《Reincarnated as A Bamboo》


 Chapter 1: I Have Turned Into Bamboo

    Chapter 1: I Have Turned Into Bamboo


    The moon shone brightly with very few stars in the sky. The night was cool like water from a stream.


    Somewhere in the Tang Kingdom, specifics unknown.


    Deep in the mountains, wild animals howled, their cries echoing high and low throughout thendscape.


    A breeze swept past the mountains and through lush bushes, its leaves and the branches of the trees nearby rustling continuously.


    Buried within the forest, in a well-hidden and secretive location, was a thin bamboo. It was shining with a soft, gentle light.


    "Did I actually be a bamboo?"


    His voice, which sounded like he was still in a dream, mingled with the rustling sounds of the bamboo leaves that were blowing in the wind. Quickly, the sound disappeared.


    Lin Ming woke up from a dream, only to find himself reborn.


    He had turned into bamboo.


    The bamboo''s leaves were emerald, while the bamboo itself was rich with green, just like a jade sculpture.


    Though he had been rebirthed as bamboo, Lin Ming didn''t feel negatively about it at all. In fact, he epted reality pretty quickly and even felt a huge sense of relief.


    After all, it felt pretty good to be alive. This was much better than before, when both of his parents had passed away and he led a life where he might have died of a heart attack at any time.


    Besides, he now had quite a good cheat he could use.


    "Checking dashboard."


    A glowing personalized dashboard that was only visible to him immediately appeared before his eyes.


    [Lineage: Moso Bamboo]


    [Evolution Points: 0]


    [Ability: Razor Leaves]


    The evolution points were currently at 0, as he had previously evolved and used them up to achieve the ''Razor Leaves'' ability he now had.


    ''Looks like I''ll need to wait until sunrise tomorrow to earn any Evolution Points,'' he thought to himself.


    Lin Ming received this System after bing a bamboo. Within the deep forest where he was surrounded by other bamboo nts, a silky thread of flickering sunlight had gifted him with some Evolution Points.


    He was now quite certain that he could convert light energy into Evolution Points using photosynthesis.


    As for other methods to gain points, he had never experimented with them before and did not know if they would work.


    Compared to when he was a human, his sense of sight was now greatly improved. He could see three hundred and sixty degrees around himself with no blind spots  and he even had night vision.


    His power of sight was due to a top branch of his, which allowed him to zoom in or widen his range of sight with ease, much like how a video camera would work.


    He assessed himself and noted that his bamboo body was close to ten centimeters thick in diameter and he was fifteen meters tall.


    He already had many branches at his top, and his bottom was slowly growing rich with them as well.


    Close to thousands of emerald-green leaves adorned his body.


    His main roots were separated from the roots of other bamboos nearby, not disturbing them. His foundation into the ground was rtively shallow.


    He observed his surroundings.


    The hill that he was on housed a luxuriant bamboo forest, angled slightly on a gentle slope. Between the many bamboos was a thick carpet of weeds that was spread almost everywhere.


    The hill was hidden within a basin covered by several mountains that were thousands of meters tall. For the hill itself, its terrain was not too high so not a lot of sunlight could reach the area.


    Every bamboo around Lin Ming had grown close to fifty meters tall, and their diameters were so wide that a man would barely be able to reach his arms around them in a hug. Their gigantic leaves covered the sky and blocked out what little sun reached the area.


    He was clearly abnormal in rtion to these monstrous nts.


    His height of fifteen meters was normal for a bamboo tree. What happened to all the others around him?


    It was because of this he could only absorb minimal Evolution Points through the few flimsy sunbeams that weaved through the canopy of leaves above. Even his range of sight only extended to a small area.


    It was quite a tough environment to survive in, let alone thrive in.


    That was not the only issue, too. The forest was gued by a serious case of pests.


    There was a huge amount of bamboo locusts, bamboo borers, venomous moths, and so on. They were frighteninglyrge and had a crazy appetite.


    As the smallest and weakest tree in this forest, Lin Ming had no doubt he would be targeted.


    What ce even was this? What time was it now? Was this all happening during the same era he used to live in? He could not answer any of the questions that he asked himself.


    The booming sound of an airne flying above could be hearding from the sky, amidst the bustling night.


    Lin Ming felt a strange sense in the air controlling the bamboo''s absorption process, yet at the same time  it inexplicablyforted him.


    As his consciousness slowly drifted away, he fell into a hibernation-like state.


    ...


    When he awoke, it was already dawn.


    Greyish-white fog had filled up the entire valley, making the scene look like a misty paradise.


    The insects seemed to chirp even louder than usual in the humid air, waking him up properly as they grew noisier.


    He had seen quite many insects sitting on a few nts nearby.


    Would those nts die if the insects bit them?


    Lin Ming certainly did not want to die now, after being reborn as a bamboo. He nced at the Razor Leaves ability on his personalized dashboard.


    Judging from the name, this ability would probably be an Attack Type. He wondered what its power would be like.


    Just then, a dark green bamboo locust happened to jump onto him. It seemed to be aiming for the numerous leaves that were growing on Lin Ming.


    Focusing his consciousness, a leaf nearby the locust suddenly flew out at an instant!


    Crack!


    The crisp sound pierced the air, as if the atmosphere itself had been cut.


    The locust was sliced in two, green fluid exploding from its body and sttering onto the soil as its carcass fell to the ground.


    [You killed a bamboo locust, you received 1 Evolution Point!]


    The System''s voice rang out at the kill, and Lin Ming saw his Evolution Points increase to one on his personalized dashboard.


    He was taken back. The many minutes he had spent in the sunlight during the day had only gotten him 1 Evolution Point. Compared to this, that was a very low efficiency.


    Could it be that the System was encouraging him to attack and kill these insects?


    The speed of the attack was amazing. Not only that, but where the leaf had shot out from now had a new leaf growing in its ce.


    It didn''t seem like there was anything for him to worry about.


    He looked at a bamboo about three meters away from himself and moved his consciousness again.


    Crack! There was another crisp shooting of a leaf, but it instantly slowed down two meters into its journey and floated down like a normal leaf.


    The range of attack seemed to be quite small.


    He moved his consciousness once again in an attempt to get two leaves to fly out at the same time, but he only managed to shoot one leaf while the other made no sign of movement.


    Things should not continue this way.


    Lin Ming knew that the ability of the Razor Leaves was still quite weak. He had to find a way to strengthen it.


    As for how it could be strengthened


    The only Evolution Point he had was cleared, and following another weak beam of sunlight, he felt a surge of energy hit him, as well as the Razor Leaf ability gain a ''+1'' in small wording by it.


    "My ability seems to have strengthened."


    Two grey venomous moths were flying about three meters away from him now. He concentrated on moving his consciousness. Two leaves swiftly flew through the air, effortlessly cutting the two creatures in half.


    [You killed two venomous moths, you received two Evolution Points!]


    The System''s voice rang out once again. Lin Ming wasn''t sure what had changed with the effectiveness of the Razor Leaves Attack, but its range and the number of leaves he could control had now increased.


    He had not expected his ability to strengthen this much and this soon. He had much to look forward to in the future, it seemed.


    He grew a little excited as he surveyed around. There were quite a lot of insects nearby, both small andrge. It was almost an unlimited supply. It didn''t look like bing more powerful would be too difficult to achieve.


    There was nothing more for him to worry about, as he used up histest two points to strengthen his ability again.


    He wasn''t concerned about killing to be more powerful. He had already turned into bamboo, so why should he concern himself with trivial ethics like that?


    It wasn''t long before insect carcasses littered the ground!


    Days and nights passed. The stars realigned.


    To Lin Ming, the concept of time no longer held any importance.


    Without realizing it, he had already grown twenty-five meters tall and now had a diameter of twenty centimeters thick. He had more leaves than ever before, all a verdant green shade.


    His leaves were just like jade stones, decorating the space between his branches luxuriously likeyers of stacked umbres.


    The branches on his body could also move about at his whim.


    His Razor Leaves ability had just been leveled up to reach Superior Level. There was no more room for any upgrades.


    The Attack Range had now increased to the limits of his sight, and he could now shoot out hundreds of leaves at a time!


    Lin Ming was now deciding how he could test the limits of his newfound power.


    Hundreds of flying leaves shot out of him, turning into a sh of green. A loud boom echoed through the area, as the mass of leaves neared a bamboo nt thick enough that even a grown man would not be able to fully embrace it if he tried.


    An explosion.


    Crack. Crack. Crack!


    Boom


    It sounded as if something was crashing down. A cloud of dust filled the air, which was still recoiling from the sounds of the explosion just then.


    Lin Ming realized the attack had sliced into three gigantic bamboo trees and turned them into mere sks of dust.


    ''If this attack hadnded on a man''


    For some reason, hepared the attack on the trees to a possible attack on a human being. He was quite sure it would only take a single leaf to kill a human being, out of the hundreds that had been utilized just a few seconds ago.


    It was not too long ago that he was able to kill a bamboo rat. Could a human being even bepared to that little animal, now that he had upgraded his abilities so much?


    Come to think of it, these little animals and the various insects he hade across during this time period all seemed to possess some interesting qualities, especially when he thought back to his first impressions about them.


    The bigger they were, the faster they could be. There even seemed to be some minor changes to the way that they looked.


    Was this still the world he was familiar with?


    He looked again at the bamboos that surrounded him, and suddenly a phrase came to mind.


    ''The reawakening of the spiritual aura.''

 Chapter 2: Adorable Little Snake

    Chapter 2: Adorable Little Snake


    Lin Ming wondered what had changed when he started to notice that there were fewer and fewer insects and wild beasts nearby.


    Eventually, it got to the point where he could only spot a few insects in a day. As for animals, he had not seen them for a long while.


    His Evolution Points stayed the same since he couldn''t add to them. Even though he did not have much use for them now, he still felt ufortable with his points stagnating.


    He used Razor Leaves to chop down all therge bamboo trunks within twenty meters of his range of sight, to clean the area out a bit. Finally, he managed to cleared some of the obstacles blocking the sunlight.


    Even then, he could only enjoy two hours of sun every day.


    The Evolution Points earned from those hours wasalways fewer than ten points.


    "It seems like there''s nothing more I can do now" Lin Ming sighed as the sun shone down on him.


    He once again summoned his personal dashboard.


    He had 99 Evolution Points. After a while more in the sun, the number ticked up to 100.


    [You are now able to strengthen your bamboo roots. Do you want to evolve?]


    The message popped up from the System, stunning Lin Ming momentarily.


    [There are two choices of evolution: One, Movement Type. Two, Strength Enhancement Type.]


    Movement Type? Strength Enhancement Type?


    Lin Ming looked around his area.


    Insects and beasts had be wary of his presence, and his attack range was still limited to twenty meters.


    Even if his bamboo roots burrowed deeper and spread wider, or his body grew taller and developed thicker branches, there was only so much more he could do here.


    This bamboo forest covered a vast area, but it also gave him many limitations.


    If this was truly the era of the Reawakening of the Spiritual Aura, it would mean that all living beings would also be rapidly evolving with the Spiritual Aura, for the sole purpose of getting to the top of the food chain.


    Thew of the jungle would be a prominent rule, and the chances of prey elimination would be higher.


    Lin Ming''s evolution was stunted now. With some time passing, he could easily be killed, or another bamboo might evolve to his level outside of this forest. That might eliminate him in an instant before he could grow powerful and almighty.


    Looking around, he noted that the forest was still so crowded that the area was practically sealed shut by it. Even if he cleared half of the trees within his twenty-meter range, sunlight would still be scant. Not many insects were left around, and there were no wild beasts to be seen.


    Strength Enhancement Type did not seem like a good choice in his situation. However, what would Movement Type be like?


    Movement.


    It was difficult to predict. Would he be able to move about like animals and human beings did?


    A picture shed through Lin Ming''s mind.


    Within the thriving forest or perhaps a vast piece of open field, a bamboo was running under the sun, reminiscing on the lost days of its youth


    What a beautiful picture it was.


    ''It can''t be could Movement Type mean something else?''


    He was looking forward to finding out.


    If he could move, he would have a new lease on life and be able to escape this death trap. Mind made up, he moved his consciousness to select the "Movement Type" option.


    He felt his roots, which had previously grown deep into the soil, start to retract. Most of the thin threads of his roots began to wilt.


    He lost his ability to think as the pain shook him, but he was delighted to see that his roots had no intention of stopping his transformation. The phenomenon continued, intensifying!


    The few roots in the soil were spinning and curling, and soon they appeared above ground revealing their white surfaces!


    This was not the end.


    These roots were now thirty centimeters long and they were extremely limber as they curled about the ground, which threw Lin Ming off bnce as his heavy branches struggled to stabilize. They almost broke as he violently swayed for a few seconds before uprighting himself.


    The pain continued for quite some time. It was only when night fell that Lin Ming gradually felt some relief.


    ''Are these legs?''


    Lin Ming looked in astonishment at those curled up roots beneath himself, which had fixed themselves into eight short, radial taproots that spread out around him.


    He tried moving these taproots. It was difficult at first, with lifting one proving to be extremely trying, but it wasn''t long before he familiarised himself with it and managed a first step.


    It only took him walking for a few more meters topletely grasp the skill.


    ''Well then, let''s test this out somewhere better.''


    He checked his sight and realized that he was surrounded by the dense bamboo forest. However, his current location was at the bottom of a hillslope.


    He had to move higher to get the best spot for sunlight.


    After deciding on the direction he wanted to head in, Lin Ming started using Razor Leaves to cut down all the giant bamboos growing in his way.


    His movement speed was not too slow, with the eight ''legs'' easily supporting his heavy body. Even when the way up the hill was inclined for the second half of the journey, there was still no reason for panic.


    It did not take Lin Ming long before arriving at the top of the hill, which was only forty to fifty meters above sea level. He finally stopped moving after clearing the entire area of other nts.


    By then, it was noon and the mist had disappeared. Strong rays of sunlight shone all over the top of the hill.


    [Absorbing the rays of the sunlight, you have received 1 Evolution Point.]


    The System''s reward had affirmed Lin Ming''s hard work, and this was only after ten minutes.


    ''Well then, let''s start afresh here. If I run out of resources, I can try searching for another ce,'' Lin Ming decided.


    Now that he was at the highest point of the hill, the range of his line of sight increased exponentially.


    He could now see that he was situated in a long and narrow valley. The mountains on either side of him were snow-capped and were so tall that even clouds gathered around them.


    Long howls of wild beasts could be heard sometimes, as well as the low humming of insects.


    Not far away, a small river flowed calmly by, its clean water like a clear jade belt around the ancient forest. He looked further and saw that the river was connected to a smallke right in the center of the valley.


    He didn''t see any people. It looked like not many dared tread into this primeval forest area.


    [Movement Type roots can be nted anywhere, and are free to move again anytime.]


    The System''s voice rang out once again to give Lin Ming the reminder.


    Lin Ming noticed his leaves were wilting and were beginning to look lifeless. He hadn''t been hydrated in a while, and took the System''s advice to nt his roots back into the ground.


    As the roots sank back into the moist soil, it started to grow thin threads to spread out even further to get more water.


    Originally nning to take a rest after this, Lin Ming''s n changed as a heard a smallmotioning from somewhere nearby.


    He scanned the ground and finally found the source of the noise. It was a little white snake, no bigger than an earthworm, with a half-translucent body.


    It was only five centimeters long and would be easy to miss if one was not looking carefully.


    Its eyes were like rubies the size of rice grains, perched on its adorable little head, which itself gave off a soft glow of white light.


    Beneath its barely noticeable nostrils was a bright-red forked tongue resembling thin silk. It flickered in and out of its mouth.


    It cocked its little head slightly, lifting it to look at Lin Ming. Its little mouth was just open as if it was yawning, but it was quickly shut tight then.


    Lin Ming had kept a pet lizard when he was a human being  he certainly had no fear or dislike of reptiles.


    It looked like the little snake quite liked him. It was already climbing onto him by slithering slowly up from a branch close to the ground. However, it helplessly fell off after climbing for only a few seconds.


    Luckily, he managed to swiftly catch the little guy with his branch and break its fall.


    The Adorable Little Snake seemed doubtful upon being caught by the branch and began to hiss. Its little head tilted to the side once more, little ruby eyes shining.


    "Is being adorable your ability?" Lin Mingughed.

 Chapter 3: Migration

    Chapter 3: Migration


    It was not as if Lin Ming had never seen a snake before. In fact, snakes did appear quite regrly in a humid, natural environment like this.


    However, the snakes he had seen before this were always green and looked almost like bamboos themselves, not a half-translucent little snake the size of an earthworm.


    He had previously used Razor Leaves to kill a few snakes in exchange for Evolution Points, but he did not want to utilize that ability after meeting his new friend.


    Even if he did kill it, it would only him 1 Evolution Point. Now, another n had started to brew in his mind.


    This was a time when animals and nts were mutating. Even ants that Lin Ming had previously thought to be terribly useless were now the size of locusts.


    What if he were to domesticate this snake and take proper care of it?


    If it grew in size and strength, it would make a fine trusty assistant, would it not?


    The Adorable Little Snake slowly climbed upwards along the branch it was on, peering at him. He looked back, thinking, until the snake cocked its little head at him once again.


    His mind was then made up. It would be nice to have a pet and get rid of the boredom of being alone.


    As for the Adorable Little Snake''s food, Lin Ming was sure there were abundant resources.


    Snakes only ate food that was alive, but that would not be an issue.


    Compared to the dead piece ofnd previously, this area had an abundance of life. If he were to flip over a stone, the bottom of it would likely be swarming with insects.


    A branch of his gently lifted a fallen leaf off the ground and shook out a wriggling, meaty caterpir. When the snake spotted this, it slid over quickly.


    Even though they were roughly the same size, Lin Ming worried that the Adorable Little Snake might not be able to take on the caterpir. He held the caterpir down with a branch to stop it from squirming about so much.


    The Adorable Little Snake did not hesitate for a moment as it opened its little mouth wide and bit on the caterpir.


    It was not long before the caterpir grew too frightened to stop moving, and it eventuallyy motionless. The snake happily devoured it, its tummy growingrge and round. It rolled around on the ground joyfully to indicate it was full, looking incredibly naive and lovable at the same time.


    Lin Ming gently caressed its head, petting and ying with it.


    He wondered if he was imagining things  the adorable thing seemed to have grown a bit after the meal, its thin scales seeming to glow a little brighter.


    The Adorable Little Snake slid between Lin Ming''s bamboo branches, looking like it was enjoying itself as it slithered here and there.


    Lin Ming did not stop collecting Evolution Points while he was ying with the snake. Dozens of venomous moths and bamboo locusts that had no idea he was not to be trifled with were chopped into smithereens.


    The Adorable Little Snake seemed quite interested in Lin Ming''s Razor Leaf ability. It excitedly looked towards where the sounds wereing from.


    It flipped onto its big, round tummy, trying to crawl near it as it flicked its tongue.


    Lin Ming would never allow the little guy to go in that direction. He quickly used another branch to block it. It slithered from one branch to another, moving about in a circle for quite a while before it grew exhausted. It soonid down and stopped moving, and it was not long before it quietly curled up as if asleep.


    Lin Ming looked at this adorable little thing and used a leaf to cover its small body.


    It was deep into the night when a sudden storm hit.


    The torrential downpour hit Lin Ming with no mercy, and he sunk into deep thought as he listened to the ps of thunder.


    He had umted 100 Skill Points, but had received no notification from the System and was beginning to feel listless.


    The Adorable Little Snake was curled up and shuddering on one of his branches, with only a single bamboo leaf covering it.


    As a cold-blooded animal, he knew the snake was not having an easy night.


    He covered it with more leaves, though halting as he sensed something strange approaching.


    It was a pack of thieving rats, who had snuck up on him while distracted. They nced at Adorable Little Snake as they squeaked repeatedly in its direction.


    ''Hoho, you''re biting off more than you can chew if you think you can bully my pet.''


    Lin Ming figured that these rats might be tired of living. They should know that in his previous location, no rat dared scurry near him.


    Although, he did notice that despite being bamboo rats, their bodies were almost the size of kittens. It was quite strange.


    Evolution seemed to be progressing quickly. That indescribable aura in the air felt as if it was getting stronger.


    However, regardless of what it was that allowed the rats to reach this size, they were picking a fight with the wrong bamboo.


    The leader of the group climbed up Lin Ming''s bamboo culm, heading straight for the Adorable Little Snake with the other four following suit.


    Right then, the snake awoke and poked its head out of its pile of leaves to look down.


    Lin Ming moved his consciousness and dozens of bamboo leaves flew immediately from his branches, slicing through the air at lightning speed as it aimed for those cursed rats!


    Crack crack


    Squeak!


    Fresh blood tainted the rainwater red and five rat heads dropped to the ground at the same time as the other half of their bodies!


    Adorable Little Snake simply flicked its tongue in and out several times in contentment, before cuddling back into the heap of leaves it was buried in. It was soon fast asleep, daftly unaware of what had just happened.


    The rats were easy to take care of, but Lin Ming was puzzled about one thing. The stupid rats looked as if they were specificallying for his little snake, who was no bigger than an earthworm.


    That was odd.


    He looked around once more, and once he was sure there were no more ratsing to disturb them, Lin Ming built a little nest for the snake to sleep in. After that, he felt far more rxed about the situation they were in.


    Days came, and nights fell.


    The time spent in the hills was a blur.


    Lin Ming could no longer remember how long it had been since he first became a bamboo.


    At the very end, history repeated itself. Eventually, not many insects and animals ventured near him, and he considered leaving again before resources werepletely depleted.


    Additionally, he wasn''t too sure he was getting much nutrition out of the soil from his little roots, when other giant bamboos nearby were probably taking up a lot more with theplex root system they shared.


    His roots were very shallowpared to other nts''.


    He had umted 220 Evolution Points, yet the System gave him no response. Lin Ming had even forgotten of its existence.


    During this time, the Adorable Little Snake did go through some changes.


    Before this, it was no bigger than an earthworm. Now, it was almost as big as a normal earthworm, its translucent body also having turned into aplete silver-white.


    Its exquisite little scales could now reflect sunlight well, and it could sparkle gorgeously if the angle was right.


    Its appetite had grown as well, and it now chose to hunt for its own food after growing unsatisfied with the caterpirs Lin Ming caught for it.


    However, the various insects that did enter their area were no longer normal-sized. Lin Ming kept a close watch to ensure his little friend would not run into any trouble.


    The Adorable Little Snake could not find a single living thing to feast on. Lin Ming felt slightly embarrassed, since he had already taken the liberty of conducting a mass killing of any creature that came nearby.


    "Let''s go to a new ce, Adorable Little Snake," Lin Ming retracted his taproots as he said this, preparing to set off.


    He had gotten used to the intense pain that came from retracting his bamboo roots out of the ground by now. This time, he stood up easily with his roots.


    Bam!


    Just as he was about to start moving, he heard a loud explosion.


    The sound echoed through the valley for a while, before a second explosion was heard!


    The Adorable Little Snake immediately stiffened. Lin Ming ced it onto the ground, but it quickly slithered up Lin Ming''s culm, feeling frightened.


    This sound could not havee from anything other than the shot of a gun.


    That meant human beings had arrived in the valley!

 Chapter 4: Gunshot From the Far-Off Mountains

    Chapter 4: Gunshot From the Far-Off Mountains


    Bam!


    Another shot was heard, followed by the roars of a wild beast.


    A raging wind began billowing between the mountains and forests.


    The unknown wild beast howled in agony until a gunshot was heard, and it was silent as the dead.


    The wind continued raging without slowing down for one second. It crashed through the ancient forest like a wave.


    Lin Ming did not make the next move. He listened to the sounds within the valley carefully.


    The rustling of the tree leaves and the howling of other animals. There was also a vague yet soft sound that rang about, but he had no idea where did ite from.


    The Adorable Little Snake hidden between the branches stuck out its little head in curiosity, its little ruby-like eyes were looking around as well as if it knew what was happening. It seemed quite curious.


    There were no more gunshots.


    Although, Lin Ming had already determined from which direction did the gunshots sounded.


    He was gotten a very clear idea from the few shots that rang out just now.


    He lifted his head to look at the littleke in the middle of the valley. That was where the gunshots hade from.


    Lin Ming was now faced with a choice.


    Should he move toward where the gunshots were, or should he stay away from them?


    Lin Ming came to a decision very quickly.


    He decided to move closer toward the direction of the gunshots.


    Lin Ming had decided to do so due to an earlier thought.


    Or rather, the thought was more of amon sense one.


    There were too few insects and wild beasts in this part of the bamboo forest. At most, it was filled with little flying insects, rats, bamboo rats, or anything simr and nothing more than that.


    This was especially so for the top of the hill. There were even fewer resources up here.


    Lin Ming had decided toe here because he had thought that there would be less obstruction to his line of sight. What more, the bamboo forest was thinner here, which made things easier for him.


    The downside to this ce, however, was that it was far from a water source. As such, there were fewer insects and small animalspared to where he was before.


    The closer he was to a water source, there would be more insects and animals that he could earn Evolution Points from.


    Of course, there was no point to think about what he could see unless he was able to grow higher and taller than the other bamboos that were fifty or sixty meters tall.


    Who knew how many more giant trees taller than bamboos were there in this valley?


    Lin Ming lifted his roots and after determining his direction, he began to journey to the source of the gunshots.


    Getting to a water source seemed to be secondary for Lin Ming, as he was very curious about these human beings.


    He wanted to know if this was still his original world.


    Were human beings still the same?


    After all, it was now sort of the era of "The Reawakening of the Spiritual Aura".


    Would human beings go through changes or mutations?


    That said, observing human beings was secondary. His key motive would still be that littleke.


    As Lin Ming moved, the Adorable Little Snake curled up obediently between the branches andid motionless.


    Lin Ming realized that the direction he was heading toward would see him passing his original location. This would save him some effort from using the Razor Leaf to hew the bamboo around.


    However, Lin Ming had also realized that the bamboo forest he had cleared had begun to grow more branches during this short period. It looked like they were reviving.


    Was this the power of Nature?


    Was Nature''s power capable of growing a bamboo''s diameter to half a meter?


    As he mumbled about this, Lin Ming soon found himself arriving at his original location. Next, he quickly used the Razor Leaf to once again open up a new road.


    This bamboo forest was just too dense.


    "Big Brother Meng, did you hear that?!"


    Wang Hao was picking up a rabbit that was as big as a medium-sized dog when he suddenly heard a strange sound. It sounded as if it wasing from quite far away from where they were.


    "Tell me something I don''t know. I''m not deaf, how can I not hear it? The trees must have grown too tall and fell." Zhao Meng yawned as he carried a rifle on his back.


    "Big Brother Meng is right. Come on, let me cook you guys a dish of spicy rabbit meat. Hao''zi, stop getting excited over such a little thing. It''s the Reawakening of the Spiritual Aura, what''s not mutated now? Wasn''t that wolf just now like that? It was so huge it almost scared us to death!"


    Li Gang, who was crouched on the ground and clearing a space, quickly took out cooking utensils from his backpack. They had not eaten for half a day. The rabbit they had just caught would do nicely.


    "Hey, I''ve been dying to have a bite of that, Big Brother Gang. I''ve even brought quite a lot of spicy noodles, hehe! Add this onto the load! That tail belongs to me!" Zhang Yu, who was slightly on the plump side, threw the bamboo rat in his hands to Li Gang as he said this.


    "All you know is to eat. We''re here to search for that thing, not touring for leisure. Why did you even bring grillings and spicy noodles Leave me a piece of rabbit''s footter. I want the one on the right," Wang Hao said. He threw the rabbit down next to Li Gang and went a little further off with Zhao Meng to stand guard.


    They would wait for the spicy rabbit meat to be done grilling at the same time.


    The team had just encountered a strange-looking wolf. They had killed it with just a few shots but had almost died in the process.


    "Our luck isn''t that bad," Zhao Meng suddenly said.


    Boom


    That loud movement they heard earlier was continuing.


    Wang Hao was a little worried.


    "Big Brother Meng, by the sound of that, could it be something huge?"


    Zhao Meng shuddered. "What are you talking about? How would that be possible?! If something huge had made that noise, the four of us would be as delivery."


    Wang Hao did not understand. "What do you mean by delivery?"


    "We would be delivering ourselves as food," Zhao Meng said. He held tight onto his hunting rifle and bit the straw broken in his mouth.


    Wang Hao choked slightly as he lit a cigarette. "Big Brother Meng, should we have declined to ept this job?"


    "Why would we decline it? Do we say no and keep our pockets empty?"


    "I keep having the feeling that it''s quite dangerous this time."


    Wang Hao listened to the approaching sound, his hand pressed onto the hunting rifle.


    "How would we earn five million if it wasn''t dangerous? Hao''zi, didn''t you always enjoyed the days of having blood on your knife? Weren''t you the one who ended the local viger guiding us when he identally saw our rifles? You weren''t acting like a coward then. If we can find that thing, we''d be able to earn loads of money. We''ll talk about our futureter once we''re done with this big job."


    "Alright, Big Brother Meng, I''ll listen to you Wait, Big Brother Meng, something''s not right with that sound!"


    Just as they were chatting casually, they suddenly heard a resonant howlinging from not far off. It was next followed by a roar!


    "Target!" Zhao Meng and Wang Hao looked at each other. They quickly ran back to where Li Gang and Zhang Yu were grilling the meat!


    It was not long when they reached the ce where they had started the fire. Li Gang and Zhang Yu had already packed up, their hands pressing on their rifles, looking extremely nervous.


    "We''ll eat the rabbit next time. Let''s go!"


    Lin Ming was now quite good at using the Razor Leaf.


    All he needed was to use dozens of bamboo leaves simultaneously to shoot at the same spot of any nts blocking him. With a slight adjustment of angle, he was able to achieve the best results in one move.


    "I won''t slow down if I can attack at the same time." Lin Ming stepped over many bamboos on the ground as he moved forward without difficulties.


    If several dozen bamboo leaves were utilized in a single attack and attacked thrice in a short period of time, with a dyed spike, the noise generated would be simr to that of a single attack.


    However, Lin Ming still felt that it was too noisy. It would attract the attention of the human beings that hade to the valley.


    "Well, there''s not much choice since these bamboos are growing too densely."


    Lin Ming said as he gave three continuous shots again, creating a pathway of close to twenty meters.


    It was not long before Lin Ming descended from the hill slope. Arriving at the foot of the hill, he was surprised to find that there were not many bamboos there. Instead, there was arge amount of some unknown nt.


    What was simr was that those nts were just like the giant bamboos. They grew extremely tall and dense, covering sunlight.


    However, for some reason, there was a wide distance between them. Lin Ming could easily walk through them without using the Razor Leaf.


    "Looks like this doesn''t require much effort now. But what is that noise?"


    Lin Ming suddenly heard some sort of wild beast that was not far from him howling sorrowfully in a low voice.

 Chapter 5: Wolf Pups

    Chapter 5: Wolf Pups


    Lin Ming followed the sound to a bush that had been slightly pressed down and saw seven gray, furry animals.


    They had soft, delicate grayish-ck fur. Sharp, little ears stood upright obstinately from their round and white triangr-shaped heads.


    Seeing Lin Ming approaching, the seven little fellows turned their sad hows into low growls as a warning.


    Seven pairs of sharp, golden eyes were filled with spirit. They looked unusually intelligent.


    However, they looked like they were slightly weak.


    "Young wolf pups?"


    They looked like puppies, but dogs did not have such sharp and vicious looks in their eyes.


    Lin Ming looked around him and noticed that was no mother wolf nearby, not to mention any signs of a wolf pack.


    How did these seven little fellows end up here?


    The Adorable Little Snake flicked its tonguezily and look at them in curiosity and interest.


    Before Lin Ming could figure out what to do next, the seven wolf pups suddenly howled together.


    They made their way to Lin Ming in tiny steps andid down with their clean, white tummies disyed. Their little heads nuzzled at Lin Ming''s bamboo roots.


    "Doesthis mean they''ve yielded to me?"


    Lin Ming was just deciding if he wanted to use the Razor Leaf to end them or convince them to yield to him when they took it upon themselves to surrender.


    In the eyes of the wolf pups, Lin Ming was considered very powerful because of the spiritual aura emanating from him.


    Under these circumstances when the mother was missing, it was an animal''s instinct to surrender and depend on Lin Ming, a powerhouse.


    When the Adorable Little Snake saw all seven of the wolf pups ying happily beneath Lin Ming, it slithered down from the bamboo branch in an attempt to join them. Before it could get near them, the wolf pups snarled, showing their little fangs while lunging at it together!


    Lin Ming immediately pressed down to stop the wolf pups with his bamboo branches and his Razor Leaf fell at the same time, shooting at a giant tree in front!


    Boom!!


    The was a loud explosion and a giant tree fell booming to the ground!


    The wolf pups shuddered as they stared at the fallen tree. They turned to look at the Adorable Little Snake, who was looking at them with curiosity, and understood that it was also a dependent of their master.


    The wolf pups'' tails drooped, as they howled softly as if asking for forgiveness.


    Lin Ming let go of his bamboo branches.


    He had managed to get the wolf pups to understand the fact that Adorable Little Snake was just like them, and was his dependent.


    "Howl howl!" Two of the wolf pups reached out their furry front paw and gently touched the Adorable Little Snake''s tail, which was so much smaller than they were. They nced at Lin Ming with a shudder.


    The Adorable Little Snake was excited as it quickly joined in the fun with the wolf pups.


    Wolf.


    They could grow up to fifty kilograms in weight, and 1.3 meters in length; their biting capacity could go up to 360 pounds [TN: Possible typo by author, meaning to write ''lbs'' (pounds) and not ''ibs''], which was equivalent to 170 kilograms; speed-wise, they could run as fast as 60 kilometers per hour!


    Even though their overall abilities were quite bnced and could notpare to tigers and panthers, but as social animals that move together in packs, wolves wield more power!


    Now that animals and nts were mutating, would these wolves grow to have more powerful attacks, quicker speeds, and be vicious hunters if he brought up all seven of these fellows?


    When that timees, he could have a lot of help!


    This was just a thought that he had.


    It would take time to see if they possessed such potential in the future.


    Although, what was funny about this was there were seven wolf pups altogether. Once they grew up, they would be "Septwolves", or Wolves of Septenary. [TN: Septwolves is a fashion brand in China that is known as ''Seven Wolves'' in Mandarin].


    He was looking forward to it.


    Lin Ming lifted his taproot and continued moving forward.


    Giant trees were all around him and it was still quite far from the water source. It also seemed like there were not a lot of insects and beasts here.


    It was not a great ce to stay for long. There were no more gunshots, but Lin Ming still wanted to see and find out what had happened.


    The wolf pups followed behind Lin Ming obediently. The Adorable Little Snake seemed to have found himself a new ymate as itid on one of the slightly taller wolf pups, observing its surroundings.


