Chapter 47: Recovering Energy

Xie Sen thought of Maine’s reaction after he saw him being taken away, and couldn’t help but feel anxious as he made the flying rhinoceros stop, then directed the watermelon vine to lift him up and send him back. As a result, he was lifted up, but the flying rhinoceros beast flew up again, and his feet were forced to again step on the back of the flying rhinoceros beast.

The gentle voice of the flying rhinoceros beast sounded in his head, doubtful, “You can fly?”

“I can’t,” Xie Sen said. “You stop. I want to go back.”

“Didn’t you say you could recover the energy? There are too many beasts there. I’ll take you to a safe place.”

“No,” said Xie Sen, concerned that it would leave with a flap of its wings. “My friends are still waiting for me there. They will be worried if I leave like this.”

The flying rhinoceros was amenable, “Then I’ll take your friends with me.”

When Maine saw Xie Sen was being taken away by the flying rhinoceros beast, his expression instantly became extremely ugly. He pulled on the watermelon vine with one hand, and quickly slid from the top of the cliff to the bottom with his feet pointed at the cliff wall.

Long Teng waited for him to land, immediately grabbed the watermelon vine, was about to jump down, thought of Bai Jiao, and squatted down. “I’ll take you down with me.”

Bai Jiao didn’t hesitate, just jumped directly onto his back, then Long Teng carried him quickly down to the bottom. Maine was running in the direction Xie Sen had left, when he saw the flying rhinoceros beast that took Xie Sen away, fly back and land in front of him.

Xie Sen stood on the back of the flying rhinoceros, and waved at him. “Maine!”

Maine coldly looked at the flying rhinoceros beast, then jogged over and jumped onto its back.

The rhinoceros’s voice appeared in Xie Sen’s head, “Your friend is very unfriendly. I want to throw him down.”

Xie Sen hurriedly said, “No, he’s just worried about me.”

Long Teng and Bai Jiao ran down the canyon towards Maine, but before they could take two steps, they heard violent footfalls behind them as the ground shook slightly.

Long Teng glanced back, and saw that the contract beasts and beasts that had been fighting were behind them, and all were running in the same direction as him.

“Ahhhhh..!” Even if he wasn’t nervous, he couldn’t help but shriek at this point. He pulled Bai Jiao. “Run.”

Maine had jumped on the back of the flying rhinoceros beast, and now he pulled Xie Sen’s hand to check and make sure that Xie Sen was okay, then grabbed Xie Sen’s hand a little harder.

Xie Sen was about to say something when he heard Long Teng’s shout. He glanced over and felt his scalp tingle when he saw the beasts. He recalled the ten-meter watermelon vine tied to the tree at the edge of the cliff, let it tie both of them at the same time, and then moved them both onto the back of the flying rhinoceros beast.

He urged the flying rhinoceros beast, “Go!”

The flying rhinoceros beast waved its wings and flew up, as it called out towards the beasts not far away with a small but penetrating voice. The flying eagle beast responded with a high-pitched call, and flew side by side with it.

The giant tiger beast and the giant elephant beasts, as well as the rest of the senior contract beasts that couldn’t fly, ran neatly below, followed by a group of various beasts.

Maine sat on the back of the flying rhinoceros beast. He grasped its neck with one hand, and held Xie Sen steady with the other.

Xie Sen recalled the watermelon vine. Long Teng grabbed Bai Jiao’s arm with his left hand, and looked back. He exclaimed excitedly, “Cool!”

Bai Jiao sat down, caressed the back of the flying rhinoceros beast, and looked at it for a moment, “This seems to be a flying rhinoceros beast, an S class contract beast that disappeared during the heyday.”

The flying rhinoceros beast said in Xie Sen’s mind, “It’s just that we retired. We haven’t disappeared.”

Bai Jiao added with a less certain look, “But the flying rhinoceros beast’s horn should be silver gray, not red.”

Xie Sen realized that it must be related to the red energy.

Sure enough, the flying rhinoceros beast said in his mind, “When I got the energy, my horn changed color.”

