A Certain Young Girl's Troubles (Part 2)

After a day and a night, Rui Feng had recovered to a state where he could fight. The others had also finished resting, and they set off again that morning.

"What about the Desolate Beast Essence Cores?" I asked. Due to our absorption and natural dissipation, there wasn't much Life Force left in the cores, but they should still have value as ordinary Essence Cores.

"Indeed, Desolate Beast Essence Cores are very valuable collectibles even without Life Force. They'll fetch a good price if we take them to the Imperial City," Rui Xin was already calculating. "It's best to sell them at an Exchange the Si Nan Family can't control, to avoid the family finding an excuse to confiscate them," Mo Xiao Hong offered her advice. Rui Feng immediately dismissed their idea, not even frowning. "No way. Desolate Beast Cores without Life Force have lost their practicality. Carrying them is just adding weight. Besides, Liu Ye killed the Desolate Beasts, so it's not up to you to decide."

So they all turned to me in unison, waiting for my decision. It seemed I had accumulated some prestige without realizing it.

"Let's just listen to Rui Feng. Desolate Beast Essence Cores without Life Force might be pretty, but what good is pretty? It can't be eaten."

The moment I spoke, they froze.

"...Liu Ye, the phrase 'what good is pretty' coming from you feels like sarcasm."

"Uh..."

Speaking of which, my face had already been revealed to them. No wonder everyone who spoke to me recently made a point of standing below me; they were trying to see my face from under my hood. This couldn't go on. To avoid triggering some annoying plot like "being fancied by a rich and willful young master who wants to take me home as a concubine," I had been extremely careful. Unlike those male leads who transform without realizing their own beauty, I wanted to maintain a low profile... even though nothing I'd done recently was low-profile.

But compared to that, there was something more troubling me now: the "Blood Core" within my body.

This world had no concept of a dantian or sea of qi, nor did it have "internal vision." Therefore, I couldn't see what my internal Blood Core looked like. I could only vaguely sense its size, about half a ping pong ball, and knew that most of the Desolate Beast's Blood Energy had flowed into it. Was this Blood Core a blessing or a curse to me? Was it a sign of my strength increasing or some kind of illness? Only time would tell.

Perhaps because we had the previous Desolate Beast as a comparison, the journey to the second detection point was incredibly smooth. We only encountered two groups of Demonic Beasts along the way, which we dealt with without any trouble. The scenery around us was vastly different from the previous forest. Tall trees were almost nonexistent, replaced by increasingly sparse shrubs and exposed rocks. As far as the eye could see, the gray and white rocky ground was dotted with patches of dark green shrubs, like a reversed starry sky. This scenery would definitely be a world-class attraction on Earth.

The only drawback was that the path turned into an uphill climb halfway through, and the slope was quite steep. Although my physique was no longer what it used to be, I still had an instinctive aversion to climbing.

"Alright, this section went smoothly. We've reached the second detection point," Rui Feng said. I had initially worried if his body could handle it, but his fierce demeanor while punching and killing monsters made me realize I was overthinking.

The second location was named "Black Rock," but it wasn't a cool girl with a heavy cannon and fiery eyes, but actual black giant rocks. The giant rocks stood like massive tombstones on the ground, made of a material similar to obsidian, possessing a beauty that was both heavy and exquisite, making them particularly striking against the gray and white exposed rocks.

Si Nanlong was again using the compass to scan, while we stood guard around him. With the previous experience, everyone's nerves were taut, and no one dared to breathe too loudly.

"Finished, no anomalies," Si Nanlong announced after the scan. "By the way, a herd of Twisted Horn Sheep is approaching from the east. Should we avoid them or engage?"

"Let's avoid them. No need to waste time on minor characters."

"Okay. I'll keep my wide-area detection field active from now on to minimize meaningless combat."

Hearing this, I couldn't help but ask Rui Xin, "If you can avoid them, why didn't you do it from the beginning?"

"The Demonic Beasts on the first stretch were relatively low-level and very dense. Even if we knew their locations, we would have run into another group after avoiding one. So, detecting their positions was pointless. But from now on, the Demonic Beasts' strength will significantly increase, and their density will decrease. Avoiding combat as much as possible is the best strategy."

