Chapter 41: Little Buddy, are you okay?

"There is another one!" exclaimed Duan Li as his eyes glittered and then bolted straight to another Ankylosaurus that was currently busy relieving itself by the bushes.

Psheww!

BAM!

ROAARR?!

He plucked the monster cores from the tail, absorbed it and flew to the skies again, rinse and repeat.

BAM!

ROARRR!

BAM!

ROAARR!?

...

Agonized moans of Ankylosauruses resounded through the forest as Duan Li kept on assaulting and cutting off their tails one after another. Even a pair of Ankylosaurus that was busy mating together passionately were not let off by Duan Li.

It was truly a tragic sight!

Whenever he would spot their kind, he would bolt straight towards them and immediately cut up their tails. The runaways Ankylosaurus began to howled out with an emergency scream towards the others that they encountered along the way.

Run! RUNN!

There is a lunatic in the forest! Everyone hide!

He cut up my tail! That man is crazy!

The Ankylosauruses was thoroughly riled up by now! A few moments ago, they had been merrily roaming around the forest minding their own business when this man suddenly appeared and started to savagely slice their tails apart without any warning just to collect their monster cores!

The Ankylosaurus were running together in packs as their faces showing terrified expression. Some of them even panicked to the point of ramming straight into a tree and got caught by Duan Li as their tails got cut off instantly.

After running for a while, these packs of Ankylosaurus finally reached a dead end as they stood in front of a tall cliff up ahead which would be impossible to climb. Eventhough they don't have body hairs, right now they felt as if their hair are standing straight when they saw that lunatic approaching steadily from behind.

Their terrified emotions brought upon an illusion onto themselves as they could somehow make out a sinister grin coming out from the face of that man as he walked slowly towards them.

Mother! Help!

NOOOO!!

BAM!!

ROARRR!!

...

Thud!

Thud!

Witnessing these horrifying scenes, some Ankylosaurus could not endure it anymore as they passed out with white foams forming out of their mouth.

The remaining Ankylosauruses huddled up together, shivering as they watched this evil man was about to turn to them next.

They couldn't help but to feel hopeless with their situation. There was one thing however, that bugged them since the beginning of this farce.

Just what is up with this fella?!

If you wanted our monster cores, just pluck it out straightly then!

Was there really any need for you to cut off our tails?!

Right after the Ankylosauruses thought along that line, Duan Li halted his momentum as he slapped his forehead with his palm with a loud 'Pa!'.

Aiyoh!

"I could have actually just knock them out and pluck the monster cores straight!" he said out loud as he turned around to face the remaining cornered Ankylosauruses that he managed to round up, their faces showing petrified expression.

They had been THAT close to being amputated en masse without leaving a single one intact by this ruthless evil fella and lose their precious tails. Had it not been for the timely divine intervention that took pity on their plight and managed to knock some sense into this lunatic's mind, they would have already all turn into a handicapped species by now!

Smiling sheepishly, Duan Li scratched the back of his head as he palmed his hand together and bowed to apologize. He then waved them goodbye as he bolted back to the sky while feeling guilty.

You left just like that?

You think apologizing with a bow will settle this grievances between us?!

Even if we have to knock the graves of our ancestors, we WILL get you for this!!

Give us back out tails!!

Nevertheless, the Ankylosauruses roarred as they sighed in relief when Duan Li left. However, there was quite a significant number of them that had already fallen prey to Duan Li's antics.

By ratio, it would be about 70 percent of them whom had lost their tails to that deranged devil!

These victims then bited and dragged at their detached tails using their mouth with dejected faces. Burrowing at the ground with their hind legs, they buried their tails in the pit as tears welled up in their eyes, their emotions running amok!

ROARR!!

Oh dear Guardian! What have we done to deserve this?!

They howled out to the sky with extreme indignance, hoping to find justice from the guardian of the Eternal maze.

ROAAARR!

ROAARRR!

....

On a floating platform high above the sky within the Eternal maze, is a small wooden house that looked extremely ordinary. Inside this house, was an old man dressed in blue robes. His brows, hairs and beard had all turned white. There are even quite a lot of wrinkles on the face of this old man, a telltale sign of his old age. However, his appearance and disposition is filled to the brim with dignity!

This old man was currently watering the small pot of cactus plant by the window of his room when suddenly his brows creased together as he heard shouts of howling coming from below.

"The howls from Ankylosaurus? What's wrong with them?" thought the old man.

Their howls sounded tragic, anguished even. Never before had the old man heard the howls of so many Ankylosauruses together like this before.

Was there some sort of a commotion between the monsters going on?

Feeling that something was not right, he put down the watering can onto a small table by the side of the window gently as he abruptly vanished like a smoke.

Whooshh!

...

Meanwhile, the person responsible for the whole mess was currently flying to the East of the forest he was in before. The Earth elemental monster cores that he had gathered unscrupulously was now more than twenty times bigger. For now, all he knew was that it will eventually transform into an Earth essence once it reached a certain size.

This was from the information that he remembered from his memories. When one cultivate enough monster cores of the same attribute for a long time, they have the chance to form an elemental essence within their dantian!

Although technically, he absorbed the monster cores instead of cultivating them, he conjectured that eventually, it would turn into an Earth essence all the same.

