Perception Boost

It was a day of continuous light rain.

On the outskirts of Yangping Mountain, black leather boots caked with mud crunched on the muddy ground as they passed through the bushes.

Emerging from the thicket was a young man of well-proportioned build with slightly tanned skin, or perhaps a boy would be a more fitting description. The boy's delicate face held eyes that possessed a composure beyond his years.

He held an iron rod in his hand, a dagger sheathed on his calf, and surprisingly, a short bow slung across his back. His entire body was wrapped quite securely, his gaze cautiously sweeping the surrounding bushes and ancient trees from time to time.

"Lin-tou, those Horned Eagles rarely appear in the forest during the day; they basically only rest in trees at night. Wouldn't it be more suitable for us to come at night?"

Three more people emerged from behind the bushes. A young man in front spoke in a low voice to the young man leading the way, who had a bow on his back.

"It would be easier at night, but the danger level in Yangping Mountain at night is also higher. With only four of us, it's too risky,"

Lin Sheng replied without turning his head, tilting his head to look at the sky before adding.

"This is the mating season for the Horned Eagles. They appear much more frequently during the day than usual, so it won't be too difficult to find them if we search carefully."

He glanced back at the three behind him. Due to the Ninth Squad's current shortage of personnel and several of the Body Tempering realm squad leaders being injured, he was leading this group into Yangping Mountain to complete a mission.

Of course, these were just some simple tasks, mostly in the outer areas of Yangping Mountain, with little danger.

In reality, the Ninth Squad didn't always deploy all its members for every mission. Unless the target was a pack of fierce beasts or a particularly dangerous large fierce beast, they usually completed missions in small squads of a few people.

In the past two days, he had led the people behind him into the mountain to complete two minor missions. The tasks were very simple and were completed with ease.

Although this mission was a bit more troublesome than the previous two, it would merely take a little more time.

As they walked, Lin Sheng's gaze would inadvertently sweep backward.

For the past two days, every time they left Yangping Town and entered the mountain, he had a faint, almost imperceptible feeling of being spied on and followed.

Initially, he thought it was someone from Ma Long's faction, or even Ma Long himself. However, he later sensed from some traces that it wasn't Ma Long, but rather more like Tian Hu or Wang Sanyang, or perhaps even both of them together.

Upon closer thought, this situation was quite possible. With the talent he had displayed, it might provoke Ma Long to act.

Tian Hu and Wang Sanyang following him in secret might be waiting for Ma Long.

The infighting within the Beast Hunter Hall might be more intense than he had imagined.

Having figured out the key points, he didn't pay much attention to what was behind him and instead focused on completing his mission.

At this moment, about two to three hundred meters away from Lin Sheng's squad, two figures were slowly following.

"That Ma Long fellow is quite cautious. It's been several days since the news got out, and there's been no movement from him."

Wang Sanyang spat, saying with some regret.

"It is a bit regrettable. It seems that Ma Long is indeed close to a breakthrough. He's been in secluded cultivation during this period, and even the Third Squad's mission load has decreased significantly compared to before."

Tian Hu nodded and said indifferently.

"Never mind. Since he doesn't intend to make a move, let's drop this matter. Time cannot be spent endlessly on this. The decision regarding the conflict between myself and Chai Lu still rests with the higher-ups. Even if Ma Long successfully breaks through, it won't have much impact."

"Alright."

Upon hearing this, Wang Sanyang could only nod reluctantly.

Speaking of which, it was he who had proactively suggested secretly following Lin Sheng into the mountain.

Firstly, he was worried that Ma Long might make a move against Lin Sheng, as he was a rare seedling with excellent talent in the Ninth Squad.

Secondly, he intended to take this opportunity to deal with Ma Long, preventing him from breaking through, or ideally, crippling his martial arts using this opportunity.

According to the Beast Hunter Hall's rules against attacking fellow disciples, if Ma Long were to attack Lin Sheng at this moment, they could completely use this as an excuse to cripple him, and no one would be able to say anything.

Within the Beast Hunter Hall, the Hall Master Zhao Fang was fifty-three years old. He had entered the late stage of Muscle Forging many years ago, and his strength was only one step away from entering the Blood Circulation realm, but this step had been delayed for a long time.

It was also in the past few years, when he was trying to capture the Spirit Beast Red-bellied Spirit Snake, that he suffered severe injuries. Although he was later healed with precious medicine, he was left with hidden injuries. During this period, these hidden injuries flared up from time to time, and his condition was far from its peak. Therefore, there were also rumors from above that after the current beast tide passed, Zhao Fang would step down from his position as Hall Master.

The most likely candidates for the position of Hall Master at that time would be the two Deputy Hall Masters, Tian Hu and Chai Lu.

