Chapter 98: Creatures Long Extinct

Feng Zi watched the direction of the south-pointing needle while winding his way forward between the giant trees:

Even though there were no "roads" in the conventional sense within this forest, the habit of detouring and circuitous movement to prevent being tracked had long since become his instinct.

The sun was at its peak, but those primitive giant trees were so tall and dense that only a sliver of sunlight spilled into the forest, barely illuminating the path ahead.

"There really isn't a single sign of human activity..." Qing Lin subconsciously looked around and couldn't help but complain.

Yes, there was not a trace of human activity; there were no scratch marks from sharp tools on the trees, the ground was covered in rotting fallen leaves, and there were not even many animal paw prints.

Feng Zi did not feel particularly surprised by this situation: "Hmm, I scouted for a whole day yesterday and didn't see any signs of human life either, so it stands to reason."

As he spoke, he suddenly heard heavy footsteps.

Feng Zi looked at the three people behind him without hesitation and whispered: "Shh, there is some kind of large creature ahead; don't startle it."

After saying this, he nimbly leaped onto a tree branch, and Qing Lin silently grabbed the corner of his clothes and followed closely behind.

Lu Hanwen and Li Shou looked at each other in confusion, completely failing to notice the movement Feng Zi had mentioned.

But the two understood that Feng Zi would not joke in such a situation, so they awkwardly climbed up the tree.

Sensing that the two had followed, Feng Zi whispered:

"Judging by the sound, that unknown creature should be about five hundred meters ahead, and its size is not to be underestimated; let's sneak over."

After saying this, he and Qing Lin set off one after the other, and Lu Hanwen and Li Shou subconsciously followed.

And when they saw the creature under the tree, the four people in the tree were stunned; Feng Zi couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice: "What kind of monster is this?"

It was a strange creature about ten zhang tall, resembling some kind of elephant.

But unlike ordinary elephants, its appearance was quite similar to the mammoth Feng Zi knew from his past life, with two giant tusks longer than a person flashing with a chilling, cold light.

What was most noteworthy was that the creature's hair stood up like a porcupine's, and every single strand was sharp and sturdy.

Upon seeing this bizarre creature, Lu Hanwen and Li Shou fell silent in unison.

Feng Zi naturally noticed this; he turned around and asked in a low voice: "Do you two know what this is?"

But the two did not answer immediately.

Lu Hanwen signaled with his eyes and immediately engaged in a brief discussion with Li Shou:

"Tell me, does this thing look a lot like the creature recorded in the ancient texts?"

"It looks very similar, but it's hard to say."

"I am at least ninety percent sure that this creature is the existence we guessed. Furthermore... I feel like I've seen it somewhere before?"

"But it should be extinct, right? Are you talking about a specimen?"

"Yes! A specimen, I remember now—I saw a specimen at the home of an elder of the Cui Family, and it cost that elder a huge sum of money!"

Since the discussion had reached a conclusion, Lu Hanwen leaned over to Feng Zi and Qing Lin and whispered:

"To give you the conclusion directly, if Brother Li Shou and my guess is correct, this is a 'Bristle Elephant,' a creature that has long been extinct!"

Hearing this conclusion, Feng Zi subconsciously followed up: "A long-extinct creature?"

"Yes, a long-extinct creature." Lu Hanwen affirmed without hesitation:

"This creature is recorded in an ancient text left behind by Qian Lao, which specifically catalogs creatures from the Tianyuan Jie that are already extinct.

"If the records in the ancient text are correct, then it went extinct even before the structure of the Tianyuan Jiuzhou was formed, and before the Great Xia Dynasty was founded!"

The founding of the Great Xia Dynasty? Hearing these words, Feng Zi subconsciously pondered:

He remembered that it should have been Qian Lao... who once told him that the early days of the Great Xia Dynasty were about a million years ago.

In other words, this creature called a Bristle Elephant had been extinct for at least a million years!

At this point, based on the various pieces of information obtained, anyone who wasn't a fool should have understood their situation:

A world without human traces, primitive giant trees that had grown for who knows how many thousands or tens of thousands of years, the Kunpeng that only existed in myths, and the Bristle Elephant that had been extinct for a million years—

Various signs indicated that, if nothing went wrong, Feng Zi and the others had likely been swept into another world, or the Tianyuan Jie of a million years ago.

But he was not a person who complained; at least at this moment, it was definitely not a good time to just complain.

Feng Zi looked at Lu Hanwen and quickly asked: "Is there any specific information about this so-called Bristle Elephant? Information about its weaknesses would be best."

"You mean...?" Lu Hanwen was a bit slow to react for a moment.

Feng Zi said quite matter-of-factly: "There are no other creatures around, so naturally, we should find a way to hunt it, fill our stomachs, and replenish our Qi and Blood Power first."

Upon hearing this, the other party was speechless, completely unable to keep up with Feng Zi's train of thought:

Lu Hanwen had never expected that the moment Feng Zi saw the Bristle Elephant, what he was thinking about was eating it!

On second thought, the other party had to admit that while Feng Zi's idea seemed absurd, it was actually extremely pragmatic.

So Lu Hanwen immediately explained without reservation: "Weaknesses, of course, I don't know, but the basic information about the Bristle Elephant is still somewhat useful—

"As the name suggests, the so-called 'Bristle Elephant' is a creature that integrates the characteristics of a porcupine and an elephant, which can be seen from its appearance.

"According to records, Bristle Elephants do not live in groups, and the strength of an adult Bristle Elephant is roughly equivalent to a Qi Refining cultivator, which is our Martial Master realm.

"Furthermore, the reason the Bristle Elephant went extinct is that its body contains a large amount of fat and Qi and Blood, enough for a settlement to survive the winter.

"Therefore, it was an excellent food source and was eventually hunted to extinction by the early people."

Listening to Lu Hanwen's description, Feng Zi immediately extracted a few keywords: weak strength, no helpers, excellent food!

Could there be a more suitable prey than this Bristle Elephant?

When he looked at Qing Lin, he saw a longing glow flickering in those cyan eyes.

Seeing this, Feng Zi nodded slightly and said: "It's decided then. Good, I'll be responsible for the hunt, Yue Yu will help me cover, and Brother Hanwen and Brother Li Shou will guard against any possible unexpected situations."

Seeing that no one had any objections, he immediately gripped the precious bow in his hand and leaped down.

Qing Lin also subconsciously gripped the saber at her waist, ready to act at any time.

The specific hunting process was not difficult; to summarize it simply: Feng Zi went up, and the prey fell to the ground.

This was not surprising, because the records in the ancient text that Lu Hanwen described had no errors:

Apart from its massive size, the strength of the Bristle Elephant was truly no different from an ordinary Spirit Monster, and it was not difficult to deal with—

That is not quite accurate to say, as Spirit Monsters possess a certain degree of intelligence, whereas the Mighty Elephant is merely an ordinary wild beast, making it easier to deal with.