Elemental essence is very useful in that, it increases elemental attack by a whole lot depending on their intensity within one's dantian.

As he flew around, he was scanning at the ground for the treasure boxes along the way to see if he could get lucky, but unfortunately, he hadn't manage to find any.

"Perhaps the treasure boxes is located somewhere that is actually more conspicuous rather than hidden in the open field?" he thought as he cupped his chin.

Suddenly, the corner of his eyes caught something moving as he halted his flight in mid air.

Ohh?

Duan Li saw a large pack of monsters that seemed to be currently on a hunt. He was about to just pass through and continue with his journey, but then, he heard a barking sound.

Aarrff!!

He squinted his eyes towards the location of that bark to get a good look. It was then that he saw a small animal being cornered by those monsters.

"A wolf cub? What is it doing here?"

It turns out that those monsters were actually stalking an injured wolf cub from behind. They slowly surrounded the wolf cub as they growled in excitement, seeming to play around before they jump in together to finish the cub.

Those monsters...

Feeling a little bit unsettled with the scene, Duan Li took out the monster guide.

Flip!

Duan Li flipped through the book as he soon found what he was looking for.

"Velociraptor, they hunted in packs and is of the fifth level of the Qi condensation realm." said Duan Li as he read through the description briefly.

That was all he need to see if it was safe for him to meddle into this situation. After all, the laws of the jungle is that it is the survival of the fittest and these kinds of situation was extremely normal in the wild.

However, looking at that helpless small cub with the size of about his two palm combined, his human heart couldn't ignore it. Such a small creature that hasn't yet to explore the world, why must its fate end so tragically when he can change that?

Making a swift decision, he headed down while throwing the Nine Fist Shattering Meteor in rapid succession towards the Velociraptors from above.

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

The Velociraptors were hit squarely on their heads and were knocked unconscious instantly by Duan Li's fist. Of course, he too had decided to control his strength back then. Otherwise with his full power, they would have turn into meat paste.

Tap!

Landing softly on the ground with both his feet, Duan Li observed the injured wolf cub more closely. This cub is extremely cute, with both of its ears sloped downwards. Furthermore, its grey fur looked to be comfortable to the touch. Only upon inspecting closely, could Duan Li see that one of its hind leg on the left was injured as it stood up limpidly.

Arrfff!

Grrrrr!

The wolf cub growled in apprehension towards the approaching Duan.

"Relax little buddy.. I am here to help you..." said Duan Li with a soft voice and a smile as he bent down his body a bit, trying to look as small as possible so that he would appear less intimidating.

Arrff!

As if it understood what Duan Li had just said, the wolf cub laid down on the ground as it panted heavily. Obviously, the cub was just putting up a tough front before but was actually quite exhausted since it was still pretty much a baby, what more with an injured leg.

When Duan Li finally was able to approach closer to the cub a little bit more, he extended his hands slowly as he stroked the cub's head gently.

"There there.. its going to be fine.. I will heal you soon.. " said Duan Li slowly as he pondered in his mind.

"The method to heal physical injuries taught by sister Ling Yu could only work within my own body. Therefore, if I wanted to use it on someone else.. I just had to externalized it right?"

Duan Li then searched through his memories to see if there was any skill arts like these that he had mastered before. To his surprise, he found out that he knew so many ways to heal other people's injuries outside of his own. These techniques are in the form of inscribing runic formations, or chanting spells and magic incantations. But all those techniques will take a LOT of spiritual Qi which he didn't have right now.

After a while, he finally found what he was looking for, a form of art from the Qigong branch that can transfer spiritual Qi to another person. With the help of this memory and his increased analytical skills, he managed to combine Ling Yu's healing art together with the Qigong arts and modify it so that it can used to heal on the limb of the injured cub.

He then named this skill as the 'Healing hands' as he extended both of his hands towards the injured leg of the cub.

Wooongg!

The injured area of the leg began to glowed brightly with the shades of pure white, like milk. Not long after that, the wound began to heal slowly for about 10 breaths before it fully closed altogether.

The cub then stood up on all of its four limbs and jumped around Duan Li after it felt the injured area was completely healed by Duan Li.

Arrff Arffff!

The cub barked adorably as it wagged its tail left and right with its tongue sticking out. It seems to be thanking Duan Li for healing its injured leg.

"What are you doing out here alone little buddy? Where is your mother?" asked Duan Li softly as he lifted the cub to his chest and rubbed its body gently.

Aarrff! Arrff!

The cub sniffed for abit as it pointed out a direction with its paw. Duan Li was surprised by its intelligence and decided to carry it along with him. He then put the cub inside his clothes with its head poking out.

"Let's go find your mother then!" said Duan Li as he chuckled looking at that adorable and cute cub.

...

Whoooshh!

The old man from the wooden house before that has vanished, appeared abruptly above the forest where Duan Li had just left a few moments ago.

ROOARR!

ROAARR!

Seemingly to notice the arrival of their savior, the Ankylosauruses howled out one after another with saddened moans. They seemed to voice out numerous complaints one after another with similar contents in them.

EHHH?

Looking at the tragic state of the Ankylosauruses, the old man's face darkened as he shouted out.

"BRAZEN!! WHO DARES?!"

His voice was so loud that it causes sonic booms and fierce gales to blow over the whole area.

...