Xie Sen pointed to the rhinoceros’ horn, and said to Bai Jiao, “It is a flying rhinoceros beast. All the changes in the forest are because of its horn.”

He was puzzled in his heart. The red energy could bring power to the flying rhinoceros beast. Even it’s IQ was much higher. So why would it easily let him withdraw the energy?

As he thought of this, he hurriedly summoned Adam in his mind, “Adam, how exactly do I take back the energy?”

Adam said, “Cut off its horn. When you get it in your hand, I can absorb it.”

What? Xie Sen was stunned. “You’re kidding, right?”

Generally, for animals with horns, their horns were their most important attack and defense weapons. In the forest, not having their horns was equivalent to being sent to their deaths!

“Of course not,” Adam denied in a serious tone.

Xie Sen said, “Isn’t there any other way? Can I hold its horn, and absorb it directly?”

“No. It’s safest to retrieve energy from a dead object. If it’s recovered directly, during the process of being recovered, the red energy being will unconsciously absorb energy from its body and it will die.”

Xie Sen couldn’t help but fret. This kind of request, how could he make it?

When Long Teng heard Xie Sen’s explanation, he stretched his neck to look at the horn of the flying rhinoceros beast. “Isn’t its rhinoceros horn super powerful?”

Bai Jiao answered, “Yes. This is the most important weapon of the flying rhinoceros beast. It belongs to the herbivorous contract beast group, but it’s like the flying tiger beast and other such carnivorous contract beasts. When it fights, it’s not the least bit weak because of its rhinoceros horn.” He said after a pause, “However, its horn is unusual for these beasts. If this is because of the rhinoceros horn, then its horn must be even more powerful than usual.”

Xie Sen gave him an admiring look. “Indeed.”

Long Teng was even more curious. “I want to touch it so much!”

As they were talking, Maine suddenly warned, “There’s someone there.”

Xie Sen followed his line of sight, and looked into the river to the right. He saw a huge animal swimming upstream to downstream, while four people stood on its back. It was too far away to see their faces.

As the flying rhinoceros beast was about to fly over them, Xie Sen heard the flying rhinoceros beast make a puzzled sound of “Huh.” Then it descended, and eventually hovered not far from the four people.

“It’s you guys!”

“Oh my god, a flying rhinoceros beast!”

The four people in the water looked at the flying rhinoceros beast with surprised expressions, just like the four people on its back, which included Xie Sen.

Xie Sen was also a little startled. He had seen two of these four people before.

One was A’Qi, the S class contract beast master who had followed Julos during the league, while the other was the young master of the Qi family whom he had met when he had attended the birthday banquet.

The four people look very bad. Almost all were in the same sorry state, with red bloodshot eyes, and dark circles under the eyes. The clothes on their bodies were torn, which revealed the white bloodied bandages inside. Apparently all were injured.

After the shock of seeing these people, and a look of horror at the huge herd of beasts behind them, the young master of the Qi family couldn’t help but ask, “What are you people?”

Long Teng wondered, “Why are you asking this? Haven’t we met?”

Bai Jiao smiled slightly, and looked at him. “What they asked, and what you think don’t have the same meaning. They are probably expressing surprise.”

“Oh.” Long Teng rubbed the back of his head and smiled, still not sure if he understood.

“Young Qi, look! A giant tiger beast!” One of them, a chestnut-haired teenager, gently bumped Qi Shao with his arm, and pointed at the giant tiger beast running behind them.

Qi Shao’s eyes instantly emitted a bright light, as if he had seen some great treasure.

Xie Sen looked back. If they continued to stay, the beasts that had been thrown off before were going to catch up with them. He asked the flying rhinoceros beast, “Why did you stop?”

“There is a flying rhinoceros beast contract beast master,” the flying rhinoceros beast replied. “I have to take him with me. He may be useful.”

Xie Sen looked at the four of them. His eyes finally fell on A’Qi, “You are a flying rhinoceros beast contract beast master?”

A’Qi nodded, his eyes fixed on the flying rhinoceros beast, as he said in a low voice, “Yes.”

“Can you come with us?” Xie Sen said.

