A large pile of beast hides was gathered from every household in Shi Village, including the pelts of rare and dangerous beasts. In addition, many beast bones were collected and moved to Li Yi's house.

After Shi Yunfeng gave his instructions, the elders went around notifying everyone in the village. Each household took out everything they had stashed away, and the beast hides piled up to a height taller than a person. Apart from a few hides kept for bedding, all the others were brought here.

There weren’t as many beast bones, as many had already been used up, but the remaining bones numbered around five or six, weighing a total of several hundred kilograms. Each bone was massive, yet Li Yi effortlessly lifted them with no difficulty. His body had been strengthened, and now his strength had likely exceeded the human limit.

Many medicinal herbs were also brought to the pile and stacked together.

The elders of Shi Village gathered around, discussing the situation.

"It’s still not enough! There’s a huge gap," Shi Yunfeng said, eyeing the accumulated items.

The other elders didn’t speak. They hadn’t ventured outside and didn’t know the real value of books, but they knew they were incredibly valuable.

"Well, there’s really no other way. All the village’s accumulated goods are here. We can’t exactly take out the ancestral treasures, can we?" one elder said, shaking his head with a sigh.

"Yes, it seems we have no choice," the other elders murmured in agreement.

Li Yi felt a quiet sense of triumph. A piece of meat could earn him some energy points. The combined value of these skins might be worth hundreds, even thousands of points. Not to mention the bones and the medicinal herbs, although he didn’t plan to sell those. He would have Shi Yunfeng help him prepare them into medicine to enhance his own strength.

Strengthening himself was the top priority, as he still didn’t know what the future held. The task in the book didn’t mention how to complete it, nor did it have any time limit. But, based on his judgment, after completing the task, he might have to leave this world. The next world might not be as kind, with such a long period of time to improve his abilities.

Shi Hao was still in a frenzy. The effects of the medicine hadn’t fully worn off, but with the gathering of people, he came over.

His eyes lit up as he spotted a beast’s bone, grabbed it, and fled at incredible speed, kicking up dust as he dashed away.

Li Yi watched his retreating figure and muttered to himself, "He’s like a husky among dogs."

If he had a phone, he would have definitely recorded a video—this would have been Shi Hao’s embarrassing history.

Others saw him grab the beast bone and immediately chased after him. At this moment, a mysterious light flickered from Shi Hao’s palm, revealing a glowing rune, and his speed increased even more.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Shi Yunfeng didn’t bother with the commotion. He decided to go over and take a look at the items. He knew the value of these things couldn’t compare to the value of the book, but he still wanted to see them.

Li Yi understood that, although he was willing to give them the book, Shi Yunfeng knew how valuable it was. Even with the combined efforts of Shi Village, they couldn’t afford it.

But deep down, Shi Yunfeng really wanted the book. A real book was sitting right in front of him, and the temptation was enormous. Not only for him but for everyone in Shi Village.

Shi Yunfeng hadn’t gone over yet when Li Yi waved at him from a distance. Feeling a little embarrassed, Shi Yunfeng walked over. He coughed and cleared his throat, ready to speak, but was interrupted by Li Yi, who had already pressed the book into his hands.

"Later, have the beast hides brought to my house. The beast bones and herbs, please help me prepare them into medicine."

Shi Yunfeng didn’t have time to respond before Li Yi spoke again. Holding the old, heavy book in his hands, Shi Yunfeng nodded silently.

Li Yi hadn’t mentioned any repayment for the book, but that didn’t mean he could pretend nothing was owed. Shi Yunfeng knew that Shi Village couldn’t repay Li Yi in full. But anything they could return, even a little, they had to.

Li Yi had his reasons for giving them the book. He wanted to strengthen Shi Village so they could hunt more powerful beasts. By improving their capabilities, his own profits would continue to grow. If he didn’t help them improve, they wouldn’t even have the ability to make transactions with him.

For now, it was just the book. Later, when he gave them the iron and beast bones, they didn’t necessarily have to pay right away. They could use the same method as now—similar to a loan.

Shi Yunfeng carefully held the book and motioned for the strong men to carry the beast hides into Li Yi’s house. He then excitedly gathered with the other elders, preparing to study the book.

Li Yi went into the house and took out the jar of rock candy. "Come, come, everyone, you’ve worked hard. Have some candy."

Many adults had heard the children talk about rock candy. While they didn’t know what it was, they could easily recognize the sweet taste.

Of course, these adults didn’t make a fuss like the children. Some of them held the candy in their hands, intending to save it for their children.

One kilogram of candy wasn’t much, and it was quickly finished.

As the crowd started to disperse, Li Yi held a piece of rock candy and waved it toward the distance. "Come, little one. I’ve got some candy for you."

Shi Hao saw the candy and immediately ran over, excited. He wasn’t acting like a child anymore, but more like a small beast in a frenzy.

Li Yi handed him the candy. After eating it, Shi Hao calmed down, though by this point, the effects of the medicine had worn off.

When Shi Hao woke up and realized what he had done earlier, he muttered, "Uh-oh, I’ve caused trouble."

He felt exhausted and sleepy, so he lay down on the grass to sleep. The large yellow dog, which had almost had its tail fur pulled out by Shi Hao, grabbed him and gently carried him to the stone bed inside.

Li Yi closed the door and windows, pulled the cart from under the stone table, and took a deep breath. He could feel his excitement building up, and his heart was racing.

He took some of the beast hides from the pile and stuffed them into the cart.

35 points, sell?

After confirming the sale, his energy points quickly rose to 57.

He pulled out a few more hides and stuffed them into the cart.

32 points, sell?

This time, the number of hides was more than last time, but the price was lower. It seemed that these hides weren’t as valuable as the previous ones.

It seemed his earlier meat was also quite valuable in this world.

After finishing the transaction, he had a total of 455 energy points.