    Growl


    Lin Ming stopped and looked at the wolf pups who had also stopped. The growling sound was still going on.


    Were they hungry?


    Lin Ming realized he had forgotten something.


    Without their mother, these wolf pups had looked a little out of sorts.


    Well then


    He checked his surroundings. There were only some insects within fifty meters.


    Lin Ming went into the bushes and released his Razor Leaf. Using his bamboo branches, he cut up some grasshoppers and threw them at the wolf pups.


    The wolf pups ran toward it happily and sniffed the grasshoppers. They lifted their heads to whine but did not eat it.


    Lin Mingughed. So, they were picky about food.


    However, he knew very well that these insects were not enough for a few wolf pups.


    They continued moving forward for a while more when Lin Ming noticed that the wolf pups were falling behind him. They seemed like they could no longer move any more.


    Lin Ming stopped and reached out a bamboo root toward them, indicating for them to climb up. However, the wolf pups looked at each other and did not seem to want to do so.


    "Wow, you guys are quite principled." Lin Ming was impressed. He looked at the Adorable Little Snake. Just take a look at them!


    That said, they were affecting the speed of his journey.


    He was about to pull them up with a bamboo branch when he suddenly heard some loud rustling. It was not long before a big, fat rabbit leaped out.


    The rabbit''s size could no longer be described as normal. After all, a forest such as this would not have a rabbit the size of a middle-sized dog appearing, right?


    Lin Ming was naturally much faster than the rabbit was.


    His Razor Leaf flew out in a swoosh and following that, the sound of something falling to the ground was heard. The rabbit had been sliced into a few pieces.


    [You have killed a grey rabbit, you receive 5 Evolution Points.]


    Lin Ming was speechless at the System for announcing its presence at such a time. What was the point for him to umte so many Evolution Points, but could not use them to evolve anything?


    [You can strengthen your bamboo branches!]


    The System''s voice was heard once again. Lin Ming now did not have the time to watch the pack of wolf pups fighting over the rabbit''s carcass.


    Lin Ming felt that strengthening his branches would be the most important matter for him to handle right now.


    After all, his bamboo branches were not solid enough. Even though he could move them around with flexibility, they were quite brittle and too short.


    Its Control Range was only a radius of approximately three meters.


    This had also affected the Razor Leaf''s attack range.


    "Let''s strengthen the bamboo branches!" Lin Ming gave a conscious instruction, and a surge of power suddenly flowed into his thin and weak bamboo branches.


    A fine light flickered between a short bamboo branch and that bamboo branch suddenly extended close to two meters in lightning speed!


    Numerous little branches followed as they grew quickly on the branch and out popped more tender bamboo leaves.


    Lin Ming realized this strengthening had only required 20 Evolution Points!


    He looked at the remaining 208 Evolution Points and Lin Ming suddenly felt he could now grow stronger.

 Chapter 6: Sonic Boom

    Chapter 6: Sonic Boom


    After using all his Evolution Points on his bamboo branches, Lin Ming realized that he seemed to have more than just one ultimate move.


    Now, he could freely control the eleven branches in the lower part of his culm.


    These branches were already more than four meters long and were flexible yet durable.


    Lin Ming discovered that,pared to before, they would no longer break no matter how much he bent them.


    Bamboo branches were supposed to be durable yet easily broken, so Lin Ming could not help rejoicing at this change.


    He curled the branches, then struck the air with them fiercely!


    Thwack!


    The blow seemed to have sliced the air, and the crisp sound of an explosion immediately followed!


    Was this sound,


    A sonic boom


    What fearsome power!


    The eating wolf pups jumped at the sound and instantly gathered together alertly, but there was one who did not care and continued feasting on the rabbit meat. It was then dragged out by the tail by thergest pup.


    As for the Adorable Little Snake, it seemed to pay no attention to the sound and slithered through the grass in pursuit of a tiny grasshopper.


    Lin Ming curled his branches into a ball again and struck them at a spot not far off from the wolf pups!


    Thwack!


    Although the wolf pups knew that it was Lin Ming''s doing, they were still scared by the loud noise and fell backward into a heap.


    For a whip-like attack like this, Lin Ming estimated that it should have great power.


    He looked toward a giant tree not far off, then hurled another strike with his branches!


    Bam!!


    There was a muffled sound, and a twenty-centimeter-deep groove appeared on the trunk of the giant tree!


    Oho, its lethality seemed rather formidable.


    If the strikended on a small or medium-sized beast, it would probably kill the beast on the spot. If itnded on a human


    Speaking of humans, there seemed to have been a long silence after the gunshots just now.


    Lin Ming looked into the distance. Although the dense forest blocked his sight, he trusted that he had not gone the wrong way.


    Even if he eventually did not see any humans, it would still be nice to migrate to thatke. Moreover, with the addition of these seven little fellows, this trip was not entirely without gain.


    Having strengthened his ability, Lin Ming felt that he would not be at a disadvantage even in the face of humans with shotguns.


    He continued moving forward.


    The wolf pups were much more energetic after filling their stomachs. The Adorable Little Snake also grew a little and finally caught a grasshopper after much effort.


    To speed up, Lin Ming grabbed the wolf pups with his branches and held them up. He moved forward with his eight taproots swiftly, much faster than before.


    After walking for a while, they finally came out from thisrge forest. Along the way, Lin Ming did not forget to collect Evolution Points with his Razor Leaf by killing numerous unlucky insects that came across him.


    He ascended a small hill with sparse vegetation and suddenly heard the sound of gurgling water. Lin Ming moved in the direction of the sound for a while and arrived at a fast-flowing stream.


    The wolf pups and the Adorable Little Snake went into the shallow stream to drink and y, while Lin Ming stood aside and extended his taproots to draw water for replenishing.


    Lin Ming had used up a lot of water after his long journey, and most of his leaves were wilting. This stream appeared just in time.


    It was almost dusk right now.


    Lin Ming felt that it was better to stop here today and leave the rest of the journey for tomorrow.


    He would have to go there sooner orter, and it was unnecessary to go and see what the humans were doing.


    Lin Ming, who had already fully regarded himself as a nt, began using his Razor Leaf to turn nearby insects into Evolution Points.


    Roar!!!


    Not long after, a bellow suddenly sounded near them!


    The wolf pups in the stream jumped in shock and froze in the water for a while. The biggest of them then led them scurrying back to Lin Ming''s side.


    The Adorable Little Snakegged behind them, and Lin Ming quickly grabbed it with his branch.


    Oww!!


    Another long howl came, but it waspletely different from the previous sound.


    "Are there two beasts fighting?" Lin Ming guessed.


    However, judging from this roar, the size of the two beasts should not be too small.


    A rabbit was already worth 5 Evolution Points. If it were arge beast, would it be worth more?


    Having made up his mind, Lin Ming pulled up his taproots which he had drove deep into the ground and crossed the two-meter-wide stream. He wrapped his branches around the wolf pups and the Adorable Little Snake and walked in the direction of the continuous roars.


    Although the trees in this area were gigantic, they were extremely sparse. Lin Ming saw that there was gravel all around, which prevented tall trees from taking root.


    However, for a nt with "root legs" like him, it was not a problem at all.


    He looked at the wolf pups among his branches. At this moment, they were all huddled together and seemed to be trembling at the sound of the bellows.


    They were scared.


    Lin Ming could not help feeling bewildered. Right now, he should be more frightening than wild beasts.


    After all, he was a walking bamboo and could even use deadly weapons like the Razor Leaf and Bamboo Whip.


    As he continued moving forward, the beasts'' roaring became louder and clearer.


    It was also apanied by asional sounds of violent crashing and trees breaking.


    "It looks like two beasts are fighting," Lin Ming concluded.


    Soon, he spotted the figures of two beasts not far off.


    Those were porcupines with more than half a meter long, hard and sharp spines covering their backs!


    Lin Ming roughly estimated these two fellows to be nearly two meters in length! Their size was almost that of a baby elephant.


    They had already strayed far from a porcupine''s original size. It was good enough for a normal porcupine to grow to 80 centimeters.


    It seemed that they had already mutated quite a significant degree.


    It was just like that rabbit that he had killed before. Its body size had also mutated.


    He looked at the two porcupines again. They were still fighting fiercely, each of their bodies already covered in bloodstains. One of them had injured its hind leg, but the other was in no better condition.


    "I guess I''ll y the fisherman, then." [TN: As neither the snipe nor m would give way in fighting, a fisherman came and caught them both. This idiom describes that a third party will benefit if two parties fight.]


    Lin Ming wrapped the wolf pups and the Adorable Little Snake tightly with his branches, ced them on top of himself, and then slowly moved forward.


    To prevent the fighting porcupines from discovering him, he tried his best to move even slower and minimize the sound of his movement. Eventually, he seemed to be gliding rather than walking.


    Due to the mutation of his bamboo branches, the Razor Leaf''s attack range had increased to almost 25 meters. However, for better uracy, he had to get closer.


    The battle between the porcupines was still going on. They attacked and tore into each other mindlessly, not even noticing the strange creature approaching them!


    30 meters, 25 meters


    Lin Ming could already hear their low growls and see the blood dripping from their bodies.


    To be safe, Lin Ming curled all eleven branches to their utmost limit and kept hundreds of Razor Leaves in a state ready to shoot out at any time.


    Right now, the porcupines were already exhausted from their long fight and did not even notice the peculiar bamboo standing less than ten meters away from them!


    Bang!!


    A gunshot suddenly sounded in that instant!

 Chapter 7: Those Not Of The Same Kin

    Chapter 7: Those Not Of The Same Kin


    Bang!


    Just when Lin Ming was about to shoot out his Razor Leaves and pull out his Bamboo Whip, suddenly there came the sound of a gunshot at a very close range!


    Shot in the head, one of the porcupines fell to the ground!


    Bang, bang!!


    Two more gunshots came immediately afterward!


    The other porcupine let out an agonized cry and copsed heavily as well.


    "Tsk, turns out it''s not what we wanted. What a waste of bullets!" A figure holding a shotgun emerged from a faraway bush and walked toward the porcupine.


    "Big Brother Meng! Be careful, there may be"


    "Hao''zi, you''re such a coward. There are four of us, why should we be scared? Haha, no more spicy rabbit meat this time. Let Big Brother Gang here put on a show and cook up a porcupine feast!"


    "You''re a bad*ass, Big Brother Gang! I heard that porcupine meat is like the ginseng of all meats and is extremely nutritious! Hehe!"


    Holding their shotguns, the four of them watched their surroundings cautiously as they made their way quickly to the porcupine carcasses.


    "By the way, who fired that extra shot just now? Itpletely missed!" Zhao Meng gripped his shotgun and looked around alertly.


    "Hey, who cares. Although it''s not our target, these are still not too bad. We can sell these spines for a lot of money." Li Gang took out a dagger and cut off the spines one by one.


    Wang Hao was a little embarrassed as his bullet had hit the tree just now. "Uh, never mind that missed shot. By the way, these two porcupines are really huge."


    "Indeed, they used to be not much bigger than dogs, but now they''re almost the size of elephants. This mutation is insane. Big Brother Gang, we can take care of the spinester, let''s barbecue first!" Zhang Yu''s mouth watered. Since they could not have rabbits, they were not going to miss this porcupine meat.


    Lin Ming quietly watched this group of humans who seemed to be "hunters".


    They seemed to be exactly the same as the humans that he knew. As for the "mutation" they spoke of, it should be referring to the mutations urring among the animals and nts.


    Staring at the shotguns in their hands, Lin Ming knew that the gunshots he had heard before were probably from this group of people.


    Just now, these hunters had cleanly killed two mutated porcupines in three shots. Their marksmanship seemed rather excellent, and they also appeared to havee prepared.


    Although he did not know what this "target" they spoke of was, he did not care as long as it had nothing to do with him.


    There was no need to start a conflict with them.


    As long as they did not provoke him.


    "Big Brother Meng, don''t you think this bamboo''s a bit strange?"


    At this moment, Wang Hao pointed at the bamboo close to them and hurriedly called Zhao Meng.


    "What about the bamboo? Bamboos are verymon in this valley." Zhao Meng put down his shotgun and said unconcernedly after a nce.


    "No, there''s something wrong." Wang Gang put down his dagger. "Howe there''s bamboo in this Chinese fir forest? Besides, there are too many branches on this bamboo, and they are all curled up Wait, what''s that up there?"


    All of them looked up to the top of the bamboo. The branches there were clustered together, and there seemed to be some living creature moving within.


    "No way, there''s something up there!" Zhao Meng immediately raised his gun, and the other three followed suit!


    "Owoo!"


    At this moment, one of the wolf pups on top of the bamboo branches suddenly let out a little whimper!


    Lin Ming instantly wrapped a few slender branches around the wolf pup''s snout, but it was already toote.


    "That''s the sound of a wolf pup!! There''s a wolf pup up there!" shouted Zhao Meng.


    "You''re kidding me. How can there be a wolf pup on the bamboo?" Li Gang gripped his gun and nced at his surroundings. "No way, it''s impossible for it to climb up there."


    "I heard it too, Big Brother Meng!" Wang Hao also yelled.


    "Wolf pup meat is the most delicious, shoot it in the head!" Zhang Yu cried excitedly.


    Just when all four of them aimed their guns at the top of the bamboo, they suddenly saw a small silvery-white creature inching its way down slowly.


    "A snake? Wait, it seems to be an albino mutation, and it smells kinda nice?"


    "Wait, I think that''s a bamboo viper! It''s highly venomous, kill it in one shot!"


    Bang!!


    A gunshot sounded as soon as they finished speaking, but instead of hitting the little white snake, it struck one of Lin Ming''s branches!


    Lin Ming instantly exploded with murderous rage!


    Dozens of Razor Leaves sliced the air, and in a split second, cut the shooter''s head into smithereens!


    A bloody mist filled the air!


    "Hao''zi!! I''ll f*cking kill you, monster!!"


    "This b...bamboo is a mon...monster!! Destroy it!!"


    "Kill it!!"


    "Shoot!!"


    Seeing theirpanion killed, the remaining few hurriedly raised their shotguns. However, before they had time to pull the trigger, Lin Ming whipped out the bamboo branches that he had already curled to the limit!


    Pak! Pak! Pak!


    A sonic boom followed the branches'' violent whipping movements, and the shouts of the three people immediately turned into screams!


    In that instant, blood and brain juice sprayed everywhere!


    A mountain breeze blew, ruffling Lin Ming''s bamboo leaves.


    Themotion just now had already died down. Only the sonic boom of the bamboo branches echoed in the valley and gradually disappeared in the end.


    Lin Ming nced at the four corpses on the ground.


    He had just killed humans.


    Strangely, there was no excitement or any other feeling in his heart.


    He just felt that if he did not act first, the Adorable Little Snake, the wolf pups, and he would get hurt.


    Instead of letting that happen, why not kill them?


    Being too kind to the enemy is being cruel to oneself.


    As a mutated bamboo, he was already different from his past self. Even if his soul was human, he no longer had anything to do with humans.


    Get along peacefully? That was too difficult.


    Those who were not of the same kin were sure to have different minds.


    Lin Ming understood this truth, and in fact, he valued it greatly.


    If the humans who appeared posed a threat to him, it would be best to kill them.


    Trust them? Lin Ming was not that stupid.


    In other words, there was no need for him to trust anyone, let alone expect anything of them.


    Compared to human beings who were uncontroble, either the Adorable Little Snake or the wolf pups were much better.


    Plunging his taproots into the ground, Lin Ming controlled them to soften and loosen the soil, and after a while, severalrge pits appeared.


    He wrapped his branches around the corpses and threw them into the pits along with their shotguns and other belongings, then buried thempletely.


    After that, he uprooted some nearby flourishing weeds and buried them on top.


    In a few days, this ce would bepletely covered with weeds. Nobody would have thought that those people had died here.


    Lin Ming did this not because he pitied their corpses but to avoid unnecessary trouble.


    Since these people coulde here to hunt, there must be someone else who knew their purpose.


    If he did not handle the aftermath properly, and if someone came looking for them, found their bodies, and realized the cause of their deaths


    That would bring him a lot of trouble.


    As a mutated bamboo, all Lin Ming wanted was to live his own life and guard his immediate vicinity.


    As for troublesome matters, he wanted to stay away as far as possible from them.


    After taking care of everything and confirming that he had not missed anything, Lin Ming nced at his bloodstained and dirt-covered branches, then walked toward the stream once again.

 Chapter 8: Spirit Lake

    Chapter 8: Spirit Lake


    He followed the path along the stream and made his way downward.


    The stream water eventually flowed into a smallke, and thekeside was Lin Ming''s ideal spot to settle down.


    Lin Ming did not idle along the way. His Razor Leaves flitted across the bushes by the stream from time to time, harvesting small flying insects and the like.


    He stillcked Evolution Points.


    Those hunters had stolen his kill by finishing off the two gigantic porcupines that might have numerous Evolution Points before him. Later on, Lin Ming touched the two porcupine carcasses with his branches, but he did not receive any reaction from the system at all.


    His previous Evolution Points had only strengthened eleven branches, which were not even a third of his whole culm.


    "That''s not enough" Lin Ming used his Razor Leaves tirelessly, but he only gained less than a hundred points after walking for a long time.


    Strengthening a bamboo branch required 20 Evolution Points. With less than a hundred points, the most he could do was four branches.


    There were really few biological resources around here.


    Moreover, killing humans did not seem to get him Evolution Points.


    The wolf pups had already been put down from his branches, and the Adorable Little Snake trailed after Lin Ming together with them.


    As Lin Ming looked at the Adorable Little Snake, he remembered what one of the hunters had said when he saw it.


    That person said that the Adorable Little Snake was an Albino Bamboo Viper, which was quite rare.


    The strangest thing was, he also said that the Adorable Little Snake had a scent.


    Lin Ming could not smell anything and did not have this kind of function either. It was his first time knowing that the Adorable Little Snake had a scent.


    It made him remember about that time in the bamboo forest. Those mice seemed to have determined the Adorable Little Snake''s location in advance and climbed up straight toward it. It was probably rted to this scent.


    Looking back once more, Lin Ming noticed that the wolf pups were also sniffing the area around the Adorable Little Snake slithering at the very end, and in fact, seemed somewhat delighted. So there really was a scent.


    Right now, Lin Ming could not judge whether this was a good or bad thing.


    "Owoo, owoo!"


    The wolf pups'' cries sounded more like those of puppies than wolves. They seemed to have spotted a tiny crab in the stream and jumped in excitedly, but they then saw the crab squeeze under arge rock.


    They tried to move the rock with their small front paws while whining, desperate to find the tiny crab hiding inside.


    What bundles ofughter they were! Lin Ming could not help smiling.


    He stopped and extended his branches, lowering them into the stream and lifting severalrge rocks with ease. Then, with another branch, he caught a few crabs hiding inside.


    He knew that this pack of wolf pups would not eat this kind of stuff, so he threw one of the crabs to them as a toy, and with a sh of his Razor Leaves, cut another crab in half.


    [You killed a river crab, Evolution Points +2]


    Oho, this little thing had two Evolution Points? Not bad.


    Lin Ming quickly caught a dozen more from the stream, and after he sliced them all up, his Evolution Points immediately increased a little.


    He was in a good mood.


    If there were more small crabs or fishes near that smallke, it would be a good source of Evolution Points.


    Thinking of this, Lin Ming wrapped his branches around the wolf pups and the Adorable Little Snake and sped up.


    Finally, Lin Ming arrived at theke at nightfall.


    The bright moonlight shone on the darkke, and when a breeze blew, it turned millions of silver fragments.


    After observing for a while, Lin Ming found a soil slope about ten meters away from thekeshore and climbed it.


    After removing the weeds on the slope with his branches and cutting down a few annoying bayurel trees with his Razor Leaf, Lin Ming finally settled down.


    He drove his taprootspletely into the soft soil and allowed them to extend fully and even prate deep into the ground.


    As Lin Ming spread his capiry roots and absorbed the water in the moist soil, he felt a sense of refreshment that he had never felt before.


    Moreover, he could also feel that the strange substance in the air seemed to be denser near this smallke. He extended a taproot in the direction of theke bed, and after touching theke water, he felt a cold sensation instantly envelop his taproot.


    He could feel that the strange substance was somewhat denser in theke water.


    There seemed to be a considerable amount in this soft soil too. The ce where he had previously stayed was simply iparable.


    He felt that when he absorbed this strange substance, the energy in his body would be replenished, and this energy was also the source of his mutation.


    "Spirit Lake, huh" Lin Ming was somehow able to make out the shimmering spiritual aura above the smallke.


    It appeared that the decision he had made before was correct.


    The roars of wild beasts in the valley also seemed to have be much closer, and a cacophony of endless insect sounds surrounded theke.


    Lin Ming casually sent out a few strikes of his Razor Leaves, and Evolution Points soon came flooding in.


    "What a great ce."


    Lin Ming felt that he would not need to move again for some time. He pulled up a patch of weeds nearby with his branches and made arge, thick mat. The wolf pups had been howling at the moon from the treetops, and he gently put them down on the mat.


    The wolf pups seemed to like this grass mat very much. They bounced on it and yed with each other with unlimited energy. Lin Ming also moved more grass over from time to time, making the grass mat bigger.


    The Adorable Little Snake was always quiet at night. After the day''s events, it seemed to be tired and had curled up among the bamboo branches, not moving at all.


    Lin Ming looked at them, feeling deeply that he was a caretaker. He wondered when these little guys would grow up.


    [You have 200 Evolution Points for secretion of Spiritual Fluid. Do you want to evolve?]


    At this moment, the System suddenly sounded, and Lin Ming nced at his personalized dashboard.


    Spiritual Fluid? What was that?


    The System did not answer. Lin Ming was already used to this fellow''s behavior. Although there was no exnation, it was always good to evolve.


    Under the control of his conscious mind, the 200 Evolution Points disappeared as if they had evaporated into thin air. Lin Ming also felt a peculiar stream of water surge upward from the depths of his taproots. It flowed through his underground stems and bamboo nodes, then reached a branch closest to the ground.


    Lin Ming watched as the branch underwent a remarkable transformation within a short time.


    The center of the branch became hollow, and a small hole appeared at its very top. Immediately afterward, a drop of slightly viscous and transparent Spiritual Fluid materialized there, ready to drip down.


    The ying wolf pups suddenly stopped in their tracks. They sniffed the faint fragrance wafting through the air, and their gazes eventually locked on their master!


    "Owoooooo!" The wolf pups raced toward the bamboo branch, anxious to be the first. They stood upright on their hind legs and opened their mouths eagerly, their golden eyes staring at Lin Ming''s bamboo branch secreting Spiritual Fluid.


    At this moment, the Adorable Little Snake, who had been silent all this time, woke up. It slithered down Lin Ming''s culm swiftly, and before Lin Ming could lower the branch''s height, it swallowed the Spiritual Fluid on it in one big gulp!

 Chapter 9: Savage Evolution

    Chapter 9: Savage Evolution


    After the Adorable Little Snake swallowed the Spiritual Fluid, it paused for a moment, spiking Lin Ming''s concerns.


    Luckily, it quickly slithered along the bamboo branch to the ground to y with the wolf pups, looking in high spirits. He rxed a little bit.


    He proceeded to keep a close watch over it for some time, and felt further relieved as it seemed the Adorable Little Snake did not experience any side effects.


    By the looks of it, perhaps the Spiritual Fluid only boosted vitality and heightened energy levels. There didn''t seem to be any drawback to consuming it.


    Feeling assured, Lin Ming produced a few more droplets of the fluid to feed the wolf pups, who eagerly awaited. Theypped up the liquid, clearly pleased and enjoying themselves. He could not help but yfully lift them up with his branches.


    ...


    Before he could quite realize it, a month had already gone by.


    Ever since moving to the smallkeside, Lin Ming had taken care to keep track of time.


    This made things a little unpleasant for arge boulder by theke not too far from him.


    Every day, he would utilize his bamboo whip, which had drastically strengthened, to carve out a deep gully. Later, as he grew more skillful with the whip, he would simply carve day trackers on the boulder.


    After Lin Ming brought himself to theke, his growth was no longer stunted. The speed at which he grew might even be described as ''savage''!


    Today, he had reached a height of nearly forty meters and a diameter of close to 30 centimeters. He may not be at the level of the giant bamboo in the forest from before, but he was still quiterge.


    From the bottom to the top, the color of his stem transitioned from dark shades of green to lighter and brighter tones. Above nearly a hundred branches, tens of thousands of emerald-green leaves swayed with the wind.


    Now that he had gained so many Evolution Points, Lin Ming had alreadypletely evolved his branches.


    Along with his growth, his branches had nearly doubled in length to reach almost six meters!


    Now, he could control nearly a hundred branches while making movements like curling and twisting branches together, or pulling out his bamboo whip -- which created a noise that shook even mountains and valleys!


    Of course, Lin Ming had already tested the limits of destruction that this whip could cause.


    A day ago, he used an extremely powerful taproot to dig out an obtrusive boulder that was half-buried in soil.


    After the bamboo branches curled themselves up as far as they could go, unrolling them could strike a blow resembling a strong gust of wind.


    The solid boulder was sted into two halves by this blow!


    Being strong, however, did not equate to being powerful. If he could perfectly control his other abilities, only then would he be truly powerful.


    As of today, the whip could easily be used to engrave the boulder with a small mark for every day. If he wanted to, he could also smash the boulder into tiny pieces. He possessed skillful andfortable power control over the ability.


    Right now, his roots were deep underground.


    Unlike ordinary bamboo, Lin Ming did not utilize bamboo''s biggest weapon, ''reproduction'', to essentially clone himself.


    For reproduction, roots grew horizontally with some empty spaces in the middle. There were many dense knots, where fibrous roots and shoots grew out of. Some grew out of the ground as bamboo nts of their own, while others simply grew horizontally and developed into new underground stems.


    Hence, bamboos could spread out in a forest, or even be the forest themself.


    The reason Lin Ming did not develop this ability was that he chose the ''Movement Type'' over the alternative given by the System.


    He felt he had made the right choice.


    For instance, if he had initially chosen the ''Strength Enhancement Type'' he would be imprisoned at his starting point and could only absorb a very thin Spiritual Aura. Even if all the giant bamboos surrounding him were to be uprooted, he definitely would not be able to reach his full potential there.


    He remembered a saying  ''trees move to die while humans move to live''. However, Lin Ming had moved twice and arrived at thekeside where there was a dense Spiritual Aura. This could surely be regarded as ''moving to live''.


    Due to his selection of ''Movement Type'', he could not develop his ''reproduction''. Although that was a bit regretful, it was not all that bad after careful consideration.


    Continuing to grow increasinglyrger and stronger was now his main focus.


    Although it had rained for a long period this month, Lin Ming''s almostpletely degraded ''reproduction'' did not respond at all to this.


    He did not hold any hope for that. Instead, he extended his taproots even deeper into the ground, making short work of any hard rocks that tried to block his way.


    Therge rocks were dug out and flung out into the distance, while the smaller rocks were taken care of with even more ease.


    After not too long, the taproots broke through to about a depth of a hundred meters, and were met with ice-cold groundwater veins!


    "Hm, this feels like Spiritual Aura?"


    Lin Ming noticed that the inexplicable substance absorbed by his roots from the underground river was rather dense.


    "It seems like I''vee to a ce in the valley with the densest Spiritual Aura"


    With that, he finally decided that he should properly take root in this ce to strengthen himself.


    "Hiss"


    Adorable Little Snake entangled itself around the tip of a bamboo branch and looked up at the sky, unsure of what he was looking at.


    Adorable Little Snake had vastly grown during the month.


    Compared to its initial earthworm-like size, it was now about five centimeters thick and one meter long. It was certainly nothing to scoff at.


    Its scales which have nowpletely be white dazzled in the sun and reflected silver rays of light. Under its ruby red-colored eyes grew two spots of emerald green.


    Its scales were now white and easily caught sun rays to reflect them. Under its ruby eyes grew two spots of emerald green. Its fangs, which were usually almost invisible, had grown a lot sharper.


    Adorable Little Snake no longer needed Lin Ming''s help to find food. It could now dig through the soil to scour for bugs or catch grasshoppers. It could even wander twenty or thirty meters away by itself, asionally catching rabbit-sized mice to enjoy when it returned.


    He was not sure if it was because of the Spiritual Fluid, but he was sure that the Adorable Little Snake had grown much smarter than it used to be.


    Sometimes, the little guy would set a prey by his culm, as if it wanted to share with Lin Ming. That warmed his heart.


    Then, there were the wolf pups.


    They would no longer be regarded as wolf pups today.


    They had essentially grown into adult wolves, bodies reaching a length of one meter and a half. Their long grey-ck fur was soft and shiny, and the soft white fur on their face, abdomen, and legs resembled satin.


    They also happened to bear a white diamond-shaped patch of fur on their grey foreheads, which looked slightly odd.


    Their fangs had too grown sharper, the canines sticking out of their mouths especially taking on a terrifying appearance. It would deter almost anyone looking to pick a fight with them.


    As for their golden pupils, they now carried more ferocity and viciousness. Aplete change from the cuteness the eyes evoked before.


    Nowadays, the seven wolves would band together to hunt for food in the forest regardless of whether it was day or night. Lin Ming could hear their loud howls echoing in the valley from time to time. After the hunt, they would return to his side to sleep and y.


    For now, Lin Ming did not know if the rapid growth of his pets in such a short span of time was due to their daily consumption of Spiritual Fluid, or something else.


    However, he understood that they were already fundamentally different from any snakes or wolves that he knew or had heard of in the past.

 Chapter 10: Overlord of the Valley

    Chapter 10: Overlord of the Valley


    Water from the gurgling stream meandered and flowed out from the valley, crashing down from a cliff tens of meters high that resembled a frozen meteor in the sky, forming a silky waterfall off the edge.


    Below the waterfall was a deep pool, which flowed a few kilometers down the mountain then curved into a bend by a small mountain vige.


    In that small vige stood an old mansion. A wrinkled Li Laohan sat outside, smoking dry tobo in silence, his brows furrowed.


    "Dad, what should we do? We can''t go to the mountain anymore." Li Fei raised his head as if to point at the unbudging mist covering the towering mountains in the distance, a sense of fear lingering in his heart.


    "Cough! Cough! Cough" his father broke into a violent coughing fit. "Find them! We still have to find them!" he proimed as he cleared his throat, nodding hard.


    Perhaps a bit more than a month ago, four people had suddenly visited the vige.


    The four had imed to be travel buddiesing to explore the valley, and had paid Old Li''s nephew, Li Ming, a good sum of money to act as their guide.


    A month had passed. Li Ming had not returned, and the four travel mates were nowhere to be seen either.


    Old Li had thought about calling the police, but there were dozens of kilometers of mountain roads separating their vige from the town. Besides, town people would not understand the situation on the other side of the valley as well as a viger would.


    "Dad, I think we still need to call the police. We went out yesterday. You have no idea how huge the bugs out there are!" Li Fei''s face turned pale as he recalled the memory.


    Yesterday, he and three other vigers had gone into the mountain together, only to frantically flee a whileter as a dozenrge bugs covered in colorful fur chased them away. He was so petrified, his soul had practically felt his body!


    He had grown up on the mountain. Why was this his first time seeing the insane creatures it was also home to?


    Not only that, they hadter run into a fox the size of a calf.


    Had his quick eyes not been able to spot it, and then aim at and shoot it under pressure, his group would probably not have gotten back to the vige in one piece. His shotgun hit the fox in the left eye, saving all their lives.


    "You have to find him and save them! Call the two children of Old Zhang''s family on the west side of the vige to go with you too. You can''t just let him be gone like that and not go after him!" Old Li''s cloudy yellow eyes shed as he gave his instructions. The vige had lost someone, and that was a big deal! It was a matter of someone living, or someone dying.


    It was not a big deal to go into the mountains for seven or eight days. Considering the sheer size of the mountain, it could even be said that half a month wouldn''t be enough to do everything one wanted to do. However, it had already been a month. Of course they were growing more frantic by the minute.


    "Dad, it won''t make a difference no matter how many of us go! We need to get the county''s fire brigade as reinforcements, we don''t know what we''re dealing with here. I''ll call them now!" Li Fei said, walking into the house.


    Old Li agreed. There was no other way, they would need to trouble the county.


    He did know how dangerous the mountain was. After all, his fearless son had gone up with a shotgun only to run back home frightened. This was no joking matter.


    A few days ago, a grandson-inw and concubine from the vige had gone into the woods to pick mushrooms. They encountered a few mice the size of dogs and lost their shoes in a struggle to escape.


    There was also the situation with the youngest son of Old Jin''s family. It was said that he had gone to the toilet at night and saw a centipede thicker than his thigh. He was so shocked that a high fever struck him, and he bbed nonsense for several days!


    There used to be a dozen dogs in the vige, but they had disappeared without any exnation. There were pools of blood by the doghouse


    The mountain was mutating.


    The mutations seemed to have started three or four months ago. However, it was gradually bing more rapid and effective.


    The vigers were not blind, they knew what was going on. Their ancestors had upied thesends for generations.


    Several families moved to a town many miles away and never returned. Almost overnight, it felt like so many had left.


    Old Li knew it would not be long before the entire vige moved out.


    However, before that, Li Ming needed to be found and rescued.


    "Dad, the county is taking this very seriously! They said troops have already set out, the fire brigade ising over right away, and rangers would be following them too!" Li Fei cried out from inside the house.


    Old Li put the cigarette holder back into his mouth and nodded in response.


    The troops wereing. It seemed that even the people outside were aware of the things happening around the mountain.


    "Big Fei, tidy up the house. It looks like our days in the Little Li Vige are running out."


    "Ah? Dad, what are you saying?" Li Fei was stunned.


    Old Li ignored him, instead peering out at the misty mountains in the distance. "It''s not just in the mountains. Soon enough, it''ll probably also spread out here."


    A gleam of green light shed, and the unknowing carp that had just emerged from the water was suddenly dealt an early fate.


    Its carcass floated on theke, and beside it bobbed a de-shaped bamboo leaf.


    [You have killed a mutated carp. 3 Evolution Points gained.]


    Lin Ming heard the System''s voice in his head and took a look. He still needed 30 more Evolution Points to get to 500 points.


    After some time spent honing his Razor Leaves and Bamboo Whip skills, his Attack Range had reached nearly fifty meters!


    It was an obvious choice to target the fish of theke.


    The carp''s upside-down, scaly white carcass floated atop the misty turquoiseke. Suddenly, a huge ck shadow floated up to the surface, opened its mouth, and engulfed the carp. It dove back into the water again.


    Lin Ming now had a new goal.


    If he could get rid of this big guy, he would probably get hisst 30 Evolution Points with a single kill.


