On this day, the fine rain fell continuously.
Outside Yangping Mountain, black muddy boots passed through the bushes and stepped on the muddy ground.
Emerging from the bushes was a young man with a well-proportioned build and slightly dark skin, or rather, a youth would be more appropriate. The youth's handsome face held eyes that carried a maturity beyond his age.
He held an iron rod in his hand, a dagger was tucked into his calf, and he even carried a short bow on his back. His entire body was wrapped quite tightly, and his gaze cautiously scanned the surrounding bushes and ancient trees from time to time.
"Lin Tou, that Horned Owl rarely appears in the forest during the day; it basically only rests on trees at night. Wouldn't it be more suitable for us to come at night?"
Three more people emerged from behind the bushes. The young man in front looked at the bow-carrying youth walking in the lead and said in a low voice.
"It's easier at night, but the danger level in Yangping Mountain is also higher at night. It's too risky for just the four of us."
Lin Sheng said without turning his head, then looked up at the sky and added.
"This time is the Horned Owl's mating season, so the frequency of them appearing during the day will be much higher than usual. It won't be too difficult to find them if we search carefully."
He glanced at the three people behind him. Because Ninth Squad was short on manpower, several of the Body Tempering Realm squad leaders were also injured. Therefore, this time he was the leader, taking a few people into Yangping Mountain to complete the mission.
Of course, these were just simple missions, mostly in the outer areas of Yangping Mountain, so the danger was not high.
In fact, Ninth Squad did not always go out with their full force for every mission. Unless the target was a beast horde or a relatively dangerous large ferocious beast, at other times they basically completed missions in the form of small teams of a few people.
In the past two days, he had led the people behind him into the mountain and completed two small missions, which were very simple and completed easily.
Although this mission was a bit more troublesome than the previous two, it was nothing more than taking up a little more time.
As he walked, Lin Sheng's gaze would inadvertently sweep backward.
In the past two days, every time he left Yangping Town and entered the mountain, he could vaguely feel someone spying and following him from behind.
At first, he thought it was Ma Long's people, or even Ma Long himself, but later he felt from some traces that it was not Ma Long, but more like Tian Hu or Wang Sanyang, or even both of them together.
Upon closer thought, this situation was very likely. With the talent he had shown, it was possible that Ma Long might make a move.
Tian Hu and Wang Sanyang following in secret might be waiting for Ma Long.
The struggle within Hunting Beast Hall might be even more intense than he had imagined.
Having figured out the key, he didn't pay too much attention to what was behind him, but instead focused on completing his mission.
At this moment, just two to three hundred meters away from Lin Sheng's small team, two figures were slowly following.
"That guy Ma Long is cautious enough. The news has been out for a few days, and he hasn't made any move."
Wang Sanyang spat and said with some regret.
"It is a bit regrettable. It seems that guy Ma Long is indeed about to break through. He has been in seclusion cultivating during this time, and even Third Squad's mission volume is much less than before."
Tian Hu nodded and said calmly.
"Forget it. Since he doesn't plan to make a move, let's drop this matter. We can't keep spending time on this. The decision-making power for the struggle between me and Chai Lu is still with the higher-ups. Even if Ma Long successfully breaks through, it won't have much impact."
"Alright."
Hearing this, Wang Sanyang could only nod with some reluctance.
Speaking of which, it was he who had proposed following Lin Sheng into the mountain in secret.
First, he was worried that Ma Long would make a move on Lin Sheng, as it was hard for Ninth Squad to finally have a talent with excellent potential.
Second, he intended to take this opportunity to deal with Ma Long, preventing him from breaking through, or even better, using this opportunity to cripple his martial arts.
According to the rule in Hunting Beast Hall that prohibits attacking fellow disciples, if Ma Long were to attack Lin Sheng at this time, they could completely use this as an excuse to cripple him. This way, even others wouldn't be able to say anything.
In Hunting Beast Hall, Tang Zhu Zhao Fang is fifty-three years old and has been in the Forging Tendons Late Stage for many years. His strength is only one step away from entering the Blood Transportation Realm, but this step has been delayed for a long time.
Furthermore, in previous years, in order to capture the Spirit Beast Crimson Belly Spirit Snake, he was severely injured. Although he later used precious medicine to heal, he still left behind hidden injuries. During this time, the hidden injuries would often act up, and his condition was not as good as before. Therefore, there was also news from the higher-ups that after this beast tide passed, Zhao Fang would step down from the position of Tang Zhu.
At that time, the most likely candidates for the position of Tang Zhu were the two Deputy Tang Zhus, Tian Hu and Chai Lu.
Therefore, the open and secret struggles between the two Deputy Tang Zhus during this time have become much more frequent than before.
