Unidentified Liquid

As she listened to the little worm's account, Liu Yunyi noticed a problem.

"That's not right. You each have powerful abilities, so why do you absolutely have to form a symbiotic relationship with a host?"

At her words, the little worm's body stiffened for a moment.

Then it said somewhat sheepishly,

"Actually, among the Seven Great Starry Sky Demonic Insects, we Pupil Worms basically have no combat ability at all."

"Our race's abilities can only manifest after forming a symbiotic relationship with another living creature."

"If we don't find hosts to coexist with, we simply can't survive on planets with harsh environments."

"So among the Seven Great Demonic Insects, only we are constantly searching for hosts."

"The other six Demonic Insects have basically no interest in finding hosts and establishing symbiotic relationships, unless they encounter a life-form that interests them."

After the little worm finished speaking, it looked up at the four of them.

All four wore dead-fish eyes as they stared fixedly at it, as though they were looking at a useless piece of trash.

"No! Don't look at me like that! You four lower life-forms! Sob, sob, sob~"

The little worm twisted left and right on Su Luo's fingertip, venting its dissatisfaction.

"Su Luo, you picked this thing up. What do you think we should do with it?" Shen Huaiyue asked, looking at Su Luo.

Su Luo pondered for a long while after hearing that.

He took out a transparent glass jar and put it inside.

"Let's bring it along for now. Once we get back to school, maybe we can sell it for a good price."

Su Luo then pinched up the little worm and, amid its fierce cries of resistance, tossed it into the glass jar.

He screwed on the plastic lid tightly, then poked several small holes through it so the little worm would not suffocate.

He then turned around, removed the Tier 4 Crystal Core from the Four-tailed White Ape, and slipped it into his pocket.

"Let's keep moving. Other than those ape-type Exotic Beasts, there shouldn't be any other Exotic Beasts in this forest." Su Luo curled a finger, signaling the three women to give him their hands.

The three women obediently let Su Luo take their hands.

Su Luo gripped them tightly. Blue-flame wings spread from his back, and he instantly shot into the sky, carrying the three women into the distance.

When the four flew away, the surviving Tier 1 and Tier 2 ape beasts dragged their heavily injured bodies away in silence.

Their king was gone. Before long, this forest would be occupied by another Exotic Beast clan.

When that time came, all they could do was wait for their destruction.

The most urgent matter was to elect a new leader and have them lead the group in search of a new place to settle.

Su Luo sped forward at maximum velocity, flying through the air with the four of them for several hours, yet they still could not see the end of the vast forest.

Dense woodland stretched in every direction, boundless and endless. After staring at it for so long, all four of them were beginning to suffer visual fatigue.

Just then,

a massive lake suddenly appeared in the distance, immediately drawing Su Luo's attention.

The lake was enormous. The four of them could not see its far shore, and its diameter was likely several thousand meters.

Considering that Exotic Beasts also needed water, they might as well wait here for them to come knocking.

"Let's rest here for a while, have a meal, and wait by the tree stump for a rabbit," Su Luo suggested.

The three women exchanged glances and felt that this method was truly brilliant. All of them nodded without objection.

The four landed in a large clearing beside the lake.

To their surprise, there were more than a dozen tents already set up there.

The tents appeared completely intact, but for some reason, their entrances had been torn wide open, as if something had violently ripped them apart.

The campfire had long since burned out, leaving ashes scattered across the ground.

The four stepped forward and split up to inspect the tents.

They discovered that every tent was fully stocked with daily necessities, yet there was not a single living person inside.

Frowning with grave expressions, the four regrouped and all shook their heads.

"The equipment and supplies are all here, but there isn't a single living person. This is truly eerie," Shen Huaiyue said heavily.

"Either these people were rich enough not to care about their belongings, or they're already dead. Personally, I lean toward the second possibility." Liu Yunyi gripped the hilt of the sword at her waist and cautiously surveyed her surroundings.

"If more than ten people were killed by Exotic Beasts, how could there be no bloodstains at all? The entire campsite is still so neat and tidy," Shen Huaiyu asked in confusion.

At that moment, Su Luo frowned, as if he had noticed something.

He walked straight toward the lakeshore, crouched down, and reached out to touch an unidentified liquid on the ground.

He then raised his hand and rubbed it between his fingers.

Sticky—extremely sticky. That was the only impression the unidentified liquid gave him.

The other three followed over and also noticed the unidentified liquid in front of Su Luo.

"What is this?" Shen Huaiyue asked curiously.

"Mucus secreted by an unknown Exotic Beast. It seems some deadly danger is hiding beneath this great lake." Su Luo smiled.

"Huh? Then are we still going to wait by the tree stump for a rabbit here?" Shen Huaiyu asked nervously.

"High risk, high reward. Besides, we have life-saving spatial bracelets that can teleport us back to school, so there's no need to worry too much." Su Luo gave Shen Huaiyu a reassuring smile.

"Alright, let's do it!" the three sisters said at once.

The four rekindled the campfire and used the food they had brought to cook a large pot of rice porridge.

The scent of the food drifted on the wind, disturbing some Exotic Beast beneath the lake.

One Exotic Beast after another awoke from hibernation beneath the lake, suddenly opening their eyes. They waited quietly for their body temperatures to return to normal before they could move.

The four on the shore finished dividing up the rice porridge. After eating and drinking their fill, they looked at the calm lake surface, where there was not the slightest sign of danger.

They then chose a relatively spacious area and set up their tents, keeping them pressed close together to prevent any accidents.

The four sat beside the campfire and chatted idly out of boredom.

Until the sky suddenly filled with dark clouds and rain began to fall, droplets landing on their necks.

"It's raining! Let's get back into the tents!" Liu Yunyi said as she stood up.

The four hurried back into their respective tents and zipped them shut to keep the rain out.

As they listened to the rain gradually intensify, it pattered against the tents in a burst of crackling sounds.

The four could not help but sigh at how changeable the weather on the Exotic Beast Continent truly was.

In merely one minute, it had changed from a clear day into a rainy day with dark clouds pressing down overhead.

As time passed, the rain began to grow even heavier. Judging by its momentum, it would continue for quite some time.

Lying on his sleeping mat, Su Luo listened to the rain outside and suddenly felt a fierce wave of drowsiness wash over him.

To keep himself alert, Su Luo took the glass jar containing the little worm from his backpack.

He wanted to chat with it for a while to ease his sleepiness.

Seeing daylight again, the little worm spotted Su Luo, straightened its body, and angrily banged against the glass jar.

"Let me out! Let me out!"

"You lower life-form! Do you know what kind of existence you've provoked?"