Chapter 22

Could these fruit shells have been left by other fur-clad beast slaves?” Yuan Ming glanced around but found nothing unusual.

Suddenly, his gaze sharpened and he looked at a large tree not far away.

On a slender branch of the tree, a silver cat about half a foot tall, similar in size to a domestic cat, was perched.

This cat had silver-white fur all over its body, without a single mixed hair, looking very beautiful. Its two eyes were one golden yellow and the other amber, like two sparkling gems, staring at Yuan Ming.

Their gazes met, and the silver cat immediately turned and darted away, leaping nimbly from tree to tree, disappearing in an instant.

"Why are you running? I won't eat you! This silver cat is really too timid." Yuan Ming paid no attention to it and continued searching around.

A moment later, he let out a light exclamation, staring at the ground in a nearby bush, and stopped walking.

On the ground there, there was a shallow human footprint, the impression still fresh.

Yuan Ming pondered for a moment and then walked in the direction the footprint led.

The owner of the footprint did not try to hide their tracks, making it easy to follow.

After about a quarter of an hour, a hard rocky area appeared ahead, and the footprint ended there, disappearing without a trace.

Yuan Ming frowned, standing silently for a while, and then continued forward.

When he walked out of the rocky area, the view ahead brightened, revealing a greenish-blue lake.

The lake was not large, about ten acres in size, with calm waters. The surrounding area was covered with grass as tall as a person. Despite it being summer, the temperature near the lake was noticeably lower than in the forest.

Yuan Ming squatted down by the lake and touched the water with his hand, feeling a bone-chilling cold seep through.

At that moment, the nearby grass rustled, and a silver figure darted out.

Yuan Ming prepared to defend himself, but upon seeing clearly, he was slightly surprised.

This silver figure was none other than the silver cat he had encountered earlier. It was now carrying a black object in its mouth, with its tail held high.

Seeing Yuan Ming, the silver cat, as if startled, immediately turned and dove back into the grass, dropping the black object in its mouth.

"Again, this silver cat." Yuan Ming took a few quick steps forward, but the grass was too tall, and the silver cat disappeared into it like a stone into the sea.

He sighed with regret. To be honest, he quite liked the handsome silver cat. If he could catch and tame it, it would be a good companion to play with during his spare time from cultivation.

Yuan Ming continued forward, suddenly remembering something. He turned back a few steps and picked up an object from the ground, which was the black object the cat had been carrying. He examined it closely.

This object looked like a piece of leather, with intricate patterns on it, clearly a man-made item.

"There can't be such things in this deep mountain. Could it have been left by someone?" Thinking of this, Yuan Ming hurriedly searched the area where the silver cat had darted out, but found nothing.

He examined the black leather again, bringing it close to his nose for a sniff.

A pungent smell hit his nose, but it was not the stench of an animal's mouth, rather a smell similar to decaying water plants.

Yuan Ming's gaze shifted to the green lake, and he began searching along the lakeside. Soon, he made a discovery.

On a patch of wet soil by the lake, there were several shallow cat paw prints.

Yuan Ming followed the paw prints and parted a dense patch of grass nearby, his pupils constricting slightly.

Before him lay a tall corpse, the upper body almost reduced to bones, the lower body embedded in the mud by the lake, clearly dead for a long time. The clothes on the body were rotten, and the upper body was clad in a black leather coat, the piece the silver cat had been carrying.

Yuan Ming's gaze fell on the waist of the corpse, where a black piece of animal skin was wrapped, clearly a fur-clad beast skin.

He squatted down beside the corpse, fiddled with it for a moment, and removed the black animal skin.

This item was completely different from his white ape skin. It had no hair at all, covered with faint white patterns, and the back was filled with gel-like scales, seemingly the outer skin of some aquatic fierce beast.

The animal skin was mostly undamaged, except for a palm-sized tear on the back, as if pierced by a sharp weapon.

Yuan Ming carefully pulled the corpse out of the mud, finding that several ribs near the heart on the back were broken, likely a fatal injury from an attack from behind.

He searched around the corpse for a while but found no other clues, and the person's blood storage bag was nowhere to be seen.

"It seems this person was not killed by a fierce beast but by another fur-clad beast slave." A chill ran through Yuan Ming's heart.

Fur-clad beast slaves are beasts, yet they are also slaves.

Trapped in the vast mountains, the weak are preyed upon by the strong, and only the fittest survive. When you are eyeing your prey, you are also a prey in someone else's eyes.

"Right, Elder Huo mentioned in passing that these fur-clad beast skins were carefully refined by the Bi Luo Cave, and are quite precious. Each skin has a magical mark, and once a fur-clad beast slave dies, the sect sends people to retrieve the skin. Why didn't they take this one?" Yuan Ming suddenly remembered something, feeling puzzled.

