Seeing Jin Hao looking at him, Cao Biansheng raised his right hand. "Come on. I’ll let you test the strength of the sixth."

Cao Biansheng stressed those two words, "the sixth," with particular clarity.

Seeing a show was about to start, a crowd gathered around, watching intently.

Jin Hao started to extend his right hand, but Cao Biansheng said, "Use both hands."

Jin Hao paused for a moment, then reached out with both hands and gripped Cao Biansheng’s arm.

After a countdown of three, two, one, both men strained at once.

"Hah!" With a low grunt, Jin Hao put his full strength into both arms.

Cao Biansheng was steady as a rock, but his eyes narrowed, and veins bulged on his arm. Clearly, it wasn’t as effortless for him as it seemed.

After a few seconds of stalemate, Cao Biansheng let out a muffled grunt. Jin Hao felt a wave of Giant Strength surge from the other man’s arm, sending him stumbling back several steps, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Ever since he was young, his strength had far surpassed his peers. He had even been a starter on his college football team.

And yet, today, both of his hands had been no match for one of his opponent’s. He had never encountered anything like it.

He looked at Cao Biansheng with admiration. "I’m convinced. You’re seriously strong."

Cao Biansheng waved it off. "No, it’s different for me. I’ve used an Enhancement Card. You’re the one with real, natural talent."

After a pause, Cao Biansheng said, "Come with me."

Not far away, Qin Ziwen was taking a headcount. "Are the wounded accounted for?"

Qin Ziwu replied, "Count’s done. We have two injured. One was bitten on the leg by a wolf, and the other was in too much of a hurry and sprained his ankle while running."

"Okay. Take some of the Healing Spring and give it to the one with the wolf bite. Stop the bleeding first."

"Okay." Qin Ziwu hurried off to do it.

"Guild Leader! I’ve found a real talent! This guy, Jin Hao, is incredibly strong. I bet he could rank in the top seven of our guild," Cao Biansheng said enthusiastically, pulling Jin Hao over.

Qin Ziwen looked at the man Cao Biansheng was pulling over, Jin Hao.

Qin Ziwen smiled in greeting and offered a word of encouragement. "Do good work."

Jin Hao nodded quickly, but then hesitated, a look of uncertainty crossing his face.

"What is it?" Qin Ziwen asked.

"I have a personal matter I’d like to ask you about, Guild Leader," Jin Hao said.

"Go ahead and ask."

Jin Hao explained his wife’s condition, finishing dejectedly, "I’m at my wit’s end. Regular antibiotics don’t work at all; she needs targeted antifungal medication. I want to know... are there any Cards that can save her?"

Qin Ziwen shook his head.

The color drained from Jin Hao’s face.

"I can’t be sure," Qin Ziwen said. "But there are Healing Cards that can treat injuries. I just don’t have any at the moment."

Jin Hao’s soaring hopes came crashing back to earth.

"As long as I know a Card like that exists, that’s enough! Thank you, Guild Leader!"

With this confirmation, a smile finally returned to Jin Hao’s face.

After checking on everyone, the group began to clean up the battlefield.

The wolf pack had left behind thirty-one gray wolf carcasses.

After examining the scene and the carcasses, they determined it was a species of wild wolf native to the Gobi Desert, similar in size to a wolf-dog.

These wolves had longer teeth, with especially sharp canines. An adult male weighed between 77 and 88 pounds.

The wolves were skinned and butchered. As the bonfire blazed, fat from the skewered wolf meat dripped into the flames, sending up plumes of rank, smelly smoke.

Tonight, there was more than enough meat to go around, and everyone could eat their fill.

Hearing this, the group let out a cheer.

It was a rare chance to eat their fill of meat.

"I thought it’d be like dog meat, but this wolf meat is pretty gamey," someone commented.

"Haha, it is pretty gamey, but it’s edible. Better than the giant lizard I had yesterday, anyway."

