Chapter 162: Beastkin

Xu Feng looked up. Next to the path leading to the Main Peak, stood a creature with a bull’s head and a human body. It wore a ragged piece of linen cloth and held a long bow almost as tall as its own body.

“A Minotaur?” Xu Feng frowned slightly. The Minotaur stood two meters tall, with a burly build. Its muscles bulged all over its body, full of strength.

“Human, this should not be a place for you to step into. You should go back to where you came from.” The Minotaur spoke in standard Chinese, which startled Xu Feng.

“Beastkin Tribe?”

When the Minotaur heard Xu Feng mention the Beastkin Tribe, a look of surprise appeared in its eyes. It put away its long bow, turned around, and left. Soon, its figure disappeared into the mist.

“He just left like that? And he didn’t even take this monster?” Xu Feng felt puzzled.

The Giant Python kept twisting its body, but it was pierced by the crossbow bolt and firmly fixed onto the cliff.

Sssss ~

The python’s flesh and blood continuously rubbed against the crossbow bolt, producing a sharp, grating sound.

“Flying Sword, slash!”

He couldn’t let it regain movement. Now was the time to take its life.

A silver sword light slashed towards the Giant Python. Sparks flew everywhere. Blood oozed from the python’s forehead, and its face turned ferocious as it hissed at Xu Feng. Its barrel-thick body tightened, dodging left and right to avoid the Flying Sword’s attacks.

But its body was pinned to the cliff by the crossbow bolt, limiting its movement. The Flying Sword continuously hacked at its head. Soon, the scales on the python’s head cracked, revealing stark white bone.

Xu Feng felt like he was attacking a mouse trapped in a wind box—the space was narrow, and the opponent couldn’t fight back. Before long, this ancient Giant Python with Four-Star Strength died in frustration, its body stretching out limply, hanging on the cliff wall by the crossbow bolt.

Xu Feng leaped down and used Gathering Art on the python’s corpse.

“Python skin, python meat, python bones. Heh, not bad. These materials are all top quality!” Xu Feng chuckled. A curved horn, as long as an adult’s arm, caught his attention.

“Surprisingly, it’s a Gold Quality material.” Xu Feng said in amazement.

The single horn on the python’s head was actually gathered, and it was a Gold Quality material. If forged, such material could at least become a Gold Quality item. He was going to be rich.

An orange Beast Crystal rested in Xu Feng’s palm. The energy inside felt warm, like holding a piece of warm jade.

A Four-Star Beast Crystal. The monsters here were powerful, comparable to ordinary elites. Leveling up here seemed hardly worth the effort.

However, this place also had Attribute Herbs, which made Xu Feng’s heart stir. One Attribute Herb was equivalent to three or four Beast Crystals. If he could find a few more, his strength would greatly improve. He couldn’t bear to give up.

“And that Minotaur—I originally thought it was a mutated monster, but it turned out to be from the Beastkin Tribe. If possible, I’d really like to make friends with them.” Xu Feng muttered to himself.

Ordinary mutated monsters had intelligence not inferior to humans, but they struggled to learn human language. Most could only speak a few words or simple phrases, finding it hard to express themselves clearly. The Beastkin Tribe was different. Apart from their appearance, they were no different from humans. They were proficient in various languages and even smarter than human elites before the apocalypse.

Each Beastkin Tribe had one or two Beastkin Priests. These Priests were not Earth creatures but aliens. They awakened the intelligence of Earth’s beasts and started the development of the Beastkin Clan. Though not the strongest in power, they were the most respected among the Beastkin Tribe.

In his previous life, Xu Feng had visited a Beastkin Tribe village. The people there were warm and hospitable. However, without an introduction from a Beastkin, many Beastkin would deliberately avoid humans. After becoming Beastkin, they retained their memories from when they were beasts, and held little goodwill toward humans.

There were also quite a few Beastkin who held hostility toward humans. In the eyes of Earth’s Will, if they acknowledged themselves as part of Earth, Beastkin and humans were no different. But if they didn’t acknowledge belonging to Earth, then Beastkin were no different from monsters in Earth’s Will’s view, and it would issue missions to hunt them down.

Xu Feng thought for a while, then continued along the small path toward the Main Peak. Perhaps there was a Beastkin Tribe settlement there. Attribute Herbs seemed common here; maybe he could buy some from the Beastkin Tribe. He just didn’t know if they used Fate Points.

Xu Feng pulled out the crossbow bolt and held it in his hand. If he encountered that Minotaur again, he could return the bolt to him. The crossbow bolt was exquisitely made, engraved with intricate golden patterns that flashed briefly. It didn’t look ordinary. Being able to pierce the scales of a Four-Star Giant Python showed the quality of its material.

Crack!

A bolt of lightning struck from the clear sky, deafening Xu Feng and making his ears ring. He looked up; the top of the Main Peak was shrouded in white mist, with lightning flashing and thunder roaring inside—a terrifying sight.

Just moments ago, the sky was clear and sunny. Now, suddenly, there was lightning and thunder, making Xu Feng hesitate for a moment.

Boom!

A lightning strike hit an Ancient Tree less than five meters away from Xu Feng. Instantly, the tree turned into charcoal and burst into flames, burning like a giant torch.

Xu Feng was terrified. This place was too dangerous; he couldn’t stay long. If such lightning struck him, he would have no chance to dodge—it was too fast.

Xu Feng rushed forward along the path. The originally clear sky gradually darkened. The mist in the sky was slowly replaced by dark clouds. Lightning became more frequent, as if trying to tear the sky apart. The constant thunder made his heart race.

“What kind of place is this? How can it be so dangerous?” Xu Feng thought to himself. “Celestial Garden—the name sounds so beautiful, but in reality, it’s full of lightning and thunder, extremely dangerous. Could this be the Celestial Garden’s defense measure to keep people away?”

“You human, you are too bold, daring to climb the mountain at this time!” A deep voice spoke. It was that Minotaur.

Xu Feng turned to look. Beside him was a cave, with a tall figure blocking the entrance—the same Minotaur from before.

“What is this place? Why is it so terrifying?” Xu Feng ran toward the cave.

“Celestial Garden. Did you think it would be so easy to come here? Mortals who try to spy on the domain of the Celestial will face divine punishment.” The Minotaur showed a strange smile on its face.

“Hurry inside. Lightning like this is incredibly powerful; you cannot withstand it. Even a god would fall if struck.” The Minotaur pulled Xu Feng into the cave.

“This is your crossbow bolt. It looks quite difficult to make, so I retrieved it for you.” Xu Feng handed the bolt over.

The Minotaur grinned and said, “Thank you. I only have three such bolts left; I’ve lost almost all of them. Thank you for picking it up for me.”

The Minotaur seemed quite casual about the bolt, taking it and putting it away without much concern.