Long Teng's casual guess stirred Xie Sen's mind, and he immediately thought of red energy.
He called out to A'dan in his mind, and A'dan responded almost instantly, excitedly saying, "Ahhh, I feel it! It's just northeast ahead, very close!"
Xie Sen pulled up a map and asked Maine, "Where is the fighting taking place?"
"Northeast," Maine said.
Xie Sen pursed his lips. It seemed these changes were definitely related to red energy.
"What consequences will red energy have on animals?" Xie Sen asked A'dan in his mind.
A'Dan pondered, "Red energy is dominated by fire. It's overbearing and powerful. Animals naturally grow stronger. If they sense red energy, they'll definitely approach it. Without conscious awareness, getting too close will irritate them." "
But my five elements of energy all contain extremely powerful natural forces, which are very beneficial to intelligent life. If... if they can withstand the intensity of that energy."
Xie Sen looked at the beasts fighting in a tangle. "Looks like we've caused some trouble. So many beasts are fighting."
A'Dan's voice trailed off. "I... I didn't mean to do that. As long as I withdraw the red energy, its effects will disappear."
Xie Sen's worries grew even worse. With so many beasts guarding the intersection, how was he going to get in and find the red energy?
"We'll find a way." Maine saw Xie Sen's frown and patted his shoulder. Then he walked to the edge of the cliff, and Xie Sen hurriedly followed.
From their height, they could clearly see the scenery below. A winding river ran through the canyon. The water was clear, and tiny rays of sunlight shimmered on the surface.
The occasional flash of a dark shadow reminded them that the river wasn't as peaceful as it appeared.
Animals were fighting on the riverbank, mostly winged beasts, likely having flown down from the cliffs.
Looking down from above, it was clear that the closer to the downstream entrance, the denser the concentration of beasts.
"Wow! Is that a flying eagle beast?" Long Teng suddenly erupted in excitement, patting Bai Jiao's shoulder and pointing in the opposite direction downstream.
Everyone looked over and saw that from the top of the opposite mountain, not far from the entrance, water flowed down, forming a shallow but wide waterfall.
In the middle of the waterfall, a black, bird-like creature, enormous in size, with a wingspan of over four meters, hovered in mid-air, its sharp eagle eyes fixed on the ground.
Behind it lay a massive rock, and the water from the waterfall formed a natural curtain, blocking the rock's edge near the mountain, leaving only half of the rock visible.
To either side of the rock lay a massive, light-gray beast, its hide a similar color to the rock, so it would be completely unnoticeable unless one looked closely.
Bai Jiao instinctively took a step forward. "It's the Flying Eagle Beast, and the one on the rock is the Giant Elephant Beast, the only known purely vegetarian A-rank contracted beast. Legend has it it became extinct long ago due to the scarcity of edible plants!"
"Wow! So cool!" Long Teng excitedly leaped up on the spot.
Xie Sen reached out and touched his right shoulder. The temperature of the peony had been gradually rising since he reached the edge of the cliff, reminding him that the red energy was very close.
Maine stared at the waterfall for a long time: "There's something behind it."
At the same time, A Dan shouted, "Asen, it's right there, I can feel it!"
Xie Sen stared for a long time before spotting a large dark shadow behind the waterfall.
Bai Jiao pondered: "So it seems the Flying Eagle Beast and the Giant Elephant Beast are guarding it."
"Super curious!" Long Teng's eyes lit up, almost wanting to jump down.
He echoed the others' shared thoughts. It was impossible not to be curious about what could be guarded by so many high-level contracted beasts?
The beasts fighting all around were clearly heading for it.
As Xie Sen looked away, a flash of red flashed in his eyes. He looked over and saw the giant elephant to his right had moved, revealing the cliff face he was blocking. The red he saw was flowers growing on the cliff face, but from too far away, he couldn't see clearly what they were.
"Flowers!" Bai Jiao also noticed; it was unusual for flowers to grow on a cliff face like this.
Maine looked around and pointed at the cliff face in front of him. "We're not far from here, so we can go down from here, but it's hard to avoid being noticed."
Xie Sen was worried. From above, the beasts fighting below might not notice them, but if they went down, or even tried to get close, they would be too conspicuous.
He thought for a moment and could only think of one solution. After much deliberation, he said, "I'll go down alone."
"No," Maine said coldly, rejecting his suggestion.
"Too dangerous," Bai Jiao disagreed.
Long Teng also shook his head: "How about I go? Even if I'm attacked, I'll find a way to avoid it."
Xie Sen looked at them helplessly and said seriously, "Have you forgotten your purpose?" He looked at Maine and Long Teng. "You're looking for your contracted beasts." He then looked at Bai Jiao. "You're looking for medicinal herbs."
He smiled and said, "My purpose is to find something too, and now I'm sure it's at the waterfall."
Maine's face was gloomy, and he stared at him closely. "My main purpose is to accompany you to find something. I won't let you go alone."
Xie Sen was touched and felt a little embarrassed by his look. He tried to persuade him, "I'll be fine. I have a natural aura on me. They won't attack me."
Bai Jiao couldn't help but ask, "Are you really the owner of a plant contracted beast?"
"Really?" Long Teng's eyes widened. "No wonder you have so many delicious treats. You're so lucky!"
