Chương 888: Chapter 887: A Rare Form and a Change in Fortune

Li Yu secured the spatial pouch containing Gorr's accumulated wealth in his storage ring and was satisfied with the haul. He looked down at Talia. The Nether Rift Viper was still pinned to the stone floor by her own weakness, bleeding from her severed scythe appendage and the gaping holes left by the abyssal javelins.

"Can you shrink your form?" Li Yu asked, his tone brisk and entirely devoid of sympathy.

"I cannot drag a massive serpent down the mountain." Talia let out a soft, harmonic hiss. Her amethyst eyes glowed slightly as she began to draw her ambient void Qi inward.

"I can do better than shrink." Talia replied. Her massive serpentine body began to shimmer and distort, folding in on itself as the spatial laws around her warped. The dark void scales melted away, replaced by the soft glow of human skin. The long tail retracted, splitting into two legs, while her remaining scythe appendages morphed into slender arms. Within seconds, the terrifying Paragon realm predator vanished. In her place sat a human woman.

It was the first time since Li Yu arrived in the Ferine Realm that he had seen a beast achieve an almost flawless human transformation. The other creatures, like Ouros the bear, retained heavy, undeniable characteristics of their original species even in their humanoid states as did Zhan. Talia looked like a woman in her early thirties. Her skin was incredibly pale, contrasting sharply with her long and dark purple hair.

The only subtle hints of her true nature were her striking amethyst eyes and the faint, almost invisible scale patterns tracing the line of her collarbone. Due to the savage battle with Gorr and the subsequent ambush by Li Yu and Zhan, her current state was heavily compromised. She was barely covered by tattered, bloody scales that left very little of her impressive curves to the imagination. Talia pushed her dark hair out of her face and looked up at Li Yu. She had always been proud of her humanoid figure.

In her experience, the rare display of such a form was usually enough to distract or at least give pause to male cultivators among her race. She waited for Li Yu to react, to lower his guard or perhaps show a flicker of weakness. Li Yu did not even blink. His dark eyes swept over her with the same cold and calculating indifference he had shown when she was a massive serpent. He did not look twice.

'Does this hairless fool even have eyes?' Talia thought venomously, feeling a sharp sting to her pride. What she did not know was that Li Yu had grown thoroughly accustomed to such displays. Over the course of his journey, he had traveled with companions who tested him in such things, some even helped him train against such tactics. Those entities had forms that were very attractive as well.

A bruised and bloody viper in the shape of a woman was not going to break his focus, especially not when he was still operating on a short fuse.

"Is this the humanoid form of your people?" Li Yu asked, more curious than anything else.

"It is remarkably human."

"It is." Talia muttered while pulling the tattered scales closer to her chest in mild annoyance.

"I am not sure why the Nether Rift Vipers evolved this specific form but it allows us to compress our spatial energy much tighter and study the void easier." She concentrated for a moment and the faint scale patterns on her collarbone began to spread rapidly. The void scales materialized over her pale skin, weaving together tightly until she was covered from neck to toe in a form fitting scale armor. It was practical, durable and far less revealing.

"I killed Gorr." Talia said while pushing herself up onto her knees, wincing as her severed arm stump throbbed. She wanted to reclaim a fraction of her dignity.

"I sneaked up on him through the void while he was recovering. He still put up a great fight and nearly crushed me but I secured the kill." She shot a dark glare at Zhan who was silently observing her.

"Without those injuries from the ape, I would have never lost to you two." Talia declared stubbornly. Li Yu let out a dry and humorless chuckle.

"Just keep thinking that." Li Yu replied, his patience incredibly thin. He reached into his storage ring and pulled out two pill bottles. He tossed them onto the stone floor in front of her.

"The red pill will help purge the residual Qi from your wounds." Li Yu instructed.

"The green pill will stimulate your body and help regrow the limb my guide cut off. Take them and recover." Talia looked at the pills in surprise. High grade alchemical healing pills were rare in the Ferine Realm, only few beasts could perform such tasks. Being a high tier beast, her natural regeneration was already excellent but relying solely on her own Qi to regrow a limb would take time. The pills would speed the process along significantly.

"Thank you." Talia said as her pride softened slightly while she swallowed the pills. The agonizing pain in her stump immediately dulled, replaced by a warm and itching sensation. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

"Do not thank me." Li Yu said coldly.

"A person with missing limbs is useless to me. Get into the bag for now until we leave this place and you are more healed." Li Yu pulled a dark leather pouch from his ring. It was a high tier beast storage bag, designed to comfortably hold living creatures and allow them to heal in a dense Qi environment. Talia did not argue with him, she recognized the harsh reality of her situation. She turned into a streak of dark light and allowed herself to be pulled into the storage bag. Li Yu tied it securely to his belt.

"Let us go." Li Yu said to Zhan. They turned and walked back down the dark tunnel, exiting the cavern and making their way down the wide stone ramp. When they reached the base of the mountain, Ouros was exactly where they had left him. The Brutal Iron Bear was sitting in the dirt, his bent spiked club was fixed and resting across his knees. He looked up as Li Yu and Zhan approached, his small eyes widening slightly when he noticed they were walking back alone.