He looked at the tear on the black animal skin, deep in thought, and then performed a hand seal to transform back from the white ape, channeling his magic power into the black animal skin to activate the fur-clad technique, but the skin remained motionless.

"It seems it's broken, which is why no one came to retrieve it. I wasted so much time for nothing." Yuan Ming muttered to himself, threw away the black animal skin, and turned to leave.

However, after a few steps, he seemed to think of something and picked up the black animal skin again, heading toward the lakeside forest. He soon arrived at a hidden spot.

Yuan Ming sat on the ground, laid the animal skin flat in front of him, and then summoned the mysterious incense burner.

His white ape skin had undergone a transformation when it touched the incense burner, and perhaps it could have some effect on this black animal skin as well.

Of course, he didn't expect the incense burner to repair the black animal skin, but he wanted to learn more about the green incense burner.

Yuan Ming placed the incense burner on the animal skin. As soon as they touched, the mysterious incense burner suddenly lit up, emitting a green light that carried a warm current into the black animal skin.

The faint white patterns on the surface of the black animal skin, after the green light fused with them, spread out like water flowing into a channel. Wherever the green light passed, the originally faint patterns became bright, and the entire black animal skin began to tremble slightly.

The green light quickly spread throughout the animal skin, converging at the tear on the back, where the white patterns were particularly dense, seemingly an important node.

No wonder the animal skin was completely useless with this area damaged.

The green light surged around the tear, and the white patterns there flickered. Then, a somewhat blurry shadow emerged from the tear, with a large head, a round body, and spread-out limbs, clearly a toad.

"What is this? Could it be the soul of a toad fierce beast? My white ape skin also showed a white ape shadow under the influence of the incense burner, so it seems that fur-clad animal skins contain beast souls." Yuan Ming thought to himself.

The toad shadow gradually solidified in the green light, and after emitting a "croak," it vanished into the tear, disappearing without a trace.

With a "sizzling" sound, the white patterns around the tear suddenly extended like living things, bypassing the tear and reconnecting.

"Amazing!" Yuan Ming was both surprised and delighted.

As the white patterns connected, a faint aura emanated from the entire black animal skin, indicating that it was completely repaired.

Not only that, the black animal skin looked brand new, with the natural patterns much clearer, as if it had just been peeled off, similar to what happened to his white ape skin under the influence of the incense burner.

Yuan Ming channeled his magic power into the black animal skin and activated the fur-clad technique.

The black animal skin wrapped around his body like a living thing, covering every part of him. Soon, the transformation was complete.

His entire body was covered in the black animal skin, with bulging black lumps on his back, looking very sturdy. His fingers and toes had webbed membranes, and his eyes were slanted.

Yuan Ming put away the incense burner and looked at his reflection in the lake. He now looked like a human-shaped toad.

"No wonder I heard some strange croaking earlier. It turns out it was a toad skin. I was already frustrated with the white ape skin, which had no offensive capabilities, but I never thought someone could end up with a toad skin. What can a toad do?" Yuan Ming said, looking at his ugly reflection in the water, somewhat speechless.

Yuan Ming moved his body, sensing the abilities of the toad form.

He felt a faint current of air surging in his chest, and his abdomen seemed much larger. Each breath was deeper than before, and the time between breaths was getting longer.

Yuan Ming took a deep breath, and air rushed into his body, causing his abdomen and stomach to swell rapidly, like a woman nine months pregnant.

However, he did not feel uncomfortable and stood still, holding his breath.

After a full quarter of an hour, Yuan Ming still felt no discomfort and could move freely.

He jumped into the lake and swam to the bottom.

The lake's surface rippled and soon calmed down, returning to its peaceful state.

Another quarter of an hour passed, and on the opposite shore, the water "splashed," and Yuan Ming's figure emerged, leaping onto the shore.

A hint of excitement flashed in his eyes. This toad skin allowed him to hold his breath for two quarters of an hour.

Ulu had mentioned that some areas deep in the vast mountains were filled with toxic miasma. With this toad skin, if he encountered such a situation, he would have enough time to escape.

Additionally, the toad form swam quickly in the water, providing another good means of escape.

Compared to the toad's agility in the water, its movement on land was much worse, and it could only move by clumsy jumps. Its offensive capabilities were almost non-existent, at least none that he had discovered yet.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel some sympathy for the person who had the toad as their fur-clad form.

Yuan Ming performed a hand seal to transform back from the toad, carefully putting away the black animal skin.

The combat ability of the black toad form was currently far inferior to the white ape form, but in certain environments, it might have significant uses.

However, the biggest gain today was his further understanding of the green incense burner.

This mysterious incense burner seemed capable of repairing damaged animal skins through some method and might even activate some potential abilities of the skins. This could be useful in the future.