Inside the cave, the flickering firelight illuminated the interior brightly.
Lin Sheng sat cross-legged on the ground, his body already covered in layers of frost.
Black and brown patterns slowly spread downwards from his neck.
Half an hour passed, and the frost accumulated on his body grew thicker. The temperature in the cave was like the dead of winter, and the original bonfire had long since extinguished.
Crack—
A crisp sound came from his cross-legged figure.
Lin Sheng's tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open. With a burst of internal strength, the frost on his body was shaken off.
The black and brown patterns that had appeared on his body also slowly faded at a visible speed.
“Hoo…”
He heavily exhaled a turbid breath, a hint of pleasant surprise on his face.
“As expected of a heavenly material and earthly treasure that can even aid in breaking through the Divine Transformation Realm. Just a single leaf had such a strong effect, far beyond what Star Dew Grass can compare to.”
After swallowing that single leaf just now, the effect was almost equivalent to taking dozens of Star Dew Grass together. The effect was extraordinary.
With the Heart Monkey Talent activated, he didn't feel the slightest discomfort.
However, such a strong effect was not without side effects.
Just as the youming soul grass took effect, illusions constantly appeared in his mind.
Those illusions were either facing terrifying experts whose strength far surpassed his, or savage giant beasts. What followed were scenes of being killed repeatedly.
The scenes were extremely realistic, and the pain of his flesh being torn felt as if it were happening on his body. Clearly, this youming soul grass had a very strong hallucinogenic poison.
This point made even him feel a bit strained to cope with. If he had greedily swallowed the entire youming soul grass just now, it was still unknown whether he would have woken up.
As for the other cold poison, it was not a big deal.
His gaze fell upon the youming soul grass on the ground.
“It seems the dosage of youming soul grass must be strictly controlled. I can't swallow too much at once.”
However, after witnessing the significant effect just now, he was certain that this youming soul grass could definitely raise his spirit a little further.
He could even achieve this without completely consuming it.
Although he could feel the progress in condensing his spirit through wood carving during this time, reaching the requirements of the Mingxin Realm might still take several months.
With the youming soul grass, once his spirit improved again, it would undoubtedly greatly shorten the efficiency of condensing his spirit.
He carefully wrapped the youming soul grass and put it into his embrace. Digesting its hallucinogenic poison had made him a bit mentally exhausted.
So he temporarily dismissed the idea of continuing to consume it.
He then divided the remaining 2/3 of the snake gall, wore it on his body, and headed out of the cave.
As for the pair of snake fangs, he pondered for a moment and chose not to carry them with him, but left them in the cave.
Walking out of the cave, he placed his palm on the mountain wall. As the power of earth vein resonance activated, the deep cave before him was immediately buried by countless rocks.
And Lin Sheng's figure quickly disappeared into the night.
...
Linjiang Prefecture.
Ping County.
A man in plain clothes with dark skin drove a carriage and stopped in front of a spacious courtyard in the outer city.
He then looked left and right before rhythmically knocking a few times on the tightly closed gate.
After a while, the gate opened from the inside.
Several other men came out and moved the carriage full of supplies and food into the courtyard.
The dark-skinned man in plain clothes then stepped into the courtyard, reached up and pulled off a human skin mask from his face, revealing a familiar face - it was Sun Xuan, the first true Disciple of the Spirit Snake Courtyard.
After removing the human skin mask, Sun Xuan went directly into the main hall and respectfully bowed to the sallow-faced old man who was sipping tea in the hall before speaking.
“Master, the number of wanted posters in the county has decreased significantly in recent days. The situation should have calmed down. Can we let the Disciples go out now?”
“No hurry, how long has it been?”
The sallow-faced old man, or rather, Yu Zhao, the head of the Spirit Snake Courtyard, spoke indifferently, putting down the teacup in his hand, and changed the subject.
“Is there any news of the Qingniao Yard and the Jin Yuan Yard?”
Hearing this, Sun Xuan was first startled, but quickly reacted.
“No, the Prefecture Yamen and the four major forces have been searching, but so far, they haven't found any news of them.”
“I understand.”
Yu Zhao's face showed a hint of complexity when he heard this.
After separating from Lin Sheng and his group, he disguised himself with several Disciples and finally chose to sneak into Ping County.
After all, they were quite familiar with this place, and it was easier to hide after disguising themselves.
“Go down. If there's nothing important, try not to go out to avoid revealing yourselves.”
“Yes, Master.”
Although Sun Xuan was a bit reluctant, he immediately responded with a bow and prepared to take his leave.
