"The smell of blood is very strong..."
The tall, thin figure holding a spiked club twitched his nose, then quickly flashed, leaping far away before stopping.
His gaze fell on the several corpses on the ground.
These corpses were none other than the bodies of Huang Lao Ba and others.
After just a glance, his figure disappeared again, reappearing beside the corpse of the dishevelled scholar whose appearance was unclear.
"Iron Fan Scholar? Hmph, trash, daring to covet anything..."
With a snort, a sneer appeared on his face. He swung the large club in his hand, directly smashing Yan Feng's corpse into pieces. A few drops of blood landed on his face, and he even stuck out his tongue to taste it.
But soon, he frowned and spat it out.
"Pah, damn poisonous..."
"Black Tiger Ape's corrosive poison? As expected, he's trash."
After cursing, he no longer lingered and continued rushing forward.
His sense of smell was extremely sharp. Following the bloody smell, he searched relentlessly and soon found the first Black Tiger Ape killed by Lin Sheng.
"Not this one..."
Looking at the skin-and-bones Black Tiger Ape corpse, a hint of doubt appeared on his face, but he didn't pay too much attention. After confirming it wasn't the target, he continued searching.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, his eyes lit up.
An expression of excitement appeared on his face.
"Found it!"
He took large strides and ran quickly.
In just a moment, the smile on his face completely disappeared, replaced by an unspeakable gloom.
"Where is it!!?"
Glancing at the dried-up Black Tiger Ape corpse on the ground, he leaped up into the nest on the ancient tree.
Looking at the leaves and branches stained with blood in the corner of the nest, his expression was extremely grim.
He squatted down, sniffed lightly, then picked up a blood-stained leaf and gently licked it in his mouth.
"That's right, it's Spirit Beast blood. Where is the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile!!"
He swallowed the leaf in one gulp, clenched his fists, and his brows furrowed into the shape of the character 'river'.
"Someone got there first! Who could it be?"
Thoughts flickered in his mind.
Thinking of the two skin-and-bones, clearly abnormal Black Tiger Ape corpses.
"Could it have been taken by other strange beasts or Spirit Beasts?"
This thought appeared in his mind, but in the next moment, he shook his head and dismissed it.
"No, Yan Feng and those people clearly died by human hands. Besides them, there is another person in this Black Earth Forest, and that person's strength is not weak. It's very likely the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile was taken by that person..."
After a little thought, he reached a conclusion.
"Who could it be!?"
Names of individuals appeared in his mind. Someone capable of killing Yan Feng and two Black Tiger Apes is definitely not an ordinary person.
"Could it be that old fellow Sun Zhong?"
"No, it's unlikely. That old fellow Sun Zhong's Returning Wind Technique wouldn't cause this kind of injury."
He thought of the withered bodies of the two Black Tiger Apes. The technique that caused this kind of injury is definitely not an ordinary cultivation method; it should be some kind of evil technique.
However, he searched in his mind for a long time but couldn't think of anyone who cultivated such a technique.
Just then, he seemed to sense something, and his expression suddenly changed. In the next instant, his figure shot up from the ground, leaping dozens of meters away.
And almost at the same moment he had just left, the original ground exploded, and a monstrous, terrifying giant head emerged from it.
A gaping maw opened, and sharp, massive teeth gleamed with an intimidating cold light.
It's not hard to imagine that if he had been half a beat slower just now, he might already be swallowed by this large mouth.
"Silver-patterned Black Crocodile!!"
Upon seeing the ugly head emerging from the ground, a look of horror appeared on the tall, thin figure's face. He barely paused for a moment before turning around and running.
Like a bolt of lightning, he sprinted towards the edge of the Black Earth Forest.
On that monstrous head, two pupils the size of human heads gleamed with a crimson light. Looking at the fleeing figure, it submerged back into the ground.
"Damn it... Didn't the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile have a big fight with another Spirit Beast? How could it come over so quickly!!?"
The tall, thin figure watched the monstrous head disappear from sight, but there was no sign of relaxation in his heart. On the contrary, his heart was in his throat.
He couldn't be clearer about how formidable Spirit Beasts are.
Even if he is a Blood Transportation Warrior, facing this Silver-patterned Black Crocodile, he has absolutely no chance of winning. If he delays at all, he might even lose his life here.
And just at this moment, an alarm suddenly blared in his heart, and a bad premonition arose. He reacted extremely quickly, without any hesitation. He swung the large club in his hand and smashed it fiercely downwards.
