"Even with this dagger, it will be very dangerous for you to kill the Black Giant Bear. What compensation do you want?"
Mo Sang looked at Jiang Zuo.
"I don’t need any. I’m only interested in the Black Giant Bear. If I can kill it, its body is mine. Hmm, if possible, I’d also like to take a look at those antique bones you have collected in your village."
"There aren’t many antique bones that would catch my eye; I’m mostly just looking to broaden my horizons. Village Chief, if you’re worried, you can ask around. You’ll find that I’ve only bought a single item since arriving in the village."
Jiang Zuo said, taking the opportunity.
"The Black Giant Bear’s body... It seems you really do know the reason for its massive change."
Mo Sang sighed.
"Village Chief Mo, let’s not beat around the bush. The thing on the Black Giant Bear is very useful to me, and I’m determined to get it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be taking this risk."
"And if I don’t make a move, Village Chief, your only option is to wait for the Da Xi court to send aid. But that won’t be for another half a month. In the meantime, anything could happen."
"If you’re unlucky and that Black Giant Bear realizes it’s invincible here, it will be too late by the time someone from the Da Xi court arrives to eliminate the threat."
"And let’s take a step back. Even if a Martial Artist from the Da Xi court arrives in time and kills the Black Giant Bear, you don’t really think you’ll be able to hold onto that thing, do you?"
Jiang Zuo said calmly.
He wasn’t lying. Even with Mo Sang’s dagger, facing the Black Giant Bear was extremely dangerous. Who would do it for no reward?
As for whether Mo Sang would agree, Jiang Zuo wasn’t worried at all.
For Cowherding Village, there were only two paths before he showed up.
One was to wait for rescue from the Da Xi court. The other was to abandon the land their ancestors had lived on for generations and flee their home.
Of course, there was a third outcome: the Black Giant Bear could awaken, realize its power was unmatched here, and slaughter Cowherding Village.
No matter which path they took, Cowherding Village would ultimately lose the Desolate Heaven Beast Bone Armor.
Letting Jiang Zuo help also meant losing the Desolate Heaven Beast Bone Armor, but the loss would undoubtedly be the smallest.
As the village chief, it was impossible for Mo Sang not to understand this.
"I understand. Let’s do it that way."
Mo Sang pondered for a moment before finally letting out a sigh.
With the terms settled, Jiang Zuo asked Mo Sang for a few hunters skilled in tracking to help find the Black Giant Bear’s trail, then left with the dagger.
Watching Jiang Zuo’s departing figure, Mo Sang couldn’t help but sigh again, long and deep.
"Grandpa, did the guest leave? Can you play with me now?"
His granddaughter, Yu, popped her head out from the doorway, her cute face appearing as she asked in a bright voice.
"Yes, I can. What do you want to play, Yu?"
Mo Sang beckoned Yu over, patting her head and asking with a smile.
As he spoke, his thoughts began to drift.
’Not many in the village now know that in ancient times, our village was actually called Beast God Village.
After the emissary from the Da Xi nation arrived, our ancestors realized they couldn’t bear the weight of that name. If word got out, there was no telling how many people it would attract. Even if the first emissary from Da Xi didn’t discover the village’s secret, someone among those who came later eventually would. So, our ancestors followed the Da Xi emissary’s lead and gave the village the most ordinary name imaginable. The name Cowherding Village really worked. Even when word of our belief in the Beast God spread, few people took any interest.
But our ancestors had dared to call themselves Beast God Village and had maintained their steadfast faith for generations. This was because of another legend, one kept secret within the village. The object of veneration in the ancestral land had descended from the heavens in ancient times. This object possessed an incredible power and held an irresistible allure for wild beasts. The rule, passed down to this day, of having a villager guard the ancestral land each day was originally established to prevent wild beasts from breaking in and stealing the venerated object. The object’s power was too savage for humans; touching it meant instant death. But if it was venerated in the ancestral land for a thousand years, its violent nature would be cleansed, its attraction to beasts would diminish, and it would become usable by humans. At that time, the people of Beast God Village would achieve enlightenment, and all their kin would ascend with them.
But a thousand years was far too long for humans, who live for less than a century. In the interim, due to various reasons—especially after the arrival of Da Xi’s emissaries—the situation changed drastically. With more contact with the outside world, the number of secularized people in the village increased rapidly. Many of the village’s secrets gradually became known only to the few who still kept the faith. Take guarding the ancestral land, for example; many young people no longer knew why it had to be done.
Despite this, the danger of the venerated object being lost was always present. Just over two hundred years ago, a young man with an extraordinary air came to Beast God Village. Somehow, this young man discovered the extraordinariness of the venerated object in the ancestral land. He walked right in, and the villagers were powerless to stop him. But he didn’t take their clan’s hope. He merely looked at the venerated object and said, "What a pity." Mo Sang’s own ancestor could never forget that moment, speaking of it constantly before he died. After the young man left, he left behind the sharp dagger as an apology for trespassing in the ancestral land.
