Chapter 93: Chapter 89: Essence Soul Upgrade

The Shopkeeper smiled. "Don’t you worry, sir. The man’s been waiting for you."

He then raised his voice and called out, "Jin Pao!"

"Shopkeeper Guu, over here!"

A short, sturdy-looking man in a sheepskin vest walked over.

The Shopkeeper made the introductions. "This is the gentleman paying, and this is Hunter Jin. The two of you can sort out the payment and pickup." With that, he lowered his head to look over his accounts, busying himself with his work.

Hunter Jin was surprised to see how young Zhao Lin was. He paused for a moment before speaking. "The leopard is in our He family Village. Would you like to come with me to get it now, sir?"

"No time to waste," Zhao Lin said decisively. "Let’s go now." He then added, "The leopard’s alive, I trust?"

Hunter Jin immediately puffed out his chest. "It’s alive, alright! And full of fight!"

...

"May I have your name, sir?"

Hunter Jin asked as they left the apothecary.

"It’s Lin."

Zhao Lin replied with a smile. "Hunter Jin, from what I know, Golden Leopards aren’t easy to catch. How did you manage it?"

The corners of Hunter Jin’s mouth turned up in a smug grin. "There’s an old saying about how a leopard is fiercer than three tigers. Even though this Golden Leopard isn’t that big, it’s the most ferocious and swift of them all. I’m not just bragging, but..."

Zhao Lin sighed inwardly. He’d learned a long time ago that whenever someone said ’I’m not just bragging, but...’, they were about to start bragging.

Hunter Jin prattled on, spittle flying, without ever getting to the point.

Zhao Lin was growing impatient. He happened to glance at the man and suddenly realized that his tone, expression, and manner of speaking were exactly the same as Zhou Pao’s.

He felt a sudden sense of warmth, and his irritation subsided. He even found himself hoping the man would keep rambling.

"Every hunter has his own tricks. It was nothing special, really. Our village had its autumn hunt a while back, and we spotted signs of a Golden Leopard..."

Hunter Jin finally remembered Zhao Lin’s question. "We saw your notice," he said, "so we set an ambush with a live goat in an area it was known to frequent."

"Our village has a lot of hunters, so we set up five different ambush points and had men watching them every day. It took us half a month of trying, but we finally snagged one."

"That couldn’t have been easy..."

The two of them talked as they walked, and soon they arrived at He family Village.

As they neared the village, Zhao Lin saw a large crowd gathered at the entrance. He stopped. "I’m not a fan of crowds, so I won’t go into the village. Could I trouble you, Brother Jin, to bring the leopard out to me?"

He did this partly to protect himself, and partly to avoid causing trouble for the villagers.

"Of course."

Hunter Jin agreed and strode over to the crowd. After exchanging a few words with the villagers, he called over a man in his thirties. The two of them then carried over a Golden Leopard slung from a wooden pole.

Zhao Lin stepped closer to inspect it. The Golden Leopard’s limbs were bound securely, and even its mouth was tied shut with a hemp rope. An angry, low growl rumbled in its throat.

To Zhao Lin, the growl sounded like the sputtering of a motorcycle engine.

The Golden Leopard was about 1.3 meters from head to tail, with a tail nearly a meter long on its own. Its body was well-proportioned, its limbs long and slender, forming a perfect, streamlined shape. The lines of its muscles were clearly defined.

Its coat was a vibrant, brownish-yellow, covered in the black spots and rosettes that gave it its name, looking as if copper coins had been stamped all over its body.

’Truly an animal born to run!’

Zhao Lin praised it inwardly as he took out two twenty-tael ingots and one ten-tael ingot of Official Silver, handing them to Hunter Jin.

"Here is your payment. Please, take it, Brother Jin."

Hunter Jin was overjoyed. He took the silver and inspected it carefully, biting down on it and weighing it in his hand. Only then did he remember to ask Zhao Lin, "This leopard’s heavier than a man. How are you going to carry it off?"