    After a while, a few more carp dared jump out of the water. The Razor Leaves were no match for them, chopping them up before they could make their returning dive back into the water.


    Ssh!


    These carp seemedrger than what Lin Ming used to remember. When they flopped into theke, they createdrge sshes of water.


    Lin Ming pinned his focus on the water, nearly a hundred Razor Leaves ready to be released at a moment''s notice.


    Soon, the same huge ck shadow appeared once again, its maw gaping open. He sent the leaves after it, flying in a violent mass of green!


    Blood sttered across the water''s surface, dying it crimson!


    [You killed the Unranked Grade-2 Colossal Man-Eating Catfish. You gain 50 Evolution Points.]


    ''Hm? Unranked? What was ''Unranked''?'' Lin Ming was stunned. He remembered that it was


    [Evolution Points have reached 500 points. You can now evolve.]


    At that moment, the synthesized sound of the System interrupted his thoughts.


    Speaking of that...


    Lin Ming did not hesitate for a second before selecting the option to evolve!


    Right then, a wonderful force suddenly surged from the ends of his thousands of fibrous roots and taproots plunged into the soil, gradually rushing toward the center of Lin Ming''s culm.


    More energy converged endlessly from the bamboo leaves and bamboo branches as well. It felt unstoppable, gurgling like a stream, rushing like a brook, and rolling like a river!


    It was exactly like a river in the sense that these little ''rivers'' all converged into the ''sea'' of the culm, a crimson diamond appearing in his center.


    The surging energy sent a shock throughout Lin Ming''s body.


    Then, a greater shock began to resonate within him as Lin Ming felt a force start to erode the cells in his body, beginning the continuous process of destruction, reorganization, and renewal!


    To the naked eye, sis culm was gradually growingrger and rougher. Its diameter was also undergoing violent tearing and reorganization, expanding from his original diameter of tens of centimeters to nearly two meters wide.


    Countless green branches were continuously drilling out the culm like a dragon escaping a bamboo prison. These were no weak branches, either. Countless bamboo leaves were frantically unfolding and blooming along the branches, shining like stars when they caught the light. Throughout all this, the culm continued to grow upwards as well, eventually stretching up to a height of fifty meters!


    Lin Ming''s root system began to grow and extend. It was almost terrifying  no solid rock or other nt''s root system could halt his growth. It was unstoppable.


    The ground could not anticipate this. Pieces and pieces of the soil began to break apart, forming deep cracks.


    The entire valley shook with the strong vibrations of this rapid expansion.


    Countless birds fled the woods, which even more insects and beasts rushed out from all directions, madly rushing towards Lin Ming!


    From a distance, his thousands of branches fluttered in the wind like wavering ghosts in the middle of the night, while his leaves were like flickering stars in the background of the night sky.


    A majestic spiritual power fluctuated and centered on Lin Ming like a neb would, constantly rotating.


    The entire valley had now witnessed the moment their new overload had risen!

 Chapter 11: Stage

    Chapter 11: Stage


    In the dead of night, the valley was sent into aplete frenzy!


    The constant chirping of birds and the sound of howling echoed in the night sky.


    Giant insects wereing from all directions of the valley flying and crawling about, rushing madly towards the smallke right at the center of the valley.


    The loud rumbling from the earthquake-like tremor from before still reverberated throughout the valley.


    Lin Ming paused for a bit until he was sure his culm and roots would not be growing anymore. He calmed down.


    The great changes brought on by his evolution made him feel a boundless energy coursing through his body, as if a heart was pumping racing blood around his veins.


    Adorable Little Snake and the seven wolf pups had immediately rushed back to his side when the transformation began. Now that Lin Ming knew it was safe, he lifted them safely up to a top branch.


    "Check the personalized dashboard."


    Lin Ming summonsed the System, only to find that it had also changed with thistest evolution.


    [Lineage: Mutated Moso Bamboo]


    [Evolution Points: 20]


    [Stage: Rank-1]


    [Abilities: Level-2 Razor Leaves (300 daggers). 100-meter Area of Effect Range, 30 Attack Effectiveness (evolvable), 200-meters/second Attack Speed (evolvable), can be deployed at the same time, can deal either single-target damage or ranged damage.


    Level-2 Mutated Bamboo Whips (100 whips). 20-meter Area of Effect Range, 100 Attack Effectiveness (evolvable), wherever the whip points will be barren!


    Spiritual Fluid: Boosts the evolution speed of dependents.]


    [Learnable skills:


    Ultimate Regeneration: Able to recoverpletely even when severely injured. Evolution Points required: 1000


    Aura Concealment: Hides own spiritual aura and blocks aura detection. Evolution Points required: 2000]


    Oho.


    Lin Ming did not expect such a tremendous change from the dashboard he previously had. That old thing had three lines that barely even covered ten words.


    Now, he could properly quantify his own strength and not simply rely on spection or estimation.


    As for the new words like ''Stage'' and ''Rank-1'', this exined why the man-eating catfish had beenbeled with simr words after he killed it.


    That Colossal Man-Eating Catfish was ''entering Grade-2''. If he were to theorize this on a ten-point scale, it made sense to think that for Rank-1 he would be at Grade-9 just before the evolution, and now had increased to Grade-10. At Grade-2, that fish was simply no match for him.


    Taking this all into ount, would there be a Rank-2, Rank-3, and so on in the future?


    Before the evolution, he only knew his own levels and the levels of others through System notifications.


    Did this now mean he had been given a clear goal of working towards achieving immortality?


    If that was the case, then he could have some fun with things.


    In terms of his abilities, it seemed both the power and attack ranges of the Razor Leaves and Bamboo Whips could still be increased. The dashboard even used the word ''Level-2'' to describe it, like in video games.


    Lin Ming knew that if he was to maximize his abilities to the highest skill levels, they would be unstoppable lethal weapons.


    The description of the ability of Spiritual Fluid confirmed what Lin Ming previously suspected as well.


    Looking up at Adorable Little Snake, its own personalized dashboard soon popped up.


    [Lineage: Albino Bamboo Viper]


    [Stage: Entering Grade-2]


    [Ability: Lethal Venom Level-1. Fangs can instantly kill opponents several timesrger than oneself.]


    [Special Ability: Charm Fragrance Level-1. The body will emit a wonderful fragrance that can incapacitate enemies. However, it may asionally cause some trouble.]


    Adorable Little Snake was unexpectedly a good venom user, but it was only at Grade-2 and still quite weak. Even whenparing him to the giant catfish which was also Grade-2, it wasn''t much of a match.


    Its special ability did exin why the hunters had previously mentioned a fragrance the snake was giving off, but couldn''t see any of its effects yet.


    After all, the little guy was currently still barely holding his own with some small animals. If this Charm Fragrance ended up provoking anyrge enemies, Lin Ming would undoubtedly have to step up and deal with them.


    ncing at the little wolf pups, he eyed one of therger ones amongst the pack.


    [Lineage: Wild Forest Wolf]


    [Stage: Entering Grade-5]


    [Abilities: Diamond Fangs Level-5. Their toughness can crush rocks with just a bite.


    Howl Level-2. Used to call forpanions or to intimidate enemies. Its sound is capable of rupturing eardrums, but its effect is limited.]


    [Special Ability: Wolves of Septenary Level-5. When operating jointly withpanions,bat effectiveness is increased by 50%.]


    Looking at the other wolf pups, they all possessed more-or-less simr strengths. Their ability to crush stones with their fangs definitely confirmed they were not ordinary animals. Whenpared to Adorable Little Snake, these little wolf pups were even ''transcendent'', with their increased abilities.


    If they fought collectively, it would increase theirbat effectiveness. That was quite a good skill to have.


    However, honestly speaking, both the pups and the snake were still very limited in what responsibilities they could take on.


    With this in mind, Lin Ming rolled the bamboo branch with Spiritual Fluid over and ced it by Adorable Little Snake and the little wolf pups. Now that the System had confirmed it would help them evolve faster, the more they drank, the better.


    Looking once more at his personalized dashboard, he was contemting between the two new skills presented to him.


    Both ''Ultimate Regeneration'' or ''Aura Concealment'' allowed him to do things he previously desired to do.


    He still had self-awareness, after all.


    He knew that there was no other creature as conspicuous as him standing in the center of this valley beside the Spirit Lake.


    Especially after the recent evolution, he had grown even taller and loftier. It was as if his presence had been exaggerated, and he stuck out even more like a sore thumb when no other bamboo trees were nearby.


    If human beings like those hunters came by again, they would unquestionably be interested in a gigantic mutant bamboo like himself.


    How should he protect himself, then?


    In the face of humans wielding either cold weapons or hunting rifles, Lin Ming was a thousand percent confident that he could win by andslide.


    However, if they came in with a methrower or another lethal weapon, there was simply no mutated nt that could withstand that.


    If the time came for him to face such a weapon, even a Superior Level Razor Leaves and Mutated Bamboo Whip ability would probably still be of no use.


    That made the two new skills he could learn all the more useful.


    Ultimate Regeneration. Just from the name itself, one could perceive the nature-defying uses of the ability.


    The exnation that came with the ability made it sound all the more powerful. Just think about it! Even if he were to bepletely decimated, with just one lowly capiry root left of him, he could still restore himself to his original, current state.


    Aura Concealment, on the other hand, was much more low-key. As the saying goes, ''the best disguise is no disguise''. In this valley full of spiritual auras, he could conceal his own, leading any humans that found him to believe he was just arger-than-average mutated bamboo.


    If this n worked out and he was careful to not draw much attention to himself, all would be well!


    However, the most pressing issue now was that a rtivelyrge number of Evolution Points would be needed to learn these two abilities  a thousand for one, and two thousand for the other.


    Killing an insect would grant him 1 Evolution Point, basking in the sun for ten minutes would earn him another 1, and killingrge creatures like the man-eating catfish could earn him 50 points.


    How many other mutated creatures could be in theke, though?


    It seemed to him like it would not be quick to learn these two skills.


    Until, that is, he received a blessing in disguise.


    A ravaging swarm of insects was rushing towards him at top speed!

 Chapter 12: Attack From Waves Of Insects And Beasts

    Chapter 12: Attack From Waves Of Insects And Beasts


    One or two thousand Evolution Points would normally be impossible to earn within a short frame of time, based on Lin Ming''s previous track record of his speed of umtion.


    However, now that he was witnessing a huge surge of insects, he knew that several thousand points would not be out of his reach.


    After all, he knew from past experience that killing even a tiny insect like a bamboo locust earned him 1 Evolution Point. Now, there were at least tens of thousands, probably even hundreds of thousands of insects around him. It was as if the points had presented themselves on a silver tter to him.


    Some of his strong and solid bamboo branches begin to move at lightning speed. A horrifying noise boomed through the air as they curled up with extreme force, while even more of the branches coiled about bewitchingly in response.


    The diamond-shaped mark in the middle of his culm grew numerous colorful threads that shimmered like the stars in the night sky. They spread through every branch and reached each bamboo leaf. The amazing light show turned the mutated giant bamboo that was Lin Ming into a sight of wonder and beauty, though not without a subtle hint of eeriness.


    That mark emanated an aura that possessed an extremely powerful spiritual aura, much like the stars and clouds in the sky. It spun around continuously, causing the wave of insects within the valley to go even crazier!


    "It looks like I now possess an ability like Adorable Little Snake''s Charm Fragrance."


    Lin Ming''s voice was drowned out amongst the waves of insects swarming about him, the sound of their pping and crawling dominating the air.


    He took a closer look at the insect wave. It seemed to be made up of different mutated bees, locusts, moths, and butterflies. There were even species such as spiders and centipedes in there. However, their sizes were nowpletely different from any ordinary animal.


    The Adorable Little Snake was curled up on a branch connected to the culm. It did not dare move at all. On the other hand, the wolf pups were like coil springs, ready to jump if it weren''t for Lin Ming controlling them with his branches.


    For a moment, the bamboo was quite noisy as the wolf pups'' excited howling grew louder.


    It was very soon when the flying insect coalesced together into the first wave. They had now entered Lin Ming''s Effective Range!


    A few bamboo branches curled and uncoiled quickly in the air. The bamboo leaves covered everywhere they could, with a few levels of leaves joining together as a giant flyswatter. It was extremely heavy, but the attack speed was quick and it swatted the clump of insects racing towards him.


    Boom!


    Every swat that hit was a powerful one, causing a major tremor to the earth around. The juicy fluids of the insects sttered everywhere, even changing the color of the ground with the sheer amount!


    [You have killed a mutated wasp, Evolution Points +0.1]


    [You have killed a mutated gray moth, Evolution Points +0.1]


    [You have killed]


    What was going on?


    Lin Ming felt something strange was happening. Before this, no matter how many little insects he had killed, he would always gain 1 Evolution Point.


    Yet, now he was only getting 0.1 for every death.


    Could it be that the Evolution Points were adjusted after he evolved? If he were to evolve to Rank-2, would every insect then be worth only 0.01 points?


    This was quite a terrible feeling.


    He was looking forward to umting tens of thousands, or maybe even hundreds of thousands of Evolution Points after the insect wave. It looked like nothing of that sort would happen now.


    He could only gain 1 point after killing ten of them. That would mean after tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of kills, he would only end up with a few thousand or tens of thousands in points.


    That only would be if Lin Ming did kill all of them.


    Even if he could only get a few thousand points, Lin Ming still urgently needed them.


    "Come on! Let''s have more of you!"


    Even though Lin Ming was quite unhappy with the situation, his Giant Bamboo Flyswatter never stopped swatting, while his Bamboo Whip handled any insects that managed to evade the flyswatter attacks.


    The entire valley shook as the sound of the whip cracking in the air mingled with the swatting''s booming.


    Lin Ming had been holding back the Adorable Little Snake and the pups, but now released them. He left some insects for them to attack.


    Adorable Little Snake was hesitant at first, but quickly took things into stride. After its first kill, it went on to do a double kill, then a massacre, and was on a murderous rampage soon enough. No insects could get past it!


    As for the seven wolf pups, they ran straight ahead, evading the booming attack from Lin Ming''s giant flyswatter and even determined a suitable opening as they went straight for the mutated centipedes and other insect armies attacking from the ground. They attacked them swiftly, one after the other.


    Lin Ming immediately dedicated a few bamboo branches to help cover for the overexcited wolf pups when he saw what was happening.


    A few thousand insectsing towards him was not much of an issue, but they could seriously hurt the pups.


    The usually calmke surface gradually ''boiled'' from Lin Ming''s wild movements. Continuous waves sshed across it, and many of the big and small fish leaped to the surface. Among them were even crabs and shrimp thrown out of the water. Some tried to w their way up the destroyedkeshore.


    As for Lin Ming, he took the opportunity to harvest these newly-exposed creatures easily with his Razor Leaves.


    [You have killed a mutated carp, Evolution Points +0.2]


    [You have killed a mutated shrimp, Evolution Points +0.1]


    Sigh, even the Evolution Points from these lot were as measly as those from the insects.


    Lin Ming had even given theke a desperate look-over in search for something like another Unranked colossal man-eating catfish, which might have earned him a little bit more regarding points.


    However, nothing of the sort showed up after waiting for nearly half the day. All he could do now was to give his full attention to the endless wave of fervent insectsing at him.


    Following the insect wave, there were also many wild beasts and birds grouping into armies.


    Their body sizes were of course muchrger than the insects'', but they were fewer in number. Mutated rats or rabbits made up most of the armies, but very few of them were gigantic.


    Lin Ming had an idea. He purposely caught a few with his branches and did not bother with the remaining ones.


    He mainly wanted to chase the horde off and catch a few for his use. Only a small number of them were killed, to serve as a warning to others.


    The birds were much better at avoiding danger than the wild beasts. They were frightened into scattering after Lin Ming waved his Bamboo Whip about a few times to chase them off, and they stopped bothering him.


    His bamboo branch sliced a few porcupines charging towards the pups, while another branch beat a vicious jackal so hard that it flew back from the impact!


    Lin Ming caught quite a lot of animals.


    Monkeys, lynxes, ck bears, birds like little egrets and red-crowned cranes, were all caught by Lin Ming in an instant. They were imprisoned within a cage made up of bamboo branches, rendering them motionless. Among the weirder animals trapped were pandas and a strange animal that looked like a cross between a cow and a sheep.


    The panda gave him a sudden realization of which part of the world he was in.


    It was not long before Lin Ming finally destroyed all the animal armies. The only things left on the ground were the carcasses of the insects.


    The Adorable Little Snake and the seven wolf pups paced back and forth repeatedly to inspect the ground, much like eight little authoritative generals.


    They would not allow a single insect to escape alive. During the fight, they had also killed many mutated rats and seemed to have gained quite a lot of experience from this.


    Dawn approached from the East, and the sun was about to rise.


    Lin Ming could not help butugh bitterly in his heart when he noticed his new surroundings.


    It looked like he had done something major


    The terrain hadpletely changed.

 Chapter 13: A Strange Shape

    Chapter 13: A Strange Shape


    The sun was about to rise.


    A nket of morning light shone deep into the valley, which was filled with great mountains and thick. lush forest.


    A misty, white fog enveloped the entire valley, just like it always did.


    It was like thin muslin or a veil.


    Witnessed from afar, it looked like paradise.


    The fog was thickest at a smallke in the middle of the valley.


    A gigantic bamboo nt with many branches stood next to the smallke. It was waving about continuously between the sky and earth, much like a frenzied dance of demons and monsters.


    By the time the fog had spread from the smallke, Lin Ming had already given his surroundings a good look.


    The battlest night with the beasts and insects had him emerging with the ultimate victory.


    The insect wave had beenpletely obliterated while only a minor portion of the beast wave was killed. After he had taken about a dozen animals captive, the rest fled in fear.


    The carcasses of the insects, fish, shrimp, crabs, and some of the dead animals'' broken limbs covered most of the ground around Lin Ming. He was the one who had thestugh in this fight for life or death.


    The powerful win and the weak are eliminated. Lin Ming was even more convinced about how important it was to be powerful after experiencing this.


    This was thew of nature, which was aw that also suited the Reawakening of the Spiritual Aura.


    Surviving was the most basic goal.


    Bing powerful was the only way to ensure never being defeated.


    He collected his thoughts and looked around. The nearby terrain hadpletely transformed after the huge battle.


    The smallke was originally long and narrow. In the process of Lin Ming swatting the mutated insects, he had destroyed one side of thekeshore. The breach had allowedke water to flow into the new crevices, gradually encroaching into lower ground and forming theke as a huge oval shape.


    The same thing was happening on the other side, which looked almost identical.


    Inparison to the original elongated shape of theke, the entireke now looked quite odd.


    Hmm theke''s shape was now quite difficult to admire.


    Lin Ming intentionally stopped thinking about that as he continued to look around.


    Besides theke, other areas looked like an explosion had urred there as well. Every corner was filled with gigantic fallen trees, pulled-out weeds and numerous stones.


    The ground had been dyed a deep yellow and green by the fluids of the dead insects, which looked quite terrible.


    Lin Ming considered giving the nearby locations aplete makeover.


    Before that, however, he would need to inspect the results of the fight.


    He decided to ignore the creatures trapped in his cage for now, and check his Evolution Points first.


    He quietly summoned the personalized dashboard and a new notification appeared in front of him.


    [Lineage: Mutated Moso Bamboo]


    [Evolution Points: 3749]


    [Stage: Rank-1 Grade-7]


    [Abilities: Level-2 Razor Leaves (300 daggers). 100-meter Effective Range, 30 Damage (evolvable), 200-meters/second Attack Speed (evolvable), can be deployed at the same time, can deal either single-target damage or AoE damage. Level-2 Mutated Bamboo Whips (100 whips). 20-meter Effective Range, 100 Damage (evolvable), wherever the whip points will be barren! Spiritual Fluid: Boosts the evolution speed of dependents.]


    [Learnable skills:


    Ultimate Regeneration: Able to recoverpletely even when severely injured. Evolution Points required: 1000


    Aura Concealment: Hides own spiritual aura and blocks aura detection. Evolution Points required: 2000]


    To be honest, Lin Ming was a little surprised.


    He had killed so many insects and yet gained only about three thousand and seven hundred Evolution Points. Lin Ming felt his work did not match his ''reward''.


    If he had gained so much before evolving, would that mean he would not be far from invincibility?


    Though on second thought, if he attacked so many insects and beasts pre-evolution, there was no way he would be able to sustain it for even a second.


    Either way, he could now use the Evolution Points to learn both skills together. It was alling together.


    He moved his consciousness, and the System reacted quickly in response.


    [Consumed 1000 Evolution Points, you have learned the Ability: Ultimate Regeneration, Novice-Grade Level-1]


    [Consumed 2000 Evolution Points, you have learned the Ability: Aura Concealment: Novice-Grade Level-1]


    Lin Ming looked at his List of Abilities. These two new skills he just obtained stood out from the rest.


    He was quite happy about this. At least he could have basic protection in the future if he had to go through a wretched development process.


    As for his two skills, he did not want to try them out now. He nned to use them at ater time.


    "The next step should be to"


    Lin Ming looked around him, trying to locate Adorable Little Snake and the wolf pups.


    Their performances in the battle had been outstanding. To be honest, Lin Ming did not have high expectations of them at first. After all, with the sheer number of insects and beasts, it would be quite a risk for them to rush into battle with their current abilities.


    However, the Adorable Little Snake and the wolf pups had destroyed their fair share of insects and beasts. Not only did they exceed his expectations, but they had also grown up delightfully!


    After searching for a while, Lin Ming finally found Adorable Little Snake. However, when he spotted it, he was slightly doubtful if it was the same snake he knew.


    It was lying down on the rock next to theke that Lin Ming had almostpletely covered with marks. Its body had also grown a few times bigger than its normal frame as a ''little snake''!


    It was now as thick as a human''s arm and close to 1.5 meters long. It looked like it had just eaten, and was now curled upfortably. The patch of green beneath its silver-white skin near its eyes had suddenly grown to ten centimeters and looked quite pretty.


    Adorable Little Snake''s body now lookedpletely different from before. He thought back to the time he hadpared it to the size of an earthworm.


    He checked its personalized dashboard. Lin Ming was sure that the little guy''s level had evolved, which was why there was such a big physical change.


    [Lineage: Albino Bamboo Viper]


    [Stage: Unranked Grade-5]


    [Ability: Lethal Venom Level-3. Fangs can instantly kill opponents ten timesrger than oneself.]


    [Special Ability: Charm Fragrance Level-3. The body will emit a wonderful fragrance that can incapacitate enemies, currently has a good grasp of control and can use it as an aid for hunting.]


    The Adorable Little Snake has now grown from Unranked Grade-1 to Unranked Grade-5. The increase was quite a nice surprise.


    Its Ability and Special Ability had grown quite a bit too.


    It looked like the Adorable Little Snake could really hold its own now.


    He turned to look at the wolf pups, though it was almost like looking at other animals entirely. They were drinking water by thekeshore, and he could see that their size and physical appearance had also drastically changed.


    The pups'' bodies were no longer ''normal''. Before the battle, they were the size of and practically the same as normal wolves, besides slightly longer fangs.


    However, they were now the size of ves. Their long fur was smooth and shiny, and each had sharp fangs adorning an array of other pointed teeth. It was as if they had daggers in their mouths, and the fangs were short swords.


    Lin Ming felt like if they had joined the chaosst night in their new bodies, these seven pups  no, seven wolves now  would be the strongest fighters in the battle.


    Their personalized dashboard seemed to confirm this as well.


    [Lineage: Wild Forest Wolf]


    [Stage: Unranked Grade-8]


    [Abilities: Diamond Fangs Level-7. Their toughness can crush rocks with just a bite. Howl Level-5: Able to call outpanions a few kilometers away. Its sound is capable of rupturing eardrums and destroying an enemy''s senses.]


    [Special Ability: Wolves of Septenary Level-7. When operating jointly withpanions,bat effectiveness is increased by 70%.]


    Unranked Grade-8. If that was the case, they should be able to upgrade to Rank-1 soon with a little bit more additional nurturing.


    Lin Ming felt d. It looked like his dependents were alling into their own abilities and power.


    He looked at the animals and birds he had captured struggling in vain within the bamboo branch cage. Lin Ming had a new n for them, now.

 Chapter 14: Spiritual Intelligence

    Chapter 14: Spiritual Intelligence


    Afterpleting his basic work, Lin Ming turned his sights again toward the animals he had captured in the short yet intense fight.


    There were three monkeys, though none were golden monkeys. There was also a lynx, a ck bear cub, two jackals, a panda, and that strange animal that looked like a cross between a cow and sheep. As for birds, Lin Ming had caught two little egrets and two red-crowned cranes.


    There may not have been many of them, but they were all of quality.


    After all, these animals were carefully picked from the crowd that had attacked Lin Ming and were mutated animals that were ''Unranked''.


    Since the insect wave was so easy to take care of with his Bamboo Whip, Lin Ming was able to take some time to evaluate the animals that hade forward to attack.


    When he spotted an animal that would suit his needs, he would catch it with his Bamboo Whip. If he spotted a better animal, he would release the previous one. There were many animals around anyway, and there was nothing much they could do to him.


    Lin Ming also paid attention to those that looked particrly rare. When a few pandas came at him, he was delighted. These beings had bothbat effectiveness and were adorable  anyone would want them.


    Lin Ming checked the personalized dashboard for the animal that looked like a cross between a cow and a sheep. It had antlers, hoovers, and a beard. He found its true species, it was a serow! This guy looked like it was not to be trifled with, but it did look kind of cute.


    As for the lynx, jackal and the ck bear cub, they were animals with powerful Damage in Lin Ming''s memory, which was why he caught them. They would be his able assistants once he nurtured them enough, right?


    The three monkeys were initially just caught since they happened to be there. After checking, though, Lin Ming could see that their ''Grades'' were quite high at Unranked Grade-4, far more superior than the others whose highest grade was Unranked Grade-2. They also struggled the least after capture, which he found to be quite strange.


    The two little egrets and the red-crowned cranes were caught because Lin Ming had a preference for these kinds of birds. A lot of birds had attacked him, but most were sparrows. These four were considered quite a good catch, considering the circumstances.


    After he was done with his inventory of catches, Lin Ming did not immediately allow his captors to enjoy the benefits of the gift of his Spiritual Fluid.


    These mutated wild beasts had attained the level of ''Unranked'' and did not immediately yield to him. Lin Ming understood this very clearly.


    They were different from the Adorable Little Snake and the wolf pups, who chose to yield to him willingly. The animals here were still deeply fearful of his existence. If he opened up the bamboo branch cage, they would be sure to escape immediately.


    If he wanted to tame them, he had to ensure that every cell in their bodies had a deep understanding of his abilities.


    The second thing he needed to do was quite simple. He needed to starve them.


    Animals, even if they were mutated, had a strong desire for food. This was especially true for those that had mutated. Their bodies wererger than before and they had a stronger urge to eat arge quantity of food.


    Lin Ming was sure that if he kept these prisoners hungry for a while, there was no doubt that some of them would end up damn it! Was that panda beginning to pluck off some bamboo leaves from the branch cage to eat?


    Lin Ming suddenly had a slight headache. He hadpletely forgotten that the main food source of pandas was bamboo, and he was bamboo himself!


    He had made a dreadful miscalction.


    Even though he was not too worried about the number of bamboo leaves the panda would eat, something about this did not sit right with Lin Ming.


    He gave it some thought. The panda was his prisoner, how could it act with such audacity


    Lin Ming simply pulled the bamboo branch away from the panda, not looking to pick a fight with it. He decided to give up on taming this guy.


    However, the panda seemed unhappy about Lin Ming pulling off his branches. It went to his culm and attempted to climb up it!


    Lin Ming was quite speechless, even though technically he did not have a mouth


    Before he could chase it off with his bamboo branches, the Adorable Little Snake and wolf pups had surrounded the bold panda.


    An intense battle seemed ready to erupt!


    The panda had sharp ws and a terrifying bite force. It was also quiterge in size, and was known as the ''Iron-eating Beast'' in ancient times. It was an extremely vicious beast that was both adorable and highly deadly. After mutating, it was now Unranked Grade-2 and its Destructive Effect stood out whenpared to the other animals!


    However, opposite the panda was what was previously the wolf pups and were now the Wild Forest Wolves  Wolves of Septenary Level 7. Their Special Ability could now increase theirbat effectiveness by 70%!


    The Adorable Little Snake was closely observing the situation and already baring its venomous fangs as if prepared to give a lethal strike at any time!


    Before Lin Ming''s bamboo branches could go into action, his pets suddenly settled down and turned quiet.


    The huge panda who had previously just stood up and opened its mouth, roaring and showing off its sharp fangs, had alsoid down once again on the ground. The seven wolves who had been baring their teeth and growling in a low tone with arched backs ready to strike were now docile once more. As for Adorable Little Snake, it had now rxed from its previous attack stance and was back in adorable mode.


    The seven little wolves went to surround the huge panda and circled it, sometimes licking it. In return, the huge panda exposed its tummy with all four limbs raised in the air cutely.


    Lin Ming was baffled. What just happened?


    Why were they not fighting anymore? What was going on with them?


    Were they not just in attack mode, prepared to fight to the death? Why had they suddenly ceased hostilities and were now peaceful, even licking one another? The wolves, little snake, and the panda were now beginning to befriend one another instead.


    However, Lin Ming quickly thought of a probable exnation for this.


    ''Could it be that they have attained basic spiritual intelligence?''


    Lin Ming did not doubt that such spiritual intelligence would unlock and grow exponentially after the animals had mutated and evolved. The Adorable Little Snake and the wolf pups'' actions had given him such an impression, as they seemed to possess the intelligence of a two or three-year-old child.


    Now that they had grown quite a bit, it was only natural that they also now possessed higher intelligence.


    As for the huge panda, its natural-born spiritual intelligence might be higher than that of the little snake and wolves. Even though it was only Unranked Grade-2, the panda had no problemsmunicating with the wolf pups and the Adorable Little Snake.


    If not that, it would be difficult to exin why they would suddenly be so friendly after they were just about to fight with one another.


    Lin Ming began to think about this more as he watched them y.


    In this world of the Reawakening, it was almost impossible for a nt to unlock any semnce of spiritual intelligence whenpared to animals.


    As an extremely unique creature, Lin Ming possessed outstanding spiritual intelligence.


    He had lived in this valley for a long time and was yet to bump into another nt that possessed spiritual intelligence as he did.


    He had started from the bamboo forest and migrated all the way to this side of Spirit Lake, using the System and his natural-born wisdom as aids. Ling Ming had quickly taken control of everything within his three hundred meter range of this area. If he really wanted to, no animals nor birds would be able to pass through his territory safely.


    In other words, as a nt that was growing at lightning speed and possessed infinite possibilities for what he could do with his powers, Lin Ming was quite sure he was the true overlord of this massive valley!

 Chapter 15: Spiritual Aura Explosion

    Chapter 15: Spiritual Aura Explosion


    The drizzle started out of nowhere.


    On the bumpy mountain road were six dark green cars, slowly making their way towards Little Li Vige.


    After receiving the vige''s distress call, the fire department had quickly reported all the information to their superiors, who had been concerned about the abnormal changes in the Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve for a long time.


    Professional firefighters and special forces familiar with the forest valley were immediately dispatched, to search for the missing vigers and recover the so-called travel buddies who had disappeared into the mountains.


    The twisting mountain road had be extremely muddy after the recent rainfall.


    About seven or eight miles from the vige, the leading vehicle came to a creaking halt after struggling through the mud for what seemed like forever.


    The door of the vehicle before it swung open, a middle-aged man wearing a camouge uniform jumping out onto the mud-covered ground.


    The driver of the leading vehicle got down as well, rushing over. "Captain Zheng! The road ahead is in terrible condition, our tires have gotten stuck in the mud and we won''t be able to move for a while!"


    Zheng Guodong nodded wordlessly and looked down at his feet. They had sunken deep into the mud.


    Entering the mountains during the rainy season was gambling on God''s mercy. Now that it was raining and their vehicles had stopped, their luck couldn''t seem to get any worse.


    [He] raised his head to look into the distance. The vast canyon between the mountains was now shrouded in a rainy mist and looked like a scene out of a fairytale.


    Zheng Guodong looked behind [him] and realized that all his team members had stepped out of their cars and were waiting for his further orders. As for the city and county fire departments, their cars were far behind. It was even harder for them to drive in weather like this.


    "Transcendent Squad! Walk with me to the Little Li Vige, while the rest stand by on guard!" he announced.


    There was not a particrly high risk ofndslides here, so Zheng Guodong was not too worried. It also didn''t seem like the rain would get any heavier than it was now.


    Before their departure, Li Fei from the Little Li Vige had called again to let them know there had been an earthquake on the mountain after midnight. The magnitude of the earthquake wasrge, and everyone in the vige fearfully ran straight into their yards to take shelter.


    Even though it waste into the night, various animal roars and countless bird cries were heard from the valley, as if all the creatures there had gone mad.


    The quaking that came after was a little strange. The following rumbles seemed to have a certain rhythm and were much smaller than the first one that came.


    This peculiar phenomenon did not end until dawn.


    Zheng Guodong made an educated guess that the Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve may have experienced a spiritual aura explosion, which caused the disturbances with the animals, birds and insects of the mountain.


    However, he had no clue about the reasons behind the earthquake.


    If there had been an explosion, a spiritual aura vortex would appear in the ''spiritual realm'', causing creatures to flock to it and cause chaos in the process.


    He could order his team to wait for the rain to cease and for the firefighters, who were more familiar with the terrain, to catch up to them. However, he considered the critical state of the situation they were in. They could not afford to lose more time -- who knew when the rain would stop and the road would be usable again? Instead of sitting around, it would be faster to continue on foot. They could not risk the safety of the vigers.


    Donning his raincoat, ZHeng Guodong dashed to the front of the group to take the lead, fifteen soldiers following him closely from behind.


    However, there were quite a few in this group who did not look like soldiers and rather more like students or simply ordinary people. All of them followed their leader wordlessly, trudging through the slippery mud and heading into the mountains.


    They were all carrying heavy backpacks, but seemed unbothered by the weight and kept up a blistering pace without even breaking a sweat.


    Those left behind watched them leave enviously.


    "Transcendent beings are on another level. They don''t even need to straighten out logistics between themselves," a soldier muttered under his breath.


    "Ha! They don''t even need machines, let alone anything else. The maic field in these ''spiritual realms'' are so strong that drones can''t even fly through. If not for these beings, we ordinary people would never dare traverse the mountain." Another soldier shook his head helplessly as he watched the formation march forward.


    After experiencing the Reawakening of the Spiritual Aura, the entire Tang Kingdom and other parts of the world saw the emergence of ''spiritual realms'' with extremely dense spiritual aura.


    These realms were mostly located deeply in mountains and forests, though some did appear near human settlements.


    However, those areas would almost always have dense vegetation and an abundance of animals around.


