Origin Paradise!

Old Hei was startled. A strong fishy smell filled his nostrils, and his most relied-upon sense of smell immediately stopped.

Jiang He picked up the steel fork and decisively activated Garuda Mode 1. Pure cyan energy flowed down from his palm and spread to the fork's head and tail, like a large green glow stick.

"Be careful, they may have a symbiotic relationship with other species."

Upon hearing this, Lao Hei nodded and immediately lowered his head, his entire body bristling with fur. Each black, shiny hair now resembled a steel needle, cold and gleaming with a metallic sheen.

Heavy footsteps approached from the dense forest.

Before anyone could be seen, a boulder the size of a millstone flew through the air, surrounded by visible white shockwaves. The sonic boom-like sounds overlapped like thunder, instantly destroying two large trees.

Jiang He and Lao Hei each jumped to one side, creating a half-meter-deep crater where they landed, raising clouds of dust.

A roar followed closely behind. The monster, with its single leg and backward-facing heel, stood nearly five meters tall, with a human face and a monkey's body, a green skin and a long tail. Its muscles were piled up like small mountains on its body, and when it went berserk, it was as fast as a wolf.

"Whoosh whoosh."

Old Black's body trembled, and countless black "steel needles" shot out like a torrential downpour, instantly covering the monster's entire body. The black needles pierced the creature's flesh, producing a continuous sound like a wooden mallet striking a drum, causing it to bleed profusely.

The monster was in pain, but its speed did not decrease at all. Seeing that the black dog had lost its fur, it targeted someone and launched an attack. A huge shadow loomed over it, its momentum was astonishing. Its hands, the size of a human head, clasped together and it unleashed a hammer blow, creating gusts of wind.

Jiang He leaped and turned, swinging his blue steel fork in a wide arc, slashing it fiercely across the enemy's abdomen. The tip of the fork seemed to emit blue flames, tearing a belt-like bloody gash in the enemy's flesh.

The monster looked extremely ferocious as it lunged sideways, completely unaware of its own injuries.

Jiang He charged forward, sliding past the enemy, and instantly pushed himself up. He waved his hand like a bird flapping its wings, using his body to pull his hand to create the effect of drawing a bow and gathering momentum. He thrust out his spear with the force of a shooting star. The spear tip burst forth with a blue-green light and viciously pierced the monster's spine, penetrating its abdomen, and blood gushed out like a spring.

The monster's lower body lost its strength, and it turned around and frantically waved its arms, stirring up dust.

Jiang He drew his gun and leaped back to dodge the attack, then crouched down to gather strength.

A dark shadow pounced, its sharp claws digging into the monster's eye sockets. Old Black bit half of the enemy's head, displaying extreme ferocity. Its tail, covered in black steel needles, tore off the enemy's nose.

The monster reached up and grabbed the black dog, but before it could exert any force, a streak of blue light pierced through its face.

The monster staggered and collapsed to the ground with a thud. Old Black jumped down and spat a few times; he didn't like the smell of humanoid creatures.

Jiang He violently peeled the flesh off the corpse, removed the limbs, bones, and spine, and stuffed them all into his inventory. When exposed to extreme heat radiation, these bones turned into gray dust and were quickly absorbed by the half-dragon bones.

Upon witnessing the monster's death, the tree let out a terrible wail, its aged bark bleeding profusely, its branches and leaves flailing wildly, like the struggle of a dying person.

“Xiao He, this guy seems to be a mountain spirit.” Old Hei said in surprise. There are many ancient legends on Anping Island. When the old people talk about them, they can only use “in ancient times” to describe them. The specific year is often impossible to verify, but they have been passed down from generation to generation.

"It should all be true."

Jiang He walked to the tree and swung the steel fork with all her might. It was as if a blue moon had unfolded before her eyes. After several times, the howling and struggling stopped. Several large trees broke, and a large amount of blood gushed out from the broken parts, quickly turning the surrounding area into a mud pit.

The mountain spirit is somewhere between a monster and a beast. In some ancient areas, people worshipped it as the god of mountains and rivers. It usually lives in trees and has great strength. In the legends of Anping, the mountain spirit's wife is called the Mountain Lady. She takes care of her husband's daily life, dancing and singing, and never leaves his side.

