"Let me go, please."

In the depths of the dense forest, a middle-aged man lay on the ground covered with fallen leaves, his eyes filled with despair.

Bright red blood was gushing from his back, quickly seeping into the soil.

His face, newly revealed from behind a mask, was as pale as paper, and together with his low pleading voice, he appeared pitiful and wretched.

Standing in front of him, Zhang Yuan glanced at him, expressionless, and raised the Taowu Saber.

With a short, harsh scream, the forest returned to its quietness.

Zhang Yuan extended his hand toward the corpse, performing a virtual grab, and activated the Divine Nest to transcend it.

[Source Material +1587]

Watching the Tier Five expert’s body turn to ashes, Zhang Yuan picked up the fallen longsword and stored it in his Storage Space.

In the next moment, his figure disappeared from the spot.

Shortly after, Zhang Yuan reappeared at the location where he had ambushed Yang Chengguang.

Thus, the hunt and counter-kill battle was completely concluded.

Six of the seven people on Yang Chengguang’s side were left behind by Zhang Yuan.

The corpses of the enemies all turned into precious Source Material, becoming resources for him to grow stronger.

In addition, Zhang Yuan also seized seven Profound Soldiers.

Among them, Yang Chengguang alone "dropped" two pieces!

In fact, the team led by Yang Chengguang was highly formidable.

Apart from the scout, everyone was a battle-hardened expert, each wielding a Profound Soldier.

Even dealing with Tier Six experts would have been enough!

But unfortunately for them, they encountered Zhang Yuan, whose strength had greatly increased.

The extreme eighteenfold boost in strength and agility endowed the current Zhang Yuan with the ability to sweep through peers and rival Tier Six experts, coupled with the Red Blood Divine Soldiers as a trump card, sealing the fate of Yang Chengguang and his group’s demise.

For Zhang Yuan, the significance of this battle was also considerable.

He verified his current combat power and also gained combat experience.

The only regret was not being able to eliminate all the enemies.

This was inevitable, given the highly complex environment of Mo Yuan; chasing and killing two people was already an incredible feat, letting one escape was normal.

Fortunately, the one who escaped did not witness Zhang Yuan using the Red Blood Saber to slay Yang Chengguang.

Otherwise, Zhang Yuan would have faced major trouble.

He quickly replayed the previous battle in his mind, ensuring there were no oversights or mistakes, and decided to continue his exploration journey.

Zhang Yuan was in urgent need of Daoist Merit.

However, killing these enemies did not earn him any Daoist Merit.

[Gene Host Detected!]

At this moment, the prompt suddenly appeared in his vision, startling him deeply. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Driven entirely by instinct, he looked towards the right.

About a hundred steps away, a "big cat" silently emerged from the darkness amongst the bushes, its cold, merciless eyes gazing straight at Zhang Yuan.

Their gazes clashed across the distance, as if invisible sparks flew!

This "big cat" was stocky with a very short tail, its muscles bulging under thick fur, exuding a breathtaking sense of power and beauty.

Its fur was reddish-yellow, covered with various-sized brown spots.

A lynx?

The sudden appearance of this "big cat" gave Zhang Yuan a very bad feeling.

The opponent had the ability to threaten him!

What surprised Zhang Yuan the most was that this fierce beast, resembling a lynx, also qualified as a Gene Host.

Previously, the Extraordinary Life Forms he housed in the Divine Nest were all very small in size; first ants and mantises, then loaches and crows, and finally just mice.

In comparison, this lynx was significantly larger!

Zhang Yuan speculated it was the result of the Divine Nest’s continuous evolution, suggesting that in the future, as it upgraded further, it might even accommodate giant Extraordinary Life Forms like lions, tigers, or even elephants.

What kind of abilities could these large hosts bring him?

At this moment, Zhang Yuan’s heart raced!

The problem was that all six of the Divine Nest’s chambers were occupied, with no vacancy for the lynx in front of him.

Zhang Yuan and the lynx exchanged looks for a while; the latter hesitated a bit, then slowly retreated, disappearing back into the dark bushes.

No sound remained.

What a pity!

Zhang Yuan felt a subtle regret.

If there was an available chamber, he would have definitely tried to capture the lynx.

Taking action now would be futile; he might as well let it go.

Leave it for later!

After pondering for a moment, Zhang Yuan directed all the Source Material he obtained from transcending the six enemies earlier to the Divine Nest’s main body.

Initially, he had intended to continue feeding the Silver-haired Mouse with this over ten thousand Source Material.

Currently, the Silver-haired Mouse was Level 4; once upgraded to Level 5, its Storage Space would increase to 125 cubic meters.

The enhanced utility would be significant.

However, unable to resist the temptation of a new host, Zhang Yuan decided to upgrade the Divine Nest first.

There was no regret in making the move. After spending all the Source Material, he felt a sense of relief.

Subsequently, Zhang Yuan retrieved the seized Profound Soldiers from his Storage Space, feeding them one by one to the Red Blood Saber.

The Red Blood Saber played a crucial role in his near-complete annihilation of Yang Chengguang’s team.

Although Zhang Yuan used the Red Blood Saber to kill only Yang Chengguang, it took out the group’s core, directly crushing their morale, then defeating them one by one.

Hence, these valuable Profound Soldiers weren’t spared, and Zhang Yuan put them all in without a trace of remorse.

The Red Blood Saber’s devouring abilities were remarkably powerful; after feeding it seven Profound Soldiers, it showed no visible change.

However, when Zhang Yuan reabsorbed it into his body, this Divine Soldier entered a self-induced slumber in his Qi Sea Dantian.

Seemingly brewing something.

Zhang Yuan didn’t pay any extra attention, resting in place until his Qi and Blood Value recovered to over eighty percent before venturing deeper into Mo Yuan.

Until dusk.

When Zhang Yuan returned to Lin Xian Manor before nightfall, he wasn’t in high spirits.

Because he gained nothing in Mo Yuan, as if all his luck was drained in the battle against Yang Chengguang and his group.

Without an Evil Infant, he couldn’t gain Daoist Merit, nor seek guidance from the Elders at the Martial Pavilion.

Let alone refining a Qilin Pill!

Of course, Zhang Yuan wasn’t discouraged by this.

He planned to return to Mo Yuan again tomorrow.

What Zhang Yuan didn’t know was that the news of him slaying Yang Chengguang in Mo Yuan was already spreading fervently in the Martial Pavilion, even known to many cultivators in the Upper Scenic Celestial.

The next morning, Zhang Yuan received a Talisman.

After reading the Talisman, he immediately headed for the Martial Pavilion to meet his Martial Arts Instructor—Wei Long!

Wei Long was one of the Dharma Transmission Elders at the Upper Scenic Celestial Martial Pavilion.

Zhang Yuan had studied under him for the longest time and held great respect for him.

Although Wei Long didn’t specify the reason for summoning him in the Talisman,

Zhang Yuan sensed it was very likely related to Yang Chengguang!