Chapter 167: White-eared Beast

In the coming time, Chen Shicheng cycled back and forth in the non-stop operation of using Universal Rainfall and picking Gardenia.

Although Granny Tattoo said picking one catty of Gardenia fruit was enough, considering the grade of Ao Blood, he still additionally stimulated dozens more catties, fearing it would not be enough when needed.

Of course, he also intended to pick extra for Granny Tattoo as a backup.

This Gardenia only has a few plants, and its fruit still ripens once a year; it is estimated to be relatively rare.

Picking extra also counts as giving back to Granny Tattoo; who let this kind old man be willing to change the task reward, which is also a form of repayment.

Just as he stimulated growth dozens of times and was about to collect fifty catties of fruit, a breaking-the-air sound suddenly rang behind his head, and Chen Shicheng turned his head and reached out without thinking.

"Pa."

He lowered his head to look at his hand; what flew in was actually a wild peach that had been bitten, which he grabbed firmly, turning it into a puddle of peach mush, sticky juice coating his hand.

Chen Shicheng's brows gradually furrowed; when the sound just rang, he noticed the incoming object's speed was not fast, so he hadn't paid attention.

And the fact was exactly as he thought: someone was using a peach to play a prank on him; could it be a mischievous child of the Huoyao Bu? But he scanned the surroundings and saw no sign of any child.

"Kid, turn around and look at your Gardenia; it's been stolen."

Hui Siye's teasing voice sounded in his heart, startling him greatly; he hurriedly turned his head to look at the maturing Gardenia.

Just as Hui Siye said, the Gardenia fruit had vanished, leaving only slightly trembling leaves, as if demonstrating against him.

"Huh???"

Chen Shicheng was astonished; how could someone steal something right under his eyelids? After he consumed a first-stage Golden Core and his level reached 15, his attributes had crushed the vast majority of players.

Therefore, even without using Divine Perception for detection, any slight movement within a certain radius around him could not escape his spiritual sense.

But this time was truly unexpected: not only was he hit with a thrown peach, but the culprit couldn't be found, and even something stolen from less than a meter behind him left him with no clue.

"Interesting!"

Chen Shicheng didn't expect to encounter blatant robbery in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains; mountain folk seemed unlikely, after all, having walked a circuit around the stronghold, besides the Fire Crow Clan Chief, no one was stronger than him.

Could it be some players with extraordinary skills, or perhaps some mountain sprites? He scanned the surroundings with Divine Perception but detected no living beings.

"No way? That fast? Or invisible?"

Chen Shicheng thought for a moment, then silently activated Universal Rainfall and stimulated growth on the Gardenia once more.

"Whoosh!"

Sure enough, at the moment the Gardenia fruit matured, a breaking-the-air sound rang again from behind.

This time Chen Shicheng did not turn his head; he merely shifted his body slightly to dodge the incoming stone, his gaze fixed on the surroundings of the Gardenia, his Divine Perception fully unfurled, and every stir of wind and grass within a radius of several tens of meters appeared in his mind.

"Here it comes!"

At the edge of Chen Shicheng's Divine Perception probe, a black humanoid figure flashed briefly; its speed was as fast as teleportation, likely teleportation itself!

He only saw a black silhouette; afterward the silhouette vanished, and when it reappeared it was already beside the Gardenia fruit, picking the fruit at a speed invisible to the naked eye, then vanishing once more.

The speed reached its extreme; even Divine Perception could not capture this person's specific appearance! Fortunately, at the critical moment, the Eye of Bai Ze identified this person's attributes.

【Lv. 15 White-eared Beast, Essence: 42, Qi: 18, Spirit: 15, Skills: Compress Earth to an Inch, Frenzy.】Actually not a person, but a beast? White-eared Beast?

Chen Shicheng had seen this name before; in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, it is a strange beast similar to an ape, with a pair of white ears, and eating its meat makes one walk well.

So he was being toyed with by a monkey?

Chen Shicheng speechlessly opened the Compress Earth to an Inch skill.

【Compress Earth to an Inch: When you take a step, you can ignore a certain distance of space and teleport to the next position; the distance varies with skill level and cultivation realm, allowing immortals to cover a thousand li in a single step.】

"Holy crap, good stuff!"

No one would have expected that a robber White-eared Beast actually possessed such a renowned skill, and it was unknown whether killing this White-eared Beast could drop it; Chen Shicheng immediately turned his gaze to a large tree a hundred meters away, where the White-eared Beast, having not been captured in the two previous attempts, was now clutching a Gardenia fruit and gnawing on it while letting out raucous calls.

That appearance was exactly like some mountain monkeys, giving Chen Shicheng a sense of justified duty to eliminate harm for the people.

Since deciding to kill that White-eared Beast, he no longer hesitated and indeed activated the Immortal-Slaying Grand Formation.

However, he did not actively attack, but instead showed weakness to the enemy, feigning a flustered and defeated look; after half a moment of impotent fury, he carefully protected the Gardenia and stimulated its maturation once more.

The White-eared Beast, being brainless, initially had some instinctive wariness of the Immortal-Slaying Grand Formation, with no inclination to approach.

But upon seeing Chen Shicheng's appearance, it instantly went berserk, directly ignoring its instinct, using Compress Earth to an Inch to charge into the formation, intending to strike at the Gardenia fruit that had just been matured.

Whether to say it or not, this White-eared Beast certainly has berserk strength.

Just like the previous two times, even with preparation, Chen Shicheng still only caught a glimpse of a black shadow.

But this was enough; besides its speed, the White-eared Beast's combat power was not strong, let alone its level being only 15, which in Chen Shicheng's eyes was an existence that could be easily slain with a casual strike.

He didn't even actively attack, merely filling the White-eared Beast's advance path with sword qi.

Compress Earth to an Inch is indeed powerful, but there is a precondition: one must move their feet to teleport.

When the White-eared Beast teleported over, there was no problem at first, but when it tried to leave, the leg it stepped out with suddenly detached from its body without warning; before it could react, its body fell forward due to losing balance.

The sword qi that had been set up long ago sliced across its neck without obstruction, fixing its puzzled expression.

【Slain Lv. 15 White-eared Beast, gained 1 Experience Point, obtained White-eared Beast meat ×1.】

【White-eared Beast meat: flesh and blood of an ancient strange beast; after use, Essence +0.1, movement speed increased by 0.1%.】

Unfortunately, slaying the White-eared Beast did not drop the skill Chen Shicheng wanted; instead it gave him a piece of White-eared Beast meat.

This meat's properties are formidable; not only does it have the effect of heavenly treasures and earthly riches, increasing attributes, but it also provides an additional speed boost.

However, Chen Shicheng looked at the White-eared Beast's corpse nearby; although it differed greatly from humans, the uncanny valley effect still existed, making him unable to bring himself to eat the meat of this humanoid creature.

Believe that aside from some novelty-seekers and certain Southeast Asian old cousins, no one would dare to eat it.

After thinking, Chen Shicheng still gave up the idea of eating it and tossed it to the La Tiao in his Storage Bag.

(End of Chapter)