67: Chapter 67 Deep into the Beast Forest

The resources on the outskirts of the Savage Beast Forest were even more abundant than Wang Sheng had anticipated. While clearing out the Savage Beasts along the Shadow Beast Path, the team was also systematically collecting the precious resources of the Savage Beast Forest.

Before setting out, Wang Sheng had established a rule: it was not just a simple extermination. Every Savage Beast carcass had to be carefully processed, and every spirit herb had to have its location marked. The Savage Continent did not support idlers; every bit of resource in Guangming Village had to be used where it mattered most.

Savage Beast cores were the first type of harvest. Although the cores from low-rank Savage Beasts were not of high quality, their quantity was astonishing.

Every time they cleared an area, Xiao Yuqing and the Elf Archer would find thumb-sized, grayish-white cores in the cranial cavities of the Savage Beasts. These were the condensed forms of the Savage Beasts' spiritual power. Although their quality was only F to E rank, they were an indispensable source of spiritual power for the infrastructure of Guangming Village. The irrigation system for the spirit fields needed the cores to drive it, the Spirit Rune reinforcements on the defensive walls needed the cores for charging, and even the delicate spirit flowers in Su Mengyao's Spirit Garden needed core powder as a base fertilizer for the spirit soil.

Liu Ruyan had already packed over thirty of them in her bag. The heavy pouch of spirit stones swung at her waist like a bag of seeds bestowed by the gods of the Savage Continent.

Spirit herbs were the second type of harvest. Before setting out, Hua Jieyu had specifically given Liu Ruyan a crash course. The Hundred Herb Medical Immortal had condensed her experience in identifying spirit herbs into a palm-sized spirit herb manual, carved with spiritual power onto a piece of Savage Beast hide.

Liu Ruyan kept the manual hidden in a secret pocket against her chest, opening it to compare notes every so often. Her Phantom Assassin vision proved immensely useful when identifying spirit herbs. Those spirit herbs hidden beneath moss, in rock crevices, or at the roots of dead trees appeared to ordinary people as nothing more than green plants indistinguishable from weeds. But in Liu Ruyan's misty, smoke-like eyes, the unique faint glow of spiritual power from the spirit herbs was like fireflies in the dark, with nowhere to hide.

The jade heart herb, a rare spirit herb they had discovered in the Savage Beast Forest for the first time, was found again by Liu Ruyan by a stream—seven of them this time. Their emerald green leaves bore silver-blue patterns, resembling jade soaked in moonlight.

Dragon Blood Vine, a dark red vine twining around the trunks of ancient trees, would bleed a crimson sap like dragon blood when snapped. It was a superior medicinal material for treating internal and external injuries, and a bundle had already been added beside Xiao Yuqing's quiver.

The wild variety of frost moon orchid was sturdier than those cultivated in Su Mengyao's Spirit Garden. Its silver-blue petals in the shadows of the forest looked just like stars that had fallen to the mortal world. Liu Ruyan carefully dug out three plants, roots and soil intact, and wrapped the roots in spirit vines. Hua Jieyu had said that the medicinal efficacy of wild frost moon orchids was twice that of the artificially cultivated ones.

Savage Beast hides and bones were the third type of harvest. Murong Xue and Xiao Yuqing were responsible for processing the carcasses of every Savage Beast. The Holy Light Knight's Holy Light spear was not only a sharp weapon on the battlefield, but it also functioned like a delicate scalpel when processing Savage Beast hides and bones. Silver spiritual power wrapped around the spear tip, cutting precisely along the grain of the Savage Beast's flesh, peeling the intact Savage Beast hide from the carcass. High-quality Savage Beast hides were superior materials for making defensive armor, especially the hides of Savage Beasts above Barbarian Warrior Rank 2, as their toughness and spiritual conductivity far exceeded ordinary animal hides.

Rune Forgemaster Xu Mohan had instructed before they set out: "Do not waste a single piece of complete animal hide from Savage Beasts above Barbarian Warrior Rank 2. With the Weapon Refinement Workshop, these hides will be our armor."

