It was late at night.
The sky was covered in dark clouds, even the usually bright moon was completely obscured, not a single ray of light shone through.
The night sky, black as ink, was like a colossal ferocious beast covering the heavens and earth, ready to open its massive maw and swallow the entire land at any moment.
Wanhua City, courtyard.
Lin Sheng leaned against the eaves on the roof, his carving knife flying up and down. In just over ten breaths, a delicate wooden carving appeared in his hand. Looking closely, it was a wretched-looking bald wild dog, none other than Big Yellow.
He casually tossed the Big Yellow wooden carving aside. Dozens of wooden carvings, both human and beast, were already lined up on the wall ledge.
There were old acquaintances from when he was in Lin'an County, as well as Gongsun Shou, the former disciple of the Yuanyang Beast Sect.
All of them were people or beasts he was familiar with, and even the Drill Ground Rat Pei Er and the Reverse Tenth Floor's Wan Yanbei were surprisingly among them.
After setting down the Big Yellow wooden carving, he stuck the carving knife into the wall ledge, flicked his finger, and the wooden carving of Wan Yanbei among the collection shot out, landing on the roof opposite.
"Tsk tsk tsk... Brother Lin's skill is becoming increasingly proficient. There's even a hint of divine charm in this wooden carving. It seems Brother Lin's attainment in mental cultivation is not to be underestimated."
A figure slowly emerged from the night, playing with the wooden carving in his hand, his face full of interested smiles, but there was a hint of surprise in his eyes as he looked at Lin Sheng.
Firstly, it hadn't been that long since they last met, yet the other party's Realm had broken through again. Although the aura on his body hadn't changed much, with his perception, he could still feel a faint hint of danger emanating from the other party.
Although it wasn't as intense as Liu Tianci, it did make him feel a slight threat.
One must know that the other party was currently only at the Blood Transportation mid-stage Realm. To make him feel a threat at this Realm, even if it was just a negligible trace, was still rare and valuable.
As for the second point, from this wooden carving, he could clearly sense the rudimentary form of spirit it contained. One must know that even his current cultivation in the mental aspect was merely this much.
Before, when Lin Sheng was carving wooden carvings, he thought it was just the other party's hobby. Now it seems he was clearly mistaken; the other party was deliberately condensing his mental power.
This was the real reason for his surprise. After all, the improvement of spiritual will is extremely difficult. Given the size of the Seven Forms Sect, there shouldn't be any superior mental cultivation methods within its true techniques.
Therefore, the fact that this child's spirit could be tempered to this extent must be due to his innate spirit being different from ordinary people.
This situation made him even more interested.
"I'm not interested in joining your Reverse Tenth Floor, nor do I want to have any connection with you, so you'd better not appear here."
Lin Sheng spoke indifferently, pulling the carving knife from the wall ledge without lifting his head.
"What a pity, but I didn't come here to ask you to join the Reverse Tenth Floor. I have a gift for you, and I'm sure you'll like it."
Wan Yanbei's smile remained unchanged. He spoke with a smile and clapped his hands, producing a crisp sound in the night.
Soon, heavy hoofbeats sounded outside. Wan Yanbei flicked his finger, and the tightly locked courtyard gate opened in response. With a muffled bang, the entrance to the courtyard was completely blocked.
Lin Sheng narrowed his eyes, looking at the colossal object in the shadow at the entrance, his hand tightening and loosening around the carving knife.
"How is it? This Scarlet Iron Rock Rhino is an Elder from my Reverse Tenth Floor who was fortunate enough to encounter it in the Congyun Mountains. Although it can't be considered a High Level Spirit Beast, it's definitely quite rare among Elementary Level Spirit Beasts."
Wan Yanbei spoke indifferently, snapping his fingers.
Several burly men were already dragging the exotic beast from outside the courtyard and squeezing it in. It was a good thing the courtyard gate was wide, otherwise, with the size of this rhino beast, it would have been quite difficult to fit it in.
This was a massive rhino ferocious beast.
Its body was dark red, and its skin seemed to be covered in layer upon layer of dark red heavy armor formed from scarlet iron ore. Its thick limbs were like four enormous stone pillars, giving one a sense of mountain-like weight just by looking at it.
Clearly, the defense of this rhino ferocious beast was definitely not low. The only pity was that there was no sign of life on this ferocious beast.
Lin Sheng's gaze swept over it, only finding a deep wound on the head of this colossal creature, about the thickness of an adult's arm. This was clearly its fatal injury.
However, to take the life of such a tenacious exotic beast with just one blow, the strength of the person who did it was extremely high. At least with his current strength, achieving this step was far from enough.
This couldn't help but remind him of Qi Ning.
At that time, Shi Gu was like a child with no strength to fight back in front of her, without any resistance.
