About ten minutes later, Du Ruan-tian finally replied.“Wang Zhifei is already dead. Just now, something unexpected happened while we were crossing the Lava Lake.”“So Wu Jing and I can’t update the thread under his name, and we don’t want to publicly announce his death right now. We’re planning to wait until we get back.”Even though she had already suspected as much, now that she had a definite answer, Yun Luohe was still surprised.After all, Wang Zhifei and the others had such high [Luck], and yet he just… died like that.The accident happened too suddenly.Du Ruan-tian: “Wu Jing and I already crossed the river. But now that Wang Zhifei is dead, Wu Jing wants to leave, and I don’t want to keep exploring alone. I’m planning to gather some materials nearby and head back to the reef.”“You didn’t make it up the Obsidian Cliff, did you?”If they hadn’t made it to the Obsidian Cliff, then their exploration of Volcano Island was essentially over before it even started.After all, the best materials on the island were concentrated on that cliff.Du Ruan-tian: “Climbing the cliff required Wang Zhifei’s trait. Now that he’s dead, Wu Jing and I can’t guarantee we’d make it to the top safely—it’s too dangerous.”Wang Zhifei was already dead, and it seemed they would be forced to retreat as well.Wu Jing had been scared out of his mind after seeing how Wang Zhifei died—his body melted completely in the Lava Lake, not a trace of bone left behind.Du Ruan-tian was also unsettled. Neither of them had the will to stay here any longer.Although this expedition had ended in heavy losses, both of them agreed it was better to cut their losses in time and preserve their lives.Yun Luohe: “That’s unfortunate.”Du Ruan-tian: “Nothing to be done. I’ll collect a bit more Flame Fern in the area and then head back.”Just after sending the message, Du Ruan-tian was attacked by a Fire Lizard.The Fire Lizard moved fast and hit hard. It appeared out of nowhere and nearly scared her out of her skin. Luckily, she was wearing high-grade armor. The first strike was fully absorbed by the gear—it was damaged, but she herself was fine.She had no time to feel bad about the armor. She immediately pulled out her weapon and fought back. Wu Jing was some distance away, so she had to handle the Fire Lizard alone.This one was huge, with a layer of hardened red scales covering its body. Its blood-red eyes stared at Du Ruan-tian with hostility, and blasts of hot air puffed steadily from its nostrils.She launched several attacks in a row but couldn’t manage to kill it. Then an idea came to her—she pulled a smoke grenade from her backpack and threw it at the Fire Lizard.The grenade exploded in a thick cloud of smoke that quickly engulfed the creature.Seizing the moment, Du Ruan-tian splashed a bottle of water on the Fire Lizard.Being a fire-type creature, it was probably weak to water.She couldn’t win in a straight fight, so might as well try something desperate.Turned out she was right. As soon as the water touched its body, the Fire Lizard gave off white steam and emitted a shrill screech, clearly in pain.Du Ruan-tian immediately followed up with a flurry of attacks to its abdomen, hacking it to death.However, because of the frantic strikes, she ended up damaging its hide. What she got was just scattered fragments of the Fire Lizard’s skin—not enough to make a full set of armor.A pity, but there was no helping it.Still, now that she knew how to deal with Fire Lizards, it would be easier next time.After collecting the materials, she didn’t leave right away and instead continued gathering Flame Fern.—Yun Luohe shared some climbing techniques for the Obsidian Cliff with Du Ruan-tian. Whether she used them or not was up to her.She also offered another suggestion.If she wasn’t going to climb the cliff, she could consider checking out the Frozen Rift. It was in the opposite direction and didn’t require climbing the cliff to reach.Volcano Island had so many resources—leaving with only a bit of volcanic ash would be a huge loss.If Du Ruan-tian could find Ice Crystal Ore in the Frozen Rift or gather any intel about the area, that would benefit Yun Luohe greatly.She was even willing to provide material support—foods that increased physical strength and helped with heat resistance.But Yun Luohe also warned her about the risks of the Frozen Rift.There wasn’t much intel on it—just a marked area on the map. No one had explored it yet, and what lay inside was a complete unknown.Still, unexplored zones like that always had good stuff. Du Ruan-tian had decent [Luck], so odds were she wouldn’t come back empty-handed.Du Ruan-tian: “My armor’s broken. I need to buy a new one first.”Yun Luohe could sell her a piece of armor and even throw in a [Heat Resistance Potion].She treated this as an investment.If Du Ruan-tian found materials in the Frozen Rift, one-third would go to Yun Luohe. If she found nothing, she owed nothing.There was no risk.So there was no reason not to agree.Still, they needed to draw up a clear agreement in advance to prevent any disputes over material division later. The system could supervise what Du Ruan-tian collected inside the Rift.Now the only issue was whether or not Du Ruan-tian was willing to go.It was a solo expedition. If she went, she went alone.Given how scared Wu Jing had looked, he probably wouldn’t want to go.Du Ruan-tian hesitated.