Crisis!

Chapter 23: Crisis!

"Who?"

Gu Shaoyou's expression changed drastically. The ginseng in his hand was snatched away before he even saw a shadow. This person was not someone he could fight. He instinctively retreated halfway behind his younger brother.

"Cough!"

A figure stopped in front of Gu Shaohan and the two of them. It was a middle-aged man in his thirties, wearing black armor and wielding a long saber.

The middle-aged man, who called himself Sun Hailong, had a sallow complexion and coughed intermittently, appearing to be severely injured.

Gu Shaoyou's face turned pale. From four to five zhang away, he could smell a strong scent of blood emanating from the middle-aged man.

"Give us back the ginseng!" Gu Shaohan roared and charged at Sun Hailong.

"Heh, you really can't wait!" Sun Hailong chuckled, his sallow face revealing endless ferocity and greed!

Gu Shaohan, being a martial artist at the first stage of Foundation Establishment, leaped forward with a gust of wind, arriving before the middle-aged man Sun Hailong. He was about to use his tiger claw to snatch back the ginseng!

Gu Shaohan's face lit up with joy as his fingers touched the ginseng. Just then, a fair and slender hand fiercely grabbed Gu Shaohan's neck amidst Gu Shaoyou's startled cry, lifting him up!

"Let go... Ah! ... Brother! ..." Under Gu Shaoyou's terrified gaze, Sun Hailong opened his mouth, his blood-stained teeth biting down hard on Gu Shaohan's neck!

Amidst Gu Shaohan's shrill cries of despair, a chilling chewing sound echoed!

"Monster! You're a monster! Ah! Ah! Ah!"

Gu Shaoyou collapsed on the ground, retreating repeatedly, letting out pained and terrified screams, tears and snot streaming down his face!

Terror! Despair! Rage! Fear! Gu Shaoyou curled into a ball, trembling, watching his own brother being bitten on the neck by the devil before him!

Sun Hailong chewed with large mouthfuls, blood trickling down his lips. Gu Shaohan's plump body gradually shriveled, his blood completely drained!

"Bang!"

Sun Hailong threw Gu Shaohan's shriveled corpse aside, licked his lips with his blood-covered tongue, and paced toward Gu Shaoyou.

"What a delicious medicinal herb! If I hadn't encountered you two good medicines, I would have surely died! I really must thank you. Don't worry, I'll be quick! You won't feel any pain!" Sun Hailong's sallow face showed a cruel and violent expression, his eyes glowing with an eerie blood-red light!

"Brother! No! Don't! Don't come near me! Ah! Ah!" Gu Shaoyou sat on the ground, shouting frantically, his hands batting in front of him! He was on the verge of collapse!

"Hmm? You actually!" A foul odor drifted over, and Sun Hailong stopped, frowning, his face contorting in rage!

Gu Shaoyou was sobbing uncontrollably on the ground, the foul odor emanating from him causing him to lose control of his bowels and bladder in fear!

Although Sun Hailong practiced the "Bloodthirsty Marvelous Skill," it didn't mean he would eat anything! Prey that emitted such a foul smell, even if he were severely injured, was something he couldn't bring himself to consume!

"A useless person like you! Can't even protect your own brother! What's the point of living!" Sun Hailong's low voice suddenly turned furious, and he was about to unleash a flying kick to kill the waste in front of him!

"I... I know where someone else is! He's a genius! He reached the second stage of Foundation Establishment at ten years old! And he has a hundred Purple Gold Coins on him!" Gu Shaoyou suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and a string of words tumbled out.

Although Gu Xuanzhen's generous gift to Gu Shaoshang had not been widely publicized, walls have ears! It eventually reached the ears of those who were paying attention!

"Whoosh"

The whip kick, carrying a gale, stopped abruptly. The whistling wind blew through Gu Shaoyou's hair, covering his entire face like a madman's.

"I survived! This monster didn't kill me!" Gu Shaoyou roared inwardly, his voice trembling, "Esteemed sir, his name is Gu Shaoshang, he's eleven years old this year..."

"Interesting! One hundred Purple Gold Coins! Genius, what does the blood of a genius taste like? Heh, haha!" A cruel smile flickered across Sun Hailong's face, and he turned, heading toward the location Gu Shaoyou had indicated.

Gu Shaoyou stumbled along, with no intention of escaping!

"This is!" Gu Shaoyou's heart trembled!

Behind Sun Hailong, beneath the tattered black armor! A massive palm print covering his entire back was clearly visible, like a brand seared by a red-hot iron!

"It takes too much Source Power for true body traversal! And I still need a hundred points to choose the world I want to go to! A one-star world only offers three chances, I can't waste them!" Gu Shaoshang sat cross-legged on the ground, deep in thought.

In the past two months, Gu Shaoshang had lost count of how many beasts he had killed! His Flying Dagger Technique had reached level nine, and with internal energy infusion, its lethality had greatly increased! He was only one step away from "Flying Dagger Deflection" to complete his first martial skill! Its power far exceeded his current martial arts realm!

"What a shame! A wild boar close to being a Demonic Beast only yields 0.1 Source Power! Source Power is too rare!" Gu Shaoshang sighed slightly, then felt he was being too greedy.

In just a few months, he had gone from the initial stage of Foundation Establishment to the second stage of Foundation Establishment, nearing completion, traversing a path that others took years to cover! How could he ask for more!

"Mindset! My mindset has become impatient!" Gu Shaoshang admonished himself, understanding the problem. "Although I've materialized Teng Qingshan's Xingyi Quan experience, there are still some crucial points I don't fully grasp! I lack guidance from a true Grandmaster!"

Practicing martial arts is far from being achieved by simply following a manual! The stories Gu Shaoshang had read in his past life about obtaining martial arts manuals after falling off a cliff and becoming a master through solitary cultivation are non-existent, neither in his past life nor in this world.

Even a martial skill as simple as Tiger Roar Fist took Gu Ji over half a year of dedicated instruction, and he had only taught a third of it!

Gu Shaoshang naturally knew his weakness: the lack of guidance. The slow progress of Xingyi Quan was the best proof. Even with Teng Qingshan's experience, he couldn't quickly become a Grandmaster.

"Foundation Establishment! Foundation Establishment!" Gu Shaoshang softly chanted, a determined smile on his face. "Without forging a supreme-level foundation, how can I traverse the Myriad Heavens and worlds!"

After finishing his projection, Gu Shaoshang looked at the huge gap in the selection for traversal and frowned.

"No choice, I'll have to continue hunting beasts in the mountains!" Gu Shaoshang thought, exiting the Mirror World.

Gu Shaoshang climbed a small hillside and stood gazing out. This was a place he particularly liked.

In the distance lay rolling, beautiful peaks covered in lush greenery. The mountaintops were adorned with strangely shaped rocks and ancient, gnarled trees, with old vines as thick as buckets coiling like dragons. Lush green grass and fragrant wild flowers carpeted the ground, exuding boundless vitality and life.

Faint roars of beasts could be heard; that area was already considered the interior of Great Ming Mountain. Gu Shaoshang had been there many times, and an innate sense of crisis had always warned him, preventing him from venturing further in!

"Who?" Suddenly, the sound of footsteps approached slowly. Gu Shaoshang's left hand tightened slightly as he discreetly gripped a flying dagger.

"High vigilance! Much better than that waste!" Sun Hailong emerged from the forest at a leisurely pace.

Thank you to reader Ziwei Taiyi for the reward. Finally, a humble request for recommendations and collections!