Breaking Out of the Shell

The matter was settled just like that. The spot went to Huo Yuner, while Huo Hai, like everyone else, would have to fight for it with his own strength. Afterward, the elders of every participant called their children back to give them instructions.

Even Huo Hai was summoned back by Huo Kai. After testing his combat skills, Huo Kai gave him a dagger. "Your grandfather used this back then. It's a Profound Grade treasured blade. Take it to protect yourself, and use it to complete this trial."

Although Huo Hai had performed well, his age and his short time spent training in combat techniques were fatal flaws. How could he possibly win without something good to rely on? A Profound Grade dagger should be enough. Huo Kai silently pondered. A Profound Grade dagger was a weapon used by experts of the Spirit Practitioner Realm. Other Lineages would likely find it difficult to produce such generosity.

"I understand. This time, I'll definitely earn a spot through my own efforts." Huo Hai's face was solemn. If he wanted to gain a foothold in this world, how could such a minor obstacle stop him? Otherwise, he might as well remain the young master of the Lineage for the rest of his life.

After Huo Kai left, Huo Hai returned home alone. He instructed the servants to bring his meals at regular times. The rest of the time, he spent almost entirely training his combat techniques, even practicing techniques for using his own spirit power.

Before reaching the Spirit Practitioner Realm, spirit power could not be used freely. Still, using it to strengthen one's fists and feet was certainly possible. Besides, his true trump card was not his own strength, but the insects he had raised.

"Hmph. Before reaching the Profound Grade, who has Gu Insects as convenient as mine?" Huo Hai was utterly confident about this competition. Apart from training, he spent the rest of his time communicating with Little Gold. From time to time, he fed Little Gold with spirit power. Over the past few days, Little Gold's colors had become even more vivid, and its strength was steadily growing.

Huo Hai did not know whether it was because his own spirit power had grown stronger or for some other reason. He could sense that Little Gold's own cultivation was gradually nearing the Spirit Blood Realm. Ordinary Spirit Body Realm experts were no match for Little Gold at all.

If it used its venom to launch a sneak attack, even Spirit Bone Realm experts might die beneath Little Gold's fangs. Little Gold had now become his greatest trump card, even more valuable than the Profound Grade dagger his father had given him.

Time slipped away unnoticed amid Huo Hai's training. With his foundation so strong, cultivating the Spirit Art was also very fast. His progress in Spirit Blood Realm cultivation was incredibly rapid; even if he deliberately suppressed it, it was no use. Over the past few days, Huo Hai had even stopped cultivating spirit power. He did not want to muddle-headedly break through to the Spirit Bone Realm one day, or the Blood Tempering Spirit Formation would no longer be usable.

With three days left before the competition, the Star Gu he had refined earlier finally reached the moment of breaking out of their shells. "Eh, they only came out now? Still, the timing is just right." As someone connected to the Gu Insects, Huo Hai sensed it immediately.

He went to a corner of his courtyard and took out the jars he had placed there earlier. Beneath a tree, he opened one of them. Huo Hai had not refined just one or two jars, but dozens of them.

If the creatures inside all broke out of their shells, at least several hundred, perhaps even over a thousand Star Gu would be born. These Star Gu were expected to be very small. Huo Hai had specially prepared a unique medicinal formula; according to it, the Gu Insects refined would not grow too large. Upon opening the jar, he saw scattered little hard shells inside.

He reached out and poked one of the shells, feeling its solid hardness against his finger. His eyes shifted, and Huo Hai smiled faintly as he took out the Profound Grade dagger he had just received. Then, he lightly drew the blade across one of the hard shells.

The dagger felt as though it had struck something extremely hard. Looking closely, he found only a tiny mark on the shell. This was a Profound Grade dagger. Even though Huo Hai had not exerted any force, its sharpness was not something ordinary objects could withstand.

Even steel would not have been left with only such a tiny mark from that strike. His Star Gu had surpassed even his imagination. This shell was tougher than steel. "At least my time wasn't wasted. I used so much Spirit Medicine and spirit power, and spent so long on this. It really wasn't in vain." Delight appeared on Huo Hai's face.

With these things, his chances of passing the test would be even greater. Once the Star Gu formed into a swarm, let alone passing the test, even forcibly killing Spirit Bone Realm experts would be easy. He might even have a certain chance against Spirit Practitioner Realm experts.

Crack. Just as Huo Hai was savoring his joy, a faint sound rang out beside his ear. His gaze sharpened as he carefully searched through the jar. At last, he saw what had made the sound. Wasn't it one of the hard shells?