The heavy iron club landed on the ground, unleashing its terrifying power.
With a loud bang, the ground exploded, creating a deep pit several zhang wide.
However, in the deep pit was a head covered in black scales.
The heavy iron club struck directly on this head.
However, it didn't cause much damage, only slightly deforming the scales on its head, without even leaving a wound.
Roar!
The monstrous head opened its large mouth and let out a deafening roar. The long silver horn at the top of its head flashed with a large expanse of silver light.
In the next moment, the ground for dozens of zhang around shattered, and a behemoth was completely revealed.
This was a massive black giant crocodile, dozens of zhang long, with silver patterns on its black scales. Its entire body exuded a wild and savage aura, causing chills upon sight.
It was the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile, and it was a powerful Spirit Beast in the true adult Blood Transportation Realm.
"Chaos Battle in All Directions!"
"Overturning Earth Staff!"
Seeing this scene, the tall, thin figure's pupils contracted. He roared, unleashing his secret technique without hesitation, followed by his most powerful killing move.
His face was crimson like blood, and his entire body was dyed red.
The heavy iron club was lifted high by him and then slammed down fiercely.
The terrifying power produced a series of air explosions.
It smashed directly towards the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile's head.
As the attack landed, the surrounding leaves and bushes were swept and swayed by the strong wind. It was not hard to imagine how terrifying the power contained in this attack was.
However, facing this terrifying blow, the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile just roared angrily. The silver horn on its head shone brightly, meeting the attack head-on.
Bang!
A loud bang erupted between the two.
The Silver-patterned Black Crocodile's raised head drooped slightly.
And the tall, thin figure was directly sent flying backward. He couldn't hold onto the heavy iron club in his hand, and it was knocked away, while he himself used this Giant Strength to rush towards the edge of the Black Earth Forest.
After unleashing the secret technique, his speed increased significantly, and he disappeared from sight in just the blink of an eye.
The Silver-patterned Black Crocodile shook its head. Its silver horn was as bright as new, without any damage.
Its crimson eyes looked in the direction the figure fled. It let out an angry roar towards the sky and immediately gave chase.
However, looking closely, one could see several large, hideous wounds on its hind legs and tail, from which silver-tinged blood was flowing outwards.
Clearly, it had already suffered serious injuries before coming here.
Not long after, it stopped again, turned back, and came to the tree nest where the Black Tiger Ape had been.
With a sweep of its tail, it broke the ancient tree. Its crimson eyes sniffed around the nest, and after a while, it let out a mournful cry.
Afterwards, it once again chased in the direction the figure had left.
However, before it had gone far, a sharp roar echoed from outside the Black Earth Forest.
The roar carried an indescribable power, immediately causing the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile to stop its massive body.
As if provoked, it also let out an angry roar towards the sky.
It then turned around and rushed towards where the roar came from.
A moment later, earth-shattering explosions erupted in the Black Earth Forest.
An hour later.
At the foot of Yangping Mountain, the tall, thin figure finally stopped.
At this moment, he was panting heavily. His clothes were already soaked with sweat, and he looked quite dishevelled.
"Damn bastard, damn Silver-patterned Black Crocodile..."
He cursed, blood still at the corner of his mouth. Only now did he relax, but what followed was an anger that was hard to suppress.
"Leader, how was it? With you personally taking action, you must have captured that Spirit Beast cub."
At the foot of Yangping Mountain, a group of people immediately ran over after seeing the tall, thin figure coming down the mountain.
The strong man leading the group, with a face full of flattery, spoke.
However, as soon as he finished speaking, he immediately regretted it, because at this moment, he had noticed the gloomy expression on his Leader's face, an expression that only appeared after the Leader had suffered a great loss.
Before he could think further, a crisp 'slap' sound rang out.
The strong man's body was sent flying several meters backward.
The tall, thin figure didn't even look at the strong man but gazed at the majestic mountain range in his sight.
Originally, he came this trip for the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile's cub. Not only did he not see a single hair of the cub, but he also provoked the adult Silver-patterned Black Crocodile, suffered serious injuries, and even lost his weapon.
He knew without thinking that the big guy must have remembered his scent. When he enters Yangping Mountain again in the future, he might very well be targeted and hunted by it. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He, Black Bear, had roamed for decades, how could he ever suffer such a great loss?
"Don't let me find out who it was, or I'll kill your whole family!"
