Chapter 66: Terrifying Exotic Beast, Heart Pounding Wildly!

He sent the scout straw figure out, and Zhao Xing looked at the lingzhi he had just obtained.

"A lower-grade spiritual essence — I wonder if it adds lifespan or primal energy."

Spiritual qi wafted a faint fragrance; he tried a bite, and quickly learned the lingzhi's name and effect.

【You have consumed the lower-grade spiritual essence 'Purple Lightning Lingzhi'. Lifespan +2 months, primal energy +100, Thunder Art proficiency +150.】

"Hm? Why did it also add Thunder Art insight?" Zhao Xing felt a current of electricity wandering through his body.

After taking a bite, he discovered that this Purple Lightning Lingzhi added lifespan, primal energy, and Thunder Art insight.

"Looks like this lingzhi isn't far from a middle-grade spiritual essence. Given a little more time, it might truly enter the middle grade."

As for why it added Thunder Art insight, that wasn't random.

Zhao Xing had observed that the rotten log had been split by a lightning strike.

A Purple Lightning Lingzhi that grew from a lightning-struck log would naturally add insight related to Thunder Art.

After eating the entire lingzhi, Zhao Xing glanced at his panel.

【Name: Zhao Xing】

【Realm: Unranked】

【Fortune: Derivation Two】

【Gathering Yuan: Sixth Tier (1156/10000)】

【Extra Lifespan: 35 years】

【Spell: Basic Cultivation (Max Level)】

【Thunder Strike (Beginner): Seven Revolutions (7784/9999)】

【Lightning Draw (Intermediate): One Revolution (1955/9999)】

After fully consuming the Purple Lightning Lingzhi, he gained 2 years of lifespan, nearly a thousand points of primal energy, and over seven hundred points of Thunder Art insight.

Because the gain was in Thunder Art insight, both 【Thunder Strike】 and 【Lightning Draw】 benefited from it.

Thunder Strike was close to its eighth revolution, and Lightning Draw was nearly at its second revolution.

"Only two years of lifespan added, but it's still a pleasant surprise."

Defeating Qin Feng was basically free pickings anyway — whatever extra gains are a bonus.

"Thump~"

His heart suddenly pounded.

After reaching Gathering Yuan Sixth Tier, absorbing the lingzhi took only a quarter of an hour.

Zhao Xing noticed the scout straw figure was already approaching the cave entrance.

"Seems like nothing unusual — could that fierce beast have gone out?"

Controlling the straw figure to look left and right, he found no sign of the beast, and Zhao Xing's courage grew a little.

"Whoosh~"

The straw figure dropped the pretense and rushed quickly into the cave entrance.

Because the scout straw figure did not inherit Zhao Xing's Bright Pupil spell, once it rushed inside the cave, its vision suddenly darkened.

"Using a first-tier East Lake Pearl as an eye still isn't quite enough — in a complex environment like this, it can't cope."

"Next time I'll consider using a Night-Luminescent Pearl, or some other treasure that grants dark vision."

Fortunately, the cave was fairly large and the lighting was passable, so he could still barely see.

The cave interior was not damp, and it was well-ventilated.

The straw figure had only crept in five meters when, due to the reduced vision, it stepped on a dry branch, producing a crack.

Zhao Xing controlled the straw figure to look down, and only then realized that what lay beneath its feet was not a dry branch at all, but an arm-thick bone!

"This cave is plenty deep."

Zhao Xing pressed on, advancing another ten or so meters without incident, only to find he still couldn't see the end. Inside it was pitch-black, the slope descended, and the cave's height kept growing, exceeding seven or eight meters.

"This cave is way too big — what kind of fierce beast lives here?"

A cave this large inevitably made one think about the beast's size.

Moreover, the bones on the ground were growing larger as well.

At first, they looked like the bones of small rabbits, wild chickens, and the like.

But gradually, the bones of large fierce beasts began to appear.

Once the scout straw figure had gone twenty meters in, it actually spotted ahead a relatively intact skeleton over five meters tall!