A’Qi’s eyes glowed, but he didn’t say yes immediately. He clenched his fist, and looked at Qi Shao, who said, “We came together. Why don’t we all come with you?”

Maine said in a cold voice, “They can. You can’t.”

Xie Sen coughed lightly in embarrassment. Qi Shao was stunned, then laughed, “I won’t sit on the back of the flying rhinoceros beast.”

The chestnut-haired boy summoned a giant goose beast. Qi Shao pointed at A’Qi and the gray-haired man, “We’ll take the giant goose beast, but we’ll have to trouble you to take A’Qi and A’Li with you.”

Xie Sen looked back and said to the flying rhinoceros, “They’re catching up.”

The flying rhinoceros descended again, and flew to A’Qi. Xie Sen said, “Jump up.”

A’Qi and A’Li moved sharply, and jumped onto the back of the flying rhinoceros beast, which swung its wings and quickly flew forward.

A’Qi’s palm trembled slightly as he touched the flying rhinoceros beast’s skin, his eyes red. A’Li patted his shoulder. “Don’t be sad. You’re very lucky.”

Xie Sen gave the two a strange look. He didn’t quite understand their reaction.

Long Teng, with his usual big grin, bashfully patted A’Qi on the other shoulder. “Isn’t it cool? Isn’t it super exciting? Hahahaha…”

Bai Jiao rubbed his brow helplessly. Xie Sen shook his head and sighed.

How could you look at it like that? A’Qi’s eyes weren’t red from excitement.

But he had interrupted, and the effect was good. A’Qi’s face became better, and his clouded face had a light smile. “Cool.”

The flying rhinoceros beast kept flying onward with them on his back, with an occasional turn. Twenty minutes later, it flew over a mountain path about two kilometers wide that was sandwiched between two mountains. At less than two meters in width, it could block most of the beasts.

Except for the flying eagle beast that followed it, the giant tiger beast and the giant elephant beast weren’t able to join them, and ran along the side of the mountain. They followed the path and flew for about five minutes, when the flying rhinoceros beast finally stopped in a canyon surrounded by mountains on all sides. The canyon was densely vegetated, but with no tall trees. Excellent visibility, and a very secluded location.

Maine and Long Teng directly jumped down from the back of the flying rhinoceros beast while Xie Sen walked to the edge. As he looked at the height of more than three meters to the ground, his heart felt faint. This was almost like jumping from a second floor.

Maine reached out. “I’ll catch you.”

Xie Sen blushed slightly. He looked back, and felt embarrassed that even Bai Jiao, the only female, had jumped straight down while he was still dawdling. He looked at Maine, and shook his head. “No. Back off a bit, I want to be careful of smashing you.”

Maine raised an eyebrow. Instead of backing up, he took a step forward.

At this time, the flying rhinoceros beast, who was very understanding, lay down so that Xie Sen could jump, but it overestimated Xie Sen. The moment it dropped down, its body tilted. Xie Sen was standing on the edge, so his body followed the tilt. Since he wasn’t prepared for the action, he fell off. The moment the weightlessness came, Xie Sen had no time to think about summoning vines to help, he just screamed.

However, the expected pain didn’t come. He was caught by Maine’s steady hands.

Xie Sen grabbed Maine’s shoulders, and asked worriedly, “Is your arm okay?” He was concerned that the force of the impact had strained Maine’s arm.

“Yes.” Maine’s eyes softened at his concern. “You’re very light.”

Xie Sen jumped off him. “I’m at least a hundred pounds. I’m not light.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were going to fall off, but luckily your friend caught you,” the flying rhinoceros beast said.

Xie Sen coughed dryly, and replied in his mind, “It’s okay.” It was a bit embarrassing, but the rest of the group didn’t laugh at him.

He walked to the front of the flying rhinoceros beast. The flying rhinoceros beast’s eyes were big, black, round, bright and clear. From looking at it’s expression, it was also very gentle. It was easy for it to make people feel good.

He raised his hand, lightly touched its horn, and instantly felt a thick energy. The temperature of the peony on his shoulder rose sharply, as if it had substance, and ran through his arm straight to the rhinoceros’ horn.