Several large trees were dug up by their roots and stuffed into the storage bag to be subjected to the heat radiation. The half-dragon bones, more than ten meters long, were piled together, and the surface began to melt, flowing out a substance similar to molten iron.

Jiang He pondered. He first interrupted the transformation process into a dragon, then skinned and deboned the body, cut off the flesh and drank the blood, and put the remains into the "corpse incinerator" to be melted and forged day and night. If the half-dragon had a spirit in heaven, he didn't know how much it would hate him.

On the other side, Lao Hei's sense of smell gradually returned.

The two entered the dark, dense forest, where humus was everywhere. They occasionally heard a rustling sound. At a certain moment, from a very distant place, a thunderous sound, like a mountain collapsing, erupted. A moment later, the earth trembled and rocks flew everywhere.

Jiang He clicked his tongue slightly. In this primeval forest, there were powerful creatures that he absolutely could not contend with at present.

Upon reaching a flat area, Old Black barked once without saying a word. Jiang He understood and immediately rolled to the side. Almost the next second, a dark shadow flashed through the dark woods.

The newcomer resembled a human but was extremely short, with sharp, menacing claws. After failing to strike, the dark figure plunged into the tree and disappeared.

"The wooden guest sings bitter songs, walks and sits, his clothes are no different from those of a human, his claws can crack tigers and leopards, and his exquisite tools are made of wood."

This is a species that can move between trees.

Just as Jiang He and Lao Hei were about to attack the big tree, a large number of trees broke off behind the dense forest. A giant elephant, its body as white as jade, passed by. It was twice the size of a normal African elephant, and its tusks were like knives and spears. The trees blocking its way had no chance of survival.

The white jade elephants ignored the man and dog present and hurriedly ran away into the distance, raising clouds of dust along the way. At the same time, hundreds of paths were cleared on the edge of the vast wilderness, and the white jade elephants were converging on one place.

As the troublemaker left, the wooden figure suddenly sprang up from the ground, its sharp claws gleaming with a chilling light, like a precious sword capable of cutting through copper and iron.

The sharp claws tore through someone's clothes, bursting into clusters of dazzling sparks, but the half-dragon armor only left cuts. Upon seeing this, the wooden guest showed a human-like surprise.

Three wounds suddenly appeared on Jiang He's cheek, caused by the sharp wind. Because of the close distance, he didn't have time to set up the gun and pass it to Jiang He. He immediately pushed the butt of the gun forward with his left hand, making a vivid "pry" motion. What was originally a defensive, level shot turned into an offensive maneuver.

Close-range gun - Oolong Tail Swing.

With his small stature, Mu Ke leaped up, stepping on the end of the spear, and then swung his claws down with the force of an axe.

Jiang He twisted his back and raised his gun with both hands.

Close-range gun - Overlord Lifts the Tripod.

The claws clashed with the steel fork, producing a metallic clang.

As Mu Ke landed, just before touching the ground, the dense forest, with its intertwined tree roots, provided him with pathways to move freely, giving him an invincible advantage.

Just then, Old Black, who had been observing the opportunity, flicked his tail, and a series of black needles shot out, successfully hitting Mu Ke.

Taking advantage of the momentary opening, Jiang He turned around, creating enough space for him to unleash the powerful and vigorous spear technique, accompanied by howling winds.

Sweeping Hoof Spear - Sunset Over the Long River

The steel fork struck the wooden man's torso with tremendous force, like an iron rod hitting a baseball. His bones shattered, his internal organs rotted, and his body flew through the air. Old Black leaped up and bit through the enemy's throat, ending the battle completely.

Jiang He wiped his face. If it were up to him, he would have to fight fiercely against both the Mountain Ghost and the Wood Guest, but with Lao Hei's cooperation, the effect was significantly improved.

"Bah bah bah."

Old Hei flicked his tongue; Mu Ke was also a humanoid creature.

Chapter 13 Unknown Shadows

A canyon in the wilderness and forest.

The cliffs on both sides are steep and jagged, with dark green vines intertwined. Above the clouds, a giant eagle with wingspans of tens of meters patrols the land. The feathers of this aerial overlord gleam with bright silver light, making it no ordinary life form.

Faced with the watchful eye of a powerful enemy, the colossal creature with a human body and an elephant's head roared to the sky in the canyon. White shockwaves rippled across the surface, cracking boulders and destroying trees, creating a terrifying spectacle.

