Melodramatic Plot

Having learned from a setback, Huo Hai began paying closer attention to threats from the trees after being ambushed once. The Star Gu he sent out to scout the path not only observed the surroundings, but also kept an eye on the treetops.

Without Huo Hai's permission, these Star Gu would not casually eat random things. Though their appetites were enormous, their resistance to hunger was actually incredibly strong. Even if they went months without food, it would not matter. After eating so much beforehand, if they digested it to strengthen themselves, they could even survive for years without food or water.

Huo Hai never worried about the Star Gu's survival, unlike Little Gold, who had to eat once every few days. Huo Hai had not yet reached the point where he could use his own spiritual power in place of food to nourish Gu Insects.

He proceeded cautiously. The many Star Gu were all Huo Hai's eyes and ears. Whether searching for items or scouting enemy movements, there was no one in the entire Southern Mountain Jungle more capable than Huo Hai.

They were merely tiny bugs. Even if others saw them, they would not care. Who could have imagined that such tiny beetles were actually dangerous killing tools? The deeper he ventured into the jungle, the more information Huo Hai received from the Star Gu, all of it concerning cards.

Score cards were something Huo Hai had specifically ordered the Star Gu not to eat. Upon finding one, they either reported directly to Huo Hai or worked together to bring the card back. The Star Gu were incredibly strong and excellent fliers. A small card was nothing to them. After the first day passed, Huo Hai counted them and discovered that he had collected nearly a hundred cards.

"With the cards I collected in a single day, I already qualify to enter Imperial City Academy. I wonder whether anyone else can manage that." Huo Hai was very satisfied with his gathering ability. These cards had practically fallen into his lap.

That night, just as Huo Hai was preparing to rest, he found his first Spirit Beast. "Thunderbolt Rat, we meet again. Hehe, it's time to settle the score from before." This Spirit Beast was precisely a Thunderbolt Rat at the Spirit Blood Realm.

Huo Hai's soul had completely fused with this body, and there was no essential difference between him and the original Huo Hai of this world. At the sight of an enemy, the hatred welling up from the depths of his soul made Huo Hai unwilling to let the creature go. With a thought, several Star Gu immediately flew out.

"Squeak squeak..." How could the Thunderbolt Rat possibly stand against the vicious Star Gu? A mass of sparks flashed and vanished. The Star Gu landed on the Thunderbolt Rat and began gnawing at it. Wracked by unbearable pain, the Thunderbolt Rat could do nothing except release lightning and roll wildly on the ground. Moments later, it was bitten to death by the Star Gu. Huo Hai would never use anything killed by the Star Gu as food.

"Eh? Such a huge expenditure... Could it be because of the spiritual power attack? So that's how it is. It seems I'll need to be careful when using the Star Gu in the future." Feeling the information sent back by the Star Gu, Huo Hai understood that their earlier attack had not been without cost.

The large amount of food the Star Gu usually consumed was not entirely used to strengthen themselves. After all, they were Gu Insects, and there was only so much room for improvement.

Once all that food was digested, it transformed into a special kind of power. The waste was spat out and cleared away whenever Huo Hai was not paying attention. This power was a precious resource for healing injuries and even resisting hunger.

When faced with ordinary physical attacks, the Star Gu could only endure them with their bodies, though their bodies were naturally very tough. But against spiritual power attacks, or elemental attacks formed from spiritual power, bodily toughness was useless. What the Star Gu used to withstand lightning was entirely their own spiritual power. That was right—Star Gu nourished with spiritual power possessed a certain amount of spiritual power themselves.

Moreover, much like their own traits, this spiritual power was exceptionally tough. Lightning consumed spiritual power, and the energy they had stored would transform out to replenish that consumption. That single attack just now had used up more than half the power inside these Star Gu.

"In the future, when killing Spirit Beasts with special attributes, I must finish them in one strike and not give them a chance to resist." Huo Hai carefully remembered this lesson. Learning it now was better than encountering a problem at a life-or-death moment.

When resting at night, Huo Hai had no experience and could only release the Star Gu. On one hand, they stood guard against the surroundings to prevent others from ambushing him at night. On the other, they ate every bug that approached him. He had neither a tent nor any other wilderness survival equipment. For the first half of the night, Huo Hai could not fall asleep at all.

Too many things had happened that day. For the first time, someone had ambushed him. Someone had wanted to kill him. For the first time, he had killed someone, even ambushing two people. He had found a Thunderbolt Rat to take revenge on, though it was not the same one from before.

It was even his first time living in the wilderness. Every last part of it left Huo Hai's soul, which had come from another world, feeling deeply unaccustomed. Only in the latter half of the night, in a daze, did Huo Hai finally fall asleep. He slept until dawn.

