The blazing red sun hung high in the sky, baking the ground until waves of heat shimmered upward. The scenery in people's vision had become somewhat distorted.
By now, most sensible people had retreated indoors to escape the scorching sun. On the nearly deserted street, one tall and one short figure looked exceptionally lonely as they walked out through the gates of Twilight City in the Black Corner Region.
The taller one was unkempt and slovenly, looking like a beggar; the shorter one wore a long water-blue brocade robe. At first glance, anyone unaware of the situation might have thought someone was abducting a child!
"Now, all that's left is the fur of a magical beast, right?" the tall figure seemed to mutter to himself.
"Mm."
Hun Han nodded. Early that morning, they had entered the auction house. Since everything he needed was first-tier medicinal herbs, the shopping had gone quite smoothly.
No one had any interest in magical beast fur. Not even an auction house carried such things. Left with no choice, they could only head into the forest and hunt a magical beast.
"Master, we don't need to be in such a hurry! It's so hot right now; we could easily wait until evening before heading out!" Hun Han said calmly.
"No. Since we're doing it, we might as well get it done early!" the leader of the Exploding Heaven Gang said impatiently.
First-tier magical beasts possessed strength comparable to a Dou Zhe. In the forests of the Black Corner Region, they could be found almost everywhere.
As they moved through the forest, perhaps because of the oppressive heat, they had still not encountered a single magical beast after more than ten minutes.
At a certain moment, the leaves of the bushes ahead shook violently.
"Something's there!"
The moment the leader of the Exploding Heaven Gang spoke, a magical beast sprang out from the bushes ahead.
Its fur was crimson like blood, and it stood as tall as a person. The hard horn that had once been on its body had been broken off by more than half. Upon seeing Hun Han and the leader of the Exploding Heaven Gang, it did not slow down but instead accelerated. As though ignoring them, it charged straight at the smaller-looking Hun Han.
"Flame Rhinoceros!"
Those four words burst from the leader of the Exploding Heaven Gang's mouth. Immediately afterward, he clenched his hand into a fist, and a pale blue glow rose from it. The temperature around him seemed to drop by several degrees.
Black-tier Mid-grade Dou Technique: Frost Fist
The pitiful Flame Rhinoceros had not even touched the leader of the Exploding Heaven Gang's fist before an icy force froze it into an ice sculpture. Then, as the fist struck its body, the terrifying impact sent it flying like a kite with its string cut, smashing heavily into a massive tree that would have taken seven people to encircle.
The poor tree could not withstand the lingering force and snapped in two at the waist.
"It's a third-tier magical beast. Its fur should satisfy your needs, right?" Even in such scorching weather, the leader of the Exploding Heaven Gang took a wine gourd from his waist and drank a mouthful. Judging by how relaxed he looked, he seemed not to have used much strength at all.
"If it's fur from a third-tier magical beast, that would naturally be best." Hun Han was slightly delighted. He walked over to the Flame Rhinoceros, touched his storage ring with a finger, flicked it, and produced a dagger before beginning to collect its fur.
"Stay away from it!"
Just as Hun Han was about to begin, a childish voice rang out from above him.
Hun Han looked toward the sound and saw a little girl standing on a tree branch. Her warning gaze was fixed on him.
The little girl was not very old, seemingly only six or seven. Her light purple hair hung straight down to her waist. Her cheeks were tender and fair, her lips red and teeth white, while her large black, shining eyes stared at Hun Han.
"You want to fight me for it?" Hun Han's expression tightened slightly as he stared at the little girl. His soul power spread out, but he detected no trace of anyone else nearby.
"You're the one trying to steal my things!" The little girl moved her small lips, her crisp and pleasant childish voice carrying a faint killing intent. Combined with the simple clothes made of leopard hide that she wore, she gave off the wild air of a savage.
"Your things? My master killed this magical beast just now. How did it become yours?" Hun Han curled his lips and retorted with a light laugh.
"If I hadn't seriously injured it, could your master have killed it?" the little girl asked calmly.
"Little girl, are you saying you seriously injured it?" Before Hun Han could speak, the leader of the Exploding Heaven Gang's eyes lit up as he carefully examined her again.
Although the little girl's voice was childish and her appearance adorable, an extremely strange aura emanated from her.
"Yes. I was the one who broke its horn," the little girl said calmly.
"You're saying you broke its horn?" Hun Han stared at the little girl in astonishment.
The dead Flame Rhinoceros was a third-tier magical beast with combat power comparable to a Da Dou Shi. Its horn was also the hardest part of its entire body. Even Hun Han, despite possessing the Primordial Sacred Body, could not break its horn. Yet this little girl before him had done it.
Just who was this little girl?
Two words surfaced in Hun Han's mind! An involuntary smile appeared on his lips. He already had an idea of the little girl's origins!
"You doubt my strength?" The little girl stared at Hun Han, battle intent rising in her eyes.
"Ahem!"
A black shadow flashed over and arrived beside Hun Han. Before Hun Han could speak, the leader of the Exploding Heaven Gang looked slightly upward at the little girl on the branch and spoke first. "Wow, incredible, truly incredible! A ray of divine light is shooting from the crown of your head. Do you know that? At such a young age, you already possess such remarkably tempered bones and muscles. You're simply a genius seen once in a century! The great task of preserving world peace and punishing evil is entrusted to you. Right now, you only lack a suitable master. Meeting today means we are destined. I'm delighted to tell you that you have become a member of the Exploding Heaven Gang!"
"Exploding Heaven Gang?" the little girl murmured.
"Mm, it's the sect I belong to. Come down and meet your senior brother!" the leader of the Exploding Heaven Gang said with a smile.
"Uh!"
Hearing that, Hun Han rubbed his head, almost too embarrassed to face anyone. His master was fooling children again.
"I have no interest in joining a human gang," the little girl refused calmly.
"Human?" The leader of the Exploding Heaven Gang was slightly stunned. Noticing her choice of words, a glint flashed through his eyes.
"Little sister, how about this? I only want the Flame Rhinoceros's fur. You can have everything else. How does that sound?" To prevent the leader of the Exploding Heaven Gang from launching into a long speech, Hun Han hurriedly cut in to negotiate.
"Fine!" The light-purple-haired little girl nodded without much thought. Although she had seriously injured the Flame Rhinoceros, it was ultimately the other party's master who had killed it.
Hun Han immediately used the dagger in his hand to cut off a large bundle of fur from the Flame Rhinoceros.
"Alright, everything else is yours now!" Hun Han stored the fur he had collected into his storage ring.
The little girl leaped lightly from the tree branch over ten meters above the ground and landed steadily. Walking to the Flame Rhinoceros's corpse, she cautiously glanced at Hun Han and the leader of the Exploding Heaven Gang. Then, she grabbed one of its hooves with one hand and pressed down on its corpse with the other before pulling hard. She actually tore off the entire hind leg.
"Not bad strength!" A gleam flashed through the leader of the Exploding Heaven Gang's eyes as he could not help praising her.
The little girl glanced at the leader of the Exploding Heaven Gang. Then, as though no one else existed, she opened her small pearly teeth and actually... actually bit off a huge chunk of meat and began chewing.
"Uh!"
Hun Han clicked his tongue inwardly and asked in surprise, "Have you always eaten like this?"
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