"Tread..."
Shen Heng stopped slowly, his gaze falling on the crystal tightly held between the claws of the Swooping Wing Bat.
He glanced at Wang Hu, who seemed to be about to dissipate his Beast Transformation form, and said, "Could you fetch this for me?"
Wang Hu paused, glanced at Shen Heng, and without saying much, deftly pried open the stiff claws of the Swooping Wing Bat, took out the crystal, and threw it onto the open ground in front of everyone with a "bang".
After doing all this, his enormous body began to slowly shrink back to human form.
A smile involuntarily spread across his face, his expression carrying a hint of post-battle satisfaction.
He did seem to be enjoying the fight... Shen Heng's gaze lingered on Wang Hu for a moment before shifting away.
He generally doesn't like fighting unless absolutely necessary.
Shen Heng turned his gaze to the crystal and began to examine it carefully.
Unlike the refined and exquisite Origin Crystal, which can be held in one hand several times, it is different.
This crystal is enormous, over a meter tall, and has a pale, icy blue color.
The interior of the crystal is not transparent, but is covered with fine frost-like patterns and cloud-like veins.
"I say, what exactly is this thing?" Zhou Xuan walked over, raised his hand and tapped it, but apart from the "clanging" sound that came back, there was no other reaction.
"A variant of some kind of Origin Crystal?" Wang Hu walked over as well, crossing his arms and examining it closely.
" Origin Crystal? You mean what we just stumbled upon was a Origin Crystal mine?" Zhou Xuan's eyes lit up.
"No, that's just my guess," Wang Hu said in a deep voice, arms crossed.
But Zhou Xuan didn't care much anymore. He quickly raised his hand and covered the crystal, carefully sensing it.
But soon, his brow furrowed. "No, there is indeed energy flowing inside, but it's not Origin Power."
"What does it feel like to be perceived?" Shen Heng also walked to the crystal.
"Hmm... a bit cold, a bit Corrosion, and a bit..." Zhou Xuan paused, as if trying to find the right word to describe it.
At this moment, Shen Heng raised his hand and placed it on the crystal.
It felt slightly cool to the touch, then, as Zhou Xuan said, it had a certain Corrosion, and finally...
"... It seems a bit heavy, like it could weigh down anything." Zhou Xuan finally figured out how to describe it.
Shen Heng nodded slightly and raised his hand.
He glanced at Han Ling and Qin Yu, gesturing for them to also sense it, before stepping aside.
His gaze slowly swept over the surroundings: the cold environment, the black snow in the sky, and the hard ground.
Cold, Corrosion, heavy... these seem to correspond to several properties found in the Plateau Erosion Zone?... Shen Heng gazed thoughtfully around, wondering if these were unique products of the Plateau Erosion Zone.
"So, does anyone know what this is for?" Zhou Xuan asked.
He looked around at everyone, but they were all just staring at the crystal, some deep in thought, some frowning, and no one responded.
Clearly, they didn't know.
"Hey, why do we seem like country bumpkins?" Zhou Xuan suddenly laughed.
Shen Heng glanced at Zhou Xuan but didn't respond. He didn't expect anyone to...
"I'm from the city!"
Shen Heng was slightly taken aback and looked up at Wang Hu, who had just replied.
Zhou Xuan, standing nearby, was also slightly taken aback; clearly, he hadn't expected anyone to reply.
He looked at Wang Hu, hesitated for a moment, and said:
"Okay, then I guess you're a city bumpkin."
Wang Hu nodded slightly and looked away.
Shen Heng's lips twitched slightly as he said:
"Alright, take it back and let the Research Department study it. Even Shennong had to taste hundreds of herbs to know their effects, let alone us."
Everyone nodded slightly upon hearing this.
"How are we going to carry it? It's so big!" Zhou Xuan said, looking at the Swooping Wing Bat he had just killed lying beside him.
"And these materials! Hmm... why hasn't headquarters developed those storage bags or rings like in novels? That way, even if we kill the Calamity Beast when we go out, we won't be able to take much with us, right?"
Shen Heng glanced sideways at the corpse of the Swooping Wing Bat, ignoring Zhou Xuan's complaints, and said:
"Take the Origin Crystal, then remove any potentially useful materials from the Swooping Wing Bat, and discard the rest!"
"That's still a lot! Does everyone have to carry some?" Zhou Xuan asked, somewhat troubled.
Even though they only took what was useful, the size of the Swooping Wing Bat was still a bit too much for everyone.
"Don't you have Yin Soldiers?" Shen Heng looked at Zhou Xuan, "Let the Yin Soldiers help move it!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuan was slightly taken aback, then his eyes quickly lit up.
That makes sense!
He hadn't really thought of that before. After all, in the past, the corpses of Calamity Beast were always handled by designated people, and they never had to worry about it.
Just as everyone was about to begin dismembering the Swooping Wing Bat's carcass, Shen Heng suddenly stopped and turned to look in the direction they had come from.
Angry roars and the sound of air being torn apart were rapidly approaching.
This speed... Shen Heng's face darkened.
"What's wrong?" Han Ling was the first to notice his unusual behavior.
Turning his gaze away, Shen Heng's eyes narrowed slightly as he said, "That Fifth Tier Calamity Beast from underground has emerged and is heading this way."
Upon hearing this, everyone's expression turned serious.
Zhou Xuan's eyes widened slightly. "No, this... why?"
No one replied, and no one knew the answer.
"There's no time for discussion. Abandon all other materials, take only the Origin Crystal, and then we'll leave immediately with this crystal!" Shen Heng said abruptly, turning his head.
No one questioned the decision.
Shen Heng strode up to the head of the Swooping Wing Bat, drew his longsword, and thrust it towards the Swooping Wing Bat's head, the blade covered in Origin Power.
With a "sizzle" sound, the Swooping Wing Bat's head split open.
Shen Heng skillfully took out a palm-sized Origin Crystal from it, then turned to look at the group.
Zhou Xuan had already summoned the Yin Soldiers and was holding the Origin Crystal, while the others stood aside with slightly solemn expressions.
Without further ado, Shen Heng said directly:
"Walk!"
After speaking, Shen Heng glanced one last time in the direction from which the sound of wind breaking came, and then immediately moved to the side.
More than ten minutes after everyone left, a figure suddenly stopped in mid-air above the valley.
It was a colossal beast covered in black and blue interwoven Scalearmor, with wings on its back and a head like a lion or tiger.
On its enormous head, a pair of vertical pupils, like molten gold, gleamed coldly between the Scalearmor, and a dark blue diamond-shaped inverted triangle was embedded in its forehead.
It flapped its wings, its gaze quickly sweeping across the valley below.
Ignoring the fallen Swooping Wing Bat, the lion-tiger-like Calamity Beast kept scanning the surroundings, seemingly searching for something.
Time flowed swiftly, and anger rapidly gathered in those molten gold-like vertical pupils.
A moment later, seemingly realizing that the item was no longer there, an angry roar erupted from the mouth of the lion-like Calamity Beast.
It rapidly twisted and scanned its surroundings, the azure crystal emitting a faint glow during the process.
A moment later, the lion-like Calamity Beast suddenly turned their heads and looked in one direction.
Its body paused for a moment, then with a flap of its wings, it suddenly flew straight towards that direction.