Hiss... Hiss...
A sharp noise rang out from an ancient tree.
Among the dense branches and leaves, a pair of slightly crimson eyes were staring intently at Lin Sheng.
"Black Tiger Ape..."
Looking at the faintly discernible black figure on the ancient tree, Lin Sheng's face broke into a smile.
Especially when he noticed that the Black Tiger Ape's left leg had bloodstains that hadn't completely dried, his smile widened.
If his guess was correct, this Black Tiger Ape was the one that had clashed with the Black Tiger Ape that had died by his hand earlier.
Thinking of this, he immediately agilely charged towards the opponent.
Seeing Lin Sheng's movement, the Black Tiger Ape's face immediately showed a ferocious and twisted expression, and it leaped down from the ancient tree, pouncing towards Lin Sheng.
The man and the ape did not retreat at all and fiercely collided.
Bull Rushing Horn!
With a low shout, Lin Sheng's palm muscles surged, and he unleashed the killing move of Raging Bull Fist without reservation.
It collided with the Black Tiger Ape's furry claws.
Only a muffled bang was heard, and the Black Tiger Ape's figure was actually sent flying backward by this punch.
However, it quickly grabbed a vine to stabilize its figure and came towards Lin Sheng again.
Just as they clashed, it was knocked away again.
After incorporating the Black Tiger Ape, Lin Sheng's speed had greatly increased compared to before, and he was not inferior even when facing the Black Tiger Ape.
What's more, the Black Tiger Ape in front of him still had an injury on its leg. Although it didn't look serious, it would more or less affect its speed.
As soon as they clashed, he gained the upper hand, constantly forcing the Black Tiger Ape to retreat.
Finally, White Ape Hook Moon's kick landed, heavily sending the Black Tiger Ape flying.
The continuous injuries made the Black Tiger Ape dare not step forward again, only standing more than 20 meters away from Lin Sheng, hesitating.
Seeing Lin Sheng approach, it immediately retreated.
Seeing this, Lin Sheng had no intention of pursuing the opponent but instead focused his gaze on the ancient tree where the Black Tiger Ape had hidden earlier.
In the upper part of the ancient tree, a large amount of branches and leaves were woven into a nest-like shape.
Tapping his toes, he leaped onto the ancient tree, grabbing the scattered vines and going up.
Hiss... Hiss...
Seeing Lin Sheng heading towards its nest, the Black Tiger Ape, which had been too afraid to step forward, immediately fell into a state of frenzy and charged towards Lin Sheng like mad.
"Seeking death!"
Seeing this scene, a fierce look flashed across Lin Sheng's face.
From above, he stomped down heavily with one foot.
With a bang, he kicked the Black Tiger Ape to the ground.
This time he didn't give the opponent a chance to breathe, he quickly stepped forward and his fists rained down like raindrops. At first, the Black Tiger Ape still stretched out its claws to resist, but within a few breaths, it completely stopped moving.
Lin Sheng extended his palm, inserting it into the Black Tiger Ape's wound. With a thought, a large amount of blood surged into his body.
Since he had already incorporated the Black Tiger Ape before, this time after the blood was absorbed, it all transformed into energy for the second mark.
As the blood of this Black Tiger Ape replenished, the second mark on his chest grew a bit more.
Thinking of the mountain and sea scroll, which could panelize his own data, Lin Sheng's consciousness moved, and his own panel appeared in his mind.
【Name: Lin Sheng】
【Incorporated Beast: Black Tiger Ape】
【Mark Activation: 8.5%】
【Incorporation Effect: Agility Boost 3, Poison Corrosion Buff 1, Physique Boost 1】
"It's almost 1/10!"
Seeing the visualized panel, Lin Sheng muttered.
Displaying the activation progress so clearly is very intuitive and looks much more comfortable.
Then he looked at the several bloodstains on his arm scratched by the Black Tiger Ape.
If he had been scratched by the Black Tiger Ape before, the Poison Corrosion entering his body would have been quite troublesome, but now he didn't need to worry about that.
He saw that the next moment his hands turned grayish-black. After the grayish-black color dissipated, the black lines that had appeared at the wound were already gone.
"Indeed, the strong Poison Corrosion Buff not only allows one's limbs to carry Poison Corrosion but also enhances one's resistance to Poison Corrosion."
Looking at his hands that had recovered as before, Lin Sheng muttered to himself.
It can be said that after incorporating the Black Tiger Ape, this high-grade ordinary beast no longer posed much threat to him.
