Halfway up the mountain.

Ning Zheng was climbing the mountain, ready to take the body of the Crow King to make a Meat Field, enjoying a wave of harvest joy as well.

Honestly speaking.

He wasn't very optimistic about these lunatic iron smiths at first, but now they keep surprising him more and more!

Just this Meat Field alone could become a huge cultivation boost for a newcomer cultivator like himself.

The Magic Coins in his hand were sufficient.

Adding the Meat Field, and if he could also get Spirit Rice, with these three resources in place, given his Celestial Spirit Root's incredibly fast cultivation speed, the next small realm shouldn't be too far!

It's said that the saints and saintesses of some Holy Lands reached the Four Viscera Realm in their twenties, he felt he could have a shot at it too.

Now going to ask them to get the Crow King's body, it's going to be another delightful day!

Rustle.

The mountain wind blew gently.

Although this grand mountain was towering and steep, reaching over 4,000 meters in height, for a cultivator, it was like walking on flat ground for 4,000 meters, climbing was effortless.

Going up and down the mountain only took about ten minutes.

This was because the mountain path was rugged, not a straight walk.

But soon, Ning Zheng saw Dizzy, the traveling frog who had already reached the halfway point of the mountain, pulling weeds on the ground, squatting down and collecting materials everywhere, muttering:

"This game indeed has a real map outside! Not fictional! As expected, this is the garbage-collecting gameplay found in open sandboxes."

He kept picking up things and stuffing them into the basket behind him, clearly very diligent in completing the Manor's mountain gathering task.

Having just praised them for being sensible, Ning Zheng suddenly fell silent.

???

He felt still too careless.

They spared no one, not even themselves.

It was his first time meeting such despicable people! Are they even human?

And instead of escaping far away after breaking out of prison, why just sneak to the mountains halfway to collect garbage? What's the point?

No ambition at all.

These iron smiths never failed to surprise him with their disappointments.

Ning Zheng's gaze fell on Dizzy, "However, they did manage to walk out of the Manor."

Undoubtedly.

The Fog Array was a kind of Soul Array.

It confused the soul naturally.

And without a soul, naturally unaffected, could go straight down the mountain.

Embers had a certain peculiarity.

No matter the strength, they'd not be affected by soul charm or various illusion arrays.

Because they fundamentally have no soul.

Ning Zheng, being honest, thought [Embers] were normal, but the sight in front was abnormal!

A consciousness appearing after death, meeting a resurrected version of oneself... completely unprecedented!

Take Ning Jiaojiao as an analogy.

The current Ning Jiaojiao was the Embers formed after death.

But suddenly, outside the door, a living and breathing Ning Jiaojiao appeared... Facing her deceased self, how bewildering? How incomprehensible?

—— I'm not dead yet, how can my Embers appear?

Even more absurd than returning home from work one day to find your tombstone complete and a corpse of yourself inside it.

"Something's wrong!"

Ning Zheng said, "There's a big problem with this server! Blacksmiths who can resurrect in the server also have Embers?"

No such incredibly absurd events were ever recorded in books, this might be the first case in this world, but definitely not the last.

His Manor might just turn into a BUG Manor!

And now Dizzy was quite happy with the same thought, thinking he had indeed exploited a BUG.

Not only exploited a sleeping logout BUG, but also a map outside the Manor BUG, he could reach the outside world.

He walked and watched.

The scenery here was more enchanting, with a vast sea-for-fish leaping and a high sky for birds to fly feeling.

So beautiful.

This wasn't a small map management game with only a few scene maps.

This was a massive sandbox world with endless possibilities!

This wind!

This breath!

This taste, he savored as he licked the mushrooms he picked.

"Tastes good." Soon, he walked under a big tree to continue picking mushrooms, suddenly seeing a pair of shoes. Looking up, he saw the old steward staring intently at him.

The old steward seemed to have words he couldn't say, just letting out a resigned breath of muddy qi, "Come on, accompany me up the mountain."

"Oh."

Dizzy felt the old steward's mood wasn't delightful, silently fiddled with the materials in the basket, pondering that he had gathered enough stuff.

Indeed, time to head back and brag about the outside map.

Show off big time to the other silly iron smiths!

Ning Zheng quickly took Dizzy back to the Manor's gate, stepping inside, the Manor had undergone a huge transformation, with towering towers standing everywhere.

But in the end, they weren't dismantled.

It seems they plan to transform these defense towers, turning them into various shops and workshops.

They're even reinforcing the defense towers and underground facilities, metallizing the walls to replace the original stone and mud walls.

This idea isn't bad at all.

