Great Harvest, Encountering Two Girls

"No wonder it came from a Thousand Year Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear Soul Ring. I'm already level 24." Clenching his fist, Lin Manshan's face lit up with wild joy. "Of course, the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone also played a part."

The Life Energy in the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone had not only saved him from having his meridians burst, but had also helped him withstand the Soul Ring's energy transformation, making his meridians tougher and broader.

"Hehe, I really struck it rich this time." The next moment, Soul Power surged. Lin Manshan changed his fists into palms and spread both hands open. Dark Gold light immediately flowed across them. His fingernails rapidly lengthened into claws, while the backs of his hands swelled and hardened. His skin turned Dark Gold, gleaming with a metallic sheen.

His fingertips brushed together, producing a harsh metallic scraping sound.

With a casual swing of his hand, several bloody marks appeared on the right arm of the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear's corpse beside him.

"So smooth. They're actually this sharp, and my grip strength has increased by so much too." Lin Manshan was momentarily speechless.

"Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear External Palm Bones—and a pair at that. My luck is unbelievable." It was practically unheard of for a single Spirit Beast to produce two Soul Bones. As far as he remembered, only Bibi Dong's left and right arm bones had come from the same Spirit Beast, both originating from a Hundred Thousand Year Death Spider Emperor. The only difference was that Bibi Dong had absorbed a complete pair of arm bones, whereas his were External Palm Bones.

Even though they were only thousand-year Soul Bones.

But in terms of value, mine are definitely worth more! Lin Manshan thought to himself.

External Soul Bones did not conflict with normal Soul Bones. In other words, he could still absorb arm bones normally in the future.

Besides, External Soul Bones could evolve. It seemed that every Soul Bone he had absorbed could evolve.

"Hehe, with this pair of External Palm Bones and the enhancement from Soul Power, I definitely have the ability to injure an ordinary Ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast now. That makes hunting a Ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast for my Third Soul Ring much more certain."

Lin Manshan dismissed the external Soul Bone, his smile bright. "And with my current grip strength, Mother will never have to worry about me dropping my Great Blade in a fight again."

He sprang to his feet, turned to look at the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear's corpse, pressed his palms together, and observed a deep ten-second silence.

Xiong Xiong had contributed far too much. He had to show some appreciation.

After finishing all this, Lin Manshan glanced at the sky. "The sun won't set for a while yet. I can keep moving."

He patted the dust from his body, turned, and left.

"Hm? Where are all the Spirit Beasts? I've walked over a li already, yet I haven't run into a single one?" After walking for quite a while, Lin Manshan looked surprised. He had not encountered a single Spirit Beast on the ground along the way. "Forget it. If I don't run into any, then I don't. I already have my Second Spirit Ring anyway, and there's no rush to go back. I can collect some herbs along the way. Buying them myself after returning would be expensive."

He had spent quite a bit of money preparing for this trip to the Star Dou Great Forest.

Snake Repellent Powder, Trauma Medicine, Detoxification Pills—he either had to buy the finished products or purchase herbs and make them himself.

To save money, he had naturally chosen to make them himself.

When Ni Tian Er Xing was young, he had possessed no talent for cultivation and had been unable to complete Destiny Artifact Infusion for a long time. Therefore, he had focused on finding a cure for his clansmen's Petrification Disease. He had studied every bit of the Nether Race ancestors' research from the past ten thousand years that he could learn, and his accomplishments in medicinal knowledge were extremely impressive. This was also one of the reasons he had been able to survive and cultivate alongside Eternal Night in the harsh Blood Mist Forest for ten years.

Lin Manshan had not inherited all of it, but he remembered clearly everything that had been used during those ten years.

Anything useful in such an extremely harsh environment was naturally life-saving stuff.

