If the Highly Intelligent Machine was eating away at the last bits of spiritual energy, then he was going to make the talent disappear.

With that thought in mind, he summoned his status window and wiped the talent points from the talent column. Immediately, he felt changed. The intense pain he had been feeling disappeared as if it had never existed in the first place, and with each passing moment, his condition got better and better.

Jackson huffed and puffed, using the support of a tree as he tried to get up, only to stagger and fall face-first into a pool of blood on the ground. His face was completely drenched in the Blue-Horned Deer’s fresh warm blood.

He actually did not realize what had happened, but at some point, some amount of blood had gotten into his mouth. It was only when he felt the bitter taste spreading through his throat that Jackson hurriedly got up and began coughing, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the ground.

The sight was gruesome and unpleasant. An incredibly foul smell filled the entire surroundings.

Although the Highly Intelligent Machine talent might have vanished, Jackson’s habit of planning and thinking ahead was still with him. The commotion his fight with the Blue-Horned Deer had caused was bound to have attracted some attention, and he could not stay in this place any longer.

Ignoring his unwilling body, Jackson hastily grabbed the Blue-Horned Deer’s valuable body parts — its horn and monster core — and started moving.

...

Jackson headed straight for the closest source of water he could find. He needed to wash away all the blood and mucus covering his body to keep the monsters away in this weakened state. Thankfully, before engaging in the fight with the Blue-Horned Deer, he had already created a rough map of his surroundings in his head. He quickly navigated to a small pond in a clean clearing and washed off all the grime and filth from his body.

Once clean, he quickly picked up dirt and smeared it all over his clothes. This was best done with the surrounding filth and not by standing out too much. After that, he needed to rest, and he was in no condition to move farther.

After doing all that, he quickly found a hiding spot: a small abandoned cave filled with the thick odor of rotting corpses. The stench was so unbearable and disgusting that even monsters avoided walking too close to it. Jackson could only grit his teeth and make his way inside. A place actively avoided by monsters could now only keep him safe.

Once inside, he found a secluded corner and sat cross-legged, letting his body recover.

Strangely enough, minute by minute, the image of the Twin Dragon kept taking shape in his mind. Once the image was fully formed, Jackson’s spiritual force would have completely recovered.

Of course, there were other ways to speed up the process. The two most popular ones were to use resources like pills and meditation techniques, but Jackson was just a newbie awakened. He neither had money nor the qualification to purchase such items.

So for now, he could only rely on natural methods.

Time continued to pass. Jackson had left early in the morning, so by the time his spiritual force completely recovered, it was already afternoon, with the sun high up in the sky.

Jackson, however, did not pay attention to any of this. Instead, he focused inwardly. In his mind, the image of the Twin Dragon floated while roaring toward the sky, a giant at least ten meters tall. Just one look, and he noticed something different.

Hmm... it has grown taller...

Although Jackson could see it clearly, for some reason his mind refused to believe it.

He had taken no spiritual-force pills and had not used any special techniques, so how could his spiritual force have increased?

To make sure he was not imagining things, he called out the status window.

[Name - Jackson Von Maximus]

[Age - 16]

[Talent -]

[Realm - Mortal]

[Spiritual Force - 1.6]

[Mana - 0.99]

Indeed, his spiritual force had jumped by 0.2 points without any explanation. No matter how much he tried to deny it, the facts were right in front of him. He thought of countless ways to explain it, but none of them made sense.

Hmm... could it be that total exhaustion of spiritual force increases my upper limit?

An absurd thought popped into his mind. He could not believe it. After all, there had never been anyone who could totally change their spiritual force like this. It was the same as attempting to die by holding your own breath, an impossible task.

Yet he had forcefully altered the Blue-Horned Deer and completely exhausted his spiritual force.

Jackson was completely stunned. In the end, he could only shake his head.

There is only one way to confirm my thoughts.

He would need to go hunting again. However, before that, he found a slightly sharp piece of bone and dug a small hole to hide the horn and beast core. While anything could happen, he did not want to lose his precious loot because of some stupid mistake.

After doing all this in five minutes, he was ready to leave in search of a perfect prey.

Once out of the cave, he carefully looked around to make sure no one was watching his hiding spot. After confirming that no one was there, he started moving, his thoughts turning back to another important matter.

While I cannot directly improve my own stats, for some reason I can influence the stats of others.

This was something he had already confirmed. What was not confirmed was whether this influence was permanent or temporary. Right now, Jackson had a feeling that it was most likely temporary, although he had no proof. His instincts told him that changing stats would not be this easy.

Jackson continued to move. This time, his target was another Blue-Horned Deer. First, hunting it was highly economical, and second, they were solitary creatures, so spotting one alone was definitely easier.

After taking many detours to avoid other predators, Jackson soon found a slightly aged Blue-Horned Deer munching on some vitality vines.

As the Blue-Horned Deer grew older, its horn also grew along with it. Looking at the monster’s horn, one could easily deduce its age.

Jackson muttered under his breath as he remembered the crucial information about the monster.

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