"What species is this? Could the dead one have been a ranked exotic beast?"

With no skull and many ribs missing, Zhao Xing could only judge that this should be a ranked exotic beast.

It might even be beyond ninth rank!

"East Lake Mountain has bred powerful ranked exotic beasts, but few people have ever seen one alive. Generally, after the mountain opens at the Autumn Equinox, the authorities deal with them."

"Could a ranked exotic beast actually live here?"

Zhao Xing grew increasingly cautious, carefully controlling the scout straw figure through the skeleton.

At that moment, a flash of light passed through the East Lake Pearl, and the view fed back by the scout straw figure suddenly brightened somewhat.

Two sources of light appeared ahead.

The moment he saw the glow, the intensity of Zhao Xing's sudden premonition instantly doubled.

"Could it be an upper-grade spiritual essence?"

He immediately controlled the scout straw figure to rush over, intending to grab it and run.

But those two lights flashed and vanished, darting toward the scout straw figure like lightning.

"Hum~"

The next moment, Zhao Xing lost contact with the scout straw man.

Immediately after, a faint roar came from within the cave.

"Good lord, mistook the strange beast's eyes for spiritual marvels." Zhao Xing realized belatedly.

What he'd seen earlier wasn't any treasure at all — most likely the strange beast's eyes.

It moved so fast that the scout straw man had no time to react; before it could even see what was happening, it was destroyed.

"If a ranked strange beast is guarding this place, that's going to be very difficult."

"What's more, right now I don't even know what this strange beast looks like or what realm it's in." Zhao Xing pondered.

Zhou Gang and Fang Jie had indeed given him a surprise, but the surprise was too big — he didn't yet know if he could handle it.

"Scout again!"

This time Zhao Xing sent three Great Strength Vajras, five Binding Straw Men, and one scout straw man into the cave.

The three Great Strength Vajras and five Binding Straw Men were only there to cover the scout straw man's observation.

The second exploration's goal was to confirm the strange beast's species and strength — no need to be sneaky about it.

ottkano￠o

He simply had the straw men charge over brazenly.

Zhao Xing leapt onto a high branch, facing the cave directly, watching from afar.

The straw man squad had just entered the cave.

"Shaslashashasha~"

A blurry black shadow appeared, nearly as fast as lightning.

Within Zhao Xing's field of vision, he couldn't make out the strange beast's movements at all.

He only observed the straw men leading the charge in front.

The seven-turn Great Strength Vajra at the very front was sliced clean in half at the waist in a single encounter.

The Binding Straw Men need not be mentioned — they were completely pulverized.

In the end, the scout straw man only saw a blurry phantom and two balls of ghostly light.

"Buzz~"

The vision cut out again.

A furious roar came from within the cave.

Zhou Gang and Fang Jie, who were healing from their injuries, heard it and their hearts trembled; their hearts pounded wildly, and they broke out in a cold sweat all over.

Zhao Xing also felt his heart seized as if gripped, unable to calm down.

"It's definitely a strange beast that has entered the ranked realm — either above ninth-rank, or a naturally aberrant species with a powerful bloodline."

Even without seeing it yet, Zhao Xing understood the terror of the mysterious strange beast within the cave.

"A large body, and that fast?"

"A strange beast's strength is generally tied to the treasure it guards — inside there must be a top-grade spiritual marvel." Zhao Xing's eyes grew somewhat fervent.

Fortune spiritual marvels were something he deeply craved as well. The benefits his two strands of derived fortune brought were already considerable — the Calamity-Averting Almanac's warnings were more precise, he held greater advantage in magical combat, and even when he entered the spirit mountain and stayed at its foot to farm, he could still stumble upon vermilion fruits!

"Such a massive strange beast will have to come out to forage. It's just dawn now — it's been through the night, so it should come out to look for food in the morning too. Perhaps I can use the straw men to lure the tiger away from its mountain." Zhao Xing's eyes rolled as he began scheming in his heart.