The moment the heat reached the rhinoceros’ horn, he felt a surging energy rushing down his arm. The flying rhinoceros beast changed in his eyes. It was no longer a body made of flesh and skin, but made of countless red dots, and at that moment, those red dots were scurrying uncontrollably to the location of the horn.

“Move your hand!”

“Moo!!!”

Adam’s yell and the howling of the flying rhinoceros beast came almost simultaneously. Xie Sen subconsciously withdrew his hand, while his waist was caught by someone, and he was carried back several steps.

The flying rhinoceros beast jumped up from the ground. It jumped and howled in place. The ground shook with it.

Maine’s face was white. If he had been a step slower, Xie Sen would have been knocked down and stepped on by the flying rhinoceros beast.

Xie Sen noticed Maine’s hand was trembling slightly. Stunned, he felt a slight movement in his heart. He turned his head to look at Maine, and smiled at him. “I’m fine.”

Maine stared at him, his voice tight, “Do you know how dangerous it was just now?” He took him by the waist, and lowered his head. His tone was low, “You said you’d be with me for life!”

“It was my mistake just now,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”

“A’Sen, are you okay?” Long Teng ran to Xie Sen, and asked nervously. Bai Jiao also looked at him with a worried expression.

Xie Sen smiled at them. “Yes, I’m fine.”

Adam said in his head, “You can’t touch its horn. The System will feel the energy and absorb it uncontrollably, then the red energy will absorb its energy.”

Xie Sen looked at the flying rhinoceros beast that looked like it was going crazy, and felt guilty. “What do we do now? It looks very uncomfortable.”

“You can calm it down,” Adam said. “Did you forget? You carry the scent of nature with you.”

Xie Sen patted Maine’s hand. “Let go.”

Maine stared at him intently. “What are you doing?”

Xie Sen didn’t hide. “I’m going to soothe it.”

“You can pacify him?” A’Qi was looking at the flying rhinoceros beast with an anxious face. When he heard his words, he immediately looked over. “What’s wrong with it? It looks so uncomfortable.”

“No,” Maine said. “You can’t go near it now, it’s too dangerous.”

The flying rhinoceros beast was huge, and it jumped like mad. It was only good that it was just jumping near where it had originally been lying, and not rampaging, or all of them would be in danger.

There was no difference between actively approaching, and sending himself to his death.

Xie Sen patted the back of Maine’s hand soothingly, and contacted the flying rhinoceros in his mind, “I’m so sorry. I apologize for my recklessness. Can you hear me? Flying rhinoceros?”

He thought for a moment. “Moo…moo…flying rhinoceros beast, can you hear? If you can hear me, lay down and I can help you.”

The flying rhinoceros didn’t respond, but it slowly stopped jumping and lay down. Its body wasn’t moving, but it was hitting its head against the ground, so obviously it was very difficult.

Xie Sen took Maine’s hand and held it. “If you’re not sure, go with me.”

Maine didn’t stop him this time, just followed him closely to the flying rhinoceros. A’Qi also trailed behind them. Xie Sen raised his hand, and touched the beast’s slightly bulging belly. He radiated goodwill while he communicated with it, “I’m sorry. Are you feeling better now?”

The frequency of the flying rhinoceros beast’s head hitting the ground gradually decreased. Its voice was much weaker than before, “You’re not human. Humans don’t have this natural aura. I felt it when you were on my back just now.”

Xie Sen said, “You can think of me as a plant contract beast master. I’m really sorry about what just happened.”

“This isn’t the first time,” said the flying rhinoceros beast. “I just felt the energy much harder than before. My head felt like it was going to explode, my whole body was burning, and I only felt comfortable when I was always being flushed by water.”

Xie Sen suddenly understood. “So you stopped at the waterfall?”

“Yes.” The voice of the flying rhinoceros beast lowered, “Halfway through, I hurt a lot of beasts, but also a lot of contract beasts felt the energy and came to find me. Initially, we found that being close to the energy would make our intelligence higher, though it also made us belligerent. While we could control the urge to fight, the beasts could not.”