    What they all had inmon were their extremely disordered maic fields. Technology would not function in the field, and electronicmunication devices like cell phones could not detect any signals.


    Even controlling drones and flying detector nes at low altitudes was impossible, as the strong maic field would render them into a mass of electronic and metal trash. Countless experiments had proven this point true without a shred of a doubt.


    Despite all of that, people still managed to obtain some level of understanding about these secret realms. They saw that nts inside would grow very tall, while the sizes of animals would increase rapidly as well.


    In a northeast woond, someone had once witnessed a roe deer the size of an elephant. No bullet from an ordinary shotgun could wound it.


    Meanwhile, in a mountain range in central Tang someone had discovered a gigantic insect almost one meter long in length. It could even spew out a green liquid that corroded bones and flesh.


    The Reawakening of the Spiritual Aura had made normal animals turn into these beasts of nature. To expand their territory, they started to attack humans To obtain more territory for themselves, they began to attack nearby humans, leading to frequent reports of casualties in various ces.


    Very few mutated animals actually managed to reach invincibility levels where most weapons could not hurt them, most had simply increased in size.


    However, it was still enough to injure or kill ordinary people. Only transcendents with special abilities could survive in these spiritual realms.


    Transcendents were humans who developed superhuman abilities during the Reawakening, due to unusual mutations taking ce in their own bodies and rousing their existing exceptional potential.


    Initially, they were extremely rare but over thest six months, that has changed. For example, the Tang Kingdom now had almost ten thousand transcendents.


    99.9% of transcendents in the world were of the same kind -- strength-type transcendents with great power.


    Very few actually possessed special abilities.


    However, it was difficult for normal people to identify them.


    Were there any transcendents with special abilities in this ''Transcendent Squad''? The soldiers staying behind had no way to tell.

 Chapter 16: Deadly Exclusion Zone

    Chapter 16: Deadly Exclusion Zone


    As the soldiers ran, the gentle rain kept beating down on them, all over their faces and bodies. The raincoats that they were wearing seemed to be of no help.


    In fact, the raincoats were somewhat of a hindrance.


    Zheng Guodong and his party had been running through the mud for more than half an hour.


    Each of them carried arge backpack almost equal to their height, but their footsteps stayed brisk.


    None of them were out of breath or showed even the slightest fatigue.


    As transcendent beings, even if they just possessed the strength-type ability, their physical strength, endurance, and power were far beyond those of ordinary people.


    However, the degree of control over their own power varied from person to person, leading to a so-called difference in ''actualbat effectiveness''.


    Zheng Guodong raised his head, wiped the rain off his face, and came to a stop. "Those at the back, keep up! We''ve arrived!"


    Not far off, a vige entrance with visible man-made marks on it appeared could be spotted.


    The Little Li Vige was actually not too far from where they had halted, so they wasted no time in running over there.


    "Alright, after entering the vige, remember not to disturb the vigers and show off any of your abilities! Now, all of you put what you''re carrying on the side of the road, then enter the vige and meet the vigers first. Do you hear me?!"


    "Yes!" His squad members obediently ced their heavy backpacks made of special material on the roadside grass. When they put them down, the weight caused the soil to sink under them.


    Zheng Guodong waved his hand, and all the squad members quickly gathered before him. They trudged along the muddy mountain road behind him and entered the Little Li Vige together.


    Not long after entering, Zheng Guodong met the vige chief Old Li and his son Li Fei.


    After a simple exchange, Zheng Guodong came to know what had happened.


    "Sir, you really think that those four people aren''t actually travel buddies? And your nephew hasn''t returned for more than a month after being hired by them?"


    "Sigh, isn''t that what it seems like? Captain Zheng, it''s not easy to find your way through the mountain, and it''s not unusual to take a month to explore, but it''s been more than a month. That''s way too long! By the way, those four people are definitely not tourists. They brought shotguns; could it be that they came to poach...? There''s nothing much on this mountain, but there are many white-lipped deer and pandas they could be after" Old Li shook his head in dismay.


    Zheng Guodong nodded and looked at Li Fei. "Have you all gone to look for them yourselves?"


    "Yes, Captain Zheng. I and two others who are familiar with the mountain roads went to look for them a few days ago, but we didn''t get very far before being forced back by a swarm of insects!" Li Fei gestured as he spoke. "They''re as thick as a human''s arm, have ck fur all over, and are one meter long!"


    "Stop spouting nonsense!" Old Li scolded. As he berated his son, he snuck a peek at Zheng Guodong. The abnormal situation in the mountain had been going on for some time, and now that reinforcements finally came they could not afford to scare them away.


    "Really? That''s more than worthy of our attention. Also, Chief, you don''t have to worry. We didn''te here empty-handed," Zheng Guodong said, while looking at the vige path leading into the mountain. If this rain did not stop now, there was really no way they could go in right away.


    Rainwater could also bring about some unexpected urrences. Moreover, if what the vige chief''s son said about the one-meter-long insects was true, the spiritual aura in this Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve was probably much denser than anything they had encountered before.


    Perhaps it would be possible toe across mutated spirit beasts with spiritual energy of 1000 and above.


    Possessing that level or more of spiritual energy meant having a defensive power that could withstand attacks from ordinary bullets, and also came with overwhelming destructive power!


    Half a month ago, Zheng Guodong had to return from a spiritual realm. Before his team couldplete their mission there, they encountered a mutated bison with a spiritual energy density of 1500.


    As only three of his subordinates at the time were transcendents and could not cover for the other twenty ordinary soldiers, the battle had led to numerous sacrifices. In the end, he only managed to escape the spiritual realm with the three transcendents and two remaining soldiers.


    Although he finally killed the mutated bison who had been chasing and attacking them viciously, he paid a high price for it.


    Because of that, that spiritual realm had be a deadly exclusion zone where living people could not enter!


    Now that Zheng Guodong hade to the Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve, he did not dare be careless. He had borrowed all avable transcendents from the whole Shu Province to form this squad and maximize the mission''s sess rate.


    Rescuing the missing viger was a mission far more important than anything else.


    Of course, if the misfortune reached a level beyond even their control, the Little Li Vige would probably not be able to recover from it.


    "There was suddenly arge earthquake after midnight yesterday! I''ve spent my whole life here, and I''ve never encountered an earthquake"


    Old Li babbled on, retelling information that Li Fei had already provided earlier through the phone.


    On the surface, Zheng Guodong did not show any signs of panic that might have been expected in the face of such a situation.


    It had been thousands of years since a major earthquake took ce in the Bamboo Sea area. Even if there really was one, it would not only have been noticed by the Little Li Vige.


    The information provided by the Earthquake Administration told them that the earthquake was only within a few kilometers of the Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve.


    This kind of earthquake was not even an earthquake at all.


    If Zheng Guodong had to make assumptions, he could only pinpoint this on the idea of mutated spirit beasts.


    However, what kind of mutated beast could cause such a disturbance?


    "Don''t worry, Chief. If the earthquakes are not frequent, it''s nothing serious to stress about. There are also nondslides"


    "We won''t worry, we won''t worry Captain Zheng, it''s gettingte. This rain will probably go on for some time. You don''t have to sleep in a tent or anything like that. If you don''t mind, we have plenty of space in our vige; let''s not make anyone suffer any more," said Old Li.


    He had been analyzing the squad since they entered the vige. Among the fifteen people following Zheng Guodong, quite a few of them looked like students, and some of them seemed like young girls who had never struggled with anything before in their lives.


    He was slightly worried about whether this group of people could actually find his nephew Li Ming.


    Zheng Guodong did not decline the invitation, and after arranging amodations for everyone, they all settled down in the Little Li Vige.


    The rain truly still did not stop, and the remaining troops did note in immediately either. There was no way they could enter the mountain, no matter how anxious they were to start on their mission.


    After all, they could not carry the heavy weapons needed to deal with mutated beasts with spiritual aura densities of more than 1000 into the vige. They would be in big trouble if they scared the vigers too much.


    If there were mutated beasts with spiritual aura densities of more than 1000, these vigers would probably no longer be able to stay here.


    A transcendent was not something ordinary people could identify with the naked eye. Of course, the same went for spirit beasts in the mountain.


    Zheng Guodong got up and walked outside. He frowned as he listened to the asional rumblinging from the valley.


    What kind of mutated spirit beast kept causing such a great disturbance in the valley?


    Were things really taking a turn for the worse?

 Chapter 17: Valley Transformation Plan

    Chapter 17: Valley Transformation n


    Lin Ming felt great pleasure bathing in the drizzle.


    Although he didn''t need a lot of water, this was certainly a good feeling.


    Moreover, there was a significant density of spiritual aura in the rain. When the raindrops beat down on Lin Ming''s bamboo branches and leaves, he could feel a refreshing sense of power flooding through him.


    He looked toward the captives trapped in his bamboo branch cage and saw that they were also opening their mouths wide, trying to catch the raindrops falling from the gaps in the bamboo leaves.


    The Adorable Little Snake and the wolves ran to the edge of theke and yed in the rain, looking rather cheerful.


    As Lin Ming could neither confine the giant panda with his branches nor drive it away, he ignored it and just let it be.


    As the Adorable Little Snake and the wolves ran over together to drink some Spiritual Fluid, the originally listless and downcast animals in the cage suddenly widened their eyes, staring at the sweet liquid. They could not conceal the extreme desire in their eyes.


    Lin Ming knew well that the Spiritual Fluid possessed a high density of spiritual energy that could undoubtedly raise the level of these mutated animals and promote their evolution.


    Mutated animals flocked toward ''spiritual aura'', so they definitely would not be able to resist his Spiritual Fluid.


    Thinking back to the attacks from swarms of insects and beasts, Lin Ming now knew that it was because the powerful spiritual aura he exuded had attracted them to him.


    Now, Lin Ming had eight branches secreting Spiritual Fluid for the Adorable Little Snake and the Wolves of Septenary to drink.


    This was very different from before.


    The captives watched his pets gulp down the Spiritual Fluid enviously. Theyy down quietly in the cage and pleaded with Lin Ming with pleading eyes.


    Just when Lin Ming thought that he hade up with a good n, the panda, who had been hiding from the rain under the culm, ran over and pushed the Adorable Little Snake away, before gulping down the Spiritual Fluid.


    Lin Ming was speechless. What was the matter with this fellow?


    When Lin Ming saw the panda earlier, he knew that he was in the Shu Province. He had thought about keeping it as a cute pet and taming it, but he came to realize that he had no idea how he should handle this buffoon.


    Since he could not make it leave, he had thought about killing it. However, itsbat effectiveness worried him.


    He never expected himself to be reincarnated as bamboo, which just so happened to be panda food.


    Although his culm was indestructible, his branches, especially the tender ones, were still significantly weak. What''s more, their opponent was this Unranked Grade-2 mutated panda.


    ''Looks like I''ll have to tame it properly. Otherwise, this presumptuous fellow is going to climb onto my head sooner orter.''


    As he thought to himself, he wrapped a few branches around the panda tightly in a way so it was impossible to move. As a bamboo, Lin Ming excelled at this skill.


    The panda might have had immense strength, but it realized it could not break free of the branches'' binding no matter how hard it struggled.


    Although the panda had a low intelligence, it knew well that it was no match for this mutated bamboo in terms of strength.


    Its previous lofty behavior was because it thought it mingled well with this bamboo''s subordinates to deserve special privileges.


    It now realized that it was wrong.


    Lin Ming ignored it. ''You like mischief? You think you''re good enough? I''ll let you starve for a few days and then we can see.''


    After dealing with the panda, Lin Ming turned his attention back to the nearby transformed terrain.


    The battlest night had rendered his originally satisfactory living conditions considerably worse.


    The strange shape of the Spirit Lake was enough to leave people speechless. If human satellites passed by from above and photographed theke, the scientists involved would probably have facial spasms.


    Lin Ming felt very awkward eyeing this shape.


    After evolution, Lin Ming''s taproot had now extended about three to four hundred meters and he had countless other sub-roots.


    Although Lin Ming could break them all off and move somewhere else to start over, it would be a pity.


    Numerous fibrous roots had alreadye into contact with the smallke, which was rich in spiritual energy, as well as the Spirit River deep underground. If he were to leave just like this, he would need to use a lot of energy rearranging his root system wherever he went next.


    Lin Ming felt that this ''Moving Roots'' ability was only suitable for finding a proper living environment during the early stages of development. After finding one, it was pretty much useless.


    Controlling dozens of ck snake-like root systems, Lin Ming pushed them through the ground and drove them upward.


    These roots were stronger than bamboo branches and were very suitable for construction to transform thendscape.


    There were quite a lot of rocks underground and they were a hindrance to the continued growth of the root system.


    While he used his underground root system to pull the rocks out of the dirt one by one, his roots on the ground grasped clumps of insect and animal carcasses and buried them deep into the earth.


    Lin Ming did not believe he needed any fertilizers, but it was better than nothing. The wolves and the Adorable Little Snake refused to eat these disgusting carcasses, so they were just an eyesore at this point.


    Rather than allowing them to rot and ruin his mood, it was better to repurpose them as fertilizer.


    He threw the dug-out rocks into the distance, producing loud crashes as theynded.


    Lin Ming was also not too satisfied with theke''s shape, so he took this advantage to modify it.


    Anyhow, it was better to prepare for danger in times of peace. Lin Ming did not want to be too obvious of a bamboo shoot either, if anyone dangerous entered his territory.


    Now, there was neither a single big tree around him nor any weeds or wildflowers.


    It was always the taller trees in the forest that would get their tops blown off in the strong wind.


    What''s more, there were no other trees around him.


    When these captured animalster became his loyal subordinates, he would have to make some suitable nests for them.


    These were all things that needed to get done.


    Utilizing more root systems, Lin Ming started arger-scale transformation.


    The rain gradually grew even heavier.


    It was as if it would never stop. Together with the pale mist, it enveloped the mysterious valley like a thick cloud.


    Lin Ming busied himself with his mission from morning untilte at night.


    Of course, he did not forget to wipe out any creature that came by to see where the noises wereing from.


    His Evolution Points were still far from enough, though.


    Whether it was Razor Leaves or Bamboo Whip or the two newly learned skills, a lot of Evolution Points were required to upgrade them.


    He needed to be stronger.


    Who could guess when humans woulde to this valley again?


    Lin Ming knew well how terrifying humans could be once armed with technology and weapons.


    However, he would never give in to them easily.


    As a mutated nt with consciousness, he recognized the boundary between him and humans and knew that it was impossible for the two to understand one another. All he could do was grow as strong as possible before humans realized his power, and then it would be toote for them!

 Chapter 18: Each With Their Own Purpose

    Chapter 18: Each With Their Own Purpose


    "They''re finally here."


    Zheng Guodong''s relief was palpable when he saw the motorcade slowly entering the Little Li Vige.


    After the rain had stopped for more than an hour, the remaining troops and the fire department finally caught up with them.


    It was now just past five o''clock in the morning. There was a faint light in the east; it was the period when night transitioned to day. This was when mutated animals in "spiritual realms" were usually at their quietest.


    Even if the remaining troops did note, they were going to depart soon.


    "Captain, do we still have to bring them along this time?" Liu Cheng, a squad member, nced at the newly-arrived soldiers and pursed his lips.


    "Of course not; they have other missions." Zheng Guodong''s face was stern.


    "What missions can they handle? Ordinary people can''t do anything; even their cooking tastes terrible to me." A female squad member, Shen Sisi, snorted.


    The other squad members also had simr expressions on their faces. They did not take the ordinary soldiers seriously at all.


    As transcendents, they had a lot more power than ordinary people. Even the weakest one among them possessedbat effectiveness almost equal to thebined strength of ten ordinary people.


    All of them could rush to the forefront when fighting mutated creatures, but ordinary people would not even be able to hurt the beasts with bullets.


    All of them were young, proud and thought they could change the world with their talents.


    Naturally, they looked down on ordinary people.


    Zheng Guodong sighed and said gravely, "I know all of you think you''re incredible. Yes, transcendents seem different from others, but let me tell you  anyone can get killed by mutated animals in the spiritual realm. And if we die in this ravine, these people''s mission would be to retrieve our corpses to the best of their ability."


    Stunned, all the squad members looked at each other and fell silent.


    "If you think that you''re so good at fighting, go and give it your all today. Our mission is extremely tough, and what''s more, we have to search for the missing viger and four bounty hunters"


    "Captain, what''s a bounty hunter? And didn''t that old vige chief just say that it was four travel buddies?" asked the sincere-looking Jia Lin. The others also had simr expressions of genuine confusion.


    Zheng Guodong shook his head. These squad members had great power, but such little knowledge.


    "No need to discuss this anymore; finding them is our highest priority now. Of course, we also have toplete the mission I''ve given earlier. Everyone, up!"


    Zheng Guodong did not say much more to the fifteen transcendent members. Before dawn, they carried their humongous backpacks and started up the mountain, beginning at the previously determined spot.


    However, after only walking for more than half an hour, the group was already encountering difficulties.


    Ten meters in front of them were dozens of gigantic, one-meter-long centipedes blocking their way. They were all motionless and seemed to be resting.


    If the group were to make a sound, they would probably wake up and attack.


    "So we''ve entered an insect nest?" Zheng Guodong smiled wryly and shook his head. It seemed that this matter was much more serious than he had imagined previously.


    His squad members behind him were not as rxed as he was. Although every one of them was sping various weapons, their faces were collectively pale.


    "Cap, Captain, we" Liu Cheng felt that he could no longer speak properly.


    Zheng Guodong did not look back, but signaled to them to stay still.


    The squad members stood by confused, until Zhang Guodong suddenly snapped his fingers and a fire instantly ignited on one of the giant centipedes!


    As this all yed out, nobody noticed that several other people had also taken advantage of the night-day transition and snuck into this valley.


    This group was almost fully armed, wearing special clothes and even helmets. Besides a simple backpack, each of them also carried a gun on their back.


    They were quick. Although the exit''s terrain on the other side of the valley was moreplex than the one in the Little Li Vige, they took the risk and chose this path to avoid the soldiers.


    "Stop! Old Wu!" A muscr man among the five suddenly shouted for the thin man walking in front to stop.


    "What, Xu Liang? Was there a reaction?" The thin man Old Wu hurriedly stopped. The others also looked at Xu Liang in question.


    "Yes, quite a big one. It seems that the more we move to the central region, the more reaction we get! We''re on the right track!" Xu Liang looked at the ck instrument in his hand. There was a fan-shaped dial on it, and the indicator kept moving in the direction of a higher value.


    "Hmph, that time I said we should go find those four unlucky fellows, you guys said no. This is all thanks to me, isn''t it?" A tall woman chewed gum with a smug look on her face.


    "Please, Qian Min, if Old Wu had not insisted, your suggestion would only remain a suggestion. We haven''t even found a spiritual rock, and you''re already taking credit!" A short and plump woman named Qu Wei spat this out as she reached out and hooked her arm through Old Wu''s. She was Old Wu''s girlfriend.


    Qian Min was about to snap back when Wang Ce, the quietest of the five, grabbed her immediately. "There''s a situation!"


    Wang Ce was in charge of detecting enemies in the five-member group. If he said that there was a situation, then there was definitely one.


    The other four immediately stopped talking and drew the shotguns from their backs. Each of them was in charge of a direction, and they readied themselves for an attack anxiously.


    Five minutester, as the rustling sounds disappeared and their surroundings became still once again.


    "Two rats; they escaped," Wang Ce said softly and used a dagger to leave a mark on a tree beside him.


    They were bounty hunters who had entered spiritual realms several times and had already adapted themselves to this kind of dangerous environment filled with mutated creatures.


    The shotguns they carried contained specially-made bullets, and their selection of daggers and tools were professional-grade.


    Although they were not necessarily heavily armed, they were fully prepared for any kind of situation.


    "Huh, a mouse? Those things are the most annoying out of everything else in spiritual realms!" Qian Min shuddered.


    Last time, in another spiritual realm in the Shu Province, there were rats the size of puppies. There were so many that the group almost died on the spot.


    "Be careful, or else we won''t be alive to spend the money we''ve earned," Xu Liang said slowly.


    "Those four idiots probably died here. Seriously, they barely know how to sing their ABCs, and they want to be bounty hunters? If the boss did not order us to bring them back, I wouldn''t give a sh*t about whether they''re alive or dead," Old Wu said with a snort.


    "Yeah, did they think that spiritual rocks were easy to find? The price of those things has now skyrocketed in the ck market, so everyone wants to be a bounty hunter. They must think they''ve already lived too long and would rather die!" Qu Wei agreed in rage.


    "That''s enough, let''s stop talking about it. The boss just said that we have to bring them back, alive or not, or he can''t give the outside world any exnation. Our primary mission is still to search for spiritual rocks, and of course, stay alive!" As Xu Liang spoke, he nced at the time. "It''s five-forty, almost dawn! Let''s speed up!"

 Chapter 19: Aura Detection

    Chapter 19: Aura Detection


    After a whole day of hard work, Lin Ming finally put down all his taproots and branches.


    The sun was about to rise, and he had managed to finish with most of the area around him.


    The Spirit Lake had transformed from its previous unbearable state to a nice oval shape, and he also revamped thekeshore to make it more beautiful.


    The soil on the ground had been reconditioned, and Lin Ming had put in a lot of effort turning this barren shore into a lush field.


    After all, if he was the only bamboo shoot in this area, he could not really be described as "the tallest tree in the forest" due to theck ofpetition.


    During the reconditioning process, Lin Ming also noticed many small creaturesing over in a daze after being awakened by his movements. He killed all of them with Razor Leaves, Bamboo Whip, and even his roots.


    Because of that, he had managed to gain a lot of Evolution Points.


    [You killed a mutated bat and gained 7 Evolution Points!]


    After receiving these seven points, Lin Ming realized that he had just passed the 1000 mark for his Evolution Points.


    Which ability should he strengthen? The Razor Leaves and Bamboo Whip? Or the two newly learned, y-safe abilities?


    At this moment the System''s voice rang out.


    [Ding, you can learn a new ability: Aura Detection. 1000 Evolution Points required. Would you like to proceed?]


    As if on purpose, the System suddenly appeared and prompted Lin Ming to make a choice.


    Aura Detection.


    Lin Ming could tell that this was another ''y-safe'' ability just by looking at its name.


    This ability would probably allow him to detect the enemy''s presence in advance before they arrived.


    If he used it in sync with Aura Concealment, he could probably easily evade any problems by ying things very safe.


    If a strong enemy were to jump out from nowhere, Lin Ming would not have to fall into a passive state like that time he encountered the four humans.


    Next time, he could first use Aura Detection to determine the enemy''s strength, then use Aura Concealment to make himself look weak, and finallynd a sudden attack!


    Thinking about this, Lin Ming didn''t hesitate to learn Aura Detection!


    A tingling sensation suddenly spread from his root system to his branches, culm, and leaves, then disappeared shortly after.


    The name of the ability appeared in his List of Abilities on his personalized dashboard.


    Lin Ming decided to test this ability out to see how effective it was.


    After all, he knew very little about the mutated animals and nts in this valley aside from himself.


    Since this smallke and the underground Spirit River was so rich in spiritual aura, and the spiritual aura density in the air was also considerably high, there might be many more powerful mutated animals and nts he did not know of.


    The insect wave and the beast wave all proved that a significant number of mutated creatures existed in this valley.


    Then time to see if there were any other powerhouses in this valley!


    With a stir of his consciousness, Lin Ming instantly activated Aura Detection!


    At this moment, he felt waves of energy surging through his 300-meter-long root systems extending outward from his culm. Soon, the area within ten kilometers outside his root systems became his Perceptive Range.


    Not long after, detailed information about the strength of countless creatures came flooding into his mind!


    However, Lin Ming also detected twenty-one strange auras among them.


    ''Wait, these are humans?!''


    Lin Ming perceived them carefully.


    Unlike other mutated animals, insects, and birds, these were twenty-one strands of unknown spiritual aura, and he managed to discern their human-like shapes using his Aura Detection ability.


    They were moving through the dense forest.


    They were not moving aimlessly, but keeping track of their surroundings as they progressed cautiously.


    "They''re finally here" Lin Ming murmured thoughtfully.


    These humans were here to look for the four people he killed, right?


    He had figured that someone would eventuallye and search for them, but he did not expect them to arrive so soon.


    These twenty-one people were divided into two groups, each advancing separately from two ends of the valley, which was certainly strange.


    Could they be two different groups?


    Lin Ming also sensed that these two groups were different from each other.


    One group had more people  sixteen in total  and they all had strong waves of spiritual aura.


    The other group had only five people. Only two had stronger surges of spiritual aura, while the other three were much weaker and he could barely even detect their aura.


    There was one person in the sixteen-member group that had stronger spiritual aura waves than the rest. Strangely, Lin Ming could sense that the aura waves he radiated seemed to be ''crimson''. This abnormal phenomenon puzzled him.


    However, he knew that these humans emanating strong spiritual aura waves had already progressed to the "Unranked" level, like the other mutated creatures in this valley.


    The one with the crimson spiritual aura possessed Unranked Grade-6 strength. As for the others, the highest was at Unranked Grade-4, and there were only two of them who did this. Most of them were Unranked Grade-2.


    As for the five-member group, one among the two powerful ones was an Unranked Grade-5, while the other was an Unranked Grade-4.


    The Aura Detection ability was certainly different from other abilities. It did not have levels and it could cover almost the entire valley range from its first use.


    All creatures in this valley were within Lin Ming''s Perceptive Range, no matter their species or breed.


    This ability even allowed him to sketch a general image of the creature he was focusing on.


    This was not a weak ability in the slightest.


    It was fair to say that this ability came at just the right time. In fact, Lin Ming felt that its appearance may have been somewhat deliberate, as if the System had done it on purpose.


    However, it was Lin Ming himself who decided to actually learn it.


    He had spent his 1000 Evolution Points very effectively, it seemed.


    Nevertheless, even without this ability, he would have still eventually discovered the humans approaching him. It was just a matter of time.


    Lin Ming admitted that he may not have fully matured yet.


    He was frankly not afraid of facing these humans.


    After all, there was a vast difference between them and himself in terms of strength.


    They were not even a close match to the Wolves of Septenary, who surely would make quick work of them.


    If these humans had reallye to give him trouble, Lin Ming was not going to let them get away with it.


    If they were to discover the secret he carried, he could not allow them to leave this valley.


    Lin Ming was now a mutated bamboo with consciousness and strong powers. If the secret got out, he would undoubtedly be greeted with heavy artillery fire and relentless attacks.


    That was a given.


    Lin Ming was once a human too, and he knew how humans thought. They would never allow an intelligent nt that could threaten their survival to exist on this.


    With that thought in mind, murderous intent filled Lin Ming''s heart.


    Regardless of the twenty-one humans'' intentions, as long as they got close enough to him, getting rid of them was the only choice.

 Chapter 20: The Massacre in the Fog

    Chapter 20: The Massacre in the Fog


    <b>Admin''s note</b>: This chapter is missing in trantion, below is machine trantion.


    ..........


    A squad of sixteen, walking cautiously in the dense forest.


    The expression on Zheng Guodong''s face is very uneasy. He didn''t think that the degree of danger this time could be much different from thest time.


    But the hordes of giant centipedes blocking the road made it clear to him that if the Wanzhuhai Nature Reserve was a little careless, it would be a burial ground for the 16 of them.


    "Lighter footsteps, slower speed!" Zheng Guodong softly ordered the yers, while he was at the forefront of the team, constantly searching for all possible dangers.


    The distance between the team members is very close, and no one dared to speak loudly. Since seeing the giant centipede that exceeds the size of the worldview, their original worldview has also shattered.


    These fifteen transcendents have not participated in any exploration of the "spiritual realm" before.


    The whole province of Shu, and even the entire Tang states transcendents have used many transcendents in the exploration of the "spiritual realm".


    However, even the number of nearly 10,000 transcendents could not help the increasing attacks of mutant creatures in this spiritual realm, and they suffered considerable losses.


    This is also caused. Many transcendents who have been to the "spiritual realm" are unhealed, while the transcendental rookies who have never been to the "spiritual realm" have very little knowledge of mutant creatures only in pictures and videos.


    Just like these fifteen transcendent members, their previous understanding of "mutant creatures" still remained at the level of "several timesrger than in the past." They never expected that they would be caught when they entered the Wanzhuhai Nature Reserve. Have a lesson.


    This kind of giant centipede, if there is no Zheng Guodong, their pure "power system" is absolutely impossible to deal with.


    Zheng Guodong is a special transcendent who has the power to use the "fire element". It is said that there are only twelve such transcendents in the entire Tang Dynasty.


    Moreover, Zheng Guodong''s strength can even rank in the top five.


    After the "spiritual realm" gradually appeared in various parts of the Tang state, Zheng Guodong ran from the east to the west, almost retreating from the whole body every time he went to the "spiritual realm".


    These fifteen extraordinary rookies are convinced by Zheng Guodong because of this-strength.


    In the era of aura recovery, strength is absolute.


    Even if they think that they are very talented and think that the power they have can make them despise ordinary people, but in front of Zheng Guodong, they are not unconvinced.


    "Stop!"


    At this moment, Zheng Guodong suddenly stopped and shouted to the yers. At the same time, he also took out the dagger as fast as he could!


    "Ready to fight!"


    Everyone is extremely nervous, and the yers'' immature faces are full of cold sweat.


    They all heard it too. In this valley, over and over again, the howling of wolves seemed to be warning.


    "The words of wolves... I hope that they have mutated to a degree that we can''t handle them." Zheng Guodong took a deep breath. This creepy howling made him feel a little inexplicable boredom and panic.


    Weird, what''s the matter.


    Although he has been to more than a dozen spiritual realms, Zheng Guodong feels that carnivorous mutant animals are the most difficult to deal with.


    Among them, the mutated wolf pack is the most troublesome existence among them.


    As the top carnivores, they appear in groups, and they are the strong ones that people cannot ignore.


    "Team, Captain! I, let''s go first, first..." Meditation trembled all over, the original arrogance no longer existed, and the bangs on his forehead had beenpletely soaked with sweat.


    She was so scared.


    The other fourteen people are not much better.


    Originally, they had only received a few months of rigorous military training, but the various personalities of ordinary people are difficult to change.


    Especially in the face of this wolf howling that seems to be able to shock the soul and bring extremely fearful effects!


    Zheng Guodong shook his head: "If you don''t want to die, just listen to my orders!"


    At this time, I just stepped into this spiritual realm for more than half an hour and then retreated, but absolutely not!


    The task of finding people hasn''t got a clue yet, and their more important task has not yet beenpleted!


    "But, Captain Zheng, I don''t know what''s going on. This wolf howling makes me feel a little ufortable, and it seems that I still have a headache..." Another female yer Guo Ting also bit her lip, her face pale.


    The others also nodded their heads. If it is the two female yers, Shen Sisi and Guo Ting, who are squeamish, the rest of the male yers also feel this way, which is quite abnormal.


    "I said, I don''t want to die here, just listen to my orders!" Zheng Guodong roared, his face is full of sweat, "Something is really wrong, Liu Cheng, you put the instrument down, We are here to measure the concentration of Reiki! Others take cover and stand in all directions!"


    Liu Cheng hurriedly put the big bag on his back on the ground, took out a microwave oven-like metal instrument from it, put it on the ground, and joined the formation of cover.


    He and the others stood in eight positions in pairs, paying attention to the surroundings nervously.


    Zheng Guodong debugged the machine, and the value of the aura concentration on it made him a little confused.


    "Thirteen thousand and five? This..." The number above was much lower than expected.


    "Wait, wait, no, is the machine wrong?"


    He restarted again, but the number above still stayed at the highest value just now13,500.


    More than 10,000 points means that this spiritual realm is just a "low-level spiritual realm". The level of mutant creatures in it is only F and so on. It doesn''t take much attention at all. As long as you don''t make a mistake, there will be nothing. Too big a problem.


    Although this is only a short time after entering the valley, the urate value of this concentration value will not exceed five thousand.


    That is to say, with these five thousand, here is only less than twenty thousand points of spiritual energy concentration, far from being a spiritual realm of the level with powerful mutant creatures.


    And the so-called F-rank mutant beasts refer to the so-called demon spirit mutant creatures with lower levels.


    ording to international standards, there are also detailed ssifications of the levels of mutant organisms.


    The lowest grade is F grade, UU reading .  is also a creature that "has just mutated", and its harm is basically negligible, and it is only slightlyrger than normal organisms.


    Reiki concentration is no more than 200.


    followed by E, etc., the highest concentration of Reiki is 600, which is initially demonized. They are slightlyrger in size, but theirbat effectiveness is average and slightly destructive. Very few have the most basic thinking ability, which is the so-called "smart intelligence."


    D, etc., near demon spirit, the highest concentration of aura is 1200,bat power has risen sharply, destructive power is great, self-thinking consciousness is strengthened, threat is great, and it is not afraid of basic weapon attacks such as bullets.


    C, etc., initially demonized, with a maximum aura concentration of 6000, extremely terrifyingbat effectiveness, extremely destructive power, and a little more sound intelligence. They have more developed thinking abilities, and ordinary thermal weapons are invalid.


    B, etc., medium demon spirit, the highest aura concentration is 18,000, and thebat power is close to unsolvable. It needs to dispatch a huge army or a shock-level weapon to destroy it, mature in intelligence, and possesses the same thinking ability as humans.


    A etc., no observation records.


    "Could it be that the howling of the wolf is just a psychological effect? After all,st night, we did not have a good rest because the vigers were too enthusiastic." Zheng Guodong thought of this, and the spirit that had been tight, rxed a little.


    The giant centipedes when they first came in are probably the most powerful mutant creatures in this spiritual realm. They should be unlucky, they just ran into it at the beginning.


    "Go ahead!" Zheng Guodong still decided to believe that this represents the data of thetest technology of the Aura Concentration Analyzer, and ordered all the yers, but he did notpletely rx, after all, anything can happen in the spiritual realm!


    .....


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 Chapter 21: No Living Humans Allowed

    Chapter 21: No Living Humans Allowed


    In the dense forest beside the Spirit Lake, the eerie howling of wolves continued on and on.


    With the Spiritual Fluid''s nourishment, the seven little wolves had now gradually grown into gigantic beasts.


    Under Lin Ming''s deliberate cultivation, they had also progressed from their previous Unranked Grade-8 to Unranked Grade-9!


    The effect of the Spiritual Fluid seemed to have be stronger after he evolved.


    Lin Ming also discovered that the little wolves would grow in size every time they leveled up, and their fangs would be longer and sharper.


    Moreover, their sense of smell and perception had be stronger than before, and they were not just howling randomly.


    At this moment, they were howling in two directions where the two groups of invaders were. They could already detect enemies about ten kilometers away urately.


    It seemed that he could make good use of them as enemy detectors in the future.


