The massive black bear's body tilted to the left, following Xu Que's movement, and it seemed as though it could no longer control itself, veering away from its intended path of attack.
In the blink of an eye, Xu Que, swiftly evading to the right, launched another "Heaven's Slash" at the bear.
The sword beam shot out at incredible speed, and before the black bear could even react, it was struck with a forceful blow.
The bear let out a mournful growl and immediately turned, charging straight toward Ye Gou.
"Damn it!" Xu Que had thought the creature would at least attempt to flee in its condition, but it was still fixated on the honey.
Seeing the massive bear charging toward him, Ye Gou could no longer care about the honey. He threw the half-empty glass bottle aside and scrambled up the tree.
The black bear, eyes locked on the flowing golden honey, opened its massive mouth and swallowed both the honey and the bottle whole.
"Slash!"
Xu Que seized the moment, his eyes zeroed in on the bear's head as he launched another sword strike.
"Thud!"
The thick skin of the bear's neck was instantly pierced, a small gash opening up.
Seeing the mark left by his attack, Xu Que was momentarily stunned.
"Ye Gou, think of something to lure it away!"
"Huh?"
Ye Gou, still scrambling up the tree, was startled by Xu Que's command.
"Big brother, I...?"
As he was about to ask what he should use to distract the bear, an idea suddenly struck him: the honey.
"Damn it, for you, this blind bear, I'll sacrifice two bottles of honey today!"
With that, Ye Gou tossed two bottles of honey. The massive bear's gaze snapped to the honey, and without hesitation, it turned and charged toward it.
The enormous sword aura exploded, and the bear's roaring faded into the tempest.
"Wow, big brother is really something!" Ye Gou instinctively gave a thumbs up.
But when he saw the dark purple longsword in Xu Que's hand, he blinked in confusion.
Xu Que flicked his wrist, and the dark purple sword transformed back into its black form.
Ye Gou quickly jumped down from the hive and ran toward Xu Que.
"Big brother, it should be dead now, right?"
"Not yet, but it's close," Xu Que replied, striding toward the explosion's center.
"Big brother, can you teach me that move from before?" Ye Gou hurriedly followed.
Xu Que glanced at Ye Gou and smiled. "Are you sure you want to use a sword?"
"That move was so cool! I want to learn it," Ye Gou said.
Xu Que flashed a mysterious smile and handed Ye Gou the Heavenly-level sword techniques he had gathered over the past few days.
"Practice hard. Hopefully, you'll comprehend the sword intent."
Xu Que left those words hanging as he walked up to the now near-death bear.
The bear, half its body gone, lay motionless as Xu Que raised his black longsword and repeatedly stabbed its eyes.
He only stopped when a notification appeared.
But when he saw the name of the bear, Xu Que was shocked.
"Normal kill of the Super A-tier Black Bear Bull x1. Honor reward x100."
Xu Que quickly scooped up the glowing orb on the ground.
Seeing this, Ye Gou was a bit dazed. Wasn't it agreed that he would be the one to clean up the materials? Why was Xu Que taking them now?
But the moment he heard Xu Que's booming laughter, his confusion only deepened.
"Haha, I've struck gold! As expected, anything with a name is no ordinary creature!"
"Big brother, did you pick up something valuable?" Ye Gou asked.
"You go ahead and pack the honey. I'll tell you later," Xu Que replied.
"Okay," Ye Gou shrugged, not paying much attention to Xu Que's so-called windfall. After all, once he learned the sword intent, he could easily hunt down those small Karami.
Xu Que was ecstatic. He could hardly believe what he had just obtained from the bear!
[Name: Bull Pelt Armor A-tier]
[Quality: Epic (Golden)]
[Active: Grants Bearheart Protection upon use, allowing immunity to three magic attacks (Duration: 30 seconds, Recharge time: 50 minutes)]
[Passive: Increases certain defensive attributes and grants a small healing effect. Can resist one mental attack (Recharge time: 75 minutes)]
Xu Que quickly swapped out his Water Vine Armor and glanced at Ye Gou, who was still packing honey.
"This B-tier Water Vine Armor? It's yours now."
As for the other items dropped by the Black Bear Bull, Xu Que briefly glanced at them. While two materials were quite good, they paled in comparison to the chest armor.
In his past life, this pelt armor had sold for an astronomical price. The final transaction had set a record, becoming the highest price for three years.
Three A-tier territories, eight B-tier territories, plus 850,000 spirit stones and 30 million spirit crystals...
Such a sum was something Xu Que had never even dared to imagine before! Yet today, he had managed to hunt it down!
Xu Que was feeling elated. Now, even Ye Gou looked much more handsome to him.
"With this armor, should we try tackling the S-tier rifts in various cities?"
Just as Xu Que was thinking about this, Ye Gou shouted, "Big brother, we're out of honey!"
"Got it." Xu Que quickly strode over and initiated a trade with Ye Gou.
When Ye Gou saw the B-tier armor, he screamed in excitement.
"Big brother, you're really my real brother, even more than a real brother! You're like my father!"
"Get lost, move aside." Xu Que scolded, then pulled out his serrated knife and began chopping into the hive.
Seeing Xu Que work so hard, Ye Gou offered, "Big brother, why don't I give it a try? You can rest for a bit."
Xu Que looked at him disdainfully, "No need. Just don't break anything."
"What are you looking for?" Ye Gou asked, curious.
"Nest Crystal!"
Just as Xu Que finished speaking, his hand froze, and a look of delight spread across his face.
Ye Gou, not daring to speak, quietly watched Xu Que slowly cut through the hive with the serrated knife.
As the center of the hive was gradually revealed, a football-sized green crystal appeared before them.
The moment Ye Gou saw the crystal radiating intense spiritual energy, he was stunned.
"Goodness, the spiritual energy in this crystal is terrifying."
"Of course. This is an A-tier crystal, equivalent to two hundred intact spirit stones. The most important thing is, it can absorb spiritual energy on its own," Xu Que explained.
After retrieving the Nest Crystal, Xu Que showed it to Ye Gou.
[Name: Nest Crystal A-tier (897/2000)]
[Quality: Epic (Golden)]
[Item Type: Can collect spiritual energy within a 5000-meter radius.]
"Whoa, this thing must be worth quite a bit of resources, right?" Ye Gou asked, astonished.
"No one in their right mind would sell this," Xu Que said, putting the crystal away. "This is priceless and essential for cultivation. Unless you happen to meet a fool willing to sell it."
"Big brother, how many of these do you have?" Ye Gou asked, concerned.
"How many?" Xu Que rolled his eyes. "One is already a rare find. What, you want more? You think this is cabbage?"
After a brief pause, Xu Que added, "But I do have a low-level one, and I'll give it to you."
Upon hearing that his big brother was giving him a valuable item, Ye Gou rubbed his hands together, eagerly waiting for the trade.
When he saw the [Greed Crystal D-tier], his expression instantly dropped.
"Do you want it? If not, there are plenty of others waiting for it."
"Well, yeah, who's going to pass up something for free?" Ye Gou immediately accepted the trade.
"I'll tell you, don't underestimate it just because it's D-tier. This thing can be exchanged for a full set of B-tier equipment."
"Really? It's that valuable?" Ye Gou asked, stunned.
"Believe it or not, the price is right there for you to see," Xu Que said, heading toward the left-side bushes.