10: Chapter 10 Sending Spirit Stones, Central Area

"Since that's the case, I'll eat it too," Little Hei said after hearing this.

He felt it made sense; if he left it in his nest, he'd have to worry about it being stolen.

Keeping it in his stomach was much safer.

"Do you need me to break it into two for you? It'll be easier to swallow that way."

"Then I'll trouble you."

Bai Xuan pecked at the Spirit Stone with his beak. A crack spread from the center, and it finally shattered into two halves.

Just like that, Little Hei ate the Spirit Stone along with some flesh, swallowing everything into his stomach.

"Brother Hei, where did you find these two crystals?"

"The central zone of the mountain range. You should be careful if you want to go there. The beasts there are much stronger than those on the periphery. I only avoided being eaten because I can fly. It's terrifying."

Little Hei felt a lingering fear as he recalled what happened that day.

"I see. By the way, Brother Hei, your nest has already been discovered by humans. You need to change locations quickly; don't stay here any longer."

Bai Xuan said, as if he had just thought of something.

The drone that had been hiding nearby earlier was still vivid in his mind.

Bai Xuan was certain that Little Hei was being watched. Staying here would only lead to disaster!

"This... how come I didn't see them?" Little Hei was a bit skeptical, thinking Bai Xuan was prejudiced against humans.

Those two Forest Rangers were good to Little Hei, but that was only because he was a regular crow. Now that Little Hei had displayed extraordinary intelligence, even if those two Forest Rangers wouldn't harm him, others would.

"They use something called a drone to monitor you from the shadows. If you don't believe me, I can go find that destroyed drone and show it to you."

Bai Xuan felt speechless toward Little Hei.

He didn't want to see Little Hei die at the hands of humans.

Other creatures didn't matter; they had nothing to do with Bai Xuan.

But Little Hei was Bai Xuan's savior, and Bai Xuan couldn't just stand by and watch him die.

If Little Hei still refused to leave, Bai Xuan would have to use force and take Little Hei away by strength.

"Fine, I'll move, okay?" Little Hei was very reluctant to leave his nest.

But since Bai Xuan had said so, he had to believe it even if he was skeptical.

After all, only those two Forest Rangers were good to him; other humans were a different story.

"There's no time to lose, let's go. My nest is very well-hidden and hard to find. Why don't you move to my place and live with me? That way, we can look out for each other," Bai Xuan suggested.

Little Hei packed his things. Several items were gifts from his human friends and were very precious; he wanted to take them all with him.

And so, Little Hei followed Bai Xuan, heading toward Bai Xuan's nest.

Along the way, Bai Xuan encountered a few more drones and destroyed them cleanly.

Being constantly harassed like this was quite annoying.

...

"How on earth did it discover them?"

"It must have gained some kind of skill after mutating. We must capture it as soon as possible."

"It's already evolved to this extent; doesn't that mean in the future..."

"That's why we must master this power quickly! We absolutely cannot wait until those beasts have become a force to be reckoned with before we barely manage to grasp it."

"That's easier said than done."

"No matter how difficult it is, we must master it. Humanity will never perish because of this!"

They were shocked to see Bai Xuan accurately locating the drones every time. Even when a drone was perched on a tree with its camera aimed at Bai Xuan and Little Hei, making no sound and hidden by leaves, it was still discovered!

It was incredible. Was it vision, or some other mutation skill?

This concerned the future of humanity; they couldn't just let them grow unchecked.

"It seems the relationship between those two birds is quite deep."

Elder Lin rested his finger against his chin and remarked.

Logically, a Goshawk and a crow shouldn't be able to live together.

Moreover, there's a huge difference in their sizes. One should be thankful the crow wasn't treated as prey on the spot, let alone living in harmony.

"It should be a partnership, or perhaps the crow is the Goshawk's subordinate."

"I actually think they might be mates."

"..."

"Is this the time to be talking about that?"

"I was just trying to lighten the mood."

As for the videos and photos of Little Hei that went viral online earlier, it must have been that Goshawk protecting the crow. If those two Forest Rangers had harmed the crow, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Thinking of this, they couldn't help but break into a cold sweat for the Forest Rangers. Fortunately, they hadn't done anything and had been friendly from start to finish.

...

After settling Little Hei in,

Bai Xuan headed toward the center of the mountain range alone as a lone eagle.

If that place was rich in Spirit Stones, Bai Xuan would choose to settle there.

Before long, Bai Xuan arrived at the central zone of the mountain range. He circled in the air, looking down at the forests and rivers below.

His eagle eyes carefully searched for any sign of Spirit Stones.

There were also many raptors here, such as Gyrfalcons, Owls, and so on.

However, since Bai Xuan's level was superior, these raptors didn't dare approach him and even fled in terror.

After half an hour, Bai Xuan had a general understanding of the situation in the central zone.

There was a Sub-tier Stage 4 Siberian Tiger here. It was massive and majestic, a literal behemoth. It must have also obtained Spirit Stones; otherwise, it couldn't have improved so quickly.

Exactly how many stones it had was unknown.

For now, Bai Xuan didn't want to fight it. Size was a major issue, and besides, there were quite a few leveled animals nearby—there were five at Sub-tier Stage 3 alone.

"It seems this place is very suitable for survival," Bai Xuan muttered to himself.

This was enough to show that there were many Spirit Stones here. Bai Xuan already had the idea of living here. After all, with many mutant creatures, he could gain more evolution points while also blocking humans. Why not?

This made Bai Xuan curious about the situation of mutant creatures in other places and other countries, and what the resources were like. Where would the place with the most spiritual energy and Spirit Stones be?

"Forget it, there's no use thinking about that now." Bai Xuan began his move, targeting a Sub-tier Stage 3 Red Fire Fox. It was three meters long, with red fur covering its entire body.

Bai Xuan flew toward the cave where the Red Fire Fox lived.

He flew into the cave and killed it with a single blow. Before the Red Fire Fox could even react, it had already perished.

Then he ate it, and the system's voice followed:

"Devoured Mutant Red Fire Fox, gained 4 evolution points."

[Race]: Mutant Goshawk.

[Level]: Sub-tier Stage 5.

[Skills]: Iron Beak [Intermediate], Steel Talons [Intermediate], Steel Feathers [Intermediate], Sensory Localization [Intermediate], Sonic Interference [Intermediate].

[System Skills]: Eye of Appraisal, Animal Communication, Super Digestion.

[evolution points]: {330/60}

The system's voice came again: [Do you want to consume evolution points to begin evolution?]

Bai Xuan refused, choosing to first absorb the energy of the Spirit Stone within his body. Now that the energy had begun to pour into him, Bai Xuan crouched in the deepest part of the cave, gradually waiting to evolve.

Bai Xuan had checked the condition of the cave; there were only traces of a single fox having lived there, and no other creatures. This cave was still very safe.

...