After all, what was most troublesome about the Black Tiger Ape was its speed and the strong Poison Corrosion it carried. In terms of speed, he was no longer inferior to the Black Tiger Ape, and as for the strong Poison Corrosion, he was basically immune.
Thinking this, he didn't delay, he leaped up and quickly climbed towards the nest on the ancient tree.
As soon as he got close, he smelled a strong bloody scent.
Lin Sheng furrowed his brows slightly, then flipped over and lightly landed in the nest.
The nest woven by the Black Tiger Ape was not large, and it was filled with a pungent stench, but it was now covered by the bloody scent. Lin Sheng didn't pay attention to these things but instead focused his gaze on a corner of the nest that was carelessly covered by a large amount of leaves.
Moving away the branches and leaves on top, a two-meter-long black crocodile appeared before his eyes.
This crocodile was covered in black scales, and among the black scales were several silver patterns running from head to tail.
On its ugly, flat head, there was also a small silver horn, occasionally flashing with bits of silver light.
However, this crocodile was motionless at this moment, clearly having lost all signs of life long ago.
Lin Sheng's gaze carefully scanned the crocodile's body, only then discovering that a head-sized hole had been carved out of its abdomen.
Most of the internal organs were already gone, and blood was constantly flowing out at this moment.
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but the blood actually carried a faint silver tint.
Seeing this, Lin Sheng didn't hesitate and immediately went forward to flip the crocodile over, inserting his palm into the wound.
Soon, a string of information appeared in his consciousness.
【Beast Name: Juvenile Silver-patterned Black Crocodile (Pseudo-Spirit Beast)】
【Spirit Beast Silver-patterned Black Crocodile, several zhang long, grows thick scales, impervious to blades and spears, possesses immense strength, has tenacious vitality, can weakly mobilize and borrow the power of the earth soul. Even though it is a Spirit Beast cub, it should not be underestimated.】
【Incorporation Requirement: Body Tempering Realm, Thousand Jin of Strength】
【Incorporation Effect: Physique Boost 4, Endurance Boost 3, Strength Boost 3】
【Talent: Earth Affinity (Weak)】
Looking at the string of information that appeared in his consciousness, Lin Sheng felt quite overwhelmed, but what followed was an uncontainable surprise.
"A full 10 points of boost effect, is this the power of a Spirit Beast!!?"
Lin Sheng's mood took a long time to settle. After a while, he heavily exhaled and couldn't help but exclaim.
It was no wonder he was so flustered; the effects brought by this Spirit Beast were much stronger than he had imagined.
"This is just a cub of the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile. If it were a truly adult Silver-patterned Black Crocodile, how monstrous would the incorporation effect be?"
This thought surfaced in Lin Sheng's mind.
This was the first time he had come into contact with a Spirit Beast, and also the first time he had truly felt the difference between a Spirit Beast and an ordinary beast.
Such a difference could even be considered two different levels of creatures to some extent.
"No wonder Materials related to Spirit Beasts are extremely valuable."
Thinking this, he quickly chose to incorporate the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile.
This cub was already dead and the wound was not small, a lot of blood had already been wasted, so he naturally couldn't waste any more.
With a thought.
Soon, a powerful suction force appeared from his palm, pulling the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile's entire body's blood to surge into his body like crazy.
As the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile's blood entered his body like a tide, Lin Sheng felt an indescribable sensation unfolding within him.
At this moment, all the blood in his body, no, his meridians, bones, and even flesh, surged with a strong sense of thirst, frantically devouring the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile's blood that entered his body.
Crack... Crack crack... Crackle...
Sounds of bone cracking that made one's teeth ache kept coming from his body like firecrackers, followed by intense pain like surging waves.
The intense pain made his brows furrow slightly, but he furrowed his brows and suppressed the pain, carefully observing the changes in his body. At this moment, his entire body's muscles were constantly trembling, bulging and then falling back down from time to time. He could even see his bones and meridians constantly moving and shifting beneath his flesh.
Moreover, this feeling intensified, becoming more and more violent as time passed.
It finally reached its peak after the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and then slowly began to subside.
After another incense stick's time passed, the boiling and restless tissues in his body finally completely calmed down.
"Is it over...?"
Lin Sheng exhaled, looking at his body which had changed quite a bit.
At this moment, his body had changed quite significantly compared to before. His original height of just over 1.7 meters had now reached over 1.8 meters.
His muscles were strong and bulging all over, making him look somewhat similar to some bodybuilding experts from his previous life.
His originally rough skin was now even coarser, looking like grayish-black rock.
The touch of his palm felt even colder and harder than rock.
Bang!
His two large hands collided, letting out an explosive sound.
