Fang Howler

Within Southern Mountain, Huo Hai clearly witnessed the spectacle of Black Dragon Devours the Sun. He did not know what it meant, but he could not help feeling flustered. Anything unknown inspired fear.

His understanding of Heavenly Spirit Continent was still far too limited. He had no idea what others thought of such a phenomenon. At that thought, Huo Hai suddenly remembered Ji Mu beside him and asked, "Ji... Ji Mu, do you know what this is? Where did this black smoke come from?" Watching the black smoke from afar, Huo Hai still felt somewhat afraid.

Ji Mu frowned. After a long while, she helplessly shook her head. "I don't know either. Forget seeing it—I've never even heard of it. After this trial, let's go out and ask around. I think something major is about to happen."

Unlike Huo Hai, Ji Mu had lived on this continent all her life and understood such phenomena deeply. With a disturbance this great, it was absolutely impossible for nothing major to be happening. She simply did not know what it was.

No one knew how much time passed before the black dragon in the sky slowly began to disperse, the black smoke growing thinner and thinner. The dark clouds gradually parted, and sunlight spilled down. In the end, the sun had not been swallowed directly by the black dragon.

Even though he knew it was impossible, Huo Hai still felt a weight lift from his heart. This was simply too thrilling. This mere image was more exciting than countless blockbusters he had watched back on Earth. This was real—nothing produced by illusory special effects could compare. About ten minutes later, the sun's radiance fully returned, shining upon the whole world.

The black dragon had completely dispersed. Yet in the distance, a wisp of black smoke still seemed to rise continuously from the north, like a bonfire lit far away. But its location remained impossible to determine; no one knew where it was.

"Forget it. No point worrying about that. Let's earn points first and join Imperial City Academy." Huo Hai did not care that he already possessed the qualifications to enter Imperial City Academy. All he knew was that he did not have enough points.

Though he did not know what the black dragon had been, Huo Hai felt an urgency in his heart. It was as though he would encounter something exceedingly dangerous if he failed to raise his cultivation quickly. This sense of danger was utterly inexplicable, and he did not know where it came from, yet Huo Hai firmly believed it. No matter what, increasing his cultivation could never be wrong.

He had to use the most perfect Foundation Establishment method and complete it as quickly as possible. As Huo Hai set off, Ji Mu followed him. Just as before, neither had any mind to speak, as though both harbored worries of their own.

To speed things up, Huo Hai simply stopped deliberately concealing himself. Sooner or later, people would find out about his use of insects anyway. Even if Ji Mu knew now, it did not matter. Huo Hai had finally thought it through completely.

Even if Ji Mu told others, who would believe her? Without reaching Profound Grade, one could not possess a special attribute, much less become a Mystic Spirit Master with special abilities. Even if she told them, no one would believe her. Someone who controlled insects had to be either a Beast Spirit Master or an Insect Spirit Master—both were experts above the Spirit Practitioner Realm. How could such a person possibly be a little brat in the Spirit Blood Realm?

Once Huo Hai stopped hiding, Ji Mu finally learned what he had used before. Under Ji Mu's horrified gaze, these glittering little insects, which had even seemed rather beautiful, turned into horrifying creatures one after another.

"Th-this is the hidden weapon you used before?" Ji Mu's words were a question, but her tone was certain. That glow was clearly the flash produced by the hidden weapons from before. Without getting close enough to inspect them carefully, one truly could not tell what these things were.

The cute little beetles were not cute at all when they attacked. A Spirit Blood Realm battle beast that even Ji Mu did not dare provoke carelessly was struck in its vital points by these insects and died instantly. Then it rapidly shriveled up. Looking closer, Ji Mu discovered that the cute beetles had eaten all the corpses. Not just corpses—these insects ate everything.

Even Ji Mu, who was already accustomed to slaughter, could not help having her scalp go numb at the sight. Thinking that Huo Hai might use these things to dispose of corpses, letting them devour human bodies, made her stomach churn.

No wonder this fellow had vomited. Anyone would have reacted the same way to something so disgusting. She truly did not know how he had adapted to it. Even looking at Huo Hai now, Ji Mu felt a little afraid.

"What, are you scared now? If you're scared, hurry up and leave. I don't have time to play with you." Play? He actually said she was playing. That immediately infuriated Ji Mu. So what if he had insects? So what if he was strong? Did that mean he could ignore her? Wait, why did she even care about that?

No matter what, Ji Mu had no intention of leaving. "Hmph, so what? I've seen plenty of people dismember corpses. Why would I be scared of such a tiny scene?" Ji Mu deliberately put on an expression that said he had seen too little.

