"Have you heard? There's a constant flash of multicolored light deep within the Eternal Forest. There must be treasure inside."

Fang Qing's ears perked up. Was this true?

“I saw it with my own eyes; it appears every evening, and I’m not the only one who has seen it.”

"Then why didn't you go in and take a look?"

The man hung his head dejectedly. "Why didn't I get in? There's a barrier inside that only warriors below the fifth level can enter, and I've already exceeded that level."

He became somewhat smug as he spoke, claiming that he was the most accomplished among the group.

"Shall we give it a try?"

The man then stopped them, saying, "Don't even think about it. There's an age limit. If you're over twenty-five, forget about it."

He smiled smugly again; he was also the youngest one.

The group chatted and laughed, and soon dispersed.

Fang Qing thought about it for a moment and decided to go and see. Although his strength was low, what if he could have a lucky encounter?

"Let's form a team! Let's form a team! We need warriors of level three or above to enter the secret realm together. The treasures we get will be distributed according to our contributions."

"Look over here, look over here, we're recruiting warriors of level two and above..."

Fang Qing frowned. Even if he was naive, he knew that these people were recruiting people to be cannon fodder and had no good intentions at all.

He left the mercenary guild alone, deciding to go and see for himself.

He finally arrived at the Emberless Forest, and it was almost evening. He found a stream, prepared to rest for a while, and make something to eat.

There were fish in the river, so he decided to use what was available and prepare to grill them.

After finally catching two large fish as long as his arms, Fang Qing started a fire to grill them.

Sprinkle on some salt, brush on a layer of homemade five-spice powder, and then sprinkle on some chili powder, and the aroma will immediately come out.

The nearby mercenaries all turned to look, and some girls even winked at Fang Qing.

Fang Qing pretended not to see it and focused on grilling the fish.

"Mmm, it smells delicious. It should be ready soon."

His stomach rumbled; the aroma had whetted his appetite.

Tear off a piece of fish and put it in your mouth; it's crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a perfect balance of saltiness and savory flavor—it's grilled just right.

Fang Qing ate his fill, then ate two more jade radishes before letting out a satisfied burp.

He climbed up a tree branch and looked around, intending to find the five-colored divine light that others had mentioned.

Not far away, a girl in blue looked towards the tree branch. When her eyes met Fang Qing's, she turned her head away nonchalantly and simply moved her body behind the tree.

Fang Qing felt somewhat offended. He stood tall and had a broad vision, but he wasn't very friendly to others.

Not seeing any divine light, he jumped down again, intending to wander around and observe the surrounding terrain.

He walked to the vicinity of a steep slope. He had heard that where there are cliffs, there are caves, and where there are caves, there are adventures. He was eager to go down and see if there were any caves nearby.

Given his skills, he might not be able to get back up if he went down, so he could only dream about it.

"Everyone else who transmigrates has a cheat code, but where is mine? Sigh..."

Looking at the plants growing at different heights on the ground, he was also depressed. Everyone else who transmigrated was accompanied by an old man.

At the very least, there are all sorts of little elves, but what about him? He has nothing, not even a single herb he recognizes.

Thinking of this, he kicked the weeds on the ground hard.

"God, are you kidding me? It's one thing to have such poor aptitude, but at least give me some lucky encounters!"

"Boom..."

A sudden clap of thunder startled Fang Qing.

He accidentally rolled down the hillside.

"Ah... Help!"

The girl in blue seemed to have heard something. She looked over, but found nothing, so she closed her eyes and continued to rest.

Fang Qing rolled all the way until he reached the cold pool at the bottom of the cliff.

"Thump..."

Water splashed three feet high, but Fang Qing lost consciousness.

He sank all the way to the bottom of the icy pool, along with a blackfish spirit that had lived there for three hundred years.

It ate all the fish, shrimp, and shellfish in the cold pool, and now it can only go hungry, hoping that some unlucky creatures will fall into the pool from the land.

Today it was waiting for its prey again when it suddenly heard the sound of wind overhead. When it looked up, it saw a huge prey.

Before it could even feel happy, it was struck squarely by its prey and killed instantly.

Fang Qing couldn't breathe underwater. He woke up as soon as he sank to the bottom. He was a good swimmer and heard the sound of water before he lost consciousness, so he immediately knew he had fallen into the water.

I held my breath and turned around to see a huge blackfish right under me.

He was so frightened he almost fainted, but thankfully he managed to stay calm. When he saw the large gash on the head of the cuttlefish, he realized that he had killed it by smashing it.

He breathed a sigh of relief and was about to swim up when he noticed that there was a faint shimmering light flowing through the wound on the snakehead fish.

He reached in and grabbed a bead about the size of a thumb.

The beads are transparent, but their interiors are shimmering with iridescent light, making them quite beautiful.

"Is this the inner core of a cuttlefish?"

Unexpectedly, this snakehead fish was actually a spirit.

Upon hearing that fish antlers could be used as water-repelling beads, Fang Qing immediately washed them in water and put them directly into his mouth.

Unfortunately, it was no use. Just as he was about to curse, his throat moved, and his inner core... actually... slid down.

He clutched his neck, trying to vomit, but the inner core was so small that it had already entered his stomach.

He felt a sharp pain in his body, as if something was changing.

A moment later, he felt a difference, as if his body could breathe without needing his mouth or nose.

"This snakehead fish has become a spirit; its meat is a real delicacy, and we can't waste it."

He used buoyancy to drag the snakehead to the shallow water, but he couldn't get it ashore because he didn't have enough strength.

He drew the dagger he was carrying, thankfully without dropping it, and used it to cut the cuttlefish's body into small pieces.

The temperature in this cold pool is very low, making it perfectly suitable for storage.

After cutting all the meat into pieces, all that's left of the snakehead fish is its skeleton, internal organs, and its enormous head.

Fang Qing looked at the internal organs, kicked them in disgust, and prepared to dig a hole and bury them.

An hour later, the pit was finally dug, and he picked up the skeleton and dragged it over.

"Ding-dong..."

A ring fell out.

Fang Qing paused, picked up the ring, and wiped it. It looked like neither jade nor wood, but rather had an antique feel to it.

Fang Qing looked at the ring and suddenly burst into laughter.

"Haha, I knew it! There must be an old man in here. My magic touch is here."

He pricked his finger, dripped blood onto the ring, and waited for the ring to transform.

Unfortunately, the ring did not respond.

"How is that possible? There must be too little blood."

He cut another finger and continued dripping.

There was still no response.

He threw the ring away and angrily went to find herbs to stop the bleeding.

"What a lousy ring! It's made my hand hurt so much."

I found a sawgrass, smashed it with a stone, applied the herb, and wrapped it with a strip of cloth.