Lin Mu had heard of the Hong Lin tree resin before. It was harvested in the winters when the trees let out their sap and only those that were over a hundred years old produced this resin.
It was used to make ink, which was used in the creation of talismans and other formations. While most of the formations could be made with spirit Qi as the ink and spirit sense as the brush, the direct method of using actual ink and brush was also quite popular.
In some cases, that was the only way to make several formations that were above the capabilities of one’s cultivation base. Many formation masters who had great skills with formation but were restricted due to their cultivation base used this method.
The ink used to make these formations and talismans was made by mixing and processing several materials. There were an almost endless amount of combinations that could be used, which led to several different formations.
Since the Hong Lin tree was innately of the fire element, its resin was the same and used in the creation of offensive fire attribute formations.
Of course, the number of Hong Lin trees that reached the age of over a hundred years were quite rare. This was because they had a hard time reach that age as they would either end up being cut down or dying due to some other problem.
As for the thousand year old Hong Lin trees, they were the rarest and there were no specific records of such trees. One could only wander around the forest trying to find one based on their luck.
"When you went with your uncle, did you even find the thousand year old Hong Lin tree?" Lin Mu questioned.
"We did find one... it was mostly dead through and only a single branch was viable to be used." Jing Luo answered.
"I see. I guess, we may as well get some of them while we are there, just in case we need it in the future." Lin Mu replied as they continued on their journey.
After about three more hours, they decided to take a break. Lin Mu and Jing Luo ate the grilled fish that was made by little Shrubby and were impressed.
"You’ve gotten so much better at cooking now." Lin Mu praised.
"Of course! I’ve been practicing every single day." Little Shrubby replied.
Jing Luo on the other hand, was confused.
’Why does a beast really like to cook so much though?’ he had asked himself this question many times till now, but had eventually decided to give up.
He looked at the prosthetic hands he had made for little Shrubby, flipping and rotating the skewers that were being cooked on top of a grill with a wry smile. He silently shook his head and just decided to finish up eating his food.
After about an hour of rest, Lin Mu and Jing Luo were energized and returned to their journey. It was now night time, but it was no trouble for the trio to see in the darkness. Little Shrubby could see in the night even when he was a normal beast, while Lin Mu and Jing Luo just used their spirit sense.
"Eeeeeekkk!" The sound of a beast was heard echoing through the air and made Lin Mu and Jing Luo alert.
Traveling at night was not safe, and they had encountered their first obstacle.
"What was that?" Lin Mu questioned.
"There’s another beast nearby, five kilometer away." Little Shrubby informed.
Jing Luo on the other hand, furrowed his brows and spread his spirit sense around.
"It’s a Green Tail Howler monkey. This one is at the core condensation realm." Jing Luo spoke.
"Huh? Just Core condensation realm, that’s nothing to us." Lin Mu replied.
"That’s not the problem..." Just as Jing Luo was about to speak more, a cacophony of cries interrupted him.
"Eeeee! Eeeee! EEEEeeek!" Hundreds if not thousands of cries of Green Tailed Howler monkeys could be heard now.
The sound was loud enough that Lin Mu and Jing Luo were forced to close their ears.
"DAMMIT! IT’S TOO LOUD!" Lin Mu yelled.
Little Shrubby got annoyed by this too, and his eyes glowed in a dangerous light.
A thunderous roar was let out by him as a massive fire ball shot out of his mouth. The fireball traveled far, before explaining in the sky.
The explosion of the fireball illuminated the area of around five kilometer, allowing Lin Mu and Jing Luo to see the beasts that were hiding in the shadows. They seemed to be a bit intimidated by Little Shrubby’s roar, but soon a stronger presence was felt in the distance.
On one of the bigger Hong Lin trees, a Green Tailed Howler monkey was standing. Its back was straight and fangs jutted out of its mouth. It was nearly twice as big in size as a normal Green Tailed Howler monkey and seemed to be its leader.
"KIIIIIII!" The Chief Green Tailed Howler monkey let out an oppressive cry as if ordering his kin to attack.
"EEEEE! EEeee!" The other Green Tailed Howler monkeys became bold upon hearing their leaders cry and charged towards Lin Mu and Jing Luo.
"Seems like we get monkey meat added to the menu now." Lin Mu spoke.
"Hmm... that chief monkey is good, too. Its bones are one of the ingredients in making a fluted staff." Jing Luo added.
"I guess, we fight." Lin Mu said as tens of spirit weapon appeared around him.
He held the black thorn spear in his hand and pointed at the beasts.
"KILL!" Lin Mu ordered.
Little Shrubby burst forward, going directly towards the chief green tailed howler monkey. With its speed, none of the weaker monkeys were able to stop him and he directly went to clash with the chief.
The sound of collision between Little Shrubby and the Green tailed howler monkey chief made a lot of weaker monkeys flinch, but this gave Lin Mu and Jing Luo the perfect chance to begin their slaughter.