As the few rays of sunlight trickled into the cave I gently pushed myself up and decided to look at the new decoration I obtained yesterday.

Giving a scan over it now with the rays of light reflecting off the smooth stone surface the true craftsmanship of the sculpture started to show, especially the exquisite eyes which looked like 2 stars in the light. Although it was mostly stone that didn't take away from the aesthetic appeal.

'I really made a good choice picking it up. Hm? Was there always some mud on its feet? It was dark when I found it so maybe the dirt it was laying on was just muddy and I didn't notice.'

Rubbing off the mud with my paws I put the matter to the back of my mind and left the cave.

'Ah, fresh air.' I unconsciously exclaimed taking in a big whiff.

The reason I was heading out Into the forest today was because I planned to try and find some materials to renovate the base. It'll be a good idea If I'm going to be living in it for the long term to have it as efficient as possible.

Walking deeper through the forest I managed to find a large tree in the distance well distinguished from its shorter brethren.

'That looks promising'

Travelling the good distance to the tree its massive size was put into perspective. Everything from the sturdy trunk to the leaves growing on the branches at their tallest was bigger than me.

'[Analyze]'

[A variant Qilfu fruit tree. Identifiable from the big leaves located 30 meters from the base. Used in construction of important buildings.]

[Qilfu Fruit: A uncommon fruit that boosts cultivation speed of the body refining stage by 200%.]

'This should be more then enough for the base. I'll use the leaves as padding on the floor and the wood to fortify around. The Qilfu fruit would also be beneficial to my personal growth but wether or not I can get one is up to fate. The only problem would be how to get the materials from the tree.'

Pondering a way to get the materials countless ideas formed with some impossible while others hardly being practical. As day passed into noon I couldn't help but sigh as I stretched.

'Guess I have no choice but to be a bit wasteful.'

Heading over to the base of the tree the surrounding temperature started to rise making the nearby wildlife flee in fear.

Opening my mouth the brilliant fire of [Flame Breath: Lv2] engulfed the trunk slowly burning away the hard exterior to nothing more then ash.

As the fire barely burnt off the last piece of bark the sun had already started to set on the horizon. Forcing myself from collapsing I managed to limp over to the tree releasing a barrage of scratches on the exposed wood, chipping away at the trees foundation.

Once the sun had disappeared below the horizon a thunderous boom shook the air as a Qi shockwave rippled across the forest.

'F*** that's loud!'

THUD!

Large amounts of shrapnel was blown up covering the sky in debris as shattered branches were crushed.

Seeing the tree on the ground it was clear it had been in the process of ripening the fruit a large amount of Qi had been stored up, so once the tree was cut down all that Qi was released into the air.

Staggering to my feet I cursed my inability to slowly and properly gather the materials in this monster infested forest.

'I knew it'd be tiring but this is just a f***ing joke. Let alone bringing back the leaves and branches I can barely bring myself back.'

[Host Status: Normal -> Hurt]

'Huh?!'

Looking behind there were 2 silver squishy creatures about 1 feet long that were attached to me with their body compressing and decompressing as if transporting a large amount of liquid.

[Vampire Leeches: A class E monster that is infamous for its extreme appetite and stealth. Able to suck the blood of beasts 10x their size dry. Burn in the slightest bit of light. Strong against blunt force attacks.]

'These little shits!'

Grabbing a small branch with a leaf hanging off the end I pushed back to the base. As more and more blood was sucked out from my body the more I ran simply on will power alone. By the time the base was in sight my face had already become sunken and my muscles were ripped open with the weight on my back more grueling than ever.

'I finally...made....it..'

Limping inside the cave the stone statue and both it's reflective eyes were nowhere to be seen with the spot it had been resting barren.

'N-No way...this has to be a f***ing joke...I'm not actually g-going to die here, right?'

As my surroundings became fuzzy and my will power shattered I collapsed onto the floor. With the world around me fading away a small figure stepped into view, it's eyes glistening in almost pity as the last of my strength was used up.