Demon Realm Rhapsody

He felt extremely fatigued. The thorny wall had been restored to its original state; although slightly damaged, it was estimated that it would heal in a few days, and no other animals should come to destroy it during this time.

The courtyard was a mess, all from those monsters throwing stones.

There wasn't time to clean up.

First, he ran off to sleep.

When dawn came, he quickly got up, first rebuilt the grass hut, and cleaned it thoroughly. The water jar had been smashed, and a corner of the cooking range had been knocked down. It looked like it would take a morning to repair the stove and make a new water jar.

He pulled on his leather armor, his mood greatly improved, so he didn't mind doing these chores, with Old Hu following him around to see what he was doing.

The tiger was indeed very smart and by now was no longer that afraid of fire. It had passed the final test of being a pet and was suitable for living with humans.

After lunch, he rode on Old Hu to the Stone Bamboo Forest in the north, beat the gong to summon the skeleton creatures and then eliminated them. Who knew where they came from and why they could not be fully exterminated?

That day he eliminated nearly two hundred, the training volume was just right, and even Old Hu's combat strength had improved.

Ma Lin was very happy with this follower, as it would regularly go hunting and then drag the prey back to his home, sparing him the trouble.

The statue of the egg in the courtyard seemed very powerful. Initially, he was scared of flying creatures attacking him, but now he felt that if their strength was not strong enough, they would avoid seeing the sculpture.

After a month of this life, going to the Stone Bamboo Forest daily to beat the gong for his task, training in combat skills, riding Old Hu around for a breeze, and gathering some wild food ingredients.

Because "The Book of Servants" provided identification and clues, he had recently enjoyed quite a few delicacies, and Old Hu also benefited, eating so well that it refused to leave.

Old Hu was so energetic carrying him, barely feeling the weight, its size having increase slightly and probably reaching 400 kilograms. Carrying Ma Lin was like playing as long as Ma Lin sat steadily.

It could understand Ma Lin's intentions, running wherever he directed. If it obeyed, it would get delicious treats.

It also liked playing with a ball, so Ma Lin made a ball out of the skin of a magical creature for them to play with.

Now Ma Lin dared to stay outside overnight since his abilities had improved and he had Old Hu for company; ordinary magical creatures would only flee upon seeing them.

Old Hu seemed to be quite familiar with the geography within a hundred li, especially knowing where prey and magical creatures were.

The bloodsucking creatures to the south were very annoying. "The Book of Servants" assigned him a task to clear them out. He took Old Hu with him, spent two days first killing the bloodsuckers that came out to feed, and then rushed into their cave, killing the remaining forty or so.

Their thick skin was their strong suit, but they found Ma Lin's leather armor to be even tougher—they couldn't bite through it at all.

Then he started a fire in the cave and scattered some plant seeds.

In just a few days, there was a thicket of bushes and thorns, and a group of badgers lived there, leaning more towards the great demon egg rather than Aike by nature.

Aike's trait was cruelty and evil, while the egg's trait was chaos and madness.

Ma Lin was now, in a sense, under the egg's protection. He couldn't say for sure what his stance was on this great demon.

After another month, he was still going to the Stone Bamboo Forest daily to perform tasks and train in combat. His opponents were getting stronger, and his combat experience was growing richer.

He felt his combat ability was quite outstanding, and Old Hu was rapidly progressing, too. Ma Lin believed its physique had changed, likely due to lying in front of the egg statue snoring every day and eating all sorts of food given by Ma Lin.

Old Hu had a name now, called Big Orange.

Big Orange was truly clever now, even helping with work. For example, pulling a cart.

In Ma Lin's courtyard, the demon orange tree had grown to nearly two meters high, beginning to bear oranges. Eating one orange would improve his agility for about an hour. Why was it still growing in such cold weather?

Naturally, because Ma Lin watered it with the blood of his prey.

Wasn't the southeast connected to the wastelands? The giant creatures that attacked the courtyard had come from the wastelands, and Big Orange had always been afraid of the wastelands, not quite understanding the situation there.

Now, both its and Ma Lin's courage had grown.

So that day, Ma Lin rode Big Orange to go take a look.

After about half an hour of running, we arrived at the place.

Ma Lin got down and walked, while Big Orange slowed down its pace, sniffing around as it moved.

The grass here was very scarce, with few trees, and the ground was smoking under the sunlight.

The terrain was slightly undulating.

We had progressed about ten miles when we came across a river—the water was black and very shallow.

It was no wider than ten meters.

Big Orange waded through the water, while Ma Lin stood on its back, which was quite relaxing.

There were trees that could serve as landmarks, and they had brought a certain amount of water and smoked meat with them.

After another ten miles or so, Big Orange sniffed something unusual and started heading west.

Within two miles, they saw a sparse cluster of low trees, with animals scurrying about, some strangely shaped, and others of more common varieties.

Big Orange first found a water source and drank several mouthfuls of water forcefully, while Ma Lin drank from his water bag.

He used the recovery ring to restore some strength and didn't feel fatigued from walking.

The low thicket extended southwest, and then they came upon a road that was very hard. Ma Lin observed the road for a good while, his mind filled with suspicion.

He now also smelled the scent of those giant creatures. It seemed they often passed through here.

Before long, they found a hillock and a spring, which could be drunk from after being identified by the "Servant's Book".

Small animals passed by nearby.

Now, Ma Lin and Old Hu, hunting together, found it very easy.

If they killed a large animal and couldn't finish it in one go or take it with them, it would be too wasteful, so they should choose smaller ones.

Thus, Ma Lin decided to hunt a black piglet, which he estimated to weigh over thirty pounds, running through the thicket, a terrain where Old Hu particularly excelled in hunting.

Ma Lin didn't need to use a swift spell anymore to run faster than most animals.

He charged from above toward a piglet, which then ran downward, but suddenly, an Old Hu sprang out of the nearby grass, biting it to death in one go.

Then, he had Big Orange carry the piglet to a depression near the spring, where Ma Lin cleaned it up and gathered some dry wood to start making roast meat.

The piglet was still somewhat large, and both Big Orange and Ma Lin exerted a lot of effort to finish it off, then cleaned up the scene before continuing on their journey.

Mounted on Big Orange, they continued westward. At this time, they started to see some very strange creatures, and Ma Lin was completely unaware of their temperaments, so he kept his distance from them as much as possible.

His main goal was to understand the secret of that road—where did it lead? It was very different from ordinary roads.

They traveled all afternoon. Big Orange carried him for a long stretch.

In the past, Big Orange dared not come here, but now it had become much stronger, and with Ma Lin by its side, its courage had grown significantly.

They must have traveled over a hundred miles that afternoon, and it was getting dark.

Ma Lin caught a very large rabbit and picked some vegetables, made roast meat, and boiled soup; Big Orange had eaten too much at noon, so it ate less at dinner, showing more interest in the soup.

They spent the night under a few massive stones.

Ma Lin was incredibly warm, dressed in a fur coat over a leather jacket.

With Big Orange on watch, they were very safe.