Hundreds of white jade elephants trembled and submitted, digging their tusks into the ground, kneeling and bowing, and then remaining motionless.

The elephant-headed giant was tens of feet tall. It grabbed a white jade elephant and stuffed it into its mouth. Its sharp tusks snapped shut, and blood and flesh splattered out. Even when it was about to die, the unfortunate white jade elephant dared not make a sound.

A dozen miles away, a man and a dog remained silent in the bushes. General White, or Elephant Lord, was the iconic monster that the old people of Anping Island used to scare children. Legend has it that it carried a large mountain on its back and walked through the wilderness day after day, eating elephant meat when hungry and drinking blood when thirsty, never being full.

Jiang He gave the old dog a look, nothing more to say; his kill list simply couldn't accommodate Elephant Lord.

The man and his dog quietly retreated.

Suddenly, the elephant owner spat out two tusks, the hardest and sharpest parts of the white jade elephant's body. Even the elephant owner was unwilling to swallow them, and over the years, the tusks piled up into a small mountain.

"I'm very tempted," Jiang He said in a low voice, quite frankly.

The teeth, imbued with the resentment of the elephants, and the half-dragon bone seem to be a perfect match. After being forged using an item pouch, their quality may be greatly improved.

Old Hei remained silent; regardless of right or wrong, he respected all of the other party's choices.

Jiang He lowered her eyelids slightly, a thought forming in her mind to provoke other overlords and then reap the benefits, but she quickly rejected it. The previous mountain spirit had already shown some intelligence, and the elephant lord was likely even more so. Among top hunters, unless it was for necessary survival resources, even serious injury was an extreme situation. This method could easily lead to playing with fire and getting burned.

On the other hand, he was unaware of the ivory's importance to its owner; it might be worthless or treasured.

Most importantly, the full extent of the opponent's extraordinary abilities has never been revealed.

Reason and desire clashed wildly in his mind, and a sense of luck kept growing. Given the might of the elephant king, he might regard the thieves as ants, or he might even be hoping that someone would come and help clean up the ivory. If the overlord valued his territory highly, then a fight between the two tigers was not entirely hopeless...

After a long while, Jiang He exhaled and her eyes cleared.

"Life is a struggle with yourself."

"Let's go, let's leave a mark."

"Killing a white jade elephant shouldn't be a problem, but we'll have to stay away from the canyon."

Old Hei nodded and raised his dog leg towards the big tree next to him.

Jiang He left behind a cinnabar pellet, adjusting the angle to face the canyon.

The man and his dog retreated, following the trail to hunt down the departing white jade elephant. These giant creatures are usually solitary and carnivorous; large-scale gatherings only occur on tribute days.

Several hours later, Lao Hei's fur had recovered. Along the way, Jiang He saw the "strategist wolf" leading a pack of wolves, a human-headed snake with scales all over its body like iron armor, and a large tiger beast with wings on its back.

One type of centipede, the three-colored centipede, can kill snakes with ease and is extremely venomous. It leaves no grass growing in its wake, but it stands frozen in front of the one-eyed chicken, which is the food of the human-headed snake. The three restrain each other.

After passing through a circle of giant, azure trees, the white jade elephant arrived at a pool in the forest. It dipped its trunk into the dark red water and began to drink continuously, but the water level did not drop by an inch. Soon after, the two-winged tiger and the pack of wolves also appeared on the shore. The former mortal enemies all tacitly maintained their restraint.

On the azure giant tree, Jiang He secretly activated her active skill, consuming 100 energy points to apply the Frenzy Rhythm to the target.

From this moment on, each of his attacks will stack a mark, up to a maximum of twenty stacks, dealing 100% extra damage.

Half an hour later, the adult male white jade elephant left the pool. When it approached the azure giant tree, the wariness in its eyes returned. Not polluting the water source was a consensus among the different species, as ingrained in their instincts as reproduction.

The moment the white jade elephant stepped out of the boundary, the ground in front of it suddenly loosened. Old Black rose from the soil, swung its tail with all its might, and a dense barrage of black steel needles came rushing towards it, several of which hit the prey's eyes.

A thunderous roar of elephants resounded.

Jiang He leaped down from the azure giant tree, gripped the steel fork tightly with both hands, and immediately activated Garuda Mode 1, unleashing the power of pure azure energy and basic spear techniques together.

