Spirit Beast

"A spirit beast, the Red-bellied Spirit Snake!?"

Lin Sheng's heart stirred.

With the Mountain Sea Scroll, he was quite interested in these strange beasts.

Wild beasts like rock sheep and Iron Yaks were all considered ordinary-grade creatures, yet the improvements they brought him after being absorbed had already been remarkably obvious and powerful. He wondered what miraculous effects would come from absorbing a spirit beast whose rank clearly far surpassed that of an Iron Yak.

At that thought, a trace of heat rose in his heart. Though Beast Hunter Hall's work was dangerous, it suited him quite well.

At that moment, an old hunter behind him spoke helplessly.

"Lin Sheng, don't always listen to Zhang talk about such things. It'd be best if those damned spirit beasts appeared as little as possible. That time, for the sake of that Red-bellied Spirit Snake, Beast Hunter Hall lost nearly a hundred men. If it happened a few more times, I'm afraid Beast Hunter Hall would be wiped out to the last man."

"Old Li, what are you saying? Hunting spirit beasts is indeed exceptionally dangerous, but the rewards are equally generous. Last time, Beast Hunter Hall gave everyone an extra ten taels of silver. The hunters who blocked the spirit beast and survived each received a Blood-Coagulating Pill. That's a precious medicine with tremendous benefits for breaking through to Tendon Tempering."

Zhang Ding directly refuted the old hunter's words.

"For people like us with no backing, what can we rely on if not our willingness to fight and kill? If we can break through to Tendon Tempering, that would count as defying heaven and changing our fate. Then we could leave Beast Hunter Hall and find a decent job in the county town, without having to lick blood from a blade's edge."

Hearing this, the old hunter offered no rebuttal. Zhang Ding was clearly right. Life in Beast Hunter Hall was not quite a matter of morning safety and evening peril, but it was not far off. Even if nothing happened now, there was no guarantee that nothing would ever happen.

That was indeed the case. Beast Hunter Hall offered generous treatment, but its casualty rate was also the highest among all the halls of Town Mountain Tower.

For a moment, several veterans of Town Mountain Hall, including Zhang Ding, fell silent.

Lin Sheng, however, did not care much about this. He knew that as long as he was given some time, his strength would certainly rise substantially. Although he did not have the follow-up cultivation method for the Raging Bull Fist, the White Ape Leg Technique from Liu Ergou was enough for him to cultivate to minor success in Tendon Tempering.

More importantly, with the Mountain Sea Scroll, as long as he found some powerful strange beasts in Yangping Mountain and absorbed them, his strength would absolutely surge by a great deal. He should then have enough power to protect himself in Yangping Mountain.

Hiss!

Ah!!

A hiss came from not far away, followed by a scream.

The group hurriedly turned to look. They saw a hunter clutching his shoulder and howling in agony, while a long branch among the leaves and twigs before him swayed continuously.

Lin Sheng's eyesight was good, and the distance was only around a hundred meters. Focusing his gaze, he saw that within the constantly swaying branch was a dark green venomous snake.

The snake was only as thick as a child's arm, its body covered in dense patterns. A crest-like protrusion sat atop its flat, oval head. Its tongue flickered incessantly, a chilling sight to behold.

"Damn it, it's a Crested Snake! Scatter realgar powder, now!!"

Someone in the group quickly shouted, and another person pulled a cloth packet from his robe and brutally tore it open. A cloud of orange-yellow powder was scattered toward the branch.

The crested venomous snake seemed to loathe the powder. It probed forward a few times, but ultimately turned and vanished among the branches.

The bitten hunter was still howling in agony. An old hunter hurried over to examine him, then shook his head with a grim expression.

"You idiot, did you not sprinkle insect-repelling powder over yourself before entering the mountain!?"

"I... I forgot... It hurts... Save me... I don't want to die!!"

The injured hunter wailed in broken fragments, his body twitching incessantly on the ground.

By then, Lin Sheng had followed Zhang Ding and the others over. He watched helplessly as terror and pain twisted the young hunter's face.

"What do we do?"

Lin Sheng looked toward Zhang Ding beside him. From the young hunter's state and everyone's caution upon seeing that snake, the Crested Snake's venom was clearly no trifling matter.

"Once you've been bitten by a Crested Snake, there's only one way to survive..."

Zhang Ding shook his head slightly and did not continue.

"Move aside!"

Wang Sanyang strode over at that moment, pushing past the crowd. He pinned down the writhing young hunter, pried away the hand clutching his arm, and ripped open his upper garment.

Two bloody punctures could clearly be seen on his forearm, continuously gushing streams of black blood.

After only one glance, Wang Sanyang deftly pulled a hemp rope from his waist and tightly bound it around the injured hunter's shoulder. He then took out a small flask, gulped down a mouthful, and sprayed it over the hunter's shoulder. Next, he tore off a strip of cloth and stuffed it into the man's mouth.

Just as he finished all this, an old hunter beside him handed over a steel blade.

"No... don't..."

Seeing this, the young hunter seemed to understand what was about to happen. His eyes widened as he cried out repeatedly.

Wang Sanyang ignored him completely. He raised his arm and brought it down in a swift stroke. A flash of cold light passed, and an arm fell at the shoulder.

A large spray of blood splattered out, but the blood had already turned dark, clearly tainted by venom.

Yet as copious amounts of blood spurted from the severed wound, within only a few breaths, the blood flowing out gradually turned bright red.

"That should be enough." Only then did Wang Sanyang speak in a deep voice.

Someone nearby had already spread a thick layer of medicinal powder over a piece of white cloth. Hearing Wang Sanyang's words, he immediately used the cloth to bind the young hunter's wound.

"The poisoned blood has been drained seven or eight parts out of ten. Liu Le, Wang Er, you two take him down the mountain at once and find Physician Qian. His life should still be saved."

"Yes, Captain Wang."

Two men stepped out from the group, lifted the young hunter onto one of their backs, and hurried down the mountain.

Only after their figures had disappeared into the distance did Wang Sanyang sweep his stern gaze across the surrounding crowd.

"Once you enter Yangping Mountain, there can be no carelessness whatsoever. I don't want to repeat such stale platitudes. After all, your lives are your own. But if you bring disaster upon everyone because of your own negligence, then it won't be as simple as one life."

As he spoke, his gaze swept over the newcomers in the group. Only after a long while did he withdraw it.

"Enough. Let's go. No matter what, we have to complete the mission."

After that incident, Lin Sheng could clearly sense that the formerly relaxed atmosphere in the group had grown somewhat heavy, especially among the newcomers. The veterans, however, showed no unusual reaction. Such scenes were clearly not isolated cases to them.

"So this is Yangping Mountain? It really is dangerous."

As Lin Sheng followed Zhang Ding and the others onward, he murmured inwardly.

They had only entered Yangping Mountain not long ago. At most, they had traveled just a few li into the mountain.

As far as he knew, Yangping Mountain became increasingly dangerous the deeper one went. The depths especially contained no shortage of powerful ferocious beasts. Of course, Beast Hunter Hall's missions were mostly in the outer regions, and they would not venture too deeply into Yangping Mountain.

He put away the trace of slackness that had arisen from his recent increase in strength. Though he believed his current strength was no weaker than Zhang Ding's, if that Crested Snake had bitten him, he likely would not have fared much better than that young hunter.

Losing an arm in times like these meant one was essentially crippled. Even if that young hunter survived, the days ahead would not be easy.