The Peerless Ring

With the help of the animal husbandry skill, Jaxon quickly dealt with the chicks, ducklings, and fish fry as well.

After handling both the seeds and the offspring, Jaxon realized that there was still a lot of vacant land on the back mountain. It seemed that he needed to earn more money to buy more seeds and offspring.

"Come to think of it, I haven't even explored the entire area here. I don't have time today, but I'll definitely take a good look around tomorrow. After all, this place is going to be my future logistical base," Jaxon muttered to himself, looking around.

The back mountain was quite large, dozens of times bigger than the entire village. It not only had vacant land for planting but also hills, and there was a forest near the hills. According to the old village head, the forest was huge, even larger than the small forest at the village entrance. Villagers rarely came to the back mountain, so no one had completely explored the forest yet. No one knew what was inside.

This stirred up Jaxon's curiosity, and he was eager to explore it thoroughly.

Soon, Jaxon's time here was up, and in the blink of an eye, he was back in his rental house.

Jaxon did not skip his morning exercise again. After washing up, he headed to the Goldenleaf University sports field.

There were noticeably more people on the sports field today, but as expected, Jaxon still spotted Chloe among the crowd. Even in a crowd, she was the most dazzling one. Her outstanding appearance and her aloof, noble temperament made her stand out like a crane among chickens.

While Jaxon was warming up, Chloe slowly passed by him. He hesitated for a moment and then greeted her with a "Good morning."

Jaxon had thought that she wouldn't respond, as many people usually tried to chat with Chloe, but he had never seen her respond to anyone, or even talk much.

However, to his surprise, Chloe replied with a "Good morning," and then without looking back, she continued running away.

Jaxon was certain that Chloe's "Good morning" was a response to him and not to anyone else.

Still, Chloe remained aloof. Even though she responded, she showed no intention of stopping. Jaxon just smiled and didn't mind. He then started running as well.

As Jaxon was about to finish his exercise, a basketball suddenly flew over from the basketball court. It was about to hit a girl who was sitting and resting beside the sports field. Jaxon, who happened to be passing by, quickly ran over and caught the basketball just in time.

The sports field and the basketball court were adjacent, separated only by a wire fence over two meters high.

"Hey, toss the ball over here," a tall guy in a basketball uniform on the other side of the fence shouted at Jaxon.

"Your ball almost hit someone. Shouldn't you apologize first?" Jaxon frowned.

The guy glanced at the girl sitting nearby and said nonchalantly, "It didn't hit her, so there's no need to apologize. Besides, even if it did hit her, it would be an accident. Why did she sit there in the first place? Doesn't she know that it's close to the basketball court and that balls might fly over at any time?"

The girl stood up, looked at the basketball in Jaxon's hand, then at the tall guy, and left with a look of grievance on her face.

"See, the person involved didn't say anything. So stop meddling and throw the ball over," the tall guy said, seeming a bit impatient.

"Want it? Catch!" Jaxon tossed the ball up and down in his hand a couple of times, and then casually threw it over.

The tall guy didn't take it seriously and reached out to catch it. However, he underestimated the force with which Jaxon threw the ball. He was unprepared, and his arm felt sore, and it seemed like he had sprained his wrist.

"You did that on purpose!" the tall guy said, rubbing his wrist and glaring at Jaxon.

"Didn't you ask me to throw it over?" Jaxon replied indifferently.

Jaxon had indeed done it on purpose. He was now Level 2, with two points of strength, plus the additional two points from his Cloudflow Boots, giving him a total of four points of strength. In reality, the average person's strength, if quantified, would only be one point, just like when Jaxon first entered that world. A stronger person might have two points of strength, and very few people could reach three points. In other words, in terms of strength alone, Jaxon had already surpassed most people in reality.

When Jaxon threw the ball with full force, and the tall guy was unprepared, he naturally took a hidden hit.

"Let's have a one-on-one!" the tall guy said angrily.

Having taken a hidden hit, he wanted to get back at Jaxon. Since he was best at basketball, he naturally wanted to use it to regain his pride.

His plan was good. He thought Jaxon would probably not dare to accept, and he could then mock him, which would be a way to save face.

"If you don't dare..." the tall guy said triumphantly.

"I accept," Jaxon said directly before the tall guy could finish, leaving the latter's words stuck in his throat and his face turning red with frustration.

Could it be that he was also good at basketball?

The tall guy was puzzled, but then he thought about it. He was the main player in his faculty, and he knew all the players from other faculties and even the university team. He didn't remember anyone named Jaxon.

"Probably this guy is just someone who plays casually. He thinks that being a bit stronger can beat me. How foolish," the tall guy thought to himself.

By this time, Jaxon had already entered the basketball court through the side door.

"Do you want to go first, or should I?" Jaxon asked the tall guy, with no sign of panic on his face.

At this moment, the tall guy's several companions stopped and stood on the side of the court, watching the two of them. It was clear that they were going to give the court to the two of them. Even some people who were playing basketball or passing by, seeing that there was a one-on-one, came over to watch.

"I'll attack, and you defend! Three shots each!" the tall guy said.

"No problem," Jaxon replied.

The tall guy stood in front of Jaxon, dribbling the ball and staring at him, seemingly thinking about which side to break through.

And Jaxon didn't even assume a defensive posture. He just stood there casually, looking relaxed, as if he were watching a play rather than preparing to defend.

"Definitely a rookie!" Seeing Jaxon's posture, the tall guy felt even more disdainful.

Then, the tall guy dribbled forward. When he got close to Jaxon, without seeing any movement from Jaxon, the tall guy sneered inwardly and prepared to pass by Jaxon on his left side.

He passed!

The tall guy easily got past Jaxon, but before he could even smile, he realized something was wrong.

He had passed, but the ball hadn't!