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Chapter 38: Grinding in Non-Battle Mode
Chapter 38: Grinding in Non-Battle Mode
Lu Hai Kong had initially limited his movement to within ten li due to the burden of traveling with Wang Chao MaHan and the others, fearing that a large group would easily attract official attention.
In reality, given a day, Lu Hai Kong could easily cover a distance of several dozen kilometers or even over a hundred kilometers. He could have expanded his range to beyond ten kilometers, but the only inconvenience was the slow pace of walking, which he found rather undignified.
"Sigh, I must get myself a horse. Walking like this is damaging to my image."
Indeed, a good idea, but if this poor fellow knew the cost of a horse and the daily expenses of keeping one, he'd slap himself for having such a thought.
As Lu Hai Kong fantasized about one day riding a horse, he quickly left the ten-li range of his mountain camp and reached the nearest 'Refugee Camp' just outside the ten-li boundary.
To be honest, with Lu Hai Kong's current strength, going to grind at a Refugee Camp was like a max-leveled character farming low-level mobs. There was no challenge at all, and he could even say that grinding solo was easier than doing it with Wang Chao MaHan and the others.
It wasn't that his individual combat power could match theirs combined, but rather that his solo combat wouldn't trigger 'Battle Mode'. In 'Non-Battle Mode', the Refugee Camp wouldn't spawn a horde of refugees when Lu Hai Kong approached alone.
They appeared in groups of several, and even if Lu Hai Kong provoked seven or eight, or even ten of them, it was still manageable. In such a situation, could there be any difficulty in grinding the Refugee Camp?
Lu Hai Kong could clear a small Refugee Camp in less than ten minutes, an efficiency that surprised even himself.
However, solo grinding had its inconveniences, like the tedious task of collecting loot. It took him twenty minutes or more to gather the loot from a camp he cleared in under ten minutes, a happy yet frustrating situation.
A small Refugee Camp could provide Lu Hai Kong with around two gold in earnings, equivalent to four to five days' worth of provisions for his group. Previously, Lu Hai Kong hadn't realized how expensive it was for thirty-odd bandits to consume 45,000 copper coins worth of food daily. But after buying food and learning that a pound of grain typically cost around 10 copper coins, Lu Hai Kong realized he had been ripped off by the mountain camp. Still, he had no choice but to endure it, as he didn't have his own camp.
Quietly calculating the amount of copper coins he was losing daily to that exploitative camp, Lu Hai Kong reaffirmed his determination to establish his own mountain camp.
In the morning, Lu Hai Kong single-handedly cleared five Refugee Camps of various sizes, the smallest with around fifty refugees and the largest with nearly two hundred. He took them all down with ease.
One couldn't help but marvel at how 'Non-Battle Mode' was a delightful blessing for powerful individuals like Lu Hai Kong.
Lu Hai Kong's solo grinding was indeed enjoyable and highly efficient, but it wasn't without its troubles, such as collecting loot and managing stamina.
The first issue with collecting loot, aside from the inconvenience, was that Lu Hai Kong was traveling alone, and this world lacked storage items like treasure chests. At least, Lu Hai Kong didn't have any on him, so he couldn't carry too much.
At first, as he cleared a few bandit camps, Lu HaiKong would take the time to pick up copper coins and other small items, but he soon realized that while a single copper coin was insignificant, thousands or even tens of thousands of them together became quite heavy. In the end, Lu HaiKong had no choice but to focus on collecting gold and secret manuals, leaving the copper coins behind as they were too cumbersome to carry.
As for his stamina, Lu HaiKong initially possessed exceptional strength and constitution, but that was without considering the use of his axe. While he could manage smaller refugee camps, the larger ones began to take a toll on him.
It was at this point that the longsword on Lu HaiKong's back proved useful. Out of the five refugee camps he cleared, at least three were taken down with his longsword, causing his 'Fundamental Sword Skill' to directly soar to level seven. This also made Lu HaiKong secretly vow to diligently cultivate the 'Bull Power' skill, as he believed that the battle axe was the true embodiment of a man's romance.
After a fruitful morning of clearing camps, Lu HaiKong was pleased with his progress, but it had also exhausted his stamina. In simple terms, he was hungry! Originally, Lu HaiKong had planned to search for the sixth refugee camp while enjoying the scenery and satisfying his hunger with a few meat buns, but he unexpectedly stumbled upon a village along the way.
Encountering a village was not something extraordinary, as they were quite common, but what caught Lu HaiKong's attention was the sight of several plump chickens in the village, visible even from a distance of over a hundred meters, thanks to his enhanced vision from reaching level five in 'Basic Archery Technique.'
As Lu HaiKong gazed at the plump chickens, the aroma of Wang Fat's stewed chicken seemed to waft through his nostrils. Overcome with hunger, Lu HaiKong rushed into the village with great fervor.
At that moment, Lu HaiKong had a battle axe and a longbow on his back, a longsword on his left hip, and two quivers of arrows on his right. Although the system had refreshed his appearance, removing the refugee blood that had splattered on him earlier, the morning's slaughter still lingered in his eyes, giving him a fierce and intimidating air akin to a ruthless mountain bandit.
Lu HaiKong's appearance successfully startled the villagers. As he approached, the children playing at the village entrance were instantly terrified, crying and wetting themselves. The adults in the village reacted swiftly, and soon a large group of them emerged, armed with farm tools like hoes and carrying poles, determined to defend the village and fight Lu HaiKong if he dared to take another step forward.
This situation was quite awkward for Lu HaiKong. Although he desired to exude the aura of a formidable mountain bandit, instilling fear in others to elevate his status, his hunger at that moment made such posturing unnecessary.
Lu HaiKong found himself in a dilemma, wondering how to communicate with the villagers. Just then, an elderly man who appeared to be the village chief or an elder stepped forward.
Lu HaiKong's eyes lit up, as he now had a potential means of communication and, more importantly, a chance to satisfy his hunger.
(End)
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