There were no flying squirrels left on the battlefield, as the flying squirrel group had collapsed, frantically fled, and scattered.
“Victory!”
“This is a great victory.”
“Zhen Jin, Zhen Jin” Huang Zao and Lan Zao took the lead as everyone cheered.
“This is a templar knight…” Cang Xu sighed, and yet he was curious, “But, what just happened? His whole arm inflated, is this some kind of secret technique? Could it be that he could actually use his battle qi? Does he have some method that can temporarily break through the island’s suppression? What was the price? In the end, what is his level of battle qi? Is it gold level battle qi?”
Although Zhen Jin had explicitly informed Cang Xu that he couldn’t use battle qi. At that time, Zhen Jin had only just taken over the exploration team. Cang Xu felt: Back then, Zhen Jin did not trust the others, therefore when he conducted inquiries, it was very possible that Zhen Jin concealed his true strength.
Zi Di kept silent as she looked at Zhen Jin with worship and adoration.
Everyone knew that if the iron level flying squirrel rushed into them, it was sure to cause disastrous casualties. But Zhen Jin relied on his own power to save them all.
Without a doubt, he was a hero!
From start to finish, he had always been in control of the battle.
He was a qualified leader!
The entire exploration team praised Zhen Jin’s leadership with joy and pride.
Zhen Jin frowned slightly.
That wonderful sensation faded away like last time.
That mysterious and impalpable power had all dissipated and the youngster’s arms had regained their original form.
At the same time, a fierce sense of nihility enveloped his entire body.
Exhaustion came like the tide, washing over him unceasingly.
Zhen Jin still preserved his unwavering appearance and masked his emptiness and exhaustion as much as possible. At the same time, his heart was somewhat glad: this time, his armor and clothes had hidden the transformation of his arms. Otherwise, he would need to explain to the others.
His relief and joyous mood quickly dissipated as subsequent doubts bubbled up more and more intensely from his heart.
“It seems like the source of my transformations is the blood red bead in my heart.”
“What on earth is it?”
“Why does it look like a magic beast’s crystal core?"
When he thought of this, the youngster laughed to himself——how could a person have a magic crystal? Only magic beasts have crystal cores.
Hearing the enthusiastic cheers of everyone reverberating his ears, Zhen Jin swept his eyes over his surroundings, strongly pushed down the doubts in his heart, and ordered the battlefield to be cleaned.
There was fire raging, but using the potion supplied by Zi Di, it was quickly extinguished.
Huang Zao searched the scorched battlefield, stopping occasionally to pick up a flying squirrel corpse.
Because they had caught on fire, the flying squirrel corpses were completely burnt and looked charred black.
When Huang Zao slapped them, pieces of charcoal fell from the flying squirrel corpses and exposed the already cooked flesh inside.
Huang Zao suddenly sucked in a deep breath and the rich fragrance poured into his nose.
“Another piece of good meat!” Huang Zao’s smile spread across his face as his eyes swept the battlefield.
1
He then let out a heartfelt sigh, “I like this method of hunting the most.”
For several days, he had been in charge of hunting alone.
He got barely anything, the survival skills of a hunter were hard to grasp.
Huang Zao had always eked out a living on the sea, his forest hunting experiences made him remember how awkward and hard it was when he first got on a boat.
On the other side, Lan Zao was processing the iron level flying squirrel cheiftain.
Only a portion of the flying squirrel’s blood had been collected. After the preliminary processing, Lan Zao had a sudden thought and picked up the throwing dagger that had killed the iron level flying squirrel.
Lan Zao’s eyes couldn’t help but contract as he examined up the throwing dagger.
The entire front end of the flying dagger was completely deformed and did not seem to retain any of its sharpness.
“Depending solely on the power used to throw, such an ordinary dagger was used to kill an iron level magic beast!” Lan Zao gazed at Zhen Jin with increasingly profound reverence.
The gains of the battlefield cleanup were enormous, one could say it was a huge harvest as everyone beamed with happiness.
The blood on the battlefield as well the completely burnt flying squirrel flesh that wasn’t edible and were handled properly so that they wouldn’t attract other ferocious beasts with their bloody smell.
The exploration team returned to camp in triumph and continued to process their spoils of war.
Night.
A bonfire was started and everyone circled around to talk about their gains today. There was so much food that the minds of the team members were completely calm.
The deformed throwing dagger was passed around for everyone to look at.
“It really was an ordinary dagger that killed the iron level magic beast.”
“Lord Zhen Jin really is strong.”
“I think he used his battle qi at that moment, otherwise how could he produce such frightening strength?
“I really want to know Lord Zhen Jin’s true strength.”
“In any case, it's not at the bronze or iron level, he is at least a silver level knight that controls silver level battle qi.
“Silver level battle qi…at this age, Zhen Jin really is a genius.”
“Gold level is still a possibility, after all none of us have seen his Lordship’s battle qi.”
“If it is gold, that is even more scary. Following this kind of character will make our future prospects radiant!”
“Currently, we are his Lordships subordinates because we were shipwrecked together. Is it even possible under normal circumstances?”
“If we can continue to follow his lordship and Lord Zhen Jin becomes the future Lord of White Sands City, perhaps we could become officials of White Sands City.”
“Your grandmother, I don’t want that, I just want to become a city gate guard. In the past, others often made things difficult when I entered a city, when I become a gate guard in the future, I will enjoy making things difficult for others!”
2
No one knew whose opinion that was as everyone burst into laughter.
The successful hunt made everyone approve of Zhen Jin.
Everyone in the exploration team had always believed that Zhen Jin’s prospects were very bright.
