relations with the three other Great Demons. Maybe they were planning a kind of four-family ecological synergy system.

But no matter what, one thing is very clear: ever since the King of Xijiang turned into a dragon, he wasn’t the only one eyeing the demons here. He thought of this place as a temporary no-man’s land, perhaps everyone thought so.

As the saying goes, great minds think alike.

"Still, caution is necessary!"

Wang Wu inwardly warned himself, then used up those 300 points of Spiritual Qi, raising his Life Value to 500 points.

Anyway, he had thought it through. Each day, he’d skim off a minute of Golden Particles, prioritize raising Life and Physical Strength to 600 points first. If there were significant Spiritual Qi intake, he’d upgrade Defense first; if not, he’d prioritize Power, reaching 30 points first, then start upgrading the Plant Affinity branch Bloodline Talent.

It’s worth mentioning that although this is a branch Bloodline Talent, the upgrade requirements were quite high, needing 500 points of Spiritual Qi to level up.

What followed was a peaceful hibernation.

Wang Wu spent the entire day submerged in the water, too lazy to leave the area even to spread warmth, indifferent.

Only at night would he use the cover of darkness to climb ashore, breathe fresh air, stretch his muscles, observe the terrain, aiming to familiarize himself thoroughly with the environment along the banks of Xijiang.

This was to prevent any unforeseen events.

Come dawn, he’d return to the water to hibernate, continuing to absorb Golden Particles for a minute, feast on fish and shrimp for another, and retreat to his hiding place before the aviary slaughter began.

Life went by monotonously, but it was safe, leisurely, and joyful.

In the blink of an eye, ten days had passed. Based on Wang Wu’s ability to consistently gather 700 points of Satiety each day, his Conventional Growth Level reached 1% or more daily.

From an original 70% Conventional Growth Level, he seamlessly broke through to 80%.

Thus, he reached the fourth subsection of his Life’s second growth phase.

All his Basic Attributes automatically increased, Life Value +10, Physical Strength +10, Power +1, Agility +1, Defense +1, Satiety +50.

Additionally, over the past ten days, through absorbing Golden Particles, he gained a total of 3000 points of Spiritual Qi, and through predating on fish and shrimp, he indirectly acquired 200 points of Spiritual Qi.

Due to an abundance of Spiritual Qi, he spent 200 points to enhance the Danger Perception Talent, precisely raising it from Level 8 to Level 10, the current growth limit. To level further, he’d need to enter the next growth stage.

Simply put, like human children: at age four, you go to kindergarten, at seven, you go to elementary school, activities are bound to stages.

Then, 1000 points of Spiritual Qi were added to Life Value, reaching 600 points, while the current Life Value reached exactly 610 points. This value was luxurious, at least adding +1 to Wang Wu’s sense of safety.

The remaining 2000 points of Spiritual Qi were all added to Physical Strength, from the original 320 points, heightened to 520 points, plus the breakthrough of the 80% Conventional Growth Level, currently marking 530 points at the Physical Strength threshold.

This essentially means, based on Wang Wu’s fastest achievable pace under current conditions — standardizing at 100 meters per six seconds, a speed of sixty kilometers per hour — he could sprint five kilometers before depleting all his Physical Strength.

However, if adjusting the pace to 100 meters every eight seconds, at forty-five kilometers per hour, he could potentially run ten kilometers before exhausting Physical Strength.

If pace were further adjusted to 100 meters per ten seconds, thirty-six kilometers an hour, he felt he could continuously run a hundred kilometers without depleting his Physical Strength, assuming Satiety was sufficient, as this pace’s expenditure couldn’t match his recovery rate.

Of course, these values were Wang Wu’s rough estimates; definite discrepancies prevailed, but there was no need to be pedantic.

For agility and speed, he perceived weren’t his main strengths; he wasn’t reliant on speed to win and didn’t consider himself a high-attack-high-agility player.

Most importantly, Basic Defense, at 36 points, can exempt a solid 108 points of damage.

In conclusion, boosting defense, enhancing Physical Strength, Life Value, Power, then maximizing all negative resistance, remaining wary and prudent, were the paths of his development and growth.