The Angler

Five days later, Zhuang Hong had finally completely digested the Spider Monster.

His physical strength in his ordinary human form had surged by a full fifty percent.

By Zhuang Hong's estimate, as he was now, without using source power or transforming, relying purely on physical strength, he could hang Dancer up and beat her.

His Source Power Orb had also grown by a whole size, changing from the size of a quail egg to that of a winter jujube. Its color had become "treasure blue," and misty source power swirled around it, lending the entire orb an added air of mystery.

He lightly clenched his fist, and the source power within him immediately surged forth, filling his entire arm.

Feeling the powerful strength within his body, he muttered, "My source power level is at least Core Combination Level Four now. I only swallowed one purple Core Combination Beast and rose two levels. That means if I swallow another three or four, I might have a chance to advance to the Purple Spirit Ascension Level."

Cultivation was far too slow for getting stronger. Eating was much faster.

Unfortunately, although he had devoured the entire Spider Monster, much source power nutrition had inevitably been lost during digestion. Otherwise, his improvement would have been even greater.

Besides that, Zhuang Hong had unlocked a new use for Fine Silk.

With a thought, a thread of source power flowed from his hand and transformed into a large amount of Fine Silk. It quickly formed a spiderweb, then folded in a special manner into a bead the size of a fingertip.

Ejection!

"Whoosh—smack!"

The ball of thread shot out at tremendous speed. The moment it left his hand, it opened against the wind and became a large web in the blink of an eye, sticking to the wall.

"The ejected spiderweb looks quite useful. It's much more efficient at entangling enemies than simply wrapping them up, but shooting a web straight at someone makes it easy to dodge. Its concealment is ultimately still lacking."

After tidying up, Zhuang Hong pushed open the door and headed out.

He had not gone far before he ran into Dancer coming toward him.

A disciple followed behind Dancer, holding a dark red, long rectangular box in both hands. The box came with two straps and could be hung at the waist or carried on the back.

Dancer took the box and handed it to Zhuang Hong. "I had a master craftsman customize this Sword Case for you using hard, lightweight wood. It was finished two days ago. The sixteen White Blades are stored inside, making them very convenient to use. Give it a try."

Zhuang Hong took it and immediately found the Sword Case remarkably light, with an excellent feel in his hand.

He hung it at the back of his waist beneath his backpack. After moving around slightly, he found that it barely hindered his movement.

With a thought, Zhuang Hong used Manipulation to open the Sword Case.

"Click, click!"

Accompanied by the pleasant sound of wood striking wood, the inner layers of the Sword Case slid apart to the left and right, revealing the neatly arranged blades.

Zhuang Hong casually pointed into the distance.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"

The sixteen blades flew out of the Sword Case one after another, streaking through the air in flashes of bright white light. They cleanly severed a distant branch, then the blades that followed shredded it to pieces.

Dancer watched with a radiant gleam in her eyes, her face full of longing.

To her, such Flying Sword techniques were already the means of immortals.

The disciple behind her had long since opened his mouth wide, his eyes nearly popping out.

Though he had heard his fellow disciples speak of Zhuang Hong's wonders, seeing it with his own eyes still left him utterly incredulous.

The sixteen blades circled neatly in the distance. With a crook of Zhuang Hong's finger, they all shot back.

Under the disciple's horrified gaze, they entered the Sword Case one after another with a series of clangs.

"Click, click!"

The two sides of the Sword Case closed again.

This Sword Case was unexpectedly good. Zhuang Hong could not help smiling. "This Sword Case is fantastic. I really like it."

Dancer covered her mouth and chuckled. "As long as you like it."

Zhuang Hong asked, "How much did it cost in total?"

He also felt that talking about money was a little crude, but they had agreed beforehand that he would pay for it. He could not simply accept it for free.

Dancer said, "It's a gift for you."

Zhuang Hong did not refuse. He nodded and said, "Then I'll accept it. Thank you! The next time we meet, I'll give you a gift as well."

After bidding Dancer farewell, Zhuang Hong quickly packed his luggage, took Xiao Bai through space, left the Golden Cloud World, and set out on another journey.

After his experience in the Golden Cloud World, Zhuang Hong's goal in exploring Infinite Space had become much clearer:

Besides devouring Void Spirits to strengthen his body and source power, he also needed to learn useful extraordinary knowledge from various worlds so that he would have the ability to control the immense power within him.

However, that was a long-term goal.

His most pressing concern in the near future was still finding an Other Self in another space and gaining an ability that would let him sleep peacefully.

Although he now had a Void Spirit beside him that could provide some warning while he slept, allowing him to rest a little more easily, it could not guarantee his safety completely. He still could not sleep without concern.

His ideal situation was to completely conceal the aura of an "alien bug," so that Void Spirits would not detect anything unusual about him and would simply ignore him as an ordinary mayfly.

Of course, because Xiao Bai was around, Zhuang Hong had been resting much better than before lately.

After this period of adjustment, his mental state had recovered somewhat.

The unhealthy puffiness on his face from prolonged insomnia had also faded considerably.