"Master... Li Yu." Ouros quickly corrected himself, remembering the lesson from earlier.

"You return. Did you find the ape?"

"The ape is dead." Li Yu stated plainly.

"We have what we came for. We are leaving." Li Yu looked at the Weaver Fox. She was still tied to the rock, her silver and violet fur dull and lifeless. She had not moved since they went up the mountain.

"Ouros, what is your background?" Li Yu asked, finally turning his attention back to the bear.

"Why are you dragging this fox across this realm?"

"I am a bounty hunter, of sorts." Ouros explained, his grating voice respectful.

"I track targets for the larger factions in exchange for resources. This fox is a high priority target wanted by the Wolf Clan of the east." Li Yu pulled the crude map Thornwood had drawn from his robes and unrolled it.

"Show me where the Wolf Clan is located." Ouros leaned forward and pointed a thick, iron plated finger at a section of the map far to the east.

"Why do they want her?" Li Yu asked while glancing at the trembling fox.

"I do not know." Ouros shrugged his heavy shoulders.

"I do not ask such things. I only track the scent and collect the bounty. They pay well. Lots of cores and rare materials." Li Yu looked at the map, then at the captive fox and finally at the bear. His jaw set in a hard line. He was done playing games with the factions of the Ferine Realm. Elder Mu had proven that the rulers here could not be trusted.

"Release the fox." Li Yu commanded. Ouros blinked, his small eyes darting between Li Yu and the captive.

"Release her?" Ouros repeated while being genuinely confused.

"But the payment is incredibly good. If we turn her into the Wolf Clan, we can claim a massive reward. It is a guaranteed fortune."

"No." Li Yu said with his tone absolute.

"I do not trust them to pay up even if you have had good experiences with them and others before. I do not trust any clan or ruler in this realm to honor a deal right now. Just do as you are commanded. Release the fox and we will be on our way." Ouros hesitated for a fraction of a second, his bounty hunter instincts rebelling against the idea of throwing away a valuable prize. But the lingering terror of Star Crusher stopping an inch from his face and the seal within his soul forced him to obey.

He had no other choice. Ouros stood up, walked over to the rock and grabbed the heavy iron chains binding the Weaver Fox. With a sharp pull of his immense physical strength, he snapped the thick metal links. The fox collapsed into the dirt, free from her bindings. She looked up at Ouros, then shifted her weak, silver eyes toward Li Yu. She expected the person that freed her to speak to her, to demand servitude or perhaps claim a favor in exchange for her life. Li Yu did not even look at her.

He minded his own business, entirely focused on his new subordinate. He pulled out another beast storage bag.

"Get in." Li Yu ordered the bear.

"You need to heal your broken ribs. We are heading southeast and I want you fully recovered by the time we reach the aquatic zones."

"Yes, Li Yu." Ouros bowed his head and allowed himself to be drawn into the storage bag. Li Yu tied the second bag to his belt. He turned his back on the base of the mountain and the freed fox. He only had his sights set toward the southeast.

"It is her good fortune today to make it through." Li Yu muttered quietly, more to himself than anyone else. He began walking, setting a brisk pace away from the rocky highlands. Zhan matched his stride and was moving smoothly beside him. They left the mountain ape's territory behind in silence. After a few miles, the tension in the air was still palpable. Li Yu's jaw was clenched tightly and his aura was rigid with suppressed anger.

"You are still in a foul mood?" Zhan commented, stating the obvious with his typical bluntness. Li Yu let out a short and tired breath.

"I can only agree with you. The events in the hollow left a bitter taste in my mouth. I feel like I am constantly reacting to the hostility of this place instead of moving on my own terms." He stopped walking for a moment and reached into his storage ring. He pulled out the glowing sphere of condensed earth energy, the Tribulation core of the mountain ape. Li Yu turned and held the core out toward his companion.

"Take this." Li Yu said. Zhan stopped, his eyes widening as he looked at the glowing prize.

"You are giving it to me?"

"It will do you more good than it will do me right now." Li Yu explained.

"I just absorbed a massive amount of Life Qi from Elder Mu. My physical body is saturated and my cultivation is stable. You need this to push your cultivation further. If we are going to survive and eventually strike back, I need you stronger." Zhan slowly reached out with his scythe arms and accepted the heavy core. The mantis felt the immense and terrifying power thrumming within the condensed earth energy. It was a gift beyond measure for a wild beast.

"Thank you." Zhan said, his voice carrying a rare trace of emotion. The mantis looked at the human standing before him. Li Yu was ruthless to his enemies, brutally demanding of his followers and incredibly generous to his allies. In the brutal logic of the Ferine Realm, that combination of traits was the absolute pinnacle of existence.

'He is looking more and more good looking the longer I get to know him.' Zhan thought to himself, evaluating Li Yu purely through the lens of martial respect. Li Yu saw the intense and approving stare of the mantis. A small smile broke through his foul mood.

"Do not stare at me like that, bug." Li Yu chuckled softly.

"Just absorb the core when we set up camp." They turned back toward the path. With a renewed sense of purpose and a growing army secured at their waists, the human and the mantis resumed their long journey southeast, heading straight for the domains of the aquatic rulers.