Long River Eternity

An hour later, Lin Ding and his four companions appeared in the mountains northeast of the ruins. The mountain towered before them. Lin Ding pointed ahead and said, "Once we cross this mountain, we'll reach the Twin Bears' territory. There's a cave over there where we can settle down first."

Liu Xianxian nodded in agreement, holding Feng Hao's hand, and followed closely behind Lin Ding. The cave wasn't large, but it was large enough for the four of them. Lin Ding gathered some firewood outside the cave and covered the entrance with branches to prevent the fire from attracting unnecessary trouble.

As the sky gradually darkened, Lin Ding sat by the campfire and said to Liu Xianxian, "After dark, I'm going to go to the cave to retrieve the buried spiritual essence. I'm also going to check if there are any monsters near the spiritual veins. I also need to find something to eat. You guys wait here for me."

Liu Xianxian looked at him worriedly and said softly, "Be careful and come back safely."

"Don't worry." Lin Ding responded with a smile, then stood up and gently rubbed Feng Hao's head. "Be good and listen to your sister. I'll find you something delicious."

Feng Hao's eyes were firm as he nodded vigorously. Lin Ding then left the cave, walked around the ruins, and hurried to the cave where the top-grade spiritual essence was buried by moonlight.

Since the fierce battle with the four-armed giant ape, Lin Ding's spiritual energy hadn't recovered more than 20%. He didn't dare waste it on flight, fearing he'd be unable to cope with any unexpected events. Fortunately, he encountered no demonic beasts along the way, not even a single ordinary wild animal. After more than two hours, Lin Ding finally returned to the cave where the spiritual essence was buried.

In just a day or two, the giant ape's corpse outside the cave entrance had turned into a huge skeleton, its flesh and blood eaten away by other monsters. Lin Ding just glanced at it, without any surprise. This was the world of monsters.

He walked into the cave and checked the ground at the burial site. Seeing no signs of excavation, he breathed a sigh of relief. He thought, there's no need to rush to dig out the spirit essence just yet. If there are still monsters nearby, the spiritual energy of the top-grade spirit essence will definitely attract a large number of monsters.

Lin Ding then left the cave, carefully listening to the sounds around him as he slowly moved toward the spiritual vein. Crossing the plains and entering the woods, he found himself still in complete silence. Could it be that the demonic beasts had all left? Lin Ding wondered.

He bravely continued on his way. After all, the only giant ape in the Yuheng realm was already dead. If he was discovered by another demon beast, the worst that could happen was that he would fly into the sky and no one would be able to catch him. Along the way, apart from the sounds of insects and wind blowing through the leaves, there was complete silence.

Suddenly, a breeze brushed past Lin Ding's nose, and he caught a faint scent of blood. Something was wrong! Alerted, Lin Ding ran at full speed towards the spiritual vein, where the smell of blood was coming from.

Soon, he arrived at the entrance of the Spiritual Vein Cave, and the sight before him astonished him. The ground was littered with the corpses of demonic beasts, nearly all of them four-armed giant apes and lightning wolves. Over twenty bodies were densely packed together. Among them was a lightning wolf of enormous size, clearly at the Yuheng Realm, likely the leader of the lightning wolves that had previously pursued Lin Ding. Another six or seven bodies were at the Kaiyang Realm, with the worst still at the Yaoguang Realm.

Lin Ding stood there in stunned silence, his heart pounding. What power could have wiped out all these powerful monsters in such a short time?

Lin Ding leaned over and carefully examined the corpses. He found no wounds inflicted by sharp weapons on the monsters. Instead, they bore the marks of being crushed by heavy objects or pierced by blunt instruments. His brow furrowed, his mind thick with doubt, as he continued to walk deeper into the cave.

Inside the cave, the spiritual vein's light had dimmed, evidently having been partially scooped away, and the remaining spiritual energy completely absorbed. Lin Ding searched everywhere, trying to find any clues. However, apart from confirming that the battle hadn't lasted long, he found nothing.

Lin Ding stood there after exiting the cave, his mind racing with thoughts. Just how powerful was he to achieve such a result? He recalled the strongest human he had ever seen in his time—Zhan Wudi—but even Zhan Wudi couldn't match such a feat. So, who had done this? Could there be other humans in this world capable of absorbing spiritual energy, or perhaps some powerful demonic beast?

Lin Ding was puzzled and turned to Yang An and asked, "Yang An, what do you think?"

"No." Yang An's answer was surprisingly brief.

Lin Ding waited for Yang An to continue speaking, but Yang An fell silent.

"Is that it?" Lin Ding couldn't help but ask.

"What else? There are so many strong people in the world, and I don't know all of them. Maybe a strong person passed by and took care of it." Yang An said impatiently.

After hearing this, Lin Ding felt a surge of relief. Indeed, the demonic beast's death was ultimately a good thing for humanity; dwelling on who had killed it was pointless. With this realization in mind, his mood suddenly brightened. He conjured a butcher knife and swiftly detached the Lightning Wolf leader's legs. He tied them together with vines, hung them from his body, and hummed a little tune as he hurried back to the cave.

Now that the surrounding monsters had been dealt with, he no longer worried about being discovered by the escaping spiritual energy of the supreme-grade spiritual essence. Lin Ding dug out the backpack containing the spiritual essence and swaggered over his shoulder, absorbing the escaping spiritual energy as he walked. Even carrying two nearly two-meter-long wolf legs, his speed was surprisingly faster than when he arrived. In less than an hour and a half, he had returned to the cave.

Back in the cave, Liu Xianxian was teaching Feng Hao how to practice. Lin Ding excitedly threw his wolf leg to the ground and said to Liu Xianxian, "Guess what I saw? The monsters that snatched the spirit vein were all killed by a mysterious and powerful person. We can go home anytime!"

"That's great!" Liu Xianxian smiled happily, and then said to Feng Hao, "Xiaohao, sister can take you home to eat delicious food!"

Feng Hao saw Liu Xianxian so happy and started laughing too.

"Don't be too anxious about the delicious food at home. What I brought back for you is the thigh of the leader of the Lightning Wolves in Yuheng Realm. Try this first." Lin Ding said as he started to process the wolf leg.

Liu Xianxian came over to help, but suddenly remembered that Feng Hao was still just a child and couldn't eat the unprocessed meat of a high-level demon beast. Lin Ding frowned and said, "The energy contained in this wolf leg is too enormous. I'm afraid Xiao Hao can't eat it. I'd better go find some more ordinary beasts."

"No need, isn't it just clearing the energy? That's easy." Liu Xianxian said as she started to practice the Green Leaf Condensation Technique.

Soon, a ball of light blue light rose from the wolf's legs.

"Wait, won't you faint again as soon as you use this skill?" Lin Ding hurriedly stopped him.

"I condense energy to help you improve your realm in a short period of time, which will consume your mental strength. This time I will transfer the energy into my own body and absorb it slowly, so nothing will happen." Liu Xianxian explained as she controlled the ball of light to fly towards herself.

At the same time, Liu Xianxian also separated a tiny strand of energy and flew towards Feng Hao, "Xiao Hao, use the method I just taught you to absorb this strand of energy."

"Okay, Sister Xianxian." Feng Hao agreed obediently.

As the light entered their bodies, they both began to meditate and regulate their breathing. Lin Dingze continued to process the wolf leg, peeling off the skin, cutting the meat into several pieces, skewering them with branches, and roasting them over the campfire.