Yi Clan, Yi You

"Clack..." Trial... passed... Soul Vine...

Yi You was thoroughly bewildered, but the Gravekeeper Spirit Skeleton was not confused in the slightest. Its greatsword came down viciously upon an exploded, empty grave mound.

A section of vine, wreathed in faint emerald-green flames like soul fire, was shaken loose.

The Soul Vine resembled the demonic vines parasitizing the Withered-Bone Demon Corpses, yet compared to their eerie wickedness, it appeared far more mystical and divine.

"Soul Vine..." A shrill, astonished cry rang out.

Yi You was no longer confused. His spirits surged, and almost instinctively, he erupted with blood and qi as he charged straight toward the Soul Vine.

The aura of a seventh-refinement martial artist burst forth without restraint.

Su Bo froze for a moment. The fool who had just been standing dumbly before him actually dared to snatch food from the tiger's mouth in the Gravekeeper Spirit Skeleton's grasp.

Brave. Extremely brave. Bravery worthy of praise.

But wasn't a seventh-refinement martial artist just a little too weak?

The blood and qi he erupted with were probably only a little stronger than Su Bo's current strength, perhaps by the gap of one refinement.

It felt like once he broke through to the fifth refinement, he would most likely be able to crush this Yi Clan prodigy.

Sure enough...

The speed at which Yi You flew back was probably more than twice the speed at which he had rushed out. He smashed through dozens of gravestones before plunging into the depths of the dark forest.

The Gravekeeper Spirit Skeleton slowly withdrew its greatsword, not even glancing at the Yi You it had sent flying.

If not for the rules preventing it from killing Yi You, that strike would have cleaved him in two.

"Clack~" Soul Vine... yours...

Within the Gravekeeper Spirit Skeleton's hollow eye sockets, its flickering soul fire trembled. For the first time, its fluctuating spiritual power carried emotion.

It made no attempt to hide the reluctance and heartache within those mental ripples.

Su Bo did not stand on ceremony. Anything that could make the Gravekeeper Spirit Skeleton feel such pain had to be good stuff, at the very least better than the soul fire of the Withered-Bone Demon Corpses.

"How do I use it?" Su Bo asked.

"Clack..." Eat...

"All right..."

"No~"

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey... Ptooey, ptooey..." Yi You struggled to his feet, spitting out mud and weeds from his mouth. "What a waste... ptooey, ptooey, what a... ptooey, what a waste, ptooey..."

"Just eating it directly... ptooey, what a waste, ptooey, ptooey. Eight or nine tenths of its medicinal potency will be wasted."

Yi You limped over. As he passed the Gravekeeper Spirit Skeleton, he gave it a wide berth, terrified of being swatted away by another sword strike.

That strike just now had been terrifying.

Fast, ruthless, and precise. It had given him no time to react before sending him flying.

Fortunately, it had struck him with the flat of the blade rather than slashing across with its edge. Otherwise, this day next year would have been the death anniversary of Yi You, prodigy of the Yi Clan.

After circling around the Gravekeeper Spirit Skeleton, Yi You came before Su Bo.

Then he stared fixedly at the Soul Vine in Su Bo's hand, making no effort to hide how badly he wanted it.

"Brother... cough, Brother Su, that Soul Vine of yours..." Yi You's face reddened.

"Are you selling it? If you are, the price is negotiable."

Su Bo studied the kid before him with amusement. He had been thrown onto Beast Planet for nearly a month, and this was the first time he had encountered another human.

Well, one of the other branches of humanity, anyway.

Looking at Yi You's flushed face and embarrassed expression,

he looked like someone who desperately wanted the Soul Vine in Su Bo's hand but knew it was inappropriate to ask. After all, it was someone else's trial reward.

That awkward feeling of wanting it badly while being unable to get past his own conscience

made Su Bo want to laugh. Especially when he saw Yi You's reddened face, along with the bruised eye socket Su Bo had given him with that punch, which made him hiss in pain from time to time.

"Pfft... Hahaha~" Su Bo truly could not hold it in anymore.

Yi You: ...Dude, was that polite?

