The group once again mounted their steeds and headed toward Xu Xin’s protected zone.
The Silver King habitually slowed down to ride alongside Bai Ma.
They moved farther and farther from their earlier position, and the blood patterns on the Silver King gradually faded with the increasing distance, eventually returning to normal.
Xu Xin calculated the distance; they were now over ten kilometers away from the spot. It seemed that the unknown augmentation’s range was roughly around ten kilometers.
They could now see Xu Xin’s treehouse at a distance more clearly.
"That treehouse belongs to you, right?" Li Wenxi asked excitedly, pointing to the lush green spot ahead. "Finally, I get to see your treehouse. Great! I’ve never seen a four-story treehouse before!"
"No, we’re not heading to the treehouse yet. We’re going to a special place that might be related to the abilities we’ve acquired." Xu Xin shook his head, saying.
"Huh? But we’re passing by anyway. Can’t we just take a quick look?" Li Wenxi leaned closer to Xu Xin.
"No, it’s already late autumn. Judging from the daylight this morning, daytime is very short now. It might be dark in just a few hours. We must handle the important things first," Xu Xin refused.
There was also Lou Fei’Er in his treehouse. Meeting her with her temperament might take an unpredictable amount of time.
"Alright...okay," Li Wenxi pursed her lips, conceding.
"What’s so special about the area you’re talking about? Like just now, do mutant creatures get stronger?" Qi Xuefei asked Xu Xin.
She had basically adapted to the horseback riding, feeling no discomfort now.
"Hard to describe. You’ll see when you get there."
Thinking of the salt mine that seemed like a giant mouth, Xu Xin still felt a bit uneasy.
Honestly, if it were just him alone, he wouldn’t dare venture further in for exploration, maybe just glance at it from the outside.
After the defense battle and the past busy days, it was the first time he returned to the spot since the Red Mist incident.
He wondered if the "giant mouth" was still a dangerous area and whether they could continue mining for salt.
He’d asked in the regional channel, and apart from him, no one else had discovered the salt mine. So, for now, that mine was the only place in District 188 where salt could be mined.
He was running low on salt. If they couldn’t mine more and their population continued to increase, they’d really start lacking salt.
"After visiting Xu Xin’s place, we should head to mine. There’s also a very strange place there," Ji Chaoyang pointed towards Xu Xin’s treehouse. "My treehouse is to the west of Xu Xin’s, not far away."
The Silver King and Bai Ma continued weaving through the desolate, barren forest; shortly, they had entered Xu Xin’s protected area.
"Do you see those hills?" Xu Xin pointed to the circle of hills in the northwest direction. "That’s the place."
"The hills are joined together in a circle! Is it encircling something?" Li Wenxi was somewhat surprised as her area’s hills were randomly scattered. "Just looking at these hills, you can feel something special about that place! Encircling like a formation..."
"Enclosed by the hills is a resource area. The mysterious altar is in that resource area surrounded by hills," Xu Xin explained.
"What do you mean by resource area..." Li Wenxi looked up, asking.
"Hmm..." Xu Xin realized that Li Wenxi and the others lacked the ability to discern resources. He explained, "It’s an area rich in resources of green level and above. The place where you planted the treehouse is a resource area."
"How about my place?" Qi Xuefei turned her head to ask him, "Is my area a resource area?"
Xu Xin nodded, "All four of our treehouses are planted in resource areas."
Li Wenxi located her spot because of the mineral resources, and Qi Xuefei chose a place rich in herbal resources. Naturally, their treehouse planting spots were resource areas.
"The altar’s location, huh..." Ji Chaoyang looked towards the hills with a slightly different expression. "The special area at my place isn’t far from the altar either."
Xu Xin wasn’t surprised.
Everything surrounding the altar was connected to the so-called "deities," so it was bound to be special.
"Altar? What altar?" Li Wenxi asked in complete confusion.
"I don’t know of any altar either," Qi Xuefei also couldn’t understand what Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyang were talking about.
"Hmm? None of you have altars around your treehouses? Have you thoroughly searched your protected zones since they expanded?"
In the hectic past days, Xu Xin almost forgot about the altar. He and Ji Chaoyang discovered their altars after acquiring the golden treasure chest and expanding their protected zone to six kilometers, found over three kilometers away.
Besides them, he hadn’t heard of anyone else finding an altar.
Yet now, everyone’s protected zone had expanded to six kilometers. Based on prior trends, other survivors should gradually discover altars too.
"Well... No, I haven’t searched carefully," Li Wenxi shook her head and turned to Qi Xuefei, "What about you, Sister Xuefei?"
"Don’t look at me. Today is my first time venturing out since the protected zone expanded," Qi Xuefei waved her hand somewhat helplessly. Her first venture out happened to encounter such an event, which was truly an unlucky start.