Although the final cut of the passionate scene between Li Xiang and Luo Feifei hadn’t been released, onlookers had already filmed plenty of behind-the-scenes footage and spread it online. You could find it with a simple search. It was basically some advance promotion for the show.

Of course, besides the supporters, there were also troublemakers. Some people were indignant and came to Li Xiang’s livestream to flame him. Li Xiang was understanding, as the character of Yin Zhiping was destined to draw hate.

But hey, haters are a type of fan too, and they also bring in traffic!

Those people were just full of envy, jealousy, and hate. They didn’t really hate Yin Zhiping; they hated that *they* weren’t Yin Zhiping.

After finishing his work and returning the tractor, Li Xiang went home and took a shower. He had to admit, plowing a field was a surprisingly pleasant experience. This session was particularly invigorating. Watching the messy field get leveled, seeing the large clods of dirt break down into fine silt that slowly settled into an even layer beneath the water... it was incredibly stress-relieving and brought a great sense of accomplishment. Much more comfortable than sitting in an office all day.

Luo Feifei and the others were still working overtime, rushing to finish filming. Lunch and dinner for them were boxed meals ordered by the crew from town, so Li Xiang and his grandmother ate by themselves.

They had a simple six dishes and one soup. It seemed simple, but it had its own touch of luxury—for instance, one of the dishes was a beef stew.

This was no ordinary beef. It came from a takin with Extraordinary potential that he had hunted in the Hailuogou Primeval Forest. The creature had been massive, and they still hadn’t finished the meat; a little less than half of it was still stored in his System inventory. In any case, things in the System inventory didn’t spoil. They came out in the exact same condition they went in.

Li Xiang later mulled it over. ’Maybe it’s not because it’s a vacuum. Could it be related to the flow of time? Is the flow of time inside extremely slow, or maybe even nonexistent?’

In addition, there were mountain delicacies like matsutake mushrooms, white fungus, and Black Truffles; fresh vegetables picked and stir-fried straight from their own garden; cured fish and meat made last winter; and authentic, free-range eggs.

Every dish was incredibly healthy and perfect in color, aroma, and taste. After eating like this nearly every day, his grandmother’s face had grown a bit rounder than last year.

When an elderly person puts on a bit of weight, has a healthy complexion, wears nice clothes, and is naturally tidy, they can look quite elegant and dignified. His grandmother no longer looked like a typical old woman from the countryside.

To put it one way, she used to be a Granny Liu, but Li Xiang had nurtured her into a Granny Jia. Everyone in the village praised her good fortune whenever they saw her. Her grandson was capable and filial, and now she was enjoying a comfortable life in her old age!

In the courtyard, some of the rice seeds soaking in a large vat had floated to the surface. These were typically the duds—seeds that were not plump or were otherwise defective. Li Xiang scooped them out to feed the chickens and ducks, then replaced the water for the remaining seeds, stirred them, and left them to continue soaking. They would likely be ready by noon the next day.

Late at night, Luo Feifei quietly got out of bed and went to Li Xiang’s door. She raised a slender finger and knocked gently three times.

No one answered.

’Asleep? No way. His Realm is higher than mine. He can’t be that unobservant.’

Luo Feifei didn’t dare knock any harder for fear of waking her mother, so she activated her Insight Superpower. As it turned out, there was no one in the room at all.

’Where did he run off to in the middle of the night? Hmph. Is he deliberately avoiding me?’

When she and her mother had wrapped up filming for the day, it was already past nine in the evening by the time they got back to Li Xiang’s house. Li Xiang had been in the living room reading and came down to let them in.

With her mother present, Luo Feifei couldn’t say much to Li Xiang. She had planned to come find him later that night to soothe the ache of her longing, but unexpectedly, she came up empty.

"Where are you?" Luo Feifei sent Li Xiang a message. There was no reply.

Little did she know that at this very moment, Li Xiang was already more than four hundred kilometers from home, prowling through a primeval forest.

There was no signal in many parts of the forest, and Li Xiang wasn’t using a satellite phone.

’The biodiversity in this primeval forest is incredible!’ he thought. ’Even better than Hailuogou!’

Li Xiang was making a huge haul. He had crossed the provincial border into Qian Province, to a nature reserve called the Mao Lan Karst. Perhaps because the weather had warmed and spring had brought a new wave of life, the area was teeming with resources.

Aside from its primeval forests, canyons, rivers, and water features, the reserve also contained countless natural caves, including a number of massive karst caverns.

Li Xiang explored one of the largest caverns. It was completely undeveloped and remote, a place where few humans had ever set foot. It was deep and dark, filled with bizarre rock formations and rugged terrain that would be treacherous for any normal person. But Li Xiang possessed a Night Vision Superpower and didn’t even need a light. Protected by his Black Mountain Profound Armor, he barged right in.

WHOOSH—

He had only been inside for a moment when a massive swarm of bats was disturbed, flying about in a chaotic frenzy.

System: "Detected Tier Three Mutated Creature: Bloodthirsty Demon Bat..."

"Detected Tier Four Mutated Creature: Bloodthirsty Demon Bat..."

"Detected Tier Three Mutated Creature: Bloodthirsty Demon Bat..."

...

The swarm of bats blotted out the view, surging like black clouds. The System’s notifications were incessant, but Li Xiang couldn’t tell which bat was which, so he decided to just kill them all.

He didn’t bother using his Cold Ice Sword Qi or the White Fang Dagger. Instead, he broke off a stalactite from the cavern wall, hoisted it onto his shoulder like a massive club, and began clearing out huge swathes of them with every swing.

His strength was immense, and he moved with incredible speed. With just a light push from his toes, he launched himself into the air like a Demon, leaving behind a dense web of afterimages. It was as if he had cast a net through the air, and the bats began to rain from the sky.

The bats couldn’t locate Li Xiang; they couldn’t escape, and they couldn’t hide.

About an hour later, the ground was blanketed with the carcasses of several thousand bats.

The rewards were astonishing. He had killed over three hundred of the mutated Bloodthirsty Demon Bats alone, earning him 28,800 Achievement Points and more than a thousand Spiritual Medicines ranging from Tier Two to Tier Six.