Chapter 69: Energy Core
Su Hao stared at the massive body of the black-headed white-tailed eagle, his eyes gleaming with excitement, and he almost drooled.
For the past two years, he had deliberately avoided Grandmaster-level savage beasts, focusing on researching those at the Master and Elite levels. But now, the corpse of a Grandmaster-level savage beast lay before him, tempting him beyond measure as someone obsessed with runes.
Su Hao picked up his package and reached out towards the white-tailed eagle with a sinful hand.
Drag it away!
Find a secluded place to dissect it and see how it differs from the Master-level savage beasts.
As for returning to Tea Mountain Outpost... delaying it by two days wouldn't matter.
Soon, Su Hao found a suitable location—a deep depression formed on one side of a huge rock.
This place was originally the habitat of a yellow sand lizard. However, after Su Hao chopped off its head, it became his temporary base.
There was nothing to say. He skillfully took out his tools and started plucking the feathers.
The white-tailed eagle, devoid of feathers, was an unsightly sight. Who could have imagined that this featherless bird before their eyes was the majestic ruler of the sky?
Su Hao carefully dissected it inch by inch with his knife, observing it like a priceless treasure, not missing a single detail.
Soon, Su Hao found the beast pattern of the white-tailed eagle.
This beast pattern was called "Penetration," and Su Hao was already familiar with it. What surprised him was that the beast pattern he discovered on the white-tailed eagle was complete.
This was the first time he had found a complete beast pattern on a savage beast. Previously, the beast patterns he found were all incomplete, requiring the slaughter of numerous savage beasts of the same kind to have a chance at obtaining a complete one.
What astonished Su Hao the most was that this beast pattern was engraved on a huge fleshy ball.
"What is this? Could this fleshy ball be the secret of the Grandmaster level?" Su Hao had dissected many Master-level savage beasts, but he had never come across a similar fleshy ball.
Curiously, Su Hao used his knife to cut the fleshy ball, carefully examining it in his hand. He could only sense a tremendous amount of vital energy contained within.
After a while, he gained nothing.
"Let's dissect it!" Su Hao quickly found various tools and skillfully dissected the fleshy ball.
Then, he took out a pale yellow bead from inside, about the size of a fingertip. When he pressed it with his hand, it felt soft and elastic, like a QQ candy.
In Su Hao's perception, more than half of the vital energy within the savage beast's body came from this bead.
"Could this be the energy storage core? Is it the key to Master-level breakthrough?" Su Hao furrowed his brow as he observed the bead.
After being removed from the fleshy ball, the vital energy reaction within the yellow bead gradually decreased, indicating that the energy inside was slowly dissipating. It was estimated that in just two days, the energy within the bead would be completely gone.
"Well, it will dissipate sooner or later. Why not dissect it before that happens?"
Su Hao pondered for a moment, then immediately searched for the smallest knife.
It was just a dissection, no loss either way.
When Su Hao cut the yellow bead into pieces, he didn't find anything significant. It only accelerated the dissipation of the vital energy inside.
Before long, Su Hao looked at the lifeless pieces without any vital energy reaction and muttered to himself, "Well, no loss!"
Having tidied up, Su Hao set off once again. This time, he chose a more concealed route, which might be slower but offered safety.
The incident with the white-tailed eagle made Su Hao realize that even with radar, he couldn't guarantee absolute safety. It was highly possible that when he discovered the opponent, he was already locked in and unable to escape.
However, thanks to the white-tailed eagle, Su Hao understood that the Grandmaster level was not as terrifying as he had imagined. With the right method, he could still defeat them.
Through dissecting the white-tailed eagle, Su Hao had some speculations about the Grandmaster level.
Breaking through from Elite to Master belonged to a "structural" breakthrough, while from Master to Grandmaster might be a breakthrough in "energy." Then, daring to make a bold conjecture, advancing from the Grandmaster level to the Ancestor level might involve "comprehensive automation."
Whether this was true or not, Su Hao needed to ask someone. However, he didn't know if he would be able to find out.
...
Twenty days later, Su Hao returned to Tea Mountain Outpost.
At this time, Wu Yuntian was not at home.
