Farming Games are All About Grinding

"So this creature is called a Half-Shell Tooth Turtle, and it even knows Sand Escape?" Han Qiwu perked up and aimed the hand-cast net at the Half-Shell Tooth Turtle's position before throwing it out.

After tossing it, he finally understood the properties he saw when purchasing the nylon hand-cast net earlier.

Once the hand-cast net is thrown, it automatically unfolds mid-air. The range of the net is influenced both by his Fishing Specialization bonus and the inherent net properties.

Currently, the hand-cast net has a range of 6+2=8, meaning it can cover an 8×8 grid.

Although 8×8 sounds large, the size of the Half-Shell Tooth Turtle takes up more than 50 grid spaces. If Han Qiwu's throw was off by even a little, the net wouldn't fully cover the turtle.

The throwing speed was impressive too. At this point, the hand-cast net's speed was comparable to that of a seasoned fisherman with decades of experience, instantly covering the Half-Shell Tooth Turtle overhead.

It looked like he was about to catch the Half-Shell Tooth Turtle!

At that very moment, the turtle, seeing the incoming net, calmly lowered its head and burrowed forcefully into the ground.

"Swoosh."

A second later, the Half-Shell Tooth Turtle reappeared at the other end of the game area, arrogantly continuing its slow, casual digging in the sand.

The empty hand-cast net helplessly fell onto the ground, then, after a moment, slowly curled up into a ball and returned to Han Qiwu's side.

This was the net's retrieval speed.

After one failed attempt, Han Qiwu got even more excited and continued tossing the hand-cast net at the Half-Shell Tooth Turtle. After several tries, he began calculating the relationship between the net's throw speed and the turtle's crawling speed, adjusting his throws to force it to use its Sand Escape skill.

You've got to pressure things sometimes to figure out how the path unfolds!

After repeatedly pressuring it, Han Qiwu discovered that the Half-Shell Tooth Turtle couldn't use Sand Escape indefinitely. After a few uses, it would enter a period of stiffness.

Seizing this opportunity, he finally managed to land the hand-cast net squarely on the turtle.

The capture progress bar next to the game frame began rising rapidly.

When it reached one-third, the turtle's stiffness wore off. It used Sand Escape again to evade to another spot.

"Hurry up and retrieve the net!" Han Qiwu shouted anxiously at the hand-cast net, wishing he could jump into the screen and pull it back by hand himself!

After a few seconds of waiting, the hand-cast net finally returned.

"Huh? Why hasn't the Half-Shell Tooth Turtle come back out?" Han Qiwu stared at the now empty game screen, completely dumbfounded.

Could it be that when the turtle performs Sand Escape while under the net, the escape duration increases as a cost?

Working off that assumption, Han Qiwu glanced at the spot where the turtle initiated its Sand Escape and hurled the net toward another possible location.

I admit there's some gambling involved in this decision!

But time's running out!

"Whoosh!"

As the net flew out, the turtle whose Sand Escape had ended reappeared on the game screen.

"Bam."

Just as the Half-Shell Tooth Turtle emerged from its Sand Escape, it was met head-on with the gift of a hand-cast net!

Got it!

The turtle, now caught in the hand-cast net, still refused to give up. It tried to squirm and activate its Sand Escape again, but by now it was out of stamina. It had no choice but to let the net wrap tighter and tighter around it.

[Congratulations! You've caught a Half-Shell Tooth Turtle in the secret realm!]

[Half-Shell Tooth Turtle]

[Sell Price: 2000 Gold]

[Non-Edible]

[Note: The real delicacy lies in the eggs of the Half-Shell Tooth Turtle.]

"What? You mean I can't eat it?" Han Qiwu felt like he'd been duped.

Fortunately, the selling price wasn't bad, so at least all that effort wasn't for nothing.

Judging by the note, he'd have to find the turtle's eggs.

But the turtle beach was so massive—how could he possibly find them so easily?

Guess it's a task for next time.

Someday, I'll taste that delicacy for sure!

With little time left, Han Qiwu stowed the hand-cast net, ran over to the secret realm's trading station, sold the Half-Shell Tooth Turtle, pocketed his earnings, and hurried out.

Time to skedaddle.

Once he left the secret realm, Han Qiwu shielded his eyes from the sun with one hand.

The summer heat felt closer with each day, and the sunlight was blindingly bright.

Checking the time, Han Qiwu decided to head back home to check on Kangkang and the giant egg.

As soon as he walked through the door, the hanging meat chicken on the tree started wiggling desperately like it had seen its savior, trying to catch Han Qiwu's attention.

"Bawk, bawk, bawk!"

Not only was it wriggling, but it was squawking loudly as well.

Han Qiwu frowned. Something wasn't right. Didn't he stuff the chicken's mouth with osmanthus leaves before he left?

He walked over, expressionless, and casually poked the chicken's wings and breast meat. Glancing at its beak, he shook his head and muttered, "Still needs a few more days to hang. The blood hasn't dried completely."

Meat Chicken: "Shocked.jpg"

You're kidding, right?!!

Boss, you never told me I couldn't hang out with the peacock chicks!

"If you dare eat the leaves again, I'll roast you wrapped in them and make beggar's chicken," Han Qiwu threatened with a wave of his hand, stuffing another bunch of leaves into the chicken's beak.

"Mph! Mph!"

The meat chicken frantically nodded in submission.

It knew what beggar's chicken was.

Roasted chicken using wet clay wrapping.

Humans were so strange. If it's roasted chicken, just call it roasted chicken. Why insist on calling it beggar's chicken?

Beggar's chicken? How absurd!

"What did you say?" Seeing the chicken's beak moving as if muttering, Han Qiwu deliberately took a step closer to it.

"Mph! Mph!" The meat chicken immediately stared at the ground, reflecting on its behavior.

After settling the meat chicken, Han Qiwu headed straight to the phoenix tree incubation room. As soon as he entered, he was greeted by the sight of two glowing chicken projections floating above the incubator.

[Big Fire Chicken]×1

[Little Fire Chicken]×1

"Big Fire Chicken? Little Fire Chicken? What's with these absurd names?" Han Qiwu muttered helplessly as he approached the incubator and took it out.

The Big Fire Chicken and Little Fire Chicken looked entirely different; it was easy to tell them apart at a glance. Though both were newly hatched, the Big Fire Chicken was the size of an ordinary chick already a month old. Its comb looked like it was crowned with flames, swaying with fiery motion as it moved. The Little Fire Chicken was tiny with a small comb, but its wings seemed well-developed, and its feathers featured beautiful red and yellow patterns. The red feathers on its wings formed distinct flame-shaped symbols.

Both had great visual appeal.

The two glowing chicks, radiating faint auras, darted their curious eyes around as they perched on Han Qiwu's hands, chirping away.

"Hang on, let me check your stats first." Han Qiwu patted the Big Fire Chicken's fluffy head and lowered his gaze to inspect them.

[Big Fire Chicken]

[Gender: Male]

[Juvenile Stage]

[Feed Requirement: 0.5 portions of fodder]

[Adult Sell Price: 1500 Gold]

[Inherited Effect - Phoenix Flames (Imitation): The Big Fire Chicken will periodically drop collectible animal products.]

[Animal Products: Big Fire Chicken Drumstick, Big Fire Chicken Comb]

[Note: It has inherited crucial survival skills from its ancestors.]