    Furthermore, Lin Ming realized that three of the little wolves seemed to havepletely different colors from before as if there was a deliberate attempt to differentiate them.


    All the little wolves originally had mainly light or dark gray coats, with snow-white fur covering their hearts, abdomens, and limbs. Now, there were three of them whose whiteness on the edges of the feet had turned into a strange light green.


    "What''s this developing into?" Lin Ming had yet to receive any clues from their personalized dashboards. Also, for some reason, he felt that these three little wolves with green fur seemed to have be faster than the others.


    "Maybe I should give them names first so I can tell them apart easily."


    Only then did Lin Ming realize that he had forgotten about this important matter.


    As a terrible name-giver, after a moment''s hesitation, Lin Ming decided to ce them in order of their sizes -- Lil One, Lil Two, Lil Three, Lil Four, Lil Five, Lil Six, and Lil Seven.


    Among them, Lil One, Lil Two, and Lil Three had strange light green fur. Could it be that Lil Four and the rest would gradually have this light green color on them?


    His other spection was that these little guys were about to progress into Rank-1, and some signs had started appearing on their bodies.


    A sign of mutation


    Lin Ming fell into deep thoughts. If that were true, that would be great. Maybe green was rted to the Wind Element or something.


    It made sense for them to turn into Wind Elemental Wolves.


    If there were really such a thing as an "element", then these little wolves could look forward to it.


    Lil One and the others, who were full after drinking the Spiritual Fluid, gradually calmed down after howling for a while. However, they showed signs of agitation and restlessness by digging the ground with their huge paws.


    Lin Ming felt that they seemed to be telling him that they wanted to fight.


    He gently stroked their proud heads with his branches, and they gradually calmed down.


    "Kill Kill"


    At this moment, a strange feeling suddenly passed through the bamboo branches stroking them into Lin Ming''s consciousness.


    "This is your consciousness?" Lin Ming had once imagined when he would be able tomunicate with these dependents, but he never expected this day toe so soon.


    Before this, these wolves were just a little clever.


    However, their simple thought to "kill" was their request to attack those enemies who had invaded this valley recklessly.


    To be honest, this was a good thing.


    Lil One and the others were not just satisfied drinking his Spiritual Fluid, but they also wanted to use their actions to prove to Lin Ming that they were not leeching off of him. Instead, they wished to relieve his worries and help him defeat those enemies encroaching on his territory.


    In that case, they can go ahead.


    Now that they had reached Unranked Grade-9, there was no need to worry about them facing any problems harvesting the lives of those inferior human beings.


    Lin Ming had a certain level of confidence in these little guys.


    However, it was safer to let them attack the group with fewer members first as an experiment.


    The group with fewer members had two Unranked people, perfect for Lil One and the others to test theirbat abilities.


    Gently stroking the seven wolves with his branches, Lin Ming transmitted his consciousness to them, "Go ahead and wipe out those enemies."


    They collectively let out a long howl like the blowing of a horn before a battle. Transforming into seven gray-white rays of light, they sprinted off in the direction of Lin Ming''s targetthe six-member group at the other end of the valley!


    "Although I don''t know what your real purpose here is, this valley''s not a ce that you can set foot in. You can only me your bad luck for letting you meet me"


    Lin Ming''s ethereal voice gradually disappeared along with the sounds of him waving hundreds of snake-like branches.


    He had changed his mind.


    At first, he had thought that if these humans did not provoke him, he would only drive them away.


    Now, with his Aura Detection ability, Lin Ming realized that these humans, especially the five-member group, were heading straight in his direction as if they were targeting him.


    His killing intent gradually intensified.


    If not for that, he would not send Lil One and the others out so easily.


    In the beginning, Lin Ming had not really intended to do this.


    After he sensed the humans'' arrival, the first thing he did was to use his Aura Concealment ability.


    Although he did not know how far human technology had evolved, Lin Ming had a feeling that the group with more members had probably formed a party toe and search for the ce with the densest spiritual aura in this valley.


    If not, why bother sending out all these Unranked humans?


    In fact, Lin Ming felt that they might have some instrument that could measure ranks and grades, and they had specificallye to take measurements in this valley where many mutated creatures lived.


    In this valley, the most powerful creature was none other than Lin Ming, the mutated bamboo.


    If these people were to discover how strong of a threat he was -- they did not even need to measure because Lin Ming''s current appearance waspletely different from that of an ordinary "bamboo".


    His culm was as imprable as an iron wall, his whipping branches could produce sonic booms, and his leaves could kill people within a hundred meters in the blink of an eye.


    In addition, his roots were like a horned dragon, they coulde out of the ground as well as go a hundred meters deep underground, perfect for both offense and defense.


    Moreover, he could recover his vitalitypletely even when suffering severe injuries because of his Ultimate Regeneration ability.


    Those mutated giant bamboos did not have this kind of ability at all.


    They were only superior in terms of size and height.


    Regardless of whether those humans had really brought a measuring instrument like what he predicted, Lin Ming now felt that he could no longer let them return alive.


    At least, he could not let them leave without suffering any losses here.


    Even if this may cause more humans to pay attention to this valley.


    "No living humans allowed in the Deadly Exclusion Zone."


    Lin Ming muttered these words, waiting for the wolves'' uing battle results and the first scream that would signify their aplishment.

 Chapter 22: The Massacre in the Fog

    Chapter 22: The Massacre in the Fog


    The first glimmer of light gradually illuminated the sky as time ticked by.


    However, within this densely forested valley, even if the sun beat down fiercely, the light that filtered through into the forest was still very faint.


    As day alternated with night, one walking amidst the woods could rely only on the faint rays of light.


    Heavily armed, Old Wu and the rest of the party who had already walked a great distance away also heard the thrilling howls from the wolves.


    Despite that, they were girded with special equipment, so the howls of the wolves did little to affect them.


    In the mountains, the thick white fog gradually rose and quickly nketed the entire valley. It was very challenging to see past or within a ten-meter radius.


    "This is all thanks to Old Wu. Otherwise, before we even arrive, we would have been driven mad by the howls." Xu Liang removed his earmuffs and after ensuring that there was no more howling, he heaved a long sigh of relief.


    He nced at the others and saw that they too, had expressions of relief.


    Five people were perched on a heavily branched tree. The howling of the wolves had rendered them unable to advance. Although they were experienced, they still felt dizzy at first.


    "Tsk. This fog is way too heavy," Qu Weiined as she adjusted her stance on the tree. As an ordinary person, it was too difficult for her to climb a tree. "Fortunately, the terrible cries of the wolves are gone."


    Wang Ce flew to the ground and signaled for everyone to be quiet. Amidst the fog, a mutated beast could spring out at any time. After a while, he then signaled for everyone toe down. It was safe for the time being.


    "Be careful." Wang Ce spoke little. Although it was now safe, no one could be certain about what would happen in the next second.


    Moreover, the fog was exceedingly thick. It was natural for such a valley with dense vegetation to be covered in thick fog. However, they had rarely seen such a heavy fog in their lives.


    "The more dangerous it is, the more it proves of its value! How can something like the Spiritual Rock be so expensive if it''s just anywhere?" Qian Min held a ck meter in her hand, joyfully watching the rising numbers on it. It was indeed dangerous. But what significance did danger hold in the face of profits?


    The number on the spiritual rock detector was so high. There could be a rich lode of spiritual rock here!


    "However, we still need to keep an eye out for the wolves. If we run into Wind Elemental Wolves like the ones in the Kemng Spiritual Realm, regardless of our numbers, it won''t be enough." Xu Liang had a shback to thest time he and a dozen bounty hunters had ventured to the Spiritual Realm at the southwest of the Qing Province together. They had encountered a group of mutated Gobi Wind Elemental Wolves. As a result, only he and Wang Ce had survived by chance, while the rest of the group had perished.


    Wang Ce nodded and remained silent. With a short de tightly gripped in hand, he remained alert.


    The others exchanged nces and fell into a deep silence, even Qian Min did not say a word.


    Both the Grade-C transcendent beings had already spoken. As ordinary people with slightly more experience, what could they possibly dare to say?


    The group of five was silent as their hearts tightened.


    Each of them kept an equal distance from each other and continued to explore deeper into the valley. However, they walked at a much slower pace than before.


    They were unaware of the fact that the mutated Wolves of Septenary had already locked a tight focus on them.


    As Unranked Grade-9 mutated wild forest wolves, Lil One and the others had already sniffed them out from several kilometers away with their extremely powerful sense of smell. They could easily identify the location of this group of people.


    Among the group, there were two rtively stronger opponents while the others were none that intimidating.


    The instincts of beasts allowed them to easily distinguish the scent of the strong!


    After a long period of hunting in the woods of this valley, Lil One and the pack who were siblings of the same mother coordinated exceedingly well with each other.


    Moreover, with the nourishment from Lin Ming''s spiritual fluid, their bodies had berger, their speeds had be faster, and their intelligence had reached a higher standard.


    Utilizing the extremely thick fog, they had unconsciously tailed after this group of five at their highest speeds.


    They only needed to wait for an opportunity tounch their attack!


    The fog was still not thick enough.


    They were excellent at attacking their prey in the fog, and they wanted to guarantee the most efficient battle.


    At the same time, they needed to wait for their prey to be slightly more rxed.


    "It seems like it''s too quiet," Xu Liang said with a frown. No, it was way too quiet. They had walked for nearly a kilometer, yet they had not encountered a single mutated creature.


    This was way too odd.


    They did not know that the mutated creatures in the valley knew to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. In the face of the extremely powerful pack of Lil One and the other Wolves of Septenary, they could only escape.


    Although this group of bounty hunters was very experienced, they did not possess the wild instincts that mutated creatures did.


    "Something''s off!" Wang Ce eximed as he took a deep breath. The mist near the small stream seemed to be thicker than before.


    "You''re both something. Of course, something isn''t right. Look, there are so many spiritual rocks around the gravel here! F*ck, this piece isn''t small! It''s mine!" Qian Min''s eyes were sharp, spotting arge piece of rock in the stream. It was a spiritual rock of high purity, and she could not help but bend at the waist to enter the water.


    Right at that moment!


    ng!!!!


    Following a series of roars so loud and deafening they could make one feel dizzy, seven behemoths suddenly appeared in the thick fog!


    They instantly rushed toward Qian Min who was still in the water!


    "It''s the Wind Elemental Wolves!" Xu Liang drew his short de. He was about to rescue Qian Min when he suddenly realized that the seven giant wolves had turned around and pounced toward him!


    "Ahhhh!!!"


    Before Xu Liang could even use his strange power, with a horrifying cry, seven streams of light shed by and he turned into a corpse right when his cry ended!


    The strong stench of blood instantly drenched the thick fog!


    The massacre had just begun.


    "D*mn it! Kill them!!!"


    Xu Liang died tragically in an instant, while the rest of the group fell into madness from fear. They took out shotguns loaded with special bullets at the fastest speed and sted them at the pack of wolves!


    However, the pack of wolves paid no heed to these shotguns. Their speeds made the bullets of these shotguns seemed like decorations!


    Moreover, a bullet had found its target at the slowest Lil Seven. Yet, everyone realized that the special bullet did not affect it at all!


    In a sh of gray and white with a touch of light green, the three faster giant wolves had already instantly beheaded Old Wu and Qu Wei with their sharp fangs!


    "No, no!!" Qian Min backed up in the water and turned to escape. However, at that moment, Lil Seven pounced on her and ripped out her throat.


    There was only one man left standing.


    Lil Onemanded the other wolves and they quickly surrounded the big tree on which thest person of the group of five was perched. He was also the strongest contender of the group.


    "Wind Elemental Wolves." Upon smelling the heavy stench of blood in the fog, he had immediately jumped onto a tree and climbed to a high spot. This action had saved his life for the time being.


    He peered down from the tree, at a height of ten meters. Although he had not advanced, his strength had already surpassed that of the mutated wolves. He knew that this time, everything was pointing to a disaster.


    "Peak Grade-D Spiritual Aura Concentration, close to Grade-C," Wang Ce said expressionlessly as he looked at the small instrument in his hand. "These aren''t creatures that should be existing in such a Spiritual Realm."

 Chapter 23: A Choice to be Made

    Chapter 23: A Choice to be Made


    A shrill scream exploded, which traveled to the ears of everyone on Zheng Guodong''s squad.


    "Focus and pay attention!"


    Zheng Guodong immediately roared, causing the squad members behind him to return their attention to him.


    However, there came more violent cries and cruel roars from beasts. Everyone''s focus once again dispersed.


    "Octagonal formation! If you don''t want to die! Immediately!" Zheng Guodong roared. The screams surrounding their ears have already frightened the squad members who had just entered the spiritual realm.


    The fifteen squad members were quickly snapped awake by Zheng Guodong''s roar, and they got into formation.


    "There are others in the area, but they are not one of us. Hearing their cries, they have probably suffered tragic deaths," Zheng Duodong said as he took a deep breath. He turned to his squad again, all of whom looked extremely pallor. "We will leave them be for now. When we get out, I''ll report to the top authorities."


    At this time, everyone on the squad was wondering in their hearts whether they would even be able to leave.


    Even if they possessed great strength, they were not sure if they could defeat the mutated creatures in this spiritual realm.


    Moreover, the mutated beasts tearing away at the screaming group of people seemed to be the wolves that they had previously heard!


    After all, before the screams started, they had already heard the roars which shook their spirits.


    "Cap...Captain, what should we do?" Liu Cheng''s face was dripping with cold sweat. His face was pale, and his voice trembled as he spoke.


    Zheng Guodong nced at the others and saw that they too wore simr expressions to Liu Cheng.


    Oh, this group of fresh recruits.


    He was unsure of how many people he could bring out.


    Theycked experience in both directly facing mutated creatures and dealing with emergencies.


    To put it bluntly, although this group of people was transcendent, they were merely ordinary people with extraordinary powers.


    They were quite simply iparable to soldiers with strengths in execution, discipline, andbat effectiveness.


    It was a pity that there were not many soldiers with awakened transcendence. It was even rarer to be someone who was born in a special force like he was.


    Zheng Guodong''s brows furrowed. What the top authorities had requested, was to try not to lose a team member, and to measure the exact spiritual aura density in this spiritual realm.


    Moreover, the viger and the four so-called travel buddies were to be retrieved.


    Looking at the situation now, the task was simply impossible.


    Measuring the spiritual aura density seemed rather easy. They only needed to retrieve this item that looked like an iron box.


    However, it was also frankly the most difficult task.


    If everyone on the squad, himself included, met an unfortunate end, the task would immediately fail.


    As for the viger and the four travel mates, Zheng Guodong and the others had not even seen a trace of them.


    Come to think of it, it was not a surprise. In a valley as vast as this, finding five people was like finding a needle in a haystack.


    After all, based on Zheng Guodong''s experience, even if the most powerful creature in this spiritual realm was the giant centipede that he had previously encountered, an ordinary viger and four bounty hunters would not be able to deal with it.


    They were likely already dead. As for the corpses, they probably would not be left behind.


    Mutated beasts would not just leave those fresh meals behind.


    He turned on the spiritual aura density indicator again. The number disyed had already reached 14,300.


    ording to thew, the highest peak of the spiritual aura density in this spiritual realm was only at about 18,000. However, Zheng Guodong felt at a loss again.


    The highest peak of spiritual aura density in a spiritual realm depended on the spiritual aura density of the most powerful mutated creature in the spiritual realm. Generally, the peak spiritual aura density of a spiritual realm was twenty times that of the most powerful mutated creature.


    As for the giant centipedes from before, they probably belonged to the lowest Grade-E mutated creature. They were merely in the initial stages of "demonization", and their bodies had only grown slightly bigger.


    Before, Zheng Guodong had thought that those giant centipedes were probably the most powerful creatures, or the closest to most powerful, in this spiritual realm.


    However, before the howling of the wolves begun and until the actions of the wolves as they bit and killed the humans just now, Zheng Guodong had always felt that the peak of the spiritual aura density in this spiritual realm should not be like that.


    Zheng Guodong stared at the spiritual aura density indicator under his feet. That thing had never made a single mistake at previous spiritual realms. The peak spiritual aura density in each spiritual realm had always been measured extremely urately.


    As thetest technology, aside from its slightlyrger size, it had no other disadvantages.


    Though for transcendent beings like them, even if that object wasrger than a double-door refrigerator, it would be like a drizzle to them. If they thought of it that way, it was not quite a disadvantage either.


    Previously, he had already entered a few spiritual realms and every single time, Zheng Guodong had always witnessed the spiritual aura density indicator urately measure the peak density in the spiritual realms. The grades of mutated creatures that essentially reacted with the value would be evident.


    However today, Zheng Guodong suddenly did not want to believe the tool. Instead, he wanted to believe in his own experience.


    The howling of the wolves that caused everyone to feel uneasy and dizzy led Zheng Guodong to think that these wolves were the strongest in this spiritual realm.


    Moreover, after walking for so long, how had they note across any mutated creatures?


    It was too odd.


    In addition, there was a rotting stench wafting in the air. It smelled a bit like


    "Captain Zheng, something doesn''t seem right over there!" While Zheng Guodong was deep in thought, Liu Cheng suddenly pointed a finger at a tree trunk not far away, where there was a pile of something dark.


    Zheng Guodong motioned the other squad members not to move. He slid out a duandao that shone with a ck light. He leaped forward and jumped to a spot close to the dark pile.


    However, what he saw before him quickly cleared his vignce. "It seems like we havepleted one of our tasks."


    In front of Zheng Guodong was a pile of human remains with only half a face left.


    The flesh on his body had essentially already been gnawed away, with only white bones left. As for his face, the remaining half of it was lying on the ground.


    The fact that it had not beenpletely eaten up by the mutated creatures in this spiritual realm made Zheng Guodong felt disbelief.


    "Captain, this seems to be someone we were looking for"


    "Yes, it''s Li Ming. He was shot in the head by a shotgun. Based on the rate of decay, it''s been a while since he was murdered." Zheng Guodong was silent.


    It seemed that it was as the vige chief Old Li had said and spected. The so-called travel buddies must be bounty hunters. Perhaps their secrets had been exposed, so they killed Li Ming.


    "Captain Zheng, it seems like we don''t need to find those four anymore. They''re most likely bounty hunters," Shen Sisi said.


    Zheng Guodong nodded.


    The top authorities had requested that in the case of encountering bounty hunters, the first thing they should do was to kill them.


    They were not afraid of the various weapons they possessed. On the other hand, it was because there was also a considerable number of transcendent beings among them.


    "Captain Zheng, what''s our next move? Should we continue advancing, or"


    Zheng Guodong looked at the squad member who was speaking, then looked at the others. "It seems we have two paths to choose from."

 Chapter 24: Another Usage of Spiritual Fluid

    Chapter 24: Another Usage of Spiritual Fluid


    The densest area of the thick fog.


    Lin Ming''s countless root systems allowed him to perceive everything in this valley.


    "Lil One and the pack have done well."


    Lin Ming sighed after sensing that it took only a short time for four of the group of five to take their final breaths.


    Although several gunshots were heard, through Lin Ming''s perception, Lil One and the others did not seem to stop moving or move any slower.


    This proved that the little guys had not been hurt by those people.


    However, thest man standing seemed to be hiding in a spot that could not be attacked by Lil One and the pack. He was still in the forest and was moving at an extremely fast speed.


    The direction was not toward him but toward the direction of the group of people who had juste.


    "Thinkin'' of running away?" Lin Ming sensed the person''s trajectory through breath perception.


    At the speed of Lil One and the pack, if they could not catch up with this person, and got too persistent, things could get messy if they were ambushed by the other party.


    Based on Lil One and the pack''s breaths, they had continued to endlessly chase the person down, gradually going beyond the valley.


    Boom!!


    The earth suddenly rumbled, and a deafening explosion set off a violent shockwave!


    Lin Ming was stunned. He felt the strong explosive boome from the direction of Lil One and the pack!


    Before the aftermath of the explosion had died down, Lin Ming also caught a few cries of pain that were only heard when beasts got hurt!


    Lil One and the pack were hurt?!


    Lin Ming quickly sensed them and discovered that two from Lil One''s pack had stopped moving. The remaining five were unceasingly circling the two!


    As for the human, he had already taken advantage of the explosion and fled from the valley!


    Lin Ming was ovee with anxiety. He ignored the human who had fled for the time being. How badly had Lil One and the pack been injured?


    He quickly sensed that the five wolves had picked up the two injured wolves and were now rushing back toward him as fast as they could!


    At this time, Lin Ming, who had focused all his attention on the wolves'' injuries, was ignoring the sixteen humans who had charged into the valley.


    While he had been directing all his attention to the movements of Lil One and the pack, Adorable Little Snake had left his side unbeknownst to him, and was now quickly heading toward the direction of the sixteen humans.


    Not long after, Lin Ming sensed that Lil One and the pack had arrived within his Control Range. After a while, they appeared in front of him.


    He immediately saw that the two who had gotten hurt were Lil Six and Lil Seven.


    They had been carried back by Lil One and Lil Two. Fresh blood gushed out from their wounds, already staining Lil One''s and Lil Two''s backs.


    Lil One and Lil Two gently ced the trembling Lil Six and Lil Seven down, who had been keeping their eyes tightly shut, in front of Lin Ming.


    After that, together with the other wolves, they let out low whimper-like hums.


    They were all seated in front of Lin Ming with their heads hung low, as though they were begging.


    Even if they had not acted that way, Lin Ming would never abandon Lil Six and Lil Seven.


    Looking at Lil Six and Lil Seven who were on the verge of death, Lin Ming extended his bamboo branches out and gently lifted them up.


    Their abdomens, which had suffered grave injuries from the explosion, bore incredibly terrifying, tearing wounds. Parts of their internal organs were even spilling out.


    What was even more shocking was that the two poor little guys werepletely covered in shrapnel. Some parts of their fur even showed little sharp horns caught in the fur and skin.


    A raging fire erupted in Lin Ming''s heart.


    ''My Lil Six and Lil Seven have been so badly hurt!'' he thought.


    However, while he was angry, Lin Ming could not help but sigh. Not only did these humans possess spiritual aura, but they also had weapons capable of hurting Lil Six and Lil Seven, who were mutated animals that had reached Rank-1 almost immediately!


    It appeared he had underestimated them.


    Their level of threat was as his first impression of it had hinted, or perhaps even worse than that.


    Lin Ming did not immediately remove the shrapnel with his extremely flexible bamboo branches. Instead, he first ced Lil Six and Lil Seven near the branch which discharged Spiritual Fluid.


    Since the Spiritual Fluid could help mutated creatures advance, it must also hold immensely rich and powerful energy within.


    However, the system did not specify whether it had injury-healing properties. If a mistake were to be made, it would then be toote for regrets.


    Hold on  what if this ability could be evolved?


    Looking at his personalized dashboard, he saw that he had once again umted 100 Evolution Points. Lin Ming wanted to ask the system directly whether the Spiritual Fluid was capable of healing Lil Six and Lil Seven''s injuries.


    [The Spiritual Fluid ability can be further evolved. It can promote the evolution of mutated creatures and heal certain injuries.]


    The voice of the system suddenly sounded in his mind. Lin Ming guessed right away that there was a pattern of sorts.


    If he thought of something, the system could respond with the corresponding answer.


    On the other hand, if he did not contemte something, the system would simply remain silent.


    However, this was not the time tomunicate with the system. Lin Ming selected the "Spiritual Fluid" ability, and suddenly arrived at Level-2.


    He immediately channeled the Spiritual Fluid to the two little wolves who were already extremely weak.


    The Spiritual Fluid, which was rich with spiritual aura and energy, jumped into the mouths of Lil Six and Lil Seven, as though it was alive and capable of movement. Then, it gradually flowed into their bodies.


    Lin Ming realized that the wounds on Lil Six and Lil Seven''s bodies were progressively healing at a visibly fast pace.


    Their initially weak breathing had slowly returned to normal. After a while, they could even stand up again.


    After that, all the shrapnel that had pierced deep into their flesh fell to the ground piece by piece, as if they had been ejected from inside the wolf.


    Without the shrapnel, they appearedpletely restored to health. After shaking the dust off their bodies, they returned to their usual energetic state.


    Right at that moment, the seven little wolves lowered themselves to the ground in uniformity and for a while, theyy t.


    Lin Ming thought it was rather interesting. It appeared that the little wolves were thanking him.


    Their intelligence seemed to have reached a certain level.


    Lin Ming, who felt pleased with this, med himself at the same time for getting into this situation in the first ce.


    If he had not allowed the little wolves to attack the group of five, Lil Six and Lil Seven would not have gotten hurt.


    Additionally, he also discovered that he had suffered a huge shoring of his own.


    His Control Range had be much shorter than his Perception Range.


    Presently, he could perceive almost every change that urred in the valley. Even for little grasshoppers who barely possessed spiritual aura, he was able to exactly pinpoint their location.


    However, Lin Ming unfortunately discovered that his maximum Control Range only spanned about three hundred meters.


    Three hundred meters also was the farthest distance that his control could be extended to, using his root system. It did not refer to his Razor Leaves, which possessed an effective range of only a hundred meters, and his Bamboo Whip, which possessed a shorter attack range.


    It was a huge difference from his Perceptive Ability which could extend up to more than ten kilometers.


    If this were not the case, the little wolves would not have had to be sent out at all. He could have easily dealt with the humans alone.


    Explosion? Regr heat weapons? Lin Ming did not think that those could do much damage to him.


    In his personalized dashboard, there was an ''Ultimate Regeneration'' capability, which had yet to be utilized.


    Even if the opponent destroyed a section of his root system, he could utilize the Ultimate Regeneration ability to instantly restore it andunch a new round of attacks.


    However, it would only be effective against humans within a 300-meter radius Control Range.


    "We still need to be stronger."


    Lin Ming muttered quietly. All of a sudden, he realized that the Adorable Little Snake, which usually perpetually clung to his branches like a panda, was gone!

 Chapter 25: Mission First

    Chapter 25: Mission First


    As Zheng Guodong had expected, the squad members did not choose the second option he suggested.


    "Captain Zheng, all of us feel that since we''ve already arrived at this Spiritual Realm, we should properly aplish our mission!"


    As the representative of the squad members, Liu Cheng spoke to Zheng Guodong. His expression was nowpletely differentpared to ten minutes ago when he had been frightened by the howling of the wolves and looked like a youth scared out of his skin.


    His and the squad members'' expressions seemed to have returned to the ones they had worn before they had entered the valley.


    Zheng Guodong sighed.


    He was aware that the loud explosion, as well as the howls of the injured beasts, seemed to have given this group some confidence, or evenpletely shattered the worries they might have had before.


    These squad members were unusually clear about the grades of the mutated creatures.


    In terms of theoretical knowledge, every single one of them had thoroughly memorized them.


    Those unaffected by heat weapons were Grade-D mutated creatures who were reaching demonization and above.


    The cries of the wolves after the loud explosion had proven that these wolves'' maximum spiritual aura density was only at 600.


    600 was ssed as Grade-E, or rather, those that died were considered to be at 600.


    If the transcendents here were divided ording to grades, all the squad members would be ssed at the peak of Grade-E or the initial level of Grade-D!


    As for Zheng Guodong, he was at the peak of Grade-D!


    Thebat effectiveness of sixteen people was not something that could be calcted with just simple addition. Moreover, Zheng Guodong was a rare transcendent who possessed elemental attributes.


    What did that mean for a pack of wolves that could be harmed by heat weapons?


    Therefore, after quick and brief consideration, the fifteen squad members collectively denied Zheng Guodong''s second choice  to stop here and leave, then inform the top authorities of the vague value. After all, they had already found what they were looking for.


    Zheng Guodong nced around at the squad members.


    The reason he had given the squad members two choices was that he had a strange feeling that the numbers on the spiritual aura indicator were quite abnormal.


    His instincts told him that they needed to leave the Spiritual Realm, and the sooner the better.


    In particr, the howling of the wolves was very odd.


    Although the explosion and the cries of the wolves had proven that they feared heat weapons, who could guarantee that those were heat weapons that the squad knew of?


    Zheng Guodong knew well that some higher-ups had already worked out a tactic thatbinedrge-scale armor-piercing bullets and miniaturization of highly explosive bullets that werepatible with regr firearms. Although it had not been widely deployed and applied at the forefront yet, word was that this tactic had already been mastered by a few powerful bounty hunter organizations.


    Who knew whether those explosions could be the product of armor-piercing bullets or highly explosive bullets that he knew of?


    Large scale and ordinary armor-piercing bullets and highly explosive bullets had been transported by the corps that hadter entered the Little Li Vige; there were more than a hundred. Should this squad of transcendents fail to leave this Spiritual Realm after two days, an endless line of corps would then charge in with these armor-piercing bullets to defeat the mutated beasts.


    Of course, they would also retrieve the group''s corpses along the way.


    Ordinary people possessed high damage abilities that transcendents could not match: technology.


    To be more specific, weapons with thetest technology.


    If transcendents were not enough, ordinary people would of course have their own solutions. There would always be more solutions than problems.


    "Are you guys sure?" Zheng Guodong asked as he looked at the ck ghost-like shadow of a tree in the fog, which bore fangs and brandished ws.


    "Captain Zheng, are you scared? We''re not scared, are we?" Shen Sisi also wore apletely rxed expression as heughed and chatted away with the squad members behind him.


    Zheng Guodong knew that death often came when one underestimated the enemy and had misced confidence in their own strength.


    Upon feeling the bnce of strength tilt toward them, these squad members, who were previously ordinary people, would immediately feel arrogant as they did now.


    If they encountered strong enemies, they would once again behave like ordinary people and doubt their strength and feel immensely afraid of the enemy''s capability to hurt them.


    Just like how not long ago, after they had encountered the giant centipede, they were all pale with fright when they heard the howls of the wolves and were shaky as they walked.


    Now, because the mutated wolves had gotten injured, they once again became as confident as before.


    This squad was not easy to deal with.


    Zheng Guodong sighed again: "I know that you guys are strong. As transcendents, yourbat effectiveness is much stronger than that of ordinary people. However"


    "It''s fine! We''re not like some people, who fear wolves ahead and tigers behind. There''s nothing unique about this Spiritual Realm anyway!" (TN: To fear wolves ahead and tigers behind is a Chinese idiom that means to be full of fears.)


    "Yeah, that centipede was just a blockade. If you had not swiftly dealt with it, the few of us would have easily killed it too."


    "Hehe, be it wolves or jackals, we''ll kill one when onees. If twoe, we''ll kill a pair! I''m just worried about my itchy hands. Hehe."


    The squad shifted from being in solemn silence to a raucous state. Not one of them showed any signs of their previous fears and dread. Their words made Zheng Guodong feel somewhat helpless.


    "Captain, we still have you no matter how capable we are. You will protect us, right?" Liu Cheng said atst with a smile.


    Zheng Guodong opened his mouth but said nothing in the end. He knew that the squad would never listen to him, no matter what he said.


    At the same time, his thoughts had also changed.


    He released the condensed spiritual aura and wrapped it around his body. He watched the fog grow denser and became awakened.


    Since these people were already behaving the way that they were, he felt there was no other way to do things.


    If one could identify the most selfless person in this world, it would not be him.


    If the situation was as described in the tool, it was of course the best. However, if his intuitions were correct, then these people would not stand a chance.


    The mission was the top priority.


    "Alright then. We''ll continue moving toward the center. However, we must pick up the pace as it''s almost eight o''clock now."


    The fog had already greatly dissipated and vision range had been increased to thirty- or forty-meter radius.


    Zheng Guodong walked to the forefront. The sixteen of them had alreadypletely rxed their minds, no longer bearing the tension and vignce they had before.


    Their demeanor resembled that of students who were on a spring outing, sporting big and small bags on their backs.


    Zheng Guodong no longer gave them further reminders.


    A group of people continued to advance. In this ce with a chaotic maic field,passes and any other electronic equipment were useless. However, that did not mean that it was impossible to distinguish the direction they were headed in.


    Looking at the giant trees surrounding them that had grown too high and wide, they could guess. Canopies that were more flourished with leaves generally pointed toward the south.


    The rising numbers on the spiritual aura density indicator were also an important basis for navigation.


    The closer to the center of the valley, the higher the value, and the same for the reverse.


    "Ah! It''s a panda. Everyone,e look! How cute!" Shen Sisi suddenly pointed at a panda that had appeared not far ahead and shouted with joy.


    The squad immediately looked in the direction that Shen Sisi had pointed at.


    A mere thirty meters away was an innocent panda that appeared to be weing them as it held a bamboo stick, chewing hard.


    "It''s so cute. I want to snap a few pictures!" Shen Sisi rushed toward it. Several female members along with two male members on the squad could not resist the cuteness of the giant panda and involuntarily approached it as well.


    "Yeah, it''s too cute. Eh? Why is there a sweet fragrance nearby?" Several squad members felt as though their feet were not their own and walked over to the panda.


    That was the time!


    A bolt of silver-white lightning abruptly shed by from the back of the big tree beside them, revealing two extremely dazzling poisonous fangs!

 Chapter 26: Tactic

    Chapter 26: Tactic


    "Ahhh!!!"


    A shrill cry immediately sounded!


    The silver-white lightning did not halt. It quickly leaped toward the neck of another squad member. Its fangs instantly mped down and left quickly, leaving only two bloody spots behind!


    "A snake! It''s a mutated snake!!" Zheng Guodong roared as he quickly adjusted the short de in his hand!


    However, the silver-white lightning was faster. It sprinted through the fallen leaves like a wandering dragon and the short de merely touched the tip of its tail as it nailed itself to the ground!


    The two squad members who had been bitten yelled vulgarities at the silver snake. With a machine gun each in their possessions, they fired the bullets!


    Yet, those bullets did not hit the incredibly fast silver snake at all and were all wasted.


    It seemed like the silver-white venomous snake was going to escape. Instead, it suddenly rushed back and quickly circled the squad members. After biting a few of their bags, it once again turned toward the panda, escaping!


    "You d*mn snake, you better not f*cking run! Catch it!"


    "Chop it into pieces!"


    "Chase it!!"


    Seeing theirpanions bitten, the rest of the squad felt provoked by this silver-white snake with a strange emerald trace on both sides of its eyes. They took up their weapons one after another and roared!


    Anger drove them to blindly chase it!


    "Wait! That panda seems odd. Don''t chase it! It"


    Before Zheng Guodong''s words settled, the initially cute-looking panda suddenly got up as thest few members of the squad passed it. Its broad upper limbs extended at its sides, and sharp ws instantly pierced through two squad member''s hearts!


    Before the two could even cry out, huge amounts of blood mixed with their internal organs flowed out from around their heart areas. Their bodies copsed onto the soil like wet mud dropping to the ground.


    "Ahhh!!!" The squad members were frightened out of their wits as they witnessed the sudden change in attitude and the extremely cruel method of death their friends had been subject to!