The steel fork pierced the prey's skull, unleashing a layer of fanatical energy. The tip of the fork acted like a large hydraulic press, concentrating all its power before releasing it in an instant, violently destroying the prey.

The white jade elephant died instantly.

At the edge of the pool, both the two-winged tiger and the strategist wolf turned their gazes toward the scene, revealing a slight hint of dissatisfaction. Both possessed considerable intelligence.

Jiang He cut off the ivory, then disassembled the bones bit by bit, and finally removed the nutritious internal organs. Before the cleanup was completed, the surrounding area suddenly shook violently, with rocks falling down and dust filling the sky.

Old Hei was speechless with shock. Before him stood a giant tortoise, its limbs like mountain peaks, its body covering several miles in circumference. The azure giant trees were the barbs on the edge of its shell, and the pool of water was its flowing blood.

A truly dominant creature.

The giant tortoise began to move, which would be a disaster for ordinary wild animals, but its belly was bleeding like a waterfall. In the dust, the broken teeth could be vaguely seen in the original spot.

Jiang He hurriedly picked up Lao Hei and retreated at top speed. He had no idea what kind of monster had bitten through this overlord tortoise.

At that moment, the sky suddenly darkened.

The shadows swept in, sending the giant eagle that had been patrolling the land high in the sky flying. The elephant king, who had been bowing in the canyon, hid underground, and the island tortoise rolled over to its side, exposing its belly in submission.

An endless shadow swept across the land, rushing toward the present realm, accompanied by a vast gale in the sky.

Immediately afterwards, all the beasts fell silent.

Jiang He suddenly stopped, stuffed Lao Hei into the tree hole, turned around and ran wildly, even activating Garuda Mode to enhance his legs.

In Yuwang Valley, facing the onslaught of shadows, a stone tablet stands tall and upright.

Every few minutes, a storm would sweep in all directions, but the stone monument remained unmoved.

The shadows raised their heads and howled, their booming cries piercing through metal and splitting rocks, filled with rage and resentment, as they relentlessly launched their attack.

Jiang He arrived at the canyon he had visited before, but the Elephant Lord, who was its master, was nowhere to be seen. In the final perspective of the Vermilion Realm, the other party disappeared into the cave.

At this moment, he began to relentlessly snatch ivory, stuffing his pouch to the brim. Whenever the ivory melted in the pouch, he would continue to fill it with new material.

Half an hour later, the intervals between shadow attacks became longer.

Jiang He turned around and left without hesitation. Although he had succeeded this time, the actual harvest was less than one-tenth of the total. The small mountain of ivory was just missing its peak.

At some point, the shadows receded, the Yuwang Stele disappeared, and after a brief silence, the intensity of the battle in the primeval forest rose sharply.

Jiang He returned to the original spot and picked up Lao Hei.

"That scared me to death!" Old Hei exclaimed, trembling. "What the hell was that thing?"

Jiang He shook his head and said helplessly, "How would I know? Maybe someone was able to get in because it thought it could get out, or maybe some day has come. In short, we should just not provoke it for now. This is not a problem that we can figure out at this stage, and the border is probably not something that will be available during the game's beta testing period."

Chapter 14 Side Quest: The Ten Massacres of Yangzhou

As dusk settled, the sky darkened.

The primeval forest was rife with carnage. The attacks from unknown shadows had terrified most of the alien species, causing their bloodlust to escalate dramatically.

Jiang He ran through the forest, with a two-meter-tall wild boar hot on his heels. Its neck was wrapped in pale white tusks, its eyes were dark green, and its mouth was stained with blood.

A huge boulder blocked their path. Jiang He leaped up, kicked the boulder hard, and then did a backflip.

Upon seeing its prey take flight, the wild boar lunged forward with ferocious speed. Its heavy body seemed unusually light at that moment, yet its power remained undiminished. It crashed head-on into the boulder, and spiderweb-like cracks immediately spread out before it shattered with a deafening roar.

The moment it landed, the ground collapsed, and the wild boar fell into the trap. A dozen or so wooden spears erected inside pierced the prey's flesh, but broke off as it struggled violently.

Jiang He arrived at the trap, threw the steel fork in his hand, and ended the battle. The notification sound rang, but he temporarily ignored it.

Old Hei emerged from behind the tree, looking slightly smug, and said, "Done. Your skills are still top-notch."