Su Hao sat in the courtyard, holding Wu Yuntian's teapot, brewing tea for himself, waiting for Wu Yuntian's return.
It wasn't until evening that Wu Yuntian returned, covered in dust.
At the sight of Su Hao, Wu Yuntian was stunned. It took him a while before he squeezed out a sentence, "Xiang Wu, you're back."
Su Hao nodded, feeling at a loss for words after not seeing each other for so long.
Both sides remained silent for a while before Su Hao spoke, "Father, I brewed some tea. Come and have some!"
Wu Yuntian nodded, entered the house, took off his armor, and sat opposite Su Hao.
It was at this moment that Su Hao got a close look at Wu Yuntian.
He looked similar to before, but Su Hao keenly noticed two additional lines at the corners of Wu Yuntian's eyes, and his eyes carried a hint of worldly weariness. That indifferent gaze seemed to have already seen through his own destiny.
Unknowingly, it had been twelve years since he arrived in this world.
Su Hao sensed that Wu Yuntian's vital energy had greatly improved, indicating that he had broken through the bottleneck of vital energy intensity and reached the peak state. So he asked, "Father, have you found the Blood Energy Enhancement Wave?"
Wu Yuntian nodded, "I found it a year ago. I can now control the transformation of vital energy freely, and my vital energy intensity has reached its peak."
Su Hao continued, "What about the engraving of the beast patterns?"
Wu Yuntian fell silent. He didn't feel like talking.
Su Hao immediately understood and asked, "Is it because the beast patterns are too complex?"
Wu Yuntian took a sip of tea and slowly said, "Yes, it's impossible to remember them all."
Clearly, Wu Yuntian encountered the same problem that most Elite warriors faced.
Su Hao said, "Father, I have a way to simplify the beast patterns. What kind of characteristics do you want in the beast pattern?"
After saying that, Su Hao listed all the characteristics of the beast patterns he had on hand for Wu Yuntian to choose from.
Wu Yuntian looked at Su Hao with a strange expression, but wisely refrained from asking.
Because after witnessing Su Hao's growth over the years, he realized a serious problem: things he thought were impossible, things he couldn't do, and things he couldn't even imagine might not necessarily be true.
He found that his understanding of the world
had gone awry.
The world he knew might be completely different from what he had imagined.
So, as a man in his forties, if he didn't understand, he shouldn't bother asking. Even if he asked, he still wouldn't understand, so why bother making things difficult for himself?
Wu Yuntian casually chose a beast pattern that looked pleasing to the eye and said, "Hard!"
Su Hao nodded, immediately brought a blank sheet of paper, and drew the "Hard" rune formation. After confirming its feasibility, Su Hao handed it to Wu Yuntian, saying, "This is the simplified rune formation I made based on the beast pattern. You can trace the lines of the formation according to this."
Then he pointed to the eight curves around the formation and said, "These are the eight nodes used to adjust the rune formation, making it fit your body."
Su Hao proceeded to describe in detail the function of the formation to Wu Yuntian, as well as how to divide the formation into segments for easier memorization.
After the explanation, Wu Yuntian furrowed his brow and said, "Xiang Wu, can this formation really achieve the effect of the beast pattern?"
Su Hao nodded, "Of course!"
Wu Yuntian said with a sigh, "I don't know how you did it, but don't let anyone know that this was created by you. Otherwise, you will definitely be in danger once they find out."
Su Hao solemnly said, "Father, I understand! I will be careful."
Wu Yuntian sighed, "There are conflicts even within the human race. I don't understand those things. But all along, knowledge at the Master level and above has been controlled by high-level warriors. If they find out that you have turned beast patterns into formations, it's highly likely that they will take the formation from you and kill you."
Su Hao had also considered this issue. He wanted to popularize the simplified runes he created, which would benefit the entire human race. However, doing so could potentially threaten the interests of the ruling class and result in them relentlessly hunting him down.
He didn't have the confidence to single-handedly confront the entire human race.
So, what should he do?
Su Hao didn't know either. His knowledge of the ruling class was too limited at the moment.
Thank you for reading!
(Translated by begs)