    "Don''t disperse! Don''t disperse!!" Zheng Guodong roared. However, the squad members gradually dispersed further into the mist as the terrifying giant panda chased them. They could no longer hear him.


    They had forgotten that they still had someone who possessed a powerful destructive transcendent ability.


    "Burning mes!!" Zheng Guodong bellowed and a ball of fierce mes erupted on the panda who was roaring and chasing after the squad members!


    The panda hurriedly broke into a roll to avoid the attack. It thenid on the ground again and rushed into the fog like a tank!


    "D*mn!!" Zheng Guodong shrieked and hurriedly went to check on the two squad members who had been bitten by the snake and were crouching on the ground. However, he discovered that their bodies had, unbeknownst to him, already stiffened. Their eyes were wide, and they had bled out to death!


    "F*ck! It was a venomous snake! D*mn it!!"


    In addition to the two squad members whose hearts had been torn out, four members of his squad had already died in such a short time!


    Not long ago, Zheng Guodong had thought of letting these squad members have a taste of suffering and letting them deal with the mutated animals in this spiritual realm by themselves. He would then wait until everyone was in the middle of a hard fight before showing up.


    Besides achieving the purpose of training the team, it would also allow the transcendents who were unaware of the immensity of heaven and earth to understand that this spiritual realm was not all fun and games. (TN: To be unaware of the immensity of heaven and earth is a Chinese saying that means to have an exaggerated opinion of one''s abilities.)


    However, he honestly did not expect reality to be crueler and more serious than he had predicted.


    The two mutated creatures just now were definitely not Grade-E!


    They could have used a decoy tactic. Firstly, the silver snake used gueri warfare on the two people. After that, though there was a chance to continue attacking, it feigned ack of love for war and pretended to escape to the harmless-looking giant panda.


    The real goal of the silver snake was to lure the squad members to the panda!


    The panda was not vegetarian. It had even waited for thest few squad members to pass by before making a violent shot. At the same time, it had created extreme panic and fear in the squad members in front!


    Was it their goal to force every squad member to escape in all directions toward the zone in the valley with the densest spiritual aura?!


    Spiritual intelligence. Those two mutated creatures possessed spiritual intelligence and judging from a tactic like that, their spiritual intelligence was not of a simple form!


    Could simple spiritual intelligence develop a tactic like that?


    It was not the standard of spiritual intelligence possessed by a Grade-E. Could it be that they were of Grade-D?


    As one of the many transcendents in the Tang Kingdom, Zheng Guodong was considered excellent.


    Not only did he possess fire elemental control, but he could also easily control the spiritual aura in his body.


    Even so, he was only at the standard of peak Grade-D.


    It was all the same as a Grade-D. Humans were often at a disadvantage when faced with mutated creatures in the spiritual realm, which experienced life and death situations every day as they struggled to climb the ranks and evolve.


    If humans so much as lost their focus, they would certainly fall into a desperate situation, just like the one he was currently experiencing now.


    At the start, Zheng Guodong had also been deceived by the silver snake. Seeing that his squad members were okay, he thought that it was not venomous, so he did not pay much attention. However, after the panda had ripped out the hearts of two squad members, he realized the severity of the matter. By then, it was toote.


    The squad members who had died after the poisonous attack had dealt a heavy blow to Zheng Guodong''s psychological welfare!


    "D*mn it, what the f*ck am I doing?"


    Zheng Guodong rushed into the fog. He felt perplexed as various unknown sounds filled his ears from unknown directions.


    His ambiguous premonition had turned into a reality. The spiritual aura density indicator that was said to have an error rate of less than ten percent really could not be relied on!


    Self-me, rage, frustration, anxiety as well as the guilt and worry for those squad members overcame him as he ran about in this spiritual realm!


    "Only one person would be okay. Finding only one person would be good enough!"


    Zheng Guodong repeatedly muttered those words. He heard the endless cries of his squad members in the valley, cries that were already very far away. He felt as though he could no longer bear it.


    At this time, his spiritual aura had alreadypletely engulfed his whole body. If he got injured or died, the remaining eleven squad members would not be able to get out of this valley!


    He was not sure whether it was because God had not abandoned him, but as he listened to the voices of his squad members, Zheng Guodong finally found eight missing squad members amidst the fog.


    As for the remaining three, no matter how much he tried, he could not find them.


    He was afraid that they might have already lost their way in the thick fog. If they were lucky, they might find themselves at the edge of the valley, but if they were not


    Zheng Guodong did not dare to finish the thought.


    Even if he managed to get out of the valley, seven squad members had been lost and he might receive an extremely serious punishment.


    "C-Captain, we" The eight squad members now wore expressions of despair, and their previous high spirits almost seemed like a joke.


    Almost all of them had lost their huge backpacks. Their faces and bodies were covered in mud and everyone lookedpletely disheveled.


    A few of them suffered injuries on their faces and bodies from fighting mutated creatures that they had encountered.


    "We will retreat!" Zheng Guodongmanded as he gritted his teeth. Although he did not feel satisfied, at this stage, they no longer had any confidence to continue with the mission.


    Not to mention, if they went to look for the remaining three people who had run off, the remaining eight might also get lost and be left behind here.


    If they did not retreat, he may not be able to protect these remaining eight people.


    Zheng Guodong felt like a massive rock was pressed against his heart as he asked the squad to carry the four bodies.

 Chapter 27: Two Possibilities

    Chapter 27: Two Possibilities


    "This trendWhat''s going on?"


    Lin Ming used his spiritual aura to perceive the situation as he paid close attention to the squad of sixteen people.


    This was because the spiritual aura of both the Adorable Little Snake and the giant panda had appeared nearby at the same time.


    Lin Ming also learned that the two little guys had taken advantage of Lil One and the pack''s return to attack the humans themselves!


    To tell the truth, he was rather worried.


    Although Adorable Little Snake''s strength had already reached the level of Unranked Grade-5, the opponent''s spiritual aura was in a critical red zone. Moreover, there was someone who was at a higher level than Adorable Little Snake, at the level of Unranked Grade-6!


    As for the giant panda, which was only at Unranked Grade-2, Lin Ming could not take care of it. It could survive off just being cute.


    However, not long after, an anxious Lin Ming suddenly realized that the spiritual aura of the two persons who had touched the giant panda had faded. The spiritual aura of the two who were in contact with Adorable Little Snake had also vanished.


    After that, it also appeared that the group of people became as frantic as headless flies. All except for the guy with the strongest spiritual aura.


    "Wait, did both Adorable Little Snake and Panda kill those Unranked level humans?"


    Lin Ming had some confidence in Adorable Little Snake''s strength. That guy''s speed had be much faster, and it resembled a sliver of silver and a well-trained body when it was in action. Whether it was climbing trees or gliding through the grass, it was extremely dexterous.


    However, the little guy''sbat effectiveness was rather limited.


    As for the Panda which was only at Unranked Grade-2, it had killed two Unranked or even Grade-3 humans. That was something he did not expect.


    However, it was beyond all doubt that those two guys had killed four enemies in a very short time.


    What escted next made Lin Ming feel even more surprised.


    The group of people dispersed after being attacked by Panda and Adorable Little Snake. Though not long after, they were found and regrouped by the strongest one.


    Of course, there were still the three who were a far distance from them. They seemed to be lost as they were simply going in circles around the valley.


    "Hold on, the group of peopleseems to be retreating." Lin Ming saw that the strongest one was leading the eight people straight toward the exit of the valley. They were retreating back to the direction they came from.


    As for the three others, it appeared that they were going to be abandoned here.


    That was the right decision.


    If they continued moving toward the center of the valley where he was...


    Lin Ming had absolute confidence that he would wipe them all out.


    Judging from the current situation, Lin Ming had also made some guesses about the situation.


    Was there a special reason whymunication was impossible in the valley? Why not even apass could be used?


    Otherwise, why would this group of people abandon the remaining three here and ignore them? It was not normal.


    Lin Ming began to think that perhaps the spiritual aura here affected the maic field or blocked out allmunication signals.


    If not, the current situation would not make sense.


    From the spiritual aura''s perception, Lin Ming realized that Adorable Little Snake and Panda were already making their way back. They were not too slow.


    The fluctuations in their spiritual aura were still normal, proving that they had not been hurt. Lin Ming was rather satisfied with that.


    Though even if they had gotten severely injured, he could now utilize his Spiritual Fluid to fully restore them to health.


    Lin Ming reexamined this change.


    As of today, two groups of enemies had entered the valley. They began to withdraw within a few hours and the Wolves of Septenary, Adorable Little Snake and even Panda had osted them.


    However, he was living in seclusion behind the scenes, and these people had not noticed his existence in any way.


    Under these people''s expressions, there were only slightly more powerful mutated creatures that were inhabiting the forest in the valley.


    Lin Ming hoped that they would continue to believe so and he felt that those who escaped by chance would think so too.


    By controlling the breath of his spiritual aura, those who possessed a spiritual aura density indicator could probably not detect too high of a concentration level.


    Moving on, there were two possibilities.


    The first was that these people would bring in more people toe by and investigate, and perhaps even catch all the mutated creatures here.


    The second was that they would give up and wait until ascending to a certain level beforeing to explore the secrets of the valley again.


    Whatever the oue was, Lin Ming would not be too surprised.


    After all, he understood very little about the situation as a whole. He was not sure too about what these people hade to do.


    He only knew that there was something in the valley that attracted them.


    As for whether it was him or something else, he was not clear.


    Lin Ming did notpletely give up hope. After all, there were still three people who had not left this dense forest. Perhaps they held the key to provide him the information he wanted to know.


    "Lil One, Lil Two, and Lil Three, the three of you keep an eye out for those enemies. Don''t attack them, and kill the mutated creatures that try to."


    After a moment''s contemtion, Lin Ming decided to let Lil One and the pack be responsible for ''protecting'' the three humans.


    At least before he coulde up with a solution, he could make sure at least one stayed alive!


    The bamboo branches gently caressed the three wolves and let them consume some Spiritual Fluid. Lin Ming also tried to instill his fighting thoughts into them.


    Lin Ming wanted to know whether those simple instructions could be fully understood by their spiritual intelligence that had already undergone initial stages of development.


    After a while, he watched Lil One and the others each let out a long howl. They rushed to bow before him then proceeded to race across theke, diving into the jungle.


    After doing all that, Lin Ming nced at the four remaining little wolves.


    They had been running around in circles, seeming to want to participate in the mission as well. They nced up at Lin Ming from time to time, and kept making humming sounds.


    He calmed them down with his bamboo branches and looked at the captive animals who had been looking to where Spiritual Fluid had flowed out of the bamboo branches.


    He knew that he could take this opportunity to tame them.


    After leaving them out to dry for two days, they seemed to have be quite broken, or at least their spirits were. In particr, the egrets and red-crowned cranes that seemed rather honest no longer cried out.


    Of course, there were also dishonest creatures. The two jackals and the ck bear cub had been gnawing at the bamboo branch cage with their teeth, as though they wanted to escape from it.


    That was normal. It would be strange if there was no resistance at all, anyway.


    He looked at the three monkeys, the lynx, and the hyena. Those guys seemed quite intelligent as they kept looking at him with pitiful eyes.


    Lin Ming could tell that they were longing for the Spiritual Fluid. Whenever the little wolves took a sip, his prisoners would lick the bamboo branches with their tongues. It was rather interesting.


    He would first choose a lucky guy from the few.


    After giving it a thought, Lin Ming decided to tame the lynx first.


    The main reason was that the guy resembled a cat.


    "Well then, let''s check this guy''s personalized dashboard first."

 Chapter 28: Enlightenment

    Chapter 28: Enlightenment


    Lin Ming decided to start taming the lynx, which looked like a big, beautiful cat.


    However, he was surprised that such an animal, which was typically seen on high mountains and in high regions, would appear in the valley.


    Or had it descended from the towering peaks?


    Lin Ming looked at both sides of the valley, where there were tall, majestic mountain peaks withyers of snow, clouds, and mist.


    Although he did not know how the little guy had arrived in the valley, looking at the two strands of hair it had on its pointed ears that resembled two small antennas, Lin Ming grew fonder of it the more he looked.


    It was the size of a tiger and covered with thick, ck-spotted fur. Its teeth were as sharp as small daggers. If there was no lineage given on the personalized dashboard, Lin Ming would wonder what type of tiger or leopard it was.


    Now, he had also thought of the first step in taming this guy. However, before that, he needed to first check the little guy''s personalized dashboard.


    [Lineage: Mutated Lynx]


    [Stage: Unranked Grade-3]


    [Ability: Vicious Throat-Breaking Force Level-4. An extremely explosive and powerful head-on charge that can kill opponents by ripping out their throats. Effective against creatures that are several timesrger.]


    [Special Ability: Solo Combat Level-3. In solobat, the damage is increased by 30%]


    The dashboard was pretty good.


    Lin Ming was very satisfied with the abilities and special abilities of the lynx.


    He very much valued damage. The lynx''s abilities leaned toward heavy damage, which made Lin Ming very pleased.


    If this guy developed smoothly in the future, it could be his own right-hand man. However, haste makes waste.


    The bamboo branch cage was removed and upon its taste of freedom, the lynx''s first instinct was to desperately rush out!


    Little did it know that this range of three hundred meters was all within Lin Ming''s Control Range.


    Although it was considerably swift, it was caught by Lin Ming''s roots without a hitch before it could even run a hundred meters away.


    "Sure enough, the first choice after being released was to run"


    The rebelliousness of wild beasts was almost innate.


    Looking at the lynx, which possessed an adult-size body, that held even more true.


    A simple domestication method would probably not be effective.


    Then


    He looked at the two jackals who had been gnawing at the bamboo cage with their teeth and had been endlessly roaring. He knew now that it was their time toe onstage.


    They appeared constantly restless, and they were evidently irritated at being trapped by Lin Ming.


    The bamboo cage was opened, and the two jackals instantly rushed out. After two days of imprisonment without a drop of water, they were already ravenous.


    They could not ignore Lin Ming, a mutated nt that possessed immense spiritual aura and strength that shook the entire valley.


    It was rooted in their genes to naturally fear ''powerful'' beings.


    To seek advantages and avoid potential issues  those were primal instincts that influenced them to be biased toward escape.


    However, even though they had witnessed the recapture of the lynx, they still chose to escape.


    In the end, they were of course once again caught like the lynx.


    After that, Lin Ming released one of the jackals again but ced dozens of dragon-like bamboo branches around it.


    The jackal howled. Its dark brown eyes were unflinching, and its limbs were spread out. Its tail drooped behind it while its whole body trembled.


    It let out a low growl and disyed a pair of sharp fangs.


    Even at this moment, the jackal was not afraid. Lin Ming, who was the opponent, knew that it was an impossible fight.


    Lin Ming tied the other jackal together with the lynx with his bamboo branches, then moved them closer to the vicinity of this jackal. The other animals trapped in the bamboo cages looked over curiously.


    A slender bamboo branch stretched out in front of the roaring jackal. It suddenly turned into a green shadow of a whip and sliced at the jackal''s body!


    "Howl"


    After the jackal let out a terrible cry, a whip wound appeared on its back, cutting deep enough that bone was exposed. Blood spurted out violently. It was shocking!


    "Will you submit or die?"


    Lin Ming ced its bamboo branch on the jackal''s body while another branch grabbed a big rock.


    The shadow of a whip shed past, and the rock was quickly demolished into smithereens!


    Lin Ming''s message was obvious.


    If he could crush the rock into pieces, he was showing mercy when he whipped the jackal earlier.


    It was easy to just kill it if it did not want to surrender.


    The jackal bore with the severe pain and whimpered. It no longer had its earlier arrogance. It lowered its head as its whole body trembled.


    Lin Ming''s bamboo branches gently stroked its back, while it no longer resisted. Instead, it allowed Lin Ming to do as he wished with it.


    "Very well"


    This jackal had already surrendered to him.


    He raised his eyes to look at the other jackal, the lynx, and the other animals. This time, they werepletely silent.


    Lin Ming thought that his trick was pretty good.


    The so-called killing of the chicken to scare the monkey. It was nothing more than that. (TN: To kill the chicken to scare the monkey is an old Chinese idiom that refers to making an example out of someone to threaten others.)


    It was rather effective.


    Now that the stick had been given, he would arrange for the carrot to be provided.


    For the jackal topletely follow him, his Spiritual Fluid which it so greatly coveted must be given.


    Lin Ming stretched out its bamboo branch that contained the Spiritual Fluid. The translucent light green Spiritual Fluid was mouth-watering.


    Right then, all the animals stared at Lin Ming''s branch. Each of them had an unrestrained desire in their eyes.


    The jackal smelled the sweet scent and ignored the injuries on its body. It crawled to the branch that contained the Spiritual Fluid. It opened its mouth then took a bite!


    Snap!!


    The bamboo branch beside it sharplyshed out at the jackal, flinging it more than ten meters into the distance. It hit a small tree and caused the tree to break!


    The jackal whimpered as it vomited blood. It was twitching all over and its eyes were filled with confusion and puzzlement.


    Lin Ming''s branches stroked him again, then grabbed him. "If I haven''t given permission, you cannot drink it."


    The jackal''s eyes suddenly widened then gradually drooped. Itsst trace of stubbornness diminished.


    Even with simple spiritual intelligence, this wild animal did not think too critically.


    Lin Ming was aware that such mechanical logical thinking would quickly make it clear to them who would get the final say.


    The bamboo branch was still dripping with Spiritual Fluid, though this time the jackal no longer dared to lick it again. He did not even dare to look at it.


    Lin Ming was very satisfied. This set a good precedent.


    As he nced at the other animals, they had also lost the previous expressions they had when they looked at the Spiritual Fluid.


    Very well.


    It seemed that these guys finally understood.


    This time, the bamboo branch extended to the jackal''s mouth and signaled it to drink. It raised its eyes to look at Lin Ming. Under thefort of Lin Ming''s bamboo branches, it finally parted its mouth to drink.


    Soon, the wounds on its body quickly scabbed and recovered to their original state, just like magic.


    The bamboo branches set down the lynx and the other jackal. They conscientiously crouched on the ground and did not attempt to run. Neither did they rush to the bamboo branches to drink the Spiritual Fluid.


    With the initial stages of spiritual intelligence, they had learned what to do and what not to do under Lin Ming''s effective method of killing the chicken to scare the monkey.


    Lin Ming also let go of the bamboo branches that held the three little monkeys, little bear cub, along with the hyena, red-crowned crane, and egrets.


    This group had sessfully been tamed, and they now thoroughly understood his rules.


    Lin Ming felt a sense of aplishment, which was extremely refreshing.


    [Ding. You have sessfully tamed mutated jackals, mutated lynxes, mutated macaques, mutated bear cubs, mutated hyenas, mutated egrets, mutated red-crowned cranes. You have sessfully obtained 1,000 Evolution Points!]


    [Ding. You can choose to upgrade abilities.]

 Chapter 29: Despair

    Chapter 29: Despair


    Lin Ming did not expect that doing what was necessary for him would give him so many Evolution Points all at once.


    Even more than that, he did not expect the system to offer the option to upgrade various abilities.


    Previously, in the description of various abilities on the personalized dashboard, only ''upgradeable'' was written, not ''can be upgraded''.


    For example, the symbol ''+'' now appeared one by one beside the various abilities.


    This was something that was not there before.


    When he had previously upgraded the Spiritual Fluid ability, he did not carefully check whether there was the ''+'' symbol there then.


    However, now that abilities could be upgraded, Lin Ming had some ns.


    Looking at the Evolution Points that were now over a thousand points, he definitely had some ideas in mind.


    These one thousand points would allow him to upgrade his abilities.


    Which abilities should be upgraded?


    Bamboo Whip, Razor Leaf, Spiritual Fluid, Ultimate Regeneration, Aura Concealment, Aura Detection.


    These were the various abilities that Lin Ming now possessed. Among them, Bamboo Whip and Razor Leaf offered the most sub-options, such as strengthening power or improving Attack Range, Attack Speed and so on.


    However, Lin Ming did not feel that it was necessary to update them for the time being.


    The abilities he needed could not be learned from the system now. However, he was unsure of whether there existed among his existing abilities any upgrades that could meet his current needs.


    Lin Ming perceived once again. Among the three squad members, two of them had run into each other by pure chance. They were currently moving forward together, but they were moving in the direction of his current location.


    The other one was still frantically wandering around the vast forest.


    Lin Ming knew that he needed to hurry up.


    What he wanted was to be able to further perceive what these two people were doing and saying, so that he could get the information he wanted!


    Then, he would first rule out Bamboo Whip, Razor Leaf, and Spiritual Fluid.


    Of the remaining three, Ultimate Regeneration and Aura Concealment were also...


    [Ultimate Regeneration, advance to the next grade. After suffering a severe attack, you can return to 20% of your normal body shape and 20% of your level in a short time.]


    [Aura Concealment, advance to the next grade. You can conceal 60% of your strength and spiritual aura.]


    [Aura Detection, advance to the next grade. You can expand a wider range of perception and perceive the actions and behaviors of all creatures within the range.]


    The system took the initiative to remind Lin Ming about the ability.


    "It seems like the best choice has appeared." Lin Ming immediately upgraded the ability level of Aura Detection with a move of his consciousness.


    Before this, he had already considered if his Aura Detection ability might be able to provide some help.


    Unexpectedly, when he was thinking about it, the system had informed him that he was on the right track, just as it had done before.


    After the Aura Detection ability had been upgraded to Level-2, Lin Ming instantly felt an ethereal state arrive upon him.


    He now focused his consciousness on the two human beings who were on the move together.


    The fog still covered the valley.


    Among theyers of cedar forest, two figures walked on the broken leaves. They were pale with anxiety and panic, and drenched in sweat as well.


    As of now, they had alreadypletely lost all sense of direction in the dense forest of this valley.


    The fog blocked all vision, and when they looked up, their surroundings were filled with big trees and weeds that were themself not too different from the trees.


    From time to time, they would hear strange sounds from unknown creatures. They could also hear the horrible howling sounds of wild beasts from a distance away.


    The two, who were not experienced in being out in the wild, were essentially faced with a dead-end.


    "J-Jia Lin, what on earth has happened..." Liu Cheng''s eyes were nk. He had lost his huge bag somewhere.


    The bloody scene from before still lingered in his mind and his heart.


    He had been a student and he had never experienced anything like being in such close proximity as he watched hispanions get their hearts ripped out by a giant panda with its sharp ws.


    The extremely terrifying scene screamed one word in his already nk mind  escape!


    After rushing into the fog, he was unsure where to run to and even more clueless about when to stop.


    In this sea of forests in the valley, wherever he went, branches and weeds stuck out like terrifying monsters hiding in the fog.


    Their silhouettes were enough to drive people crazy with fear!


    "Who, who knows! Why did we have toe to this d*mn spiritual realm? I don''t want toe anymore, I don''t feel like being here anymore, I want to go out!" Jia Lin, who was originally calm, had been driven to hysterics by this drastic change in events.


    "Especially that snake and that panda. What''s the matter with them? What''s up with the mutated creatures in this spiritual realm! I don''t care, I want to go out, I want to go out..."


    Jia Lin hadpletely broken down. After separated from the squad, he was attacked by several palm-sized mosquitoes. After he finally killed them, he was yet again attacked by a mutated badger and a chunk of his right arm had been bitten off!


    He managed to escape, and the wound had luckily stopped bleeding. After running into Liu Cheng who seemed to be no better than him, the two cried for a while with their heads in their hands pitifully.


    "Stop talking. Crying and making a fuss is useless. The main goal now is to find a way out of this horrible ce!" Liu Cheng sighed. He looked up at the almost identical trees and weeds around him, but his eyes were flooded with confusion. Jia Lin had calmed down for a while and began unloading the big bag behind him. The two of them had not encountered any mutated creatures in ten minutes. However, they dared not get too hopeful. Although they had cried and fussed, a dagger never left their hands.


    Who knew when a mutated creature like that giant panda or little white snake would charge out?


    After experiencing a whirlwind of emotions, the two of them had gotten a lot better than when they first entered this valley. They no longer dared to underestimate this valley, and they dared not easily lift their vignce.


    However, theirck of experience left thempletely lost. No matter where they looked, every direction seemed like a path they could potentially take.


    "Oh, I''m just hoping that we won''t encounter any mutated creatures until the fog dissipates. Truly, I''m really afraid now." Jia Lin took out some of the contents from his bag and passed a pack ofpressed biscuits to Liu Cheng saying, "Save some food. We, as Grade-E transcendents, aren''t too familiar with the use of spiritual aura. And we''ll feel even hungrier when we use our abilities. Ah, it would be nice to be a Grade-D like Captain Zheng."


    "Yeah. As a Grade-D, he can still control mes. He certainly won''t die. We''re only strong. What more can we do"


    "Quickly eat up and restore some energy. I really regret not listening to him now and quickly retreating before all this happened," Jia Lin said with frustration.


    Liu Cheng took a bite of the biscuits and sighed, "Do you think Captain Zheng is also searching for us in the forest? Is it better for us to stay still? Are we close to the exit of the valley?"


    "Hopefully. But if I were Captain Zheng, and since some people had already been found, I would use that indicator to detect the spiritual aura density here. If he found half the squad who had scattered in all directions like us, based on his personality, he probably would leave the valley first and not look for the rest." Jia Lin felt as though he was being too pessimistic, but that was what the situation was.


    "You sigh." The biscuits in Liu Cheng''s mouth suddenly felt drier. "If he doesn''t care about us How big is this Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve? Can we go out on our own?"


    "I don''t know. Didn''t Captain Zheng say that if we died inside, the corps would retrieve us..."


    Liu Cheng grew speechless and swallowed the biscuits down with difficulty. "I just hope that when they find us, we won''t just be a pile of bones."


    The two of them smiled bitterly as they watched the fog, unsure when it would dissipate. Their hearts were filled with despair.

 Chapter 30: Elemental Demon

    Chapter 30: Elemental Demon


    After both Liu Cheng and Jia Lin had rested for a moment, they once again continued down the path they thought would be right.


    They were unaware that this path led right to the heart of the valley, right where Lin Ming was situated.


    "So it seems that my guess was right after all"


    Lin Ming pondered.


    He had upgraded his Spiritual Perception ability, and to tell the truth, it hadpletely exceeded his imagination.


    This ability allowed him to clearly hear the contents of the two human beings'' conversations!


    Although he still could not perceive what the two people looked like, this was already sufficient.


    Initially, he had thought he would only be able to detect their movements. He did not expect this ability to be quite so powerful.


    However, he did not know if he would be able to understand foreigners if he were to encounter them in the future.


    From the brief conversation overheard between the two, Lin Ming could still extract some information.


    Spiritual realm, transcendent beings, missing people, spiritual aura density indicator, a transcendent being who could control fire elements, Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve, the corps outside the valley.


    All this informationpiled together allowed Lin Ming to deduce quite a bit.


    Firstly, among the humans, there was a special group of people who had adapted to spiritual aura recovery. Theybeled themselves as ''transcendents'' and possessed special abilities.


    Ordinary ones possessed massive strength. As for the one who they referred to as ''Captain Zheng'', he possessed the ability to control fire elements!


    Captain Zheng had to be the critical red person whose spiritual aura had appeared strange.


    The matter of manipting elemental attributes was something Lin Ming had guessed before.


    The three wolves, Lil One, Lil Two, and Lil Three, had experienced a strange change in their fur. Some areas on their bodies had turned a light green color.


    Lin Ming wondered whether they would evolve into demons that could utilize elements.


    His previous suspicions were confirmed today.


    On the human side, there was already a transcendent being who could use the fire element. Could the mutated creatures around him utilize elements too?


    Would wind elemental wolves appear? Or perhaps a fire elemental snake and a lightning elemental panda?


    Lin Ming already had some expectations for theing development of his subordinates.


    From the information contained in their conversation, Lin Ming also easily deduced a rough outline of the matter.


    This sixteen-member squad of transcendents, led by Captain Zheng, hade to this spiritual realm known as the ''Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve'', seemingly toplete two tasks.


    The first was to retrieve the missing people. The second was to carry out the so-called ''spiritual aura density indicator''.


    The missing people probably referred to those four people. Regarding the matter of the ''spiritual aura density indicator'', it left Lin Ming to rejoice at the decision that he had made.


    Lin Ming was still clueless about how these people were going to measure the so-called spiritual aura. It seemed to require an instrument of sorts. He was very interested in why this group of people came to probe around.


    He had some spections about it.


    Firstly, there appeared as many spiritual realms like this Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve on the entire Blue Star. To determine the level of threat of these spiritual realms, they had dispatched transcendent beings to measure it.


    Secondly, only this area had beenbeled a spiritual realm, and he, a mutated bamboo, was their objective.


    Lin Ming had quickly ruled out the second spection.


    If that were the case, why would they only dispatch this number of transcendent beings? Why did they not directly adopt the strategy of sealing the borders with the army and protecting them with firepower?


    Moreover, hearing the conversation between the two, it was certain that they did not know a single piece of information about Lin Ming.


    The two only spoke of that ''mutated snake'', ''mutated panda'', and the other mutated creatures.


    The humans perhaps had never considered that this valley was ruled by a mutated bamboo like him.


    Perhaps, in other words, humans did not include nts within their scope of ''mutated creatures''?


    If that were the case, that certainly was good news.


    In addition, that Aura Concealment ability worked well.


    Otherwise, their conversation would have included phrases like ''the spiritual aura density here is fairly powerful'', or ''the strongest in this spiritual realm is a nt''.


    The humans had mobilized a sixteen-member transcendent squad to look for missing people and measure the spiritual aura density. It seemed that their task was roughlyplete.


    However, to reduce losses, they had abandoned these three unlucky fellows in the spiritual realm.


    These three unlucky fellows continued to trudge their way toward the heart of the valley.


    Then, in front of Lin Ming was a choice.


    Would he get rid of these three people, or let them go?


    Frankly, if he had not heard thest few words uttered between them, Lin Ming would have chosen the first option. He would have allowed them to remain in the spiritual realm as corpses that could not talk or reveal any secrets.


    The two had mentioned that if they died, the soldiers outside the valley would enter to collect their bodies.


    Lin Ming understood the meaning carried by the word ''soldiers''.


    Strong discipline, strong execution, and heat weapons.


    If they could enter the spiritual realm to recover the bodies of the dead transcendents, they would also be able to do a lot of damage in this spiritual realm.


    Were the weapons they possessed like the ones with the highly explosive bullets that had severely injured Lil Six and Lil Seven?


    There was almost no need to guess something like that.


    Lin Ming examined himself. He had not reached the kind of strength and intensity that could easily scorn at human beings.


    If humans showed boldness and the army crushed and covered the valley''s spiritual realm with firepower


    He might be able to regain his own original strength from the ashes. However, Adorable Little Snake, the little wolves, and even the panda, lynx, jackals, and the rest would definitely disappear.


    Moreover, even if he could recover, the humans would certainly cut down the grass and pull up the roots.


    As a ''grass'' in a certain sense of the word, Lin Ming felt that now, he should try not to cross human beings.


    Instead, he would hide behind the scenes, not revealing his existence, as he did just now.


    He would utilize these mutated creatures to chase the humans out of the valley. During this period, he could continue to develop his strength to be a being that couldpletely look down on humans.


    He would peacefully undergo a scary development. When the time came for the humans to retaliate, they would not have any way to deal with him.


    "Well, I will dispatch Lil Four and the rest to regroup with Lil One and the others. They will send these humans out of here."


    Lin Ming thought of this and came to a decision.


    Not killing them did not mean that he was incapable of doing so. It was also not to be considered as ''mercy''.


    Once he arrived at the power level where he could scorn at humans, Lin Ming would ughter without hesitation.


    A bamboo branch caressed Lil Four and the others who were running around, and delegated their newest task.


    Lil Four and the others immediately flew away like arrows from a bow, disappearing.


    "Next, there are still be tasks to be handed over. However, we need to wait for Adorable Little Snake and Panda to return."


    Lin Ming contemted.


    He had already done what he could do for the time being. The rest would now depend on the movements of the humans.


    If they still wanted to upturn everything to investigate, then Lin Ming was not without preparation.


    He would kill as many as darede.

 Chapter 31: The Aftermath

    Chapter 31: The Aftermath


    "W-wolf howls?"


    Just as both Jia Lin and Liu Cheng finally pulled through to the point where the fog had started to dissipate, they suddenly heard familiar howls.


    Dejection, bitterness, fear, tremor, and more overcame the two again.


    They were not exactly sure why they felt that way when they heard the howling of the wolves. They only knew that if they wanted to continue living, they needed to get as far away as possible from where they were, but it seemed like the wolves were closer than before!


    "D*mn, where on earth is iting from? Which direction?" Liu Cheng asked as he trembled. He suddenly realized that ever since he hade to this spiritual realm, he had never once used his strength. He had been like an ordinary person for the majority of the time.


    Just like an ordinary person that faced a mutated creature, no matter what he saw, his head would only be filled with the order to run.


    "H-here? W-what should we do?" Jia Lin was as pale as paper and cold sweat came off his brow. His clothes were already drenched.


    However, it seemed as though the wolf did not want to give them the leisure of time to contemte. Unbeknownst to them, the wolf had already slipped through the thin fog and was forty meters away from them.


    "I-it appeared! H-how did this happen?!"


    As the two were taken over by extreme terror, a wolf that was muchrger than a calf exposed its fangs. As sharp as daggers, they looked capable of tearing everything apart with no problem!


    Those golden pupils dripped with cruelness and bitterness. Mere eye contact with the wolf had consumed every bit of courage possessed by Jia Lin and Liu Cheng.


    They never knew wolves could grow into such a terrifying form.


    "Run! Quickly, run!" They once again forgot they could apply their transcendence here. After retreating a few steps, they chose to run again.


    Running, then staying alive for long enough to escape from this terrifying valley, was their only option today.


    "It''s catching up! Hurry! Hurry!" The two turned back. The mutated wolf had caught up with them at an unhurried pace, its speed already matching theirs.


    The both of them had already channeled all their spiritual aura around their legs, running wildly in one direction.


    However, a second, third, and fourth wolf appeared in front of them again, constantly forcing them to change the direction of their escape.


    "I''ll nevere here again!" Jia Lin cried out while working his legs as hard as he could. He resented his parents for not birthing him with another leg.


    The two realized atst that the four wolves had banded together and were unceasingly chasing them from behind.


    "W-what on earth are they doing? Are they ying? Once we stop running, are they going to eat us up?" Jia Lin was about to cry and desperately tried to control his nerves, which were close to unraveling apart under the four wolves'' torture. Their mental states were being broken down inch by inch.


    "Run! Run!" Liu Cheng led Jia Lin as they continued to race across the jungle. He did not know when it started, but he suddenly realized that the woods were gradually getting sparser. Gravels and rock walls gradually came into their line of sight.