As a result, the open and covert struggles between the two Deputy Hall Masters had become more frequent than before.

Originally, the Third Squad followed Hall Master Zhao Fang. Now that Zhao Fang was about to step down, the Third Squad was quite strong within the Beast Hunter Hall. Ma Long had entered the early stage of Muscle Forging many years ago and was not far from the late stage realm, ranking among the top captains of the nine squads.

Therefore, both Tian Hu and Chai Lu had tried to win Ma Long over, which was also why Ma Qiang was in the Ninth Squad.

However, a while ago, Ma Long seemed to be leaning towards Chai Lu.

Coupled with the incident involving his brother this time, Ma Long would definitely not consider their side. Therefore, if they had the opportunity, they wouldn't mind completely crippling Ma Long.

It was just a pity that the other party didn't fall for their trap.

In Yangping Mountain, on an ancient tree, sharp cries sounded one after another.

Then, an eagle's head emerged from the branches and leaves. The head was triangular in shape, with two sharp, yellowish-brown eagle eyes and a curved, pointed beak as long as a palm. It was evident that this eagle was not small in size.

Eagles with this triangular head shape were precisely Horned Eagles.

This Horned Eagle continuously emitted cries, as if calling for something. Before long, cries answered from the sky.

In just a few breaths, a Horned Eagle with a wingspan of nearly 1.5 meters descended from the sky.

The Horned Eagle had dense plumage, its feathers covered in bright colors, making it quite majestic. It was clearly a male Horned Eagle.

The male Horned Eagle flew directly towards the female on the branches. The two Horned Eagles intertwined, continuously making low calls.

Just then, the sound of something cutting through the air rang out.

Several arrows shot towards the Horned Eagles.

However, due to the distance, none of the arrows hit their targets.

Instead, they startled the two Horned Eagles, causing them to quickly flap their wings and soar into the sky.

The Horned Eagles' flight speed was very fast, and by this time, the people on the ground no longer had time to draw their bows and shoot.

"Not good, these two beasts are going to escape. Horned Eagles fly extremely fast, and if we miss our first shot, it'll be hard to catch them again..."

Not far from the large tree where the Horned Eagles were, a young hunter couldn't help but exclaim, his face full of anxiety.

Just then, another sound of wind breaking through the air rang out.

The two Horned Eagles, about to take flight from the tree, stumbled. They flapped their wings a few times but couldn't control their balance, inevitably falling towards the ground.

They were then quickly subdued by several hunters.

Lin Sheng held the female Horned Eagle in his hand. Its left wing had a penetrating wound the size of a baby's fist, and blood was flowing out.

The other hunters quickly brought over the larger male Horned Eagle.

"Captain Lin, you're amazing! You actually managed to bring down both Horned Eagles."

The young hunter tightly gripped the Horned Eagle in his hand, looking at Lin Sheng with eyes full of reverence.

This young hunter had an irregular scar on his shoulder and neck. He was the hunter named Xiao Shi, who had been saved by Lin Sheng during the horned badger mission.

It was a blessing in disguise. Because his injuries hadn't healed, he missed the Tusk Mountain Boar mission and thus saved his life.

Otherwise, with his low strength, he would have likely died on that mission facing the Tusk Mountain Boar.

"It was just good luck. Let's grab our spoils and head down the mountain since the mission is complete."

Lin Sheng shook his head slightly. He had only thrown a few small stones just now.

In his free time these past few days, he had been studying the throwing techniques from Liu Jie's book. Combined with his strength, even small stones could unleash considerable lethality, which was quite suitable for dealing with the Horned Eagles.

"Captain Lin, you're so powerful, yet you're so humble. I wish I could be as strong as you someday."

Xiao Shi was extremely convinced of Lin Sheng. During their excursions into the mountains these past few times, they had encountered dangers, but Lin Sheng had resolved them with ease.

He was strong, had a good temperament, and wasn't arrogant like other geniuses. Not only Xiao Shi, but the other two hunters were also completely convinced of Lin Sheng.

"Martial Way cultivation is a step-by-step process. If you cultivate diligently, you will achieve something in the future."

Looking at Xiao Shi's fervent gaze, Lin Sheng spoke calmly and turned to walk down the mountain.

Xiao Shi and the others quickly followed. They didn't notice Lin Sheng's palm, which had, at some unknown time, embedded itself into the body of the Horned Eagle.

[Is it possible to integrate the Horned Eagle?]

Information appeared in Lin Sheng's mind. Without hesitation, he confirmed it with his consciousness.

As warm blood enveloped his palm, Lin Sheng felt the blood mist space in his consciousness begin to change. Soon, it condensed into a lifelike Horned Eagle.

At the same time, he felt a sudden clarity in his vision.

