He gathered some rocks to cover the entrance and then did he fully relax. He brought the coal stove and roasted the slabs of meat over the fire. Very soon, the fragrance of roasted meat permeated the air and Grey's stomach rumbled.
He gulped and patiently waited for the meat to be properly roasted before digging in. It was just as he was eating, did he really know that he was very hungry.
Not eating for a whole day and then swimming throughout the night, god knows how hungry he was.
He subconsciously turned his wrist to check the decay point and was shocked. There was no decay point on his wrist as usual.
He panicked and checked his second wrist, and when it wasn't there he checked around his body. But there was still no decay point. His body was devoid of a decay point.
"Where the hell is my decay point?"
He fell into cultivation and checked within his body but the decay point had not accumulated in any part of his body or organ... it was just gone.
As he thinking his gaze flew by his shadow and then be raise an eyebrow. His shadow seemed a bit darker than normal.
When he looked deeper he felt a strong corroding feeling in his eyes and had to look away.
'Did my shadow absorb the corrosive substance? Since when could it do that!'
His mind went back to the dark figure, and the stream of dark light that was sent into his body. The crystal shard acted strangely and showed a reaction to the black light when it was normally nonchalant.
'The crystal shard did this? Then it means I won't have to worry about mutating in the corroded zone and I can stay much longer'
He suddenly felt as if he had encountered a serendipity and felt glee in his heart. The memory of the dark figure performing a single slash that seemed to be able to cut the world itself replayed itself and he waved his hand to perform that singular slash.
His hand suddenly seemed to release a dark aura and he felt that he could somehow feel the move, but he couldn't.
"I still can't do it like that dark figure did."
He spoke in exasperation and then sighed. Unknowingly, a small malicious intent came out from his shadow and a dark light followed the trajectory of his hand.
"Sigh. Whatever, at least I am now immune to mutation from the corrosive substance..."
He finished eating and sat down to cultivate. With his shadow, he could now head deeper into the corroded zone to hunt for creatures and collect useful materials.
Now he didn't need The Pills but he still needed money. As a cultivator, he could also engage in some jobs that you had to go hunting dangerous Mutated creatures but he doubted nobody would allow him and he wouldn't want to go anyways.
He was still distant from people and becoming a cultivator had made that gap seem even wider.
By the time the sky darkened and the moon started to rise, he stood up and unblocked his door before starting outside like an arrow.
He sped deeper and deeper into the corroded zone but his eyes were still open, waiting for anything that could jump out and attack.
Maybe it was his luck, or something else but he didn't have any run-ins with any bizarre existences. Only casual Mutated creatures that he could easily deal with due to his cultivation level and his experience.
One of the Mutated creatures he was looking for, the Night dancing scorpion was dealt with ease and thrown into his ruck sack.
These scorpions liked to stay where the corrosive substance was very dense and you could sometimes spot one absorbing it from the air.
The edge they had was that they were very poisonous and could emit a strange fragrance from their mouths.
It couldn't be smelt and had no effect on human skin, but when you breathe it in... your insides would melt from inside out and you would be dead in mere minutes.
Luckily, Grey was now immune to corrosive substance and the crystal shard within his body healed him faster than the poison could kill him.
So that left him enough time and room to bash the scorpion against a rock and kill it.
"Ah, how I wish things were this easy."
'But there weren't... One mistake is all that's needed to die in the most painful manner.'
He reminded himself before he went and threw caution to the wind.
***
The next morning, he was back in his broken abode, chewing on roasted meat. He observed his shadow but there was still no noticeable changes.
The corrosive substance he absorbed yesterday had disappeared and his shadow felt much darker. Turning to the color of black ink.
"I guess I better go sell these things before they spoil."
He sighed when he looked at his rucksack full of dead Mutated creatures. It was too bad he could only carry small creatures and some organs and not the whole creature. If not he would be able to make more money.
Before long, he was in the scavengers camp and sold the Mutated creatures corpses to any shopkeeper he could see.
He only sold most of the Mutated creatures though. Not wanting to bring unwanted attention to himself.
Going back to the corroded zone with twenty coins and a new dagger. It was much bigger than his blunt knife and a lot sharper.
'This will do.' He nodded his head as he felt the weight in his hand. The handle was black and made of soft materials. So he wouldn't hurt his hand if he held it for a long time.
Back in the broken house, he sat down quietly and cultivated. A soft breeze from the outside blew his slightly long hair and revealed his calm aloof face dirtied by mud and dirt.
He slowly exhaled and opened his eyes.
'Night has come... time to hunt.'