Chapter 394: Newcomer Benefits
Whoosh!
An arrow swiftly shot through the air, instantly covering a distance of over a hundred paces, piercing through the head of a black-patterned snake.
It pinned the snake alive against a large tree, the arrowhead sank nearly a foot into the trunk!
However, the snake didn’t die immediately, its long body coiled around the arrow shaft, attempting to pull out the lethal arrow.
Its tail slapped against the rough and cracked bark, creating a crackling sound.
After a moment, the snake stopped struggling, its body limply hanging down.
Exposing its silvery white belly.
"Good archery!"
Zhang Feihu praised, then strode forward, reaching out to retrieve both the iron arrow and the snake’s corpse.
He said happily, "This Black-scaled Snake is at least fifty years old, its gallbladder can be worth two points of Daoist Merit!"
As he spoke, Zhang Feihu handed the snake’s corpse to Mu Feifei beside him.
Mu Feifei took it, drew her dagger, and skillfully slit open the snake’s belly, extracting a dark green gallbladder.
She then stored it in a medicine pouch and box.
This charming woman explained to Zhang Yuan, "Black-scaled Snakes are rare, their gallbladder can be used to refine high-quality antitoxic pills and bright eyes pills. Once killed, the gall must be extracted quickly, or it will spoil and lose its value."
While speaking, she sliced off a piece of snow-white, translucent snake meat with her dagger and fed it to the chipmunk on her shoulder.
The latter munched on the raw meat with great relish, clearly not a vegetarian.
Xiao Hong laughed, "With Junior Brother Zhang’s archery, we’re really feeling much relieved."
Although his words were somewhat exaggerated.
Even the proudest member of the team, Chen Ziyi, did not refute it.
Many martial artist teams ventured into Mo Yuan for hunting and gathering, and the members of an adventure team could never remain unchanged. Casualties were unavoidable, and new members always needed to join.
Everyone welcomed new blood, but worried that the newcomers would act rash and cause trouble for themselves and their teammates.
Such newcomers could be either arrogant or blindly confident, making them the most troublesome.
However, Zhang Yuan, as a newcomer, had performed remarkably well since joining the team in Mo Yuan.
Leaving a strong impression!
During the exploration, Zhang Yuan followed orders without acting rashly.
Though initially unfamiliar with cooperating with his teammates, he adapted quickly and hardly needed any guidance from Xiao Hong.
Most importantly, Zhang Yuan’s archery skills were exquisite.
Within a hundred paces, he never missed a shot, having already killed over ten small beasts and venomous snakes.
The unique environment of Mo Yuan ensured that none of the animals were harmless; even a rabbit could be lethal, not to mention fierce beasts.
Correspondingly, the value of these creatures far exceeded ordinary animals.
The Black-scaled Snake Zhang Yuan had just shot was camouflaged so well on the tree that nobody noticed it until his arrow claimed its life.
Is there anything more to say about such a teammate?
If possible, they wished to have more like him!
As for Zhang Yuan, he was quite satisfied with the team he joined.
Take his teammates, for instance.
Chen Ziyi appeared proud, but he was decisive in action.
When the team was just descending and encountered a swarm of wild bees, he struck out with a sword, creating stars as he knocked all the poisonous stingers to the ground, displaying superior swordsmanship.
Though Mu Feifei was a protected member, she occasionally flicked out some medicinal powder, dispelling the omnipresent flying insects thoroughly, saving everyone the irritation from mosquitoes and flies.
As for Zhang Feihu, he didn’t need to take action; standing at the front of the team was like a solid wall of bronze.
Which brought immense reassurance to everyone!
And at the forefront was Xiao Hong, aside from his own cultivation and strength, his ability to gather such outstanding teammates in a team was a remarkable skill.
Zhang Yuan, exploring Mo Yuan for the first time, also feared encountering incompetent teammates.
He really found the right team!
Squeak squeak!
At this moment, the chipmunk that had just eaten a piece of snake meat suddenly stood up on Mu Feifei’s shoulder, its little head turned alertly while letting out squeals.
Mu Feifei’s eyes brightened instantly: "Little Hua found something!"
In the next moment, the chipmunk leaped off her shoulder.
Before landing, the little creature spread its limbs, revealing thin wings between its front paws and hind legs, gliding swiftly forward.
In just a few breaths, it was already dozens of steps away.
"Follow it!"
Xiao Hong ordered sternly, and everyone immediately followed the treasure hunting rat.
Mu Feifei’s pet lacked combat ability, but had a talent for sniffing out treasures, trained and cultivated by her, it could find herbs within Mo Yuan.
With an extremely sensitive sense of smell, it wouldn’t react like this unless it had discovered something.
The next moment, the chipmunk landed on the ground, turned its head to its owner, and squeaked a few more times.
The team arrived and halted their steps.
The chipmunk bounced twice, suddenly leaped up, landing stably back on Mu Feifei’s shoulder.
"Seven-leaf Reishi!"
Mu Feifei showed an expression of surprise.
A dozen steps away lay a huge fallen tree.
This tree had been on the ground for who knows how long, covered in moss and vines, most of its trunk buried by soil and vegetation.
From underneath the trunk, grew a reddish-brown reishi, arranged upright in seven leaves of varying sizes.
The chipmunk clearly smelled its scent and pursued it here.
Seeing this reishi, Xiao Hong was taken aback.
After the setback last time, today they welcomed Zhang Yuan as a newcomer to their team.
Xiao Hong, being cautious, explored this area, which was his most familiar territory, ensuring the greatest safety.
However, the more familiar and safe the area, the fewer the rewards.
This area had been explored countless times.
Yet now they stumbled upon a valuable Seven-leaf Reishi, leaving Xiao Hong feeling incredulous.
Reishi doesn’t grow in just a few days; a big seven-leaf like this takes at least a hundred years, yet it hadn’t been discovered and dug out—truly astonishing.
Of course, anything could happen within Mo Yuan!
"Everyone, be careful."
Xiao Hong said in a somber tone, "Natural treasures are typically guarded by fierce or inexplicable beings nearby. Stay safe!"
This basic knowledge was meant for Zhang Yuan.
As the saying goes, when something abnormal occurs, there’s bound to be a reason. The existence of this Seven-leaf Reishi was already puzzling.
It must be treated with special caution!
Zhang Yuan knew this fact well. He had once collected treasures.
But, to him, this reishi felt more like...
A welcome gift for newcomers!