No one came to disturb him. Even the bugs had been eaten clean by the Star Gu. Perhaps among everyone camping in the wilderness, he was the happiest one. Early that morning, Huo Hai woke up and shook his head. "Right, there should have been cards in the Thunderbolt Rat's den yesterday." Huo Hai's eyes widened. How had he forgotten something so important?

The people from Imperial City Academy had come to Southern Mountain and spent a long time making arrangements after sealing off the mountain. They had also clearly stated that the greater the danger, the greater the rewards that could be obtained. A Thunderbolt Rat was dangerous enough, wasn't it?

Perhaps it was nothing to him, but a Spirit Blood Realm Spirit Beast like the Thunderbolt Rat could use lightning. It was small but incredibly fast. If others encountered one, they definitely would not find it easy to escape. That was dangerous enough already.

Muttering to himself, Huo Hai turned over the Thunderbolt Rat's nest. Sure enough, he found more than a hundred cards inside. This single haul was greater than everything he had gained over the entire previous day. "It seems that if I want a huge harvest, the best method is to hunt high-level Spirit Beasts. Hehe, this time, I'll definitely earn enough points."

With motivation driving him onward, Huo Hai even felt light on his feet as he walked. Since he did not need to do anything himself, he simply ate while moving forward. Walking while eating was a unique skill he had trained long ago in school.

"Wait, why do I hear fighting? Could it be another assassination?" Huo Hai suddenly heard a sound. This time, he had heard it himself; the Star Gu had not yet flown that far. Curious, Huo Hai carefully approached.

The closer he got, the clearer the sounds of battle became. The Star Gu could not give Huo Hai detailed information about the fight, so he could only see it for himself. At most, the Star Gu could tell him that people were fighting here. Moreover, there were two groups engaged in a chaotic melee. Huo Hai crept closer cautiously. With his current cultivation, as long as he was careful, no one would discover him.

"This can't be so melodramatic, can it? I actually ran into this kind of plot?" After seeing the situation below clearly, Huo Hai did not know how he ought to react. This was clearly not an ambush—they had run into each other.

The two groups appeared to be members of great families. One group belonged to the He Family, though Huo Hai did not recognize any of them. He could only identify them as members of the He Family from their clothing. The He Family had many teams, not merely one or two.

As for the other team, he had no idea who they were, because every one of them was dead. No, one person was still alive, desperately resisting—and she was a beautiful woman. That was why Huo Hai found it so melodramatic.

"Two groups fight to the death, and in the end only one beautiful woman remains. Are you expecting me to play the hero and save the beauty? You're really dedicated. Just as I got here, everyone else died cleanly, without a single one left behind. If these people are here to abduct a woman by force, that would be even more cliché." Huo Hai commented as he considered whether he should help.

Suddenly, a young man with a thoroughly lecherous expression jumped out from the He Family's group. His handsome face was completely ruined by that sleazy air. "Haha, Ji Mu, Miss Ji, I never expected to meet you here."

Ji Mu shot him a cold glare and snorted. "He Wang, what do you want by bringing so many people to attack me? Stop immediately, or once I get out, I definitely won't let you off easily." With so many descendants in the He Family, naturally not every one of them was valued. This He Wang was the He Family's Third Young Master, but he was not the family head's son and could only be considered part of the direct line.

He Wang was not as utterly useless as He Ya, but he loafed around all day and never did anything good. His reputation was terrible. Ji Mu had not expected him to bring so many people in this time, or that he would even dare to ambush her. She wanted to frighten him off with her words.

Since He Wang had acted, he naturally was not afraid. "Haha, you think I'd fear that? You, Miss Ji, are so noble. Usually, you probably do not even have the slightest thought of sparing ordinary people like us a glance. I wonder whether you'll come to like it later."

The crowd surrounded Ji Mu and burst into loud laughter. Ji Mu's face turned livid. She had already guessed what this bastard wanted to do. "You shameless scoundrel, I will never let you succeed. If you let me leave now, I can still give you some reward."

He Wang curled his lips and said disdainfully, "A reward? Hmph, what reward could compare with you, Miss Ji? As long as the two of us become husband and wife, you'll be a member of my He Family from then on. Once the rice is cooked, even your father probably won't say anything. He can't afford to lose that face." He Wang felt as though everything was already under his control.

In truth, He Wang only coveted Ji Mu herself for her beauty. But the Ji Family behind her was different. As one of Western Frontier's top families, if he married her, then with the strength of her family behind him, it would be much easier for him to compete for power within his own family.

The family head's branch was now too powerful, pressing down on collateral branches like theirs—and even other direct-line descendants—until they could barely catch their breath. This time, He Wang had not encountered Ji Mu by chance. From the moment they entered this place, he had already sent people to keep an eye on Ji Mu's group. Only after she was alone did he make his move. Without any unforeseen events, He Wang was certain of victory.