The midday sun was scorching. The occasional gusts of wind, warmed by the high temperature, brought no relief, instead only making one feel even more swelteringly hot.

In the perilous wilderness, beside a crystal-clear stream, a helmeted figure on a motorcycle materialized out of thin air on the bank.

Having returned to the real world from the Mysterious Small Island, Lin Li immediately started the motorcycle he was sitting on.

VROOOM...

A loud roar echoed in all directions.

"Time to head back to the city for lunch..." Lin Li muttered, then sped off on his motorcycle toward the safe zone.

Since he wasn’t far from the safe zone to begin with, it only took him about ten minutes of riding to see its border.

About a hundred meters from the safe zone, Lin Li stopped his motorcycle, took off his helmet, and then stored both the bike and the helmet in the Mysterious Small Island.

The area was relatively flat, and a quick glance revealed few thorny bushes.

So, instead of waiting until he reached the road inside the safe zone, Lin Li decided to take his van out of the Mysterious Small Island right where he stood.

CLICK.

THUD.

After getting into the driver’s seat and fastening his seatbelt, Lin Li started the van. But just as he was about to drive home, he suddenly cut the engine he had just turned on.

’A Spiritual Energy Wave... It’s a First Rank Initial Stage Spiritual Energy Wave... Is it a Mutant Beast or another person?’

Lin Li rolled down his window and looked toward the location where he had sensed the Spiritual Energy Wave. There was a small clump of low-lying grass, less than half a meter tall.

CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK...

A crisp clucking sound came from the clump of grass that was less than half a meter tall.

For Lin Li, who had killed at least a hundred Luhua Chicken Beasts, the clucking from the grass was all too familiar.

’So it’s a Luhua Chicken Beast!’ Lin Li propped his elbow on the window frame. He pondered for a moment, then extended his left hand out the window, palm facing outward, and aimed it at the spot where he’d sensed the Spiritual Energy Wave.

A faint golden Spiritual Light appeared on Lin Li’s hand, and a white ice crystal the size of a fingernail condensed in his palm.

’If I give this Luhua Chicken Beast to Su Yue, I can probably score a free meal.’

Lin Li muttered to himself. The fingernail-sized ice crystal he had formed instantly expanded. Within the space of a single breath, a half-meter-long, transparent, sharp ice cone that emanated waves of cold air took shape.

Under the scorching sun, the sharp ice cone, still emitting waves of cold air, glittered with a dazzling light.

Even though the temperature was unbearably hot, close to thirty-eight degrees, the ice cone in Lin Li’s hand showed no signs of melting, empowered as it was by Spiritual Energy.

CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK...

The Luhua Chicken Beast, hiding in the low grass, had no idea that danger was about to befall it. It continued to let out crisp, somewhat loud clucks.

WHOOSH.

Locking onto its position, guided by Lin Li’s Spiritual Power, the sharp ice cone he had created with his Superpower shot toward the hiding Luhua Chicken Beast like an arrow loosed from a bow.

SQUELCH.

CLUCK CLUCK... CLUU... CK...

The relatively calm clucking from the grass instantly became ear-piercingly shrill as Lin Li’s Superpower-formed ice cone plunged into the thicket. Then, after just two or three seconds, the sound vanished completely.

’It’s dead.’ Sitting in the driver’s seat, Lin Li sensed the First Rank Initial Stage Spiritual Energy Wave from the grass disappear. He knew his ice cone had finished off the Luhua Chicken Beast.

CLICK.

Lin Li unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the car door, got out, and strode toward the clump of low grass in the distance.

Parting the grass with his hands, Lin Li saw a Luhua Chicken Beast, a full size larger than a domestic Luhua chicken, pinned firmly to the ground by the ice cone he had shot.

Since he planned to give this Luhua Chicken Beast to Su Yue, he couldn’t store it in the Mysterious Small Island.

With a thought, Lin Li retrieved a black plastic bag from the Mysterious Small Island. He then pulled the ice cone out of the dead Luhua Chicken Beast’s body and put the creature into the bag.

He opened the back of the van and placed the black plastic bag containing the Luhua Chicken Beast inside the cargo area.

Then he closed the door, returned to the driver’s seat, started the vehicle, and began driving toward the road inside the safe zone ahead.

’I remember there’s a shop that sells live poultry on the way back to the city. When I pass by, I’ll pay them a little to process this Luhua Chicken Beast. That’ll save Su Yue the trouble of having to prep the ingredient herself.’

Driving the van back toward the city, Lin Li glanced in the rearview mirror at the black plastic bag containing the Luhua Chicken Beast in the back, thinking to himself.

* * *

At twelve-thirty in the afternoon, a silver-white van pulled over on Chenghua Avenue in the East District, in front of a wholesale live poultry shop.

Lin Li looked through the window and saw that the live poultry wholesale shop was doing excellent business; quite a few people were inside, picking out birds that caught their eye.

He opened the car door, got out, and retrieved the black plastic bag containing the Luhua Chicken Beast from the back of the van. Then, he walked toward the bustling wholesale poultry shop.