—The [Elemental Alert Tower] Yun Luohe had built yesterday was finally complete.She walked over to it.The tower stood about six meters tall, with a base made of obsidian. The tower body looked like a slab of semi-transparent black glass, covered in a rippling, faint blue energy layer like flowing water.At the top floated a single Water Element Core. Cool mist steamed endlessly from the tip, creating a five-meter radius of lowered temperature.[Water Elemental Alert Tower: Uses elemental resonance to detect underground magma flow, high-temperature airwaves, and biological heat signals. Can provide disaster warnings 15–30 minutes in advance.]Even standing at its base, she could feel a wave of cool air.Yun Luohe reached out to touch the tower’s surface. It felt cold to the touch.Seemed like choosing the Water Element Core had been the right move.If she’d chosen a different element, it wouldn’t have been nearly this useful.The two vertical worm towers Yun Luohe had ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) been working on were also complete.Each tower was a hexagonal vertical structure about fifteen meters tall and three meters in diameter, with twelve layers in total.Each layer could slide out independently, like oversized medicine drawers.The outer shell was made of tempered glass and [High-Temperature Glass], capable of reflecting 70% of UV rays—completely unfazed by high heat.Inside each drawer was a thick layer of volcanic ash, and at the base sat a conical collection bin for harvesting worm mucus and solid waste.With these towers, she could harvest several kilos of worm extract each day for making fertilizer.And the worm droppings, once composted, could significantly improve soil fertility and might even produce Black Gold Soil, which would not only increase vegetable yield and quality, but also shorten fruiting periods on trees by 30%.Yun Luohe opened one of the drawers and saw it packed with large, plump worms—most of them mutated.No denying it, the instant the drawer opened, her scalp tingled a little. Unless necessary, it was better not to peek inside too often.Even with her strong nerves, it was a bit unsettling.—That night, word of Wang Zhifei’s death finally got out through the returning Wu Jing.The post Wang Zhifei had made on the forum shot to the top of the trending list, with dozens of new comments every minute.Volcano Island was now considered the most difficult of all known islands.Even so, some players refused to believe the danger, insisting on challenging Volcano Island and offering high prices for specific [Island Entry Tokens].They said they’d livestream everything once they arrived.Some even went to Heaven’s Secret Pavilion to buy intel, asking which players had safely returned from Volcano Island.But Heaven’s Secret Pavilion replied that player identities were private and could not be disclosed, refusing the transaction.For a while, people began doubting the credibility of the intel Heaven’s Secret Pavilion had sold for Volcano Island.Some speculated that the information had been wrong, leading to Wang Zhifei’s death.After all, they had prepared thoroughly—how could he still die?Mu Zitang stepped forward with a single line:“The intel sold by Heaven’s Secret Pavilion is absolutely accurate. If anyone doubts it, feel free to report us. If proven false, we’ll refund tenfold. Anyone spreading malicious rumors will be blacklisted and barred from all future purchases.”The real reason for the rumors was to pressure Heaven’s Secret Pavilion into releasing the Volcano Island intel to the public.But that intel was S-Class—worth a fortune. Mu Zitang wasn’t about to hand it out for free.Heaven’s Secret Pavilion didn’t serve players who were unwilling to pay for intel. Their focus was on stable, long-term members.At present, they’d built a substantial customer base, and maintaining them took considerable effort.The Pavilion’s membership had grown from a dozen people to over fifty.Cheng Xuening also held a position at Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, handling member relations. A-Class and S-Class members received free daily intel, which meant several players had to post updates every day.They even published free threads on the forum.Most players had a good impression of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.This time, as soon as the slander started, a wave of players rose up in their defense, flaming the haters in return.Yun Luohe had a brief discussion with Mu Zitang.They drafted a new sales strategy for S-Class intel packages.Membership tiers were refined: regular members could only purchase basic Volcano Island maps, while S-Class members could unlock intel on secret chambers.Mu Zitang also announced some discount offers.