Zhao Lin just smiled, grabbed the wooden pole with one hand, and effortlessly hoisted the Golden Leopard.

"I’ll take my leave now. Until we meet again!"

...

After leaving He family Village, Zhao Lin walked a long way to the northwest until he reached a desolate, hilly region. He found a secluded patch of woods and slipped inside.

He set the Golden Leopard down and examined it closely. Upon discovering it was a male, he felt even more satisfied.

Whether by luck or coincidence, the old ox, the bear, and the Black-horned Antelope whose Essence Souls Zhao Lin had absorbed had all been male.

The only one whose gender he couldn’t determine was the Horseshoe Bat.

Generally, in the animal kingdom, males were larger and possessed greater physical prowess than females.

Zhao Lin wasn’t sure if this would affect the quality of the Essence Soul, but as a man himself, absorbing the soul of another male animal just felt... more acceptable.

"Leopard, oh leopard, don’t hold a grudge. You were born to be food on this earth. I’ll kill you this year, and you’ll come back next year."

Zhao Lin muttered the rhyme to himself as he took out his wrought copper staff.

The villagers often recited this when they slaughtered chickens. Zhao Lin had learned it too, simply swapping out "chicken" for "leopard."

THUD!

With a single, swift motion, Zhao Lin brought the staff down. With a dull thud, the Golden Leopard collapsed, dead, having felt no pain.

A moment later, a silvery light emerged from the corpse. It rose, converged, and gradually began to take shape...

The Spirit Beast Scroll in Zhao Lin’s mind began to tremble. The image of the Black-horned Antelope in the second frame flickered, as if issuing a summons.

’Just as I thought. They’re both speed-type abilities, but the Golden Leopard’s Essence Soul is a higher grade.’

’I can replace it!’

Zhao Lin inhaled sharply, and the silvery light poured into his body.

"Hsss..."

His scalp tingled, and a shiver shot up his spine.

The excruciating pain, like being flayed alive, returned.

’I thought that since I’d already absorbed the Black-horned Antelope’s soul, this time would be smoother. I didn’t expect the reaction to be just as violent.’

The pain was concentrated in his torso—in the tendons of his neck, back, and lower spine, and beneath his arms. They felt as if they were being constantly stretched and twisted!

Fortunately, this wasn’t his first time. Zhao Lin’s tolerance for pain had been tempered. He endured for about a quarter of an hour before the absorption of the Essence Soul was finally complete.

Zhao Lin rested for a while, then washed down the meat patties he’d brought with water from his waterskin, eating every last bite.

When he looked at the Spirit Beast Scroll again, the portrait in the second frame had changed from the Black-horned Antelope to the Golden Leopard.

Zhao Lin stretched his limbs, and the effects were immediate!

His body surged with vitality. He could feel, even without running, that his fascia and tendons had become more resilient and elastic.

After warming up, Zhao Lin performed two tests: a standing jump and a short-distance sprint.

His jumping ability had improved even more. A single, easy leap carried him over twenty feet, as if his legs were loaded with springs.

The change in his sprinting speed was even more dramatic. He could now truly achieve an explosive start, going from a dead stop to a full sprint in an instant.

Zhao Lin even experienced a sensation akin to being pushed back into a seat, his acceleration was so sudden.

’Heh, I wonder what my zero-to-sixty is now?’

Zhao Lin was in high spirits, feeling he was another step closer to mastering his tendons.

’When it comes to pure speed, I doubt even someone in the Qi Realm could be faster than me now.’

...

That afternoon, Zhao Lin returned to Qinghe County, carrying the leopard.

Although he no longer had to worry about silver, leopard bones were a valuable medicinal ingredient. Their effects were similar to tiger bones, known for alleviating pain and strengthening bones. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

His master was getting old; the bones would be excellent for making a medicinal wine for him.