"Logically speaking, there should definitely be an Elf Forest in the Ashen World, it’s just that I don’t know its exact location... Say, could that forest in the distance be the Elf Forest? It can’t be that much of a coincidence, right?"
Thinking of this, Zhang Yanhang’s mind went to the forest to the north of Raccoon City and the towering tree that reached into the clouds.
"Could that giant tree actually be something like the World Tree, commonly seen in various Elf Clan settings? There’s a possibility. But unfortunately, with my current strength, if I were to encounter a real Elf, I’m afraid I wouldn’t stand a chance. So, I must continue clearing out Raccoon City, accumulate Soul points, and make myself stronger before I’m qualified to slay both beautiful and clean Monsters."
Besides the matter of strength, Zhang Yanhang mainly felt it was just too coincidental to stumble upon the Elf Forest. He was now more inclined to believe that the forest was actually home to other forest-related Monsters, such as ordinary tigers and bears, and of course, the indispensable Forest Wolves.
In various movies and television shows he had seen, the protagonist always seemed to encounter wolf packs by chance upon entering a forest, so Forest Wolves were a classic villain character.
"So, here comes the question, should I activate a Time Pause and check it out?"
Zhang Yanhang pondered for a moment but ultimately decided to abandon the idea. After all, while the giant tree seemed close, he understood the saying, ’the mountains are high and the emperor is far away’. He couldn’t even see the canopy of the giant tree from the sixth floor, so its overall height must be measured in kilometers. With his current speed, it was doubtful whether he could reach it in just over an hour.
By comparison, Zhang Yanhang felt that even the tan mountain range to the south of Raccoon City was much closer than that giant tree. He estimated that the mountain range south of Raccoon City was at most about ten kilometers away, but he couldn’t be sure about the tree because he didn’t know its exact height. Therefore, he couldn’t calculate the distance between them.
However, although he couldn’t calculate the exact distance, he could still make a rough estimate. In his assessment, the distance between Raccoon City and the giant tree to the north was at least over a hundred kilometers.
Even under the best conditions, Zhang Yanhang could run a maximum of 75.6 kilometers in an hour, so a little over an hour of Time Pause probably wouldn’t be enough. After all, he would have to cross a vast forest, and running through a forest full of obstacles was definitely not as fast as running on a paved road.
Therefore, his Movement Speed would inevitably decrease to some extent, making it even less likely he would reach the base of the giant tree.
"Alas, while the idea is certainly appealing, the sad truth is my strength just isn’t there. My speed is still too low; I can’t even reach fifty miles per hour. That’s why I must work harder to clean up Raccoon City. Only by clearing Raccoon City can I open Raccoon City’s Ashen Treasure Box and obtain the Ash Source contained within to achieve a Rank Promotion."
Although he initially felt a little jaded and listless because he was tired of killing Zombies, now, Zhang Yanhang found new motivation. He managed to further push himself through this method of self-motivation. If capitalists could employ someone as self-disciplined as Zhang Yanhang, they would find it an absolute treasure.
Zhang Yanhang sat up and began to put on the Equipment he had removed for sleeping, "This time I must clean the entire Outer Zone of Raccoon City in one go."
There were still 15 square kilometers left in the Outer Zone of Raccoon City. He felt that he could clear it in about 11 hours, especially since his Agility Attribute had improved by four points. Consequently, his cleaning speed was bound to improve as well. If it had been before, he reckoned it would have taken him at least 12 to 13 hours to finish the task.
"Now that I think about it, I’ve been in the Ashen World for so long and haven’t encountered any other Awakeners. Is it because the Ashen World is too large, or is it because each Transmission Channel leads to a different place..."
As for whether he could meet other Awakeners, Zhang Yanhang didn’t really care. Moreover, he thought going solo was pretty good. After all, there was only one Ashen Treasure Box. If someone else opened it, then he wouldn’t be able to. Therefore, if he encountered other Awakeners, it was likely to evolve into a competitive relationship.
More importantly, Zhang Yanhang had always been somewhat inept at handling interpersonal relationships. Even if someone were friendly, it was highly probable that he wouldn’t choose to cooperate with them unless they were beautiful, had a sweet voice, were powerful, and were devoted to him. If that were the case, he might grudgingly concede.
Zhang Yanhang mulled over these considerations while opening a bottle of mineral water. After eight hours of sleep, he needed to properly hydrate. It’s said that once you reach Third Tier, cultivators can start to disregard the troubles of dehydration.
After replenishing his hydration (meaning drinking a bottle of mineral water in one go), Zhang Yanhang began to contemplate another serious and pressing issue besides sleeping, "Should I have some lunch? No, it’s already two in the afternoon. Maybe it should be called afternoon tea?"
Yes, eating was indeed a serious matter, on the same level as sleeping. After all, in order to sustain life, eating, sleeping, and drinking water are known as the three most important survival actions. Missing any one of these essentials means humans can’t survive for long.
"But I really don’t feel like eating canned pork and beans from the Ashen World... Fortunately, if I don’t eat for a short while, I most likely won’t starve to death."
An ordinary person could go for several days without food before starving. Zhang Yanhang figured that as an Awakener, not eating for four days shouldn’t pose much of a problem.
It was just unfortunate that Raccoon City lacked any Monsters that could be used as food ingredients. It only had countless Zombies, Zombies, and more Zombies. Otherwise, Zhang Yanhang might have been able to cook himself a proper lunch with fresh ingredients.
But constantly skipping meals wasn’t good either, so Zhang Yanhang thought he might try to research how to manufacture food through Alchemy, especially delicious food. If he succeeded, then he probably wouldn’t have to worry about food problems in the Ashen World anymore.