333: Chapter 332 Slaying the Ferocious Water Crocodile, Obtaining the Extraordinary Skill [Object Capture]

Chu Xuan walked at the very front, leading the group forward.

According to Lin Jie's premonition, heading toward that distant mountain might lead to danger. This danger wasn't necessarily directed at himself, but if Lin Jie died, it would be a significant loss for Chu Xuan.

Suddenly, with a thought, Chu Xuan took out the paper effigy.

This item, which had been authenticated in the dream using spirituality value, turned out to remain authenticated even after waking up.

However, his own name, written in blood within the dream, had disappeared.

“Whether in a dream or reality, there are no issues with this paper effigy after System authentication. For now, Yan Guofa can be considered tentatively friendly...”

Amidst his thoughts, Chu Xuan did not give the item to Lin Jie. Instead, he cut his fingertip and wrote his own name on the paper effigy.

Lin Jie was certainly important and had high utility value, so Chu Xuan would naturally look after him. However, he wasn't a babysitter; such life-saving items were naturally meant to be kept for himself.

The forest was vast, filled with many bizarrely shaped plants and numerous strange insects the size of basketballs. These insects had a high desire to attack and immediately pounced upon discovering Chu Xuan and the others.

Chu Xuan swung the long blade in his hand repeatedly, creating an airtight defense. He slaughtered them all in an instant without stopping for a moment.

[Your spirituality value +2]

[Your spirituality value +3]

[Your spirituality value +6]

...

These insects, whether in size or speed, appeared to be largely the same.

Initially, Chu Xuan just swung his blade normally and found that killing them did indeed grant spirituality value, but only 2 to 3 points. However, when he activated Nirvana, he discovered that the spirituality value he gained suddenly increased to 4 to 6 points.

This was nearly a twofold increase.

“If it were a Strange Creatures, I should be able to harvest even more spirituality value...”

Chu Xuan's eyes flickered, and he simply activated the Fire of Nirvana to maximize his gains.

In the end, he killed a total of eighteen strange insects. After deducting the consumption of the Fire of Nirvana, he made a net profit of 75 spirituality value.

Chu Xuan's speed didn't falter as he continued leading the group forward.

Over the next fifteen minutes, besides encountering some large insects, they also came across a giant python as thick as a bucket and over forty meters long.

Chu Xuan killed it with a casual strike, gaining 40 spirituality value.

They even encountered a saber-toothed tiger nearly eight meters long. Its roar made the forest tremble as it pounced toward Chu Xuan and the others, but it was still easily cut into two pieces with a single strike.

This big fellow looked very intimidating, but in Chu Xuan's hands, it was no different from a house cat, turning into a pure 45 points of spirituality value.

However, surprisingly, they had been traveling for nearly half an hour.

During this time, although he gained several hundred more points of spirituality value and fully replenished the Slash power stored in his body, his spirituality value eventually reached 4,000 points.

While the harvest was decent, aside from the Blood-Brake Thorns they first encountered, they hadn't come across any other creatures that yielded more than 100 spirituality value upon being slain.

As for monsters capable of magic attacks, or creatures like orcs, dwarves, and elves, they hadn't encountered a single one. This was somewhat inconsistent with what Tan Ziming and the others had described before.

“That shouldn't be right...”

Pang Hu said suspiciously, “The last few times I came in, I would encounter those magic-using monsters very quickly every time. Although dwarves and elves are rarer, it's not hard to see them if you go a bit deeper—at least there should be some traces...”

Tan Ziming and the others nodded, agreeing with Pang Hu.

“This might be related to the danger Lin Jie mentioned...”

Chu Xuan looked out toward the distance.

That towering mountain looked far away, and indeed, it wasn't close for the group at their current pace. Chu Xuan estimated that even at his full speed, it would take at least twenty minutes.

But with these people in tow, and considering the potential incidents they might encounter, it was hard to say.

“Eh? Wait, look over there...”

Xu Shuya suddenly raised her hand and pointed toward a small, clear green pond several dozen meters to the right.

Chu Xuan paused and looked in that direction. His gaze pierced through the gaps in the dense forest ahead, finally landing on a pond about twenty square meters in size next to a cliff, and he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow slightly.

Relying on his high perception from 130 points of Mental Energy, he vaguely felt that something was hidden within the pond, but he couldn't sense it clearly for the moment.

“What's wrong?” Tan Ziming clearly hadn't noticed anything.

“There should be some treasure there...” The corners of Xu Shuya's mouth curled up slightly. “My Treasure Hunting Talent gives me a special feeling; there's something good in that place.”

“Let's go take a look.”

Chu Xuan took the lead in changing direction, heading straight for the small pond dozens of meters away.

“It doesn't seem like anything special, does it?” Pang Hu said hesitantly.

“No...” Xu Shuya suddenly pointed at the cliff face ahead. “Look closely at the cliff behind the pond; there seems to be a cave behind a tree.”

Everyone looked where she pointed and indeed noticed it.

“Shuya, you're reliable!”

Pang Hu gave Xu Shuya a thumbs up, then rolled up his sleeves on both sides. “But there might be something under the water. I'm thick-skinned and meaty, so I'll go scout the way first. You guys back me up...”

As he spoke, Pang Hu took a deep breath and slightly bent his knees, preparing to leap directly across the pond to reach the cliff behind it.

“Don't worry, nothing will happen to you.” Chu Xuan came to the edge of the pond, the Slash power within him ready to be unleashed.

With a short shout, Pang Hu's large body took off like a flying pig. His movements weren't clumsy at all; instead, they showed a hint of agility.

However, just as he crossed half the distance of the pond, a sudden loud bang erupted. The water surface in the center of the pond churned violently, and a huge black shadow lunged out, opening its bloody maw and snapping straight at Pang Hu.

That large mouth seemed to possess a strange suction. Pang Hu gave a strange cry in mid-air as his body plummeted straight down.

Sizzle!!

Right at that moment, a Slash wrapped in Black Flame arrived first, cutting through instantly. The massive figure was sent flying, slicing through layers of water and kicking up surging waves before slamming violently into the cliff behind.

With a splash, Pang Hu fell into the water with a yelp.

Only then did everyone realize that the behemoth embedded halfway into the cliff was a creature that looked like a crocodile.

Compared to a crocodile, however, this thing was not only massive, but its scales shimmered with a metallic luster, and a thick single horn grew from its head. Its eyes were blood-red, carrying a hint of murderous intent.

A deep, long wound appeared on its body, and blood was gushing out.

As if its ferocity had been triggered, the giant croc let out a sky-shaking roar and tried to struggle out of the cliff face. But at that moment, three more Slashes came flying.

Bang! Bang! Bang!!!

The three Slashes boomed, slicing diagonally across the water's surface and instantly cutting the giant croc into several pieces. As the Black Flame spread, the parts of the giant croc's body that fell into the water were burned to nothingness in the blink of an eye.

[You have slain a Marsh Croc, your spirituality value +420]

[You have obtained Transcendent Skill: Object Attraction LV.1]

[Object Attraction LV.1: You can consume spirituality value to telekinetically retrieve items within a 5-meter range.]