Huo Hai's eyes widened, and he blurted out, "Th-this is impossible! Is this thing really a Star Gu? Could something written in a book have such an incredible effect?" Huo Hai had created the Star Gu based on something he had read in an unknown book, then researched it recklessly on his own. It would have already been impressive if he had managed to refine them at all. He had never expected not only success, but something this terrifying.

The sound from before had indeed come from a hard shell, but it was not the sound of a shell striking the jar. It was the sound of the hard shell cracking. That was right—it was breaking apart from the inside, slowly cracking outward.

Huo Hai stared wide-eyed at the hard shell. Only now did he realize that this layer was not the beetle's own shell at all, but a cocoon. The real insect was inside. To be born, it had to break free from the shell.

A cocoon almost as hard as refined steel was actually forcibly broken through from within by the insect. The shell was bitten apart, and what emerged was a tiny beetle, black all over and flecked with points of reflected light. From afar, it truly resembled a star in the night sky. The little beetle was quite adorable, without the slightest hint of ugliness.

Looking closely, he could even see the beetle's simple, adorable appearance. Yet what these insects did now made Huo Hai feel not the slightest bit of affection. They had only just crawled out of their hard cocoons.

The beetles actually turned around and directly devoured the cocoons, which were no less sturdy than steel. That was right—they ate them. These beetles had remarkably strong jaws. Under their mouthparts, something so hard seemed like soft pastries.

Crack, crack. Amid Huo Hai's astonished, even shocked gaze, the cocoons were eaten by the insects. After eating them, the beetles seemed greatly satisfied and lay quietly where they were. Their bodies did not grow larger; they even seemed a little smaller than before. Yet Huo Hai did not dare underestimate them. Little Gold was staring at these insects and continuously sending out danger signals.

If even Little Gold considered them dangerous, how could Huo Hai dare look down on them? As time passed, more and more beetles broke out of their shells. Suppressed by Huo Hai's familiar presence, the insects did not cause trouble.

All the insects lay quietly in the jar. In only a short while, Huo Hai discovered that more than five hundred beetles had hatched. But at this point, the insects that had not yet broken out of their shells could no longer emerge.

Huo Hai could sense that before these insects could even be born, their life auras had begun to decline continuously. "Sigh, they are Gu Insects after all. Gu Insects have always been cruel, even at birth." Huo Hai knew that these insects would not be able to come out.

At that moment, the previously quiet insects suddenly rushed forward. The insects that could no longer emerge from their cocoons were actually attacked by the other beetles. Their hard mouthparts easily bit apart the cocoons and ate them. Later, they even ate the insects inside. After devouring the beetles, the Star Gu sent back savage, excited thoughts.

Clearly, eating the cocoons left behind by their dead kind had brought these creatures tremendous benefits.

Suddenly, Huo Hai slapped his forehead. "Ah, I almost forgot about this. All of you, stop! Don't eat anymore. And gather all the dead cocoons for me." At Huo Hai's command, the beetles could only stop helplessly.

Huo Hai smiled faintly. Controlling such a large number of insects of the same kind required skill. Huo Hai could not possibly control so many insects at once by himself. What he needed was an Insect King. He first had to cultivate the king among this swarm of Star Gu and turn it into a Gu Insect closely linked to him. Then it could control its own kind, making things much easier for him.

Huo Hai swept his gaze over them, then closed his eyes and sensed them. He quickly found the strongest one. It was the one that had eaten the most insect eggs. "All right, it's you. Come, come. Let me give you a little benefit first."

Huo Hai squeezed out a drop of blood, infused with his own spiritual energy, and fed it to this Star Gu. Then he half-closed his eyes and silently recited strange incantations. This was a method that could make it easier for Gu Insects to recognize an owner, something he had seen in a book left behind by his grandmother. Huo Hai did not know whether it would work. But since the Gu Insects had already emerged, this should be useful, right?

As the incantation continued, Huo Hai felt the connection between himself and this Star Gu gradually grow closer. He could even sense the Star Gu's every movement. He could clearly understand its intentions and convey his own thoughts with considerable accuracy.

Huo Hai did not know why, but his connection with this Star Gu had even surpassed his connection with Little Gold. "Hehe, I didn't expect it to really work. Little Gold, don't be anxious. I'll recite it for you later. Come, come. Eat all these insect eggs first."

With a call, Huo Hai ordered the Star Gu to begin devouring the dead insect eggs before it. The king of a swarm had to be far stronger than the other insects. If another insect surpassed the Insect King in strength, could the Insect King still be called a king? After consuming a great number of cocoons, the Insect King truly began to grow stronger. Its strength rose continuously until it even reached Little Gold's level.

"From now on, I'll call you Little Star. Hahaha, I really am a genius. I actually refined Star Gu for real. Trial points, just wait for me!" In his excitement, Huo Hai actually shouted aloud.