Chapter 686: New Level of Respect; Sharing the Booty
The Golden Savage Ox struggled free and regained its freedom.
“Ka ca!”
Just as the Golden Savage Ox was about to start its massacre, Xiao Chen’s dense and pure three-hundred-meter-long Return of the Azure Dragon landed. Blood instantly spurted out like a fountain, drenching Xiao Chen’s white robes red.
A gigantic ox head flew into the air. Its eyes were opened wide with outrage as it died.
The person who launched the sword light saw this incredible scene the moment he turned around. He felt as though his brain had short-circuited. A moment ago, the team had been in a dangerous situation. However, he had just turned away for an instant, and the Golden Savage Ox was dead.
Hu Hai recovered his wits and roared angrily. Then, he sent an ax strike at the swordsman. The swordsman blocked in a frenzy and fled in a sorry state after Hu Hai knocked him back.
Hu Hai felt a bone-deep hatred for this person, so he did not want to let him off. His figure flashed as he quickly gave chase.
“Bang!”
The Savage Golden Ox’s corpse crashed to the ground with a loud sound. The ground trembled violently for a while before gradually calming down.
The landscape of the bottle-gourd-shaped valley had already been completely destroyed. Deep pits and crevices filled the place, the walls around the valley crumbled.
As the wind blew from the valley entrance, the dilapidated valley fell quiet.
Jun Si and the other two had just escaped the jaws of death. When they looked at the Savage Golden Ox’s corpse and Xiao Chen in his bloodstained white robes, their eyes filled with amazement. The insignificant inner sect disciple Xiao Chen had shocked them once again with his prodigious efforts to avert this desperate crisis.
Xiao Chen had used his physical body to clash with the enemy earlier. His astonishing performance then led the true inheritors to forget that he was a bladesman. Only when Xiao Chen drew his saber did they understand that, when compared to his physical body and close combat techniques, his Saber Techniques were still better.
At this moment, the true inheritors finally appreciated that, although Xiao Chen’s cultivation was low and his combat prowess was lower than theirs, he was not that much weaker than them.
“Junior Brother Xiao Chen, we really have to thank you this time.”
Without dwelling on this, Jun Si went to the Golden Savage Ox and pulled out her weapon as she spoke to Xiao Chen.
Chen Xiao laughed loudly and said, “How can the person I recommended disappoint everyone? Let’s rest and wait for Senior Brother Hu to return first. Then we can split this Golden Savage Ox; the entirety of this fellow is a treasure.”
Only Wang Cheng did not say anything. He glanced at Xiao Chen, suspecting that when they exchanged blows previously, Xiao Chen had not used his full power.
Xiao Chen knew that after he revealed his true strength, it would be hard to avoid people treating him as a competitor. However, as the situation had been urgent, he did not care too much about this risk. Thus, he did not regret his decision.
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One hour later:
“Damn it! I still let that fellow escape in the end!”
A strong wind blew, and Hu Hai’s figure arrived before everyone from the valley entrance. However, he had a smile on his face; he did not seem dispirited at all.
Then, Hu Hai walked over to Xiao Chen and patted Xiao Chen’s shoulder heavily. Smiling, he said, “Firstly, you managed to save my life; you saved everybody’s lives.
“Then, you helped us gain the rights to enter the Savage Battlefield. Thirty percent of the spoils will go to you, and you get the first pick. Everyone has no objections, right?”
Jun Si smiled and said, “I do not have a problem with that.”
Chen Xiao did not seem to mind as he added, “I don’t, either. In fact, that should be the case. In both crucial moments, he was the one who saved the day.”
When Wang Cheng saw this, he shook his head to indicate he also did not have a problem with the allocation.
The Savage Golden Ox had the bloodline of an ancient Savage Beast. Furthermore, it was a peak Rank 8 Spirit Beast. Its entire body was a treasure.
Naturally, the most precious thing would be the Spirit Core. There was not much to say about its effect; it could directly increase a cultivator’s cultivation. Furthermore, it would not have any side effects—making it better than a Rank 9 Medicinal Pill.
Next up would be the pair of golden horns on the Golden Savage Ox’s head. These golden horns were tougher than Frost Iron and could be molded into high-ranked Spirit Weapons. It could also be ground into a powder for refining peak grade Medicinal Pills.
The four golden hooves at the ends of its legs were relatively precious as well. They contained a special flame and were a material necessary for making some Secret Treasures.
The marrow hidden in the Golden Savage Ox’s spine contained a dense Savage Beast’s bloodline. It was beneficial for someone who tempered the body.
Then, there was the ten-meter-long tail. After refining it a little, it would turn into a Golden Ox Tail Whip, which could be sold for a sky-high price to cultivators who used whips.
Aside from these, there were still the ox hide, bones, tendon, meat, and blood. Even though their value could not be compared to the parts mentioned above, they still had significant value.
Four hours later, Hu Hai finished dissecting the Golden Savage Ox’s corpse. He picked up a golden ox horn and put it away to serve as proof of completion for First Senior Sister Shui Lingling.
Then, he pointed at the more valuable parts and said to Xiao Chen, “Junior Brother Xiao, go ahead and take your pick. You can take two.”
The golden horn, Spirit Core, golden hooves, golden ox tail, and the Savage Beast’s bloodline, all of these items were worth cities on their own. All of them tempted Xiao Chen.
However, Xiao Chen could only pick two. So he had to make his choice very carefully. First, he eliminated the most valuable item, the Golden Savage Ox’s Spirit Core.
Actually, Xiao Chen’s cultivation was rather low at the moment. This was the kind of natural treasure that he lacked the most now. However, he had no choice. The human heart was hard to predict.