"Yoshi, I see."

"What does 'Yoshi' mean?"

"...Never mind."

☆*:.｡.

o(≧▽≦)o

Sigh

.｡.:･゜ﾟ･

A fierce beast was running at full speed. It had a lion-like body and bone armor as white as bone. Its ferocious mouth was filled with sharp teeth. This beast was none other than a Bone Armor Lion! The Bone Armor Lion charged forward like a cannonball, roaring as it lunged at the woman in front of it. The woman's slender figure seemed no match for its claws, yet--

"Noisy!"

Si Nan Yuan threw a punch. The moment her fist reached the Bone Armor Lion, a blast of air erupted. The Bone Armor Lion was hit as if by a heavy hammer, its face caved in, and it was sent flying backward!

"The straggler has been dealt with. You can continue."

Si Nan Ying and Elder Hong stood side-by-side. About fifty meters in front of them was a large, pale yellow light barrier. On the other side of the barrier were four or five Bone Armor Lions. They were all baring their teeth and claws, scratching and clawing at the barrier, even shooting bone darts, but they couldn't inflict any damage.

"Are you ready?" Elder Hong asked.

"Yes!"

Elder Hong waved his hand, and a small gap opened in the light barrier. A Bone Armor Lion eagerly squeezed through the opening and charged forward!

"Feel the Supernatural Ability, become one with it!"

"Yes!" As she spoke, Si Nan Ying raised her hand, and a bubble emerged from her palm, flying rapidly towards the Bone Armor Lion. With a crisp pop, a piece of the Bone Armor Lion's head armor was blown apart, but there was no other effect.

"The power is too weak, again!"

Si Nan Ying quickly launched another one. Watching the small bubble fly forward at a leisurely pace, Elder Hong had a bad premonition...

"You idiot!"

Elder Hong waved his hand, and a small light barrier appeared in front of them. At the same time, the bubble collided head-on with the Bone Armor Lion.

Rumble---- With an astonishing roar, the bubble exploded, and an incredible shockwave spread out. Dust billowed into the sky, and even the ground trembled! After the smoke and dust cleared, the Bone Armor Lion--no, not just the Bone Armor Lion, but a crater with a radius of fifteen meters and a depth of three meters had appeared, centered on the explosion point! As for the unfortunate Bone Armor Lion, there wasn't even a speck of it left...

"Hiss!" Several guard team members gasped. Si Nan Yuan shook her head helplessly, while Elder Hong's face turned ashen.

"...Little Ying, I expect an explanation."

"Uh, I'm sorry, I didn't control the power well..."

"I heard you pat your chest and promise you could control it before I agreed to train with you! You call this controlling it!?"

"But, looking purely at destructive power, it is indeed very strong..."

"Uncontrollable power is no different from weakness! That's enough for today. Go reflect on this!"

"...Sigh."

Si Nan Ying sat listlessly on the ground, boredly watching the guard team members clear out the remaining Bone Armor Lions, each displaying their own Supernatural Abilities to take down the Demonic Beasts.

It's so nice to be able to use my Supernatural Ability freely...

Why is mine so hard to control?

That's right, Si Nan Ying's Supernatural Ability was a top contender within the entire Si Nan Family in terms of sheer destructive power. But what truly made this ability terrifying wasn't the destructive force of the exploding bubbles, but the Spiritual Energy it consumed! An attack that could destroy a small building might leave other ability users unable to stand, yet Si Nan Ying only felt "a little strained" after launching a bubble capable of leveling a small building. The efficiency was terrifyingly high.

However, in contrast, the control difficulty of her Supernatural Ability was astonishingly high. If the destructive power of the bubbles were divided into ten levels, with level one causing unconsciousness, level two causing disability, and level ten capable of collapsing a fortified skyscraper, Si Nan Ying happened to be in a very awkward position. The bubbles she launched either had a destructive power of level two or lower, or level eight or higher, with no middle ground. Levels one and two were fine against ordinary people, but at a disadvantage against physical enhancement types like the bald man they encountered earlier. Level eight was too high, a large-area, high-damage attack that was extremely prone to harming herself in combat. So, in the end, Si Nan Ying's Supernatural Ability was… it was hard to say whether it was strong or weak.