Zhuang Hong was very satisfied with Xiao Bai's work during this time.

Moreover, Xiao Bai's origins were not ordinary.

From the Spider Monster, he had learned that Xiao Bai belonged to a Chaotic Beast Kind without intelligence, called a Sky Chasing Hound. It excelled at sensing and tracking. Once it grew into its complete form, it could possess the strength of a blue Core Combination Beast, and its talent surpassed that of most Chaotic Beast Kind Void Spirits.

Many Void Spirits liked to keep one by their side for vigilance and tracking.

However, loyal and obedient Sky Chasing Hounds were rare and extremely precious.

Thinking of this, Zhuang Hong could not help squatting down to pat its head. He praised it, "You little pup are pretty capable!"

"Woof!"

Xiao Bai narrowed its eyes in enjoyment of Zhuang Hong's touch, excitedly wagging its tail as it circled around his feet.

The black dye on Xiao Bai's body had mostly faded by now, but some traces remained, leaving its white fur tinged with black.

Yet Xiao Bai did not seem to hold a grudge. After the black faded, it seemed somewhat unaccustomed to it instead, often gazing wistfully at the increasingly sparse black fur on its body.

Overall, Xiao Bai had been having a very pleasant time following Zhuang Hong around lately.

Its happiest moments came after Zhuang Hong killed a Void Spirit.

That was because after Zhuang Hong took down a Void Spirit, he would usually give it a small leg. That was treatment it had never enjoyed before encountering Zhuang Hong.

Compared with its former life, this life was far too comfortable. It had even put on quite a bit of weight during this time.

Its only regret was that no matter how hard it tried, it could never get a bite of Zhuang Hong's flesh. Not only could it not eat any, but after every White Dragon Assault, Zhuang Hong would beat it up badly.

This gave it a severe psychological trauma. Whenever it prepared to eat Zhuang Hong's flesh, its legs would go weak and its jaws would lose their strength.

Gradually, it no longer dared to bite Zhuang Hong, no matter how tempting the scent coming from his body was or how much drool flowed from its mouth.

Zhuang Hong looked at this Void Spirit, which knew nothing about him, and chuckled.

If this foolish dog had not been lucky enough to encounter him, it would probably have starved to death at the entrance of the small courtyard in Luo Family Village.

At first, Zhuang Hong had thought Void Spirits did not need to eat. Only after taking in Xiao Bai did he discover that this idea was wrong.

Void Spirits also had a juvenile stage and needed to grow. To grow, they needed to eat meat—meat from other Void Spirits.

Void Spirits were different from alien bugs, however. Simply eating meat could not make them infinitely stronger like alien bugs. To grow infinitely stronger, they still needed to cultivate through unique methods.

It was just like humans. Eating could help them grow, but it could not make them immortals. To become immortals, they had to cultivate.

But Zhuang Hong, as an alien bug, was rather special in the eyes of Void Spirits, because he could become an immortal just by eating.

This was also one of the reasons why most Void Spirits hated alien bugs.

So Xiao Bai had it quite hard. Before meeting Zhuang Hong, it had not only been unable to cultivate, but could not even get a bite of meat.

After serving as a guard dog in Luo Family Village for several years, it had not grown at all and had even become thinner.

Zhuang Hong smoothed Xiao Bai's fur, then stood up and took out the two Treasure Pointers he had seized. He sent a thread of source power into them, and a pointer immediately appeared within each crystal ball, both pointing in the same direction.

Zhuang Hong fell into thought.

He was considering whether to keep moving in the direction indicated by the Treasure Pointers.

Clearly, there was something wrong with the "treasure" they pointed toward.

There was an extremely high chance that some kind of danger lay hidden there.

All signs suggested that someone behind the scenes was constantly drawing Void Spirits in that direction, just like an angler using bait to lure fish onto the hook.

But he soon came up with a good idea.

"According to the Spider Monster, this stretch of void belongs to a Barren Zone. There are very few wandering Void Spirits, and even if there are any, they're only white Strange Beasts and Green Clear Pattern Beasts. Such low-level Void Spirits aren't even enough to fill the gaps in my teeth. How long would it take me to reach the Purple Spirit Ascension Level?

"Now there happens to be an angler nearby setting up a fishing spot. It isn't hard to imagine that higher-level Void Spirits will inevitably be drawn here in an endless stream. If I quietly approach the angler's spot and wait nearby, perhaps many Void Spirits will throw themselves into my arms..."

"I'll swallow them one at a time as they come. I should be able to accumulate enough source power to advance to the Purple Spirit Ascension Level very quickly. Hmm, as long as I restrain myself and don't go too far, the angler definitely won't mind."

For Zhuang Hong, danger was certain, but great benefits also lay within that danger.

With every additional Void Spirit he devoured, his power would increase by a measure, and his ability to protect himself would grow stronger.

Thinking of this, a smile appeared at the corner of Zhuang Hong's mouth, as though he could already see countless Void Spirits walking straight into his trap.

He put away the two crystal balls and headed in the direction of the pointers. "Xiao Bai, let's go."

"Woof woof!"

Xiao Bai hurried after him.