In the distance, Ah Yin watched the battlefield with a deathly pale face.
Though she had taken human form, she had once been a Spirit Beast herself. Spirit Hall had even hunted her.
She understood all too well how helpless Spirit Beasts felt when they encountered Soul Masters.
Watching Chu Xiu and Shui Bing'er kill Luo Sanpao together, she couldn't help feeling a pang of grief for one of her own.
"Hey."
Chu Xiu appeared before her without her noticing. Covered in blood, he looked down at her. "That's how this world works. The strong prey on the weak, and everyone's trying to survive."
"You're human now. If you want others to accept you, you have to accept yourself first."
Ah Yin managed a bitter smile. "I understand."
The strong preyed on the weak. That was true everywhere.
It was the most undeniable truth of all.
Big fish ate little fish, and little fish ate shrimp.
Spirit Beasts hunted one another too.
In the end, it wasn't Soul Masters or stronger Spirit Beasts that killed them.
It was their own weakness.
Once she understood that, Ah Yin grew even more determined to follow Chu Xiu. She had to become part of this group and build friendships with everyone as they struggled to survive.
Only then, once they left this place,
would more people be willing to help her when she faced danger.
If we become friends, Qian Renxue and Spirit Hall won't hunt me anymore, right? Ah Yin thought naively.
Whether Qian Renxue would kill her was uncertain, but Bibi Dong of Spirit Hall would never spare her just because she was friends with Qian Renxue.
Of course, with Chu Xiu around,
there was no telling whether he would even let her leave the Deserted Island.
Luo Sanpao had died in the Spring Pool. The water wasn't deep, but its body was a meter and a half long and just as wide. It had to weigh several hundred pounds.
Chu Xiu and Shui Bing'er couldn't lift it even together, so they had no choice but to butcher it in the water.
"Chu Xiu, look! It has a Core too, just like we thought."
Shui Bing'er fished a sphere shrouded in orange mist out of the water.
[Mutated Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Core] Age: 40 years Mutation: Orange Glow Effects: Consuming it grants the Mutated Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Bloodline talent, Numbing Stink Bomb, Soul Power Detection, and Sacred Dragon Pressure (inactive).
The first two abilities were easy to understand.
But the third, Sacred Dragon Pressure (inactive), was intriguing.
Could the condition for activating it be that Golden Sacred Dragon Martial Soul Fusion Skill?
Chu Xiu thought of Yu Xiaogang, Flender, and Liu Erlong: the Golden Iron Triangle.
Together, the three could perform an incredibly powerful Martial Soul Fusion Skill and summon the Golden Sacred Dragon, one of the dragon race's strongest fighters.
Chu Xiu already had the Owl's bloodline talent.
If he ate Luo Sanpao's Core too, all he needed was to find a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, kill it, and eat its Core.
Wouldn't that awaken the Golden Sacred Dragon Bloodline?
He wondered which was stronger: the Golden Sacred Dragon Bloodline or the Golden Dragon King Bloodline.
Or perhaps the two were connected somehow.
"Chu Xiu, what are you waiting for? Eat it already," Shui Bing'er urged from beside him.
Chu Xiu looked at her. "Don't you want it? You did a lot to help hunt this Spirit Beast."
Shui Bing'er smiled. "Oh, it doesn't matter."
"Our resources are limited right now. Strengthening you first will help us more than spreading those gains across several people."
For both personal and practical reasons, Shui Bing'er wanted Chu Xiu to eat the Core.
"All right. Then I won't hold back."
Chu Xiu swallowed the Core in one gulp.
This time, his body's reaction was faint, but he could clearly sense that something had changed.
"This Core gave me two abilities."
"The first is Numbing Stink Bomb. Just like Luo Sanpao, I can release a fart that causes hallucinations and paralysis."
"The second is Soul Power Detection. It lets me roughly sense a target's Soul Power. I suppose it's a weaker version of Ah Yin's ability."
Chu Xiu explained the Core's effects to Shui Bing'er and Ah Yin.
With Numbing Stink Bomb, he could control other Spirit Beasts more effectively while concealed. After all, the gas had to be inhaled to work, and under normal circumstances, it was easy to dodge.
"It's getting late. Leave the carcass for now and let's wash up."
Chu Xiu glanced at the sky. If they waited much longer, it would be dark by the time they got back.
There were still people waiting for them on the beach, and Chu Xiu didn't want anyone worrying about him.
"But the pool's full of blood," Shui Bing'er said.
She looked at the Spring Pool beside them. It had turned crimson with Luo Sanpao's blood.
Fortunately, the water flowed through the pool. Given enough time, it would turn clear again.
"Let's go upstream. We can scoop up water with our hands. It'll just be a little more trouble."
Chu Xiu led the way.
They reached the place where they had hunted the Owl earlier. The ground there was relatively flat, and the stream was a little wider.
"Come on, stop dawdling. It'll be dark soon."
Chu Xiu beckoned to Shui Bing'er and Ah Yin, then casually untied the leaves around his waist.
Shui Bing'er blushed. "Why don't you two wash first? I'll keep watch."
She had barely turned to leave when Chu Xiu caught her wrist and pulled her back.
"What are you fussing about? With Ah Yin here, why would we need you to keep watch? There aren't any outsiders around, and we'll need to scrub each other's backs in a minute."
As he spoke, Chu Xiu pulled off Shui Bing'er's leaves too.
Seeing that even Shui Bing'er had given in, Ah Yin was still less willing to go against Chu Xiu.
They helped one another and finished washing quickly.
Ten minutes later.
The three returned to the Spring Pool. This time, instead of carrying Luo Sanpao's whole carcass back, they cut off a few pieces of meat to take with them.
They were moving to the foot of the mountain tomorrow anyway. They could leave most of the meat here and come back to eat it then.
By the time they returned to the beach, it was completely dark.
Qian Renxue sat beside the campfire, while Ning Rongrong paced back and forth at the edge of the woods.
When she heard footsteps rustling through the trees, Ning Rongrong called out in delight, "Chu Xiu, is that you?"
"It's me."
Chu Xiu emerged from the darkness of the woods.
Shui Bing'er and Ah Yin followed close behind him.
Ning Rongrong's eyes widened when she saw the large piece of meat in Chu Xiu's hand. "Where did you get that? Is it pork? Did you find a way out?"
"Silly."
Chu Xiu lightly flicked her forehead and smiled. "Who says we have to get out to find meat? We just hunted a pig-type Spirit Beast."
"A pig-type Spirit Beast?"
Ning Rongrong didn't believe him. "But this meat is so pink and tender. Wild boar-type Spirit Beasts have tough, thick meat, and it's dark all over."
"This doesn't look anything like that."
Chu Xiu laughed.
"You'll understand when you see it tomorrow."
Ning Rongrong knew Grandmaster, so she had probably seen Yu Xiaogang's Martial Soul, Luo Sanpao, too.
He wondered what her face would look like when she reached the foot of the mountain tomorrow and saw Luo Sanpao's carcass.
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