Hearing Jiang Yan's promise, Himeko broke into a bright smile.
"Thank you."
"There's no need for that," Jiang Yan replied, shaking his head. "Without your assistance, Miss Himeko, we wouldn't have resolved this so smoothly. We might've paid a far heavier price."
As he spoke, his gaze drifted toward the area where the ferocious beast was being dismembered.
Among early-stage Essence-Refining ferocious beasts, the Mangfang Elephant's size ranked near the very top. Naturally, that meant an enormous amount of usable material—undeniably a good thing.
Just the flesh from a single leg would be enough for everyone in Mount Shu Village to have a share.
Himeko stared at the exposed leg bone, white and jade-like, and couldn't help but grow curious.
As Draymond had said, the Wolf's Gravestone she'd used was forged from the bones of a mid-stage Foundation Establishment ferocious beast.
So if it were an early-stage Essence-Refining ferocious beast instead…
Catching her expression, Jiang Yan chuckled softly.
"If Miss Himeko wishes to use ferocious beast bones to forge a weapon, that wouldn't be difficult at all."
"Though personally, I believe pursuing magical artifacts after you officially join Mount Shu would be better—but artifacts are hard to come by."
"In the early stages, ferocious beast weapons are perfectly serviceable."
He paused, then added,
"That said, the Mangfang Elephant's leg bones aren't the best material. The truly superior forging material on its body would be its tusks."
Hearing this, Himeko focused on the elephant's tusks.
They gleamed like gold-jade in the sunlight, translucent and lustrous, with faint golden threads flowing within—solidified spiritual energy, unmistakably so.
Even without thinking too deeply, it was obvious that anything forged from that would be… terrifyingly powerful.
"But…" Himeko hesitated, glancing at Jiang Yan and the others. "There are only two tusks."
In her eyes, she hadn't contributed that much—mostly providing support from the side.
Draymond and the others had borne the brunt of the danger.
There were only two tusks. Taking one outright felt excessive.
And deep down, she couldn't shake the feeling that they were offering it partly because of Alice.
Jiang Yan smiled and shook his head.
"Miss Himeko needn't worry. The size of those tusks is more than sufficient to forge far more than just two weapons."
"Besides, everyone agrees that without your help, this battle would've cost us dearly."
Himeko sighed helplessly.
"There's no need to say that. Even without me, the formation would've suppressed the beast eventually."
"That's not the same," Draymond cut in firmly.
"Activating the formation consumes spirit stones. To us, spirit stones—treasures only cultivators possess—are a completely non-renewable resource."
"We'd rather bleed than waste even one more."
Seeing this, Himeko stopped refusing.
Truth be told, she was genuinely curious what could be forged from Mangfang Elephant tusks.
As she watched the busy warriors, the ferocious beast was steadily reduced into fragrant slabs of flesh.
A thought surfaced in her mind.
Bones, hide, flesh, organs…
Every single part strengthened the body and enhanced power.
This wasn't a ferocious beast at all—it was a walking mountain of gold and silver.
No wonder Mount Shu Village's martial strength was so formidable.
Martial cultivation, as a mystical system, was fundamentally different from technology.
Technology required breakthroughs.
Cultivation required resources.
And ferocious beasts were the finest resources of all.
If martial cultivation were to be promoted in the Honkai world, vast quantities of ferocious beast resources would be essential—otherwise progress would be painfully slow.
But such resources weren't easily obtained.
To get more, one had to join Mount Shu.
And even then, the ferocious beasts of this world couldn't be hunted freely—they were Mount Shu's assets.
The village warriors needed them, and cultivators occasionally hunted them as well.
Just then, a thought struck Himeko.
She turned to Ying'er.
"Miss Ying'er, I heard that Liyue has undergone spiritual energy revival, which led to the emergence of many ferocious beasts?"
"That's right," Ying'er nodded.
"Mount Shu's descent triggered spiritual energy revival. The process has accelerated recently—rumor has it that it's already spread to Mondstadt and Sumeru."
"Some weaker evolved creatures have appeared, but true ferocious beasts are still concentrated mainly in Jueyun Karst."
"After all, that's where spiritual energy is densest."
Himeko pressed on,
"So the reason Liyue has so many ferocious beasts is spiritual energy revival—and that, in turn, accelerates the growth of martial practitioners?"
"You could put it that way," Ying'er replied thoughtfully.
"Spiritual energy revival has its pros and cons. The wilderness is more dangerous now, but it also gives ordinary people more possibilities."
Those words untangled several knots in Himeko's mind.
If martial cultivation were to spread in the Honkai world, spiritual energy was essential—but that part wasn't actually hard.
Such power existed everywhere. Cultivators could even forcibly induce it.
