Chapter 142: Wind Leaves a Trace, Geese Leave a Feather

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After some thought, Lin Xiao still handed the spirit pearl to Rat.

Rat became visibly unsettled the moment he saw the spirit skill contained within it.

His knowledge far surpassed Lin Xiao’s, and he quickly realized what the spirit pearl was capable of.

“Pig, I can’t tell whether you’re incredibly lucky or incredibly unlucky. The spirit pearl from the Stone Beast Chief doesn’t contain an ordinary spirit skill—it contains its special innate talent.”

Lin Xiao was bewildered.

“What do you mean? Can a special innate talent really be inherited through a spirit pearl?”

Seeing the confusion on Lin Xiao’s face, Rat realized that he probably knew nothing about this.

“Let me put it this way. The odds of a spirit beast producing a spirit pearl are already extremely low, and the odds of that spirit pearl containing a special innate talent are even lower. One in a million spirit beasts might not even produce one. Yet somehow, you actually encountered one.”

Everyone else was astonished as well. Was Lin Xiao really that lucky?

“Boss, does that mean we’re about to make a fortune?”

Rat’s expression became rather strange.

“If it were some other special innate talent, it might fetch a high price. But this one…” He shook his head. “Judging from the current situation, only an awakened individual with an ocular-type ability can use it. Remember that clairvoyance ability at the last auction? The spirit skill was excellent, but it was extremely difficult to find someone who needed it. In my opinion, this spirit pearl may be worth even less than an ordinary seventh-rank earth-type spirit pearl.”

After Rat said this, everyone fell silent.

They looked at Lin Xiao with complicated expressions. It was like drawing a rare item in a game, only to have it turn out to be the wrong one.

Unlike everyone else, Lin Xiao was bursting with excitement.

The Petrifying Eye was actually a spirit pearl he could use.

At long last, he was going to have an offensive spirit skill.

Although he was far too weak to absorb it at his current level, at least he now had something to look forward to.

Knowing that it was something he could use, Lin Xiao decided to ask Rat for it directly.

“Brother Rat, I have a friend who awakened an ocular-type ability. I feel that this spirit pearl would be perfect for him. Give it to me, and you can deduct the price from my share of the reward. If that isn’t enough, I can pay the difference myself.”

Rat was stunned when Lin Xiao asked for the spirit pearl.

Then, without the slightest hesitation, he tossed it straight to him.

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“You should have said so earlier. It may be a seventh-rank spirit pearl, but it isn’t worth that much. You saved all our lives. It would be far too distant of us to ask you for money. This spirit pearl is yours. I’m sure none of the others will object either. Right?”

The others hurriedly waved their hands.

They had been worrying about how they could repay Lin Xiao. Although one spirit pearl could hardly express their gratitude, it at least made them feel a little better.

Lin Xiao did not stand on ceremony. He immediately stored the seventh-rank spirit pearl in his spatial ring.

“All right, let’s continue sorting through the spoils. Pig, you can rest over there while we clean up the battlefield. Unfortunately, my spatial ring doesn’t have enough room. Otherwise, I would have stored all these spirit beasts inside.”

“Brother Rat, if that’s what you’re worried about, then I can help. Everyone already knows that I have a spatial ring, and mine just happens to be a little larger.”

Under everyone’s astonished gazes, Lin Xiao stored every spirit beast corpse except that of the Stone Beast Chief in his spatial ring.

Rat no longer knew what to say. Every one of those spirit beasts was at least fifth-rank, and their bodies were enormous.

Lin Xiao had actually stored all of them. It was impossible to imagine just how vast the space inside his ring truly was.

“Pig, you must never reveal the capacity of your spatial ring casually. Otherwise, you may attract unnecessary trouble.”

“I know. I only revealed it because I trust all of you.”

“That’s true. With your spatial ring, things will be much more convenient whenever we go out on missions together in the future.”

The matter of the spirit beasts had been settled. All that remained was dealing with the people from the Flame Mercenary Group.

Every member of the Flame Mercenary Group was dead, and naturally, someone had to inherit their belongings.

The members of the War Wolf Mercenary Group had all been through battlefields. They felt no psychological burden whatsoever about searching the corpses.

Lin Xiao did not help this time. Looking at the bodies still made him feel somewhat nauseated.

Rat and the others knew this, so they did not call him over while searching through the corpses.

And as it turned out, they found quite an unexpected prize.

Feng Yang actually had a spatial ring on him. Although it was not very large—only about five cubic meters—it contained quite a few valuable items. There were even five fifth-rank spirit pearls.

There was also a large amount of cash and other valuables. The man had been unbelievably wealthy.

When Lin Xiao heard the news, he did not know what to say. Feng Yang really had been the perfect tool.

Not only had he worked for them, but in the end, he had even left them such a substantial inheritance.

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After they finished searching the corpses, Rat gathered all the members of the Flame Mercenary Group together.

Tiger used a fire-type spirit skill to cremate all the bodies at once.

Leaving the corpses there would only turn them into food for spirit beasts. Besides, they were under no obligation to carry the remains back.

From the moment one became a mercenary, one had to be prepared to die within a secret realm.

Once everything was done, Rat gathered everyone together again.

“Pig, there’s something I need to discuss with you. Many of our people still haven’t absorbed their fifth-rank spirit skills. This time, we happened to obtain some fifth-rank spirit pearls they can use, and we always distribute such things to our own people first. I thought I should tell you about it. How about giving you a certain amount of cash compensation afterward to anyone who receives a spirit pearl?”

“Brother Rat, there’s no need to be so formal. I took the Stone Beast Chief’s spirit pearl, and you didn’t ask me for compensation. Let’s handle things the same way as before. I don’t need anything.”

“Good! Then we’ll do as you say.”

Rat was not the sort of person to be overly sentimental. He simply felt that some matters were better discussed openly.

The spirit pearls were soon distributed. Three people received fifth-rank spirit pearls they could use.

The three of them did not rush to absorb them. This was, after all, a secret realm, so it would be safer to wait until they returned to Kyoto.

“We hunted a great many spirit beasts this time, and we’ve essentially completed the mission we accepted. It’s time to head back. Does anyone have any objections?”

No one objected. This trip into the secret realm had been far too thrilling for them. It was time to return and get some proper rest.

Lin Xiao, however, was the first to voice his opposition.

“There’s no need to leave yet. This is the core region, after all, and most of the high-level spirit beasts have already been killed. This is a rare opportunity. I saw quite a few rare spirit herbs. If I don’t gather every last one, I won’t be able to sleep peacefully.”

“Uh… all right. We’ll listen to you. Most of the high-level spirit beasts in this secret realm have been killed, and we probably won’t be coming back for a while. We don’t recognize many of these spirit herbs, so you take charge and we’ll help. All the herbs can go to you!”

“Excellent!”

For some time afterward, Lin Xiao taught the members of the War Wolf Mercenary Group what it meant to leave no trace behind and strip the land bare.

He swept through the entire core region, leaving behind virtually nothing of value.

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