Originally, Third Squad followed Tang Zhu Zhao Fang. Now that Zhao Fang is about to step down, Third Squad is quite strong in Hunting Beast Hall. Ma Long has been in the Forging Tendons Early Stage for many years and is not far from the Late Stage Realm. His strength is also among the top among the nine captains.
Therefore, both Tian Hu and Chai Lu had tried to win over Ma Long, which is why Ma Qiang was in Ninth Squad.
However, some time ago, Ma Long seemed to have a tendency to lean towards Chai Lu.
Coupled with the incident with his younger brother this time, Ma Long would definitely not consider their side anymore, so if there was an opportunity, they would not mind completely crippling Ma Long.
It was just a pity that the other party did not fall for the trap.
...
In Yangping Mountain, on an ancient tree, a series of somewhat sharp cries sounded.
Then, an eagle's head emerged from the branches and leaves. The eagle's head was shaped like a triangle, with a pair of brownish-yellow, sharp eagle eyes. Its sharp, curved beak was as long as a palm, indicating that the eagle's size was not small.
This type of eagle with a triangular head was precisely the Horned Owl.
This Horned Owl kept crying out, seemingly calling for something. Before long, a cry responded from the sky.
In just a few breaths, a Horned Owl with a wingspan of nearly 1.5 meters had descended from the sky.
The Horned Owl had dense feathers, and its entire body was covered in bright colored feathers, making it quite majestic. It was clearly a male Horned Owl.
The male Horned Owl flew directly towards the female on the branches and leaves. The two Horned Owls were stacked together, constantly making low calls.
And at this moment, sounds of breaking air rang out.
Several arrows shot towards the direction of the Horned Owls.
However, due to the long distance, none of the arrows hit the target.
Instead, they startled the two Horned Owls, who quickly flapped their wings and soared into the sky.
Horned Owls fly very fast, and by this time, it was too late for the people on the ground to draw their bows and shoot arrows again.
"Not good, these two beasts are leaving! Horned Owls fly extremely fast. If one strike doesn't succeed, it will be difficult to keep them..."
Not far from the large tree where the Horned Owls were located, the young hunter couldn't help but exclaim, his face full of anxiety.
And at this moment, another sound of breaking wind rang out.
The two Horned Owls on the large tree, who were about to flap their wings and fly away, stumbled. They flapped their wings a few times but couldn't control their balance and inevitably fell towards the ground.
They were then quickly and skillfully held down by several hunters.
Lin Sheng held the female Horned Owl in his hand. There was a penetrating wound about the size of a baby's fist on its left arm, and blood was flowing out of it.
The other hunters quickly brought the larger male Horned Owl over as well.
"Lin Team, you are amazing! You managed to shoot down both Horned Owls."
The young hunter tightly gripped the Horned Owl in his hand, looking at Lin Sheng with reverence.
This young hunter had an irregular scar on his shoulder and neck. He was the hunter named Xiao Shi, who was rescued by Lin Sheng during the Yangjiao Huan (ram-horned badger) mission.
It was a blessing in disguise, as he missed the Tusker Mountain Pig mission because his injuries had not healed, thus saving his life.
Otherwise, with his low strength facing the Tusker Mountain Pig, he would likely have died in that mission.
"It was just luck. Take the things with you. Since the mission is completed, let's go down the mountain."
Lin Sheng shook his head slightly. Just now, he had only thrown a few small stones.
In his spare time these past few days, he would also study the throwing technique book he got from Liu Jie. Coupled with his strength, even small stones could unleash considerable lethality, which was extremely suitable for dealing with these Horned Owls.
"Lin Team, you are so amazing and so low-key. I wish I could be as strong as you in the future."
Xiao Shi was extremely convinced by Lin Sheng. They had also encountered danger several times when entering the mountain, but they were all easily resolved by Lin Sheng.
He was strong and had a good temper and personality, unlike other geniuses who were arrogant. Not only Xiao Shi, but the other two people were also completely convinced by Lin Sheng.
"Martial arts cultivation is one step at a time. If you cultivate diligently, you will always achieve something in the future."
Looking at Xiao Shi's fervent gaze, Lin Sheng spoke calmly. After speaking, he had already turned around and walked down the mountain.
Xiao Shi and the others quickly followed. They did not notice that Lin Sheng's palm had, at some point, embedded itself into the body of that Horned Owl.
【Integrate with Horned Owl?】
A piece of information appeared in Lin Sheng's mind. Without hesitation, he confirmed it with his consciousness.
As the warm blood enveloped his palm, Lin Sheng felt the blood mist space in his consciousness begin to change, quickly condensing into a lifelike Horned Owl.
At the same time, he felt his vision suddenly change, and soon it became much clearer.
On a branch of a large tree twenty meters away, several tiny insects the size of rice grains were slowly crawling. Their patterns were quite similar in color to the branches. Ordinary people, even if they were only a few meters away, would find it difficult to see them without looking carefully, especially since these insects moved very slowly, making them even harder to detect.
