*Whoosh!*
An arrow flew out, hitting the forest wolf directly in its right eye.
At this moment, Han Xing's floating island was less than three meters away from the forest wolf's island, separated by a gap of empty space.
The sudden injury to its eye caused the forest wolf to let out a pained howl and skid to a stop, nearly tumbling off the edge.
In the early stages of the game, hunters have few skills, and it's essential not to let enemies get too close.
Han Xing quickly maneuvered his floating island to retreat, putting some distance between them.
A system notification appeared.
"Warning: The alert range of a 1-star creature is ten meters. Once you move beyond this range, it will disengage from battle, and the floating island will revert to unexplored status."
An unexplored status means the island will be shrouded in clouds, making it immune to outside attacks unless you enter it.
"Ten meters? That's more than enough!" Han Xing muttered as he continued to retreat his island.
*Sighing in relief,* he conjured another arrow out of thin air, drawing his bow once again.
*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*
Three arrows flew out in quick succession—two hit their mark, while the third missed, flying off into the void.
The forest wolf howled in pain but remained trapped in a small, two-cubic-meter block, unable to advance or retreat.
It was clear that Han Xing was kiting the wolf, a common strategy for hunters.
Han Xing continued firing arrows.
After four more shots, two hit, and two missed.
He was satisfied with this accuracy.
After all, he was keeping a safe distance of nine meters from the wolf while maintaining this level of precision. Not bad at all.
With the hunter profession, the system's initial skill, "Basic Bow Mastery," gave him an innate familiarity with archery.
As his level and agility increased, his accuracy would improve even further.
The forest wolf now had five arrows sticking out of it, looking rather pitiful, yet it still hadn't fallen.
The creatures on these floating islands had a lot of vitality. The slime he killed earlier had only died because he got lucky, triggering the "Sharpness" effect on his third shot.
However, after two more arrows, the forest wolf finally let out a whimper and collapsed.
[Successfully killed Forest Wolf lv1, gained 10 experience points.]
Seeing this notification, Han Xing breathed a sigh of relief.
He maneuvered his floating island closer to the wolf's corpse.
[Do you wish to dismantle the forest wolf's corpse?]
"Yes."
[Forest wolf corpse successfully dismantled. Recovered arrows x7, obtained 1-star animal hide x1, wolf meat 37kg, beast bones x102.]
The wolf's body disappeared, leaving behind a hide, a large pile of fresh red wolf meat, and a small mountain of white bones.
"So much wolf meat!" Han Xing exclaimed.
Thirty-seven kilograms of wolf meat could feed an adult for many days. If he rationed it carefully, it could last him half a month!
Killing this forest wolf had effectively solved Han Xing's food crisis.
Even if he couldn't eat it all, he could trade the excess with other players.
At this point, Han Xing was likely the only player in Channel 107 capable of taking down a 1-star wild beast. Meat would be a scarce and highly sought-after resource!
After storing all the spoils in his backpack, Han Xing merged the two islands he had acquired with his own, expanding the size of his floating island to five cubic meters in a T-shape.
Now, even if he lay down to rest, he no longer had to worry about falling off.
Just then, he received a private message in the regional chat.
Sky Phoenix Bird: "Hey, I noticed the arrows you put up for sale on the trading platform. You're a hunter, right?"
Galaxy: "Yeah, I am."
Sky Phoenix Bird: "I have something you might be interested in."
Han Xing: "Show me."
Han Xing wasn't one to beat around the bush, and Sky Phoenix Bird was straightforward as well, immediately sending the item info.
[Fine Iron Arrow Blueprint (Green)]
A green-tier equipment blueprint, and for arrows no less!
Han Xing's pupils constricted as a surge of desire for the blueprint rose within him.
But he quickly calmed himself and responded coolly, "I'm interested. What's your price?"
Sky Phoenix Bird, sensing Han Xing's interest, breathed a sigh of relief.
Having seen Han Xing's listings on the trading platform, Sky Phoenix Bird had correctly deduced his profession.
"I want water, a lot of it, no less than two units!"
Han Xing's mind raced, but he replied without revealing his thoughts, "Two thousand milliliters of water? You know how scarce water is right now?"
Sky Phoenix Bird responded, "I know, but this is a green-tier equipment blueprint! I may not fully understand this world yet, but I do know that items like this will only become more valuable later on. By then, you wouldn't be able to trade for it even with twenty thousand milliliters of water."
Han Xing snorted, "You said it yourself—later it'll be worth more. But right now, survival resources are the most critical. I don't have water, but I do have food. If you're serious, name a price I can work with."
Sky Phoenix Bird realized his initial demand was outrageous and made a concession. "Food is fine, but not less than ten units."
Han Xing chuckled coldly. "Five units, max. Five kilograms of food will keep you going for two or three days."
After a brief hesitation, Sky Phoenix Bird reluctantly agreed. "Fine, five kilograms it is."
The trade was quickly completed.
Even though five kilograms of food was a lot, Han Xing still came out ahead.
[Successfully obtained Fine Iron Arrow Blueprint. Do you wish to learn it?]
Han Xing immediately selected to learn it.
In the next moment, a new green-tier equipment blueprint appeared in his crafting menu.
[Fine Iron Arrow (Green)]
[Required materials: Fine Iron x2, Feathers x1.]
Han Xing thought for a moment. "Fine iron can only be obtained from treasure chests in the early stages of the game. Let's see if there's any on the trading platform."
He searched for fine iron in the trading platform and found seven listings.
All the traders were asking for water and food. Han Xing opened private chats and started haggling.
Eventually, he traded three kilograms of wolf meat and four berries for twelve pieces of fine iron.
With one material down, he still needed feathers.
Han Xing posted in the group chat: "Anyone got feathers? I need a few."
Cheng Jianyong: "Feathers? I've got some, Han Xing."
"Trade with me."
After the trade, Han Xing received a system notification.
[Successfully obtained Primate Hair x23.]
Looking at the black hair in his hand, Han Xing's mouth twitched.
"Cheng Jianyong, are you serious? Who the hell needs your leg hair?!"
Cheng Jianyong: "What the heck, you asked for hair! You didn't specify what kind!"
Han Xing threw the leg hair aside in exasperation. "I needed bird feathers, not leg hair! Feathers from birds!"
Making sure to clarify this time, Han Xing couldn't help but laugh as Shen Yun chimed in, "Han Xing, I just explored a cloud and found a giant bird's nest. There weren't any birds, but I found some feathers. I can give them to you."
"Great, let's trade."
After completing the trade, Han Xing now had nine gray-white feathers in his inventory.
[Big-Mouthed Bird Feather (Common Material)]
With all the materials gathered, Han Xing opened the blueprint and began crafting.
White light flashed continuously.
[Successfully crafted Fine Iron Arrows (Green) x6.]