Chapter 21: The Right Way to Interact with Snakes
After Dong Ran left, Tang Xian didn't have much of a reaction.
He might consider building a team in the future.
The mining area was like a real-life online game. Offline, everyone was separated by different fortresses. They might never see each other more than a few times in their lives, but they could arrange to meet somewhere in the mining area through mission handbooks.
Tang Xian disliked group activities.
Unless the team members were quite obedient.
Dong Ran was stupid but obedient and easy to train.
With four talents, he wasn't a disgrace, and if trained well, he could help Tang Xian with many things.
Shaking his head, he took out a notebook from his prop bag.
He began to document the day's experiences.
Tang Xian considered his IQ to be above average, and many things didn't need to be recorded on paper.
Yet, the legacy of human knowledge for a considerable time relied on predecessor's notes.
He would grow old and die.
He was grateful for the wisdom of those before him and hoped to leave some experience for future generations.
Regarding techniques for surviving in the mining area, Tang Xian wrote a book that, for anyone, including himself, was nothing but armchair strategies.
Especially that year when he was only fifteen.
A fifteen-year-old child talking about survival in the mining area? Ridiculously funny. The reviewing tutor barely glanced at it before rejecting the publication request.
Tang Xian didn't mind.
After all, he was young and not yet in a rush to leave his last words.
"The existence of mining area creature bosses indicates an intelligence independent of other creatures. Natural disaster-level bosses, or even catastrophe-level bosses, might not only in terms of wisdom and behavior but even in appearance, evolve to resemble humans."
Tang Xian seriously took notes, then added some of his own arguments.
"I advise those who want to eat foxes in the future not to set their sights on the Jiuye Demon Fox. Because cannibalism is illegal."
"Philosophically, there are many definitions about what it means to be human. Historical literature also indicates that whether it hatched from an egg, jumped from a rock, or transformed from a fox, once it possesses human form and intelligence, it is human."
"Moreover, it's argued that thought and habits are secondary; appearance is the primary criterion for determining whether something is human."
"Take Xu Xian, for example, as a brave hero with a ( ) snake. His greatest success was not courage but that the White Snake could transform into a beautiful woman."
"If the White Snake didn't even have the ability to take human form, even if Xu Xian could overcome the tactile and visual discomfort of cold snake skin, imagining it as an indescribably warm ( ), he couldn't fulfill the highest mission symbolizing peace between the two races. Because there was no ( )."
After recording these insights, Tang Xian closed his diary with satisfaction.
Actually, Tang Xian felt a bit of regret. He did want to eat the Jiuye Demon Fox's meat.
The White Phosphorus Demon Snake was no different.
As well as some other catastrophe-level creatures he knew of.
But as long as these creatures could take human form, Tang Xian could only reluctantly remove them from his menu.
As he said, he didn't eat human beings.
Anything that could take human form was considered human.
Unfortunately for the Hellhound that had exhibited some human intelligence just before its death, it couldn't change its appearance as a dog.
Reflecting on his experiences in the mining area for a while, Tang Xian lay down and fell asleep.
He fell asleep quickly.
He had no dreams that night, which was indeed a bit tiring considering what he had been through during the day.
...
...
When he woke up, the sun's position indicated it was about ten o'clock in the morning.
Tang Xian was surprised at how soundly he had slept.
When he stepped out of the tent, he found animal paw prints on it.
They were from some creature that wanted to come close but was ultimately driven away by the smell of Redline Grass and the Seven-Leaf Dual Phase Orchid.
Tang Xian didn't care. He packed up his things, folded up the tent materials, put them into the prop bag, and began to hurry on his way.
There were many Biphasic Orchids in the Forest Sea area, but the Seven-Leaf Dual Phase Orchid was not difficult to find.
Even in the plant kingdom, there are kings of flowers, grass, and trees.
The Seven-Leaf Dual Phase Orchid is the king among the Biphasic Orchids.
For the fox clan, wearing a Biphasic Orchid with more leaves signifies a higher status.
For the Biphasic Orchid itself, the Seven-Leaf Dual Phase Orchid with the most leaves holds a lofty status as well; it is always located in the center of the flower sea.
From a great distance, Tang Xian spotted this Biphasic Orchid.
During this process, he heard the mournful cries of birds.
The birds dwelling on the trees of the Forest Sea all knew that this flower was the favorite of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, and no creature had dared to pick it until now.
Tang Xian didn't think too much about it.
He needed three flowers, and there was only one here.
He actually knew how to find the others as well.
But without a mount, he wouldn't even make it in time to travel within a week.
Those places are in the red zones, where human teleportation stations would not dare to be constructed.
If one wants to go to those areas, one can only go on foot.
Tang Xian could only find another way.
After finding the Seven-Leaf Dual Phase Orchid, he didn't pick it directly but took it along with the soil, then secured it with the bag he used for food. He directly put it into the prop bag.
After completing this task, he reluctantly opened up a portable teleportation rift and returned to the Pyramid from the mining area.
...
...
Once back in his room, Tang Xian didn't linger, though he really wanted to use the quantum boiler to make a dish of authentic Hechuan Sliced Meat.
But he had to go to the phone booth now.
As someone with principles, just as he said to Dong Ran, he wouldn't trouble those who he had once mentored.
Most of these people now hold positions of significant power.
Tang Xian never thought of relying on them, after all, everyone has their own life.
Those who should be in contact will always stay in touch.
If, after many years, an old classmate he hadn't contacted appears, it's mostly to lure him into some pyramid scheme or because they need a gift of money for a wedding.
Tang Xian thought about it, and although he was about to contact someone he had not stayed in touch with, ultimately it was to contribute to the amicable relations between humans and the fox clan.
Expecting to conquer the mining area by force is the most foolish plan among all future strategies of humanity.
If one day, boss-level creatures are willing to show a friendly attitude towards humans, perhaps humans... could openly go to the high ore regions to mine resources.
Giving himself a lofty reason, Tang Xian felt much better, and he didn't hesitate anymore when he dialed the number.
The phone rang several times before it was quickly picked up.
"Hello? Who is this?" Shang Lu was puzzled, his private number was being called by a number formatted like a phone booth.
Such an event had never happened before; very few people knew his number, just a handful.
He hadn't changed his number over the years.
Those in the know would not likely leak the number.
During his years at the Hua Science Academy, he had been engrossed in researching various plants night and day, and had no time for socializing; to this day, despite having an income above the fourth-tier average, he didn't even have a girlfriend.
"Little Lu, how have you been lately?"
The phone almost slipped from his hands.
The tone coming through the phone was very calm, the sentence only four words long, but the voice immediately made Shang Lu's nose tingle.
"Xian... Xian bro?"
"Hmm. It's me."