However, before he could walk out of the main hall, painful wails came from outside the courtyard.
Looking up, he saw black-clothed, black-armored constables filing in from outside the courtyard.
Seeing this scene, Sun Xuan's face changed drastically, and he had only one thought: they were exposed.
Yu Zhao, who heard the commotion in the main hall, obviously realized this as well.
He got up and quickly rushed towards the back of the main hall, wanting to escape from the back first.
However, before he could leave the main hall, the roof above exploded, and several Silver Badge Constables had blocked his path.
Yu Zhao reacted extremely quickly. Without any hesitation, he unleashed a barrage of attacks with his hands. Like lightning, he created a series of afterimages and attacked the Silver Badge Constables blocking his way, forcing them to retreat repeatedly for a while.
Just as he was about to blast open a path of retreat, a black claw suddenly appeared from before his eyes. Like a ghost's hand, it was devoid of any life and firmly landed on Yu Zhao's chest, sending him flying backward and collapsing several stone pillars in the main hall.
“Liu… Liu Tianci!”
Pfft—
Looking at the figure that suddenly appeared, Yu Zhao spat out a large mouthful of blood with a 'wah' sound, his face extremely grim.
“Yu Zhao, head of the Spirit Snake Courtyard.”
Liu Tianci stood with his arms crossed and slowly walked closer, raising his boot to step on Yu Zhao's neck.
“Where is Lin Sheng?”
“I… I don't know, just kill me…”
Yu Zhao spoke slowly, his face showing resentment.
However, before he could finish speaking, he felt the force on his neck increase.
“Kill you? Don't worry, you won't die that easily.”
Liu Tianci showed a cruel smile on his face, snapped his fingers, and lightly ordered the Silver Badge Constable beside him.
“Bring everyone over.”
Soon, a Disciple of the Spirit Snake Courtyard was brought before Yu Zhao.
Liu Tianci just waved his hand, and a Disciple's head flew high into the air, landing in front of Yu Zhao, followed by the second and third.
“Chang'er… Le'er…”
Watching the Disciples who had accompanied him for many years die tragically before his eyes, Yu Zhao's eyes were splitting with rage.
He wanted to struggle to his feet, but his hands and feet were already broken, and the pressure on his neck held him completely still.
“Still not speaking?”
Looking at Yu Zhao, who still hadn't spoken despite more than half of the Spirit Snake Courtyard Disciples being dead, Liu Tianci's face showed a hint of impatience.
“Kill them all.”
“No…”
As his voice fell, Yu Zhao roared frantically, but unfortunately, it had no effect. He could only watch helplessly as Sun Xuan's head fell in front of him, his eyes wide with fear staring directly at him.
“Kill me… kill me…”
Yu Zhao roared repeatedly like a madman.
However, he was quickly grabbed by the neck by Liu Tianci and lifted up directly.
The next moment, Liu Tianci's eyes turned completely black, like two deep black holes, making people subconsciously cast their gaze into them.
The moment their eyes met, Yu Zhao's twisted face slowly calmed down, his eyes gradually lost their focus, and his whole person became dull and sluggish like a puppet on a string.
“Where is Lin Sheng?”
After the time it takes to steep a cup of tea, Liu Tianci's eyes returned to normal, a look of disappointment on his face. He pinched his brow, feeling a bit tired, and walked out of the main hall.
“He really doesn't know.”
“The clue is broken again.”
While regretting, a small black bird suddenly fell rapidly from the sky, landing on his shoulder.
Liu Tianci narrowed his eyes, took a note from the black bird's leg, and after glancing at it, a look of surprise appeared on his face.
“Tianluo Sect? saintly elephant's tusk?”
Meanwhile, on the other side, Ouyang Lengshui also showed a look of surprise as he looked at the message in his hand.
Similar situations were happening at the Yuanyang Beast Sect and the Situ Family.
...
Five days later.
Roar…
A tiger's roar that echoed through the mountains came.
Startling the strange beasts within a radius of dozens of miles into fleeing in panic.
Because the owner of this tiger's roar was the overlord of this area.
But at this moment, this tiger's roar was mixed with deep pain.
“Don't let this big guy run away. It's rare to encounter a tiger-type Spirit Beast. It's been a long time since I've eaten the flesh and blood of this type of Spirit Beast. Speaking of which, I'm really starting to miss it.”
A large white tiger, two or three times larger than an elephant, dashed out of the forest. Its body was covered in large and small wounds, staining its white fur red. Looking at the four figures in the forest ahead, there was even a hint of fear in its tiger eyes.