“To thank our loyal customers, we’re now running a limited-time discount event on Volcano Island intel. A-Class members and above get 30% off. For full details, consult your customer rep.”…Night had fallen, and Du Ruan-tian still hadn’t returned from Volcano Island.Yun Luohe was a bit worried. She sent a message but got no reply.She figured Du Ruan-tian would contact her once she got back—there was nothing to do but wait.She opened her [Reef Info] panel.[Reef Level: 6Area: 1500 sqmRating: 185 pointsUpgrade Requirements: Obsidian ×100, High-Grade Hardwood ×1000, Iron Ore ×2000, Copper Ore ×1000, Glass ×1000, Reef Rating ≥200]At the moment, the main shortage was [Copper Ore].She could get [Iron Ore] and [Hardwood] through the Mutual Aid Association. Heaven’s Secret Pavilion earned the most in iron, so those weren’t lacking.But [Copper Ore] was still rare.Only a few players were listing it at the trading center.Even with days of focused purchasing, she had only managed to collect seventy-odd units.To hit a thousand, she’d need to find an actual [Copper Ore] mine.So she turned to Heaven’s Secret Pavilion for intel.She received three leads:The Gravel Zone on Wasteland Island had copper oreFirefly Island had a copper-rich mountain rangeLotus Island had a cave with multiple ores, including copperShe could pick one of these islands to visit.But she didn’t have any [Designated Entry Tokens] left.Even if she did, she wouldn’t waste them on ordinary resource islands.If she got one, she’d go to Four Seasons Island or prioritize Mechanical Island—places she hadn’t visited yet.Since copper existed on all three resource islands, it likely appeared on most of them.It had been two days since she returned from Volcano Island.She’d mostly recovered—if she prepared tomorrow, she could set out again the day after.Backed by Heaven’s Secret Pavilion and the Mutual Aid Association, ordinary [Entry Tokens] weren’t hard to obtain.As long as she asked, Mu Zitang could get one for her.Yun Luohe opened the trainee group chat to check everyone’s skill progress.Now that her [Cooking] skill had reached Level 5, she understood how valuable [Professional] skills were, so she was here to push the others to level up quickly.One by one, the others posted their skill info.She skimmed through. Si Qi and Yang Mian were both just one step away from leveling up.One focused on [Alchemy], the other on [Forging].Yun Luohe thought it over and decided to give Yang Mian a Volcano Crystal Core, some Fire Lizard Hide, and a bit of high-purity Obsidian, and have him upgrade her bow.Even though she preferred short blades, bows were still very useful in many situations. Now that she had better materials, she might as well upgrade—and give Yang Mian some experience while she was at it.These were all rare, high-grade materials—Yang Mian probably hadn’t handled them before. Using such materials would surely yield more [EXP].Sure enough, Yang Mian lit up when he saw the supplies.“I’ll upgrade it for you tonight,” he said without needing any prodding.As for Si Qi, Yun Luohe handed her all the remaining Flame Ferns to make [Heat Resistance Potions]. She also had some Immortal Palm that could be used in alchemy—worth studying for potential benefits.Others were working on skills like alchemy, but at lower levels than Si Qi. The rest were focused on gathering, mining, or taming—areas Yun Luohe couldn’t help much with.—That day, Yun Luohe sorted through some trash and recovered several dozen jin of coconut meat.She planned to extract coconut oil from it.She had the blueprint for an oil press. Once built, it would automatically produce oil.But the machine required [Copper Ingots], and she wanted to save her copper ore for reef upgrades, so she couldn’t build it yet. For now, she had to do it manually.Making coconut oil wasn’t hard—just chop the coconut meat into small chunks, squeeze out the coconut milk, let it ferment in a bucket for 24 hours until the oil and water separated, then skim off the oil.Coconut oil could be added to drinks for flavor or used in cooking and baking.When used for stir-frying, it made dishes taste especially rich and fragrant.Now that she had an oven, it was time to try making cakes and cookies.So she planned to extract the oil that night.

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