    "The exit? Hold on, isn''t that where we came in through"


    They did not know when the wolves behind them had disappeared. Liu Cheng held onto Jia Lin, who cried as he ran.


    At this time, they were standing on a raised stone. Below their sight, they could see wisps of smoke rising into the sky, and in the distance, the sun that they had not seen for a long time was now about to set to the west, dyeing half the sky an orange-red color.


    "We''ve g-gotten out?"


    The feeling after a disaster caused the two to hold onto each other tightly as they poured their eyes out.


    They had no time to consider why the wolves had driven them here. They only knew that they had escaped from the terrible valley of horror.


    Now, it was almost dusk, and the blood-red sun was about to set.


    The Little Li Vige.


    Zheng Guodong frowned and sighed deeply as he heard Old Li''s cries outside the courtyard.


    He had led fifteen people into the Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve and had brought back eight people along with five bodies.


    Four were transcendents, while the remaining one was Old Li''s nephew, Li Ming.


    As for the eight people, they were all somewhat injured and were undergoing emergency treatment.


    Although the mission had been aplished, they had paid a price too high.


    Zheng Guodong bore unshirkable responsibility for this price.


    "Captain Zheng, you have tried your best," said Commander Xu as he nodded at Zheng Guodong.


    "Yes. Next, the rest will depend on you," Zheng Guodong said as he looked at his right leg, which had just been wrapped in a thick bandage.


    In the final moments when he was leading the squad out the spiritual realm, they had been attacked by a pack of mutated jackals.


    Although they had managed to fend off the enemies, they still escaped with injuries.


    However, what made him feel even more terrible was the fact that he had left behind seven people in the spiritual realm.


    This was a loss, a great loss indeed.


    If he had been firmer and tougher with his words, would this have happened?


    At that moment, he had only wanted to make sure those self-righteous, self-important, and those who could be described as ''super arrogant rookies'' took a little beating, or rather, suffered a slight tumble.


    He did not expect things to unfold into an oue that he could not ept.


    "Captain Zheng, I know you are very upset. However, there are still three squad members that haven''t been found. They may still have a chance. Our next mission will be to find them," Commander Xu said as he reassured Zheng Guodong.


    "They have probably already Ah!" Zheng Guodong looked outside the courtyard, which held close to five hundred troops, each of them standing pencil straight.


    "Even if there is only a one percent chance of survival, we will still use a hundred percent of our efforts to conduct the search and rescue. This is our duty and our responsibility!" said Commander Xu who had stood up. "You are a rare talent in the Tang Kingdom, and we will do our best to rescue them!"


    Commander Xu walked into the courtyard, but Zheng Guodong''s heart was still fraught with regret and sadness.


    If he had been as resolute as Commander Xu, and the squad had been half as disciplined and organized as these soldiers, would this have happened?


    It was because of his blunder that these soldiers were now going to go through great risks to enter the spiritual realm to search for the three squad members who he was not even certain were still alive.


    Who knew what dangers they would face because of this? How many lives might be lost inside?


    They were different from a transcendent being like himself. These troops did not possess the extra support of the spiritual aura. What would happen to them, beings made of flesh and blood, if they encountered that panda, silver snake, and even the wolves that they had not seen? What would happen if they encountered the pack of mutated jackals that had attacked them and had thrown them into a panicked state?


    How many close to Grade-D mutated creatures that did not fear ordinary bullets were there in this spiritual realm?


    Zheng Guodong stood up and diligently kept to what he believed his duty was. "No way. I will apany all of you to go in again!"


    "Captain Zheng, don''t worry. We will not show any mercy to even an inch of the ground in that valley. We will bring in"


    However, before Commander Xu could finish speaking, they heard amotion that came from the direction of the valley outside the vige.


    "Captain Zheng! Captain Zheng!"


    After a while, Jia Lin, Liu Cheng and Kang Ying, looking like they had survived a disaster, appeared in the courtyard in front of Zheng Guodong with tears and snot running down their faces!


    "Captain Zheng, it seems we can resolve things here and await new orders to be passed," Commander Xu said as he watched the three huddle into a hug as they cried, and gave Zheng Guodong a few pats on the shoulder.

 Chapter 32: Demon Bamboo Overlord

    Chapter 32: Demon Bamboo Overlord


    In the valley, at the shore of the Spirit Lake.


    The silver-white light of the moon reflected upon the surface of theke, and various creatures within theke asionally poked their heads and bodies out through the water surface, staring at the moon and absorbing the inexplicable substance carried in the air into themselves.


    The animals that surrounded Lin Ming were different from them.


    After the recent encounter with humans entering the mountain, Lin Ming realized that it was not enough for him alone to be stronger.


    The correct way was for his subordinates to also be stronger alongside him.


    That''s right, subordinates. Lin Ming called the animals and birds surrounding him his ''subordinates''.


    A snake, seven wolves, a panda, a bear cub, three monkeys, two jackals, a lynx, two little egrets, and two red-crowned cranes.


    These were Lin Ming''s current subordinates.


    At the moment, they were all drinking Lin Ming''s essence that was rich with spiritual aura  Spiritual Fluid. The rate at which their levels advanced was much faster than the creatures in theke, and even whenpared to the creatures in other parts of the valley.


    It seemed that this Spiritual Fluid could also cause them to undergo some mutations.


    Among them, the most obvious change was that of the seven little wolf pups.


    Before, the fur on the legs of three wolf pups had turned a light green color. Now, the change was even more intense as they consumed more Spiritual Fluid.


    The long fur all over their bodies stood up, and their physiques had grown. Before, they were the size of a small calf, but after going through a few cycles of growth, they were nowparable to a big strong bull!


    Meanwhile, the light-green color of their leg fur had permeated to the rest of the fur on their bodies, gradually darkened, and was now a dark blue!


    Lil One, Lil Two, and Lil Three, who could now be called ''giant wolves'', seemedpletely different from how they originally were.


    [Lineage: Wind Elemental Wolf]


    [Stage: Rank-1 Grade-1]


    [Abilities: Windde Fangs Level-1: Wind attributes twine around the fangs, allowing their teeth to easily break thinner steel bars into two with just a bite!


    Howl Level-6: Can call forpanions several kilometers away. Its sound can rupture eardrums and destroy the perception of enemies.]


    [Special Ability: Wolves of Septenary Level-8. When operating jointly withpanions,bat effectiveness is increased by 80%.]


    [Talent: Wind Elemental Control Level-1. Initial mastery of the Wind Element, certain increase in speed, fangs and ws be sharper and stronger.]


    Just as he thought.


    Their elemental power had been awakened.


    Previously, Captain Zheng had awakened the ability to control mes.


    Back then, when Lin Ming looked at the three wolf pups, he had wondered if they would also awaken the power of an element.


    After all, at that time, the three of them had shown some signs.


    The fur on their legs had turned green, and in terms of speed, they were definitely faster than the other four pups.


    At that time, Lin Ming had wondered if they were really developing ''wind attributes''. Looking at it now, that really was the case.


    Elemental attributes.


    A word with mysterious and magical implications.


    Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Lightning, etc.


    These were the constitutions of all aspects of the entire world.


    Lin Ming had never witnessed Captain Xu''s ability to manipte mes with his own eyes, nor could he guess what it would look like when utilized. (TN: We believe that it should be ''Captain Zheng'' instead of ''Captain Xu'' and that it was a typo on the author''s part, but we have opted to trante it as is.)


    Maybe something like a sh of fire? Or perhaps fireballs would appear around the person?


    His guesses were not reliable, but if any of his subordinates were to possess fire elemental attributes in the future, he would be able to get a glimpse of it then.


    As for Captain Xu, Lin Ming felt that he would probably note by anytime soon.


    If that person really dide, then Lin Ming would have something to say about that.


    He would never let such a human who possessed elemental attributes freely enter and leave the area that he ruled over.


    Such an enemy, once he got rid of one, another one would just appear again.


    The saying ''nip it at the bud'' also applied to human beings.


    Once the threat arrived, Lin Ming did not want it to grow into a pressing danger. Completely eradicating it before it could take root was the best way to go about it.


    Thinking about it, in addition to thermal weapons, if there were arge number of these so-called transcendents on the human''s sideing to attack him...


    With Lin Ming''s current strength, could he defeat all the iing enemies?


    The answer was certainly not.


    Therefore, both he and these mutant animals who had been loyal to him had to now constantly focus on bing stronger.


    Lin Ming ended that train of thought and looked back at the three wolf pups.


    On the personalized dashboard, the name of their Lineage, which had previously been ''Wild Forest Wolf'', had changed to ''Wind Elemental Wolf''.


    Elemental attributes had been added to their Lineage.


    In terms of their Stage, they had officially entered "Rank-1".


    Compared to the three of them, the remaining four wolf pups were still at Unranked Grade-9. Besides that, there were no changes in the color of their fur, and their body sizes had remained the same.


    Lin Ming wondered, could this be rted to their individual differences?


    On the other hand, did it require a certain amount of time, or maybe even some sort of turning point?


    Looking at the personalized dashboard once again, the three wolves'' previous ability, ''Diamond Fangs'', had now be ''Windde Fangs'', and they could even bite through steel bars.


    This waspletely new. With the help of the power of wind, their fangs and ws had be sharper, and their running speed had increased.


    They were now Wind Elemental Wolves, and had be much stronger than before!


    If Lil One and the others had attacked those five people from this morning in their current state, he believed that they would not be injured at all, and they definitely would not have let the fellow who had injured Lil Six and Lil Seven off the hook.


    "Lil One, Lil Two, and Lil Three, the three of you, disy your strengths before me!"


    Lin Ming''s bamboo branches stroked their backs, and the three Wind Elemental Wolves raised their heads and howled!


    They bowed their heads for Lin Ming, then each transformed into a bluish-green ball of light. Under the glow of the moonlight, theypleted ap around the Spirit Lake in the blink of an eye!


    Then, they each rammed into a huge boulder, causing a loud crash!


    The three huge boulders instantaneously shattered into tiny fragments, and the three bluish-green balls of light turned back into three giant wolves, bowing their heads in front of Lin Ming once again.


    Lin Ming was very pleased.


    The three of them, who had mastered wind attributes, would only continue to grow from now on. He looked forward to their future.


    However, if Lil One and the other two had mastered wind elemental attributes, why was it that up till now, he had not mastered any of these elements himself?


    As a ''demon bamboo'', although Lin Ming was also at Rank-1, his control and strength were definitely no matchpared to those of Rank-1 Wind Elemental Wolves such as Lil One and the other two.


    However, after careful deliberation, he realized that he was indeedcking in some lethal moves.


    If some powerful elemental attributes could be infused into his body, then he would be much stronger.


    Quantitative changes would cause qualitative changes.


    After examining himself, Lin Ming felt that maybe he had not umted enough for a "qualitative change" to ur.


    The inexplicable element in the air  the spiritual aura  now seemed to have be denser and denser, and every creature was absorbing the aura frenziedly, producing extremely terrifying changes.


    Absorbing arge amount of spiritual aura from the sky, Spirit Lake, and the underground Spirit River, Lin Ming raised nearly a hundred powerful branches and spread them into the sky.


    The bamboo branches sparkled like jade, and the crimson-red rhombus in the center of the culm emitted a blinding light.


    For a moment, countless creatures within the valley and the valley itself was shrouded in this light.

 Chapter 33: Dangerous Level of Determination

    Chapter 33: Dangerous Level of Determination


    A few dayster, outside the valley.


    Green trucks stopped at the entrance of the Little Li Vige.


    The trucks were filled to the brim with the furniture and electrical appliances of the vigers.


    From time to time, some vigers tied up a few working animals as well as some chickens and ducks, then dragged them onto the truck.


    The troops that were stationed here after following the Transcendent Squad had also be the main force helping the vigers move their stuff. Everyone was sweating buckets as they rushed around to help the vigers move.


    The vige, which was usually quiet and peaceful, seemed a little more lively now.


    At this time, in an old house in the vige, Zheng Guodong unwrapped the thick bandage on his leg and found that the wound had mostly healed.


    The spiritual aura possessed by transcendent beings was not only capable of increasing their physical strength, power, and speed, but also gave them healing abilities with extraordinary speed.


    Even for some severe injuries, as long as external conditions were good, the victim could be recovered to their normal condition in a short period of time.


    However, this also required the transcendents themselves to have extremely high control over spiritual energy. For a top Grade-D transcendent such as Zheng Guodong, it was naturally not a problem for him.


    "Amazing," Commander Xu said with augh.


    Zheng Guodong shook his head. "If it''s that amazing, then the four members wouldn''t have..."


    "Don''t mention that anymore, you''re notpletely at fault," Commander Xu said, then handed Zheng Guodong a document file with the word ''Confidential'' written on it. "Read the order written in this."


    Commander Xu then walked out of the house.


    Zheng Guodong just nced at the handwriting on the document file, knowing that the inevitable had arrived.


    "Retribution is here," Xu Guodong said with a bitter smile. (TN: We believe that it should be ''Zheng Guodong'' instead of ''Xu Guodong'' and that it was a typo on the author''s part, but we have opted to trante it as is.)


    He had never nned to avoid his punishment. In fact, he wanted the punishment to be severe.


    Themunication signal at the Little Li Vige had recently be weaker and weaker, and they could not receive any connection from above at all. It was very dangerous and unsafe to directly use a telephone to issue any orders.


    Therefore, the most recentmand had been issued through this documentposed of secret codes.


    Xu Guodong opened the document file, but there was no order of punishment like he had anticipated. Instead, it urged him to go to a certain ce as soon as possible.


    After the documents were burned and destroyed, Xu Guodong walked out the door and saw the vige chief Old Li, who seemed to have aged significantly since the first time Xu Guodong saw him.


    "Chief, it''s not suitable for us to live here anymore. Those from above have given us from the Little Li Vige"


    "I know, I know, Captain Zheng. You don''t have to say anymore." Old Li looked up at the valley in the distance and sighed heavily.


    The mutant creatures that came from the valley were already at the doors of their houses.


    Two nights ago, dozens of thick green caterpirs crawled into Old Wu''s house that was situated at the western end of the vige, the nearest house to the valley. They killed the sleeping Old Wu and even devoured him down to his bones.


    When Captain Zheng heard the scream, he led a team to kill the green caterpirs with knives and guns, but Old Wu could not be saved. The news spread through the vige overnight.


    They also knew very well that this Little Li Vige, despite many generations having lived here for hundreds of years, was no longer habitable.


    The Tang Kingdom had already arranged for them to move to a district that was farther away and safer, so why would they not go?


    One dayter.


    Zheng Guodong arrived at a huge building in a certain ce within the Tang Kingdom.


    He stood upright before a hale and hearty old man.


    "Take a seat. Don''t stand while talking," the old man said as he pointed at a couch. On the desk in front of him was a thick stack of documents.


    The edge of the paper was rolled up quite a bit, evidence that the old man had read through it several times.


    "Elder Zhai, I..."


    "Enough. You want to be punished, don''t you? Do you think something like that can be given to an elite like you?" the old man said angrily.


    "But..."


    "No ''but''s. If you feel bad about it, then do a good job for me when you go to the next spiritual realm!"


    "But those four people, because of me, they"


    "They were necessary sacrifices for our cause. If it wasn''t for you, they might have died even earlier," the old man said leisurely, pointing to the report on the desk. "I called you here to talk about this. Don''t tell me it''s pointless."


    Zheng Guodong''s mouth fell open, and his heart froze over.


    Elder Zhai did not take the lives of people seriously. Did he really make the right choice when he chose to join the Transcendents Association?


    "ording to our calctions, the exact value of spiritual aura density in the Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve should be around eighteen thousand."


    "Is that so... If that''s the case, then you alone should have been sufficient toplete the task," Elder Zhai said, squinting.


    "But there''s something wrong with the spiritual aura density of the mutant creatures. You can see from the report that they..."


    "Beasts that are able to injure you would need to have spiritual aura density above Grade-D, but they appeared in a spiritual realm with Grade-E density. That is indeed quite strange." Elder Zhai picked up a document. "The spiritual realm of the Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve has been listed as a Danger Orange Zone based on your report."


    Zheng Guodong nodded. ''Danger Orange Zone'' meant that the area had a spiritual realm with monsters above Grade-D. Any nearby poption needed to be relocated and troops were sent to scout for the degree of detection.


    Below this was Nature Green Zones, which meant that the spiritual aura density of the spiritual realm was determined to be Grade-E. They were basically harmless, and ordinary troops were capable of guarding it.


    Danger Orange Zone was when the spiritual aura density was determined to be between Grade-D and C, just like the Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve.


    Above Danger Orange Zone was Critical Red Zone, Grade-B;


    Then there was Restricted Purple Zone, Grade-A;


    And anything above that would be ssified as Annihtion ck Zone.


    In these spiritual realms that were above Danger Orange Zones, each of them could be described as a forbidden area for humans filled with monsters of extremely terrifying power. They were extremely dangerous!


    At present, among all of the nearly three hundred thousand spiritual realms in the world, ny percent were Nature Green Zones, and the rest were mostly Danger Orange, Critical Red, and Restricted Purple Zones.


    There was only one Annihtion ck Zone, which was near the Niuliyana Trench not far from the Tang Kingdom. Every sea monster that existed there had reached a ''catastrophic'' level. If any of them were to show their faces, they could easily destroy a country!


    Fortunately, most of the spiritual realm beasts all over the world rarely left the range of their spiritual realms.


    However, as the spiritual aura density continued to increase, the range would gradually expand, and the area of the spiritual realm would gradually be wider.


    The living area of humans that was originally dominated by the Blue Star had also been engulfed by the constant expansion of the spiritual realms, and the poption gradually began to migrate.


    There were nearly two thousand spiritual realms of Danger Orange level in the Tang Kingdom. However, they were mostly in uncharted old-growth forests, so the threat they posed was not too obvious.


    However, if the Danger Orange spiritual realms gradually developed toward bing a Critical Red Zone, then the Tang Kingdom would dispatch arge number of troops without mercy, and they would then smooth the area out using thermal weapons.


    In this era of spiritual aura recovery, anything could happen. One should always be vignt and never be sloppy.


    Zheng Guodong walked out of Elder Zhai''s office with a new task. He went to the newly-emerged Shahai Spiritual Realm in Suzhou Province toplete the task.


    However, in his heart, he was still brooding over the matter regarding the Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve.


    "Once I be stronger, I''llpletely tear the area down!" he pledged through gritted teeth.

 Chapter 34: Evolution Points

    Chapter 34: Evolution Points


    Lin Ming was sensing the spiritual aura of all the creatures in this valley.


    For the past ten days or so, he did not detect any signs of human troops entering the valley.


    "I guess they won''t being here anytime soon?" Lin Ming was not sure how he felt. He was not sure if he should feel lucky or disappointed.


    He did not think that humansing here was a bad thing, but their absence would definitely mean less trouble for him.


    At least he would not need to divert his attention into dealing with the humans, and can instead focus on increasing his own strength.


    During this period, it rained a lot.


    More often than not, it would be sunny during the day, but once it was nighttime, the rain would start pattering down immediately.


    Lin Ming did not hate the rain. In fact, he actually thought it was quite pleasant.


    Currently, the Evolution Points he obtained from the sunlight was at one point per hour. For therge number of Evolution Points that Lin Ming urgently needed, that was barely enough at all.


    From the rainwater, however, he could absorb spiritual aura at a much better rate, which was ten points every hour.


    In addition, the spiritual aura he absorbed from the air, Spirit Lake, and the underground Spirit River also seemed to increase, allowing Lin Ming''s total number of Evolution Points to increase considerably recently.


    However, even though the entire valley was quiterge, Lin Ming could only control it within a radius of about three hundred meters with him as the center.


    Within these three hundred meters, except for the fishes, shrimps, and crabs in the Spirit Lake that could only provide about 0.2 Evolution Points, no bird, beast, or even insect dared step a foot into it.


    This caused Lin Ming''s main method of obtaining Evolution Points to now bepletely pointless.


    Think about it, just killing a mutant bat would earn him 7 Evolution Points;


    While killing an Unranked Grade-2 hare would get him 10 Evolution Points.


    How could that not be better than absorbing the spiritual aura from the rain, air, Spirit Lake, and the underground Spirit River?


    Despite that, no matter how abundant the wildlife resources here were, there are practically no animals that could be hunted within Lin Ming''s area of control.


    Therefore, the number of Evolution Points that Lin Ming had umted up until now was really too little.


    "Does this mean I have to move yet again..."


    Lin Ming did not want to move, even if he could pull out his bamboo roots and move around in the jungle just like an animal.


    Moreover, if he were to hunt down mutant animals by constantly moving, he would probably wipe out all the creatures in the valley very quickly.


    If that were to happen, never mind the fact that he could no longer obtain more Evolution Points, all his subordinates would also starve to death.


    These mutant animals that were under his control could obtain a certain amount of spiritual energy through his Spiritual Fluid, but they still needed to eat and drink to meet their most basic needs, just like normal animals.


    However, Lin Ming also realized that aside from a few abilities that he would learnter, it did not require too many Evolution Points to strengthen his Bamboo Whips and Razor Leaves.


    He had always assumed that each evolution would cost him a thousand points. He guessed that when he was dealing with those humans, he had probably been too busy so he did not pay too much attention.


    Increasing the number of bamboo branches by one would cost 20 Evolution Points.


    Increasing the control of one Razor Leaf would cost 8 Evolution Points.


    Extending a bamboo branch by one meter would cost 1 Evolution Point. The same would go for increasing its thickness.


    Increasing the Damage of one Bamboo Whip by 1 would cost 1 Evolution Point.


    Increasing the Attack Range of all Razor Leaves by one meter would cost 50 Evolution Points, while increasing their overall Damage by 1 would cost 10 Evolution Points.


    Increasing the Attack Speed of the Razor Leaves by 10% would require 100 points.


    In general, it seemed that it did not require too many Evolution Points to strengthen his Razor Leaves and Bamboo Whips.


    However, after calcting everything carefully, Lin Ming found that in order to strengthen himself, the total Evolution Points required was actually quite a huge number.


    Despite that, he added thirty bamboo branches, increased the length of all bamboo branches by five meters, and increased their thickness to half a meter in diameter.


    As for the Razor Leaves, Lin Ming mainly increased their Attack Range from a hundred meters to a hundred and ten meters.


    Just by strengthening himself this much, Lin Ming had used up all the Evolution Points he had saved.


    ''Not enough...'' Lin Ming thought as he examined himself.


    [Lineage: Mutated Moso Bamboo]


    [Evolution Points: 17]


    [Stage: Rank-1 Grade-8]


    [Abilities: Level-2 Razor Leaves (300 daggers). 110-meter Effective Range, 30 Damage (evolvable), 200-meters/second Attack Speed (evolvable), can be deployed at the same time, can deal either single-target damage or AoE damage.


    Level-2 Mutated Bamboo Whips (130 whips). 25-meter Effective Range, 100 Damage (evolvable), wherever the whip points will be barren!


    Level-2 Spiritual Fluid: Boosts the evolution speed of dependents, can heal severe injuries suffered by dependents.


    Level-1 Ultimate Regeneration: After suffering an extremely severe injury, can recover 10% of normal body shape and 10% of strength in a short time.


    Level-1 Aura Concealment: Can conceal 50% of your own power''s spiritual aura, and will not be discovered easily.


    Level-2 Aura Detection: Can sense all spiritual auras within a wider range, and can sense the movements and actions of all creatures within said range.]


    There were quite a few changes in the personalized dashboard, at least in terms of values.


    Appearance-wise, his current size and the lushness of his foliage looked extremely scary, especially the red diamond-shaped mark at the center of his culm, which seemed to have be even more vivid now.


    As for the bamboo roots, they were not disyed on the personalized dashboard and there was no option to make them more powerful, so Lin Ming assumed that they might grow stronger only after "upgrading", right?


    After all, that was the case thest time.


    After examining himself, he looked at his subordinates who had been taking shelter from the rain under him.


    The little wolf pups were fast asleep while huddled together.


    Since thest time when Lil One and the other two leveled up to Rank-1 Grade-1, although Lin Ming''s Spiritual Fluid did not stop, the remaining four did not make any progress and remained at Unranked Grade-9.


    However, their fur had undergone some new changes.


    A tan-colored patch emerged on Lil Four''s back, while a light-yellow color appeared on Lil Five''s tail. As for Lil Six, there was a tuft of fiery-red fur on his forehead. Lastly, Lil Seven''s case was slightly stranger, as theyer of white fur below his neck was now a dark-green color.


    Could they be awakening elements of different attributes?


    That was what Lin Ming guessed, but he was not sure if that was the case. Who could be sure about something like this?


    He looked toward Adorable Little Snake and the panda once again.


    The reason he grouped these two together was mainly that their current rtionship was too good. No matter what they were doing, they would always be together.


    Sometimes, Adorable Little Snake would asionally bring a mutant mouse back for the panda to eat, while the panda would bring Adorable Little Snake every time he went out to y.


    These two adorable animals would even hug each other when they rested. The silvery-white snake and the ck-and-white panda, there was a strange beauty about the sight of them.


    These two became like this ever since thest time they went into battle together and cooperated to get rid of four transcendents.


    Currently, Lin Ming had named the panda "Big Chubs", since the fellow was now as round as a ball.


    Although the fellow had curbed his own utter brazenness after bing Lin Ming''s subordinate, and would even go to the Bamboo Sea and bring back tons of bamboo when he felt like eating bamboo, he still relied on Lin Ming''s favorable impression of him and would fight for his attention from time to time.


    Even when drinking the Spiritual Fluid, this fellow would frantically run to the front to drink it, not forgetting to bring Adorable Little Snake with him to enjoy it together.


    "Awoooo!"


    Just as Lin Ming was stroking the panda and Adorable Little Snake with a bamboo branch, a low howl was suddenly heard.


    Lin Ming saw that the furs of the two jackals stood on end as they bared their fangs and snarled at the lynx who had an equally fierce expression.


    "Again?" These three fellows did not have the best rtionship.

 Chapter 35: Violence Can Solve Everything

    Chapter 35: Violence Can Solve Everything


    Amid the sounds of fine drizzling, two jackals with sizes simr to Lil Four stood with their hackles raised, their hind legs pressed to the ground and heads held high.


    They bared their big mouths with sharp fangs and red at the lynx with low growls.


    However, the lynx was not to be outdone. With a slightly bigger size, now like a small tiger, it exuded an awe-inspiring presence and its cry was even more terrifying!


    Before this, the two jackals were both at Unranked Grade-2 while the lynx was Unranked Grade-3. Over such a long time, after continuously absorbing spiritual fluid, as well as going out hunting and absorbing the essence of sun and moon, they were much stronger than before.


    The two jackals had reached Grade-4 while the lynx had reached Grade-5.


    Lin Ming did not step in to stop them from fighting.


    As subordinates under him, Lin Ming also wanted to find out the level of strength these mutated animals had reached.


    In such a long time, Lin Ming really had not seen how these subordinates actually fought with other mutated animals.


    His spiritual aura detection ability was still not able to perceive the exact scene of the battle from a long distance.


    This timing was just right.


    The low growls of confrontation between the two jackals and the lynx quickly awakened other sleeping animals.


    Adorable Little Snake raised its head with considerable interest.


    The three little monkeys hopped around and chattered while hiding in the distance.


    Seven little wolf pups yawned and showed little interest.


    Two egrets and two red-crowned cranes watched for a while before half-closing their eyes and flew to Lin Ming''s bamboo branch to rest.


    The little bear cub, looking soft and extremely cute, ran to an extremely close distance to watch the good show.


    Rawr, rawr!


    The two jackals finally got tired of confronting the lynx. Instead, they circled the lynx with one at the front and the other taking the rear.


    At one nce, Lin Ming knew that the two jackals wanted to nk an attack from front and back. Then, they would use their best technique, the Steel Gouge, topletely finish the lynx.


    Lin Ming had watched a lot of Animal back then. The jackal was an animal with sharp ws and teeth, great courage, extremely vicious, brutal, and greedy.


    They would usually surround the prey first, nk an attack from front and rear, scratch to blind the opponent, bite off the ears, nose, and lips, tear the skin open, and then divide the internal organs and meat, or directly attack the prey''s *nus, scratching and biting to gouge the intestines.


    Moreover, the intelligence of this animal was quite developed, ustomed to attacking the enemy with itspanions. With a keen sense of smell and excellent endurance, the basic way of hunting was very simr to that of wolves. Basically, they would adopt a ry-style method of perseverance, collective siege, and winning with numbers.


    It was also because of the many advantages of jackals that Lin Ming captured them at that time, instead of driving them away or killing them off.


    Now that they had reached Unranked Grade-4, the sizes wererger than before, the speed was much faster, and the fangs and ws were sharper than they used to be.


    The two jackals had now grown to be no less powerful than the Septenary Wolves in terms ofbative strength!


    However, with a rtively scrawny body, a little reckless in the attack approach, the brain was less agile, irritable, and easy to anger, such factors still left them with some shorings and weaknesses.


    As for the lynx, Lin Ming was not worried in the least that it would immediately suffer a defeat under the attack of the two jackals.


    After all, it had already reached Unranked Grade-5. Even if it was only one grade higher, it was still like a huge rift.


    After all, the lynx also focused on high attack power and high speed. In terms of ferocity and brutality, it was not inferior to the jackal, even surpassing it in certain situations.


    Lin Ming was also prepared. If the fight ran out of control, he would use a bamboo branch to stop them at the critical juncture.


    It was not a good thing for wild animals tock wild savagery. Although they were his subordinates, Lin Ming still wanted these mutated animals to disy their original wild attributes.


    After all, if they were too well-behaved or meek like domesticated animals, they would not survive long in the era of spiritual aura reawakening.


    For example, if he had any illusion about those humans, thinking that he could live in peace with humans, he would definitely end up suffering a devastating price.


    Lin Ming felt that in this era of spiritual aura reawakening, the human faction not only possessed powerful technology and military capabilities, but also transcendent beings who had awakened special abilities during this period.


    As for the strength of these transcendent beings at present, Captain Zheng''s strength was not inferior. In addition to their normal ''supernatural'' ability, they also possessed the power to control the fire element.


    However, Captain Zheng''s current strength was still far beneath his subordinates.


    The others were also too weak to even mention.


    Lin Ming guessed that these people were not from a military background or simr, otherwise, they would not be killed by the wolves or the snake so easily.


    The level of performance they showed was simply not worthy of their strength.


    Instead of saying that they were transcendent beings with extraordinary powers, they were actually more like ordinary people who had just gained some abilities.


    Otherwise, if those humans were superbly disciplined and well-organized, using their ability to defend immediately when they encountered the enemy, and only making full use of their ability to attack after their safety was assured, then the subordinates he sent out may not be able to obtain such great results. Perhaps even killing them would be absolutely impossible.


    Thinking about it now, he also had some contempt for those humans, so he ended up paying the price for itLil Six and Lil Seven, the two wolf pups were seriously injured.


    It was also his fault when the snake and the panda went out without his notice.


    Fortunately, the opponents were a bunch of ck transcendent beings so they seeded in their surprise attack, otherwise, it would be toote for regrets.


    Lin Ming also knew very well that as the concentration of spiritual aura continued to increase, the transcendent beings on the human side would most likely be stronger with it. If he was negligent in enhancing his own strength and the strength of his subordinates, he would definitely suffer a very painful price at that time.


    With many thoughts running through his mind, Lin Ming turned his attention to the battle below that had not yet started.


    The speed of the two jackals was already much faster than before.


    They had been circling the lynx, seeming to be looking for an opening in the lynx''s movement or a moment of distraction.


    The lynx, on the other hand, was as steady as a mountain and seemed much calmer than the two jackals.


    It did not make any extra moves. Those dexterous ears flipped back and forth as the jackals moved around while their short dagger-like tails swayed constantly.


    The lynx''s front paws gripped the ground firmly and seemed ready to pounce at any time.


    Rawr, rawr!


    Grr!


    With three deafening bursts of roars, three ck shadows got into a scuffle!


    However, at this moment!


    A shrill howl suddenly sounded, and a figure like a giant wall, with absolute domination, enveloped the three beasts that were stunned by the howl!


    With a swish, a ck streak of light cut through the air in an instant.


    Boom, bang!


    As the earth shook, the two jackals were mmed heavily into the ground in a sh!


    Another long howl from the ck wall and the lynx was forcefully kicked this time, emitting a painful scream. It was actually pped in mid-air before falling heavily to the ground!


    Oww


    Both the jackals and the lynx were trembling and afraid to get up again, having lost all the pompadour from before.


    In front of them, the panda stood like a human, fierce growls emitting from its mouth, not looking adorable in the least.


    "Oh, quite violent." Lin Ming admired this guy very much.


    Before, this guy was always with Adorable Little Snake, acting more like a mascot every day.


    Now, it could also kill jackals and lynx with one blow!


    At nearly three meters tall, its huge body was as powerful as a giant armored truck!


    Lin Ming discovered that this one had also reached Unranked Grade-7 now, growing extremely rapidly.


    "Could it be that the battle with humans has elerated its progress of leveling up?"


    Lin Ming looked at the three wind elemental wolves, and the other four that were stuck at Unranked Grade-9, and he suddenly had a guess.


    Could it be that one had to fight and kill a human to level up faster?

 Chapter 36: Spiritual Aura Intensifies

    Chapter 36: Spiritual Aura Intensifies


    Early in the morning, white mist filled the valleys.


    In the depths of the forest, a long howl was heard from time to time.


    Dark blue streaks of light swept through like a gust of wind, rolling up a whirlwind.


    Three streaks of light suddenly stopped in the bamboo forest. The dark blue hair swayed in the wind and the muscles on the bison-sized bodies were very well-defined.


    The golden pupils were sharp and piercing.


    At this moment, they seemed to smell something and once again turned into three streaks of light.


    The white mist was especially dense beside a creek with clear water.


    Four elks the size of a horse drank from the creek in a group, flicking their ears back and forth from time to time, and their heads looking around warily.


    The pair of antlers on their heads, each nearly two meters long, was crystal clear like jade, but with sharp angles and extremely sharp tips, showing their differences everywhere.


    Three dark blue streaks of light suddenly burst out of the forest. After a few consecutive booms, the heads of the three elk were mmed into the mud on the bank and passed out!


    Before the remaining one had time to escape, a brown figure suddenly flew out of the shadows in the bushes by the creek and bit the remaining elk by the neck!


    The three wind elemental wolves and the lynx, Fei, each bit an elk effortlessly.


    They darted into the depths of the valley, even faster than when they came!


    Very soon, they came from the side of that creek to the shore of the Spirit Lake and ced all the dying prey under Lin Ming''s body.


    Swish, swish!


    Four Razor Leaves urately hit the heads of the four elk and prated deeply!