The person who killed this rhino exotic beast, even if not a God-Form martial artist, was definitely a top expert in the Bone Transformation Realm.
"How is it? This Scarlet Iron Rock Rhino is much stronger than the previous Earth-Walking Armored Beast. I know you sold the previous Earth-Walking Armored Beast through the Ten Thousand Beasts Hall channels again, thinking it didn't meet your requirements. So, this big fellow should be enough."
"What do you want? I can offer 50,000 taels for this Spirit Beast."
After a long while, Lin Sheng slowly spoke.
"Brother Lin, do you think I'm someone who lacks money? This Scarlet Iron Rock Rhino is just compensation for the previous unsatisfactory one. I just want to make friends with you."
Wan Yanbei crossed his arms over his chest, his figure flashed, and he was already close to Lin Sheng. His gaze swept over the collection of wooden carvings as he spoke indifferently.
Lin Sheng didn't speak, looking calmly at Wan Yanbei.
Soon, he shook his head slightly.
"Let's forget about being friends. I owe you a favor."
"A favor? Alright, but I haven't decided what I want yet. I'll tell you when I've thought of something."
Wan Yanbei's eyes flickered, but in the end, he smiled and shook his head. The next moment, his figure disappeared from the spot. The few strong men in the courtyard had also left long ago after putting down the rhino exotic beast.
The courtyard returned to peace.
Lin Sheng rubbed the sharp blade in his hand, watching the figure completely disappear. With a wave of his large hand, the many wooden carvings on the wall ledge turned into dust.
His figure had already landed on the ground, looking at the Scarlet Iron Rock Rhino in front of him.
He had never heard of this kind of exotic beast, but there were so many types of exotic beasts in the world, it was only normal that there were some he didn't know about. The Congyun Mountains were vast and boundless, hiding countless exotic beasts.
"Wan Yanbei..."
He softly chewed the name in his mouth.
This encounter did not exceed his expectations. He had thought the other party would reappear, but he didn't expect it to be so soon. He had just returned from Shuiguang Town when the other party found him, and this time he even brought such a big gift.
Although this Spirit Beast was already dead, the power it exuded was still formidable. With just one look, he knew Wan Yanbei was right; this big fellow was definitely an outstanding one among Elementary Level Spirit Beasts. Its value was much higher than that of the living Earth-Walking Armored Beast.
There is no free lunch in the world. He understood this principle very well. The more the other party showed him such favor, the more he understood that the other party's ambitions were not small.
However, this kind of powerful Physique-type Spirit Beast was indeed what he needed now.
With the war between the two countries starting, the situation in Wanhua City was even more severe. He wasn't sure how long this superficial peace could last, so within the limited time, he had to improve his strength as much as possible.
Therefore, after weighing it in his heart, he chose to accept this grand gift.
Thinking this, he had already extended his palm and placed it on the exotic beast's scales. A string of information quickly appeared in his consciousness.
【Scarlet Iron Rock Rhino (Spirit Beast)】
【Six horns grow on its head, the tips of which condense scarlet iron essence and can release high temperatures. Its four legs are like poured lava, extremely tough. Its tail is shaped like a meteor hammer, carrying immense force. This is a powerful Spirit Beast that lives where earth veins and lava converge. Although its movements are quite clumsy, it possesses extremely strong vitality and aggression.】
【Integration Requirement: Strength 7】
【Integration Effect: Physique increase 8, Strength increase 8, Agility increase 3】
【Talent: Earth Vein Resonance】
After reading the attributes of the Scarlet Iron Rock Rhino, a look of emotion appeared on Lin Sheng's face.
Nothing else, but because the attributes of this big fellow were as high as 19 points, exceeding even the Three-Eyed Spirit Monkey by one point.
Although it didn't have two talents like the latter, it was definitely extremely valuable.
One must know that the latter's attributes and talents were due to the wondrous item of heaven and earth, the blood dragon fruit.
And this Scarlet Iron Rock Rhino, according to the description, had not consumed such a spiritual item, yet it could have such terrifying attributes, even close to the level of a High Level Spirit Beast.
Although this big fellow only had a three-point increase in agility, it was obvious at a glance that it was a clumsy and quite specialized Spirit Beast.
But the high eight-point increase in Physique and strength was enough to compensate for this.
And such an extreme distribution of attributes was undoubtedly the most suitable for him now.
Taking a deep breath, Lin Sheng suppressed the urge to integrate it immediately.
First, he switched the integration mark to a Spirit Beast with high perception. After carefully sensing the surrounding environment and confirming there were no abnormalities, he extended his palm into the wound of this big fellow and thought to himself.
"Integrate Scarlet Iron Rock Rhino!"
