The sky was blue and the tree branches overhead criss-crossed.
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As they continued forward, Zhen Jin and Zi Di felt the temperature dropping rapidly.
The next time they found a place with a wide field of vision, Zhen Jin observed the distant landscape and surprisingly discovered a trail in the snow.
“That mountain is covered in snow. What the hell, this island actually has snowy mountains!”
According to the Hog’s Kiss’s route, this island was clearly located somewhere in the tropics. Rainforests were the norm, but here there are not only forests but also snowy mountains. And according to Huang Zao’s description, there was also a desert.
“My lord look, those are Huang Zao’s footprints!”
Zi Di made a new discovery.
Zhen Jin looked carefully before nodding in confirmation: “We are close to finding him and perhaps the rest of the exploration team is with him.”
They adjusted their route.
Because during their trek, they not only discovered Huang Zao’s footprints but also the markings left behind by the exploration team.
There were pine trees blocking their path ahead, so Zhen Jin held up his long hilted sickle and cut branches one after the other to the ground and continued walking forward.
This sickle was made from a bent spider leg.
In addition, Zhen Jin with the help of Zi Di made a few spider leg spears and a spider leg longsword.
These newly made weapons were extremely sharp and made Zhen Jin’s and Zi Di’s journey much easier.
After the battle with the spiders, Zhen Jin’s weapons arsenal had received a tremendous upgrade for the first time.
The quality of a steel sword was actually inferior to the spider sword.
If it were in the past, Zhen Jin would have been very happy, but now he didn’t care as much.
These days, he was always pondering his recent transformation. His hands had suddenly transformed into the claws of a monkey bear, allowing him to pierce the spider and burn the ferocious beast’s insides with a single fatal blow.
After the event, he didn’t tell Zi Di the truth but rather clumsily beat around the bush.
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But Zi Di didn’t continue to question it.
His fiance was good at understanding others,
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which filled Zhen Jin’s heart full of complex emotions.
But what exactly was going on?
The first thing Zhen Jin thought of was the transformation magic.
Druids could turn into wolves, bears, or even dragons. Mages also have transformation methods and thieves have methods of camouflage.
“Don’t tell me that I am not only a templar knight but also hold other occupations?”
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Zhen Jin soon debunked this guess.
Because regardless of the kind of magic, it still required a casting process.
However his hands had transformed naturally without any casting.
Don’t forget, this island also prohibited the usage of low-level magic and battle qi.
“So, is it a bloodline awakening then?”
Nobles possessed extraordinary bloodlines and these bloodlines were often accompanied by very distinct characteristics.
For example, the lineage of the sacred bloodline which Emperor Sheng Ming possesed, the members of this lineage all had silver white pupils and grew snow white wings.
Half-bloods with elven and human blood had pointy ears.
Nobles possessing demon or devil bloodlines usually had horns on their heads.
“But, why did my hands look like the monkey bear’s?”
Could it be that Zhen Jin awakened the bloodline of a bear?
Leaving aside whether he had such a bloodline, wasn’t it a bit too coincidental?
“Therefore, the biggest possibility is that Zi Di used a temporary potion to save me?”
Zhen Jin guessed that the irreplicable life saving potion was most likely a transformation potion!
Because at the time, Zi Di imbued Zhen Jin’s body with a large quantity of monkey bear blood.
Blood was also a main ingredient in transformation potions.
Perhaps when his life was saved, the transformation effects were hidden in his body. Only when he faced the spider and was at the verge of death, did the effects of the potion activate in that critical moment.
Zhen Jin felt this was the most likely possibility and the subsequent guesses became more of a theory.
“Are there still parts of the transformation potion remaining?”
“Can it activate for a second time?”
“If it can, how long will it last?”
Zhen Jin hoped he was still capable of activating this change.
Because it was a hidden trump card.
This was an extraordinary trump card that Zhen Jin relied on to kill a terrifying silver level beast!
