Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Soul Kind·Fighting Tiger, Open Manipulation and Temptation_1
"Fortunately, it wasn’t the worst-case scenario," Wang Linchi thought, finding a Soul Kind on the other Tiger Demon’s body.
It was an Excellent Level Soul Kind named Fighting Tiger, a dual-series wind and metal Soul Kind, and also a pure battle-class Soul Kind of immense value.
[Wind/Metal Series Soul Kind·Fighting Tiger (Excellent Level)]
[Fierce Tiger Strike: Rapidly charge toward an enemy, using full force to smash the target and inflict significant damage.]
[Tiger Claw: Enhances strength.]
[Tiger Skin: Enhances skin toughness.]
It had one active attack effect, one attribute that enhanced strength, and another that improved skin toughness.
The Fierce Tiger Strike was a wind-series Soul Seed Effect, while the other two attributes were metal-series.
The Fierce Tiger Strike, in particular, combined displacement, control, and damage.
"The more I look at this, the more I want to complete the mission," Wang Linchi sighed. He was unsure if it was because this super-Gigantic Secret Realm inherently possessed such abundant resources, or because his first foray, being a pioneering one, had yielded such plentiful Soul Kinds and rewards.
This Fighting Tiger Soul Kind alone was worth at least 5,000,000. If he were to trade it, he might be able to exchange it for a Natural Treasure that could help break through the White Porcelain Level Mental Power Capacity Limit.
Only the Tiger Skin effect was slightly inferior, merely enhancing skin toughness. If it increased Defense, it would have been even better.
Furthermore, Wang Linchi had also scoured the tigers’ dwelling, acquiring quite a few items, including gold, silver, jewels, some books, and more.
There were also resources for Cultivation and Natural Treasures.
"There are three Natural Treasures that can help break through the Black Iron Level Mental Power Capacity Limit, and an impressive seventeen for the White Porcelain Level. It’s a pity more were ruined by the tigers; otherwise, there would have been even more."
"However, after this encounter, my Mental Strength Breakthrough to the White Porcelain Level is assured."
"Ugh... this means I still need to complete the basic mission of the Secret Realm, otherwise I won’t be able to take these items out. I can’t even use them all up immediately."
If it were just Soul Kinds, I wouldn’t mind losing them; after all, they’re only Excellent Level, Wang Linchi thought.
But he couldn’t bear to part with these Natural Treasures. Besides being strategic resources for breaking through the Mental Power Capacity Limit, many were also auxiliary for Cultivation.
For instance, the corpses of the two tigers—from flesh and bone to blood—were all resources. Wang Linchi dismembered them and stashed everything into his Storage Treasures.
There were also Soul Devices. While no match for the Soul Soup Bowl, they still held considerable value.
"Damn it, this is forcing me to complete the mission!" Wang Linchi realized he could use these resources directly, but with only a year, he couldn’t spend all his time cultivating in hiding.
The entire super-Gigantic Secret Realm was a treasure trove, especially since it hadn’t yet been plundered by the various powers of the Dajing Dynasty. Even if resources weren’t exactly lying everywhere, with good management, even someone at the Black Iron Level could achieve a Mental Strength Breakthrough.
The vast potential benefits constantly tempted Wang Linchi, urging him to go restore the golden body of the Buddha statue in the Rooster Crow Temple.
This task wasn’t without its own rewards either; it would surely come with substantial benefits.
"No wonder the Court values this super-Gigantic Secret Realm so highly and vigorously develops and supports Battle Class Soul Awakeners."
Wang Linchi now understood the reasoning. With such immense benefits on the line, even someone like him, who usually avoided conflict, found it hard to resist.
The Secret Realm’s strategy was an overt temptation with benefits.
You can choose not to follow the mission, but then you can’t take anything you obtain within the Secret Realm out with you. It would be like a sightseeing trip where your life is constantly at risk. Who could endure that?
After inventorying his gains, Wang Linchi finally descended the mountain.
With the death of the two tigers, the Ghouls connected to their life force naturally dissipated. Even the Ghoul in Wang Linchi’s Soul Soup Bowl vanished.
This made him feel rather unlucky.
Although a Ghoul was a ghost spirit, it was also a derivative of the tiger.
"But speaking of which, why did that tiger choose to eat me instead of the other dead tiger?"
"From either a risk or nutritional standpoint, I was inferior to the dead tiger."
"It couldn’t be the so-called principle of ’not eating one’s own kind,’ could it?"
Wang Linchi was somewhat perplexed but didn’t dwell on it. For him, investigating this was less important than investigating the Rooster Crow Temple.
With the threat of the tigers eliminated in the mountains, Wang Linchi was no longer in such a rush.
"I’ve been delayed for most of the day; I should head back to the ruined temple to rest for now," Wang Linchi thought, looking at the sky.
It was already afternoon; he definitely wouldn’t make it to the village marked on the map by nightfall.
If the black rain fell again tonight, it would be inherently unsafe, even with his Suo Yi.
The best solution is to stay another night in the ruined temple and, while I’m at it, investigate if this temple is the Rooster Crow Temple.
Since I’ve decided to do the mission, I can’t afford to be lax.
The journey back was smooth, with no further incidents.
He didn’t need to worry about getting lost either; he had the map and route formed by the Thought Mirror, so he just had to retrace his steps.
"Damn, I still have to deal with the bodies."
Upon returning to the ruined temple, Wang Linchi saw the corpses of the dart masters scattered about and only then remembered this task.
Since I’m going to stay here, I definitely can’t just leave the bodies lying around in the temple. It would be unsettling to sleep at night.
Burial is out of the question. With my current physical condition, digging a pit large enough for a dozen or so bodies... not to mention I don’t have tools and digging by hand would take forever, even if I had tools, I probably couldn’t manage it.
Use the Long Knife? No way. That’s a Soul Device, useful for self-defense, and I can sell it for money later.
Why should I damage the appearance of a Soul Device for a few strangers?
I’ll just drag them out back and dump them somewhere.
I’m no saint, nor am I someone who’d go around showing kindness in a strange environment. I can barely take care of myself, let alone a pile of corpses. I don’t have the time or inclination for that.
After dealing with the bodies, Wang Linchi finally breathed a sigh of relief. He started a fire, took out some tiger meat, and began roasting it.
Although this isn’t as tasty as the snacks I brought, it can aid my Cultivation, so that’s good enough.
Not everything in its natural state tastes good. Modern seasonings applied to ancient ingredients could easily surpass the skills of any great chef from that era.
Unfortunately, I didn’t bring any seasonings.
"So tough... and it tastes awful," Wang Linchi muttered after taking a bite. He found it incredibly hard to chew but eventually forced it down.
The large chunk of tiger meat in his stomach made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Nevertheless, the effects were fantastic. After all, this was a tiger comparable to the Mountain Copper Level; its nutritional value was self-evident.
Even though eating it like this is a bit of a waste, I’m happy with it.
"This huge piece of meat will probably take at least ten days to fully digest. It’s like an alternative form of Fasting, I guess," Wang Linchi quipped to himself.
Meat from Extraordinary creatures far stronger than him wasn’t so easily digested. Of course, over these ten days, a continuous stream of nourishment would be supplied to Wang Linchi’s body for his Cultivation. It wasn’t as if the digestion would complete instantly on the tenth day, skipping the intermediate process to deliver the results all at once.
Digesting this tiger meat was a gradual process.
"I knew I should have eaten less. I’m so full it’s uncomfortable," Wang Linchi sighed.