The battle ended not long after it began.

In the end, both of them were lying on the ground.

"Haa..."

"Haa..."

Shen Yuan was sitting on top of the scar-faced wolf while leaning against its stomach. Both of them breathed heavily, neither moving for several moments.

"That was something else."

Shen Yuan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand before looking down at the beast beneath him.

"To think you would grow so much stronger in such a short time."

The wolf huffed but didn’t move.

"And that ability of yours is such a hack."

Shen Yuan laughed.

"You’ll work great as my sidekick."

His eyes drifted towards the corpse of the Silver Core Beast lying in the distance.

"Guess it was money well spent."

The Silver Core had been worth a fortune.

Looking at the beast beneath him now, Shen Yuan no longer felt even a little regret.

His own body wasn’t in much better condition either.

The blood covering him was no longer just from the dead beast.

Several fresh cuts covered his chest, shoulders, and back. Thin streams of blood slowly ran down his body before dripping onto the wolf’s black fur.

The wolf had managed to leave quite a few marks on him.

The scar-faced wolf wasn’t unharmed either.

Several long wounds stretched across its body. Fresh blood stained its dark fur, and one of its front legs trembled slightly from exhaustion.

Still...

Compared to the injuries they had suffered fighting the middle-rank Silver Core Beast, these wounds were nothing.

Shen Yuan pushed himself off the wolf and stretched lazily.

"Well."

"That was fun."

He picked up his axe from the ground and rested it over his shoulder.

"But I have to leave."

"I seriously need a bath."

The moment those words left his mouth, the scar-faced wolf suddenly sat upright.

Its ears stood straight.

It nudged Shen Yuan’s side with its head.

"What?"

Shen Yuan looked at it.

The wolf simply turned around and started walking away.

"..."

Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"What’s with the attitude now?"

The wolf ignored him.

After taking several steps, it realized Shen Yuan wasn’t following.

It stopped but didn’t look back. just stood there waiting... for him to move.

Only after Shen Yuan finally sighed and started walking did the wolf continue moving. Before leaving, Shen Yuan did not forget to store the body of the dead Silver Core Wolf in his inventory. After all, it was a precious resource for his cultivation.

"So what do you want to show me?"

Shen Yuan did not need to be a genius to know that the scar-faced wolf wanted him to follow it.

The wolf led him through the forest for nearly half an hour. The deeper they went, the richer the spiritual energy in the surroundings became. the clusters of colorful light that followed everywhere were slowly gathering around the area.

But they were nothing compared to the amount of light particles he saw in the underground cave.

Shen Yuan noticed several beasts along the way.

The moment they sensed the aura coming from the scar-faced wolf, every single one of them fled.

None dared to approach.

Shen Yuan could practically see the wolf’s face glowing with the smugness of his newfound powers.

After another few minutes, the sound of flowing water reached Shen Yuan’s ears.

’is that...’ Shen Yuan’s footsteps came to a halt.

Before him was a crystal clear lake. Fresh water continuously flowed into it from a small stream running down the mountain.

The spiritual energy around the lake was noticeably denser than the rest of the forest.

But what truly caught Shen Yuan’s attention wasn’t the lake.

It was what surrounded it.

Herbs.

Dozens of them.

One-Star herbs grew almost everywhere along the shore.

Some were hidden beneath rocks.

Some grew beneath the shade of ancient trees.

Others were clustered together near the water.

Shen Yuan even spotted a few Two-Star herbs growing near the stream.

His eyes immediately widened.

"Two-Star herbs..."

There were only a handful of them.

But each one was worth a small fortune.

They were the same rank as the Spirit Grass he had sold before. "This is a real treasure trove."

The scar-faced wolf walked to the edge of the lake before lying down proudly.

Its silver-gray eyes looked towards Shen Yuan.

Almost as if waiting for his reaction.

But it was bound to be disappointing when Shen Yuan showed no real reaction to the lake.

It was like what he did was neither happy nor sad seeing the herbs.

and that was true as well.

Shen Yuan did not feel any emotions after all.

"..."

"So this is why you brought me here."

The wolf closed its eyes.

Shen Yuan noticed how the speed of its wagging tail slowed down when it did not see the reaction it wanted.

"You have finally started to provide the returns on the investments I placed in you." Shen Yuan walked up to the wolf and ruffled its head, only for the wolf to turn its head away with a gruff sound.

But the speed at which its tail was fanning him spoke for itself.

Shen Yuan did not waste any more time.

He walked towards the nearest patch of herbs and crouched down.

Unlike before, he no longer pulled them out carelessly.

Candy had taught him enough about medicinal herbs to know that if the roots were damaged, the value of the herb dropped significantly.

Using a small medicinal shovel from his inventory, Shen Yuan carefully dug around the first herb before lifting it out together with the surrounding soil.

The next moment, it disappeared.

"Stored."

A faint smile appeared on Shen Yuan’s face.

The inventory could even preserve medicinal herbs in the exact condition they were stored in.

One after another, the herbs disappeared.

One-Star herbs.

Two-Star herbs.

Even some plants Shen Yuan could not recognize.

He took them all.

The scar-faced wolf simply laid there with its head resting on its paws, occasionally opening one eye to look at Shen Yuan before closing it again.

By the time Shen Yuan was finished, the once lush shoreline looked noticeably emptier.

Only ordinary grass remained.

"That should be everything."

He dusted the dirt off his hands before walking towards the edge of the lake.

The crystal clear water reflected his battered appearance.

"..."

"I almost forgot why I came here."