In an instant, Lin Sheng felt a surge of heat frantically pouring into his body.
A slight tearing pain emerged from his muscles. Having integrated with various Spirit Beasts before, it had been a long time since he had experienced this kind of pain during integration.
And this pain was directly proportional to the enhancement effect brought about by the integration.
As the tearing pain continued to come, Lin Sheng's body also began to change. His tall body slowly expanded, and a layer of tough cuticle like scarlet iron plates appeared around him, emitting wisps of white mist, instantly raising the surrounding temperature by dozens of degrees.
Soon the integration was complete, and the tearing pain completely disappeared. Lin Sheng moved his body and felt the extremely vigorous qi and blood within him, a smile appearing on his face.
He glanced at his personal attribute panel. His Physique had now reached 11 points.
"Integrate Earth-Walking Armored Beast..."
"Integrate Black Armor Mysterious Bull..."
As his thoughts flickered, his body, which had already expanded by two circles, changed again. In just a few breaths, he had transformed into a massive giant over three meters tall.
The cuticle around his body, like heavy armor, was as heavy as refined scarlet iron. The entire person was like a giant from mythical legends, no, even more ferocious than that.
"Hoo..."
He exhaled a breath, which was so substantial it shattered the bricks on the ground.
He didn't bother to feel his current powerful body.
His attention was entirely focused on the consciousness panel. As the three marks were all integrated, the various attribute points on the attribute panel were constantly changing, and he only locked onto the Physique column.
11... 13... 14... 14.2... 14.5...
The Physique attribute changed rapidly. After reaching 14 points, the rate of increase suddenly decreased, but it was still increasing.
14.8... 14.9...
Just when it was only one step away, Lin Sheng's eyes were like torches, and a series of bone-cracking sounds came from within his muscles.
"Break for me..."
As a low, hoarse shout came from his mouth.
Lin Sheng's body shook, and he felt as if his body was on fire. The qi and blood throughout his body were like an erupting volcano, surging wildly within him.
And on the attribute panel, Physique finally slowly and firmly took the last step.
Instantly, the violent qi and blood, like a volcanic eruption, came to a standstill. Lin Sheng felt as if he had crossed a certain Bottleneck and broken through a certain restraint.
"Physique fifteen points, it's done..."
After a long time, a soft murmur finally came from the night.
...
Wanhua City.
Yamen.
Late at night, the violent institution that should have been asleep was now brightly lit.
Constables in uniform, with steel knives hanging from their waists, stood straight. One hand held a lantern, the other gripped the hilt of their knife, constantly patrolling.
Inside the main hall.
A tempting fragrance permeated the air.
This was the expensive Soul Calming Incense, which had a quite good effect on calming the mind.
Just a single stick was worth hundreds of taels of silver, but there were more than ten sticks burning in the main hall at this time.
Wei Bo sat in the upper seat, playing with a stone ball, smiling at the three people below.
"I presume the three of you have already received my message. I wonder when you will be able to respond. Now that the war has begun, as the leaders of the city, the three of you should naturally take the lead. I don't think Sect Leader Ouyang, Guild Leader Shi, and Family Head Fang will have any objections to this, right?"
His face was flushed with health, and he was covered in black armor. A large heavy saber stood beside him, and he exuded an extremely powerful aura, showing no signs of the decline in qi and blood that he had previously shown. In fact, he was significantly stronger than before.
His fierce aura even subtly suppressed the three people below.
At this time, the faces of the three people in the hall below, whether it was Ouyang Bing, Shi Yan, or Fang Tiankui, were all ashen, with a hint of displeasure.
Finally, it was Fang Tiankui who couldn't help but cough lightly. The aura on his body suddenly strengthened by three points, seemingly intending to contend with Wei Bo in the upper seat.
"Constable Wei, what you said is naturally reasonable. When the country is in trouble, we are naturally duty-bound, but is the amount not a bit excessive? Two million taels was not a small sum even in the past, let alone the current situation. I believe Lord Wei should know this better than anyone."
After speaking, he looked at the two people beside him.
Ouyang Bing's eyes flickered, but he still stood up and spoke.
"Lord Wei, Brother Fang is right. We have worked together for many years. Can the amount of this tax silver be reduced?"
Shi Yan, who was standing beside him, narrowed his eyes when he saw this, and finally stood up and echoed a sentence.
"Tsk tsk tsk... Two million taels of silver is indeed not a small sum, but what is that compared to the three of you who have been entrenched in the city for many years? So, unfortunately, not a single tael of silver can be reduced."
The smile on Wei Bo's face disappeared, especially when he spoke the last part, which carried a hint of sternness.
"I will give the three of you three days to prepare. I hope you will not disappoint me, and certainly not disappoint Divine Constable Wan..."