Farming Games are All About Grinding

As expected, just as he ran tens of meters away, large head-sized moths began crawling out from the original worm-like polluted shells, accompanied by a buzzing sound, heading straight toward Han Qiwu's position.

"So they did hatch, huh? Isn't this cheating? Who hatches into an invincible bug anyway?" Han Qiwu muttered, feeling a chill down his spine as he heard the wind behind him. He tossed an explosive snowball backward and then sprinted out of the pipeline opening in one breath.

Thankfully, these Pollution Moths didn't chase him outside the pipeline. Once Han Qiwu emerged, he successfully shook them off.

From the earlier explosive snowball attack, the attributes of these Pollution Moths also became visible.

[Pollution Moth]

[Level: 85]

[Attack Methods: Blink Strike, Stun Toxin]

[Note: The attacks of Pollution Moths possess stackable effects]

"Stun toxin? And it has stackable effects?" Han Qiwu frowned. After the moths flew back, he carefully went back inside to assess the situation again.

Good thing he hadn't been trapped inside earlier, or that might've been dangerous.

To lure some lone moths, he deliberately dimmed the light of his torch.

"Rustle, rustle."

Two Pollution Moths, attracted by the faint light, flew toward him.

Without hesitation, Han Qiwu swung his sword, following up with a swift vein-cutting move.

The Pollution Moth, which had been about to release its paralyzing phosphor powder, got interrupted mid-action and floated still in the air for a moment.

"A perfect chance!"

Han Qiwu twisted his wrist lightly and thrust his sword's tip toward the moth's head.

A massive damage number popped up!

Instant kill!

Looks like these creatures are only invincible during their hatching phase.

Meanwhile, the other Pollution Moth nearby seized the moment, pausing briefly to prepare before vanishing on the spot. When it reappeared, it slammed directly into Han Qiwu.

Though the force wasn't enough to knock Han Qiwu down, the impact still shaved off 13 HP and inflicted a poison debuff on him.

[You have been hit by the Pollution Moth's Stun Toxin, rendering you stunned for 0.5 seconds. This effect can stack, up to a maximum of 10 layers.]

The 0.5-second stun passed in a flash. As Han Qiwu regained control of his body, he saw the moth beginning to charge itself again.

"This isn't good. There's still only this one moth right now. If all twelve or so from before had blink-attacked me, I would've been stunned for five seconds. By the time I recovered, their abilities might have recharged, leaving me to be stun-locked and killed. Plus, this blinking attack makes dodging quite difficult." Han Qiwu raised his guard, pulled out an ice slingshot, and hurled another explosive snowball at the moth.

"Boom!"

The snowball explosion interrupted the moth's charge, but the noise also drew several more Pollution Moths over.

Taking his safety into account, Han Qiwu once again retreated to the pipeline's exit, waiting for the moths to fly back.

Half an hour later.

Han Qiwu quietly tossed a few pine nuts into his mouth under his mask.

Finally, he had managed to take down all dozen-plus Pollution Moths!

Now that no new moths were appearing for the moment, it was time to check what was inside.

Snuffing out the torch, Han Qiwu surveyed the surroundings, already planning to ask Master Shuzi for a pair of waterproof shoes later.

He had recently collected a batch of rubber, which should make for excellent waterproof shoes.

Avoiding the nearby polluted worms, Han Qiwu carefully navigated forward for over a hundred meters. When he reached the end of the path, he spotted a diamond-shaped gemstone statue. As he approached, he noticed a handprint on the statue. Touching it, several system prompts appeared automatically.

[You have discovered a polluted Purification Gemstone.]

[Eliminating the source of pollution will grant you a certain amount of Purification Points. These points can be consumed at the Purification Gemstone to exchange for rare resources.]

[Current Purification Points: 70]

[Available Rare Resources for Exchange: Iridium-grade Sprinkler (500), Sunlight Essence (100), Customizable Building Blueprint (10,000)]

"Purification Gemstone?" Han Qiwu withdrew his hand, his eyes filled with surprise as he looked at the list of rare resources available for exchange.

The latter two options—one being materials and the other requiring an exorbitant number of points—were not worth considering for now.

Let's focus on the Iridium-grade Sprinkler for the time being.

Iridium-grade, no less!

Since his lucky encounter with an iridium-grade potion from Zack, he hadn't come across another iridium-quality item he could use.

And it just so happened that what he lacked was a sprinkler.

"This iridium-grade sprinkler has to water at least thirty tiles of land at once, right? That'd be a six-fold efficiency boost at the very least," Han Qiwu chuckled instinctively.

Gotta get it!

Based on his calculations, he had taken down 14 Pollution Moths earlier, with each moth granting 5 Purification Points.

In other words, obtaining an Iridium-grade Sprinkler would require defeating at least 100 Pollution Moths.

A daunting task, no doubt.

"I'll need to figure out a way to increase the efficiency of taking down these Pollution Moths. If I keep fighting them so slowly, it'll take me days just to get a single sprinkler." Han Qiwu mused as he cautiously moved to the side.

He had lingered too long in the area, and several polluted worms had started inching closer to his position.

After walking a few steps, he noticed a massive boulder blocking a side path behind the gemstone statue. From beyond the boulder, he could hear the sound of rushing water.

"Is there more of the map behind this?" Han Qiwu quickly approached, glanced at the surrounding darkness, gritted his teeth, and raised his pickaxe. After charging it for a few seconds, he brought it down with force.

"Clang, clang, clang!"

The massive boulder shattered, and the commotion instantly drew the attention of the nearby polluted worms.

Determined, Han Qiwu stepped onto his Fire-Wheel Boots and dashed toward the unexplored section of the map.

Beyond the boulder, he found a small waterfall. However, the waterfall was flowing with green, polluted water.

To his surprise, there were fish in the green water, swimming swiftly.

Following their movement, he observed that these fish swam down to the base of the waterfall and then darted into sewage channels. As they swam, their sizable bodies dislodged pollution worm eggs from the shore, dragging them into the water.

"These fish are accomplices to the pollution worms. Catching them might also grant Purification Points," Han Qiwu speculated.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the time to fish.

Polluted worms from outside were already moving toward his position through the pathway.

The situation was turning grim.

Fishing requires a calm mind, and there's no way to calmly fish during combat.

Han Qiwu mentally noted the location and hurled two explosive snowballs at the polluted worms before activating his cloak ability and rushing out.

This exploration would have to end here for now. Next time, he would bring Xiao Lai and Xiao Dian along—they'd handle the fighting while he focused on fishing!

All for the Iridium-grade Sprinkler!