Someone pulled a small packet of green salt from his pocket and sprinkled it evenly over his meat. "Should be grateful. We’re lucky to have meat at all. Eat up. We’ll need the energy."

Qin Ziwen leaned against a wall, slowly chewing the wolf meat. His expression was neutral, as if the strong, gamey taste didn’t bother him in the slightest.

"Bro, what are you thinking about?" Qin Ziwu sidled up and asked in a low voice.

"I’m thinking about the Beaked Eagle’s task. Whether to play it safe, take a gamble, or..." Qin Ziwen trailed off. ’A prey a hundred times the Beaked Eagle’s own weight.’

’It would have to be over twenty tons!’

’For a Beaked Eagle of just over two hundred pounds to successfully hunt a creature of that magnitude—and a healthy one at that...’

’It was next to impossible.’

Qin Ziwu said, "Take the gamble, of course! If you fail, so what? You can just try again. It’s not like this breakthrough is a one-shot deal, right?"

"Bro, trust me. People always romanticize the road not taken. If you pick First Gear, even if you succeed, you’ll regret it later. You’ll keep thinking, ’I should have gone for Second Gear.’"

Swallowing the meat in his mouth, Qin Ziwen drawled, "Then why not choose Third Gear?"

"Third Gear is too difficult. We don’t even consider the ones that are too difficult."

Qin Ziwen turned to look at the Beaked Eagle. He laid out the tasks for First Gear and Second Gear. "Which one do you want to choose?"

The Beaked Eagle stared back at him, its jet-black eyes fixed on his.

Qin Ziwen couldn’t help but laugh. ’What am I thinking? Do I really think you can understand me?’

"SCREE! SCREE!" the Beaked Eagle suddenly cried out.

"What?" Qin Ziwen asked, surprised.

"SCREE! SCREE!" the Beaked Eagle cried again.

Qin Ziwen stared at it for a long moment.

"Alright. But on one condition: we have to find a suitable flock of Winged Dragons first. If you run into danger and can’t handle it, you fall back immediately."

...

As dawn broke, the group crested the final sand dune and came to a sudden halt.

Stretching out to the horizon, an azure lake and lush green meadows lay nestled in the heart of the desert.

Patches of reeds swayed in the wind, and poplar trees lined the shore. Shallows extended out from the bank, giving way to a vast, continuous grassland.

A small river fed into the lake from the north. Winged Dragons circled in the sky above, while down by the shore, a herd of Duck-billed Dragons lowered their heads to drink.

At the border where the grass met the sand, several Gobi Armored Dragons, covered in Bone Armor, swung their tail clubs. Few creatures dared to approach these ill-tempered brutes.

Farther in the distance, a Zungar Rhinoceros slowly pushed over a small tree to munch on its green leaves.

Herds of wild horses gathered on the grassland in small groups. Countless creatures converged here, forming the vibrant ecosystem of this Oasis.

Qin Ziwu remarked in awe, "It looks like every animal in the region has gathered here."

Qin Ziwen nodded. He spotted many of their mission targets.

The Gobi Armored Dragon and the Zungar Rhinoceros, for example, were both targets on the Hunting Celestial List that they had never encountered before.

"HSSSKK~"

"HSSSKK~"

Down the slope ahead, a pack of Single Claw Dragons shrieked in panic as a Desert Raptor gave chase.

The Desert Raptor caught up to the last Single Claw Dragon, snatching it up in its jaws. It thrashed the smaller creature violently in mid-air before tearing it apart and devouring it piece by piece.

While savoring its kill, the Desert Raptor seemed to sense something. It looked up warily toward the top of the slope, at the group of uninvited guests who had just appeared in the Oasis.

A hundred meters away, Du Yu drew his Bow and nocked an Arrow.

"WHOOSH—"

The Arrow shot through the air, precisely piercing the Raptor’s throat. Its body went rigid, and it staggered forward a few steps before collapsing with a heavy thud.

Everyone turned to look at Du Yu, their eyes filled with a new level of awe.

...

...