Three months later.
Su Hao dragged two Master-level Short-Tailed Drakes into the cave. The Short-Tailed Drakes resembled dinosaurs but with shorter tails. Two long fangs extended from their upper jaws, giving them a fierce and menacing appearance. Their combat strength was formidable, and when they ran, the ground trembled, disorienting their prey and making the hunt easier.
In this region, the Short-Tailed Drakes were apex predators. A small group of about a dozen of them formed a pack, with every adult Short-Tailed Drakes possessing Master-level strength. The strongest among them had even reached the high-tier Master level.
However, this pack's reign had come to an end.
The last two Short-Tailed Drakes had now been dragged into Su Hao's cave.
He laid the drakes' bodies on the stone platform and skillfully slit open their bellies. Ignoring the gore, he scooped out their internal organs, sliced through the thin membrane at the abdomen, and peeled it back, revealing the beast veins.
Su Hao had long become desensitized to the gruesome sight.
Once he recorded the vein shards, Su Hao entered his Marbel Space to retrieve all the Short-Tailed Drake vein shards he had collected over the past months for comparison. With [Cosmic Light]'s assistance, he combined the data and filled in the missing pieces.
After analyzing the combined vein for a while, he noticed that the structure appeared more coordinated. It seemed like a complete beast vein now, though he couldn't be sure if it was flawless or still missing something.
"Guess I'll have to test it and find out."
Su Hao exited the Marbel Space and began drawing the vein on the fresh corpse of a Short-Tailed Drake.
Before long, the vein was completed. The moment it was drawn, the beast vein activated, but before any significant effect could manifest, it began to collapse.
Su Hao skillfully controlled the collapsing Blood Qi, allowing it to dissipate slowly. He then turned his gaze to the last Short-Tailed Drake. "Still missing something... and this is the last one. If I can't complete the vein with this, all this work will have been for nothing. I might have to venture deeper into the wilderness to find another Short-Tailed Drake pack."
Without hesitation, Su Hao went to work on the last drake. He skillfully opened its belly and recorded the vein inside, then immediately entered the Marbel Space to compare the new data.
The final shard fit into place, "completing" the framework of the beast vein.
Looking at it again, the Blood Qi now seemed to flow smoothly within the vein. Su Hao had a strong feeling it was finally complete.
After exiting the Marbel Space, he began to draw the vein again.
The moment he finished, the vein glowed faintly, and a sudden high-frequency vibration erupted, shaking the entire corpse. The drake's tough hide tore in places, and the stone platform vibrated violently, sending small rocks tumbling down.
"‹Vibration›?" Su Hao mused. He wracked his brain but couldn't recall any record of a vibration-type beast vein. It wasn't something he'd encountered at the academy recordes either.
Su Hao wasn't sure if he had just discovered a new beast vein.
Up until now, Su Hao had collected four beast veins: ‹Collapse›, ‹Deflect›, ‹Absorb Light›, and ‹High Temperature›. With the addition of ‹Vibration›, he now had five beast veins in total. Including the two he previously acquired—‹Barrier›, ‹Control›—along with his personal ‹Perception› rune, Su Hao now had eight beast veins in his arsenal.
Over the past three months, Su Hao had begun attempting to analyze the beast veins, but progress was slow. He had only managed to isolate the similar structures between different veins. However, the purpose or underlying principles behind these common structures still eluded him.
For Su Hao, eight beast veins were far from enough. He needed more. The larger the dataset, the easier it would be to identify patterns and deduce their meanings.
Nevertheless, he couldn't stay in the wilderness any longer. He needed to return to Lingyun Town.
His experimental equipment was nearly broken, and he had run out of essential supplies.
Su Hao needed to return to Lingyun Town to restock and find a way to sell some of the "clean" beast veins he had collected to exchange for gold crowns.
After extracting the large fangs from the Short-Tailed Drakes, Su Hao used ‹Extract› to crystallize the remaining Blood Qi from their bodies and stored the crystals in his bag.
These Blood Qi crystals were filled with impurities and not suitable for direct use, but Su Hao wasn't sure how others might utilize them.
Then, he tossed the drakes' corpses far from the cave. Within a day, wild beasts would devour them to the bone.
With everything packed, Su Hao oriented himself and began his journey back to Lingyun Town.