The most unexpected harvest for Wang Sheng came from Liu Ruyan's eyes. When the team was resting under a cliff, Liu Ruyan climbed up the rock face silently. The Phantom Assassin's figure on the cliff resembled a gecko, every movement as light as a breeze brushing over stone. She discovered something in a crack in the cliff. "Chieftain," her voice drifted down from above the cliff, uncharacteristically carrying a hint of irrepressible excitement.

Liu Ruyan leaped down from the cliff, holding a fist-sized, dark gray ore in her hands. The surface of the ore was rough, but one could faintly see fine, silver-gray patterns embedded within it. In the dappled sunlight of the forest, those patterns looked like frozen lightning.

"Dark Iron Ore." Liu Ruyan's voice was like a cold wind in the dark night, but the end of her sentence rose slightly. This was the first time Wang Sheng had heard such an excited tone from the Phantom Assassin. "It is not in Hua Jieyu's spirit herb manual, but I saw it last time at a Shadow Clan stronghold. The Shadow Clan uses Dark Iron Ore to forge weapons. The hardness of this ore is three times that of ordinary iron ore, and it can naturally conduct spiritual power." She looked at Wang Sheng, a sharp light flashing in her misty, smoke-like eyes. "If we can mine it in large quantities, Rune Forgemaster Xu Mohan will be able to forge Barbarian Warrior-grade weapons."

Wang Sheng took the Dark Iron Ore; it felt heavy and carried a hint of coolness in his palm. He clenched his fist. "Mark the location." Liu Ruyan nodded and had already carved a Shadow mark on the cliff that only a Phantom Assassin could recognize. "Once the Weapon Refinement Workshop is built, I will bring people to mine it."

White Deer walked on the right flank of the team. The Deer Spirit Archer was in her element in the Savage Beast Forest. Her beast ears were always slightly pricked, and her golden eyes resembled two tiny golden lanterns in the dim forest. Every so often, she would crouch down and brush her fingers over the beast tracks on the ground—not the dark purple patterns of the Shadow Beast Path, but the footprints and droppings left by ordinary Savage Beasts.

"Savage Beasts occupy different areas according to their rank, like water, having both shallow and deep zones." The Deer Spirit Archer's voice carried the unique softness of her kind, but every word was clear and firm. The beast races had a far deeper understanding of the Savage Beast Forest than the human race. "The outskirts are the shallow water zone for Barbarian Warrior Rank 1 to 3. Where we are standing now, further in is the deep water zone for Barbarian Warrior Rank 4 to 6. That is where it is truly dangerous." Her golden eyes swept over the surrounding ancient trees. "Most Savage Beasts in the shallow water zone move in small groups and do not have strong territorial instincts because resources are relatively abundant and they do not need to defend them to the death. But the deep water zone is different. Savage Beasts above Barbarian Warrior Rank 4 are all solitary. They each occupy a territory and do not allow any intruders."

She looked at Wang Sheng. "The Ink-scaled Python is the lord at the entrance of the deep water zone. It is the dividing line between the outskirts and the core area of the Savage Beast Forest. Only by defeating it can we enter the true depths of the Savage Beast Forest."

The Deer Spirit Archer's intuition was like a precise sensory net in the forest. She could not only sense the location and rank of Savage Beasts but also determine their species, habits, and activity patterns through tracks and scents. This was an instinct accumulated by the beast races over thousands of years of survival in the Savage Continent. They naturally belonged to this savage wilderness, and as a descendant of the Deer Spirit Tribe, White Deer's perception was especially blessed by the gods of the Savage Continent.

"In this area, the activity tracks of the Savage Beasts are about thirty percent denser than normal." The Deer Spirit Archer's beast ears twitched slightly. "The Shadow Clan's driving net is pushing the Savage Beasts in one direction." "Which direction?" Wang Sheng asked. White Deer closed her eyes, her golden eyes hidden behind her eyelids. Her antlers glowed with a warm, white light in the dappled sunlight, like two spirit wands lit by the gods of the Savage Continent. "The north." She opened her eyes.