It was said that the dagger was once incomparably sharp, able to slice through iron as if it were mud. But after more than two hundred years, eroded by time, the dagger was no longer what it once was. Its sharpness had been greatly diminished. Otherwise, Mo Sang wouldn’t have needed to hire an outsider; he might have been able to kill the Black Giant Bear himself.
But it was useless to talk about it now. We were less than a hundred years away from the thousand-year mark, yet Beast God Village failed to become Beast God Village. All our efforts have come to nothing, falling short at the final hurdle.
Secularization. It was all because of secularization!’ Mo Sang lamented internally.
’If it weren’t for secularization, the venerated object wouldn’t have been lost.’
But then, Mo Sang gave a self-deprecating laugh.
’If the old ancestors were here, they would have done anything to protect the venerated object in the ancestral land. They certainly wouldn’t be like me, willingly offering it to an outsider as a reward for killing the Black Giant Bear.
But, to make my son, my daughter-in-law, and my adorable granddaughter pay for it with their lives...
Absolutely not!’
...
With the help of a few hunters, it didn’t take Jiang Zuo long to find the Black Giant Bear.
The Black Giant Bear had come to a stream to drink again.
Just as it finished drinking and lifted its head, two streaks of dark light shot toward its face.
A familiar feeling!
The Black Giant Bear expertly squeezed its eyes shut.
BANG! BANG!
With two muffled thuds, searing pain shot through the Black Giant Bear’s eyes. That familiar feeling was back again.
Damn it!
The Black Giant Bear roared again and again in fury.
But in the instant it was blinded, Jiang Zuo’s figure flickered, and in the blink of an eye, he was before the Black Giant Bear.
Leaping up from the ground, Jiang Zuo viciously stabbed the dagger in his hand into the Black Giant Bear’s right arm.
A gash was torn in the Black Giant Bear’s iron-hard skin, but it wasn’t as deep as Jiang Zuo had expected.
’Sure enough, this thing is getting stronger!’
The village’s Skin Refining Martial Artists could injure the Black Giant Bear with this same dagger. Jiang Zuo’s strength was far greater than theirs, yet he could only inflict a shallow wound.
It was clear the Black Giant Bear’s power had skyrocketed over the past few days.
It was just a cut, far from a fatal wound.
But for Jiang Zuo, it was enough.
Through the wound, Jiang Zuo saw a black, bony scale, about the size of a fingernail, embedded in the Black Giant Bear’s arm.
The Desolate Heaven Beast Bone Armor!
’So it’s just a single bony scale!’
"ROAR!"
Injured and still blind, the Black Giant Bear swiped viciously with its left paw.
But before it could grab him, Jiang Zuo thrust his hand into the wound on the bear’s arm, his fingers pinching the Desolate Heaven Beast Bone Armor.
[Do you wish to absorb the Obsession Relic ’Desolate Heaven Beast Bone Armor’?]
A prompt instantly appeared before Jiang Zuo’s eyes.
’Absorb!’
Jiang Zuo had been waiting for this moment and responded instantly.
In the next instant, the Desolate Heaven Beast Bone Armor embedded in the Black Giant Bear’s arm vanished.
Jiang Zuo felt the world around him fall suddenly silent.
The Black Giant Bear stopped roaring. Its left paw, which had been just about to grab him, froze in midair.
A gust of wind blew past, and the Black Giant Bear’s enormous body turned to ash, scattering on the breeze and settling on the ground.
’How terrifying!
Is this the consequence of using the power of the Desolate Heaven Beast Bone Armor?’
Jiang Zuo was silent.
He had been hoping to get some blood from the Black Giant Bear.
Its blood could probably have been used for a second bloodline enhancement.
’A bit of a shame.
Still, I’ve got a new Obsession Relic!’
Jiang Zuo eagerly looked at his status panel.
Obsession Relic: Desolate Heaven Beast Bone Armor
--Desolate Heaven Beast Bone Armor: A Ninth-Tier Obsession Relic! A bony scale from a Desolate Celestial Beast. It desperately craves the blood of Spirit Beasts. Offer it Spirit Beast Blood to obtain the Beast Soul Power contained within!
Jiang Zuo scanned it with a glance and was stunned.
’A Ninth-Tier Obsession Relic!
This is insane!
Is this something I can actually obtain?
Just how much Beast Soul Power can a Ninth-Tier Obsession Relic provide?’
He looked again at the requirements.
Spirit Beast Blood. He couldn’t get any now, but it wouldn’t be too difficult once he was strong enough to come into contact with the Cultivation World.
After all, it just required Spirit Beast Blood; there was no tier requirement.
High Tier ones would be hard to find, but there would be more than enough low-tier ones.
"Huh, there’s a new quest? ...What the fuck!"
Jiang Zuo’s eyes scanned to the bottom of the panel, where he was surprised to find a new quest.
He stared at it and couldn’t help but let out a curse.
Active Quests:
1. Successfully cause a Pet Beast to undergo Mutation.
2. Offer one hundred portions of First-Tier Mutated Spirit Beast Blood to the Desolate Heaven Beast Bone Armor.
’This is beyond insane!
One hundred portions of First-Tier Mutated Spirit Beast blood!
How am I supposed to get that?’