The 3.4-meter-high walls were still significantly shorter than their height of over four meters.
And something was off, Ma Lin realized.
One of them dragged a small tree over and started smashing the thorny wall with the trunk from a distance.
Their strength was truly formidable. If he hadn't reinforced the wall, it's possible they could have actually broken it with a few hits.
Looking at the situation now, if they kept smashing it like this, even the sturdiest wall wouldn't last until dawn.
What to do?
One of the smarter monsters was trying to pick up a stone and throw it into the yard.
A stone weighed several tens of kilograms. His kitchen's roof was quickly smashed through.
That really pissed off Ma Lin.
If they tore down these walls, his home would be incomplete, and he'd lose his daily contribution points of ten.
He needed to quickly come up with a solution.
He wanted to go out and attack them, but he simply didn't have the capability. He couldn't beat them, especially since they were numerous, and now it was night, which was too much to their advantage.
He still needed to hurry and finish carving the wooden egg sculpture.
He and Old Hu took refuge in the cave, shutting the door. The door of the cave was no ordinary object; even those monsters couldn't budge it.
Old Hu was still a bit scared of the egg sculpture inside the cave.
Ma Lin had a spare wooden stake that he could use for carving, but he hoped he could successfully sculpt this one in one go.
He greatly reduced his movements, and after spending more than two hours, he carved out an ugly egg sculpture.
The thorny enclosure outside was already a bit battered from their hits with the small tree. Just that the thorny brush had gained a name from Ma Lin two days ago and had evolved once; it had its defensive capabilities. When one thorn branch was smashed, another would replace it, and that's how it had held up until now.
Ma Lin ran into the courtyard, found the pit he had dug, and planted the wooden sculpture in it, filling the soil and stamping it down firmly.
The monsters went to pick up stones to throw at him again.
Old Hu also came out to help him draw their fire.
Ma Lin held the "Book of Servitude" and began to chant a spell.
"Thorny Devil Arugao, heed the command of the great demon egg, evolve once more. You will be able to extend your branches and thorns, retaliating against monsters that attack you."
The spell required ten minutes of chanting, and Ma Lin had to jump around while singing it out.
Finally, when ten minutes were up, the egg sculpture began to change color and fired off beams of red magic power that fell upon the Thorny Devil. The thorny brush, too, changed color and underwent a transformation in appearance.
Then a bunch of thorn branches suddenly stretched out and coiled around the leg of a monster, the thorns piercing into its flesh.
The monster screamed miserably, struggling to break free. As more thorn branches entangled it, each prick from the poisonous thorns was painfully felt.
By the time it finally freed itself, one leg was a bloody mess, with many parts of its body still bleeding.
The other monsters were furious and attacked the thorny barrier with saplings from a distance. The thorny wall simply condensed into three large spheres, defending three different areas of the courtyard, with the branches flailing wildly.
The monsters were afraid of it in this form.
So they just stood at a distance without leaving, throwing stones at the thorns, but it was futile.
What in the world were these creatures?
Ma Lin was troubled when he suddenly felt the "Book of Servitude" around his neck vibrate.
Opening it, he found that there was a new quest offered.
"Kill 0/6 minions of the great demon Aike, reward: 600 contribution points, a set of leather armor, one shrinkable leather shield, and one demon orange tree."
"Quest tip: Spend all current contribution points and chant the command 'Even an old dog has some teeth' to obtain the 'Descending of the Sky Demon' effect, lasting one minute. During this time, kill all enemies."
His current contribution points were 600. After spending them, he could earn them back as long as he completed the quest.
So, holding the "Book of Servitude," he shouted, "Even an old dog has some teeth!"
Suddenly, his head heated up and boundless strength surged through his body. His heartbeat thumped loudly, and then he saw himself covered in black smoke.
Clutching the dog-tooth dagger, he charged at a monster and ran toward it.
His strength and speed had undergone a fundamental change, and the dagger had transformed too; now it was close to two feet long, with its tip emitting black smoke.
Thinking about it, the command had mentioned 'dog teeth,' so naturally, it would have an effect on the weapon.
The two-foot-long dagger could now be called a sword.
He quickly closed in on the first monster and disemboweled it with one strike. It emanated a green evil aura, the type Ma Lin detested intensely.
Then, creating some distance, he rushed toward a second isolated monster, seizing a very good opportunity to decapitate it.
The remaining three monsters clung together, but their movements were uncoordinated.
Ma Lin charged toward one of them and saw the one at the back turn to flee.
So he feinted and then pulled back to create distance again. That one took several steps to run away while the other two also tried to escape. Ma Lin pursued them at a leisurely pace, giving each a slash. The sword was truly sharp, and the cuts it made were very large.
He caught up to the third one and severed its leg from the base.
Old Hu saw the situation and joined the fight to help.
He pounced on a wounded monster, slamming it down heavily; with such a size, it probably couldn't get up again.
Ma Lin slit the throat of another one that was trying to run away.
The fight ended. Then he cleared the scene, giving those that hadn't breathed their last an additional stab.
The "Descent of the Infernal Demon" effect disappeared, and the task was also completed.
According to the task instructions, he had to sacrifice the bodies of these six monsters to the newly carved giant demon egg statue in the yard.
Ma Lin thought to himself, I rushed to carve that statue, and it's so ugly. Is it really okay to treat it with such formality?
But these were instructions given by the "Servant's Book," and he had to comply.
Each monster weighed several tons; he didn't have the strength to drag them. So he used the dog-tooth dagger to cut them into many pieces. The place was a mess.
Fortunately, the dagger was incredibly sharp, comparable to laser cutting.
After much effort, he sacrificed the flesh and blood of the monsters in more than a dozen batches.
The bloody remains all disappeared in a puff of black smoke.
In the end, only two black beast hides and a glowing red seed remained in the Array before the statue.
He guessed these must be the rewards for the task.
Just by touching these beast hides, he could tell they were extraordinary.
He quickly set to work cutting them with the dog-tooth dagger according to the "Servant's Book" instructions and found it was really tough going. The immensely sharp dog-tooth dagger could barely make a cut; it required a lot of effort.
He cut out two pieces first, one he tied with magic power yarn around his upper body, another around his lower body; they automatically reshaped into a leather coat and leather pants.
Then, he cut out another piece for his head, and four smaller pieces for his feet and hands. They too transformed into a hat, gloves, and boots.
He folded up the remaining leather and chanted a spell; it transformed into a leather shield, about fifty centimeters in radius, very light at less than a kilogram heavy, yet extremely sturdy. The dog-tooth dagger couldn't pierce it, and it was hard and flexible; even his axe couldn't make a dent, and it wouldn't bend or break when hammered.
If he chanted a spell, it could shrink to just six centimeters in size, convenient to tuck into his pocket.
The glowing red seed was surely a demon orange seed. He planted it in the vegetable garden and chanted a spell; it immediately sprouted.
Ma Lin was overjoyed.
There was no doubt, the leather outfit he just acquired was a treasure.
First, it was comfortable to wear and looked cool; second, its defensive capabilities were exceptionally strong, resistant even to stabs or cuts from the dog-tooth dagger, quite remarkable. It was said to have protective properties against many spells, and third, after donning it, he felt lighter and more powerful, and his coordination also improved.
The leather outfit had a magic effect, enhancing the wearer's physical attributes to a certain degree.
The "Servant's Book" indicated that wearing such an outfit would increase strength, agility, and constitution by two points each, and intelligence by half a point.
Ma Lin felt as if he had turned his fortunes around.