Li Fenghuang looked at the soul-shaped Legend , invisible to others, in his hand, and a series of messages popped up in his mind.
"'Awakening', huh...?"
Li Fenghuang tried to touch the soul-shaped object in his hand, but each time his hand passed right through it, as if the Legendary things had no physical form.
...
"How unlucky. The system is stingy too. There isn't even a beginner's gift pack that comes with the Calamity module, only the most basic stuff. It's time to expand my arsenal..." Li Fenghuang stretched his limbs and rubbed his sore belly, which had been hit by the knight. "Damn it, a mere knight dares to treat me like this. I'll get my revenge sooner or later! Bah!" Li Fenghuang spat out the blood foam in his mouth and wiped away the saliva and residual blood from around his mouth with his dirty sleeve.
"I only have 20 copper coins on me, so I probably can't buy much... Sigh!" Li Fenghuang moved his body, found a stone step, sat down, and began to think about his future survival plan.
"Hey, system, open up. Let me see what I can synthesize?" Li Fenghuang opened the system.
"The host can directly provide raw materials, place them in the system backpack, and the system will automatically synthesize and process them."
"Currently mastered recipes:
Wooden Armor (Full Set): Wood * 75, Resin * 3
Cactus Sword: Cactus * 10, Cactus Life Core * 1
(Requires a workbench to be placed in the backpack)
(Workbench: Wood * 10, purchasable)"
"Ah, this... I know about wood and cactus as raw materials, but what are this resin and Cactus Life Core?" Li Fenghuang looked at the system message, somewhat bewildered.
"Note: This is a real world; raw materials cannot be simply transformed. Some simple creations require certain special objects to serve as a medium to carry specific structures within them."
"Hmph, a real world?" Li Fenghuang snorted lightly. "I'll find a way to leave sooner or later. I suggest you tell me now."
"..."
"Damn it, can I really not go back?"
...
Li Fenghuang sat on the stone step, resting for a good while before slowly getting up and dusting himself off. "I'm hungry. I should go find some food first. I wonder what 20 copper coins can buy here."
...
This is Buweier Town, a small city on the southern border of the Kingdom Laitanaai. It is unremarkable in human civilization, but for the Kingdom Laitanaai, it is the first affiliated town of Solarial, the kingdom's smallest main city. Buweier Town is located in the southwesternmost corner of the entire kingdom. About a hundred miles further south is a vast, desolate Desert—Iglans, which also has an ancient name: Iermeris.
Legend has it that an ancient dynasty once took root here. They once flourished for a time, possessing an advanced civilization, but ultimately perished in the history of this yellow sand...
Li Fenghuang opened the system panel and saw that his health had mostly recovered. Strangely enough, as his health recovered, Li Fenghuang noticed that it eventually stopped around 90 points and did not continue to rise. Furthermore, the bruises and scars on his body did not disappear, and the pain persisted.
"It seems that the physics engine and human injuries here are similar to real life. Simply relying on health regeneration cannot heal one's injuries." Li Fenghuang noted this.
"Sigh!" Li Fenghuang sighed deeply. "It seems that the rules here are similar to the real world. No choice, if I can't go back, I can only stay here for now. It seems I can't fight based on my health like in games anymore. The severity of my injuries also affects my health. If that's the case, I could easily be killed. Low health means I'm not in good condition. Hmm, similar to reality. So dangerous... I wonder if the healing potions here can completely heal injuries..."
Li Fenghuang thought this as he walked down the streets of Buweier Town. The midday hours had quietly passed while Li Fenghuang rested. Now, Li Fenghuang looked at the sun's position and roughly estimated the time to be around three in the afternoon. The crowds who had gone home for lunch and to escape the heat were gradually returning to the streets, making the streets livelier than before.
Li Fenghuang walked through the main street again, breathing in the hot afternoon air. Although the foot traffic had increased again, it was still much less than in the morning, and the streets were not as noisy and bustling as in the morning. But Li Fenghuang could still faintly hear a few calls of vendors on the street.
"Grumble, grumble~" Li Fenghuang's stomach growled uncontrollably. Judging by the sound, it seemed to be complaining about the beating it had just received...
"Hmm, it's time to find food." Li Fenghuang had just been thinking this, but his attention was drawn by the relationship between his health and real-world status, and he momentarily forgot about this important matter.
"Man is iron, food is steel; one meal missed, you'll feel the hunger... Let me see what there is to eat..." Li Fenghuang rubbed his stomach, tightened the drawstring on his pants, and began to look around. And sure enough, not far from Li Fenghuang, there was a bakery.
"Hello." Seeing Li Fenghuang enter, a slightly plump man sitting in a seat glanced at Li Fenghuang and said nothing more.
Li Fenghuang surveyed the bakery. It was quite well-equipped, with a dozen individual tables and a few private rooms.
It seemed like this was a relatively high-end restaurant in this era, as no low-end shop would have even the somewhat simple decorations that Li Fenghuang found here. Yet, Li Fenghuang had naturally walked in, even feeling that the environment here was still somewhat lacking...
There wasn't a single customer in the main hall, as not many people would come at this time. However, Li Fenghuang was unsure if there were any nobles having their afternoon tea in those private rooms...
Looking at the man at the counter, it seemed he was the owner of the shop, and the other employees of the bakery were probably still resting.
"Hello to you too." Li Fenghuang was usually quite polite under normal circumstances; at least he wouldn't suddenly burst into a bakery, pull out a copper short sword, and start lecturing the bakery owner on physics... Instead, he decided to politely inquire about the price of bread, and then, well, there was no then...