Even if there were various factors which led up to it, it was impossible to deny that the claws had a terrifying offensive power.
As for the consequences of taking this transformation potion, like eroding his strength or contaminating his bloodline, Zhen Jin could only cast them to the side for the time being.
He did not have the privilege to care about such things right now!
He would do anything to ensure survival.
These hidden dangers could be purified by a temple priest in the future when they were safe.
The wind blew.
The trees rustled as the forest gave off a mixture of dark, lush and light green colors.
The wind seemed to blow from the snowy mountains as it caused the temperature to drop sharply.
This did not trouble Zhen Jin and Zi Di.
Although their clothes were thin, they were carrying many lumps of hot ore.
They continued to follow the traces.
A gently flowing mountain spring appeared before them.
“This should be groundwater.” Zhen Jin guessed after observing, “The spring water is very clear and cold.”
He was in no hurry to drink despite the fact that their water reserves had dropped to a dangerously low level.
Water sources in the wilderness were not so safe. Taking the risk to drink this water would most likely endanger one’s life.
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“There are many animal tracks here. There shouldn’t be an issue.” Zi Di’s finger touched the surrounding soil then her expression suddenly changed, “Wait a minute, Lord Zhen Jin, look over here.”
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They saw a large number of human footprints on the other side of the stream.
The many footprints around the stream made it clear that there were once a lot of people crouching to gather the spring water from here.
“Excellent, it seems these footprints are still fresh. It seems the exploration team is nearby. But for now, we need to first fill up our empty water bags.” Zhen Jin said.
They started collecting water.
They had fortunately found water canteens, without them, exploring the wilderness would be too hard.
Zi Di crouched on the ground and stretched out her arm to open the small opening of the water canteen to its maximum width as she filled it with water.
Zhen Jin had an elegant posture as he gathered water.
He didn’t immerse himself in gathering water but had his head raised as he glanced from time to time at his surroundings as he filled the canteen with water.
The wilderness had many ferocious beasts that were good at lying in wait
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at water sources. They would wait until their prey lowered their guard while drinking water and attacked with lightning speed and hunted them.
Human armies also had similar training.
While drinking or filling water, always keep your heads up to prevent enemy sneak attacks.
As a result, when the enemy appeared, Zhen Jin was the first to detect it and quickly warned Zi Di.
The two stood up quickly.
One, two, three…
There were some figures in the forest. while there were others standing high up on the rocks, and even some faintly discernible
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in the underbrush.
The couple found themselves quickly surrounded.
Many of these people wore sailor clothing and had tanned faces from overexposure
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to the sun. They were mostly armed with scimitars but also had swords, spears, and even bows and crossbows.
A bronze level elite stood out from the crowd as he walked up to Zhen Jin and Zi Di.
As he observed this person, Zhen Jin’s eyes flashed.
Translator’s corner to ramble
Notes
It seems the author supports the idea of interracial relationships at least in this story. One would think that the best way to improve one’s family status would be to find another humanoid species to bang to get that improved bloodline and you know meet people outside of your
culture
species. If that is true, one must think about how long this has been going for. Why isn’t everyone a weird hybrid mutant, or did some magic mumbo jumbo keep these beings in a somewhat standard form? Why are all the common folk stuck at bronze when they can just crossbreed with a elf? Finally, how did ol Emperor Sheng Ming and his descendents manage to isolate the correct genes to just grow wings and have white eyes and not have automatic bowel movements?
One thing is for sure however, Primordial is rolling in his grave, Star is wringing her hands, and Origin is exploding with rage over these human x nonhuman shippings.
Translation Notes
(纵横交错: criss-crossed (idiom) ) (善解人意: to be good at understanding others (idiom) (you have died of dysentery) (守株待兔: lit. to guard a tree-stump, waiting for rabbits (idiom)
/
to wait idly for opportunities) (若隐若现: faintly discernible (idiom) ) (风吹日晒: (idiom) to be exposed to the elements ) Editor Notes