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 one through his own strength. Afterward, the elders of each participant called their children back to give them some 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 in the day. It's a Profound Grade blade. Carry it for protection, and use it to complete this trial."

Although Huo Hai had performed well, his age and the short time he had spent training in combat techniques were fatal weaknesses. How could he possibly win without something decent? A Profound Grade dagger should be enough. Huo Kai silently thought that a Profound Grade dagger was a weapon used by Spirit Practitioner Realm experts. Other Lineages probably could not easily afford such extravagance.

"I understand. This time, I'll definitely earn a spot through my own efforts." Huo Hai wore a solemn expression. If he wanted to gain a foothold in this world, how could such a trifling 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 fixed times, while he spent virtually all his remaining time practicing combat techniques and even the methods of using his own spiritual power.

Before reaching the Spirit Practitioner Realm, spiritual power could not be wielded 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 raised.

"Hmph, before reaching Profound Grade, who has Gu Insects as convenient as mine?" Huo Hai was brimming with confidence about this competition. Apart from training, he spent all his remaining time communicating with Little Gold. From time to time, he fed Little Gold with spiritual power. Over the past few days, Little Gold's color had become even more vivid, and its strength was steadily increasing.

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

If it launched a surprise attack with its venom, even Spirit Bone Realm experts might die beneath Little Gold's jaws. Little Gold had now become his greatest hidden card, even more valuable than the Profound Grade dagger his father had given him.

Time slipped away unnoticed amid Huo Hai's training. With such a strong foundation, cultivating the Spirit Art was also swift. His progress in Spirit Blood Realm cultivation was incredibly fast; even if he deliberately suppressed it, he could not stop it. Over the past few days, Huo Hai had even halted his spiritual power cultivation. He did not want to muddleheadedly break through to the Spirit Bone Realm one day, or the Blood Tempering Spirit Formation would no longer be usable.

Three days 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 at once.

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

If everything inside hatched, there would be at least several hundred, perhaps even over a thousand Star Gu born from them. These Star Gu were expected to be very small. Huo Hai had specially concocted a unique formula; according to it, the Gu Insects refined would not grow too large. When he opened the jars, specks of tiny hard shells appeared before his eyes.

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

The dagger felt as though it had scraped something exceptionally hard. Looking closely, he saw that only a fine mark had appeared on the shell. This was a Profound Grade dagger. Even though Huo Hai had not used much force, its sharpness was not something ordinary objects could withstand.

Even steel would not have been left with merely such a tiny mark. His Star Gu had actually surpassed his imagination—this shell was harder than steel. "My time wasn't wasted after all. So many spiritual herbs, so much spiritual power, and such a long time spent—it truly wasn't in vain." Joy appeared on Huo Hai's face.

With these things, his chances of passing the test would be even greater. Once they formed a vast swarm of Star Gu, forget the test—even forcefully killing Spirit Bone Realm experts would be easy. Huo Hai was even somewhat confident against Spirit Practitioner Realm experts.

Crack. Just as Huo Hai was delighting in himself, a faint sound rang out beside his ear. His gaze sharpened as he carefully searched through the jar. At last, he found 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 really Star Gu? Could something from 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 blindly on his own. It was already remarkable that he had managed to refine them. 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 shell striking the jar. It was the sound of the shell breaking. That was right—the hard shell was cracking, beginning from the inside and slowly spreading outward.

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

This cocoon, nearly as hard as refined steel, had actually been forcibly breached from within by the insect. The hard shell was bitten apart, and what emerged was a tiny beetle, pitch-black all over with glimmering flecks of reflected light. From afar, it truly resembled a star in the night sky. The little beetle was quite adorable, without the slightest trace of ugliness.

Looking more closely, he could even see its simple, endearing appearance. Yet what these insects were doing now did not seem adorable to Huo Hai in the slightest. They had just crawled out of their hard cocoons.

The beetles actually turned back and directly ate the cocoons that were no weaker than steel. That was right—they ate them. These beetles had remarkably strong mouths. Under their mandibles, such hard objects were like soft pastries.

Crack, crack. The sounds rang out continuously as, beneath Huo Hai's astonished and even shocked gaze, the beetles ate their cocoons. Once they had eaten, the insects seemed deeply satisfied and lay quietly where they were. Their bodies did not grow larger; they even appeared slightly 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 presence, which felt familiar and intimate to them, the insects did not cause any trouble.

All the insects lay quietly inside the jars. In just a short time, Huo Hai discovered that more than five hundred had hatched. But at this point, the insects that had not broken out of their shells could no longer emerge.

Huo Hai could sense that before those insects could even be born, their life auras had begun steadily declining. "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 escape their cocoons were actually attacked by the other beetles. Their hard mandibles easily bit apart and devoured the cocoons. Later, they even ate the insects inside. After consuming the beetles, the Star Gu sent back feelings of satisfaction and excitement.

Clearly, these creatures gained tremendous benefits after eating the cocoons left behind by their dead kin.

Suddenly, Huo Hai slapped his forehead. "Ah, I nearly forgot this. Stop, all of you! Don't eat anymore. And gather all the dead cocoons for me." At Huo Hai's command, the beetles had no choice but to stop.

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 simultaneously by himself. What he needed was an insect king. He first had to cultivate a king among this swarm of Star Gu and turn it into a Gu Insect closely linked to himself. 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 carefully. Before long, he found the strongest one. It was the one that had just eaten the most insect eggs. "All right, it's you. Come, come. I'll give you a little benefit first."

Huo Hai squeezed out a drop of blood, infused with his own spiritual energy, and fed it to that Star Gu. Then he half-closed his eyes and silently recited a strange incantation. It was a spell that could make it easier for Gu Insects to acknowledge a master, something he had read about in the book his grandmother had left behind. Huo Hai did not know whether it would work. But since the Gu Insects had already emerged, this thing should work too, right?

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

Huo Hai did not know why this was happening. In any case, his connection with this Star Gu was even stronger than his connection with Little Gold. "Heh, 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 far surpass the other insects. If another insect became stronger than the insect king, could the king still be called a king? After consuming a large number of cocoons, the insect king indeed began steadily improving. Its strength continuously rose, even reaching Little Gold's level.

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