Chapter 139: Chapter 135: The Injured Great Turtle

"What is this...?"

Han Ning blinked. The scene before him was bizarre.

Based on the anime and novels he’d read, the Winged Demon’s heart should have withered, transferring its body’s Energy to the large egg in its abdomen.

But now the opposite was happening. It seemed the heart had absorbed a significant amount of Energy from the egg.

’Either way... I need to make sure it can’t come back to life. If it revives, we’re all screwed.’

With that thought, Han Ning spoke directly to Yin Yi. "Dig out the heart and the large egg. We need to prevent it from suddenly reviving and attacking us."

"Ling!"

Yin Yi brandished her Sword Stab and struggled to carve the enormous heart—as large as two heads—from the Winged Demon’s broad chest.

The Winged Demon’s muscles and bones were so tough that even Yin Yi had difficulty cutting through them. If it were to actually awaken, no Soul Beast here would be its match.

Once Yin Yi cut the heart out, she bound it in mid-air. It continued to beat slowly, displaying an extraordinary Life Force.

Meanwhile, the Winged Demon’s body, now separated from its heart, began to rapidly turn ashen and decay.

The egg was a size smaller than the heart, only about forty centimeters long. Its surface was covered in blue and purple patterns, but it looked wrinkled and its color was dull. Whether the creature inside was still alive was anyone’s guess.

Yin Yi then cut open the Winged Demon’s head and dug out a fist-sized Black Crystal Stone.

However, the Crystal Stone had lost its luster. It was a dusty gray, as if all the Energy within had been depleted.

"You hold on to the heart and the large egg for now. The rest of us can’t carry them."

Thinking of the heart’s eerie pulsing, Han Ning waved his hand dismissively, refusing the organ Yin Yi offered him.

"Ling~"

Upon hearing this, Yin Yi used slender vines to wrap the heart and egg, securing them to her waist—one on the left and one on the right—just like how Han Ning tied his pouches.

The only thing was, both items were so large they obscured half of Yin Yi’s body, creating a rather comical sight.

"This Winged Demon is huge, has the heads of all sorts of animals, and looks like a mammal. Why would it lay an egg?" He Yang stood to the side, frowning at the large egg that had been removed from the Winged Demon’s body.

"They’re more like birds... they have wings, and their hearts are exceptionally powerful, which suggests incredible cardiopulmonary function. They look a bit disgusting, but if you could have one as a Soul Beast, I bet it would be very strong," Teacher Zheng mused, stroking his chin.

"Bat wings... but aren’t bats mammals?" He Yang muttered under his breath.

"Who knows? Maybe the creatures of this world are different from those on Blue Star." Teacher Zheng didn’t argue, just shrugged.

"We’ve got something over here!"

Just then, Lin Tianhe, who was on the other side of the pool dealing with the Winged Demon corpse, suddenly shouted.

His companion, Xiaoyu, had its roots embedded in the Winged Demon’s corpse. Amidst its branches and leaves, red fruits were growing at a rapid pace.

Xiaoyu whipped a vine into the water and dragged out a large turtle, about two meters long, with brownish-tan skin.

On its once-round head, the right side was slightly caved in, as if from a heavy blow with a blunt object.

The injury on the left was even more ghastly. A patch of scalp was simply gone, revealing the stark white skull underneath.

"This turtle... I don’t think it’s dead yet."

Having been through several battles, Lin Tianhe was extremely cautious. He hid behind Xiaoyu and directed it to stuff a fresh, newly grown fruit into the turtle’s mouth.

"Nnngh..."

Nearly two-thirds of the shell on the turtle’s back was shattered, revealing the thick but dull-looking flesh beneath.

It let out a low whimper, struggling to lift its head and swallow the fruit.

The simple action seemed to have consumed all its Physical Strength.

The great turtle lay on the ground, panting faintly. It stared at Xiaoyu and Lin Tianhe, who was behind it, with a pair of pitch-black eyes.

"Nngh... Nngh..."

Hearing the commotion, the others gathered around.

"This turtle... its style doesn’t seem to fit the creatures of this valley," Lü Xiuning remarked, sizing up the turtle’s appearance.

It had a brownish-yellow body. The broken shell on its back was covered in small, rock-like spikes, and three rocky ridges protruded from the head that poked out of the shell.

Its tail, which tapered from thick to thin, was covered in earthy-yellow spikes.

Compared to the dark style of the valley’s Soul Beasts, it looked more like an Earth Type Soul Beast.

"Nngh, nngh~"

This great turtle was quite intelligent. Perhaps sensing that the group meant it no harm, it used its slightly recovered Physical Strength to laboriously lift one of its flippers and repeatedly point toward its abdomen.

"Is its belly injured? Help me flip it over," Lin Tianhe said to Xiaoyu, peeking out from behind it.

Following the command, Xiaoyu wrapped the great turtle’s body in vines and flipped it over, leaving it face-up so everyone could get a better look at its injuries.

A ten-centimeter hole had been punched through the great turtle’s abdomen, either by a blunt weapon or a creature’s fist. Trickles of blood and pus oozed from the wound, which looked like it had been there for a long time.

Han Ning could clearly sense that its life was hanging by a thread; it could die at any moment.

"It’s badly wounded. Yin Yi, help it."

"Ling~"

Yin Yi flicked out several vines that entered the great turtle’s wound as a cyan light seeped into its body.

As the healing Wood Type Spiritual Energy flowed in, the wound—which had been unable to heal due to some foreign energy—began to slowly close.

Even the spot on its head where the scalp had vanished began to slowly grow a new layer of skin.

The caved-in part of its head swelled upward, returning to its original roundness.

Flesh began to granulate in the large hole in its abdomen as it slowly healed.

"Waaah!"

The great turtle’s spirits lifted, and it let out a whimper of gratitude toward Yin Yi.

"Great turtle, why are you here? Did they capture you and bring you down?" Han Ning asked, looking at the creature as it gradually recovered its Physical Strength.

"Nngh?" The turtle tilted its head, not understanding what Han Ning was saying.

Resigned, he could only point to the dead Winged Demon nearby, and then back at the turtle.

"Nngh!" Upon seeing the Winged Demon, the turtle’s face immediately contorted with rage, and its body began to tremble slightly.

"It must have been captured and brought down here." Seeing its agitated state, even without a common language, everyone could pretty much figure it out.

"Then do you know the way back? Can you lead us out of here?" Han Ning asked, pointing toward the top of the cliff and making a walking motion with his fingers.

"Nngh!"

The great turtle nodded vigorously.

"Good. Rest for a while and recover some of your Physical Strength," Han Ning said with a nod.

Lin Tianhe’s Xiaoyu had the ability to produce fruit, so the group didn’t discard the Winged Demon corpses they had collected. Instead, they placed them all next to Xiaoyu, allowing it to absorb the nutrients and grow more fruit.