Rascally Rabbit Bandit

Inside the rock crevice, Wang Wu once again entered level 6 Stealth. He hid the corpses of those fifty-three ordinary Iron-Toothed Locusts at the very back.

It was not that he did not want to eat them, but his Satiety had already reached its maximum limit: 550 points.

As long as he exceeded that limit, eating too much would leave him too stuffed to enter Stealth.

Fortunately, it was still early spring, and the temperature was not very high. They should keep for a while.

From day until night, the valley remained deathly quiet. No one knew how many Sprites had escaped disaster.

In any case, neither the Wolf Demon ruling this valley nor its subordinates had appeared, much less that Great Demon whose origins were unknown.

It seemed the Sprites in this valley were nothing more than crops growing in a field. Even if they were destroyed, another harvest could always grow back.

Wang Wu watched silently, and his heart barely stirred. This was normal. This was the real Cultivation World. Even the ordinary human world of Earth had become such a savage rat race—why should the Cultivation World not be one too? Why would beautiful fairy tales be everywhere?

Demons competed with demons, humans competed with humans, and the demons and humans forged by that competition kept on competing. That was the essence of this world.

"The Cultivation World has no fairy tales, and it does not believe in tears. So keeping a low profile, developing quietly, and growing in a wretchedly cautious way are skills I must master."

Wang Wu summarized his lessons once again. It could also be considered a memorial for the Sprites of this valley. After all, they had been fellow Medium Demons who had accompanied him for nearly a year.

May you have a safe journey.

After night fell, the valley was still as silent as a grave. That meant the number of surviving Sprites was truly, truly small.

Wang Wu waited until midnight before getting up and beginning to crunch away at a late-night snack.

The Iron-Toothed Locusts did not contain Paralysis Toxin. They tasted only a little bitter, perhaps because his 3 points of Paralysis Toxin Resistance were taking effect.

But there was no doubt that they were highly nutritious.

Eating a single Iron-Toothed Locust yielded at least 10 points and at most around 15 points of Spiritual Qi, as well as 100 points of Satiety.

Wang Wu ate only three before he was full again.

Ah, the ways of the world were impossible to predict. He had never imagined that one day, he would worry about having too much food to eat.

He checked his current Attribute Bar. After reaching the second stage of growth earlier, his Growth Rate had reset to zero. By now, it had risen to 7.6%. But honestly, Wang Wu was no longer in such a hurry to grow bigger. It gave him an inexplicable feeling that he was a fat pig about to be sent to slaughter.

Absurd as that was.

"Let's raise Stealth another level."

Seeing that his Spiritual Qi reserves had once again reached 100 points, Wang Wu decisively added them to his Passive Concealment talent, raising it from level 6 to level 7.

No matter what, this Bloodline Talent took the highest priority.

After the points were added, there was no reaction. Only three seconds later did lines of information slowly appear.

"Because you remained motionless for three seconds, you have activated level 7 Passive Concealment."

"You can now achieve outstanding Mimetic Fusion in certain special environments, such as snowy ground, water, gale-force winds, desert wastelands, and rocky barrens."

"All insects and beasts below rank are unable to detect you."

"The vast majority of demons with insufficient cultivation and strength cannot detect you. Even demons, sprites, and monsters with special scouting talents, exceptionally keen senses, special Bloodline Talents that counter yours, or cultivation realms up to two levels higher than yours can easily overlook you. However, when they are very close, especially when physical contact occurs, you will inevitably be discovered."

"Now, you can take a small gamble on whether low-level Human Race cultivators searching for you will be able to discover you."

"Warning: before demons, sprites, and monsters cultivating scouting divine abilities, demons, sprites, and monsters whose cultivation realm is three levels higher than yours, or third-realm Human Race cultivators, you are still a clumsy, laughable clown."

--

"Sure enough, level 7 Passive Concealment is still far from enough to deal with the crisis ahead."

Wang Wu pondered. In each growth stage, his Bloodline Talent could be raised by five levels. Ideally, he might eventually raise Passive Concealment to level 25.

Yet that still did not seem to give him an overwhelming advantage. Otherwise, Bear Mom would not have been hunted to death by a Heaven Realm Great Cultivator of the Human Race.