Xie Sen smiled and looked at Maine. "I'll go down and try. If things don't go right, have the vines bring me back immediately."
Maine's face changed slightly. "No."
Xie Sen helplessly said, "That won't work? Why?"
Maine was silent for a moment. "It'll hurt."
Xie Sen was stunned for a moment, then realized something, his face darkening. He stepped forward, unzipped Maine's shirt, and lifted the hem of his T-shirt.
Maine's once-white abdomen was now bruised and purple, and the surrounding skin was streaked with red blood, looking particularly frightening.
Xie Sen gasped, blaming himself, "I knew I'd get hurt. Why did you lie to me? It's all my fault for not thinking things through."
Maine grabbed his hand and lowered his shirt, saying calmly, "It's okay. It doesn't hurt. I'm prone to scarring, so it looks scary."
"No way!" Xie Sen looked at Bai Jiao. "Do you have any anti-inflammatory and blood-stasis-removing plasters?"
"Yes," Bai Jiao said, handing him a round white box.
Xie Sen looked at Maine and pointed to the ground. "Lie down. I'll apply some medicine."
Maine sighed helplessly at his remorseful expression. He took the box, opened the lid, scooped out a dot of ointment, lifted his shirt, and smeared it on like sunscreen.
Xie Sen frowned. "Be gentle, doesn't it hurt?"
"No."
Long Teng lifted his shirt to look at the spot where he'd been bound by the vines. He saw no marks, and suddenly an idea struck him: "Wow, Ah Sen, fighting with vines seems pretty impressive."
Xie Sen was speechless at his battle brain. "You want to try?"
Long Teng shook his head. "No," he chuckled. "I'm afraid I'll lose control and break your vines, and then we can't play anymore."
Xie Sen's mouth twitched. He still wanted to play?
He saw Maine return the medicine box to Bai Jiao and said again, "I'll go down alone." Maine frowned, and Xie Sen grabbed his arm. "Trust me, although my combat power is not high, I have a strong affinity for animals."
He looked towards the waterfall. "They are all high-level contracted beasts. They won't hurt me, but will be very close to me."
Maine frowned, and a flicker of anxiety flashed in his eyes. "What if something goes wrong? I can't get down quickly to help you."
He really hated this feeling, completely unsure.
Xie Sen thought for a moment, glanced towards the canyon, and estimated the distance from the clifftop to the canyon. It was less than ten meters. He opened the system, exchanged for a ten-meter watermelon vine, and summoned it.
Long Teng instantly exclaimed with delight, "That's a lot of watermelons!"
Xie Sen said, "Not for eating right now."
He plucked all ten watermelons and placed them in his backpack. Then he tied one end of the vine into a knot around a book on the cliffside, letting the other end drape down to the bottom.
He looked at Maine and said, "If anything happens, you can use the vine to rescue me."
Maine clenched his fists and finally relented, "Okay. You must prioritize safety."
Xie Sen nodded quickly and used the previously exchanged vines to bind him. He then lifted him up and slowly moved toward the rocks, like he was suspended on a wire.
More than ten meters from the rocks, the flying eagle beast's sharp eagle eyes darted at him and gave a short, warning cry.
Xie Sen commanded the vine to stop, frowning as he gazed at the dark figure in the waterfall.
The temperature of the peony on his right shoulder grew even higher, spreading to his head. He felt a warmth in his head, and even the sounds he heard were muffled.
"Moo!" Suddenly, a sound like a cow's mooing echoed through his mind. Xie Sen froze for a moment, briefly suspecting tinnitus.
"Human?" The next moment, another voice echoed in his mind, the same deep, gentle voice as the moo, like a good-tempered elder.
Xie Sen was stunned. "You are?" At the same time, he mentally inquired about Adam's situation.
Adam replied, "The energy is in it, and its intelligence has been enhanced by the energy! And because the system is in you, it can communicate with you."
Xie Sen suddenly realized, and the gentle voice resurfaced in his mind. "You humans call me Flying Rhino. Are you here to steal energy, too?"
Xie Sen said, a little embarrassed. "No, I'm the one who scattered this energy, and I need to reclaim it."
"Can you reclaim it?"
Xie Sen replied, "Yes."
The Flying Rhino seemed relieved. "That's great."
As it finished speaking, the dark shadow within the waterfall suddenly moved, and the entire curtain of water split open, revealing a massive animal soaring out.
It was extremely large, larger than any other contracted beast Xie Sen had ever seen. Its entire body was covered with hard gray hide, and it looked very similar to a rhinoceros, but it was leaner, and had a pair of huge gray wings on its back, which shone with a metallic luster in the sun.
The most eye-catching thing was the huge pointed horn in front of its head, which was bright red and looked particularly eye-catching.
Adam screamed in his mind: "Red energy, it's on that horn!"
Before Xie Sen could ask how to recover the red energy, the flying rhinoceros had already flown under him, picked him up and flew away.
Xie Sen's feet suddenly had support, and he was suddenly carried forward and fell heavily onto the back of the flying rhinoceros. Fortunately, he commanded the watermelon vine to pull him up in time, so he didn't fall hard.
He stabilized his body and quickly patted the flying rhinoceros: "Stop, stop!"
If he was taken away like this, Maine and the others would definitely be worried!