“They wanted to grab the energy. In the process of trying to grab it, they would even kill each other, so for the first two days, the forest was like hell. Then the contract beasts reached a consensus to guard the energy. Only we found that after being near the energy for a long time, while our IQs were still rising, gradually we couldn’t control our belligerent impulses, and it affected us mentally.”

“Also because of the energy, the forest grew a lot of never-before-seen plants. Some were poisonous, and some beasts died by mistake. We realized that the energy may bring disaster and the end of the forest at that rate, so we finally decided to find a way to destroy the energy. We just could not find a way.”

Xie Sen thought darkly, no wonder when he heard him say he could retrieve the energy, the flying rhinoceros beast’s reaction was relief, not wariness.

“You can take back the energy now!” The flying rhinoceros beast said.

Xie Sen hesitated. “The energy is in your rhinoceros horn…” he paused, unable to say anything more.

The flying rhinoceros said, “Is it to cut it off? I just felt it. If you absorb it directly, I will die.”

Xie Sen looked at it in surprise. “You are too smart.“

The flying rhinoceros said, “This is the intelligence given to me by the energy. Besides, the intelligence of S class contract beasts is very high. Humans nowadays often underestimate us.” His voice was gentle and smooth, “Cut it off. The forest should be restored to peace.”

Xie Sen caressed his beast skin. “What about you?”

“You don’t have to worry about me. The horn of the flying rhinoceros beast is re-growable. It can regenerate in two years at most.” The flying rhinoceros beast seemed to laugh lightly. “I like you. You are a friendly ally of the contract beasts.”

Xie Sen smiled. He felt the kindness and gentleness of the flying rhinoceros beast. “Without your rhinoceros horn, it will be dangerous for you in the forest.”

“Who said I have to stay in the forest?”

Xie Sen froze, and suddenly thought, “Yes. You can come out with me, and I will take care of you.”

“Maybe I won’t have to,” said the flying rhinoceros beast. “If he has the power to make the bond.”

A’Qi froze when he saw the flying rhinoceros beast suddenly turn its head to look at him. He subconsciously looked at Xie Sen. “What does that mean?”

Xie Sen glanced at A’Qi. “Do you want to make a contract with it?”

A’Qi’s eyes were steely. “Of course, this is–” his voice choked for a moment. “The dream of our Yan family for generations.”

Xie Sen was stunned. He hadn’t expected his answer to be so profound at all.

The flying rhinoceros sighed softly. “You humans always regret.”

Xie Sen wondered, and the flying rhinoceros beast added, “Just in time. Let him do it. Cut off my horn first, and then show me what he can do.”

Xie Sen stroked its beast skin, and looked at Yan Qi. “You have cut off its rhinoceros horn, and then show it what you can do. Try to see if you can get it to agree to make a contract with you.”

“What?” Yan Qi’s face suddenly changed. “No!”

“You’re crazy!” The chestnut-haired teenager who followed Yan Qi looked at Xie Sen angrily. “A’Qi, his family’s ancestor made a mistake, and caused all the flying rhinoceros beasts to disappear overnight so many generations couldn’t easily come across one. Do you want his family and the flying rhinoceros beasts to become world enemies?” The chest of the chestnut-haired teenager was heaving with anger as he stepped forward, “Their family are all flying rhinoceros beast masters! Don’t you know how important the contract beasts are to the beast masters? If there is a mistake again this time, who knows when you’ll meet a flying rhinoceros beast again!”

Maine stared at him with cold eyes, and warned, “Back off.”

The young man was about to say something else, when he was pulled back a few steps by Qi Shao.

Xie Sen wondered if there was more to it than that, and couldn’t help but ask, “What’s going on?”

The flying rhinoceros beast sighed. “After some beasts became human, society developed rapidly and technology became more and more advanced. There was a time when life was peaceful, and the existence of contract beasts lost its most important meaning for some people – to fight. Especially with the high-level contract beasts. Low-level contract beasts could be used as pets, while high-level contract beasts were not even suitable for pets. Then the powerful and noble families came up with the entertainment of having high-level contract beasts fight.”