But at this moment, the movements of these small insects were quite clear in his eyes.
Lin Sheng's gaze moved backward. In a pile of weeds a hundred meters away, a small, gray-haired mouse was lying there, its body skillfully drilling in and out of the grass pile, seemingly searching for something. Two meters behind it, a small black snake was slowly approaching, flicking its tongue.
In addition, there were many more small things he hadn't noticed before.
Furthermore, the sounds coming from his ears seemed to have been amplified greatly.
This made Lin Sheng subconsciously rub his ears.
"I didn't expect the perception enhancement effect to be so obvious."
A smile appeared on his face. In the past two days, every time he entered the mountain, he would basically hunt some wild beasts, but they were basically some non-aggressive low-grade ordinary wild beasts, and the enhancement effect obtained was not obvious.
They were basically enhancements in strength, agility, and endurance. The enhancement effect was completely overridden.
However, today's Horned Owl gave him a considerable surprise.
The effect of integrating with this Horned Owl was very simple: it only provided a perception increase of two, which was a rather extreme enhancement effect, similar to the White Ape.
And now, only extreme enhancement effects from these low-level exotic beasts could be of some value to him.
And this perception enhancement was a direction of enhancement that had never appeared before.
Perception, perception, the enhancement was on his ability to sense the external environment.
He just didn't expect the effect to be so strong.
Fortunately, after more than ten breaths, Lin Sheng finally managed to adapt.
He pinched his brow and began to carefully feel the specific degree of enhancement from Perception +2.
"Vision improved the most, probably more than doubled compared to before. Next was hearing, which increased by about seventy to eighty percent, and then smell, which was similar to hearing. As for other aspects, the improvement was not significant."
Lin Sheng thought to himself. Although the perception attribute did not directly affect his physique or directly improve his combat strength, it did not mean that the perception attribute was not useful. On the contrary, in his opinion, the perception attribute was in some ways not inferior to attributes like strength and agility, and in some cases, it even surpassed them.
After all, perception could allow him to take the initiative in many situations.
Although the improvement of cultivation and the Breakthrough of Realms could enhance the five senses to some extent, the enhancement effect was extremely limited.
At least now, as a Body Tempering Martial Artist, he didn't feel much improvement in his five senses compared to ordinary people.
As for the Forging Tendons Realm, he had not yet entered it and was not sure, but he thought that even if he entered the Forging Tendons Realm, his perception would not improve this much.
At this moment, Lin Sheng's gaze swept backward, and he quickly caught sight of two figures hiding behind a distant large tree. Who else could it be but Tian Hu and Wang Sanyang?
"Sure enough, they were following in secret."
The two were very real and clear in his eyes now, and he could clearly see what they were doing.
Tian Hu was standing with his hands behind his back, looking this way, while Wang Sanyang was idly teasing a wild rabbit he had caught from somewhere. There were still traces of blood on the wound on his shoulder, indicating that his injury had not healed yet.
Lin Sheng focused his hearing and could even hear some faint sounds of their conversation, but it wasn't clear, as they were still quite far from him.
Behind the large tree.
"Huh?"
Tian Hu suddenly let out a light exclamation.
"What's wrong, Leader?"
Wang Sanyang tilted his head and asked with a puzzled look on his face.
"That kid Lin Sheng seemed to have been looking here just now. Did he discover something?"
Tian Hu rubbed his chin and said.
Hearing this, Wang Sanyang immediately looked in the direction where Lin Sheng was.
With his eyesight, at a distance of over three hundred meters in this dense mountain forest, he could only vaguely see the figures of Lin Sheng and the others.
"No way. We're hiding so far away, and there are so many birds and beasts in Yangping Mountain. How could that kid discover us? Leader, are you mistaken?"
"I must be mistaken. Maybe there was just some small beast in that direction."
Tian Hu nodded. He had just had that thought flash through his mind, and after saying it out loud, he didn't even believe it himself. After all, from such a distance, let alone a Body Tempering Martial Artist, even someone like him in Forging Tendons Completion couldn't have discovered them without knowing beforehand, unless Lin Sheng had a pair of eagle eyes, otherwise it would be impossible.
"Alright, their mission is completed, and we don't need to stay any longer. Let's go back first."
"Alright."
The two of them no longer lingered at this time and agilely went down the mountain.
"They're gone?"
On the other side, Lin Sheng noticed the backs of the two leaving in the distance and muttered softly to himself, feeling much more relaxed in his heart.
Being stared at for the past two days, he felt somewhat uncomfortable all over, and his cultivation progress was also affected. The cultivation of White Ape Leg Technique was inevitably delayed, and he could only focus his thoughts on Raging Bull Fist.
Now that the two were no longer following him, he didn't need to hide much anymore.