Along the way, Su Hao encountered several fierce beasts—some elite, others Master-level—but none escaped his blade. Each one became a new vein shard stored in his Marbel Space.
As for Grandmaster-level beasts, Su Hao had yet to encounter any. If he did, he had no intention of provoking them—he would avoid them at all costs.
As Su Hao neared Lingyun Town, he occasionally ran into teams of Hunters exploring the wilderness. He had no intention of interacting with them, so when his [Minimap] picked them up, he circled around them and continued on his way.
….
Five days later, Su Hao returned to Lingyun Town.
The first thing he did was head straight to an inn, where he thoroughly washed himself from head to toe. After going so long without a proper bath, Su Hao felt refreshed, as if his entire soul had been cleansed. It was an almost spiritual experience.
Next, he trimmed his hair into a neat buzz cut.
With everything cleaned up, Su Hao could only describe himself as a handsome young lad.
The only downside was his face—it still looked a bit too youthful. He lacked the ruggedness of someone who had spent months in the wilderness.
His clothes were also beyond saving, reeking of sweat and filth. Plus, with winter approaching, he needed to buy a couple of new outfits.
After buying new clothes, Su Hao found that he had barely enough money left for a few days' worth of meals. It was clear that even a slacker would be forced to find work at this point.
That meant it was time to sell the beast veins.
But selling them presented a new problem.
At his age and stature, if he approached a buyer with beast veins, they might not even believe the veins were real. And even if they did, there was a good chance he'd be robbed. While Su Hao wasn't afraid of trouble, he preferred to avoid unnecessary complications. He simply wanted to sell the veins, restock his supplies, and return to the wilderness.
"I need a reliable middleman." He fiddled with the last two silver shillings he had left, deep in thought.
The first person who came to mind was Bald Liu. Old Liu had always been kind to him and was a trustworthy figure. But after thinking it over, Su Hao dismissed the idea.
Bald Liu had access to the academy's beast vein collection, and it was uncertain whether he'd be interested in what Su Hao had to offer. Moreover, it would be difficult to explain how Su Hao had come by such valuable veins in the first place.
After thinking long and hard, Su Hao still couldn't come up with the suitable candidate.
Although he was strong individually, he was severely lacking in social connections. Networking had never been Su Hao's strong suit. He had no reliable network to facilitate the sale.
With no other choice, Su Hao decided to wander around town, observe how things operated, and then look for an opportunity to sell his goods.
Previously, Su Hao hadn't paid much attention to the town's inner workings, but after carefully exploring, he quickly learned how things were run.
On the surface, Lingyun Town was straightforward. The mayor and his administration governed the town, while the guard corps maintained security. Beyond that, there was the Lingyun Warrior Academy, where many Masters resided, followed by the three major families: the Jin family, the Mo family, and the Xiao family. The Jin family, having lost two of its Masters, had inevitably begun to decline. Below these powerful entities were various exploration teams and numerous merchant associations.
However, the undercurrents of the town were surely more complicated than they appeared. But Su Hao wasn't interested in delving into the town's politics. He just needed to lock onto his target.
Soon, Su Hao had a plan. His first targets for selling the beast veins would be either the exploration teams or the merchant associations. His reasoning was simple: both would have sufficient cash flow, and both had a high demand for beast veins.
But he would still need to avoid getting scammed.
With so many exploration teams and merchant associations to choose from, selecting the right one was critical.
"A team's quality depends on its leader," Su Hao mused. He preferred to focus on the essence of things rather than getting bogged down by superficial details.
The leaders of the major exploration teams in Lingyun Town were all well-known figures, so gathering information about them was easy. After two days of research, Su Hao narrowed his options down to three.
The first was a rising exploration team called "The Hunt", which had made a name for itself two years ago. The reason Su Hao chose this group was because its leader, Meng Shan, was known for his short temper but was also highly principled. When Meng Shan made a decision, he stuck to it.
The second was the Red Rock Merchant Association, a large, century-old business under the Xiao family. The Xiao family had a reputation for operating with integrity and treating all their customers fairly.
The third was the Qilian Merchant Association, a grassroots organization formed by several small exploration teams. They dealt in various materials and items, including beast veins, and had a long-standing tradition of purchasing such goods.
After much thought, Su Hao finally decided to go with the Qilian Merchant Association.