Chapter 11

After putting in all his effort, in the end, three scout dogs still managed to escape. It wasn't until they completely disappeared from sight, trembling with fear, that Xu Dong let out a deep breath and fell to the ground, panting heavily. Soon, a notification of the mission's completion appeared.

You have completed the special mission: Not a single one shall be spared.

You directly or indirectly killed 19 scout dogs, including 1 scout dog leader. The number of scout dogs you killed accounts for over 80% of the total number of scout dogs in this attack.

Mission Evaluation: S

Seeing this, Xu Dong muttered to himself, "19? That's a lot. Hmm, if this is true, the only explanation is that Uncle Da Xiong must have taken care of some of the obstacles on his way here. What a unlucky kid."

Then, Xu Dong continued to browse through the information.

You will receive a physical talent skill. This talent skill will determine your future development direction, so choose carefully.

Please select a physical talent skill from the following 5 options:

A. Muscle Activation

Level: 1

Content: After activating this skill, your muscle activity will increase by 1000%, and you will temporarily lose your pain sensation. During the skill's duration, you will be immune to most toxins, lasting for 60 seconds.

Cost: None

Cooldown: 30 minutes

Proficiency: 0/100

Description: Have you ever seen a tank? After activating this skill, you will be a human tank!

B. Divine Blessing

Level: 1

Content: Your wound healing speed is enhanced by 300%, and your physical recovery speed is enhanced by 300%.

Description: This is a passive skill, but to gain the above effects, you must either supplement with a large amount of nutrients or have sufficient nutrient reserves.

C. Devour

Level: 1

Content: You can recover by devouring organic matter. The recovery effect depends on the object devoured, lasting for 60 seconds.

Cost: None

Cooldown: 30 minutes

Proficiency: 0/100

Description: I won't tell you that after activating Devour, you will temporarily lose your sense of taste and smell, and you generally won't get diarrhea from eating raw or cold food.

D. Living Skin

Level: 1

Content: Your body will possess plant-like characteristics, allowing you to recover vitality through photosynthesis.

Description: This is a passive skill. After learning this skill, your appearance will undergo unknown changes.

E. Stone Skin

Level: 1

Content: Your body will possess rock-like characteristics, greatly enhancing your resistance to physical attacks.

Description: This is a passive skill. After learning this skill, your appearance will undergo unknown changes.

After much deliberation, Xu Dong finally chose the Devour skill as his physical talent skill. After making his choice, in the dark space of the talent system, a green light symbolizing vitality emitted a faint glow, and a symbol shaped like a bite slowly appeared and solidified.

Just when he thought everything was over, Xu Dong's mind trembled again.

Due to the S evaluation obtained by the chosen one in the first stage talent skill activation mission, the chosen one will receive an additional reward.

Additional Reward: You can choose one of the four talent skills as your main talent skill. The improvement of the main talent skill will not require skill points.

"Huh?!" Xu Dong was a bit surprised and couldn't help but fall into deep thought. The appearance of this additional reward was based on the S evaluation. To be honest, obtaining an S evaluation was not an easy task. If it weren't for the fortunate circumstances just now, he would have been content with an A evaluation. At the beginning, Xu Dong was clearly informed that the more effort you put in, the more you would gain.

Clearly, the additional reward for the S evaluation was not something trivial or dispensable, but something of significant value!

A bold idea quickly emerged. Xu Dong couldn't help but purse his lips and ponder: Is it really that difficult to upgrade skills?

Only such a result could lead to such an additional reward.

Since that was the case, Xu Dong decided to set the small quick steps, which played a significant role in the recent battle, as his main talent skill. As he shifted his thoughts, in the talent skill space, the white light representing the small quick steps emitted a hint of gold, and the white light trembled joyfully with the sudden golden hue.

Following this, more information continued to flash through his mind.

Since the chosen one has activated all the first stage talent skills, the special mission for the reward talent skill will be closed until the first stage talent skills reach their maximum level. The conditions for opening the special mission for the reward talent skill include, but are not limited to, the first stage talent skills reaching their maximum level. Please strive to learn, chosen one.

After this message, the task system's information finally came to a complete stop.

Just as Xu Dong was still trying to figure out the newly opened loophole, a man with a broad back and a bear-like build, but a panicked expression, rushed into the small forest and immediately spotted Xu Dong, who looked extremely battered. The man was none other than Beijiao Village's constable, Beijiao Da Xiong.

The moment Beijiao Da Xiong saw Xu Dong's condition, his face changed drastically, and he rushed over in one swift step. "Xiao Dong, how are you?"