All people sought benefits and shunned trouble, many people were beginning to show their desire to continuously follow Zhen Jin when there was no such desire before.
“There is another layer to this harvest.” Cang Xu was sitting in the corner as a spectator to the laughter and conversations with clear thoughts.
His gaze focused onto the dagger being passed around.
Recalling that scene on the battlefield, Cang Xu guessed to himself: “At that moment, Zhen Jin’s arms clearly ballooned and exploded with terrifying strength.”
“The Bai Zhen Clan’s bloodline originates from a legend level magic beast, the golden needle queen bee. This bloodline is not venerated for its aspect of strength and power.”
“Did he use some kind of battle qi secret technique?”
The throwing dagger was finally passed into Bai Ya’s hand.
Bai Ya gazed at the dagger, his eyes flickering with rays of hope: “This is a knight. I also want to be this kind of personage.”
“Hey, youngster Bai Ya, if you are finished looking at it, give it to me. This dagger holds significant importance and will henceforth be my family heirloom!” Huang Zao laughed.
Bai Ya was forced to reluctantly part with the dagger and returned it to Huang Zao.
Regardless of the continent, all races worshiped the strong. This kind of worship could also easily change into loyalty.
“Looks like Huang Zao and Lan Zao already want to completely enter under the umbrella of Lord Zhen Jin and are striving to become his Lordship’s retainers.” Cang Xu meaningfully said to Zi Di.
Zi Di was sitting next to Cang Xu, she swept a gaze at the people tightly packed around the bonfire and soon began to swirl the potion in her hand: “The aptitudes of those brothers are no good, if they don’t have any opportunities in future, I’m afraid that the bronze level is already their limit. But according to my understanding of Lord Zhen Jin, he will not treat any of his followers unfairly.”
Upon saying this, Zi Di looked at Cang Xu and stressed: “Regardless of whether this follower is or isn’t a practitioner.”
Cang Xu immediately understood Zi Di’s implication, he smiled and shook his head: “No matter how many times an old rotten tree bathes in the sunlight, it is unlikely to bloom come spring.”
The potion in Zi Di’s hand had gradually changed color and she stood up to leave: “I still have business to handle.”
When Zi Di returned to her tent. Zhen Jin was still meditating in his tent.
His face was full of vexation.
“Still can’t sense it.”
Zhen Jin had already used all of his strength to engrave in his heart that unusual feeling of transformation. However, he still could not actively interact with the crystal core in his heart.
It was as if it didn’t exist.
Zhen Jin subconsciously put his hand onto his chest, sensing his heartbeat, his brow tightened: “No, at that time, I found it. There really is…..one. Something similar to a magic crystal is growing in my heart and it seems to coexist with it naturally.”
“Why can’t I sense it?”
“I could perceive it clearly back then”
“Why, what’s missing?”
Zhen Jin’s thoughts were revealed.
He really wanted to find out how to use the crystal core.
Right now, he couldn’t use battle qi, the transformations could increase his strength in an instant and assist him greatly!
The first transformation was when he killed the silver level blade-legged spider.
He sensed the wonderful feeling of blood flowing at that time.
The second time was when the throwing dagger killed the iron level squirrel cheiftain.
Not only did he sense the rush of blood, he also sensed the mysterious crystal core in his heart. The incorporeal power bursted out from the crystal core and merged into the blood flowing all over his body and finally imbued itself into his arms.
“So, my prior guesses have been wrong. The real cause is not the blood, rather it is this magic crystal.”
“This power is neither battle qi or magic.”
“It really is wonderful.” Zhen Jin sighed endlessly.
He continued to attempt to analyze these two experiences.
“Based on my current attempts, it seems I cannot actively initiate the transformations. So, what is it about these two transformations before and after that triggered this ability?”
“What is the common ground between these two transformations?”
“The first one was when I was faced with life and death, I had recalled lost memories and was in a very complicated emotional state.”
“The second one was when I was facing the iron squirrel cheiftain, I was afraid of its electrical shock, as a result I was nervous and was confronted with the threat of death.”
The biggest common ground between these two experiences was that Zhen Jin faced the threat of death.
Thus, all kinds of emotions like nervousness, anxiety, fear, staunchness, killing intent, and so on arose.
“It seems like my emotional state stimulates and causes my transformations. Then, if I continue to provide more stimuli, would it be possible for me to learn how to control this kind of transformation ability?” Zhen Jin’s thinking diverged.
After two experiences of the transformations he had made clear progress. The first one was only sensing of the blood flowing. The second had penetrated deeply into his heart and allowed him to perceive the mysterious crystal core.
“In addition, the first time, it transformed into claws, but the second, it was my arms that transformed.”
Zhen Jin surmised that what he transformed was according to his subconsciousness in order to form the most beneficial thing for the current situation.
“If I am capable of controlling this transformation ability, will I be able to transform whatever I want to in the future?”
“Can I completely transform my body into the form of a monkey bear?”
“In addition, I also found that after I transformed, the crystal core’s blood light clearly attenuated a lot. How many transformations can it support?”
Zhen Jin began to clearly follow the course of events and managed to remove a few doubts from his heart, however even more were added.
Notes
If you were wondering, yes, the character translated to “core” is the exact same one in the title of this book. I’m sure you can figure the rest out. Since Cang Xu saw Zhen Jin’s strange transformation, I’m sure Zi Di did also, considering how hyper focused she is on him. I wonder if either of them will question our MC on his new fangled abilities.
Translation notes
(笑逐颜开: smile spread across the face (idiom)) (You need to take an arrow to the knee first)