Xu Xin looked at the discussion on the regional channel. A person named Ji Chaoyang was very active and would share some practical guides with everyone, making him quite popular in the entire channel.
"The newbie protection period is about to end, but this tree house can't be used to make weapons. Could it be that you need to craft a workbench to make weapons?"
"Probably, right? Is there any pro who has already made a workbench? Please sell us some weapons!"
Ji Chaoyang: "I've made a workbench, but there's no weapon crafting inside, only some advanced tool stations and household items."
Oh? Xu Xin raised an eyebrow. It seemed that besides him, there were other lucky people who had managed to craft a workbench requiring 100 pieces of green materials during the newbie protection period. After all, these three days were essentially for newbies to set up tree houses, and the surrounding resources were quite limited. Obtaining 100 pieces of green material was extremely difficult, even for someone like him with a discerning ability; he needed to cooperate with others to gather two types of green materials.
He had searched through the crafting blueprints on the workbench, and indeed, there were no weapons. The one item that most resembled a weapon could be made without a workbench - the stone axe. But he wasn't sure how effective a stone axe would be against the dangers that lay ahead.
Thinking about how his stone axe had already broken, he immediately used a piece of blue stone and a piece of blue wood, combined with green materials, to craft his second stone axe.
[Fine Stone Axe (Blue): Can chop trees of purple grade and below. Enriched with more advanced stone and wood, it's tougher and sharper. Durability 1000]
The blue stone axe with a 1000 durability could even chop down purple trees. Xu Xin nodded with satisfaction, knowing this would last a long time. He wondered if the axe could cut down his own tree house, as it was technically made from purple-grade wood.
Resisting the impulse to test it with a chop, Xu Xin continued to look at the regional channel.
The survivor named Ji Chaoyang had begun revealing the contents of the workbench amidst people's clamoring.
"Furnace, fireplace, torch, grill, and backpack; all of these can be crafted."
"The pro must have a lot of materials; please help us!"
"Yes, we need to unite, help each other to overcome the current difficulties!"
"Shouldn't the resources be distributed equally?"
Xu Xin stopped reading further and shook his head with a cold smile. He knew that in such an environment, moral blackmail was omnipresent. With the newbie protection period yet to end and dangers still unknown, he did not want to get involved in such situations.
It seemed Ji Chaoyang had stopped speaking too, apparently not wanting to engage with the group anymore.
Quickly, half an hour passed. Going down to the second level, he took out freshly smelted iron blocks (blue) from the furnace and threw in the remaining iron ore impulsively.
[Iron Block (Blue): Iron block with most impurities removed. Using one during the crafting of iron tools can enhance the tool's level.]
Just as Xu Xin had expected, the uses of Iron Block (Blue) were similar to wood (blue) and stone (blue).
Crafting a grill required three iron blocks. He immediately crafted the grill he had been wanting for a long time using two iron blocks (green) and one iron block (blue).
[Grill (Blue): A high-grade grill, which can cook food to perfection, making it more delicious while slightly enhancing the efficacy of the raw materials.]
Without hesitation, he placed a few pieces of wood (white) on the grill, and started grilling the blue mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, and wood ears he had acquired earlier. The unique fragrance of mushrooms permeated the air, and soon they were cooked.
The flame beneath the grill automatically extinguished after the mushrooms were cooked, which made Xu Xin raise an eyebrow. This feature was convenient for someone like him who typically ended up with either undercooked or smoky overcooked barbecue.
Finding bowls and chopsticks on the list, Xu Xin crafted them using the lowest-grade white wood. He still had blue wood, but using it for simple tableware seemed too extravagant, so he decided to use the lowest-grade utensils for now.
With the blue grill enhancing the grilled mushrooms, the aroma of the mushrooms was fully released. Accompanied by king oyster mushrooms and wood ears, despite lacking any salt or seasoning to sprinkle, Xu Xin enjoyed the meal thoroughly, having eaten only apples, oranges, and berries for the past two days and missing a hot meal.
He quickly finished eating over twenty mushrooms and licked his lips with relish. He recalled that the mushroom's function seemed to provide a permanent slight increase in intelligence?
With the grill and dining table enhancing the mushroom's efficacy, it should have been amplified, but he didn't feel any different. Perhaps the increase in intelligence would manifest elsewhere? Or was the increment so minimal he couldn't sense it?
Shaking his head, Xu Xin stopped pondering. Without a panel showing his intelligence, stamina, and strength stats, he couldn't identify how much it had increased, but it didn't matter. As long as the food was tasty.
Having consumed the mushrooms, Xu Xin planned to venture out again. With two hours left until midnight, he could go to the lakeside and gather some reeds and lotus roots, considering the lake might become dangerous once the novice period was over.
He also thought about catching some fish to roast; the mushrooms had left him wanting more.
With some remaining time on the three-hour night vision buff, Xu Xin quickly descended from the tree house and stealthily made his way to the lakeside. Under the moonlight, the lake water was exceptionally clear, and the fish within were not only visible but also emitted a faint green glow, allowing Xu Xin to easily spot their positions. However, catching fish without tools was no easy task.
After working for quite a while, Xu Xin returned with lotus roots he had pulled from a shallow bank and a bunch of reeds.
"Catching fish is really a skillful task."
Soaking wet, Xu Xin sent a message to Li Wenxi: "Do you have any green stones left? I'd like to trade for some."
The reply came instantaneously: "Sure."
They initiated the transaction, exchanging wood (green) *100 for stones (green) *100.
After the other party agreed to the trade, a video call request came in.
Looking at his current drenched, disheveled appearance with hair sticking to his forehead, Xu Xin rejected Li Wenxi's call: "Wait a moment."
Then he swiftly crafted a fireplace and placed it beside the giant screen as if he were showing off his wealth.
Earlier, when he hadn't gone out, he hadn't really noticed it. After returning, the house was permeated with the smoky aroma of the barbecue, and the fireplace had a feature that automatically absorbed smoke and toxic gases. Given he was still soaking wet, he urgently needed a fireplace to dry off.
With the fireplace made, Xu Xin tossed in a piece of wood (white).
[Remaining combustion time: 15 minutes.]
A piece of wood (white) could burn three times longer than in a furnace.
Heat radiated around the furnace, raising the temperature within the tree house. Originally, the temperature was quite suitable, but now it became rather stuffy. Within ten minutes, his clothes had dried, and the odors had dissipated.
Xu Xin returned the video call; this was his fourth time communicating with the cute girl he had just met today. Who would've thought the girl favored video calls so much?