In times of peace, the defense towers can serve as shops in the underground commercial street, and during war, they can quickly revert to tower defense, fending off invaders.

After all, given their nature, even a non-combat Sword Casting Manor would be turned into an iron bucket fortress—who knows when the next beast tide will hit?

Who knows whether bandits or robbers will attack the manor?

With years of experience in various games, seasoned veterans familiar with all sorts of trigger events are always prepared to avoid being caught off guard.

Ning Zheng observed a building, feeling conflicted inside, "Sometimes they live so recklessly, sometimes they're so cautious it makes even me anxious!"

Even now.

Because it looks too much like the Snowstorm Manor, the blacksmiths, who always feel like a murder might occur, have already started employing detective talents to prevent homicides.

It was fine before, but now with the appearance of these [Embers], the manor isn't safe anymore.

It's always possible to trigger their taboo.

Additionally, there is the need to consider that some blacksmiths are like "Lu Bu among men," notorious for their midnight patricide.

The [Embers] formed from their minds retain their personality traits from life.

In modern society, who doesn't have a touch of mental illness?

The main self represses it, but the Embers might erupt, bringing out the anti-social subconscious personality.

For instance, some detective buffs have an urge for — locked room murders, showcasing their alibi.

This place might just witness a murder incident.

Jiucai Rong is really worried; this Manor murder mystery script might just unfold?

In the future, everyone might have to vote on which [Ember] is the murderer, considering these [Embers] might have watched over a thousand episodes of Conan and mastered hundreds of locked room murder techniques—not that they can be easily caught!

In short, the situation is too complex.

Ning Zheng naturally wasn't aware of these "manor security management" concerns, as it was none of his business. After wandering around, he ran into Jiucai Rong.

"Old steward," Jiucai Rong greeted respectfully, "We have defeated the Crow Disaster, a great victory, not letting you down."

"And the Crow King's corpse?" the old steward inquired.

Jiucai Rong felt a surge of joy, knowing they'd be soon presenting it as proof of their completed mission.

After handing it over, there might be some main storyline rewards waiting?

After all, they'd earned a big profit for the manor!

Quickly, the old steward took a large box, opened it to check, and saw the separated head and body, tied in a peculiar sexy manner, still lively and animated.

Ning Zheng watched their eager eyes and couldn't help but laugh.

Of course, he also learned from Ai what they desired, and chuckled, "What do you want? You've contributed to the manor, so you have two choices, pick one."

"First, you can find your kin, and the manor is willing to provide food and lodging, hiring an additional hundred blacksmiths."

"Second, I see you were once human, probably cursed by a demon man during your escape down the mountain. We can use the Soul Shifting Gu Technique to free you from the weak Money Child's body and turn you back into a Human Race."

Jiucai Rong understood clearly what it meant.

Choosing the first reward would increase the beta tester slots by 100.

Choosing the second reward would unlock a new race: Human Race.

"You can think about your choice," the old steward said, carrying the box around, not rushing for an answer.

In reality.

The first option was meaningless to Ning Zheng.

Because at most he could only log in 1000 people, with 900 queued up to log in, these 900 still reaping Qi Fortune.

Bringing in the 100 onlookers wouldn't increase Ning Zheng's benefits and would add to the manor's operational burden.

Previously, Ning Zheng was reluctant, as they could be too unruly.

But now that they can indeed manage the manor a bit better, Ning Zheng doesn't mind adding another hundred to earn cultivation resources for himself.

The strong in this world are incredibly formidable, but the resources needed are beyond imagination; every powerhouse is backed by a strong sect.

He tried to make them his resource supply team.

As for the second choice, Human Race, it requires the flesh and blood of a Human Race Great Power to act as their vessel.

He still had that vat of demon man flesh and blood.

Now with Money Child and Human Race as two options, there's a choice between two races.

Of course.

He had the new Crow King's corpse, which could be turned into a flesh vat, splitting and breeding crows, opening the third race option for them, Crow.

But Ning Zheng won't waste it like this.

Because the Crow King was too weak, it couldn't be split many times, and he had to eat, so why let them have it?

And using that Money Child flesh vat, eating the Money Child's Meat Field?

That stuff is edible?

Not all demon beast meat is edible, and not all demon beasts have meat.

Moreover, even if it could be eaten, he wouldn't do it; the Money Child flesh vat was already running dry.

This is fundamental to operating the manor!

He was still contemplating how to get a high-tier Money Child.

It's the fault of those demon men not creating a new Money Child before dying, causing him such trouble now.

"I've decided."

At this time, Jiucai Rong finally spoke, "My choice is to give us the opportunity to become Human Race."