Chapter 900: Black Dog Abyss
With Max’s current strength, even if he encountered a monster at the peak of Legend Rank, he had confidence in his ability to either kill it outright or retreat unscathed, so he advanced deeper without hesitation.
"Shua!" A flash of movement caught his eye, and soon, the little rat came bounding out of the underbrush, its tiny paws clutching a radiant herb shaped like a sunflower. The petals glimmered faintly like they were forged of gold itself, exuding a rich elemental aura.
Max recognized it immediately—the Golden Sunflower, a sixth-grade spiritual elixir.
He took the flower gently from the little rat’s mouth, feeling the metallic essence flowing within it. This elixir was precious, capable of being refined into high-grade pills or even used directly to comprehend the Metal Concept.
"Well done," Max said with a smile as he patted the little rat’s head before feeding it a small piece of flower as a reward. The little rat squeaked happily, its cheeks puffing up as it nibbled, while Max carefully stored the sunflower away for selling them away.
For three full days, Max had followed the same routine with near mechanical precision—he was responsible for luring monsters into traps or open areas, while the little rat scurried swiftly through the underbrush to pick spiritual herbs and miraculous drugs that grew nearby.
This simple yet effective partnership had paid off enormously, allowing Max to secure an impressive harvest of resources that might have taken months for others to collect.
However, the little rat, ever the glutton when it came to spiritual herbs, had indulged itself excessively. It had consumed no less than ten fifth-grade miraculous drugs and at least five sixth-grade ones during their excursions.
The little guy had stuffed itself until its tiny body practically glowed faintly with excess mana, and after its latest indulgence, it simply refused to touch another herb. It would shake its head or hide its nose whenever Max tried to hand one to it, as if even looking at another miraculous drug would make it sick.
Worse still, the little fellow had grown lethargic and drowsy, curling up whenever it had the chance and refusing to move for long periods. Its usual bright eyes and eager behavior had been replaced by a languid laziness.