These four people were slender, each with brown hair, wearing black round hats, long robes, and long sleeves. Their attire was clearly not Northern Yan style, looking like the dress of some minority ethnic groups.
However, each of these four people had a powerful aura, and they were all experts in the Bone Transformation Realm.
At this moment, there was a hint of greed in their eyes as they looked at the white tiger.
“Go!”
The leading man held a black long whip and signaled to the other three, who immediately surrounded the white tiger.
Seeing the four humans who had attacked him, the white tiger roared in anger, a look of ferocity on its face, and charged towards the four.
“Good beast!”
The leading man flicked his black long whip, producing a loud crack. Instead of advancing, he retreated until the four formed a circle, surrounding the white tiger in the center, before revealing a satisfied smile.
“Form the array!”
With a low shout, black and gray Bone Strength emanated from his body, spreading onto the long whip in his hand. The other three also manifested the same Bone Strength.
One of the three held a meteor hammer, one held a chain, and the last held a flying claw. None of them were ordinary weapons.
As the Bone Strength converged and completed, the four simultaneously swung their weapons, linking them together. The black and gray Bone Strength swirling around them also intertwined.
“Ghost Fiend Seal the Heavens!”
The four roared in unison. In mid-air, strands of black Bone Strength intertwined, quickly forming a large net made of converged Bone Strength.
It descended towards the large white tiger.
Roar!
Seeing the black net form, the white tiger roared towards the sky, a layer of white light surging from its body. It charged towards the long-whip wielding man at the front, disregarding everything else.
“Hmph, courting death, seal it for me!”
The long-whip man's face didn't show anger at this sight, but rather a cruel smile. As his voice fell, the black net suddenly descended, enveloping the large white tiger within.
The black net formed by Bone Strength was like a physical entity, immediately restraining the giant tiger within. No matter how it struggled, it couldn't break free.
Instead, its originally robust body withered at a visible speed during the struggle.
In just a few breaths, the giant tiger's aura rapidly declined. It collapsed to the ground, on its last breath.
Finally, after another two or three breaths, the giant tiger completely lost its life. Its originally massive size had shrunk by half compared to before, and not a drop of the blood that had been flowing out was visible, as if all the blood had been evaporated.
Although this white giant tiger was an Elementary Level Spirit Beast, it was definitely one of the best among Elementary Level Spirit Beasts, almost on the verge of entering the ranks of Advanced Level Spirit Beasts. Unexpectedly, it died so easily.
It wasn't that the white tiger wasn't strong, but rather that the methods of these four were too bizarre.
The four of them were Black-Clothed Envoys of the Tianluo Sect, a first-rate force in the Southern Qi Country.
Their martial arts shared the same origin, and when working together, they could complement each other and even borrow each other's Bone Strength, unleashing powerful forces beyond their current Realm.
“Alright, quickly withdraw your strength, otherwise this rare ingredient will be wasted.”
The man with the long whip slightly frowned as he looked at the giant tiger that was still shrinking.
The other three then withdrew their weapons, and the black Bone Strength swirling around them slowly dissipated.
“Brother, this Congyun Mountains is really good. The Spirit Beasts here are of excellent quality. If we can find one of superior quality to bring back to the sect, it would be a good thing.”
The meteor hammer man looked at the giant tiger, a hint of regret on his face, but soon he seemed to think of something and spoke.
“Don't think about it, Sha Ha. This mountain range doesn't just have these Elementary Level Spirit Beasts, there are also quite a few Advanced Level Spirit Beasts, and in its deepest part, there are even sleeping demonic beasts. Taming a Spirit Beast is not something that can be done in a short time. If we encounter an Advanced Level Spirit Beast, we won't have it this easy.”
The long-whip man spoke indifferently. As he spoke, he took out a dagger from his Pregnant and dissected the white giant tiger, taking out its heart, liver, and other internal organs.
“Even if you're very lucky and easily tame a Spirit Beast, it's not an easy task to bring it back to the sect. Moreover, we came out this time to bring back the saintly elephant's tusk.”
“I understand, Brother.”
Sha Ha nodded, not dwelling on the matter. He had only said it casually anyway.
Soon, the four of them started working, completely gutting the white tiger's internal organs.
Then they began to eat and drink them raw.
The internal organs, carrying a nauseatingly strong smell of blood, seemed like supreme delicacies in the eyes of the four. In a short while, they had eaten the internal organs clean.