Chapter 114: Nightfall

Sitting in front of his computer at night, Chen Shouyi carefully drew a terrain map using drafting software, relying on his memory. Half an hour later, he let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, this kind of work didn’t demand much from a Martial Artist, nor could it.

As for precision? What even was that? With just visual estimation, how high could the accuracy possibly be?

Being able to roughly sketch where a mountain stood, where a river flowed, the degree of danger in certain areas, and the size of any tribes present was already more than enough.

Next, he began writing his exploration report.

This was much simpler.

Such reports followed a fixed format.

Moreover, the spatial rift in Dongning City itself had little worth describing—there were only those two islands nearby, and the greatest danger had already been dealt with by him. All that remained were a group of barbarians, already terrified out of their wits, consisting of the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled.

At this point, Chen Shouyi had a thought and deliberately noted the discovery of a gold mine on the island at the end of his report.

After some consideration, he reopened the map and marked it again.

According to Explorer regulations, any wealth obtained by an Explorer during their exploration of the Otherworld belonged to them. As for mineral deposits, the Explorer was entitled to a ten percent share of the profits.

However, the latter rarely benefited Martial Artists.

The Otherworld was practically an entirely undeveloped world, with mineral deposits so abundant they were almost everywhere.

But in reality, very few companies engaged in mining operations there.

On one hand, ordinary machinery couldn’t be used in the Otherworld—at most, steam-powered equipment could be employed, resulting in extremely low efficiency.

On the other hand, the triple gravity meant that any Staff Member working in the Otherworld needed to be at least a Martial Artist Apprentice. Human capital was exorbitantly expensive, often making the value of the extracted minerals far less than the wages and casualty compensations paid out.

Add to that the constant danger lurking in the Otherworld, and it was no surprise that few companies ventured into mining there.

Of course, there were exceptions—unless the mineral was of exceptionally high value or held strategic importance.

For example, high-grade uranium deposits or certain rare metals.

And a large gold deposit like this one barely qualified.

The island had an abundance of gold, with no significant dangers nearby, making extraction easy. Even someone like Shell Woman could casually gather several taels of gold every day just by searching around. The entire island likely held over a hundred tons.

Recently, the price of gold had been rising steadily, from just over 300 yuan per gram to now exceeding 500 yuan per gram. Chen Shouyi felt this island was absolutely worth mining.

He uploaded the map—which even he found shoddy—along with the exploration report to the Explorer Network, awaiting final review.

……

Dongning City, Muluo Town, Niutou Mountain.

The night was silent and hazy when suddenly, the sound of rolling gravel broke the stillness.

An opening appeared halfway up the mountain.

Under the cover of darkness, one figure after another emerged from the cave.

Thirty-five barbarians in total, clad in animal hides, their bodies strong and fierce. Upon arriving, they grew visibly excited, prostrating themselves on the ground and praying loudly.

"O great Hunting God, You are the source of Strength, the merciful guardian of our tribe... Coming to this devil's world, we shall spread Your glory with the blood and souls of these devils, proclaim Your greatness, and welcome Your arrival."

"Blood sacrifice!"

A group of barbarians roared excitedly in hushed tones, their terrifying aura startling countless dozing birds into flight.

...

The Otherworld is a realm where Deities rise—some powerful, some weak, some True Gods, and some who have not even developed Divine Nature, merely worshipped or feared through primitive barbarian beliefs.

The variety is endless.

Among them, those natural spirits who ascend to godhood are a peculiar category.

Born with the ability to devour souls and flesh, these gods often maintain the practice of blood sacrifice, absorbing the essence of living beings to enhance their Strength.

Especially those with divine domains rooted in fear—before becoming Deities, most were dim-witted, lacking the thought to guide their followers' faith, instead treating barbarians as mere livestock, instinctively maintaining limited reproduction and survival.

From birth, barbarians lived in fear and despair, not only guarding against beastly attacks but also dreading the devouring of natural spirits. Their terror of these spirits ran bone-deep, leaving no room for genuine faith.

Day after day, year after year, these natural spirits passively absorbed negative emotions—fear, resentment, despair—until they finally ascended to godhood, continuing to rely on spreading fear to sustain their Divine Nature.

Of course, there were also many restrained natural spirit Deities. Before ascending, they understood the value of faith and the preciousness of followers, directing blood sacrifices only toward rival tribes or substituting livestock.

Even after becoming True Gods, they retained such habits.

To them, faith was a staple—bland but filling—while souls and flesh were delicacies, delicious and sweet.

The Hunting God was one such Deity.

For gods like Him, Earth was undoubtedly a lavish feast, long coveted.

Humans here were physically frail, yet their souls were not weak. Compared to the Otherworld’s pitifully sparse population density, this world was teeming with people.

Before, Their power had been ineffective here—divine power would scatter and vanish upon arrival. Many Deities attempted repeatedly, only to fail.

But now, the world was undergoing drastic changes. Though divine power had waned slightly, it also allowed for limited transmission in this world.

All Deities began stirring once more.

In truth, every Deity sensed, to some degree, that a great upheaval was coming. Some would weaken, even fall, while others would rise in the chaos—everything would be reshuffled.

Unanimously, they prepared for the impending transformation.

Some orthodox Deities cautiously spread faith, while malevolent gods issued Divine Decrees, attempting blood sacrifices in the other world to amass Strength.

As long as a safe Spatial Gateway could be found, it would be easy to kill hundreds or even thousands of people. As for losing a few believers, such losses were pitifully small compared to the gains. The Hunting God, however, intended to have the best of both worlds.

Previously, He had succeeded in tempting human Explorers to spread His faith. Unfortunately, the good times did not last. Soon, the faith He had established was crushed by human forces, and even the massive investment of divine power He had expended yielded no returns. This left Him utterly furious.

This time, He no longer planned to act in secret.

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