Inside the Marketplace Hut, Cheng Zongyang opened the Purchase Requests tab.

[Post a Purchase Request]

Four words appeared on the main interface.

Cheng Zongyang tapped it, and a simple information panel appeared.

—

[Item Name]:

[Quantity]:

[Points]:

[Post][Cancel]

—

Cheng Zongyang couldn’t help but smile when he saw the interface. ’Simple is good. Not like in my past life, where you practically needed a degree in advanced math just to buy something during a holiday sale. How ridiculous was that?’

He immediately filled in the information with a thought.

[Item Name]: Low Tier Soul Crystal Stone

[Quantity]: 1

[Points]:

However, Cheng Zongyang paused when he reached the Points field. He glanced at his current total.

—682

’The item shop sells a Soul Crystal Stone for a thousand Points. But based on my experience selling the Wolf King, this Marketplace Hut definitely takes a cut, maybe even from both the buyer and the seller. It’s just like those food delivery platforms from my past life, skimming off the top from everyone involved! But without a reference price, I’m hesitant to set a bid.’

Cheng Zongyang sank into thought.

’No, I have to try. This will affect countless future transactions. It’s worth a shot, even if I waste the ten Points it costs to post the request.’

His mind made up, Cheng Zongyang decided to start by offering half the price.

’If the request isn’t filled within three days, it means the price is too low, and I can raise it a bit next time. If it is filled, then the price is right, and I might even be able to push it lower in the future.’

Compared to the huge potential savings, ten Points was a worthy expense.

’An offer of five hundred Points, plus a 20% transaction fee... Damn, that’s expensive!’

But he had no other choice. If the request wasn’t filled, he would only be out ten Points.

So, he entered [500] in the [Points] field and tapped [Post].

[Purchase request posted successfully. 610 Points deducted. You may view this request at any time.]

With that, his Points dropped to 72.

’I still need to buy the chicks and the calf. I’ll only have seventeen Points left after that.’

And speak of the devil.

Just then, Ma San arrived at the entrance of the Marketplace Hut. He cupped his hands in a salute to Cheng Zongyang and said,

"Sir, the chicken coop is finished. The cattle pen should take about another hour. Would you like to take a look at the coop?"

"Alright."

Hearing this, Cheng Zongyang immediately bought the chicks.

A bamboo cage instantly materialized on the counter, holding twenty healthy and lively little yellow chicks.

He had Ma San carry the cage out of the hut.

Ma San walked beside him, carrying the cage in one hand and explaining as they went.

"Sir, the chicks aren’t familiar with the environment yet. We should keep them penned up at first and feed them at a fixed spot. Once they’re used to the coop, we can let them out. If we call them back at feeding time, after just a few times, they’ll learn to go back and forth between the fields and the coop on their own and won’t wander off."

About a dozen meters from the pigsty stood a small bamboo coop, one meter high and two meters on each side. A small bamboo fence was built around it, enclosing an area of about ten square meters.

Inside the enclosure sat several bamboo water and feed troughs.

"Not bad." Cheng Zongyang smiled. He inspected it and found it to be quite sturdy. The space was about ten square meters, more than enough for twenty little chicks to run around in.

"Then I’ll leave them in your care. You can mix the cornmeal, wheat bran, and Old Rice from the warehouse to feed them. Don’t worry about running out of grain."

"Yes, Sir. I understand," Ma San replied.

"One more thing." Cheng Zongyang suddenly remembered something and added, "Get some rope and tie the legs of those little wild boars. I’m taking them with me in a bit."

"Yes, Sir."

Cheng Zongyang then went into the warehouse. He retrieved the unused Beast Trap and two large, unidentified fish, and headed for the stream.

A short while later, by the stream, Cheng Zongyang set the Beast Trap in the ground about ten meters from the bank. He armed it and placed the two fish on the central pressure plate.

Looking at the dense cluster of fine needles on the eight metal "petals" made his skin crawl.

Even though each needle was only a centimeter long, he wasn’t sure it would be enough to trap a bear.

Both wild boars and bears have incredibly thick hides and subcutaneous fat. The trap’s strength, however, lay in the sheer number of needles and the iron spike driven a meter deep into the ground.

Although that wasn’t very deep, once the mechanism was triggered, millimeter-long, clasp-like metal studs would extend from the spike, anchoring it firmly in the earth.

’This cost ten Points. I’ll make my investment back even if it only catches a single wolf.’ Cheng Zongyang scattered a handful of leaves over the metal petals, crudely camouflaging it.

Afterward, he dusted off his hands, returned to the hut, and found Ma San, who was busy tying up the little wild boars. He gave him an instruction:

"If you hear any animal roaring from the direction of the stream, go and check it out. I set a Beast Trap over there. If you find a beast caught in it, kill it and bring it back along with the trap."

"Yes, Sir. I will," Ma San replied with a solemn nod.

Soon, Ma San had finished tying the limbs of the squealing piglets. Cheng Zongyang shouldered the gear he had brought with him, grabbed the boars’ ropes in each hand, and entered the Marketplace Hut to leave the Wilderness World.

Appearing back outside, Cheng Zongyang glanced around before heading toward the Inner Mountain Pass. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Before he even reached the Inner Mountain Pass, he could already see wisps of cooking smoke rising through the trees.

The setting sun, its heat slowly fading, brushed the smoke with a soft golden hue. A mountain breeze blew, scattering the light across the forest.

At the settlement, several bare-chested men were repairing a bamboo house, while younger children in straw sandals chased each other playfully. On the opposite bank of the stream, five youths were training, their bodies drenched in sweat. Some hacked at a large tree with wooden swords, others did squats while hugging a section of a log, and one stood motionless in a stance. To his surprise, one of the trainees was a little girl, and she was holding her stance with impressive form.

These were all physical conditioning methods Cheng Zongyang had taught them over the past two days. He had also taught the adults body-tempering techniques.