Qin Shilei suggested, "The combat skills and shield go to Zhang Qiang. Next time, he gets an extra chance to share in the loot. Any objections?"
Since these two items could only be used by Zhang Qiang anyway, everyone agreed.
The mutated beast's strange black light was likely the source of the ability bead.
Everyone looked at Xie Haimei.
"I didn't really do much," Xie Haimei said, a little embarrassed.
In the end, Xie Haimei accepted the ability bead.
Qin Shilei and the others had already awakened their abilities, so consuming this ability pill would only slightly increase their mental strength.
Zhang Xiaoli took a blue crystal, but An Qian received nothing.
However, An Qian wasn't unhappy at all.
That was because she found several items in Feng Yuxiu's ring that she could use.
A sword with a "Biyue" engraved on its hilt.
Five blue crystals, which would be almost enough for her to advance to the Black Iron realm.
Zhang Xiaoli also had gains.
Two blue crystals, along with her existing stock, were just enough for her to advance to the Black Iron realm.
A wood-attribute ability bead, likely not fitting the dark moon expert's attribute and not yet traded for something suitable, conveniently fell to Zhang Xiaoli.
Besides these, there were some miscellaneous items of little value.
After distributing the spoils, Zhang Qiang restarted the armored vehicle and headed towards Tongquan City.
Qin Shilei took out the golden silk soft armor that was allocated to him.
The golden silk soft armor was a full set, including leg guards, arm guards, and a helmet.
[Refresh attributes?]
[Refresh.]
Blinding Radiance (Blue): The soft armor emits a dazzling golden light, allowing you to experience the brilliance of blinding others.
Energy Storage (Green): An energy storage formation will be engraved on the soft armor, storing three times the energy required to activate the shield.
Fearsome (Green): The surface of the soft armor will form a series of terrifying spikes, providing a certain degree of rebound effect.
"........."
Qin Shilei felt that today was not his lucky day.
The attributes he had refreshed for himself, the Jinghong Sword, and the reinforcement stone that morning were all worse than the original attributes.
Now, for a red-grade equipment, only green-grade attributes were refreshed.
Helplessly, he chose the Energy Storage attribute.
Qin Shilei attempted to channel his vital energy into the golden silk soft armor until his entire body's vital energy was depleted, barely managing to "feed" it.
This meant that activating the shield once would consume over a third of his total vital energy.
In that case, the Energy Storage attribute was quite good.
At least it would save him one-third of his vital energy during combat, allowing him to use his combat skills a few more times.
Of course, he could also use less vital energy to activate a weaker energy shield. He could also reactivate the energy shield immediately after it disappeared.
When Qin Shilei took his midday break and put on the golden silk soft armor, he felt a bit uncomfortable.
Too ostentatious!
Too flashy!
The entire suit was shining gold, completely clashing with his relatively low-key personality.
Even without the "Blinding Radiance" attribute fixed, just walking out into the sunlight would make an opponent unable to open their eyes.
An Qian and the others, seeing the nouveau riche-like Qin Shilei, covered their mouths and giggled.
"At least the defense is good!"
Qin Shilei glared at An Qian and the others, trying to comfort himself.
The armored vehicle continued its journey.
After driving for two hours, the armored vehicle suddenly stopped.
Zhang Qiang's voice came from the driver's seat, "Brother Qin, the road ahead is covered by a large area of vegetation. Should we detour around it?"
Qin Shilei and the others got out of the armored vehicle.
They looked up and saw that the concrete road ahead had turned into a green ocean.
On both sides of the road were giant trees, some so thick that two people couldn't embrace them.
Various vines intertwined on the giant trees and spread onto the road.
This forest, covering the road, stretched as far as the eye could see.
An Qian asked in surprise, "Are these trees alive?"
"Perhaps."
Qin Shilei turned to Zhang Xiaoli, "See if there's anything wrong with these trees."
"I'll try."
