Ashen God
Chapter 38: Practice Makes Perfect

Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Practice Makes Perfect

Zhang Yanhang pulled out the Licker’s tongue that was still stuck in his waist and then touched the wound that was still sending pain signals. He felt that he might need some healing; otherwise, it would probably affect his efficiency in hunting zombies.

Since the Licker’s attack had only cost him seven Life Value points, far from needing the red and green pills or emergency spray, he simply stuffed one Green Medicine Grass into his mouth.

What did the Green Medicine Grass taste like, you ask? Honestly, Zhang Yanhang had only chewed it briefly and hadn’t even gotten to savor the taste before the medicinal herb had already instantaneously transformed into a warm current, flowing straight down his throat to the injured part of his waist.

In just the blink of an eye, the frightening wound that had flesh peeling out and continuously bleeding had vanished without a trace.

Touching his waist, where his skin was as pale and smooth as before, Zhang Yanhang nodded in satisfaction, "Is this the effect of the Data avatar, or are healing items just really that powerful? To think that right after taking the medicine I completely recovered. The Ashen World is truly amazing."

Zhang Yanhang thought if he happened to encounter the Tyrant by chance later and feared he couldn’t beat it, he could just pop a few red and green pills into his mouth before the fight and chew one when injured, using a ’sell blood’ tactical fight against the Tyrant. After all, he now had plenty of pills, with twenty ready-made ones, and if that wasn’t enough, he could always make more.

"Although this is a great idea, I am still in the outer zone; I’m mostly going to face Lickers and definitely won’t need to resort to such tactics.

Zhang Yanhang decided that once he got back, he would try to refine as many herbs into pills as possible—provided it wouldn’t consume too much Energy Value, because his Energy Value Recovery Speed could not keep up with his usage rate. After all, he frequently needed to use his Enemy Seeking Radar to scan for nearby enemies.

So, to maintain a balance in his energy budget, Zhang Yanhang was very conservative in his usage, such as wearing his old clothes since making new ones, although possible, would just be a waste of energy.

Otherwise, he might have to resort to sitting in meditation to run Limitless Universe Skill to restore his Energy Value mid-cleanup, which would greatly reduce his efficiency.

"There are still four hours till breakfast, let’s keep at it," Zhang Yanhang grasped his M4A1 assault rifle and charged towards another distant street.

...

Two and a half hours later, Zhang Yanhang, who was firing from a high rooftop down at scattered zombies in the street below, suddenly froze. Not for any peculiar reason, but for the familiar one—he had once again triggered a Time Pause.

Accompanying the pause, three text options suddenly appeared before him.

[Continue hunting monsters in the Ashen World?]

[Option One: Yes (During the eight-day holiday combining National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival, without a girlfriend and no desire to travel, you choose to fight the zombies relentlessly. After battling for 23 consecutive hours without rest, exhausted, you unexpectedly encounter a Second Tier Second Star Lord Monster "T-103 Tyrant Tracker.")]

[Option Two: No (The passage from the Main World to the Ashen World is closing in half an hour. Feeling a bit tired, you randomly slaughter around for a while, then run back to Dulda Apartment in the outer area of Raccoon City, lying down on the shabby wooden bed of room 301.)]

[Option Three: Ponder life (Suddenly feeling a bit down, you lie down on the cold concrete rooftop floor, putting aside your M4A1 assault rifle and ponder life for a while, then inexplicably feel a bit hungry. Ultimately, unable to resist the temptation of breakfast, you make it back to Dulda Apartment 301 in the last minute.)]

"Breakfast temptation? Why breakfast temptation? Am I that greedy? I didn’t even realize..." Okay, Zhang Yanhang knew his concerns were a bit misplaced; he should have been more worried about the imminent closure of the portal to the Ashen World.

"Half an hour left, huh? The slot machine is almost within reach..." Zhang Yanhang had originally planned six hours but had only spent four and a half so far. If he had another half-hour, maybe he could really complete his second phase of cleaning, but unfortunately, he didn’t have that time.

Indeed, Zhang Yanhang was ready to head back. It wasn’t because he feared that Second Tier Second Star Lord Monster; he was just simply tired. Currently just a First Tier Awakened, embarking on a 007 work model was too rushed this early on.

Up until now, Zhang Yanhang had been fighting for more than seven hours. Even an iron man would be tired by now, so it was only natural for him to feel exhausted.

Zhang Yanhang felt the main reason he had managed this long was mostly due to the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures he had consumed in the past month after his Awakened Power, and the C-level Talent "Longevity," which boosted his Physical Strength by 70%, nearly a full gauge.

"To think in the first option, I managed to fight for 23 hours straight. Am I really that strong?"

Zhang Yanhang figured the only possibility was that he still had untapped potential. But once squeezed out, he’d probably not be far from sudden death. No cases of sudden death among Awakeners had been reported by the Empire yet, and Zhang Yanhang did not want to be the first historical figure in that regard, making the headlines for such a grim event.

Originally, Zhang Yanhang had planned to spend six hours clearing the area around the slot machine but four and a half hours in, this plan was still quite far from completion, with about a third of the area still uncleaned.

To date, Zhang Yanhang had managed to clear five square kilometers, showing a slight improvement in efficiency—mostly because he was becoming more skilled in this area, saving him that half-hour, which originally took five hours to complete.

But this was practically the limit of his skills. There was no way Zhang Yanhang could significantly boost his cleaning efficiency again, at least not in the remaining half hour to complete his second phase plan.