"Cough, cough..." Feeling rather awkward under Yi You's stare, Su Bo stopped laughing and raised the Soul Vine in his hand. "If I don't eat this thing directly, what else can I do with it?"

"Refine it into medicine or cook it into a martial meal!" Yi You's eyes blazed.

"Are you kidding me?" Su Bo rolled his eyes and pointed at their surroundings. "Does this look like a place where we can refine medicine or cook martial meals?"

"Medicine refining needs a cauldron, right?"

"Martial meals need a pot, right?"

"Does this place look like somewhere we can brew medicine or cook martial meals?"

"Besides, look at the two of us. Do you look like an alchemist, or do I look like a martial chef?"

Boom!!!

The moment Su Bo finished speaking,

a massive cauldron-pot crashed onto the ground. Yi You's face was bright red. "Dude, I'm an alchemist! I really am an alchemist!"

"Members of the Yi Clan, the divine archer Yi Clan, must learn alchemy from childhood!"

"I've prepared all the supplementary ingredients..." Yi You's cool persona completely crumbled. His pale golden eyes sparkled as he looked over with nothing but yearning and desire.

Su Bo looked at Yi You in astonishment, then at the enormous vessel that resembled both a cauldron and a pot.

After hesitating for a moment, he asked strangely, "You've prepared everything..."

"Why not just beat a section of Soul Vine out of it yourself?"

"I can't beat it, and even if I could, I couldn't get another section of Soul Vine out of it." Yi You became somewhat dejected and looked toward the Gravekeeper Spirit Skeleton. "It definitely won't give out another section of Soul Vine."

"Clack..." Gone...

As if agreeing with him, the Gravekeeper Spirit Skeleton quietly retreated some distance.

Honestly, it had never expected Su Bo to pass the second round of the trial. On his own, he had crossed two refinements to kill nine demon corpses comparable to fourth-refinement martial artists.

It had already prepared to intervene and rescue Su Bo if he could no longer hold on.

Who could have known that this kid's strength would be so monstrously absurd?

His comprehension of more than ten percent of divine intent, his vast blood and qi, and even the trace of dragon blood within him had allowed him to hammer nine Withered-Bone Demon Corpses to death by force.

It had cost the skeleton a section of Soul Vine, nearly making its soul fire go extinct from heartache.

A Soul Vine only grew a thumb-length section every ten years. The section it had given away would take at least fifty years to grow back.

For the next ten years, it would not use Soul Vine as a trial reward again.

Even if those participating in the trial did not possess the strength to earn it.

As though resigning himself to his fate, Yi You said, "Besides, I can't beat it either..."

"According to the trial rules of the Soul-Spirit Burial Grounds, to obtain Soul Vine, one must cross a refinement and kill at least nine Withered-Bone Demon Corpses."

"With my strength..." Yi You pondered for a moment.

"If I went all out and disregarded the cost... I could probably fight six eighth-refinement Withered-Bone Demon Corpses to the death."

In other words, he could not win through his own strength, but if he used other methods, he could still obtain the Soul Vine reward.

Su Bo was no fool. It was not hard to hear the hidden meaning in the kid's words.

"Clack..." Trial, begin...

The Gravekeeper Spirit Skeleton urged him on. It had led Yi You into the Soul-Spirit Burial Grounds for a trial, not to let him chat here about alchemy and cooking.

Su Bo quietly took a few steps back. "Fine, you go do your trial first..."

"I'll study this thing for a while."

"Brother Su, don't eat it directly. It would be such a waste..." Yi You looked at the Soul Vine with deep reluctance.

In truth, he had a chance of obtaining Soul Vine as well.

The Yi Clan was, after all, one of the top hundred human clans in the Pan-Human Federation. They were not weak, nor did they lack foundations. They had certain unknown methods of their own.

If he were truly willing to pay the price and use some of his hidden trump cards, Yi You was confident he could seize a section of Soul Vine.

But he had been one step too late. Su Bo had already obtained the Soul Vine, so no matter how powerful his trump cards were, they would be useless now. He might as well try to curry favor with the other party.

Perhaps Su Bo would give him some Soul Vine after seeing his sincerity?

As for snatching it?

Forget it, forget it. Never mind whether he could win it by force.

Even if he could, it would go against his principles.