Hisss.
Flames encircled the giant creature"s head. It was like a giant lizard, red eyes greedily stared at the crackling fire. Beasts were naturally wary of another fire and was somewhat hesitant towards the campfire, but the beast yearned for armored young flesh that stood before it. The beast would be more than happy to swallow that guy whole.
Qin Lei raised his sword as he walked out of the cave, looking towards the spirit beast hidden in the shrubs and smiled "There are three gold lines of fire and four silver lines of fire on its head, a 3400 year old Salamander. This kind of spirit beast is quite common in Dragon Seeker Forest, but a 3400 year old spirit beast is suitable for Xiao Xi’s ascension."
Qin Yin wrapped a cloak around her before walking out of the cave, her beautiful face under the moonlight was all the more stunning. "Xiao Xi and I need not intervene for a 3400 year old spirit beast, Ah Yu and Elder Brother Qin Lei can deal with it. Once Xiao Xi is finished refining the spirit beast we can all rest easy. Faster, faster...."
Qin Lei stepped forward with Thunder Cleaver, his eyes lit up as if he has already caught his prey. "Ah Yu, if we move away from the fire it will not move to attack us. Let"s go, the two of us can finish it, nice and quick."
"Yeah!"
Lin Mu Yu did not think much of the Salamander either. When he and Chu Yao were hiding in the Seven Star Forest, they had also killed a Salamander, even though it was a 1700 year old one, their training had also been rudimentary. Now is a different matter altogether, he had the Four-Way Sword Skill and the True Dragonfire technique, more than a match for this 3400 year old spirit beast.
Sword in hand he rushed towards it, smiling as he said, "Elder Brother Qin Lei, let"s see who can kill this Salamander first!"
Qin Lei charged fearlessly after him. "You had a head start, you rotten kid. How do you expect me to catch up!?"
……
Hiss.
Seeing the two men come running, the Salamander immediately spat with aplomb and pounced rapidly. It"s movements were fast, but it looked down too much on its opponents.
Slash!
Prairie Fire jabbed forward wrapped in lightning as Lin Mu Yu unleashed Thunderstorm Rage in greeting.
Crash!
Flames flared all around as Prairie Fire cut through the Salamander’s fire breath, the sword pierced all the way through the lizard’s maw that drew a b.l.o.o.d.y stream. It was not able to lodge itself clean though the head, or else this Salamander would have died instantly. Lin Mu Yu lifted his palm and thunder charged from above, steering Prairie Fire for another attack mid-air!
Roaaaaar!
The Salamander let out an angry snarl, attempting to strike back but was caught in the eye by Lin Mu Yu"s Sonic Punch. It retreated, wailing. Its tail quivered as Prairie Fire struck, piercing through the Salamander’s tail, nailing it to the rocks. There was no way for it to run anymore.
Qi Lei roared in laughter, his body leapt forward and raised Thunder Cleaver in the air. Sparks of lightning surrounded Thunder Cleaver, this move must be Qin Lei"s famous skill.
"Fierce Thunder Edge"
As it pealed down, fresh blood burst forth. Qin Lei’s oppressive technique severed the Salamander’s head in one strike, not only that, they were now surrounded by biting cold wind as he swept his sword towards the beast, crying, "Dragon Rush!"
Blood splattered everywhere. This scene was not suitable for very young audiences. The Salamander was cut to pieces by the sweeping strike that hissed faintly. Qin Lei must have Dragon Force, otherwise the destruction would not have been that exaggerated.
Klang!
Lin Mu Yu caught Prairie Fire mid-revolution. "Elder Brother Qin Lei, don"t randomly cut it anymore. If the flesh of this Salamander is too badly mutilated, Xiao Xi might have trouble refining the spirit beast."
"Ah, you’re right.... " The muscle brain quickly put away his sword, smiling. "Princess Xi, you can begin absorbing the essence of this beast. This 3400 year old spirit beast will surely be enough for your ascension!"
Tang Xiao Xi looked at the bloodstains all over and remained silent. She stepped into the gore and summoned out the Fire Fox to begin to refining the spirit beast.
Lin Mu Yu leaned against his sword in the back, but during the most important part of the the refining, he wordlessly pulled out his alchemy cauldron. Roaring to life it wrapped around the two of them. Qin Yin and Qin Lei did not protest, knowing that Lin Mu Yu was a.s.sisting in Xiao Xi’s progress at refining the most important aspect of the spirit beast.
"Hah...."
Lin Mu Yue exhaled heavily as he dematerialized the alchemy cauldron. His eyes glinted bright while he surveyed the surrounding overgrowth. “Xiao Xi had already refined the skill of this fire beast!"
Qin Yin lightly smiled, "Really?"
"Yes."
Tang Xiao Xi also opened her beautiful eyes, clever and dazzling. "Thanks to the help of Mu Mu, I felt his power helping me control the fire beast, my power would have been insufficient to suppress it...."
