Chapter 142: Shanhai Bloodline! Unlocking the Shanhai Codex!

If the loot dropped by the River Turtle only made Yishen feel that it was just barely acceptable, then the enhancement he gained after dissecting the turtle's carcass truly astonished him.

First, this was the first time he had ever dissected energy from a "corpse" outside of the system.

Second, the Heart of the Archmage exhibited an extremely high degree of mastery over this exotic beast of the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Not only did it extract a massive amount of attributes, but it also directly purified his bloodline to an entirely new height!

"Classic of Mountains and Seas Bloodline?"

Just by looking at the name, Yishen felt that this thing was a tier higher than the River Turtle Bloodline.

Sure enough, when Yishen checked the system panel, he discovered that this bloodline was not only stronger in combat prowess than the River Turtle Bloodline, but it was also vastly superior purely in terms of numerical statistics.

[Classic of Mountains and Seas Bloodline (SS): Legend has it that this contains the bloodline of the ancient divine beasts of the Mountains and Seas clan. It grants massive bonuses from the abilities of various exotic beasts of the mountains and seas, and allows the opening of the Classic of Mountains and Seas Codex within the bloodline to utilize its power. It encompasses a total of seventy-five branch paths, with each path enhanced providing a certain boost to the bloodline's abilities.]

[Classic of Mountains and Seas Codex (S): Possesses a soul codex that records the exotic beasts of the mountains and seas. It can absorb the souls of these beasts to utilize a portion of their powers. Current codex entries include: River Turtle Codex. Acquired abilities: Breath-Holding (S), Spatial Folding Barrier (S). The codex is not unique and has the capability to seize other similar codexes.]

[Breath-Holding (S): When attacked, you can enter a state of breath-holding defense, keeping your body in a state of comprehensive protection. During this time, physical and magical defenses are increased by 200%, and 10% of your lost health is restored every 10 seconds. The breath-holding state can be toggled on at any time.]

[Spatial Folding Barrier (S): Forms a spatial folding barrier in front of you. The base defense value of the folding barrier is 1000% of your total attributes, but the spatial folding barrier requires a gap to be formed, and the area of the gap cannot be effectively protected. Mana consumption: 30,000. Cooldown: 3 days.]

After appearing on the system panel, the Classic of Mountains and Seas Bloodline directly claimed a significant portion of the interface, even showing a faint tendency to overshadow the Moonlight Bloodline.

Furthermore, the descriptions of the various skills within it were much clearer. The skills and talents of the previous River Turtle Bloodline had also been categorized under the "Classic of Mountains and Seas Codex," which Yishen could extract and use individually.

Previously, Yishen had been pondering what exactly this Classic of Mountains and Seas Codex was and where one had to go to acquire it.

He had not expected that after dissecting the carcass of the River Turtle, he would directly absorb all of its energy, unlocking the Classic of Mountains and Seas Codex template right within his own body.

"I reckon the skill of just a single exotic beast alone is nearly approaching the might of a minor forbidden spell?"

Yishen looked at the descriptions in the codex. Both skills were S-grade, and the Spatial Folding Barrier, much like the previous Flame Gate, also had a 3-day cooldown.

Although it lacked any bonuses from surrounding environmental elements, its consumption pattern was indeed very similar to that of a minor forbidden spell.

"A total of seventy-five exotic beasts... Does that mean I can continue to hunt down other exotic beasts of the mountains and seas for further purification?"

Yishen thought deeply as he looked at the descriptions on the data panel.

According to current statistics from the Joint Control Bureau, an increasing number of exotic beasts were appearing around the borders of Huaxia.

If he could truly absorb the codexes of all these exotic beasts, Yishen believed that his physical prowess and skill library would grow by an amount rivaling his magical mastery!

Not only that, after absorbing the power of the River Turtle, Yishen distinctly felt that his cells had become active once more, and his defense seemed to have increased quite a bit.

If he were to dissect those offensive exotic beasts, could he also obtain new offensive skills?

Yishen felt this idea had immense potential.

After all, a crucial point was that Yishen could directly dissect the corpses of exotic beasts, which was equivalent to a guaranteed drop!

Most exotic beasts of the mountains and seas were quite colossal monsters.

Other explorers probably found these corpses difficult to handle or would only collect them for research.

This greatly increased the feasibility of Yishen collecting the complete set of the exotic beast codexes!

"Has he left?"

"Seems like he's gone. Let's go over and take a look."

"Good grief, what level of explorer is this? It looks like an entire mountain was hollowed out."

"He must be the Black Mage from the Jingmen Safe Zone. There were rumors before that the Black Mage was extremely powerful. Now it looks like he definitely has a hidden class, no doubt about it. Ordinary mages could never cause such a massive commotion."

"What about the monster? Didn't they say there was a giant turtle?"

"How would I know? The turtle must have been taken away. But I wonder if our town will get attacked again. I'm getting ready to leave anyway—heading to Hanzhong, or maybe the Jingmen Safe Zone wouldn't be bad either. Jingmen lost a large batch of people and is currently recruiting heavily; the benefits sound pretty good."

At the foot of the mountain, after Yishen left, many people swarmed over.

Upon seeing the state of the battlefield, almost everyone fell into shock.

After all, this was a small town that had never experienced large-scale battles. Even during past exotic beast tides, very few monsters ended up straying over here.

Yishen's forbidden spells and magic caused environmental destruction that was blindingly obvious. This was even before he used his Mountain Giant spell; if Yishen had unleashed the Mountain Giant forbidden spell back then, likely all the surrounding mountain ranges would have been pulverized.

The crowd was still chattering away in discussion. A man wearing a black hat was sizing up the scene with a gloomy expression.

He quickly sent a message to the Hanzhong Safe Zone.

"It's basically confirmed. The River Turtle seems to have been slain. The Black Mage is too absurd; it looks like he actually went toe-to-toe with the River Turtle for six or seven hours and ground it to death," Qian Ye said.

He had been specially dispatched to keep an eye on the River Turtle, but he hadn't expected the Black Mage to once again disrupt his mission and grand plan. Most crucially, now that the River Turtle was dead, he had no idea where he should go next.

Back when he was in the Jingmen Safe Zone, he was still the vice president of Blood Slaughter, with a bunch of underlings following him every day.

The taste of being cast out and wandering outside now was truly awful.

He somewhat wanted to hate the Black Mage, but he simply couldn't muster the feeling because the strength the Black Mage displayed was too terrifying. Once one knew the opponent's strength far exceeded one's own, Qian Ye was left with nothing but a sense of utter helplessness.

"Yeah, I've received the news on my end as well. He has already uploaded the information to the Joint Control Bureau, and quite a few people are discussing it now."

The reply Qian Ye received was concise; Xi Xudong had already received the information relayed back by the informants within the Joint Control Bureau.