What truly mattered was ferocious beast resources to drive growth.
That, too, could be solved by triggering spiritual energy revival.
As for the dangers revival would bring…
Well, the Honkai already existed.
Adding spiritual energy revival wouldn't really make things worse.
If anything, when ferocious beasts met Honkai beasts, the former might even help solve some problems.
Himeko would much rather face ferocious beasts.
At least ferocious beasts were valuable from head to toe—and far less obsessed with destroying civilization.
If today's situation involved a Judgment-class Honkai Beast instead, it wouldn't care whether they retreated or not.
Its first priority would be to annihilate Mount Shu Village itself.
Seen from that angle, Himeko almost felt inclined to promote spiritual energy revival in the Honkai world.
Mystical creatures were excellent research subjects—who knew what kind of "ferocious beast armor" Einstein and the others might come up with?
Of course, all of that was idle fantasy for now.
She wasn't a cultivator yet.
And she couldn't even return to the Honkai world.
It was far too early to think that far ahead.
Lost in thought, she soon noticed the dissection had reached the internal organs.
A ferocious beast this large couldn't possibly be fully processed in a single day.
Once a ferocious beast died, if not preserved properly, its spiritual energy would slowly dissipate.
Thus, the most precious essence had to be extracted first.
The organs—especially the heart.
The meat from the limbs, abdomen, and back could be processed today. The rest would have to be finished within three days.
Even then, some spiritual energy loss was inevitable.
But the heart came first.
Everyone gathered closer.
Himeko had expected a stench—but to her surprise, the exposed ferocious beast emitted an intoxicating fragrance.
She couldn't quite describe it.
Perhaps… the allure of condensed life essence?
At least to her, it smelled strangely pleasant.
The warrior overseeing the dissection nodded to them and issued instructions.
Watching up close, Himeko finally understood what they were using.
Extremely sharp bone blades, connected to strange mechanical apparatuses.
Around them, several warriors continuously infused the blades with inner strength.
The originally jade-white blades began to glow like the full moon.
By Himeko's estimation, their sharpness rivaled the most advanced laser cutters in the Honkai world.
And yet—even so, they met resistance when touching the beast's belly.
"So tough…" Himeko murmured.
Ying'er covered her mouth and laughed softly.
"This is actually the easiest part. These are all lessons learned through experience."
"For most ferocious beasts, the belly is the softest area—but not always."
"If we tried to cut directly toward the Mangfang Elephant's heart, these bone blades would snap."
"The protection around vital areas is always the strongest."
Himeko nodded, then asked curiously,
"Then how do you remove the heart?"
Ying'er pointed elsewhere.
A squad of Grandmaster warriors stood fully armored, clad head to toe in unknown beast hides, looking imposing and fierce.
Every inch of skin was covered.
"To extract the heart quickly, warriors must enter the beast's body directly."
"Pure cutting won't work—not even with a peak Foundation Establishment bone blade."
"And once a ferocious beast dies, every second counts."
Soon, a massive opening several meters tall was cut into the beast's abdomen.
With the blood already drained, it wasn't nearly as messy as expected.
"Go. Make it quick."
At Ying'er's signal, the warriors saluted, grabbed shorter bone blades, and entered.
"Is that safe?" Himeko asked, worried.
Ying'er smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry. We're professionals. We've rehearsed this countless times."
"Grandmasters can hold their breath for an hour. While they're inside, we'll continue widening the opening."
"At most, they'll be back within an hour."
"And if something goes wrong, Mr. Jiang Yan will sense it immediately."
Himeko nodded, impressed.
Mount Shu Village—or rather, Teyvat itself—had already developed an exceptionally mature system for exploiting ferocious beasts.
One that could be borrowed wholesale.
While waiting, Himeko chatted with them about the full process of ferocious beast utilization.
She learned much more—habits, abilities, dangerous variants to watch for.
An hour later, the abdominal opening had widened to nearly ten meters.
Movement finally came from within.
Himeko marveled inwardly.
Traversing a beast of this size to extract its heart was practically like moving through a battleship.
One by one, warriors emerged, drenched in blood.
Others grabbed ropes woven from strange beast tendons, hauling together.
With a collective heave—
A massive heart, crimson and radiating magma-like heat, slammed onto the square.
It was at least ten meters in diameter.
Without such a large opening, extraction would've been impossible.
Standing before it, Himeko felt like she'd stepped into a land of giants.
Unlike the Mangfang Elephant's corpse, the heart still pulsed faintly.
But she could clearly see the cause.
Within it floated more than a dozen drops of dazzling golden blood.
Even through the heart, she could feel their call.
Himeko understood instantly.
This was the Mangfang Elephant's most precious treasure—
Ferocious Beast Essence Blood.
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