    They struggled feebly before but they hadpletely stopped moving at this point.


    [Ding! You killed an Unranked Grade-2 elk and gained 50 Evolution Points!]


    [Ding! You killed]


    The system''s voice sounded in sequence and Lin Ming was satisfied that the number of evolution points on the personalized dashboard had increased by another 200 points!


    Sure enough, hunting these mutated animals was the fastest way to increase evolution points.


    "Okay, you may enjoy your feast now."


    The subordinates obtained consent under the gentle caress of the bamboo branches before they dared to drag the prey to somewhere they could enjoy.


    Looking at the wolves and lynx tearing at the elk with big mouthfuls, Lin Ming looked at his evolution points and once again felt grateful for his sudden whim at that moment.


    Since thest time humans came here, two months had passed.


    Lin Ming kept track of the time passing by engraving on the boulder and also used this to make himself less confused.


    He was stuck on Rank-1 Grade-9 for almost two months now.


    The length of the bamboo roots was limited to about 300 meters and no longer grew. Mutated creatures with spiritual intelligence were smart enough to move more than 300 meters away from Lin Ming.


    Although Lin Ming could sometimes kill some mutated bugs with less intelligence, the evolution points he gained were indeed pitiful.


    At that time, Lin Ming had a sudden thought. What if he asked his subordinates to bring some half-dead prey for him to kill?


    This arrangement could kill two birds with one stone.


    Not to mention that he could get evolution points, but having his subordinates hunt animals for him could also be regarded as a contribution to him.


    After all, the spiritual fluid that contained extremely powerful spiritual energy was for these subordinates to enjoy at will.


    In this way, letting them hunt and giving it to him to increase his evolution points was also the proceeds of theirbor.


    However, Lin Ming also had some doubts. He did not know if the spiritual aura had be denser and more widespread, or if the reawakening of the spiritual aura had intensified, but the mutated creatures were increasing in numbers, and even the worst prey that his subordinates hunted at random were at least Unranked Grade-1.


    Like the four elks hunted by the wolves and lynx today, Lin Ming discovered that they had reached Unranked Grade-3, which was indeed quite powerful.


    However, even in Lin Ming''s detection, the strongest mutated creature in this valley was only Unranked Grade-4.


    Compared to his surroundings, that was really far behind his subordinates that had be very strong.


    Of course, that was excluding the little bear cub that was now the mascot. Although this little one had grown a lot in these two months, the height was still less than 1.5 meters, it still had the appearance of a bear cub, and its level remained at Unranked Grade-1.


    However, a curved crescent moon that appeared on the abdomen at some point also proved to Lin Ming that it was also growing.


    Among the subordinates, the three wind elemental wolves had reached Rank-1 Grade-2, while the other four still maintained their original appearance and still at Unranked Grade-9.


    Like Lin Ming, they were also stuck at the barrier of advancement.


    Previously, Lin Ming spected that leveling up seemed to require fighting and killing humans.


    Now, that thought seemed more and more likely.


    However, in the depths of the mountain, since those people retreated two months ago, there was no sign of them returning.


    Thus, Lin Ming also had no opportunity to verify if the idea was correct.


    Adorable Little Snake now looked the size of a normal snake and had reached Unranked Grade-7. The green patches on both sides of the eyes also became longer and slenderer, covering almost half of the body.


    The panda''s strength also increased significantly and had reached Unranked Grade-7. Even so, Lin Ming always felt that thebat effectiveness of this one was no less than the wind elemental wolves.


    Lin Ming, who could hardly name someone to save himself, finally named the two jackals Polka and Dot, and the two little fellows had also reached Unranked Grade-5.


    The lynx, Fei, was Unranked Grade-7.


    The pair of egrets and the pair of red-crowned cranes progressed quite slowly but had also reached Unranked Grade-4. However, this was still very far from Lin Ming''s requirements for aerialbat effectiveness.


    A few days ago, he even saw a golden eagle flying between the clouds and the mountain peaks. That one had reached Unranked Grade-6. Although not a part of this valley, as long as that guy was in the sky, Lin Ming really could not bring himself to allow these four birds to fly freely.


    After all, one grade made a lot of difference, especially since the golden eagle was a predator at the level of a tiger in the air. He could not let these four subordinates whose ornamental value was greater than practical value serve themselves on a silver tter.


    The three monkeys had now reached Unranked Grade-5.


    The changes on them were a little strange and gave Lin Ming the feeling simr to the four wolves.


    Lin Ming found that as the levels increased, the fur on these three also corresponded to the three colors of red, green, and blue.


    Red should be a fire attribute, right? What about green? Could it be wind too? In that case, what about blue?


    Lin Ming was confused.


    What the hell was this?


    However, these three somewhat noisy guys were quite diligent. Once in a while, they would bring him arge grasshopper, or a bug, or a hare. The quality was not high but it made up with quantity. Lin Ming got a considerable amount of one or two evolution points that added up to quite a significant total.


    Last but not least was a rtively special subordinate, and the only one among all the subordinates who need not worry about food, the serow.


    The evolutionary development of this one seemed to bepletely different from most mutated creatures. Even after reaching Unranked Grade-5, the original shape and appearance remained unchanged.


    Looking at this creature with a goat''s head and antelope''s antlers, it could be gnawing at some grass one minute and snatching bamboo with the panda the next minute. It always looked very calm and collected, aloof when the others were excited.


    To be honest, Lin Ming also regretted catching this one back then.


    It just looked like an old herbivore with a slightly grumpy personality, neither cute nor mighty.


    Asking this one to hunt was also really difficult. Lin Ming even felt that it would be breaking news if it could trample an earthworm to death.


    Looking at the flowing mane on the back of its neck, Lin Ming was also helpless.


    Ah, just keep it around. Maybe there would be a sudden mutation in the future or something?

 Chapter 37: Critical Red Zone

    Chapter 37: Critical Red Zone


    Once again, Lin Ming looked at the subordinates that were feeding. It did not take too long for them to clean up the four elks.


    The blood stters on the mouths and fur stood out particrly.


    Sharp fangs.


    Menacing faces and bloody scenes.


    Full of wildness.


    In their eyes, however, there were also a gleam of wisdom.


    They had awakened their spiritual intelligence and were now fundamentally different from ordinary creatures.


    Nowadays, Lin Ming could already use the bamboo branches to transmit some slightly moreplicated messages and get his subordinates to do what he wanted them to do.


    For example, getting a living creature for him to kill and obtain evolution points, they could already do it perfectly.


    In the future, how far would their intelligence evolve? Would it be evenparable to humans?


    No one could tell for sure.


    Right now, Lin Ming just wanted them to focus all their spiritual intelligence on how to upgrade and evolve, and use them in battle.


    They must be stronger so that the humans who might return at any time would experience the fear that reached into the heart.


    Human beings seemed to be a topic that could never be avoided.


    Even in the era of spiritual aura reawakening, they conformed to this situation easily and produced transcendent beings that were different from ordinary humans.


    Advanced technology, weapons, and transcendent beings.


    Humans still seemed to remain at the apex of nature.


    Creatures of different species could never be united at heart.


    Human beings were the kind of existence that after having experienced a setback, they would continue to try until they seeded.


    Thousands of years of development had continuously verified this truth.


    It could be predicted that even in this era of spiritual aura reawakening, they would still carry out this truththe humiliation they suffered in the Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve would definitely be doubled in return!


    Lin Ming had a sense of worry.


    As a mutated bamboo, he felt that this awareness was necessary.


    At this time, he was not yet the strongest.


    Although he ruled the valley, the limitations also made him feel that his current strength was far from enough.


    Lin Ming looked to the sky.


    In the air, the increasingly dense spiritual aura was no longer as colorless and transparent as it used to be.


    He could see wisps of light blue spiritual aura floating in the air like aurora borealis, almost covering the entire valley, even extending to the mountain peaks on both sides and overflowing beyond the valley.


    Now, he could already absorb the maximum amount of spiritual aura from the air, soil, Spirit Lake, and underground Spirit River.


    However, the Rank-2 threshold seemed to be deliberately impeding his progress.


    Advancement was very difficult.


    Lin Ming had realized this since the beginning.


    When he entered Rank-1, there were not many signs or peculiarities. At that time, he had just killed a mutated creature and gained evolution points, and the system came with a notification.


    Evolution seemed simple enough.


    Now, however, it also made Lin Ming felt that it was extremely difficult.


    Looking at the evolution points that had almost reached 5,000, he was a little anxious.


    Thest time he entered Rank-1, it only took 500 evolution points.


    Now, was it going to require 5,000 points?


    Or rather, 10,000 points?


    [Ding! You have absorbed the spiritual aura in the air, evolution points +10]


    [Ding! Evolution points have exceeded 5,000 points. You may evolve. Do you want to evolve?]


    Just then, as if on purpose, the system mischievously came up with two notifications in a row!


    "I''m finally able to evolve." Although Lin Ming was a little excited, he still did not immediately choose to evolve. Instead, he used the bamboo branches to gently caress his subordinates.


    Thest time he evolved, it caused mountains to split and chaos everywhere. Who knew what would happen this time?


    To be safe, he would let his subordinates distance themselves from him to be safe.


    Otherwise, it would be really embarrassing if they were identally injured by his uncontroble evolution.


    Very soon, the subordinates filed out like an orderly army and headed straight to the exit of the valley.


    The distance of more than ten kilometers had reached the limit of what Lin Ming could perceive.


    That should be more than enough.


    Sensing the location of his subordinates, Lin Ming did not stay idle either.


    5,000 evolution points would soon be gone in a sh. If he did not take this opportunity to continue to absorb spiritual aura and umte some evolution points, would that not be a loss?


    The root system, the culm, every bamboo branch, and every bamboo leaf absorbed the spiritual aura frantically.


    However, it only took less than half an hour for all the subordinates to reach the exit of the valley.


    Lin Ming, who had taken this opportunity to umte 55 points, felt that the effort was not in vain.


    "Okay, finally"


    Without suppressing his excitement, Lin Ming moved his consciousness and chose to evolve!


    At the same time, crimson light suddenly shed out from the diamond shape in the center of Lin Ming''s culm, and the valleypletely boiled over!


    Somewhere in the Tang Kingdom.


    Zheng Guodong frowned as he stared closely at the electronic map of the Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve in the northwest of Shu Province marked as a ''danger orange'' zone.


    In the past two months, he had epted five missions and alsopleted them sessfully.


    However, what happened in the Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve kept haunting him.


    It even caused him inexplicable anger.


    On the electronic map, the Tang Kingdom and the rest of the world had undergone amon change.


    The concentration of spiritual aura had skyrocketed.


    The density of spiritual aura in almost all spiritual realms was constantly rising.


    The area of the spiritual realm continued to expand at an rming rate.


    As a result, many spiritual realms that were far apart even connected as one, and the ces humans gathered were immediately attacked and destroyed by mutated creatures.


    Poption relocation and moving the people from the viges and towns close to the spiritual realms became amon activity in all countries.


    Although this brought considerable trouble and even conflict, it was better than being killed by the mutated creatures that had be a threat.


    Zheng Guodong furrowed his brows.


    The spiritual realm area in the Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve had expanded from a valley with a radius of more than ten kilometers more than two months ago to the point where even Little Li Vige had fallen. To the extent, it was now connected to the Lingxiao Peak Nature Reserve that was otherwise a far distance away.


    Strangely enough, it was detected that the center of the spiritual aura was still within the Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve.


    "Tsk, what the hell is going on?" Zheng Guodong gritted his teeth.


    He recalled that morning again.


    Buzz.


    His phone suddenly vibrated.


    "Captain Zheng,e to my ce."


    There was something strange in Elder Zhai''s voice.


    Zheng Guodong did not hesitate and drove there immediately.


    Soon, he entered Elder Zhai''s office but he did not say anything. Instead, he handed a bunch of materials to Zheng Guodong.


    "This is?"


    "See for yourself." Elder Zhai coughed lightly and took a sip of tea. "It should be of great interest to you."


    Zheng Guodong just flipped through a page before his body immediately trembled all over.


    "The Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve has been elevated to Critical Red Zone? When did that happen?"


    "Well, the observer''s rating was updated fifteen minutes ago. A drastic change in spiritual aura was also suddenly observed there." Elder Zhai spoke slowly and methodically.


    "Drastic change?" Zheng Guodong''s heart raced. He could not get his head around it. What happened there?


    "The Tang Kingdom has requested for you to lead a squad of transcendents to wipe out the mutated creatures there." Elder Zhai took another sip of tea.


    "Lead a squad?" Zheng Guodong felt unusually excited!


    "Yes, and you''ll also be provided long-range artillery firearms as well as more military support."


    Hearing Elder Zhai''s words, Zheng Guodong felt that all the cells in his body could burst into mes.


    "This is really good news!" His voice was trembling!


    Elder Zhai smiled slightly. "It looks like you can return there and justify yourself."


    Zheng Guodong''s gaze burned. "Just as well, I can test my strength that has just been promoted to Grade-C."

 Chapter 38: Climbing Up The Ranks

    Chapter 38: Climbing Up The Ranks


    The valley was in an uproar.


    The spiritual aura that had been floating above the valley started to whirl with the mutated bamboo as its center.


    Like fog or a delicate aurora, the spiritual aura was constantly revolving and condensing.


    As its particles continued to collide and merge, they were bing denser.


    If one were to look at it from above, this whirlpool of luminescent spiritual aura resembled a magnificent neb!


    Below the neb, a series of explosions reverberated from underground!


    As he evolved, Lin Ming felt a flurry offortable warmth that traversed from the ends of his roots, from every branch, and every bamboo leaf on his body. He was utterly immersed in this sensation.


    The spiritual aura transformed into Evolution Points and consequently, those Evolution Points served as his surging energy!


    This overpowering energy washed over every cell in his body, destroying them and reforming them into stronger and sturdier cells.


    The abundant spiritual aura filled the gaps between the cells, causing Lin Ming''s body to undergo a tremendous change!


    Countless bamboo roots proliferated at a maniacal speed.


    As the roots extended into the soil, it churned the soil like swimming dragons, producing deafening quakes as they went.


    Originally located within three hundred meters, numerous bamboo roots now extended further ahead. They constantly drilled in and out of the soil as they ventured into every corner of the valley!


    Several main bamboo roots continued to extend further down, passing through the underground Spirit River. They broke through the hard rocks and reached nearly four hundred meters underground before stopping.


    At this time, the cells in Lin Ming''s culm underwent constant reformation as they expanded in diameter and extended in length.


    At the same time, the thickness of the outer wall of his culm was also increasing. Every node of the bamboo was flooded with spiritual fluid!


    That boundless energy quickly surged from the bamboo roots, branches, leaves, and culm into the red rhombus located at the center of the culm. It sent out dazzling rays of light even in the daytime!


    This crimson light suddenly infused countless blood-like threads into Lin Ming''s culm, covering the dark green bamboo in a blood-red sheen.


    The blood-like threads seeped into every bamboo branch, embedding every bamboo leaf with a crimson outline.


    The red rhombus on the culm was pulsating like a beating heart, adding a demonic glow to this mutated bamboo.


    "It seems that I''ve caused quite a ruckus this time," Lin Mingmented as the mutation continued for nearly half an hour. He was savoring all the different states that his evolution put him through.


    The tremors caused by the spreading of his bamboo roots were still resounding throughout the valley. Meanwhile, the spiritual aura that was revolving like a neb in the sky gradually dispersed and returned to how it was.


    The bamboo was now nearly two meters in diameter and sixty meters tall!


    Looking at his drastic changes, Lin Ming was convinced that he was evolving at a visible rate.


    He was now officially Rank-2.


    He could also sense that his strength had improved tremendously.


    The abundant spiritual aura, the strength that was stronger than before, and even the feeling of being able to control the entire valley made Lin Ming understand that his status as the overlord of this valley waspletely unshakeable.


    Right now, he hadplete control over the life and death of all living creatures in this valley!


    Every single strand of his bamboo roots in the thousands could move ording to his will, and his spiritual aura detection ability allowed him to grasp the movements of all living creatures.


    It would be urate to say that if Lin Ming wished so, the life and death of all living beings depended on his whim.


    However, after umting Evolution Points for so long, he understood one thing.


    He would obtain fewer Evolution Points when he killed mutated beings of a lower stage. Meanwhile, the higher the stage of the mutants, the more Evolution Points he would get.


    For example, an Unranked Grade-1 carp in the Spirit Lake would give him 10 Evolution Points after killing it while an Unranked Grade-3 phure would grant him 50.


    So, what about killing an Unranked Grade-9 creature? Or a mutated creature that broke through into Rank-1?


    The Evolution Points obtained would probably be quite impressive, right?


    After all, the spiritual aura in the surroundings was getting denser and denser. That inevitably led to the mutated beings in the valley rising up in stages faster and faster.


    If he killed all of those low-grade creatures, then the Evolution Points he obtained could only satisfy his short-term needs for a while.


    Furthermore, if he did that, Lil One and the rest of his subordinates would also starve. The gains would not make up for the losses.


    Destroying the ecosystem was not a good thing.


    Previously, he had killed all the mutated creatures that he could reach. That caused the mutated creatures in the other valleys afraid to approach this area that spanned three hundred meters in diameter under his control. At the same time, it caused his process of acquiring Evolution Points to be stagnant for a long while now, forcing him into desperation.


    It was extremely unbearable back then.


    If he did note up with a way that let Lil One and the others hunt, evolving himself might remain an unrealized dream right now.


    Maintaining the bnce between mutated creatures might prove to be difficult for humans but Lin Ming was a whole different story.


    He could sense the movement of all creatures in the valley. Thus, it was easy enough for him to detect a mutated being that was powerful enough to affect the entire valley.


    Killing it or forcing it into submission would only take Lin Ming a second upon making the decision.


    As for his subordinates, Lin Ming couldpletely restrain them from ughtering the entire valley.


    As for the so-called sustainable development, Lin Ming managed to understand everything and raised all his branches.


    With his current position as the overlord of the valley, he could easily grasp the number of Evolution Points within the three hundred meters of hisnd.


    "Next, I''ll umte Evolution Points and start evolving each of my various abilities!"


    Lin Ming had many ideas on what to do next.


    However, in the overall sense, he must continue strengthening his own capabilities and his subordinates'' power.


    Now that he reached Rank-2, other than Lil One and the other two that had broken through to Rank-1, the rest of his subordinates were still Unranked.


    Lin Ming could not help but feel that it was far from sufficient.


    Those humans that they encountered in the past merely ventured into the valley to test the waters, but they managed to injure Lil Six and Lil Seven.


    What if they adopted an offensive strategy with arge army?


    What if they sent stronger transcendent beings much unlike the useless mobst time?


    Humans were absolutely hostile toward the spiritual realm.


    After all, humans who had long warmed the seat on the top of the food chain would never allow anything stronger than them to be born and grown.


    Being kind to the enemy was being cruel to oneself.


    This valley, the mutated creatures in this valley, as well as the mutated bamboo, Lin Ming, had yet to be taken seriously by humanity. To humans, their existence would never be allowed to exist on earth.


    Humans and mutated creatures would never achieve anything called ''understanding'' between the two races.


    Humans could not understand each other, let alone the mutated creatures that posed a threat to their survival.


    The struggle between the strong and the weak, and the fight to the death, was an eternal topic in the long streams of human history.


    Unless, in the future, Lin Ming became so strong that no humans could threaten him.


    Otherwise, this bamboo would face endless attacks from humans.


    As a mutated bamboo, it was not Lin Ming''s wish to harbor any hope for humanity, but to be the ultimate strong being that could cause pain, helplessness, and even despair in humanity.


    If a battle of life and death really did ur, Lin Ming would not sacrifice himself.


    Who would not be selfish when their survival was threatened?


    As his contemtion continued to brew, Lin Ming stared at the spiritual aura floating in the sky.


    Now, Lil One and the rest had already returned. Next, it was time


    It was at this moment that Lin Ming suddenly detected an extremely dense amount of spiritual aura umting outside the valley. Not just that, it seemed like they were increasing in numbers rapidly!


    Among them, there was the familiar red spiritual aura that belonged to humans!


    ''I haven''t been expecting them so quickly. However, is today the day that I show them what ''not to mess with'' means?"


    Lin Ming''s heart overflowed with murderous intent!

 Chapter 39: Recurring Nightmare

    Chapter 39: Recurring Nightmare


    Outside the Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve spiritual realm.


    Not long after Zheng Guodong got off the ne, he rushed over to this ce that caused him extreme difort.


    "The spiritual aura here seems to be quite dense."


    Zheng Guodong furrowed his brows and looked toward the valley. The sky was filled with a mist-like spiritual aura glowing with ethereal colors.


    Spiritual auras could only be seen by people with transcendent physiques. Moreover, if the spiritual aura was not concentrated enough, it would be very difficult for any color to appear.


    Currently, Bamboo Sea Nature Reserveno, it had already merged with Lingxiao Peak Nature Reservewas a gigantic spiritual realm that had expanded by nearly ten kilometerspared to before.


    Zheng Guodong nced at his back.


    With countless tents had already been set up, many soldiers were pacing back and forth between them.


    He also noticed that several tents were filled with weapons and ammunition.


    They were currently outside Little Li Vige, and this was just a temporary camp.


    Ever since the vigers moved away, the houses in Little Li Vige had been vacant. However, in the past two months, the ce suffered greatly under the destructive nature of those mutated creatures.


    ording to the n, they would advance into the spiritual realm for an attack in a few hours.


    It was indeed impossible to set up camp in this ce that already became the border of the spiritual realm.


    If they camped at the foot of the mountain, they would be too far away from the spiritual realm, and it would be even harder for the soldiers to march. Naturally, setting up camp halfway up the mountain was out of the question. That was an absolute rule.


    However, the good news was that the artillery troops were already advancing towards this camp. It should not be a problem to baptize the entire spiritual realm in artillery fire.


    Zheng Guodong could feel the tension that engulfed the camp.


    Zheng Guodong knew very well what a spiritual realm meant to these ordinary people.


    Transcendent beings like them often died in spiritual realms that were full of mutated creatures, not to mention these soldiers who only had weapons for their defense.


    Now, the Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve spiritual realm had been upgraded to a Red Extreme Danger Zone.


    This meant that the higher-ups believed that there might be mutated beasts of Grade-D or higher inside.


    It had been confirmed that a Grade-D mutated beast was not afraid of ordinary bullets at all. Even a few thousand bullets would not be able to break its defense.


    The number of armor-piercing bullets and high-explosive artillery shells could never match up to the number of mutated beasts.


    Furthermore, nobody could be certain that it could take one of these weapons to kill one beast.


    Strangely enough, thest time their team of sixteen people entered this ce, they did not encounter many mutated beasts. At that time, he was puzzled.


    After all, even if it was a Grade-E spiritual realm with a very diluted spiritual aura, it was abnormal to see so few mutated beasts around.


    Now that he thought about it, perhaps they were extremely lucky back then to not bump into those beasts.


    Or perhaps, there was another more pessimistic possibility.


    Within this spiritual realm, there was a Grade-C mutated beast thatmanded the entire spirit realm whose spiritual intelligence developed into advanced stages. It might have ruled over all other mutated creatures.


    The mutated beast must have thought that those transcendent beings who were far inferior to him posed no threats and merely wished to drive them away.


    That was the only possible exnation for Jia Lin and the other two to be able to escape from the spiritual realm even though they encountered those giant wolves.


    Of course, that was just the worst-case scenario. This hypothesis was unproven.


    After all, even though this ce was upgraded to a Red Extreme Danger Zone, the density of spiritual aura in the peripheral areas did not exceed twenty thousand.


    Based on his calctions, even the area with the highest density of spiritual aura should onlye up to twenty-four thousand.


    If it exceeded twenty-four thousand, then it could be aptly called Red Extreme Danger Zone.


    This also proved that there were Grade-C mutated beasts within the spiritual realm. Ordinary firearms werepletely ineffective against them!


    "Hopefully, the spiritual aura density indicator won''t be likest time."


    He could hear the rumbles in his ears like intermittent minor earthquakes, and it brought Zheng Guodong back to the horrors he felt.


    Even though he was unsure if these were simply illusions, he had a feeling that the rumbles were very close to them.


    Zheng Guodong sighed. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew. He looked up at the sky involuntarily.


    The dark clouds that covered half the sky seemed to be floating over toward them.


    He frowned and walked into a tent.


    Inside the tent, twenty transcendent beings were resting while being on their guard.


    Unlikest time, these twenty people were not rookies who would be entering the spiritual realm for the first time. Although they were around Middle Rank Grade-D, all of them survived the spiritual realmpeople deserving of being called transcendent beings.


    "Greetings, Captain Zheng!" When the twenty people saw Zheng Guodong entering their tent, they stood up in unison. Each of them stood straight, and their faces were filled with determination and courage. They gave off the aura of actual military soldiers.


    "Have a seat." Zhen Guodong was reminded of the rookies that he brought with himst time.


    If they could be more like these people


    "Captain Zheng, we''ve received orders to follow your lead!" A transcendent being stood up and announced.


    Zheng Guodong nodded. "Let''s skip the pleasantries. We''ll lead an attack on the center of the Bamboo Sea Nature Reserve at exactly four o''clock in the afternoon. Before that, the artillery will clear our path with a concentrated attack, provided it doesn''t rain."


    However, just as he said that, there was a sh of white light outside the tent, followed by a loud boom!


    Rumble...


    At this moment, heavy rain poured.


    "Tsk." Zheng Guodong understood that continuing on their original attack ns was impossible.


    It was already difficult for the artillery squad to ascend the mountain, what more on muddy paths formed by the heavy rain.


    Even if they reached the foot of the mountain, it would be difficult for them to reach their current location in a short time. If they encountered anyndslides, it would be even harder for them to advance.


    Zheng Guodong recalled how they encountered endless downpours thest time he brought his team here too.


    He waited for two hours.


    However, the rain did not stop.


    Although the rain gradually calmed down, it continued to drizzle. The rumbling soundsing from the valley did not stop either.


    News had just arrived at the foot of the mountain. The artillery troops were indeed stuck in the mud and could not reach their destination anytime soon.


    It seemed that if they still wished tounch an attack based on their original n, they would have to do so directly from where they were.


    There was nothing Zheng Guodong could do about that.


    Summer had just begun, and this rain came too quickly. Nobody knew when it would stop.


    In this harsh weather, they would definitely suffer tremendous losses if they acted rashly. Without the support of the artillery troops, marching in the rain would also be extremely dangerous.


    "Oh, well. I hope the rain stops soon," Zheng Guodong mumbled and sighed.


    His power was also affected by the pitter-patters. Even the all-consuming mes that could burn everything in its path would be halted by rain.


    Night fell, and the rain did not stop.


    Zheng Guodong and the other transcendent beings were patrolling around their encampment in their raincoats.


    The rain was noisy and loud with constant rumbles. Zheng Guodong did not dare to be careless.


    Among all mutated beasts, there had always been more nocturnal creatures.


    If a few of them took advantage of the night and the rain to attack, it would definitely cause great casualties!


    "Captain Zheng, did you hear that?"


    One of his squad members suddenly said as he looked in the direction where the mountain was in the darkness.


    "I heard it too. Is it a bird or some other animal?"


    "No, it feels like the disgusting sounds insects make to me"


    Zheng Guodong''s head nearly exploded as it dawned on him!


    He roared, "Attention, all troops! Our enemy is attacking!"


    Hundreds of light pirs shot into the sky and between the ruined buildings in the vige. In the night sky, a huge army of mutated birds, mutated insects, and other mutated beasts were charging toward the encampment!

 Chapter 40: Fierce Battle on a Rainy Night

    Chapter 40: Fierce Battle on a Rainy Night


    "All troops, stabilize your positions! Gather! Attack! Fire!"


    Per the squad''s swift reactions, all the soldiers grabbed their weapons and showered the insects and beasts both in the sky and on the ground with bullets!


    On the rainy night, the howls of the mutated creatures resounded through heaven and earth, perhaps even overshadowing the roars of firearms and weapons!


    Rumble rumble rumble


    The shockwaves and shrapnel from the explosion tore open cracks between the swarms of insects and beasts. Yet, these cracks were soon filled up with more insects and beasts immediately!


    "Focus fire!"


    The sound of the loudspeaker roared while the machine gun in his hand spewed fire, shooting down dozens of mutated birds and flying insects that were rushing toward him in the air!


    "What are the methrowers squads doing? Charge forward!"


    In the sky, the dark swarm of birds and insects in the pouring rain charged madly in the direction of the camp. Even though the soldiers were well-equipped, they were mortal after all and unable to withstand the most minor attacks!


    The smaller carnivorous insects kept smashing into the soldiers'' faces and bodies, biting their skin and all of their weak spots!


    The mutated sparrows, mountain sparrows, and even the golden eagles turned into dark clouds of death!


    Some of the soldiers had their throats slit; some had their heads punctured by the sharp beaks; some even had their eyes scratched out while their brain matter spewed out!


    Screams erupted from time to time, but these screams were often quickly drowned out by even more shrill screams!


    The giant insects and mutated beasts crawling on the ground did not slow down at all due to their sheer numbers even though they were being devoured by fire from both torches and cannons!


    "Damn it! Nothing works on this beetle!" Dozens of soldiers sent sparks skidding off the two-meter-long beetle!


    "Get out of the way! Let me do it!" A transcendent being covered in blood suddenly rushed out and jumped onto the back of therge beetle. He clenched his fist andnded an explosive punch!


    The beetle howled as it tried to shake off the human that destroyed its invincible armor. However, an explosion suddenly tore it apart!


    "How dare you!" The transcendent being tossed a grenade into the opening on the beetle and rolled far away. As the beetle exploded, his face was covered in the insect''s green slime.


    "Watch your back! Exploding mes!"


    However, before the transcendent being managed to get up from the ground, he felt a strong gust of wind behind him. In a sudden sh of intense heat, his head flew into the air!


    Although Zheng Guodong''s mes burned the huge mutated mantis to death, he failed to prevent his squad member from having his head chopped off by the mutated mantis!


    "Exploding mes! Exploding mes, Exploding mes!" Dozens of fire pirs erupted like fire dragons that wreaked havoc among the endless streams of insects and beasts!


    The fire dragons reaped the lives of those maniacal mutated creatures that failed to understand what death was. Their shrill cries were exceptionally ear-piercing.


    However, the intense mes were also constantly emitting thick white smoke due to the rain.


    The white mist made it impossible for the soldiers to aim urately at the mutated creatures. The battle was now progressing into a more unfavorable state.


    "Damn it! Damn it!" Zheng Guodong panted heavily. He consumed arge amount of spiritual aura in one go, and he was already exhausted. All of a sudden, he was overwhelmed at the thought that even though he was Grade-C, he was too trashy to achieve anything.


    "Armor-piercing bullets! Use high-explosive artillery shells as support! I"


    The megaphone stopped midway. The soldiers realized in despair that the mutated birds hadpletely drowned and destroyed themand center!


    The insect and beast swarms had already invaded the military encampment. Everyone understood that these seemingly endless mutated creatures were devils that they could not defeat even if they risked their lives.


    A huge snake with a body as thick as a bucket swallowed two soldiers while its tail sent a few more flying.


    Hundreds of wriggling worms the size of human thighs pounced on the soldiers, leaving only white bones in their wake.


    Nearly a hundred sparrows the size of basketballs swooped down like cannonballs and instantly sliced dozens of soldiers'' chests open or broke their legs.


    Dozens of gophers the size of calves crawled out from the ground. They waved their extremely sharp ws and tore open the stomachs of the five transcendent beings who did not manage to escape in time.


    Mutated wild boars, mutated wild cows, mutated lizards, mutated bees, mutated earthworms


    There were too many of themsharp fangs, lethal poison spikes, long spear-like tails, and acid that corroded the flesh


    Regardless of whether they were ordinary soldiers or transcendent beingsdespite having powerful weapons on them or possessed transcendent powersnone of them could stop these mutated creatures! They had be the epitome of death as they freely harvested human lives!


    Even though they had powerful weapons, even though there were nearly a thousand soldiers apanied by twenty-one transcendent beings in the military encampment, they could not continue this fight!


    The fate of the entire military encampment was inevitably doomed!


    "All troops, all troops retreat! Everyone, retreat!"


    The sound of machine guns continued to roar. The remaining soldiers who were lucky enough to only suffer minor injuries fought as they attempted to retreat. They kept firing the remaining bullets from their machine guns to provide cover to the seriously injured and immobile soldiers.


    However, the mutated creatures would not stop attacking just because they were retreating.


    Zheng Guodong forced himself to step forward. He just absorbed the spiritual aura contained in the three spiritual rocks, and his strength had mostly recovered.


    "All of you, retreat! I''ll cover you!" He roared fiercely. Balls of fire exploded among the enemies, triggering waves after waves of screeches!


    The mutated birds, insects, and wild beasts transferred all their wrath onto Zheng Guodong. They were like dark clouds that surrounded Zheng Guodong in the heavy rain and maniacally attacked him!


    "Huff, you''ll not see this stubborn old mule die here!" Zheng Guodong suddenly let out a roar. A scorching me instantly ignited five meters away from him. At the same time, the me transformed into a fiery storm!


    All the mutated lifeforms that approached Zheng Guodong were instantly burnt to a crisp and turned as ck as charcoal.


    "It''s not over yet! Fire Wall!"


    A huge wall made of mes appeared out of nowhere, blocking the mutated birds in the air!


    In just a few seconds of intense burning, thousands of mutated insects, birds, and beasts disintegrated into ashes!


    Even the mutated creatures that ran amok knew that Zheng Guodong was not to be trifled with.


    They wailed and tried to get away from the human who had transformed into a ball of mes, but they knew there was an even more terrifying presence behind them. They were stuck between a rock and a hard ce!


    "Captain Zheng! Retreat!" At this moment, a transcendent being rushed back and shouted at Zheng Guodong. This transcendent being who had just achieved a breakthrough to Grade-C possessed the ability to control fire elements. It was such a precious transcendent ability. If he died here, not only would it be a great loss to the Tang Kingdom, but the entire human race as well!


    "Lil Zhao!" Zheng Guodong recollected his senses. He grabbed thest two spiritual rocks from the pocket at his chest and transferred thest bit of energy in his body to absorb the spiritual aura contained within those rocks. After ensuring that the ming wall kept burning, he released his control over the fire wall!


    Exhausted, he found himself supported by Lil Zhao who rushed over to him. In the pouring night, they disappeared into the small mountainous path.


    The fire wall burned for dozens of seconds before it finally disappeared along with the ming storm. Forced by the huge threat behind them, the mutated creatures continued to head to the outer regions.


    The battle on a rainy night ended with humanity''s defeat.


    "This is far from enough"


    As the initiator, Lin Ming''s murderous intent grew even stronger as he stood by the Spirit Lake in the valley far away.


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