Chapter 52: The Second Dream

After a thorough inspection to ensure everything was in order, Qin Yuan returned to his original spot.

He found the Slime Village Chief once again and presented the request he had prepared beforehand.

The elder remained silent for a moment before agreeing.

Before long, the village chief had gathered all the free slimes, announcing that he had an important matter to share.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, he first pointed to Qin Yuan standing nearby and said, "I am sure you all recognize this lord. It was he who rescued us from the gloomy depths and brought us back to the surface, and those sweet-tasting fruits were all brought by him as well."

"Now, he has entrusted me with a task for you. He needs your help to refine magic crystals, and he is willing to pay with those foods in return."

"For each crystal, you will receive roughly this much fruit."

With that, he had Qin Yuan bring out a basket of fruit he had prepared earlier, weighing nearly a hundred pounds.

Many slimes below were already eager to try upon hearing this.

After all, the wild fruits on the island were sour and astringent, completely incomparable to the carefully cultivated fruits of modern industry.

Once the village chief made the announcement, the slimes swarmed forward, scrambling to reach the mine they had been at earlier.

They began swallowing the raw stones, refining them within their bellies.

Theoretically, for a slime to refine a piece of magic crystal from ore, it would take at least a month or so.

This was because refining ore was also an energy-consuming task, and the time a slime could spend on refining each day was only about three to four hours.

However, Qin Yuan had also mentioned another idea earlier.

That was for the slimes to refine collectively, with each taking turns to refine a chunk of ore every day. This method could shorten the time to around six or seven days.

Therefore, they wouldn't have to wait too long.

Moreover, having simply counted the current number of slimes, the first batch of produced magic crystals would be around a dozen pieces.

That added up to a good dozens of gold coins.

This was by no means a small amount.

The next time he returned to reality, he would prepare a large batch of fruits and even expand the variety, not just apples, to meet various demands.

......

[Time remaining until return: 8:11:20.]

After finishing up the matters on the sky island, Qin Yuan had a simple meal with the Nightmare Slime, took a short nap to build up his energy, and was eventually woken up by the Whispering Grimoire as the time approached midnight.

Yawning, he leaned against the window, waiting for the countdown to end.

The familiar system prompt sounded.

[Do you wish to enter the Twisted Forest?]

This time, Qin Yuan first lay down on the soft bed and then clicked to confirm.

Soon, drowsiness washed over him.

......

When Qin Yuan's consciousness returned once more,

that forest bathed in a twisted atmosphere appeared before his eyes once again.

His feet stepped on some withered twigs on the ground, producing a crunching sound.

The familiar yellow moon hung in the sky, and dim yellow moonlight saturated the air.

[Welcome to the "Twisted Forest"]

[Hint 1: Kill monsters in the forest to collect Pumpkin Candlelight.]

[Hint 2: Please remain vigilant against other players.]

[Hint 3: There is a chance to encounter the Carriage Merchant in the forest. He sells special items and intelligence usable only in the Twisted Forest.]

[Hint 4: The Twisted Forest will open six times in total. Each time you enter, the forest will strengthen, meaning monster levels will increase along with new monster species, until at a certain stage, the Grim Reaper who harvests lives will appear......]

[Time remaining until this dream ends: 7:59:50]

[We wish you a pleasant game.]

After moving his body slightly, Qin Yuan was not in a quick hurry to use the Lure Potion.

He planned to scout the situation first and see what changes had occurred compared to the first time.

Therefore, he directly summoned his feather and began searching the surrounding area.

......

[Hint: You have obtained two points of Pumpkin Candlelight. Current total: seventeen points.]

[Hint: You have obtained three points of Pumpkin Candlelight. Current total: twenty points.]

[......]

Two hours later, somewhere in the forest.

Qin Yuan stopped in his tracks and took the Lure Potion out of his backpack.

During the time just passed, he had briefly explored the changes within the forest.

So far, no new monsters had been found, but the existing monsters seemed to have undergone a certain degree of enhancement.

Pumpkin Skeletons had generally reached level two, and the Pumpkin Candlelight provided upon slaying them had also increased to two points.

Black Crows had uniformly reached level three.

As for the Pumpkin Lord, he hadn't encountered one yet, but it should also be strengthened; Qin Yuan deduced that its level might have similarly risen by one to level six.

Compared to last time, the difficulty had indeed generally increased.

However, Qin Yuan was not standing still either.

Another strange thing was that along the way today, he hadn't encountered a single other player.

Last time, he had run into at least three or four within two hours.

Although this phenomenon was somewhat abnormal, Qin Yuan didn't pay too much attention to it initially.

He took out the Lure Potion and drank it quickly.

To be honest, this was the worst-tasting potion he had ever consumed—bitter and astringent.

It felt like pouring a cup of water into an ashtray and then drinking it.

Although Qin Yuan had never tried such an act, he felt that description should be quite fitting.

If the Whispering Grimoire hadn't insisted that this was supposed to be the taste, he would have suspected something went wrong during its brewing.

Next, he plunged back into grinding monsters.

Theoretically speaking, this potion could boost his monster-grinding efficiency by fifty percent.

After a bit of experimentation, he found that it was pretty much the case.

Thus, for the next hour, his grinding efficiency began to rise.

[Hint: You have obtained two points of Pumpkin Candlelight. Current total: thirty-four points.]

[Hint: You have obtained three points of Pumpkin Candlelight. Current total: thirty-seven points.]

[......]

He also harvested another Pumpkin Coin from a monster.

Thus, combined with the two collected last time, he now possessed a total of three.

It was just that because he hadn't run into the so-called Carriage Merchant, he hadn't been able to use them yet.

To guard against elite monsters, whenever his mana consumption reached a certain level, Qin Yuan would stop to rest for a while to recover his state.

As long as he didn't actively provoke the monsters, not too many would be attracted.

Coupled with the replenishment from the Spring of Magic, he managed to balance grinding monsters and resting.

The feather once again detected the trace of a Pumpkin Lord.

Qin Yuan's primary purpose for coming this time was to collect seven Pumpkin Essences, so naturally he wouldn't let it go. He immediately walked briskly in that direction.

Soon, he spotted his target.

This Pumpkin Lord was even bulkier than the one he encountered last time.

Furthermore, the weapon it wielded was not a sword-and-shield combination, but a thick, two-handed greatsword.

......

[Pumpkin Lord (LV 5): An elite creature appearing in the Twisted Forest. Slaying it yields a large amount of Pumpkin Candlelight, with a chance to obtain Pumpkin Coins and Pumpkin Essence.]

......

Its level was the same as last time, still level five.

The Pumpkin Lord also spotted the human approaching in the distance.

As its head turned, a devious smile crept across the corner of its mouth.

With a sudden leap, its body—holding the silver-gray greatsword—crashed heavily into the ground.

A wave of yellow light spread across the ground, surging directly toward Qin Yuan's location.

"A new skill?!"