Zhang Xiaoli cautiously walked towards the giant trees about ten meters away.
She reached out and touched the tree trunk. After a while, she even drew her Tang dao and hacked at it.
"Although these trees aren't alive, their vitality is astonishing, and their trunks are very hard."
Zhang Xiaoli's full-force chop only penetrated twenty to thirty centimeters.
"Then let's take another route."
Qin Shilei took out the map to find another way through.
"Swoosh."
As they were turning around and hadn't gone twenty meters, a hawk's cry suddenly echoed from the sky.
"It might be Xiaoqiang returning. Brother Zhang, stop for a moment." Qin Shilei shouted to Zhang Qiang in the driver's seat.
When he got out of the vehicle, he saw that it wasn't Xiaoqiang but three gray giant birds calling out from the sky.
Xiaoqiang had grayish-yellow feathers.
The three giant birds seemed to have noticed Qin Shilei on the ground and didn't fly further away. Instead, they circled overhead.
"Brother Qin, should we attack?" Xie Haimei and the others got out of the vehicle, their gazes fixed on the giant birds in the sky.
"Let's see if they intend to fly down." Qin Shilei also drew his short bow, his arrow nocked and ready.
The three giant birds in the sky had wingspans of three to four meters, making them likely mutated animals.
The treasure chests, crystal cores, and even their flesh were all things they needed.
An Qian even suggested, "How about I shoot to lure them?"
"No need, they're coming."
Qin Shilei said, "Xie Haimei, you shoot the first one, I'll shoot the second."
"Okay!" Xie Haimei replied with a single word.
She silently estimated the distance to the giant birds.
"One hundred paces, one hundred arrows!"
"Wait!"
Qin Shilei suddenly shouted anxiously.
Unfortunately, Xie Haimei had already released the bowstring, and the arrow flew swiftly towards the diving giant bird.
It was at this moment that everyone else noticed an even larger figure flying from the distance in the sky.
"Swoosh!"
A higher-pitched cry rang out, making their eardrums ache.
"Is this still a bird?"
"It's probably as big as a passenger jet."
"Their colors are mixed, could they be mother and child?"
An Qian and the others exclaimed as they watched the giant bird pass overhead.
"Let's go, back to the vehicle." Qin Shilei said anxiously.
"Swoosh!"
The small giant bird, hit in the wing by Xie Haimei's arrow, let out a mournful cry and tumbled, gliding towards the mountainside on the left.
"The roc is coming down, Zhang Qiang, step on it!" An Qian anxiously shouted to Zhang Qiang in the driver's seat.
Zhang Qiang floored the accelerator, and the armored vehicle roared forward.
"Whoosh!"
The whistling sound from the sky grew closer.
"Bang!"
The armored vehicle jolted twice, and then two thick, grayish-brown claws pierced through the vehicle's robust roof and clawed their way in.
The armored vehicle then briefly lifted off the ground before landing again.
The claws that had penetrated the armored vehicle retracted, and the roc flew back into the sky.
This is too fierce. The twenty-ton armored vehicle was almost lifted into the air.
They couldn't drive any further.
This time, the roc underestimated its strength and let go of the armored vehicle. Next time, it might just snatch the entire armored vehicle into the air.
Then, with a drop of its claws, they would all be dead.
Qin Shilei's thoughts raced. He shouted, "Zhang Qiang, turn around and drive towards that forest we came from."
Only by relying on the forest of giant trees had they a slim chance of escaping the roc.
Zhang Qiang executed a perfect drift, turning the armored vehicle around in less than a second.
Through the thick bulletproof glass, Qin Shilei saw the roc circle in the sky and dive down again.
The armored vehicle was still thirty to forty meters away from the forest at the end of the road.
There wasn't enough time to reach the forest.
"You guys go first, I'll hold off the giant bird."
Qin Shilei pushed open the rear door and leaped out of the armored vehicle with a light bound.