“My ancestor seriously wounded a contract beast in a fight. That contract beast had a strong beast power, and asked the ancestor’s beast master to cut off its rhinoceros horn.”

Xie Sen’s heart tightened. “He did as he was told?”

“Yes,” whispered the flying rhinoceros. “My ancestor ended the bond by ending his life. At the same time, all the clans returned to the forest and no longer bonded with humans, who tended to be mundane. We enjoy the solitude,” the flying rhinoceros said. “It’s God’s will to meet him in this situation. My mental condition is not good, and the bonding will be good for me. I’ll give him a chance. If he is strong enough, I will bond with him. How they used to end their relationship with our clan, now they will start again in the same way.”

Xie Sen was inwardly shocked, he looked at Yan Qi who had an ugly expression. “This is what it means.”

Yan Qi’s palms clenched into fists, the veins on the backs of his hands bulged. “How is that possible? What will it do without the rhinoceros horn?”

Xie Sen said, “Its horn has changed. It must be cut. If you can’t make a contract with it, I will take care of it.”

“No, I’ll take care of it!” Yan Qi said flatly.

“Then it depends on your ability. First, you need to cut its horn off.” Xie Sen said, then asked Adam in his mind, “How much to cut? Although it can regenerate, cut less if you can!”

Adam said, “The tip should be fine. The energy should be concentrated at the sharpest point.”

Xie Sen breathed a sigh of relief, and waited for Yan Qi’s answer.

Yan Qi walked to the flying rhinoceros beast. “You really want me to do this?”

The flying rhinoceros beast nodded. Yan Qi was silent for a moment, then took out a sharp knife  from his backpack. The flying rhinoceros beast put its head on the ground, to lower the height of its horn.

Xie Sen rushed over. He followed Adam’s tip and made a gesture about ten centimeters in length. “That much will do!”

Yan Qi’s face eased slightly. He gripped the knife handle, stood quietly for half a second. Then, eyes firmly fixed downward, he raised his hand to cut the rhinoceros horn. When it fell into his hand, his face changed, amazed that it was there.

Xie Sen reached out. “Give it to me.”

Yan Qi hesitated. The flying rhinoceros beast raised its head, and bumped him towards Xie Sen. He stumbled two steps, looked at Xie Sen in surprise and handed him the rhinoceros horn.

Adam was so excited. “Great!”

Xie Sen felt the temperature of the peony on his right shoulder rise. Heat ran from the rhinoceros horn in his hand up to his shoulder, and a surge of energy emanated from the horn. Soon, the peony returned to a calm state, and the red rhinoceros horn turned silvery gray.

He thought about it, and handed the horn to Yan Qi. “You can keep it as a souvenir!”

Yan Qi’s face moved slightly. He cautiously took it, and carefully put it into his backpack.

The flying rhinoceros beast stood up from the ground, and barked at Yan Qi. Its cry was low with wariness.

Qi Shao’s face suddenly changed. There was both joy and worry.

Maine moved Xie Sen back. The middle was left as open space with only the flying rhinoceros beast and Yan Qi.

In a short time, Yan Qi’s forehead had a layer of sweat, his cheeks were tense, as his face gradually turned red. He made half a sound, his face white, feet weak as he half-knelt to the ground.

“Moo” the flying rhinoceros beast barked at Xie Sen. Since he didn’t quite understand what it meant, he approached to stroke his belly.

“He’s good.” The flying rhinoceros’ voice said in his mind. Xie Sen was surprised. Hadn’t the energy been absorbed?

Adam explained, “It was affected by the energy. The energy is now in you. You are next to him, so you can communicate with him.”

At that moment, an eagle cry came from above. He looked up and saw the flying eagle beast was hovering in the air, and looking to the right. Not long after, the giant tiger beast and the two giant elephant beasts appeared from the right hand side, and ran directly towards the flying rhinoceros beast.

Xie Sen had a flash of insight, and blinked. “According to you, these others are also affected by the energy. So, if I’m next to them, can I communicate with them too?”

“Yes.” Adam affirmed.

Xie Sen looked at the flying eagle beast, then at the giant tiger beast and the giant elephant beasts. Why did he think this was a little cool?