Muttering silently in his heart, he left a sentence behind and turned to leave.
"Bring that idiot, let's go."
Soon, the group disappeared below the foot of the mountain.
At the foot of the mountain here, there wasn't a single person from Zhenshan Tower.
Besides this group, there was no one else, clearly not the regular main path down the mountain.
On the other side, the outer area of Yangping Mountain.
Lin Sheng held a wild fruit in his hand, nibbling on it as he headed down the mountain.
He didn't take the usual route down the mountain.
After all, this time he was also carrying the corpse of the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile.
Although the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile had shrunk by several sizes because its silver-patterned blood had been drained.
But it was still over a meter long.
And it weighed nearly two hundred catties.
Even if he was an insider of the Hunting Beast Hall, trying to take such a pile of things down would be impossible to conceal.
Although many people had never seen a Silver-patterned Black Crocodile, it's better to be safe than sorry.
News of the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile had already leaked out. If someone was keeping an eye out and discovered something suspicious, he wouldn't be able to explain it.
So this time, he could only choose another route down the mountain.
Given the vast area of Yangping Mountain, there were naturally more than one route down.
However, the main routes were controlled by people from the Hunting Beast Hall.
Other routes had some dangers, such as highly poisonous miasma or swamps.
The danger was much greater, and there was a high possibility of accidentally entering the territory of some powerful strange beasts.
The powerful strange beasts referred to here are mostly troublesome, pack-living strange beasts.
Such as the Black-patterned Bees.
Although they are only ordinary grade mid-level strange beasts, their numbers are often in the hundreds or thousands.
Their size is only about the size of a human palm, they carry potent poison, are extremely agile, and these strange beasts are very vengeful. Once provoked, they will all come out and fight to the death.
Of course, another important reason people don't want to provoke them is that they have little value. No one is willing to risk their lives to provoke this kind of strange beast.
Therefore, even though entering Yangping Mountain for hunting from the Hunting Beast Hall requires paying a certain amount of money and surrendering a portion of the harvest, most people still choose to honestly comply.
After all, exchanging a small amount of money for the much safer routes explored by the Hunting Beast Hall is undoubtedly much more cost-effective.
Of course, there are also Zhenshan Tower patrols at the foot of the mountain from time to time. If someone sneaks into the mountain and is caught by the Hunting Beast Hall patrol team, they won't die but will be severely punished.
As a hunter of the Hunting Beast Hall, Lin Sheng naturally had a good understanding of Yangping Mountain.
He looked at the map in his hand, thought for a moment, and selected a suitable route.
Then, switching to the Black Tiger Ape form, he agilely headed down the mountain.
Two more hours passed. On a steep cliff on the west side of Yangping Mountain, a figure climbed down the sheer rock face like an agile ape. It wasn't until his feet touched the ground that Lin Sheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Finally down."
Looking at the cliff face that was dozens of zhang high, he let out a long sigh of relief.
It was only because the Black Tiger Ape's agility boost was strong enough; otherwise, he might not have been able to get down. During the descent, he also encountered several crises due to slipping hands and other reasons, but fortunately, he reacted quickly, which is why he didn't fall.
"No wonder no one takes this route. A cliff of this difficulty, with quite a bit of moss on it, even that Yan Feng might not be able to get down..."
He mumbled, already heading towards Yangping Town with the Silver-patterned Black Crocodile.
He was quite careful along the way. Only after entering the town and returning home did he completely relax.
Woof woof woof...
As soon as he pushed the door open, there was a series of fierce-sounding but timid dog barks.
In the darkness, only a pair of gleaming eyes were huddled in the firewood pile. Who else could it be but Big Yellow?
"Shut up."
Lin Sheng frowned and snapped, and the barking immediately stopped.
Then Big Yellow rushed over from the corner.
Its brown-yellow dog eyes darted around Lin Sheng. Soon, its nose twitched, as if it smelled something.
Its dog head tilted to one side, revealing a human-like look of suspicion. It involuntarily moved closer to Lin Sheng and sniffed the large black bundle on his back.
Woof—
In the next moment, its eyes widened, and a mournful dog bark immediately echoed throughout the entire courtyard. Big Yellow leaped up, jumping over a meter high.
Then, its two hind legs scraped the ground several times, and it darted back into the firewood pile, not showing an inch of its body.
...
Seeing Big Yellow's appearance, Lin Sheng was speechless. After a moment, he spat.
"Damn, it's really cowardly..."