Li Fenghuang was about to walk further in, but he was stopped by the owner.
"Don't go inside. Just wait here. Kid, these things by the door might not even be affordable for you. If you ask me, just satisfy your curiosity after coming in and then leave. Don't actually think of yourself as rich."
"Alright." Li Fenghuang glanced at his dust-covered clothes. Although the material was much better than the clothes of this era, they were damaged and covered in dust from the earlier fight. Moreover, the owner in front of him certainly wouldn't recognize this kind of fabric.
"Boss, how much is one of your breads?" Li Fenghuang stopped at the entrance, pointing to the cheapest-looking breads and asking.
"Two copper coins each."
"What's up! Is your bread made of gold?" Li Fenghuang questioned, looking at the breads that were smaller than his fist.
"Look outside now, where can you find bread as good as mine? These are all handmade by our shop employees. You think it's expensive, I think it's expensive too."
The bakery owner looked at Li Fenghuang with a look of disdain on his face. As he expected, the guy who walked in was just a poor bumpkin who hadn't seen much of the world.
"Give me a few."
To the owner's surprise, the young man in front of him actually agreed to the price.
"Alright!"
The bakery owner turned to the counter and took out a few breads that were even smaller than the previous ones.
"Only these. Do you want them or not?"
The owner casually threw the breads onto the counter, making a sound of hard objects colliding.
"Is this right? Giving me this kind of stuff."
Li Fenghuang looked at the poor-quality breads, a hint of anger already on his face. A tense atmosphere filled the air...
"Heh, for a pauper like you, giving you this kind of bread is me showing you respect. At a glance, you're from that ninja country, and you still dare to be picky here."
Combined with Li Fenghuang's conversation with Andres, Li Fenghuang had more or less realized that there were several countries on this continent whose people had East Asian features.
Li Fenghuang frowned, "Don't you dare insult me with that country, you'll easily get beaten up where I come from."
"Are you deliberately looking for trouble, or not? Do you want them or not?" The bakery owner frowned, his eyes containing a hint of threat.
Li Fenghuang sighed. Indeed, there was no need to cause more trouble over this.
"Alright, that's fine then."
Li Fenghuang ultimately endured it. It wasn't that he didn't want to go to other shops; the key was that other shops were simply too dirty for Li Fenghuang, who was used to modern life.
"Heh heh, that's how it is, I guess."
The bakery owner saw Li Fenghuang back down and thought Li Fenghuang was scared and dared not cause trouble here. So, he directly put the breads into a broken bag, didn't even look, weighed them in his hand, and then threw them in front of Li Fenghuang.
"Fifteen, thirty copper."
Li Fenghuang looked at the bakery owner with a gloomy expression, his face extremely ugly. The next second, Li Fenghuang turned and walked away, not even glancing at the bread on the ground.
"Are you deliberately looking for trouble, or not? You don't want them?" How could the bakery owner not know Li Fenghuang's thoughts? But not everything in this world can be resolved by simply enduring.
For some people, cowardice and forbearance will only make them more reckless.
"I've already packed the bread for you, and you still want to leave?"
The bakery owner scoffed at Li Fenghuang's retreating figure. His subordinates were not to be trifled with. No matter how capable this young man was, could he really overturn this bakery?
The bakery owner slapped the counter directly. "Do you want them or not! I've already packed them for you, and you tell me you don't want them?"
Saying that, the bakery owner was about to call his subordinates, "Someone...
"Bang!" Li Fenghuang kicked the bag of bread that had been thrown in front of him, scattering them widely.
"You damn well kicked my bread, didn't you?" The bakery owner stepped forward, reaching out directly to grab Li Fenghuang and give him a good beating. "I..."
Before the bakery owner could finish speaking, a copper short sword was placed against his neck...
"You really don't know what's good for you. I originally didn't want to use force. Come! You swallow all these breads yourself, not one less!"
"I was just joking earlier..." The bakery owner never expected this young man to dare to put a sword to his neck. This guy really didn't care about his life!
"Swallow!"
"You just like to joke. These breads, eat them while they're hot... If you don't eat them soon, they'll go bad..." The bakery owner, feeling guilty, took out another golden-brown baked bread from a nearby cabinet, muttering, "I won't bother you, I'm leaving, okay..."
Saying that, the bakery owner began to move backward, at the same time thinking about how to escape this guy's clutches.
Li Fenghuang grabbed the bakery owner by the collar with one hand. "You truly are a marvel of humanity. Has no one ever given a speech in your shop? Also, next time, sell your bread for 500,000; that way, the profit will be even greater."
The commotion at the front desk finally alarmed the employees in the back. Hearing the shouts, the employees all rushed out...
"Oh, quite a few people, huh?" Li Fenghuang's face now only showed a look of anger. He looked at the owner and pointed at the breads on the ground.
"Swallow or not? Swallow, go on, swallow! You're pushing your luck. If you don't swallow, not one of you will leave alive!" Li Fenghuang looked at everyone with murderous intent, and everyone looked at Li Fenghuang, hesitant and daring not to approach.
"We... we can provide you with bread, for free... And, and money." The bakery manager said, terrified, looking at the copper sword that Li Fenghuang held against his neck.
"Only bread, no money."
...
Soon after, Li Fenghuang walked away carrying a large bag of bread on the street, leaving behind only the bakery owner, who was dry-heaving over a half-carbonized bread in the bakery.
Li Fenghuang sighed, "In this world, only by making yourself more dangerous to others can you avoid being bullied. It truly is a twisted game world.
And reality? Sometimes, it might be like this too..."
...