So he had to admit that relying solely on his current Bloodline Talents was not safe enough in this Cultivation World.

"I still need to grind Abnormal Status Resistance and Special Growth Rate."

"What a pity. This valley's original ecosystem was directly destroyed by the Iron-Toothed Locust Legion."

"I need to find another place."

Wang Wu made his decision. Once he had eaten those Iron-Toothed Locusts, he would leave this place.

After waiting a while longer, he exited his level 7 Passive Concealment state, crawled out of the rock crevice, glanced at the barren valley, and headed straight for the stream. He needed to relieve himself. Though it was an indecent matter, it was also a vital daily task tied to his very survival.

Fortunately, there was not even a ghostly shadow in the valley. The Iron-Toothed Locusts might chew through anything they saw, but they could do nothing to this stream.

Lying in the water, Wang Wu's body naturally rose and fell with the current. In less than three seconds, he successfully entered level 7 Stealth. This had been impossible before. Now, he had the feeling that even the flowing water resonated with him, merging into one with him.

About ten minutes later, just as the refreshed Wang Wu was about to leave the stream, a cry from a night owl came from afar, seemingly drawing rapidly closer.

He was startled. Night owls had called in the distance before, but none had ever landed in this valley. Those Little Red Birds were not pushovers. Other than not daring to provoke the two Giant Eagles and looking down on the Wild Chickens, they would swarm and attack any other bird that dared enter this area.

Several hundred Little Red Birds—their combat strength had been top-notch.

Yet who could have imagined that they would be wiped out by locusts?

Wang Wu hid in the stream without moving further, merely listening carefully. Sure enough, he heard the beat of wings. There were probably more than ten of them, circling above that cliff.

Well, damn. So the Flame Scorpion King's whole family had been wiped out too.

As Wang Wu listened, he suddenly heard another rustling sound coming from upstream in the valley. It quickly reached the stream and crossed over it. He had no idea what kind of Sprite it was.

I can't wait any longer. My food!

Thinking of those Iron-Toothed Locusts, Wang Wu immediately crawled soundlessly out of the stream. Then, in the very next second, he came face-to-face with an enormous gray rabbit by the water's edge.

He truly had not expected a wild rabbit to sneak up on him without a sound. The rabbit probably had not expected a black, shadowy thing to suddenly emerge from the stream either.

Both sides froze, then struck with their claws almost simultaneously.

Wang Wu thought of braised rabbit meat. Surely he would not be afraid of a grass-eating rabbit.

Even if this fellow was nearly the size of a Labrador Rabbit.

But this Labrador Rabbit was astonishingly valiant. The instant Wang Wu pounced, it launched itself into the air with a burst of power from its hind legs, spun three hundred and sixty degrees, then unleashed a Thousand-Weight Drop. Its two heavy, powerful hind legs kicked Wang Wu squarely and viciously above the head.

The tremendous force made him receive a full kowtow gift package.

In an instant, his head spun, stars danced before his eyes, and his entire skull felt as though it had been struck hard by a massive iron hammer.

For three seconds, perhaps five, he simply could not get up. Gulp, gulp—he sucked a noseful of water into himself.

When he finally managed to raise his head from the stream, he saw that wicked Labrador Rabbit had leaped back onto the bank. Its pair of shifty eyes stared at him with ill intent.

"Fuck! You... mother..."

"Bang!"

Wang Wu's head took another heavy kick—a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree heaven-and-earth spin combined with a Thousand-Weight Drop.

He had no chance to dodge and was smashed back into the stream again.

Only then did several messages arrive belatedly.

"You have been attacked by a Rascally Rabbit Bandit."

"Your vital point suffered 76 points of blunt-force damage. You have been forcibly stunned for three seconds, and your Base Agility has been forcibly reduced by 5 points for five seconds. Due to your 15 points of Base Defense, you ultimately suffered 31 points of damage."

"Your vital point suffered 88 points of blunt-force damage. You have been forcibly stunned for three seconds, and your Base Agility has been forcibly reduced by 5 points for five seconds. Due to your 15 points of Base Defense, you ultimately suffered 43 points of damage."

"Your level 6 Self-Healing Talent has been activated..."