The Silly Alchemist

“How does the system work? This is a level 7 creature, shouldn’t it be 7 points?” asked Ye Lang. This question was often asked by participants, it made sense.

“No, it doesn’t work that way. Common wild animals- 1 point, difficult-to-catch wild animals- 2 points, magical beasts level 5 and below- 3 points, magical beasts above level 5- 5 points, Di Earth Level beasts- 50 points, Tian Heavenly Level beasts- 100 points, anything else would be a case-by-case basis,” explained Li Yue.

To be honest, most people thought any creatures below the Di Earth Level were basically regular wild animals… The ones who had such an opinion were of course warriors who’d already attained the Di Earth LEvel.

The difference in points would just be their luck because one would have to be very lucky to meet a magical beast.

Also, although the beasts were classified as such in theory, a Level 9 warrior could most definitely kill a Level 9 magical beast. It would not be too difficult either because a beast was still an animal. It lacked the wisdom and cunning of a human.

“Tian Level… Di Level… Why would these kinds of magical beasts appear in this area…” he asked casually.

“Yeah, magical beasts are already rare, hunters are considered lucky if they encounter any. High-level beasts almost never appear, I can’t believe how fortunate we are today to meet such a high-level one,” said Li Yue mildly as she watched the soup boil in the pot.

“Of course we’re lucky, I have my lucky stars!” said Ye Lang. If Li Yue had known he was Ye Lang, she would’ve nodded. She did not respond to this statement.

A long time passed. The pot of soup smelled amazing. Li Yue and Ye Lang killed time with small talk, all merely boring and minor topics.

Li Yue didn’t seem to be in a hurry to go hunt either. This was perhaps she did not care much for rankings, she just enjoyed the process of participation.

If she wasn’t in a hurry, Ye Lang obviously wasn’t either. He let the pot of soup broil longer so it would be richer as time passed.

In the end, Li Yue was the one who served the soup first or Ye Lang might’ve waited at least half an hour more…

“Not bad.”

When she drank the soup, she realised it had a simple fragrance. There were no complicated ingredients involved, there was beauty in its simplicity.

“Of course, I made it!” grinned Ye Lang with no hint of humility.

“You don’t act like a member of the fox tribe at all, you talk more like a shameless human,” huffed Li Yue as she took another gulp of soup.

“I’m not from the fox tribe! Also, I do care about my pride too,” said Ye Lang said solemnly.

“…”

Li Yue shook her head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Conversation with him was sometimes exhausting! However, he was right. He wasn’t from the fox tribe, the Fox clan had both human and beastmen blood in them and they’d been mixing with humans for generations now.

“Alright, let’s go.”

After a satisfying meal, they packed and Li Yue stood up to announce they should leave soon. They still had to trek deeper into the forest.

There shouldn’t be any more animals in the area because this was the territory of the wolf. No other animals would want to be here.

“You go ahead, I’ll catch up later. I’ll clean up the area, in case we accidentally left any fire starters here. Then we’d be in trouble,” said Ye Lang.

“We’re done with that, we’ve packed everything. And we’ve already put out the fire with water, everything will be fine.” Li Yue was the one who put out the fire, she was very sure about this.

“Fine, I actually need to poop,” said Ye Lang casually.

“…” Her face turned red in an instant.

“Hmmph, then I guess I’ll go ahead first.” Li Yue trekked ahead, face still red, and did not look back.

Ye Lang immediately dove behind a couple of trees as if he was going to poop.

However, if Li Yue followed him, she’d realised he wasn’t pooping at all. He was instead giving a girl some wolf soup.

“Little Five, Little Five, come have some soup!” Ye Lang whispered to Coldblood Five.

“What the hell? Do your thing if you need to,” came her angry response. It was obvious she thought he actually was going to poop and yet he was ‘offering’ her ‘soup’.

“Do what? I’m here to give you some soup! It’s still warm! I lied to make her leave, she won’t come back here.”

“You lied? You’re actually offering me soup?” asked Coldblood Five, surprised.

Ye Lang nodded. “Yeah. I know you have food but warm food’s better. Hurry, come eat.” After he spoke, Coldblood Five had already emerged from the shadows.

She didn’t speak, merely taking the soup from him.

“What do you think? It’s not as good as yours but it doesn’t matter. I can’t let them see you so you just have to drink this for the moment,” said Ye Lang with a smile, sitting on the ground.

“The soup’s great,” she said coldly but her heart was warm. She hadn’t expected Ye Lang to think of her, that he’d left a bowl for her!

Although the soup wasn’t as good as the soup she boiled, it was a different feeling- the different type of condiments he used and the warmth of kindness.

“Alright, I’ve got to go. Once she falls asleep tonight, we can go get supper.” Ye Lang stood up to leave when he saw her finish her bowl of soup. He had to catch up to Li Yue before she strayed too far.

“You idiot,” she whispered gently. Her tone wasn’t cold this time. It was gently. Then, she disappeared into the shadows once again.

“Miss Li Yue, I’m back,” he called out as he caught up to her.

“Have you washed your hands?” she asked casually.

“Wash my hands?” Ye Lang didn’t realise what she meant.

“Please don’t tell me you forgot to wash your hands.” Li Yue’s expression darkened.

“Oh! Yeah, of course I did! We have to wash our hands before and after meals, do you really think I’m that unhygienic?” Ye Lang finally remembered the excuse he’d used.

“Hmmph.” Li Yue did not speak. Although she couldn’t tell if he’d washed his hands, based on how he was when he was slaughtering the wolf, she knew he was quite a clean person so she did not dwell on the topic.

And just like that, Ye Lang and Li Yue continued trudging ahead deeper into the forest. Soon after, the number of animals increased and Li Yue had the chance to show off her archery skills.

After Ye Lang killed the first wolf, he did not kill anything else. He was too lazy anyways. Li Yue was there and she could settle every animal in like, 2 seconds. She didn’t need him to do anything.

After one day, their team accumulated 50 points. Although it wasn’t much, it wasn’t little either. Every day, the organisers would record the number of points per team/individual and update a scoreboard.