But once she thought of it that way, the sight of insects eating corpses did not seem quite so unbearable. What remained was an intense curiosity about Huo Hai. Just what was going on with this fellow? How did he possess so many strange and bizarre methods?

As for whether Huo Hai might harm her, Ji Mu did not care in the slightest. In her eyes, this little fellow was a good person who had only just left home, or else he would not have saved her. Not only had he saved her, he had exposed himself because of her and had not even killed her to silence her. How could she know that she herself was Huo Hai's greatest restraint against killing to silence witnesses?

"Forget it, I can't be bothered talking to you. Huh, there are so many point cards here." Huo Hai suddenly spotted the cards and became extremely excited.

Ji Mu truly did not care much about the cards. As long as she could join Imperial City Academy, that was enough. Her Lineage could help her obtain any other cards. The Ji Family was the wealthiest Lineage in all of Western Frontier, a mercantile family.

The Huo Family was different. Its individual strength was the greatest, but it did not possess much wealth, and it did not even have many members. The Huo Family could be considered a rising star among Western Frontier's top Lineages, without much deep-rooted foundation.

Following Huo Hai, the two hurried onward. Before long, they rounded a hillside and finally discovered their target ahead. "Th-this is a Fang Howler, isn't it? You're going to attack that thing?" Ji Mu covered her mouth, her face full of shock. What exactly was this little fellow trying to do? An adult Fang Howler could absolutely reach the Spirit Bone Realm.

Even if she went up against it, she would probably be destroyed within a few moves. He could not possibly think his little insects could deal with a Spirit Beast in the Spirit Bone Realm, could he? Ji Mu wanted to persuade Huo Hai not to set his sights on this thing.

So this thing was called a Fang Howler. Huo Hai silently mused to himself. He had only just learned of its existence through the Star Gu. Sure enough, a huge number of cards were piled in the nest behind it—an astonishing number of them.

This Fang Howler had definitely reached the Spirit Bone Realm. Due to the special nature of Spirit Beasts, it was even far stronger than human experts in the Spirit Bone Realm. The Fang Howler's greatest feature was the four fangs in its mouth. Two pointed upward and two downward, like four sharp swords, exceptionally keen. One bite from it was equivalent to being stabbed four more times.

Several sharp Bone Spikes also grew from its body, making it look like an enlarged hedgehog. Yet its actual body resembled a large cat, while also carrying something of a wolf's feel.

"Ji Mu, you know this thing. Then where is its weakness?" Huo Hai's former memories had vanished, so he did not recognize it at all. Only then did Ji Mu remember that Huo Hai had lost his memories. It was perfectly normal for him not to know it.

"The Fang Howler's weakness is actually in its upper jaw. You can see it once it opens its mouth. The area between its brain and upper jaw is extremely weak, but Fang Howlers rarely open their mouths to bite people. They might only do so after winning. This creature is among the strongest Spirit Beasts in the Spirit Bone Realm. I'm afraid no one participating in this trial would dare deal with it. We should just leave."

The point cards it guarded truly were plentiful, but that only mattered if they could defeat it. During every trial, most point cards were actually impossible for anyone to obtain. Those places were simply too dangerous.

After hearing Ji Mu's explanation, Huo Hai finally formed an idea. So many points were not there merely to look pretty. If he obtained them, would he not easily gain enough Blood Refining Pills for use in the Spirit Blood Realm, and perhaps even acquire some Gu Refining Pills?

"Very good. In that case, let's kill it." Ji Mu had not expected that Huo Hai would not only refuse to leave, but would instead be eager to try. A Spirit Bone Realm battle beast was an exceptionally good test subject.

If he could kill it, then even when facing humans in the Spirit Practitioner Realm, Huo Hai would have some confidence. This fellow was simply an incomprehensible madman. He did not really think his insects possessed such power, did he? Seeing Huo Hai prepare to act, Ji Mu even felt the urge to leave immediately. But curiosity ultimately kept her there.

"Hmph, I want to see how you deal with it. If you can't handle it and the Fang Howler attacks you, don't expect me to save you." Ji Mu grumbled resentfully in her heart. Huo Hai did not know what Ji Mu was thinking. All he thought about now was killing the Fang Howler.

Leaving everything else aside, even the Fang Howler's teeth would fetch a considerable sum when sold. Other people had no use for money, but Huo Hai was different. He needed large quantities of Spirit Medicine to feed and strengthen his Gu Insects. After eating so much over these past days, the Star Gu's power had been steadily growing stronger. But to break through, it needed medicine and spiritual power as catalysts.

Huo Hai spoke calmly. "The weakness is around the brain? The upper jaw... Hmph, insects aren't humans. If they enter through its nostrils, won't they be even closer to its brain?" Huo Hai observed it for a while and determined his method of attack.