Qin Lei was surprised at this, "Ah Yu, what method did you use to help them refine the main essence of the spirit beast? From what I know, the success rate of skill absorption is not greater than 30 percent, how did you do it?"
Lin Mu Yu scratched his nose and smiled. "I have my secrets. Elder Brother Qin Lei shouldn’t ask anymore, not knowing won’t kill you!"
Qin Yin could not resist a smile. "Alright then, if Ah Yu doesn"t want to share then we won"t ask anymore. Let"s go back and rest, we might reach the Dragon Tomb after another day. We have begun to encounter more and more spirit beasts, we should move with caution."
“Okay.”
Lin Mu Yu nodded. While they slept, he kept Prairie Fire by his side staring blankly at the sky, an ocean of stars glittered back. People say that one star belonging to you, but which among them is his? People referred to this land as the Shattered Cauldron Realm and its imperial family as the Qin Empire, whose veins carried the true dragon blood of Qin tribe. But what was his purpose here?
After everything, has he really found nothing?
On the night he woke up from a nightmare, what was that for?
He remembered Xiang Xiang, that girl who willingly died to protecting him, was she weak? No, she was very brave.
He remembered Chu Feng who swore to protect Chu Yao for as long as he lived, but died at the hands of the wicked, was he stupid? No, he was very devoted.
He remembered Little Beansprout and Qin Zi Ling, both weak and scrambled for life, are they sad? No, they did their best.
Zhang Wei, with his ironclad resolve, has now become crippled.
Tang Xiao Xi, pure, good, and honest Xiao Xi cared for him with no regard for danger.
Qin Yin, this beautiful princess who trusted and depended on him.
Feng Ji Xing, Qin Lei, and Chu Huai Sheng these friends.
Without his knowledge, he seemed to have found reasons to live in this world.
……
The first rays of the morning fell onto Lin Mu Yu’s face. There was no indication of when he fell asleep, but he still held tight onto Prairie Fire. His head lolled to the outside, maintaining caution but he had fallen asleep in the end.
Qin Yin held a hand at her sword beside Lin Mu Yu. She moved her head too engrossed at his sleeping face, but did not have the heart to wake him. She knew he had not been asleep that long, he was awake the entire time before dawn, even as Qin Lei snored, he kept himself awake the whole night.
It was very cold in the late autumn mornings, Tang Xiao Xi bound the cloak tightly against herself as she lifted her head and smiled.
Qin Yin gestured for her to keep quiet and spoke softly, "Keep quiet, let him sleep more!"
"Okay."
Tang Xiao Xi smiled wider, opening her bag to find some cooked meat, then used her Fire Fox to light a new fire. Boiling the water in the iron cooking pot at the same time as throwing the meat inside. They could not have luxuries living in the wild, but warm soup was already a pleasure.
As the water simmered, the aroma of the meat permeated the air.
Lin Mu Yu’s nose sniffed the air, his stomach already hungry. When he opened his eyes he saw Qin Yin smiling at him, his face turned red immediately."Your Highness, is there a bug on my face?"
"No..." Qin Yin"s face turned reddened in response, "Ah Yu, get up and eat."
"Sure."
……
Even though his sleep was short, Lin Mu Yu felt his energy re-charged, already at peak capacity and ready to welcome any kind of challenge.
Tang Xiao Xi held out a bowl of soup over to him. He asked for seconds, fl.u.s.tering Tang Xiao Xi and Qin Yin a little, as they gave him more to eat. Lin Mu Yu and Qin Lei both had big appet.i.tes, resulting in only half bowl each for the two ladies.
"Why not have more?" Lin Mu Yu asked, "Are you on a diet?"
Qin Yin did not quite understand the meaning of "diet", she then said, "Women in empire generally eat only half their fill in order to maintain a beautiful form. That is what I was taught by the girls in the palace when I was younger."
Lin Mu Yu sniffed, thinking to himself that Qin Yin’s words would cause damage to modern society’s foodies.
Qin Lei, full from his meal, held Thunder Cleaver and smiled. "We’ll reach Dragon Tomb today, at least according to the map. Ah Yu, the next spirit beast is yours!"
Lin Mu Yu retorted, "If Elder Brother Qin Lei doesn’t cut randomly like a crazy lunatic and the spirit stone remains intact. Or else it would be like the Salamander’s the spirit stone that was almost destroyed."
"Ha! You’ll be there to remind me!"
Spirit stones can be easily bought with money, that is why, Qin Yin, Qin Lei, and Tang Xiao Xi—people from royalty—do not care much about the spirit stone. After all spirit stones can only contain up to half of the beast’s power, while the beast itself would retain everything. Qin Yin and Tang Xiao Xi grew up adhering to the mindset.
Lin Mu Yu is different. For him, spirit stones were weapons that contained a beast’s essence, as well as money! He is just an ordinary person in this world, poor as a beggar, needing to economize on food and clothing. He needed to be strong in his determination, to see the bigger picture by being humble and prudent, be strict, a visionary, not taking advantage of other poor, a trainer from the Temple.