After laying out the solar panels on the rooftop, Pang Peng also upgraded the antenna, directly building an external Yagi antenna.
Before he arrived, he had already gathered the necessary supplies in the city. One of his travel bags contained materials like a driven element, a reflector, three directors, and coaxial cable.
Soon, the antenna was assembled, its shiny silver metal arm pointing toward the town.
Pang Peng tuned to the radio frequencies designated by the officials, found the regional channel for Qixia Town, and successfully picked up a message on his all-band radio.
"...The Qixia border town infrastructure project is in urgent need of able-bodied laborers. Three meals a day are provided. Daily pay is two contribution points. Many technical positions offer an additional essence."
"Sweet!"
Pang Peng was overjoyed after successfully picking up the signal from the border town.
"Isn’t that pay a little low?" Cao Yutang couldn’t help but complain from the rooftop.
"It’s decent enough," Pang Peng said with a laugh. "The city has at least two million people. Do you really think everyone has the guts to fight monsters? Just getting fed is a good deal."
It was worth noting that contribution points could be used to exchange for supplies at the Resource Exchange Office.
An accumulation of six points could also be exchanged for one essence.
Because of this established value, contribution points had long become the hard currency for private circulation among the people.
「On the first floor of the camp.」
Yan Ziqian pulled a transparent mask from a large bag and placed it on a long mahogany table.
"It’s an underwater breathing mask that was listed in the Rune Store yesterday. When worn, it can extract oxygen directly from the water. I bought four in total."
Before they set out, Su Chen had provided a sum of money to buy good items from the Rune Store.
Yan Ziqian also bought Thermostatic Cloaks, a self-purifying water bottle, a Radiant Candlestick with built-in mosquito repellent and healing purification effects, and a Silent Stone that creates a soundproof field.
As well as a bag of Shadow Vine Seeds, revealing powder, Decomposition Stones, and other miscellaneous items.
In addition, "Just as day broke today, the Rune Store also listed Body Refining Potions," Yan Ziqian said. "They’re 24 essence a bottle. Taking one provides a huge burst of Life Force all at once and also directly strengthens a person’s physical constitution. While it’s not a complete transformation, it does noticeably improve one’s Physique."
The most obvious proof of this was that the gentle and refined young man no longer needed to wear glasses.
He had instantly said goodbye to his nearsightedness.
’Is this a result of the sacrifices being converted?’ Su Chen thought, recalling the cave dweller corpses that had been placed on the sacrificial altar.
This belonged to a different path—the flesh-and-blood evolution system.
A path that was difficult to comprehend from the perspective of the Rune Element system.
"Perhaps ’He’ really exists. A high-dimensional being similar to the Magic Goddess might actually be real." Yan Ziqian handed over his phone.
Su Chen and Yan Ruoruo leaned in for a closer look. On the screen was an image of a rock wall carving. Time had left mottled traces on it. Between abstruse text and totems was a bas-relief of a multi-armed, faceless deity.
Its magnificent divine form seemed to hold up the sky, its eight arms outstretched. The top two arms were raised to the heavens, and the immense power it radiated felt as if it would burst from the stone.
Su Chen’s heart tightened. This deity clearly had no connection to Elements or Magic symbols. If It truly existed in this world, then It obviously corresponded to the flesh-and-blood evolution system.
"Is this the mural discovered in the main nest of the Bloodthirsty Fungus?" Yan Ruoruo keenly realized the implication.
"That’s right."
Yan Ziqian confirmed it. "At sunrise, a new Rune building appeared in the Holiday Shopping Plaza. It’s a Quest Hall. Currently, there’s only one quest: to sacrifice the corpses of the Bloodthirsty Fungus’s modified and chimeric forms."
A quest in name, but a sacrifice in reality.
This was very similar to the temporary sacrificial altar building.
The objects of sacrifice were all strange existences related to flesh-and-blood evolution. Combined with the appearance of this mural in the Bloodthirsty Fungus’s old nest, Su Chen could more or less connect all the clues.
And the family heirloom Jade Pendant on his chest was likely another link in the chain.
"Can’t you drink this stuff more than once?"
Su Chen glanced at the two bottles of Body Refining Potion on the table, one for each of them. From the description, he guessed it was probably just a ’+1 to Physique’.
"No, repeat use is ineffective. Some of the combat division members who are already physically strong even reported a very limited increase." Yan Ziqian explained that, based on all indications, it didn’t seem to be a matter of developing a resistance to the potion. Rather, the improvement from the Body Refining Potion had a ceiling.
Hearing this, Su Chen understood. He immediately knew this bottle of Body Refining Potion would be useless for him.
"Ruoruo, you drink it. I’ll save mine and use it as a Great Life Potion," he said.
Yan Ziqian had no objections; that was also a valid way to use it.
Yan Ruoruo nodded slightly, took the bottle, and downed it in one gulp. A surging vitality burst forth from within her, and her already fair skin became even more delicate and tender.
"How is it?" Su Chen asked.
Yan Ziqian was also feeling a little hopeful. He was banking on this Potion having a miraculous effect that might solve her problem of emotional indifference.
"It’s similar to the Physique increase I got when I changed classes. My cardiopulmonary function is much better." Yan Ruoruo was intimately familiar with the precise instrument that was her body. The improvement in her breathing was especially noticeable in the cold weather.
But to her brother’s disappointment, her tone of voice remained as placid as ever, and her delicate face was still as cold as frost.
"Not bad."
Su Chen had naturally been hoping for her physical constitution to improve as well. It wasn’t that he was afraid of breaking the bed frame when he got on top, but mainly because their late-night exertions always left her overly exhausted.
Moreover, the Power transformation he received from their feedback loop mostly involved blood energy. Yesterday’s huge leap had also driven up his agility attribute, and the coordination of his entire body’s muscles had risen accordingly.

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