"Strength, Physique, this is the boost brought by the Spirit Beast..."
Lin Sheng spread his hands and stretched his body. At this moment, he felt unprecedentedly powerful.
Whether it was strength or Physique, both were significantly stronger than before.
Although he no longer had the agility boost of the Black Tiger Ape, what it brought was a completely new kind of power.
Moreover, due to the endurance boost, his body, which had been quite tired, was now in surprisingly good condition, even clearer than when he first entered the mountain.
He took out a strangely shaped short knife from his body.
It was one of the two weapons split from Yan Feng's iron fan.
Although the shape of this weapon was unique, its blade was sharp, flashing with cold light, and approaching it made one's hair stand on end. It was definitely a weapon of excellent quality.
His iron spear had been cut off by this weapon back then.
That iron spear was a standard weapon issued by the Hunting Beast Hall. Although it couldn't be considered a treasure weapon, it was made of high-quality steel and was as thick as a wrist. Yet, even so, it was still cut off by it, which was enough to show the extraordinary nature of this weapon.
He raised his hand and brought the knife down, and the weapon landed heavily on his arm.
Only a 'clang' was heard, and a crisp sound of metal colliding actually burst out.
Only a faint white mark was left on his arm; his skin wasn't even broken.
Seeing this scene, Lin Sheng's eyes lit up, and he immediately mobilized his strength again and chopped down fiercely.
This time it was still a crisp sound, and a faint stinging pain came from his arm, but he was still not injured. Only a red mark appeared, and no blood flowed out.
"Is this the formidable effect of Physique Boost 4? It's truly extraordinary."
His gaze kept staring at the mark on his arm, but after a few breaths of time passed, the red mark completely disappeared, returning to its previous state.
"With such bodily toughness, even Yan Feng would probably have to go all out to injure me, and it would only be a superficial wound. Unless he hits a vital point, he won't be able to cause me much harm."
At this moment, he was confident that if he were to face Yan Feng again, he wouldn't need to use all his means and fight so hard as before. Even if he were to directly clash head-on with the opponent, the opponent might not necessarily be his match. At most, he would just use his movement technique advantage to escape.
Before long, Lin Sheng suppressed the joy of his surging strength. His gaze then fell upon the second mark on his chest. At this moment, the second mark also had extremely significant changes compared to before.
The progress, which was originally less than one-tenth, had now actually surpassed more than half.
【Name: Lin Sheng】
【Incorporated Beast: Juvenile Silver-patterned Black Crocodile】
【Mark Activation: 58.5%】
【Incorporation Effect: Physique Boost 4, Strength Boost 3, Endurance Boost 3】
【Talent: Earth Affinity (Weak)】
"58%! The progress increase brought by Spirit Beast blood is also much stronger than that of ordinary beasts."
Lin Sheng looked again at the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile cub on the ground, whose body had become shriveled.
"It's a pity this Silver-patterned Black Crocodile had already lost a lot of blood before, otherwise, after draining its blood, I might have been able to directly activate the second mark..."
While secretly saying it was a pity, he also shook his head and smiled wryly.
"To have this much gain is already far, far beyond expectations. One cannot be too greedy."
Without further delay, Lin Sheng took the body of the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile, which had shrunk by two sizes, and also took the Black Tiger Ape's poison sac and fangs from the ground before quickly heading down the mountain.
Although his strength had surged now, he was not in a hurry.
Having killed Yan Feng and gained the benefits of this Silver-patterned Black Crocodile, it was better to go down the mountain first.
If this were to involve something, it would be a bit troublesome.
Regarding the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile, he was still somewhat uneasy in his heart.
Spirit Beasts generally value their Bloodline descendants quite highly. Although the adult Silver-patterned Black Crocodile lost its cub due to an attack, there's no guarantee it won't have a way to track it down. If it were to run into him, he would definitely be in deep trouble. Although his strength was much greater than before, he hadn't become arrogant enough to fight a Blood Transportation Realm Spirit Beast.
His speed was very fast, he could say he was going all out. Before long, he had disappeared and didn't stop at all until he left the Black Earth Forest.
Just over half an hour after Lin Sheng left.
Outside the Black Earth Forest, a figure suddenly appeared.
The figure was tall and thin, with prominent cheekbones, looking to be around forty years old.
He wore light black armor and held a large mixed-iron club in his hand. Although his figure was thin, he exuded an uncontainable fierce aura.
"Black Earth Forest, this is the place."
Looking at the black and gray forest in front of him, the figure spat and stepped in. His movements seemed not fast, but one step took him over ten meters away, and in just a few steps, he disappeared from sight.