Chapter Seven: The Jungle of Another World

Dressed in a full set of fiber armor and gripping a stone spear in his hand, Jia Zhengjin walked cautiously through a forest thick with wild grass and tangled thorns. At this moment, he resembled a primitive man just stepping into the dawn of civilization.

Grass rising up to his chest concealed countless strange and peculiar creatures. Moments ago, he had been startled by a giant caterpillar, nearly as tall as a person. Luckily, the creature was gentle and paid no heed to Jia Zhengjin, who had intruded into its domain, continuing to munch on leaves with its head bowed.

Towering trees, twenty or thirty meters tall, were everywhere, their crowns interwoven to shade the entire forest. Sunlight could not penetrate, so within the woods the atmosphere was markedly different from the dry heat outside—dew glistened everywhere, and the air was thick with humidity.

A flock of zebra-striped, monstrous birds lined up neatly on a sturdy branch, tilting their heads to curiously observe Jia Zhengjin.

A gigantic centipede, seven or eight meters long and as thick as a barrel, slithered through the nearby grass, ignoring the intruder who froze at its approach.

He had barely stepped into the forest, yet already so many bizarre creatures had appeared. The pressure on Jia Zhengjin was immense.

Not to mention, the centipede alone was likely far beyond his ability to handle. With his current equipment, he estimated that it could swallow him whole with one bite.

Retreat? He was already prepared—what would it mean to shrink back now?

After a brief hesitation, Jia Zhengjin steeled himself, raised his stone spear, and pressed onward into the depths of the forest.

The deeper he ventured, the more crowds of otherworldly creatures emerged: giant cockroaches over three meters long, silver spiders shaped like machines covered in sharp angles, strange flowers with mouths that continuously made retching sounds, eerie entities resembling rotten logs but bearing eyes at both ends, herds of unicorn goats that looked like ordinary goats except for a single sharp horn sprouting from their foreheads…

The creatures here were truly astonishing, bearing no resemblance whatsoever to those of Earth.

"The creatures of this world, aside from their unusual appearances, don’t seem so dangerous after all!" Upon realizing that the odd beings within the forest were generally non-aggressive, Jia Zhengjin breathed a little easier.

Just as he felt relieved, a chilling, nerve-jarring sound suddenly came from above—a noise akin to fingernails scraping across a chalkboard, setting his skin crawling.

Jia Zhengjin quickly crouched and buried himself in the dense grass, tilting his head upward toward the source of the sound.

He saw a massive, fiery-red python coiled atop a tree, its maw wide enough to swallow Jia Zhengjin whole, confronting a gigantic bird whose feathers seemed to crackle with electricity.

The giant bird was even larger than Jia Zhengjin, yet appeared tiny next to the python. However, it showed no fear, vibrating a cluster of golden wings as it circled the python’s tree.

As the golden bird flew, feathers drifted gently down. Jia Zhengjin’s eyes lit up, and he carefully began gathering the falling feathers.

Feathers could be used to craft arrows, and were essential materials for certain pieces of armor.

The giant bird circled for a while, then suddenly opened its beak and let out a piercing cry. Its enormous body transformed into a streak of lightning, striking fiercely at the python’s head.

"Lightning flash?" Jia Zhengjin exclaimed in surprise. "Can you unleash a hundred thousand volts?"

The golden bird, of course, did not reply. Focused and relentless, it transformed into bolt after bolt of lightning, launching continuous attacks.

Having suffered several blows to its head, the python seemed infuriated. It opened its mouth again, emitting that spine-chilling, chalkboard-scraping sound, and then spewed forth a torrent of scorching flames.

"Wow, this is even more spectacular than a Hollywood blockbuster!" Jia Zhengjin marveled, decisively ducking into the grass and fleeing the scene at top speed. He had no intention of getting caught up in the battle between these two gigantic, otherworldly beasts, or perishing in their lightning or fire.

He had barely taken a few steps when a rustling noise sounded from all around. Soon, a troop of "mushrooms" emerged from the grass! These mushrooms resembled the umbrella-shaped varieties common on Earth, but were colossal—the tallest reached Jia Zhengjin’s knees. Moreover, they could hop and bounce, clearly alive.

Jia Zhengjin hurriedly raised his stone spear, but the mushrooms ignored his weapon and instead bounced affectionately to his feet, nuzzling him like puppies.

His mind muddled, Jia Zhengjin tried to sweep aside the mushroom creatures with his spear, but they immediately regrouped, clinging stubbornly to his feet.

"Go away, go away!" Annoyed by their persistence, he banged the strange mushrooms at his feet with his spear, finally managing to drive them off.

Enduring the dew in the lush grass until his clothes were soaked through, and dodging countless bizarre and dangerous creatures, Jia Zhengjin finally used his skill for locating mineral veins to find the nearest iron ore deposit to his starting point.

The vein lay beside a clear river, surrounded by a relatively open meadow. Most importantly, there were no dangerous creatures nearby. The riverside offered abundant stone resources, fruit trees, and grasses.

"A perfect spot to build an initial base!" Jia Zhengjin surveyed the area, and after confirming its safety, switched his stone spear for a stone axe and began clearing grass from the riverside meadow, preparing space for a new shelter. Clearing grass would also yield plenty of plant fibers, which he could use to practice crafting skills in his spare time.

After all, the higher the crafting skill, the better the quality of the tools produced.

While he was busy, the strange mushroom creatures from earlier appeared again, bouncing out of the forest grass. They watched Jia Zhengjin from afar for a while, then joyfully rushed over, clinging to his feet.

"How annoying!" After several unsuccessful attempts to shoo them away, a frustrated Jia Zhengjin drew his stone spear and attacked, stabbing directly at them.

One mushroom creature collapsed, its body shriveling instantly. The others, however, paid no attention and continued to cling to him.

You killed a mushroom and gained 1 experience point.

"That counts as a monster?" Even one point was experience, and these things didn’t resist. So Jia Zhengjin raised his stone spear and went on a rampage, slaughtering all the bothersome mushrooms.

Finally rid of the clingy creatures at his feet, he breathed a sigh of relief. Searching the mushroom corpses for a while, he found that each one yielded a spore, presumably for planting. Aside from that, nothing else.