Chapter 16: Spirit-Rhino Horn

[Can this silly cat hide things in its belly?]

[And what is this thing? Is it the horn of some animal?]

Watching as that exquisite rhinoceros horn fell onto him.

Li Boyang was still wondering what Xi Luo was doing when he suddenly heard a childish voice ring out.

[Ah?]

[What is this sound?]

[Why does it sound... like I am speaking myself?]

Instinctively widening his eyes, Li Boyang seemed to realize something and immediately cast his gaze toward the civet cat on the cradle.

Unsurprisingly, Li Boyang saw Xi Luo baring her fangs and brandishing her claws, looking fierce and menacing.

"Who are you calling a silly cat?"

"You're the silly one, you little brat!"

"Mind your thoughts! I won't tell you a second time!"

"This is a Spirit-Rhino Horn; it allows the holder to speak their inner thoughts without opening their mouth."

"The only drawback is that if you cannot control your own thoughts, all sorts of messy things will blurt out!"

Blinking his eyes, Li Boyang instantly understood what was going on.

However, controlling the thoughts in one's heart is easy to say but truly difficult to do.

[Wait... I must focus... I cannot let this silly...]

[No, Mountain God... but she is just a silly...]

[Damn it... I cannot think about it...]

[Heart like ice, the sky may collapse without fear. Heart like ice, the sky may collapse without fear.]

When the fragmented thoughts in his mind turned into genuine inner voices and rang out.

Li Boyang could only choose to silently recite the "Ice Heart Art," which barely allowed him to control his inner voice.

During this process, Li Boyang clearly felt his life essence pouring continuously into the Spirit-Rhino Horn.

If not for the constant replenishment of baleful energy from the outside.

Li Boyang felt that this Spirit-Rhino Horn could drain all the life essence in his body within a quarter of an hour.

In fact, it was only when Li Boyang consciously cut off the flow of life essence that the thoughts in his mind stopped turning into spoken inner voices.

It was also at this moment that Li Boyang finally had time to look down and examine this Spirit-Rhino Horn.

It was a small, exquisite, pure white horn that looked as if it were carved from jade.

Inside this little horn, a faint, hard-to-see thin line ran through the entire length, almost splitting it in two.

"You... you..."

When Li Boyang raised his head again, Xi Luo was looking at him with a face full of shock, as if she were looking at some kind of monster.

"You can actually actively control the flow of 'Primordial Qi'!?"

To a mountain spirit like Xi Luo, "Primordial Qi" is actually a very abstract concept.

Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, the essence of the sun and moon, and life essence can all be considered types and branches of "Primordial Qi."

It is not that there are no living beings in this world capable of inhaling and exhaling "Primordial Qi"—Xi Luo herself possesses a similar ability.

But the problem is, Xi Luo had never seen anyone who could precisely cut off the flow of Primordial Qi like Li Boyang.

[Is this difficult?]

Hearing this, Li Boyang actively sent a wisp of Primordial Qi into the Spirit-Rhino Horn while simultaneously controlling his brain to project this thought.

This dual-tasking was a bit difficult, but fortunately, it did not stump Li Boyang.

"It's not a question of difficulty..."

"For example, can you humans manipulate the flow of blood in your own bodies at will?"

Lowering her volume, Xi Luo vividly described the heaven-defying nature of Li Boyang's actions.

Then, the shocked Xi Luo noticed his skin color, which was clearly different from that of an ordinary person.

"Wait, what is going on here?"

Under the bright moonlight, Li Boyang's skin presented a crimson hue, as striking as a malicious ghost.

"Are you actually using the 'curse' of the gadfly to absorb baleful energy?"

Seeing at a glance what Li Boyang had done, Xi Luo opened her mouth wide in shock once again.

The baleful energy curse that ordinary people would avoid at all costs, Li Boyang not only endured perfectly but even allowed his body to absorb some of the baleful energy.

That crimson skin was the evidence of being tempered by the fierce baleful energy.

[What is there to be so surprised about...]

Vaguely realizing that he seemed to have achieved something astonishing, Li Boyang did not understand why it was worth such a fuss.

"You really are a freak!"

Seeing this, Xi Luo knew there was nothing to say to such a "layman," so she helplessly rolled her eyes.

"Fine, since you can make good use of this Spirit-Rhino Horn, I will lend it to you for now..."

Unfortunately, before Xi Luo could finish her sentence, Li Boyang's inner voice rang out again.

[Only lending it? What a stingy fellow...]

Under the threat of Xi Luo's glaring eyes.

Li Boyang timely reined in his stray thoughts and then grinned with some embarrassment.

Li Boyang swore that the previous thought was definitely not something he intended to project—it was just that he hadn't held back his inner thoughts for a moment.

"Who are you calling a stingy fellow!"

"Do you know how precious this Spirit-Rhino Horn is?"

Giving Li Boyang's little head a fierce pat, Xi Luo bared her claws to threaten him.

"This is the horn of a Heaven-Reaching Rhino; it is a very precious treasure across the Nine Continents, Four Seas, and the Eight Desolations!"

"If it weren't for teaching me how to speak, my sister would never have handed this thing to me for safekeeping!"

Mentioning her sister, the once fierce Xi Luo suddenly wilted, and even her voice became listless.

"Forget it, why am I arguing with a brat like you."

"Anyway, remember this: I can lend this thing to you for now, but it is not a gift!"

Nodding obediently, Li Boyang was not the type to be ungrateful after gaining an advantage, so he naturally would not refute Xi Luo's words.

He was just a little curious: what was the background of this civet cat's sister?

Was she the Valkyrie worshipped in the Mountain God Temple on Flying Peak?

[What happened outside?]

[What were you fighting just now?]

[Earlier today, a Deceit Rabbit came near the village...]

[It said that the spirits in the mountains are being affected by the 'Earth Vein Disturbance' and all plan to migrate outward. Is this true?]

Restraining his extraneous thoughts, Li Boyang finally asked seriously.

These questions were what Li Boyang most urgently wanted to know, and they were his original intention for seeking out Xi Luo.

"Speaking of this, it actually has something to do with you."

Staring at Li Boyang with a complex expression, Xi Luo was silent for a long while before speaking.

"I don't know if you remember the experiences of your previous incarnation..."

"But before you became a human cub, you killed a person—a shaman who seemed to have mastered some strange arts?"

"His soul now lingers in the Black Cloud Marsh and has turned into a malicious ghost."

"No one knows exactly what happened inside."

"The only thing that is certain is that a Yin God went in and never came back out."

"Even the previous escape of the gadfly seems to be related to that malicious ghost..."

Monthly Ticket/Recommendation Ticket

(End of Chapter)