A Blood-Soaked Cliché

Having learned from a setback, after being ambushed once, Huo Hai began paying close attention to threats from the trees. 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 whatever they found. Though their appetites were enormous, they were actually remarkably resistant to hunger. Even if they went months without food, it would not matter. After consuming so much food earlier, if they digested it to strengthen themselves, they could even survive for years without eating or drinking.

Huo Hai had never worried about the Star Gu's survival, unlike Little Gold, which had to eat every few days. Huo Hai had yet to reach the level 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 out enemies, there was no one in the entire Southern Mountain Jungle more capable than Huo Hai.

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

As for score cards, Huo Hai had specifically instructed the Star Gu not to eat them. Once they found one, they either reported directly to him or worked together to carry it back. The Star Gu were incredibly strong and excellent fliers. A small card was nothing to them. When the first day ended, Huo Hai counted them and found that he had gathered nearly a hundred cards.

"With the cards I collected in one day, I already qualify to enter Imperial City Academy. I wonder whether anyone else can manage that." Huo Hai was very pleased with his ability to gather cards. They had all been picked up for free.

That night, just as Huo Hai was preparing to rest, he found his first spirit beast. "Thunderbolt Rat, we meet again. Heh heh, it's time to settle our old score." This spirit beast was precisely a Thunderbolt Rat at the Spirit Blood Realm.

Huo Hai's soul had completely fused with this body. There was essentially no difference between him and the Huo Hai who had originally belonged to this world. At the sight of an enemy, the hatred rising from the depths of his soul made Huo Hai unwilling to let it go. With a thought, several Star Gu immediately flew out.

"Squeak, squeak..." How could the Thunderbolt Rat possibly be a match for the savage Star Gu? A great deal of lightning flashed and vanished in an instant. The Star Gu landed on the Thunderbolt Rat and began gnawing at it. In unbearable pain, the Thunderbolt Rat could do nothing but release lightning and roll wildly across the ground. Moments later, it was bitten to death by the Star Gu. Huo Hai would not use anything killed by the Star Gu as food.

"Hm? Such heavy consumption... Could it be because of the spiritual-power attack? So that's how it is. I'll have to be careful when using the Star Gu in the future." Feeling the information transmitted by the Star Gu, Huo Hai understood that their earlier attack had not been without cost.

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

Once all that food was digested, it would be transformed into a special kind of energy. The residue would be spat out when Huo Hai was not paying attention, clearing it away. This energy was a precious resource used for healing wounds and even resisting hunger.

When facing ordinary physical attacks, the Star Gu could only endure them with their bodies, though their bodies were indeed extremely hard. But against spiritual-power attacks, or even elemental attacks formed from spiritual power, bodily hardness was useless. What the Star Gu used to resist lightning was entirely their own spiritual power. That was right—Star Gu nourished by spiritual power also possessed a certain amount of spiritual power themselves.

Moreover, much like their own traits, this spiritual power was extraordinarily tough once formed. Lightning consumed spiritual power, and the energy they had stored would transform and replenish that loss. That single strike had consumed more than half the energy within those Star Gu.

"If I kill spirit beasts with special attributes in the future, I must kill them in a single blow. I can't give them a chance to fight back." Huo Hai carefully remembered this lesson. Learning it now was better than running into trouble at the brink of life and death.

When it came to sleeping outdoors, Huo Hai had no experience, so he could only release the Star Gu. On one hand, they watched the surroundings to keep others from ambushing him at night. On the other, they ate every insect that came near him. He had neither a tent nor any other wilderness survival gear. During the first half of the night, Huo Hai could not fall asleep at all.

Too much had happened today. 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 wild. Every last bit of it made Huo Hai, a soul who had come from another world, feel deeply uncomfortable. In a daze, he finally fell asleep in the latter half of the night. He slept until dawn.

No one came to disturb him. Even the insects had been eaten clean by the Star Gu. Among those camping in the wilderness, he was probably the happiest one. Early in the morning, Huo Hai woke up and shook his head. "Right, there should be cards inside the Thunderbolt Rat's cave." His eyes widened. How had he forgotten about that?

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.

Perhaps it was nothing to him, but a Spirit Blood Realm spirit beast like the Thunderbolt Rat, capable of wielding lightning, was no small threat. It was not large, but it was extremely fast. If others encountered one, they definitely would not find it easy to escape. That was dangerous enough, wasn't it?

Muttering to himself, Huo Hai searched through the Thunderbolt Rat's nest. Sure enough, he found more than a hundred cards inside. This single haul was even greater than what he had gained over the entire previous day. "Looks like the best way to make a huge haul is to hunt high-level spirit beasts. Heh heh, this time, I'll definitely earn enough points."

With motivation driving him, Huo Hai felt light as a feather even as he walked. Since he did not need to act himself anyway, he simply ate while moving forward. Walking and eating at the same time was a unique skill he had trained long ago while still in school.

"Wait, why do I hear fighting? Could this 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 came, the clearer the sounds of battle became. The Star Gu could not give Huo Hai precise information about the battle; he had to see it for himself. At most, they could tell him that people were fighting here. There were two groups, locked in a chaotic melee. Huo Hai cautiously drew nearer. With his current cultivation, as long as he was careful, no one would discover him.

"This can't be such a blood-soaked cliché, can it? I actually ran into this kind of plot?" Once he saw the situation below clearly, Huo Hai did not know how he ought to react. This was clearly not an ambush, but a chance encounter.

The two groups seemed to be members of major families. One group belonged to the He Family, though Huo Hai did not recognize any of them. He could only tell from their clothing that they were from the He Family. 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 even a beauty. That was precisely why Huo Hai found it so clichéd.

"Two groups slaughter each other, and in the end only a beautiful woman remains. Is this asking me to play the hero and save the beauty? You people are really dedicated. Just as I arrived, all of you died cleanly, not a single one left behind. If these people are here to forcibly seize a woman, that would be even more clichéd." Huo Hai commented as he considered whether he should help.

Suddenly, a lecherous-looking young man stepped out from the He Family's group. His handsome face was utterly ruined by that sleazy air. "Haha, Ji Mu, Young 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 easy." With so many descendants in the He Family, naturally not every one of them received attention. 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 useless and uneducated as He Ya, but he still spent every day idling about and doing no good deeds. His reputation was abysmal. Ji Mu had not expected him to bring so many people in here, daring even to ambush her. She wanted to frighten him off with her words.

Since He Wang had already done it, he was naturally not afraid. "Haha, you think I'd be afraid of that? You, Young Miss Ji, are so noble. Normally, you probably wouldn't even entertain the thought of glancing at ordinary folk like us. I wonder whether you'll like it later."

The crowd surrounded Ji Mu and burst into loud laughter. Ji Mu's face turned livid. She already knew what this bastard intended to do. "You shameless scoundrel, I will not let you succeed. If you let me leave now, I can still give you some compensation."

He Wang curled his lip and said disdainfully, "Compensation? Hmph, what compensation could compare to you, Young Miss Ji? Once the two of us become husband and wife, you'll be a member of my He Family. Once the raw rice is cooked into rice, even your father probably won't say anything. He can't afford to lose that face." He Wang felt as though everything were already under his control.

In truth, He Wang only lusted after Ji Mu's beauty. But the Ji Family behind her was different. As one of Western Frontier's top families, if he married her and borrowed the strength of her family, it would be easier for him to fight for power within the Lineage.

The family head's branch was now far too powerful, pressing down on their collateral branches and even the 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 sent people to keep watch on Ji Mu's group. He had only made his move once no one else was around. Without any unexpected turns, He Wang already had victory in the bag.