On the branches of a tree twenty meters away, several small insects the size of rice grains were crawling slowly. Their patterns were quite similar to the color of the branches, making them difficult for ordinary people to spot even from a few meters away, especially since these insects moved very slowly, making them even harder to detect.

But now, their movements were quite clear to him.

Lin Sheng shifted his gaze backward. In a pile of grass a hundred meters away, a small, gray-furred mouse was nestled within, cleverly darting through the grass as if searching for something. Two meters behind it, a small black snake was slowly approaching, flicking its tongue.

Besides these, there were many more small creatures he hadn't noticed before.

Furthermore, the sounds reaching his ears seemed to have amplified significantly.

This made Lin Sheng subconsciously rub his ears.

"I didn't expect the effect of Perception Boost to be so obvious."

A smile appeared on his face. In the past two days, he had hunted wild beasts almost every time he went into the mountains, but they were mostly low-to-mid-tier common grade beasts with little offensive capability, so the amplification effect was not significant.

It was mostly in strength, agility, and stamina, with the amplification effects completely covered.

Today's Horned Eagle, however, gave him quite a surprise.

The effect of integrating this Horned Eagle was simple: only Perception +2. Like the White Ape, it was an extreme amplification effect.

And now, these low-level exotic beasts with only extreme amplification effects could be of some value to him.

Moreover, this Perception Boost was a direction of amplification that had never appeared before.

Perception, Perception, it amplified his ability to sense the external environment.

He just didn't expect the effect to be so potent.

Fortunately, after more than ten breaths, Lin Sheng finally managed to adapt.

He squeezed his brow and began to carefully feel the specific amplification level of Perception Boost 2.

"My eyesight has improved the most, roughly more than double compared to before. Secondly, my hearing has increased by about seventy to eighty percent, and my sense of smell is about the same as my hearing. As for other aspects, the improvement is not very significant."

Lin Sheng thought to himself. Although the Perception attribute did not act on his own physique, nor did it directly improve his combat power.

This did not mean that the Perception attribute was not useful. On the contrary, in his opinion, the Perception attribute was, to some extent, no less valuable than attributes like strength and agility, and even surpassed them at times.

After all, the advantage of perception allowed him to take the initiative many times.

Although improving cultivation and breaking through realms could enhance the five senses to a certain extent, the amplification effect was extremely limited.

At least for now, as a Body Tempering martial artist, he didn't feel much improvement in his senses compared to ordinary people.

As for the Muscle Forging realm, he hadn't stepped into it yet and wasn't sure, but he imagined that even if he entered the Muscle Forging realm, his perception wouldn't increase this much.

At this moment, Lin Sheng glanced back and quickly spotted two figures hiding behind a large tree in the distance. It was none other than Tian Hu and Wang Sanyang.

"As expected, they were following us in secret."

The two of them were now very clear and distinct in his eyes, and he could clearly see what they were doing.

Tian Hu stood with his hands behind his back, looking this way, while Wang Sanyang was idly toying with a wild rabbit he had caught from somewhere. Bloodstains were still seeping from the wound on his shoulder, indicating that it had not yet healed.

Lin Sheng focused his hearing and could even faintly hear some of their hushed conversations, though not clearly, as they were still quite far from him.

Behind the big tree.

"Huh?"

Tian Hu suddenly let out a soft exclamation.

"What is it, boss?"

Wang Sanyang asked, tilting his head with a look of confusion.

"That kid Lin Sheng seemed to be looking this way just now. Could it be that he discovered something?"

Tian Hu said, rubbing his chin with his palm.

Hearing this, Wang Sanyang immediately looked in Lin Sheng's direction.

With his eyesight, at a distance of more than three hundred meters in this densely vegetated 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 possibly find us? Boss, are you mistaken?"

"You must be mistaken. Maybe there was just some small beast in this direction."

Tian Hu nodded. He had only had that thought flash through his mind just now, and even he didn't believe it after saying it. After all, at such a distance, let alone a Body Tempering martial artist, even someone like him, who was at the peak of Muscle Forging, wouldn't be able to find them without prior knowledge. Unless Lin Sheng had the eyes of an eagle, it would be absolutely impossible.

"Alright, their mission is complete, and there's no need for us to stay any longer. Let's go back."

"Okay."

The two of them no longer lingered and agilely descended the mountain.

"They're gone?"

On the other side, Lin Sheng noticed the retreating figures of the two in the distance and murmured to himself, feeling much more relaxed.

He had been watched constantly for the past two days, which made him uncomfortable and affected his cultivation progress. The cultivation of the White Ape Leg Technique had been inevitably delayed, so he could only focus his attention on the Raging Bull Fist.

Now that they were no longer following him, he didn't need to hide as much.