~thud~

The ground which had been closed up due to the attack of Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle split open and out came Lin Wu.

"What the hell happened here?" Lin Wu questioned, poking his head out of the ground.

His neck swiveled as he took in the wide area that had just become empty. There was ash everywhere and the part of the ground that was free of ashes was completely dried and cracked, as if there was a drought here for years.

The Silver Beak Sky Soar eagle saw that it was Lin Wu had just appeared and spoke.

"Just took care of some pesky ghosts." She said.

"Ghosts?" Lin Wu said with confusion. But then he recalled what the Specter Skull Hound had tried to do before.

'No wonder it could not call any ghosts… the Silver Beak Sky Soar eagle wiped all of them out.' Lin Wu realized.

"Wait… but I thought the ghosts are not affected by spirit Qi easily." Lin Wu said. "Only lightning works against them from what I've seen." He added.

"My fire is no normal fire. They are the flames of the legendary Vermillion bird! Ghosts such as these are nothing in front of it." The Silver Beak Sky Soar eagle said with pride.

"Ah… I see." Lin Wu nodded his head upon getting clarified.

The eagle beast kept on staring at Lin Wu, scanning him from top to bottom.

"Did you find the temple?" The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle Questioned.

"Oh yeah, I did. Met a little problem there too; A specter skull hound. Needed to take care of it before I was able to get the Bloodline crystal." Lin Wu explained.

"A Specter Skull hound? What's that?" The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle asked, curiously.

"It is a beast who is unable to be sensed by spirit Qi. It's easily identifiable with a featureless mask like white face." Lin Wu stated.

"Oh those, yeah I've seen them before. They're a pain to kill." The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle replied.

"Wait… you knew there was going to be a Specter Skull hound in the temple?" Lin Wu questioned.

"I've encountered three of them before. One of them was from a temple such as that one, while two of them I just found randomly wandering. I didn't know that they lived in the temple though." The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle answered.

Lin Wu was intrigued by this as it made him think that there were way more of the Specter Skull hounds in the Dread Coil Marsh than he had thought.

"Were any of the ones you encountered wearing a collar?" Lin Wu inquired, remembering that the one Shirong and he had encountered had a collar on its neck.

The Eagle beast tilted its head as if trying to remember before speaking.

"I think the two I met wandering outside had collars on their necks. But the one I met in the temple did not have one." The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle Beast answered.

"I see… so the ones in the temple are the actual guardians of some kind… and the ones wandering are captured ones…" Lin Wu muttered.

He was trying to think of what the difference was there between these beasts when he was reminded of something.

"The specter skull hound you fought in the temple and the one with the collars, what were their sizes?" Lin Wu questioned.

"The ones I fought wandering were small while the one I fought in the temple was bigger than them and also much more resilient. I had to use my flames to kill it." The Sliver Beak Sky Soar Eagle answered.

"Just as I thought… they have different functions. The weaker ones wander around looking for the temples from what we've heard from that priest. They are servants of some 'skull god'." Lin Wu stated.

"Skull god? The god those strange men always talk about before dying?" The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle asked.

"You know about it? I thought you didn't understand the human tongue?" Lin Wu asked, feeling curious.

"Well, I do understand certain parts. Plus, these men kept on repeating those two words multiple times so it stuck in my mind." The Silver Beak Sky Soar eagle replied.

"Hmm… so that's it. I should tell you then that it's this 'skull god' that is getting those men to gather the Bloodline crystals of the Vermillion bird." Lin Wu said.

"Humph," The Eagle Beast grunted as flames came out of her nostrils. "They can try, but they will all burn under my flames!"

'Good… good… get angry…' Lin Wu internally thought while keeping a straight face… not that there was ever a change in his face usually.

"Where is the bloodline crystal you got from the temple then?" The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle asked.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot." Lin Wu said before withdrawing the red crystal from the system's storage.

"Here you go," Lin Wu threw the crystal to the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle, who quickly caught it mid air and swallowed it.

The moment she did, Lin Wu could feel her aura increasing slightly. Looking at her neck feathers, the Vermillion color had spread a little bit more. It was evident that the bloodline crystal was already having an effect.

'Wonder what will happen if I ate one?' Lin Wu thought.

He wondered if he could try stealing one for himself.

'It's not like the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle would know, would she?' Lin Wu wondered.

~Ding~

——

Answer: The Bloodline crystal will leave a trace behind wherever it is brought. It is likely the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle may be able to sense it, just the way the Host can sense the green crystal from the meteors.

——

"Aw, shucks! This won't work then…" Lin Wu cursed.

"What did you say?" The Eagle beast asked, seeing Lin Wu's strange reaction.

"Uh… nothing. I just meant to say, we will have to speed up or it won't work." Lin Wu made up an excuse.