Although he could not name any of the herbs in this world, he still gained quite a lot by judging their growing environments and using Soul Power to sense their medicinal properties. It had to be said that the Star Dou Great Forest's herbal resources were truly abundant. Before he had walked very far, he had already found several precious herbs of decent age. He had even made a basket to store them in before continuing onward with it on his back.

Night arrived quickly. Since he had spent time searching for herbs along the way, he had failed to reach the river and could only find a place with water to stay for the night.

Before him was a small pool with its own spring. It was less than two meters across, but it was running water nonetheless and suitable for drinking.

While the herbs were still fresh, Lin Manshan ate something simple, made several tools from nearby materials, and began grinding herbs.

After chewing them into paste, he kneaded them into small pills and stuffed them into porcelain bottles. When he ran out of bottles, he wrapped the rest in leaves for the time being.

Time slowly passed. As he continued grinding, he suddenly raised his head and turned to look to the side. Everything there was pitch-black.

"Hm? Did the Spirit Beasts come back?" Lin Manshan hurriedly packed up his things, slung the basket onto his back, and leaped into a tree. Then his eyes widened in shock.

"??? There are so many? Huh, there are even two people running ahead of them?"

With only a brief probe, he sensed more than ten scattered Spirit Beasts, along with two human souls.

A string of howls echoed through the forest and reached Lin Manshan's ears.

"These Spirit Beasts should be between one thousand and two thousand years old. Should I save them?" Lin Manshan fell into thought.

Very quickly, he chose to play it safe. "I'll go take a look first."

With that thought, Lin Manshan pushed off with his foot, his figure immediately darting through the branches.

Before long, he vaguely made out the newcomers beneath the sparse Moonlight.

"They're actually two girls, and one is carrying the other. No wonder they didn't climb a tree." Lin Manshan looked surprised, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Those clothes—blue short skirts and long socks. They look a little like the Skywater Academy uniforms from the animation. Too bad I can't see their faces clearly."

People from Skywater Academy were worth saving. Based on the original story, they should not be the ungrateful sort.

"Saving one life is worth building a ten-story pagoda, much less two girls." With that thought, Lin Manshan clenched his right hand, and his Great Blade appeared in his grasp. "Dark Night Fierce Light!" More than a dozen Blade Lights shot forth with piercing whistles, sealing off the entire path behind the two girls.

The leopard-type Spirit Beasts charging at the front immediately came to a halt.

"Hand her over to me. Get up the tree first." Having already landed in front of the two girls, Lin Manshan glanced at the several bloody marks on the snowy white long legs of the Egg-shaped Face girl on the other's back. Though the night obscured most colors from view, the outlines of the wounds and the faint scent of blood could still be detected.

After saying that, he crouched down directly.

"Thank you!" The delicate girl in blue did not hesitate. She quickly crouched, allowing the Egg-shaped Face girl on her back to stagger onto Lin Manshan's back. The next moment, the tall figure before her vanished from the spot.

"??? A teleportation Soul Skill?" The delicate girl's pupils contracted as she hurriedly looked up.

Lin Manshan had already reached a tree branch. With a leap, he landed on a thicker one and set down the Egg-shaped Face girl.

Out of the corner of her eye, the delicate girl saw the Spirit Beasts closing in again behind her. She bent her legs, intending to jump.

"Mm." Her right leg trembled, and she let out a pained groan.

"Come on up." Lin Manshan landed on the ground again, turned around, and crouched.

"Thank you," the girl murmured as she leaned onto his back.

Pushing off with his foot, Lin Manshan soared into the air once more and landed on a branch. After setting the girl down, he lowered his head and looked below.

The leopard-type Spirit Beasts had already reached the base of the tree. However, there were too many people above and they were too high up. Climbing the tree would only get them beaten for nothing. Their instinct to avoid danger, combined with their limited intelligence, told them not to act rashly. They could only pace in circles below, barking wildly.

"Are you two all right?" Lin Manshan turned around and examined the girls by Moonlight. The next moment, his brows furrowed slightly.

"Hm? You've been poisoned."