Chapter 83 Merging Maps

After a night of pushing his limits, consuming an entire bottle of mid-grade mana potion, Ye Da finally managed to conjure a crooked, uneven nine-story stone tower in his palm!

At last!

He had finally, albeit barely, succeeded in condensing the nine-story stone tower!

Though this tower was far from exquisite or substantial—in fact, even a three-year-old molding clay could produce something more refined—none of that mattered.

Because after this night of practice, Ye Da finally understood why the Ability Guide insisted that players condense a nine-story stone tower.

It was for the sake of control.

Currently, Ye Da had just advanced from Black Iron Rank One to Rank Two, and the stone element in his body was still quite limited. If he couldn’t masterfully control every bit of it, he would be able to utilize even less of that power.

For example—

Ye Da formed a stone spike in his palm. If he used all his stone element to create one spike, it would be about half a meter long; if he made it thinner, like a slender bamboo branch, he could stretch it to a meter. But the thinner the spike, the more fragile it was; the thicker, the shorter. In battle, Ye Da would have to make swift choices in an instant—what kind of stone spike would be just enough to kill the monster?

All of this demanded an extremely high degree of control.

Thus, after a night of repeated practice, Ye Da finally grasped the basics of ability control.

According to the Ability Guide, to elevate his control to Rank Two, he had to practice in real combat. Only in life-or-death struggles could one’s potential be fully awakened, pushing ability control to its peak and enabling advancement!

His stomach growled.

He hadn’t slept all night and had been depleting his mental energy nonstop, leaving his body in a state of extreme hunger.

Glancing at the time—it was already 5:10.

Damn, he’d completely lost track of time while training. He’d thought he’d collapse from exhaustion around one or two in the morning, but he’d ended up going all night!

He quickly grabbed his phone.

The moment he switched it on, he was bombarded with messages.

Dali: “Take care, brother. My phone is really out of power—might never turn on again! Also, I’ve discovered we’re in Zone Two. If you can make it here, come find me! I’m near a towering ancient tree in the Graystone Mountains!”

Ye Da: “I’m in Zone One! I’m right near the Graystone Mountains now!”

[Message sent successfully!]

This time, the message went through, but unfortunately, Dali’s phone seemed truly dead—Ye Da never got a reply.

Seeing his message could be sent, Ye Da didn’t dare waste this precious window and quickly texted Ning Qingcheng: “Director Ning, I’m here!”

Director Ning: “You finally replied! I waited two days for you!”

Ye Da: “Director Ning, which zone are you in?”

Director Ning: “Zone Three. And you?”

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Ye Da: “Zone One! So that’s why I couldn’t find you in the communication channel—we’re in different zones! By the way, since my absence wasn’t without cause, you won’t dock my pay, right?”

Director Ning: “Let’s talk about that if and when you get back. You’re in Zone One? Last night I checked the newcomer leaderboards and saw that the rookie king of Zone One shares your name.”

Ye Da’s eyes lit up at Director Ning’s reply.

He hurriedly typed: “That’s me!”

[Message failed to send!]

…

Did the signal really have to drop at such a crucial moment?

Ye Da was almost speechless.

He tried several more times, but all failed, and he couldn’t receive any more messages from Ning Qingcheng either—it seemed the signal was gone.

Now it was 5:30 in the morning.

Outside, the sky was growing brighter, sunlight trickling through the window.

His stomach growled again.

He’d been too focused on cultivating and reconnecting with old friends to feel hungry before, but as soon as he relaxed, hunger hit him with a vengeance. He decided to reheat the bamboo shoot soup from last night, cook a pot of bamboo-tube rice, and fry some minced pork with crocodile eggs.

That would make for a nutritious breakfast!

He cracked two crocodile eggs and whisked them with some minced pork.

He heated the pan, added a little lard, then poured in the egg and pork mixture, letting it set. Using a bamboo spatula, he gently loosened the bottom of the omelet, careful not to break it.

At this stage, instead of flipping it with the spatula, he had to toss the pan.

In one smooth motion, he flipped the whole omelet into the air and caught it, ensuring it stayed intact.

When the omelet flipped over, the side that had been against the pan was perfectly golden and crisp—the best texture, neither too tough nor too burnt.

The omelet was crispy on the outside, tender inside, with minced pork locked in by the egg’s moisture. Each bite was both succulent and smooth.

He opened the communication channel to have something to read with his meal.

Ye Da had always been in the habit of checking his phone while eating. Now, alone in this world, he naturally craved a bit of conversation.

However—

No sooner had he opened the channel than he saw something that soured his mood.

[Communication Channel]

“Selling information on medicinal fields—DM if interested!”

“Newbie Forest medicinal field location. Herbs can be used by alchemists to brew all kinds of potions or sold separately. DM for details!”

“Recruiting warriors for medicinal field raid: I’ve bought info on a medicinal field, now recruiting fighters to kill monsters and seize the herbs. Main monsters are soldier ants—little danger, big profit! Interested parties, contact me!”

…

Ye Da’s face darkened at these messages.

He’d only gotten the monster distribution map yesterday, and now someone was already selling information about the medicinal fields?

And judging by the recruitment details, the info was real—the monsters guarding the field matched the details on Ye Da’s own map!

Originally—

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Ye Da had planned to check out the medicinal field when he had some free time, but now he couldn’t afford to take it easy.

After all, Ye Da didn’t just covet the herbs in the field—he had a compendium of medicinal ingredients, and as soon as he gathered materials for ten different potions, he could awaken the Healer attribute.

If other players cleared the field first, there’d be no herbs left for him!

He had to act fast and clear out the medicinal field ahead of everyone else.

[Put away!]

After finishing his meal, Ye Da didn’t even bother cleaning up his pots and bowls—he hurried out and put away his stone house orb.

Stepping outside, he realized that his stone house was no longer hidden inside a tree trunk but appeared as a block of gray rock beside a huge tree.

Its concealment and defensive capabilities far surpassed the old treehouse.

So this is what my upgraded stone house looks like?

The moment Ye Da stowed his stone house, the giant rock beside the tree vanished, transforming into a transparent sphere radiating a gray light, with an irregular chunk of stone inside.

So this was the appearance of Ye Da’s stone house now.

[Monster Distribution Map]

After putting away his house, Ye Da quickly pulled out his map. Although he could use the monster map to locate the soldier ants and the medicinal field, he still needed to rely on the surrounding environment to pinpoint his exact location.

For instance, he knew he was in the Giant Tree Forest, but exactly where in the forest, he couldn’t say.

The forest looked almost identical everywhere, making it hard to find any landmark for reference.

Left with no other option—

Ye Da pulled out the goblin’s treasure map, hoping to match the footprints marked on it with his surroundings.

Unexpectedly, the moment he took out the map—

[Positioning map detected. Would you like to merge it with the monster area map to create a regional search map?]

The two maps could actually be combined?!

Ye Da’s eyes went wide with disbelief.

After all, he’d already claimed the goblin’s treasure and visited the second-level sinkhole world, so the search map had little use now.

But the newly obtained monster area map was exactly what he needed.

If the two maps could be merged, he would be delighted!

[Combine!]

[Congratulations, player! Lucky crit triggered!]

[Map successfully merged and upgraded!]

[S-rank Monster Area Search Map: Allows you to track monster movements and numbers via red dots on the map!]

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