Chapter 219: Chapter 219: The River, It Will Guide Our Direction
After confirming that the Light Brain messages could be sent out, the advance team’s captain breathed a sigh of relief, strapped the wireless equipment on his back, turned around, and said to Qian Qi, "The signal connection is successful, we can continue deeper into the instance."
Qian Qi also put away the Light Brain, pointed towards the west, and said, "Let’s go that way."
The group headed towards the black beast bones, initially thinking they would reach it in an hour. Unexpectedly, despite the gigantic beast skeleton that almost covered the sky being visible to them, after walking for nearly two hours, the distance to the skeleton remained fixed, as if they hadn’t moved at all.
"Strange, are we caught in a ghost wall?" The advance team’s captain stopped in his tracks, observing the scenery around them, quite sure they hadn’t been walking in circles. If it couldn’t be classified as a ghost wall, this was the first time he’d encountered such a weird situation.
Su Ang slightly released his spiritual power, and after a moment, a hint of contemplation flashed in his pitch-black eyes, "Here... there are residual spiritual powers from a high-level magical beast."
"A Spiritual Magical Beast?" The advance team’s captain immediately became alert, releasing a mental barrier in his teammates’ brain areas, and drew the jet-black C-level long blade hanging at his waist.
Qian Qi’s eyes momentarily drifted over to the C-level long blade.
"Not a Spiritual Magical Beast, just residual spiritual power," Su Ang thought briefly, "Generally speaking, only Spiritual Magical Beasts above B-level can leave behind spiritual power in the air after using too much. But even so, it usually dissipates after a while."
The spiritual power he sensed now was quite different; this kind of spiritual power was dense, lingering in the air for a long time, as if something continually replenished it, warning other beasts to stay away...
The advance team’s captain released some spiritual power too and noticed this peculiarity, exchanging a glance with Su Ang, "Has Commander Su ever encountered such a situation before?"
Su Ang shook his head, "We’ve walked for two hours without encountering any beasts, perhaps it has something to do with this residual spiritual power."
"What should we do now?" the captain asked.
Su Ang turned his head to look at Qian Qi, only to find her staring in a daze at the C-level long blade. He had to turn her head back, "Qian Qi, do you want to go to the beast bones?"
Reluctantly, Qian Qi withdrew her gaze and pointed behind the beast bones, "To the golden grassland."
Su Ang used a telescope for a while, discovering that to enter that golden grassland, they must pass through the beast bones. Even if they took a detour, he couldn’t confirm whether they were really taking the right path.
To make matters worse, the residual spiritual power permeating the air interfered even with his S-Class Spiritual Power; it was the first time Su Ang encountered such a situation.
"Don’t worry, let’s keep walking along this river," Qian Qi observed the group’s helplessness, pointed to the nearby Lanxi River, and spoke in a tone as deep and profound as an enlightened monk, "The river will lead us."
Advance team: ...
Su Ang: ...
"Let’s keep moving," Su Ang was the first to look away, commanding.
Members of the advance team exchanged looks, seeing resignation in each other’s eyes, but having no choice, they followed along.
"On what basis do you confirm that following the river will definitely lead us to the beast bones?" Su Ang lowered his gaze to Qian Qi, curious about her reasoning.
"Although there are no magical beasts lurking here, this place is always filled with Cannibal Fish," Qian Qi pulled a dried, dead blue Cannibal Fish from her sack, squatted by the river, and dangled the fish tail. In no time, several Cannibal Fish broke the water’s surface, biting into the dead fish.
"So, following Lanxi River is definitely the right choice."
As long as it’s not an Illusion Realm, the presence of living creatures signifies reality and can be trusted.
As Qian Qi expected, after walking another hour and a half, the group finally found that the black beast bones had drawn nearer. But the weather suddenly turned gray and murky, with a serpentine, slimy cold feeling making their bodies uncomfortable.
Not only that, as they approached the black beast bones, scattered white bones became more abundant. Judging by their age, they were long worn, covered in grass-green moss, and some even sported clusters of variously colored small fungi.
"These magical beasts didn’t die of old age... they were killed." The advance team’s captain couldn’t help but remark.
Qian Qi asked with great interest, "What makes you say that?"
"The fractures on the bones indicate that they suffered severe injuries before death," the advance team’s captain surveyed the surroundings, "They were clearly different kinds of beasts, yet many bones share similar fractures, likely wounded by the same enemy. Preliminary judgment suggests they were besieging a more powerful beast."
Hearing this, Qian Qi instinctively glanced at the distant, enormous black beast bones.
Could "it" have killed them?
Qian Qi couldn’t be sure, as she wasn’t a Magic Beast Doctor, thus unable to confirm whether the death dates of these bones matched the beast bones. Yet...
Qian Qi scurried to a carcass broken into seven or eight pieces, raising her hand to pinch it.
Hmm... the bone is incredibly hard... likely C-level Demon Beast bones. Although prolonged weathering and fungal erosion have reduced its hardness somewhat to below Quasi-C-level, it’s still better than a D-level Long Blade.
Qian Qi waved at the advance team’s captain, "Hey there, can I borrow your knife?"
The advance team’s captain had no idea what Qian Qi intended but handed over the C-level long blade. The next second, he saw Qian Qi, with a ferocious expression, raise the blade and chop down the longest, thickest bone from the magical beast skeleton with a "crack"!
Advance Team Captain: !!!
Friend, you scared me!
After chopping off the long bone, Qian Qi set it on the ground, raised the long blade, and sliced off the small fungi. Then, she polished the bone until it was shiny and white.
Testing the feel in her hand, Qian Qi was very satisfied and only then returned the long blade to the advance team’s captain, "Let’s go."
With only a D-level retractable long blade on her belt, she felt somewhat unsettled. Now, with a C-level bone rod, she was filled with a sense of security.
She just wondered, would the magical beast bone make a good soup... perhaps she’d make some for the Moon Silver Mother Wolf to try after going back...
With these thoughts, Qian Qi followed the advance team, finally arriving beneath the black beast bones.
At some point, the warm light returned, dispelling the previous slimy dampness. The gigantic and distinct skeleton cast a shadow from above. The group looked around and discovered that the black beast bones, broader than a grown person’s body, were also covered in green moss.
Robustly growing Magic Plant Vines crept along the beast bones, blooming with vividly colored exotic flowers. They bowed down, caressing curious tentacle-like appendages akin to inquisitive little babies, silently observing today’s visitors, or like a coiled snake ready to strike, raising its forked tongue to threaten its prey with "hiss-es."
"Be careful, something feels off," the advance team’s captain had just opened his mouth to speak when there was a nearby "bang bang bang" sound. He turned in fright to see Qian Qi, with her freshly shaved large bone rod, tapping one of the black beast bones left and right.
Then, he and Qian Qi watched in shock as the C-level large bone rod shattered into two upon contact with the black beast bone.
"My bone! My freshly shaved bone!" Qian Qi suddenly dropped to her knees, overwhelmed with heartache, "I only tapped it three times! How could it break?"