Five minutes later, Xing Yifu was covered in Zaoyan Spiders' blood, standing in the center of the battlefield, surrounded by the corpses of magical beasts, a natural murderous aura radiating from him.
In those five minutes, Chen Bugu witnessed the true strength of this humanoid beast.
His combat lacked any flashy techniques, and there were no clashes of elements or energy; only an indomitable momentum and a violent aesthetic of fist-to-flesh blows.
When his body was covered in dragon scale patterns, his body became his best weapon.
Fists, elbows, knees, even his forehead—any part covered by dragon scales became a weapon for him to crush his enemies.
When Chen Bugu watched him smash the head of the last Zaoyan Spiders with a single punch, he couldn't help but twitch his eyebrow.
The Dragon Mimicry Armor was already a top-tier combat ability, and coupled with Xing Yifu's reckless fighting style, it almost transformed this man into the ultimate killing machine.
From the battle just now, Chen Bugu could almost assert that even if Xing Yifu hadn't broken through to Nine Star yet, he already possessed Nine Star combat power.
Another point Chen Bugu was very concerned about was the Elf Clan by his side.
During Xing Yifu's battle, Chen Bugu truly observed the Elf Clan by his side for the first time.
This was a female Elf Clan, about 1.2 to 1.3 meters tall, no different from a normal Elf Clan, with long green hair, the color gradually changing from dark at the roots to light at the ends, and long, pointed, characteristic ears protruding from her hair, hanging low on both sides of her head.
Her body was enveloped in a wide white robe, with only her fair wrists exposed from the sleeves, holding a short, green-grade magic staff.
Chen Bugu could clearly feel that the surrounding Wood Elements showed an extremely strong affinity for this Elf Clan.
The Elf Clan are natural darlings of the elements; every Elf Clan is chosen by a certain element from birth.
However, this natural single-element affinity also has its drawbacks; the side effect it brings is that the Elf Clan finds it very difficult to master a second element.
But the Elf Clan before him had achieved it; she not only gained the affinity of the Wood Element but also received the favor of the Wind Element.
The wind vortex that appeared under Xing Yifu's feet at the right time during his escape was clearly the masterpiece of this Elf Clan.
Being able to casually produce a warrior-level magical beast core, and seeming to be extraordinarily gifted, yet appearing to have no combat power whatsoever, this Elf Clan girl gave Chen Bugu a strange sense of incongruity.
When he saw Xing Yifu walking back, Chen Bugu withdrew his curiosity about this Elf Clan.
Despite being covered in blood, Xing Yifu only sustained minor, superficial injuries, which showed the strength of his physique.
"You're filthy. Stay away from me. Go wash up first."
Looking at Xing Yifu covered in blood, with even some Zaoyan Spiders' glands and internal organs on his bald head, the Elf Clan's clear voice carried a hint of disdain.
Xing Yifu didn't mind; he just looked at the three spiders frozen in Black Iron nearby and expressed his gratitude to Chen Bugu.
Those three Zaoyan Spiders were magical beasts he had missed during the battle, and he had intended to pursue them, but found that Chen Bugu had already taken care of them for him.
Chen Bugu stood up and waved his hand. His purpose in staying here was purely to witness Xing Yifu's combat capabilities firsthand. Now that his objective was achieved, he was ready to leave.
"I thought I'd have to step in and hoped to earn another buck, but it seems there's no chance. So, farewell for now. For the sake of the beast core, I'll give you a piece of advice: leave this place as soon as possible. The commotion just now wasn't small, and the owner of this place should be coming to check it out."
After Chen Bugu finished speaking, he put the shrunken Amon back into his pocket, and without waiting for Xing Yifu or the Elf Clan's reaction, he turned and re-entered the mountain forest.
Xing Yifu said Bai Ting and others were at Huangmu Camp to the southwest of High Heaven City. This location was one of Chen Bugu's planned destinations. Regardless of whether the information was accurate or not, he would go to Huangmu Camp to check.
"Wait! Big guy, quickly take me and catch up to him!"
"Aren't you disgusted by me? I haven't even washed yet."
"You catch up to him first!"
Seeing Chen Bugu's figure disappear into the forest ahead, the Elf Clan spoke urgently.
Xing Yifu had no choice but to put the baby carrier back on and then chased after Chen Bugu.
Soon after Chen Bugu entered the mountain forest, he again noticed the two people chasing behind him, so he had to stop.
"Why are you following me?"
Chen Bugu stopped, turned, and faced the two again, still maintaining a hint of vigilance.
However, a blue beast core flew towards him again. Chen Bugu reached out and caught it, a look of confusion on his face.
"What is this for?"
Chen Bugu looked back at the Elf Clan hanging on Xing Yifu's chest, seeing her surrounded by green light, with the surrounding Wood Elements rapidly circling towards her location, then transforming into streams of energy flowing into Xing Yifu's body.
Xing Yifu's tiny surface wounds instantly healed, leaving no trace.
"Friend of the Human Race, let's make a deal. That beast core will serve as a deposit."
"Heh, aren't you going to persuade her?"
Chen Bugu toyed with the beast core in his hand, found the Elf Clan's words amusing, and turned to look at Xing Yifu.
"This is between you and her, it has nothing to do with me."
Xing Yifu's answer was concise and clear, but this response made Chen Bugu begin to re-examine the relationship between the two.
"Alright, friend of the Elf Clan, you're giving me the deposit so readily, aren't you afraid I'll run off? You know, even with your Wind Element's blessing, he can't catch me. Also, you seem to have a lot of good stuff..."
Chen Bugu looked at the strangely matched pair before him and suddenly became interested.
"A deposit is just a deposit. If I can take out one or two beast cores, I'll naturally have three or four more. This is my genius's sincerity. Besides, you also seem to be only Black Iron, right? You've seen this Big guy's combat power. Instead of a big fight, why not listen to me?"
Chen Bugu put the beast core into his ring. Regardless of whether they cooperated or not, since the deposit was already in his hands, there was no reason to return it.
"Why me?"
"You're very special. At first, I thought you were a Water Element user, but then I found it very awkward to manipulate Wood Elements around you. Those Wood Elements always prioritized leaning towards you. This situation is very rare. If I'm not mistaken, your Wood Element affinity should be quite high, right?"
"Just tell me, what do you need me to do?"
"From your conversation with Big guy, you should also be going to High Heaven City, right? If so, we're going the same way. How about we talk as we go?"
"Big guy?"
Chen Bugu repeated the phrase, unconsciously looking at Xing Yifu, then understood.
He pondered for a moment, then looked at the Elf Clan again, finally stepping aside to offer half a body's width, making a gesture to invite them forward.
"Alright."