Although Hu Hai had said that Xiao Chen could take thirty percent and also the first pick, if he took away two of the most precious items, it would be hard to avoid others feeling upset, feeling that he was being too greedy for a Medial Grade Martial Monarch.
After eliminating the Spirit Core, Xiao Chen chose the Golden Savage Ox’s marrow containing the Savage Beast’s bloodline and then the golden ox horn. The first item could help increase his physical strength once more, while the latter could be used for the Life Bestowal Spell, giving him another trump card.
To others, these were items that were not very useful, so his choices would not result in any ill feelings.
Seeing what Xiao Chen selected, Hu Hai praised him in his heart for being able to act appropriately even in the face of such temptation. Youths with the same mentality as Xiao Chen were rare finds.
“There are three items left. Each of you, pick one. I do not need any,” Hu Hai said, smiling gently.
Indeed, Hu Hai did not need any of them. He had already advanced to late-stage Superior Grade Martial Monarch. It would be hard to find external items that could help him increase his cultivation. As a true inheritor with the right to enlist others, he did not lack Spirit Stones. Since he did not need any of these items, he did not bother picking any.
Hu Hai had only one target—to enter the Savage Battlefield. He wanted to see if he could find a fortuitous encounter to help him advance to half-step Martial Sage as soon as possible.
The three thought for a while. Then, Jun Si selected the golden ox hooves, Wang Cheng selected the Spirit Core, and Chen Xiao selected the golden ox tail. Everyone managed to obtain what they needed.
As for the other miscellaneous items, the true inheritors did not care much about them. Xiao Chen smiled faintly and stored them all in his Universe Ring.
Since the meat could be used as food and the other items could be sold for a large sum of Spirit Stones after he tidied them up, he might as well take them.
After the items were distributed, Hu Hai no longer hesitated. He laughed grandly and said, “Let’s go. That Hua Tianhe definitely will not have expected that we managed to kill the Golden Savage Ox in five days. I really want to see what kind of expression he makes when he finds out.”
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“Sou! Sou! Sou!”
In one corner of the Savage Beast Forest, a strangely agile, ten-meter-tall white money swung from branch to branch as it moved through the forest.
With every swing, afterimages could be seen in the air. This monkey only had one arm, so it moved by flinging itself from the branch and curling up into a ball that flew up by five or six hundred meters.
This white monkey was a Spirit Flame Monkey. This kind of Spirit Beast lived in groups, moving around the forest within a fixed area in the Savage Beast Forest. They were different from ordinary monkeys in that they had a very brutal nature and liked to eat meat, particularly brains.
Spirit Flame Monkeys especially loved human brains. Furthermore, they were extremely intelligent, able to learn the Martial Techniques of humans and put them to use. They were the Spirit Beasts that humans wanted to meet the least.
This Spirit Flame Monkey was taller than its brethren. Clearly, this was a Spirit Flame Monkey King. It was previously a tyrant of the Savage Beast Forest, but it had lost its position, ousted by the new monkey king.
Today, this Spirit Flame Monkey King, which had struck terror in everyone’s hearts, was fleeing miserably from some humans.
Previously, half the Supreme Sky Sect’s true inheritors had surrounded this monkey a few times and finally chopped its arm off. They used the rules of the Spirit Flame Monkeys to force it out of its band, so they could surround and kill it alone.
Four young men approached the white monkey from different directions. Its face sank as it traveled speedily through the forest. It seemed like cornering this one-armed white monkey would be very difficult.
This monkey was extremely crafty. It knew how powerful Hua Tianhe and the others were. So it chose not to fight, immediately fleeing when it saw any one of these four people.
“Pu chi!”
Hua Tianhe chased after it closely. Suddenly, he sent out a dense sword Qi. This sword Qi was more than sixty meters long, chopping down the trees somewhere in front of the white monkey.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!” The sound of trees falling came from the forest. However, when the white monkey saw what was ahead, it chose to flee in the direction of where the trees fell.
The white monkey’s thin limbs pushed off against a tree trunk as it turned into a white flash of light moving forward. The trees fell over behind the white figure. By the time the trees all finished falling, the white monkey had vanished from sight.
“Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!”
Several figures appeared from the other directions and gathered together. If the white monkey had not gone where it had earlier and had gone in some other direction instead, it would have ended up surrounded.
“Damn it! This brutish monkey managed to escape again!”
After failing to surround the Spirit Flame Monkey once more, a true inheritor could not help but curse.
Another person said, “This monkey is too crafty. It keeps leading us in circles. It even nearly lured us into the territories of Spirit Beasts that live in groups.”
Hua Tianhe frowned heavily but was not too dispirited. He said, “It also knows its own strength. It does not dare to enter the core area of the Savage Beast Forest. There are Rank 9 and Rank 10 Spirit Beasts in there, perhaps even Spirit Beasts surpassing Rank 10.
“As long as it does not enter the core area, it is just a matter of time before we surround and kill it. We are in a much better position than Hu Hai’s group.”
“Shua! Shua!”
Suddenly, footsteps came from the forest. Everyone’s expressions turned grave as they took combat stances. Hua Tianhe looked up and smiled. “There is no need to be nervous. It is Junior Brother Yan. That group of people has probably returned in failure. They will not be able to recover in less than half a month.”
Ten minutes later, Yan Tao arrived before the rest, bearing some wounds and looking somewhat miserable. A bad feeling woke in Hua Tianhe’s heart. He said, “Judging from the ax wounds on your body, I suppose Hu Hai did this?”
Yan Tao did not dare to meet Hua Tianhe’s eyes. He nodded and said softly, “They killed the Golden Savage Ox and are preparing to return to the Supreme Sky Sect.”
“How can this be?! It has been only five days!” someone exclaimed in shock as the expressions of the three people behind Hua Tianhe changed greatly.