Despite the intense pain all over his body and the dizziness from excessive blood loss, Xu Dong, who had just obtained the physical talent skill Devour, knew that as long as he had enough food, he could recover from non-fatal injuries through this skill. Therefore, he wasn't overly worried and instead smiled to reassure the other. "I'm fine, just need a good meal."

Seeing that Xu Dong's expression didn't seem to be faked, Beijiao Da Xiong's mind was somewhat relieved. It was only then that he noticed the bloody environment and the numerous dead guard dogs scattered throughout the small forest, causing his face to turn pale with shock and disbelief.

He opened his mouth and, with a stunned tone, pointed at the dead guard dogs on the ground and stammered, "Xiao Dong, did you do all this?"

Although he had already suspected that it was Xu Dong, when Beijiao Da Xiong confirmed it from the other's mouth, his shock still surged. To be honest, his speed was a weakness, and these guard dogs were clearly faster and more agile than those he had encountered before. He could barely manage with the power of his flesh armor, but the key was—Xu Dong wasn't even a flesh armor warrior!

Beijiao Da Xiong was so excited that if it weren't for the alarming wounds all over Xu Dong's body, he would have slapped his shoulder and said, "Well done, you little bastard!"

In the end, he had to abandon this particularly romantic gesture and instead gently patted Xu Dong's head, laughing, "How many more surprises do you plan to give me?"

Although dog meat is heavy and can easily cause heatiness if consumed frequently, it is still meat. With the ground covered in dog carcasses, it would be a waste to leave them there. After carrying Xu Dong back to the village and confirming that there was no further danger, he naturally called his friends to help move the dog carcasses.

After being carried back to the village, Xu Dong naturally received gratitude and concern from the villagers. They were grateful for his bravery in luring away the guard dogs, giving them time to evacuate, but they were also worried that this fierce young man might not survive the night with such severe injuries.

Under such attention, Xu Dong was naturally treated with great respect that night. The village women even took out the healing medicines they had cherished for decades, intending to pass them down to their descendants, and sent them all to Xu Dong. Some even offered to help clean his wounds.

The latter, of course, was firmly rejected by the patient.

As for why he received such treatment, Xu Dong later realized there was another layer of meaning—so-called gentle traps for heroes. Even the greatest heroes couldn't resist the tenderness of women, and for a young, fierce man like Xu Dong, who had lost his family and had no relatives, how could he resist the charm of the famous strong women of Beijiao and Nanjiao? It was only natural that Xu Dong would stay, especially since the village lacked strong men.

With the powerful effect of Devour, Xu Dong alone consumed three large dogs, and it took him three days to be able to walk again.

On the other hand, fortunately, due to the large number of dead scout dogs, the villagers finally managed to harvest all the grain smoothly over the next day. The following day, a long-awaited autumn rain poured down, and after the rain, the temperature dropped sharply, clearly indicating that winter was not far away.

During these three days, Xu Dong was not idle. Under his instructions, Shengnu quickly learned some interesting information from the relatives of the three forest guards and brought back an item.

Xu Dong already knew that among the twenty to thirty forest guards, only the relatives of Shitou, Tiezhu, and Dagou still lived in Beijiao Village. As forest guards, raising hunting dogs or guard dogs was naturally a required skill.

Through the mouths of these three forest guards' relatives, Shengnu brought back the names of three people: Shitou, Niba, and Huaihe. If Shitou were still alive, he would be 64 years old this year. In his youth, he was the best hunter in Huaiyun Mountain, and in his middle age, he became a forest guard, also recognized as the best among the forest guards of Huaiyun Mountain. Shitou's greatest strength was training guard dogs.

Shitou had no children, allegedly due to a curse for killing a unicorn, revered as the guardian spirit of the mountain, in his youth. In Xu Dong's view, either he was infertile, or his wife was infertile, and the curse was just nonsense. Of course, this was a side note.

Shitou, who had no children, adopted two children by chance. One was named Niba, and the other was named Huaihe. From their names, one could guess where they were adopted. Shitou treated the two children as his own, teaching one hunting skills and the other forest guard skills.

The plot then took a dramatic turn. The two brothers fell in love with the same girl and became enemies over her. Even more dramatically, the girl loved by both men was Shengnu's mother...

Shengnu also brought back an item, a peculiarly shaped flute that couldn't produce any sound. It was said that this was the key to Shitou's excellence as a forest guard.

At first, Xu Dong couldn't understand why this flute deserved such a title. Later, he inadvertently connected it to the description of the scout dogs—what was most astonishing was their terrifying auditory system, which could detect even the slightest sound.

A smile slowly spread across his lips as one of the problems that had been troubling him was finally revealed!