Chapter 44: Special Species

The second one...

What followed was very simple.

It was still Metzler who went to collect the spoils.

The harvest this time wasn't as bountiful as before, but it still amounted to 12 gold coins.

At the same time, during this hunt...

Lu Cang's "Ice Shuttle" successfully leveled up to 200.

Effortlessly...

The Healer and the Defender felt that their job consisted merely of sitting in the carriage and watching this child's performance.

And chatting with him.

Had they actually... become conversational companions?

The third monster was an Ice Crystal Winged Bird circling at a low altitude.

For some teams, this type of flying monster was extremely troublesome.

But for Lu Cang, it was much simpler.

The second evolution of the Ice Shuttle was speed.

"Extreme Speed Ice Shuttle (LV: 201) — Extraordinary Speed"

Bang!

The launch of the Ice Shuttle instantly produced a sonic boom!

Almost the moment it was generated beside Lu Cang, it had already pierced through the wing of the Ice Crystal Winged Bird.

With dozens of holes punched through its wing, it instantly lost most of its flight capability. Following up with [Breathless Wind Swarm], the finishing blow was completed very simply and smoothly.

This Ice Crystal Winged Bird... had a collection value of 16 gold coins.

Lu Cang also took advantage of the time on the road to ask about Yakhtikto.

"Is worshipping Yakhtikto actually useful...?" Ros thought, pressing her temples.

Finally, she answered seriously, "If I had to say, it can only be considered a way to seek good luck."

Lu Cang asked in a puzzled tone, "Just good luck?"

Ros nodded with certainty. "There is nothing to indicate that offering wealth to Yakhtikto will grant unexpected extraordinary fortune."

"However, because the Harvest Month is a rare, good month among the twelve, everyone hopes to make a fortune during it."

"So, they hold a beautiful hope toward Yakhtikto."

"Over time, they formed the custom of worshipping Yakhtikto during the Harvest Month."

"But in reality, regardless of the month, there will always be people worshipping the Lunar Deity of that month."

Lu Cang continued to question, "Even in the twelfth month?"

The twelfth month.

The month of death and destruction.

Lunar Deity: White.

A god regarded as a taboo by the continent; one cannot worship it, cannot establish temples to it, and cannot believe in it.

Those found to have faith or to be worshipping it would be sentenced.

"Mhm."

"There are some."

Lu Cang felt there was nothing left to ask about this.

Suddenly, he thought of Ros's profession.

"By the way!"

"Sister, you can perform divination, right?"

Ros nodded unconfidently. "Mhm... I am a Level 1 Diviner."

"But the accuracy won't be very high, after all, I'm only Level 1."

Lu Cang: "Could you try to divine something for me?"

Ros thought for a moment. "Hmm, I suppose that shouldn't be a problem."

As she spoke, Ros shook out a bamboo cylinder for fortune sticks from her hand.

Lu Cang looked into the cylinder.

Inside the cylinder were crumpled balls of paper.

"Just grab one."

Huh?

"I mean, just grab one. Whatever is written inside the paper ball is the result."

Lu Cang: "..."

Wait, this is a Diviner?

Even if you don't use things that look mysterious like the I Ching, Plum Blossom Divination, or tortoise shells...

You should at least have some Tarot cards, a crystal ball, or astrological charts...

At the very least... playing cards would work.

No, at the very least, there should be actual sticks in that cylinder.

What on earth are crumpled paper balls?

And they were even just random, messy scraps of paper that weren't even folded?

Sensing Lu Cang's silence, Ros seemed to guess his thoughts.

She blushed and said, "I'm not a professional Diviner, and I haven't learned any orthodox divination techniques."

"Divination techniques are very expensive! Whether you draw one or not, if you're not doing it, forget it."

As she spoke, Ros moved to put the cylinder away.

"Don't!"

"Sister, I'm just curious about the principle of how the divination works."

"I'll draw one."

Eh.

She actually gets shy...

But is divination really that expensive? Lu Cang was actually quite interested in the Diviner profession; after all, it sounded like a profession that could predict the future.

Lu Cang randomly picked a paper ball.

"And then what should I do, Sister?"

To prevent any mistakes in the process, Lu Cang asked just in case.

Ros seemed to mutter in a small, embarrassed voice, "Just open it and see."

It really was... as simple as he thought.

Lu Cang opened the paper ball.

Written on it was: *Supreme Auspiciousness*

"What, what did you draw?"

Ros was also curious about the result and leaned in to take a look at the paper ball Lu Cang had drawn.

"Supreme... Auspiciousness."

"Wow! You actually drew the luckiest result!"

Lu Cang: "The luckiest?"

"Mhm, my self-made fortune cylinder contains 128 different results, and this is the highest level of good luck."

Eh... 128 kinds?

Can you really write 128 different variations of "good" and "bad"?

"This is the first time I've ever seen this result."

"Weren't there only 128 kinds?"

Ros: "Divination results definitely can't be calculated by probability."

"I've performed divinations for hundreds of people, and this is the first time I've seen Supreme Auspiciousness."

"Even if my divination isn't very accurate, if you draw this, your luck shouldn't be too bad."

Lu Cang checked the spoils in his ring.

That was true.

Today's harvest was indeed a windfall.

The spoils obtained were basically four to five times the basic expected harvest.

He looked up at the celestial phenomena outside the carriage window; the sky continued to slide by like a painted scroll—

...

Along the way, Lu Cang chatted with them quite a bit.

Unlike the adventurers from Rain Town, they were adventurers who traveled long distances across the world.

Their experiences and knowledge were broader than those of Rain Town; communicating with them made Lu Cang feel he gained a lot.

For example, the staves of powerful mages were usually custom-made by hiring professional magic smiths; even the cheapest orthodox divination techniques cost ten thousand gold coins—divination was a money-burning profession.

Or how it's hard to be an adventurer these days, so it's better to train as a blacksmith to forge iron...

It seemed one could hear such topics in any world.

There were also gatherers, who were often suspected of hoarding spoils; some places had even started requiring gatherers to sign contracts.

From their conversations, Lu Cang felt as if he could hear the true state of this world.

It was a completely different feeling from being with Iz and the others.

One was legends and dreams.

The other was reality and life.

Fourth, fifth, sixth...

The subjugation continued, but it was almost a solo performance by Lu Cang.

By noon, he had already dealt with eight Tier 3 Lord-level monsters.

Including the reward upon completion of the commission, his earnings had reached 144 gold coins.

This was something an ordinary Level 2 adventurer wouldn't even dare to dream of...

"The last one is ahead."

Lu Cang looked at the commission sheet.

The last one was a commission marked as B-rank. Although it was also a Tier 3 Lord, it was a special species.

Regarding special species...

Lu Cang roughly understood them as "Elite Monsters."

Their strength would be greater than ordinary species, and after killing them, there was a high probability of very valuable spoils for collection.

The elements were stirring—

Lu Cang could feel the speed of the wind increasing significantly.

As the Defender, Trand had already raised his shield, protecting the front of Lu Cang.

It felt like they were getting close.