Ma Lin immediately opened the door and dragged the lifeless demon ape in front of the sculpture of the ram-headed demon, where there was already a drawn sacrificial Array laid out.
He used a canine tooth dagger to slit the demon ape's throat in one swift motion, blood spurting out and falling into the Array, then all of it seeped into the ground.
The demon ape struggled once more, then stopped moving altogether.
Then how to complete this sacrificial ritual?
Ma Lin actually knew.
He began to sing and dance like a madman.
"Master Master I love you."
He sang it a hundred times over.
A plume of black smoke rose from the Array, the corpse of the demon ape first turned into white bones in the smoke, then the bones turned into dregs, followed by a whirlwind that sprung up within the Array and the dregs too disappeared without a trace.
An unusual smell lingered in the air at first, then it vanished.
The system book quivered.
Ma Lin knew that this meant the task was done.
He opened the book to check.
As expected, the contribution points had increased by eighty.
He had also received a skill point.
He had never received a skill point before, so he was filled with curiosity.
He found that the book offered three skills for him to learn at his current level.
The first skill, Basic Dagger Techniques.
The second skill, Basic Cooking Skills.
The third skill, Basic Archery Skills.
After a moment's thought, he touched the icon for Basic Dagger Techniques with his finger.
A dialogue box appeared, and he clicked confirm.
A red glow surged over his body once again.
In his mind, he seemed to hear a long sigh, accompanied by an inspiring piece of music.
It was all auditory hallucinations.
When the hallucinations faded, he drew his own dagger and felt a significant change in how it felt in his hand, as if he had been using it for a long time and done many things with it.
The system book also provided details on the proficiency of the related skills.
"Basic Dagger Usage Techniques, proficiency 0/100."
It seemed that practice was still necessary.
But he was still pleased, now at least he had some combat ability. Being able to fight made survival a lot easier.
The system book had more hints.
"Total contribution points reached eighty; Level 1 healing medicine unlocked. Two contribution points can be exchanged for one pill."
The book provided an exchange button.
Having healing medicine made him feel much more assured in a fight.
The medicine could be taken orally or applied externally.
He quickly exchanged for two pills.
There was a cut on his ankle that, although scabbed over, still ached a bit.
He applied some of the medicine powder on it, and felt a cool sensation, then the entire cut completely disappeared.
The medicine was indeed powerful. Ma Lin was in high spirits.
He could consider how to carry out combat training now, although he had no idea where to start.
After all the effort, he felt tired again.
He climbed back into bed and continued to rest. The cave was actually very warm, and because he was in a good mood, he slept quite well.
When daylight finally came, it was time for corn porridge again, with a chunk of fatty meat added.
No salt, no sugar, no variety of seasonings.
He ate slowly.
Life was indeed inconvenient, but with even the issue of survival unresolved, he couldn't ask for too much.
Yesterday, he couldn't deal with that demonic ape on his own; he owed much to the help provided by the system book.
He thought about carrying some smoked meat with him, but he was worried that the smell would attract fierce beasts.
He had made extra demon corn and packed it into a small deer leather pouch to carry on his back, along with a wooden basin slightly larger than a bowl. Lunch might have to be eaten outdoors.
He needed to train his skills in dagger combat, but he wasn't sure how to proceed, thinking while he walked.
The light was very bright. Some snow on the ground had melted, making the earth a bit muddy, but his shoes were completely resistant to the damp.
Heading in a northeast direction, and ventured a little further. Soon he saw the river which was not easy to cross. So, he followed alongside its bank.
His pace was very fast.
He saw those pointed-head deer again; they seemed to be plentiful.
Then, how many predators were there all around this place?
Not long after, he came upon a narrow tributary of the river. After some thought, he took out his dogtooth dagger and hacked a few times at the trunk of a slanted large tree.
The dagger was truly sharp.
The large tree fell with a loud rumble, its top reaching the opposite side of the stream. That's how he crossed the river.
Not far along, he came across an orchard, which even in winter, bore quite a lot of fruit. A troop of red-haired baboons was scurrying along the branches, feeding on the fruit.
If baboons could eat them, then so could humans.
Ma Lin approached a little closer and was seen by the baboons, who started to break branches to throw at him.
The baboons were truly arrogant.
Should he take some of the fruit?
After hesitating, he decided to leave. Better not to provoke trouble.
Continuing northeast for about two kilometers, he reached the edge of the Stone Bamboo Forest. Their girth was not more than a meter and the tallest rose over twenty meters, while the shortest stood at three meters. Scattered amongst the formations were skeletal remains of animals, hanging from vines.
As Ma Lin was wondering, he felt the system book hanging around his neck vibrate.
He opened it and flipped through to the last page, where a new mission had appeared.
"Slay four demonic monkeys and hang them on the Stone Bamboo Forest."
"Demonic monkeys are followers of the great demon Aike, thus enemies of my master, 'Egg Majesty'. Each kill rewards thirty points of contribution. Completion of the mission will grant one point of agility, twenty nuts, and twenty demonic oranges."
"Strike the gong at the top of the tallest stone bamboo to attract the demonic monkeys."
While he was interested in the rewards, the difficulty of the mission filled him with dread.
What if he couldn't defeat them and died?
He had encountered a demonic monkey just the night before, and its ferocity had left a deep impression on him. These creatures were not only extremely agile but also possessed great strength.
However, he believed the demonic monkeys living near the Stone Bamboo Forest couldn't compare to the one he saw last night.
The reason being that the skeletal remains hanging from the Stone Bamboo Forest were of smaller animals, the largest being a pointed-head deer.
There was a circle in the middle of the Stone Bamboo Forest, about five meters in diameter. He had no idea what it was used for.
He started to climb the tallest of the formations, which measured around twenty-five or twenty-six meters high, with indents on its side that could be used for steps. Having added three points of strength to himself through the system book, his physical vigor was quite substantial.
Climbing to the very top, he didn't feel tired at all.
After some thought, he first exchanged for four healing pills in the system book and put all of them into his pocket.
Then he began to hammer the copper gong with his fists.
After the 'clang clang clang' of the gong, the howling of monkeys came from not far away.
They were quickly approaching.
Fight four at once? He would be unable to prevail in such a fight and began to worry.
He hurried down to the ground and then ran up a mound of earth on one side to assess the situation. If things went wrong, he would run away. He was quite confident in his ability to flee.
Then four demonic monkeys ran into the Stone Bamboo Forest. Wasn't there a circle there? The biggest of the monkeys entered the circle and roared furiously at Ma Lin, while the other three stood outside the circle.
He was a bit puzzled until he noticed the circle beginning to flicker and light up, and text appeared beside it: "Enter the circle for a one-on-one duel with the demonic monkey, with the condition to kill the opponent."
So that's how it worked.
No wonder there was a gong here.
He walked carefully over, with the other monkeys on the opposite side of the circle.
He entered the circle.
Ma Lin pulled out his dogtooth dagger, and the large demonic monkey had no objections.
The battle began.
Indeed, the demonic monkey was astonishingly strong and agile, but Ma Lin could still manage, especially since his dagger was incredibly sharp, able to sever the limbs of the monkey with a single slash.
To be cautious, he started with probing and defense.
The other three monkeys did not attack him inside the circle—an advantageous situation.