Ning Rongrong's Bond Value Soars, the Owl Core

A wicked smile tugged at Chu Xiu's lips. "Hey, could you stop scrubbing? You're about to rub my skin off."

Ning Rongrong rose, her cheeks red. "If you're clean, hurry up and get out."

"Who said I was clean?"

Chu Xiu looked baffled. "Don't you wash your legs when you bathe?"

Ning Rongrong's face reddened further. She stared hard at him, trying to read his expression.

But Chu Xiu had a thick skin. He said it with such a straight face that she couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"Come on, are you going to wash them or not? If not, I'll call Shui Bing'er over."

Chu Xiu urged her impatiently.

Ning Rongrong looked reluctant, but Chu Xiu knew she was looking forward to it too.

She just needed a respectable excuse.

Sure enough, the moment Chu Xiu threatened to call Shui Bing'er, Ning Rongrong "gave in."

"Don't call her. I'll do it."

Ning Rongrong spoke through gritted teeth.

Unfortunately, her acting was mediocre. She couldn't hide the anticipation in her eyes.

[Ning Rongrong's feelings for you have deepened. Bond Value +5]

[Ning Rongrong's feelings for you have deepened. Bond Value +5]

[Ning Rongrong's feelings for you have deepened. Bond Value +10]

[Current Bond Value: 75.]

A dozen or so minutes later, Chu Xiu and Ning Rongrong returned to the Spirit Rice field.

Chu Xiu was now scrubbed clean. Ning Rongrong nestled against his side, her cheeks flushed.

"You pervert. Touch me like that again, and I'll chop your paws off."

Ning Rongrong gave a little huff.

Whether she meant it for Chu Xiu or as a warning to Shui Bing'er was anyone's guess.

But her words didn't faze Shui Bing'er. She merely smiled, shook her head, and continued piling up the rice she had cut.

That reaction left Ning Rongrong confused. Had she been imagining a rival? Perhaps Bing'er hadn't offered to wash Chu Xiu because she liked him.

Perhaps, as she'd said, she had only been worried that his injury would make it difficult for him.

They finished harvesting the Spirit Rice and tied it into two large bundles.

Chu Xiu and Ning Rongrong each shouldered a bundle, while Shui Bing'er carried the heavier owl.

They still hadn't found any Firestone, but this was their most productive day since their struggle to survive began.

Especially for Chu Xiu.

Ning Rongrong had firmly refused him at the crucial moment, but their Bond Value had reached 75. His Bond Value with Shui Bing'er had climbed to 80.

At this rate, he might gain his first two Spirit Rings in just a few days.

On the beach, in front of the grass tent.

They had no snake head today, so there was no bait for catching shrimp or crabs. Qian Renxue had an easy day: she only needed to gather straw and collect the salt left behind by evaporated seawater.

When she saw the three return laden with food, even Qian Renxue's usually unruffled face showed surprise.

"Where did you find so much rice? And... is that an owl Spirit Beast?"

Qian Renxue stared at the owl on Shui Bing'er's back in astonishment.

Its size alone told her it was at least ten thousand years old.

Spirit Beasts might also be unable to use their innate abilities in this strange place, but the sheer physical strength of a ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast was still beyond what three ordinary people could handle.

Had they found another corpse?

Qian Renxue could think of no other explanation.

Then she noticed a two-finger-wide wound that went straight through Chu Xiu's chest. He had clearly been through a fight for his life.

"What happened? How did you get hurt?"

Qian Renxue looked tense.

She hadn't developed feelings for Chu Xiu as Shui Bing'er and Ning Rongrong had, but they were all trying to survive together. An injury to Chu Xiu put the whole group in danger.

"Hmph!"

Ning Rongrong tipped up her chin. "Someone was so brave at the Continental Soul Master Tournament, but when it came to a real life-or-death fight, she froze."

Shui Bing'er blushed.

She had thought she was a genius too. Only after Chu Xiu saved her from the owl's talons did she realize it wasn't her own excellence that had given her such confidence. It was her top-tier martial soul.

Without her martial soul or Soul Power, her reactions were no different from an ordinary girl's.

"I'm sorry. It was my fault. I overestimated myself."

Shui Bing'er didn't shirk responsibility. She was simply grateful Chu Xiu had survived.

Qian Renxue nodded. "An apology won't undo it. What matters is that you recognize your limits and don't make the same mistake again."

Then her tone changed. She turned a cold smile on Ning Rongrong.

"Unlike someone who nearly died from snake venom, learned nothing from it, and still has the nerve to mock others."

She might as well have pointed a finger in Ning Rongrong's face.

But Qian Renxue was right. The last incident had been entirely Ning Rongrong's own mistake. She could only swallow the humiliation.

"We'll see. I'd like to see you go the rest of your life without making a mistake."

Ning Rongrong snorted and flung the bundle of Spirit Rice from her shoulder onto the sand.

Chu Xiu dropped his bundle beside it. "You and Rongrong spread out the Spirit Rice. Rub the grains off the stalks and dry them in the sun. They'll keep longer that way."

"Bing'er and I will go over there and butcher the owl."

Shui Bing'er nodded and followed Chu Xiu to the water's edge.

Using the Bone Dagger, Chu Xiu struggled for a long time before he managed to cut the owl's carcass into several pieces.

The owl was huge and had plenty of meat. Without a fire, there was no way the four of them could eat it all anytime soon.

Fortunately, Chu Xiu had dried plenty of salt from seawater over the past two days. They could salt the leftover owl meat, and it would keep for months.

Chu Xiu prepared the meat while Shui Bing'er washed the owl's organs in seawater nearby.

"Huh? Chu Xiu, come look at this!"

Shui Bing'er suddenly raised a hand and called to him.

In her palm lay a bronze-colored bead the size of a fingernail.

The moment Chu Xiu looked at it, a notification appeared.

[Owl Core]

Age: 13,000 years

Mutation: Bronze

Effect: Consuming it grants the owl's bloodline abilities: Extreme Long-Distance Vision and Sound Wave Perception.

"It's a Core?!"

Chu Xiu was thrilled.

Shui Bing'er looked bewildered. "What's a Core?"

He couldn't blame her for not knowing. Cores were exceedingly rare; most Spirit Beasts never produced one.

"Cores generally come from Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts. But the owl we killed was clearly only ten thousand years old. It wasn't descended from an Ancient Divine Beast, and it didn't have a special mutated bloodline."

Chu Xiu's expression grew grave.

There were plenty of Spirit Beasts with mutated bloodlines, but only a tiny fraction produced Cores.

And nothing about this owl's appearance or abilities suggested a mutation.

It certainly wasn't descended from an Ancient Divine Beast.

That left only one possibility.

Plants weren't the only things that changed here. Perhaps every Spirit Beast in this place had a Core inside it.