Chapter Nine: He Surely Doesn't Have a Girlfriend, Right?

In truth, Yi Shen had already noticed the Zhu sisters the moment they approached. Two girls traversing the desert made for a conspicuous sight—especially the one dressed in red, a short spear with a crimson tassel strapped across her back, immediately drawing the eye.

When Zhu Qing drew near, Yi Shen stood up politely.

He was not nearly as guarded toward strangers as Zhu Qing was. The main reason was simple: both girls were quite attractive, and for girls with such pleasant features, he truly harbored no sense of hostility.

"Hello," Zhu Qing greeted, perhaps finding herself less wary in the face of Yi Shen’s relaxed demeanor. The young people in this safe zone were mostly from a few martial academies or the slums. Judging by Yi Shen’s bearing, she guessed he came from a good family and must be a senior or junior from one of the academies.

"We’re students from Qiqiang Martial Academy. Our teacher assigned us to find a large sandworm nest to explore and collect materials..." she began, "May I ask if you are—"

"I’m not," Yi Shen interjected before she could finish.

He had felt a bit pleased at first to encounter the two girls, but the moment Zhu Qing began to speak, he instantly understood their intent.

"I was here first. According to the safe zone’s rules, priority goes to whoever arrives first, doesn’t it?" His tone cooled as he spoke bluntly.

Girls could be flirted with.

But flirting was one thing! He would never allow any dispute over money or interests to arise.

According to the unspoken rules of the safe zone, if a team or an explorer arrived first in a certain area, they would have priority to hunt any monsters within a fifty-meter radius. While this rule was not officially codified, nearly all explorers abided by it as a matter of course.

Humanity had lost too much in establishing these safe zones to defend against the monstrous beasts. After so many years, most people had grown to detest internal strife and bloodshed.

It was like a game: if someone was already grinding in a monster area and another barged in, technically the newcomer could try to steal monsters. But such actions would draw moral condemnation.

Many people belonged to guilds. If a serious incident of monster-stealing or ambush occurred, most guilds or schools would step in to seek justice for their members. Of course, since these matters were so subjective, they often sowed lasting grudges between guilds.

But as things stood, these two girls seemed like explorers who respected the rules.

"Ah..." Zhu Qing was taken aback by Yi Shen’s uncompromising response. Beside her, Zhu You, who had been somewhat smitten, now found her feelings cooling—handsome as he was, this guy’s attitude left much to be desired.

"You can’t clear this place alone, can you? It’s dangerous," Zhu Qing protested, unwilling to accept his refusal.

There were at least two or three hundred monsters in this area, and the cave looked deep—unlike the shallow lairs they’d seen before. If there were elite sandworms or even a boss lurking inside, it could be a real windfall.

"It’s manageable," Yi Shen replied, glancing at Zhu Qing, feeling an odd sense of familiarity about the two girls.

But familiarity or not, he was determined to claim all the experience for himself. Grinding spots like this were rare. He’d been at it for ages and this was the first sizable sandworm nest he’d found.

He quickly tidied his backpack, then picked up speed and slid down the sandy slope. With his attributes recently improved, he found his control over his body had grown much sharper.

...

Zhu Qing: "..."

Zhu You: "..."

The sisters clearly hadn’t expected Yi Shen to be so unsentimental. They had thought this handsome young man might be open to negotiation, but it seemed that even the attractive ones these days were cold as ice.

Zhu Qing couldn’t help but mutter, "He must not have a girlfriend."

Zhu You paused, tempted to ask, "Really?" But decided it was not the time.

Still, Zhu Qing didn’t leave with her sister. This vantage point offered a good view, and she was curious to see how this boy would tackle such a dense horde of monsters.

Though lower-level monsters were less dangerous, in large enough numbers, they still posed a threat to any explorer. Especially if there were elite monsters among them—a level five or six elite was far more dangerous than nearly a dozen ordinary ones, usually requiring a team to bring it down.

If Yi Shen’s level was on the lower side, clearing so many creatures alone would take hours, at the very least.

But to Zhu Qing’s surprise, after sliding down near the bone wall, Yi Shen charged straight into the monster horde.

Though his attitude had been unremarkable earlier, she couldn’t help but feel a flicker of concern. Zhu You’s expression was tense as well. Whenever her sister took her to clear small monster areas, they were always careful not to draw too many at once.

Yet this boy was diving straight into the swarm—could he be some kind of close-combat specialist?

Finally, when the first explosion echoed out, Zhu Qing and Zhu You’s faces turned to astonishment.

It was the strangest thing they’d ever seen. The boy merely paced around the monsters, and soon enough, it was as if fireworks erupted all around him.

Occasionally, he would toss a fireball to finish off a group. From their vantage point on the slope, they watched in awe as, in barely a minute, dozens of monsters were blasted to the ground!

This time, Yi Shen made no effort to conceal his skills—after all, he couldn’t keep hiding them forever, not with more and more encounters on the horizon. As long as he didn’t go too far, there shouldn’t be any issues. His two spells had short cooldowns, and as a mage, as long as he had enough mana, such efficiency was entirely reasonable. So he set about farming monsters with confidence.

In about ten minutes, he finished clearing the surface monsters, netting himself a total of three hundred and thirty-four experience points—enough to boost his level from five to six.

He spent another ten minutes casually sweeping the battlefield, gathering anything that sparkled. Even with this half-hearted effort, his inventory was packed to the brim, and his mountain pack was stuffed full as well.

It was a pity that off-road vehicles couldn’t get through here—otherwise, Yi Shen would have made a trip back to empty his bag before continuing.

"He..." Zhu You stammered, "He killed all the monsters just like that?!"

From a distance, she had watched beside her sister with growing concern, but seeing Yi Shen clear the monsters at such a pace left her in utter shock.

During school field practice, their teachers had always warned them to be careful, never to draw too many monsters at once. This was her first time witnessing someone wade into a horde and farm monsters with such ease!