Hidden Enemy

That was right. Fang Howlers were indeed extremely dangerous, but that danger was directed at people and other large spirit beasts. When dealing with insects, even spirit beasts with enormous bodies had no particularly effective means.

Huo Hai narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched the Fang Howler. "Attack." The instant he gave the order, a large number of Star Gu that had already lurked their way over launched an assault on the Fang Howler. The beetles' speed reached its limit in an instant.

Amid a series of muffled pops, the beetles burrowed into the Fang Howler's body one after another. The Fang Howler was not the kind of spirit beast covered in scales and armor. Faced with such an attack, it had no defense at all. Intense pain surged through its entire body in an instant. Never having suffered such grievous wounds before, the Fang Howler let out a howl and raised its head.

"Good chance." Huo Hai narrowed his eyes. This was precisely the moment he had been waiting for. The moment it raised its head, the Star Gu that had waited for so long shot straight toward the Fang Howler's nostrils. Gu Insects possessed incredibly tenacious vitality, so there was no need to worry about them suffocating.

The attack inside its nasal cavity brought even more excruciating pain. Unfortunately, the wound was in a rather special place. Even if the Fang Howler wanted to roar, it could not. It had only howled once when it was first injured, and afterward, it did not make much noise.

Of course, as the Fang Howler struggled without cease, the sharp bone spines all over its body carved streak after streak into the surrounding rocks. Smaller shrubs were cut clean through by the spines. Empowered by sharp spiritual energy, the already razor-sharp bone spines became even more dangerous. Huo Hai felt a chill run through him. If he had charged in himself, would he not have been killed on the spot?

Its struggles came to an end there. One Star Gu had already bitten through the Fang Howler's nasal passage and burrowed deep into its brain. The instant its brain was injured, the light in the Fang Howler's eyes dimmed.

After struggling weakly a few more times, the Fang Howler finally collapsed to the ground. Its chest rose and fell, showing that it was still alive, but it did not have much time left. A mass of Star Gu pounced onto the Fang Howler and gnawed away continuously. Before long, they would devour it clean.

"Finally killed it. This time, the harvest definitely won't be small." Huo Hai suppressed his discomfort and walked around the Fang Howler being eaten, heading farther in. The Star Gu had told him before that the cards were inside here. As for their exact location, Huo Hai still had to search for them himself. The Star Gu possessed some intelligence, but it was not even as smart as a child and could only convey simple information.

After so much time, Huo Hai had gradually grown accustomed to this sort of situation. Fortunately, it was not a person, so he did not feel nauseated. Habit was a terrifying thing. Huo Hai realized that he had actually begun to adapt to such scenes.

His discomfort with killing was growing weaker and weaker, while a trace of excitement even rose from the depths of his heart. Huo Hai felt a chill in his heart. What was this? This was a killing syndrome. Fortunately, it's still mild. I didn't personally do it myself. Forget it. I'll be more careful in the future. It wouldn't do to become a madman who knows only slaughter. Huo Hai secretly warned himself.

Before long, Huo Hai had turned the Fang Howler's nest upside down. Sure enough, there were cards left here by experts from Imperial City Academy. To place the cards inside so easily without harming the Fang Howler proved that the person who had done it was no simple figure either.

"Five hundred cards. I got five hundred this time. If I can find three more, the Blood Refining Pills will be secured." Huo Hai thought silently. He glanced at Ji Mu, then put the items away. It was not that Huo Hai did not want to share with her.

For one thing, he had done all the work, while Ji Mu had contributed nothing. For another, Ji Mu was not close to him; she had simply insisted on following him. Lastly, Ji Mu would not lack points cards. Once she reached Imperial City Academy, she could obtain a great many academy points whenever she wished. Though the Ji Family could not compare to the top Lineages of the Southern Cloud Kingdom, it could still rank among the first tier.

Where else could he find such powerful spirit beasts? As Huo Hai pondered, he watched the beetles devour the Fang Howler clean. In the end, only several fairly good fangs and bone spines remained.

"Ji Mu, do you want these? You happened to lack weapons before. I can't carry them all by myself. If you don't want them, I'll have my insects eat them." If they could even eat metal, what did a few bones count for?

These bone spines and fangs had been left behind by a Fang Howler at the Spirit Bone Realm. The bones themselves had been tempered to extreme toughness and possessed excellent spiritual energy compatibility. With a little forging, they could become quite decent weapons. However, after looking at them, Ji Mu still shook her head. "I have a weapon. I don't need these." Ji Mu tightened her grip on her shortsword.

Like Huo Hai, the Ji Family had also provided Ji Mu with a weapon. However, it was not as high-grade as Profound Grade; it was merely a top-grade Yellow Grade weapon.

Huo Hai did not mind. He casually selected two fangs, waved them a couple of times in his hands, and felt quite satisfied. With a thought, he had the Star Gu begin eating, devouring all the remaining fangs. A spirit beast of the Spirit Bone Realm was treasure from head to toe.

Although the dagger was powerful, Huo Hai was not skilled at close combat. In fact, he was not particularly skilled at fighting at all. Rather than use a dagger that did not suit him, he might as well use these fangs. The fangs were very long, almost like shortswords. For someone who had rarely fought, the longer the weapon, the better. An inch longer meant an inch stronger.

After tidying up, Huo Hai led Ji Mu onward once more in search of points cards. However, not long after the two of them left, two young men approached, carefully observing their surroundings as they walked.

"Third Brother, look! There are signs of battle here. Look at these rocks, and these trees—so many have been broken. Could that kid really be so powerful? What do you think they encountered?" If Huo Hai had been there, he would have recognized these two as two of the men who had followed He Wang before. Unexpectedly, they had been trailing behind all along.

Because of Huo Hai, these people had been scared out of their wits and did not dare approach. They could only rely on their own judgment to hang far behind, making sure not to lose track of him. From time to time, they also sent back messages reporting everything about Huo Hai.

"I don't know. But judging from the traces, those two must have come through here. I have no idea what this was, but for something so terrifying to have fought such a battle..." Third Brother spoke in a low voice as he observed the surroundings.

"Third Brother, do you think we can really take revenge? That guy is too strong. With just one wave of his hand, all our people died. If I had to face him head-on, I'm afraid I wouldn't even have the courage to stand." The young man looked utterly miserable. So many of them had been killed, yet they did not even dare seek revenge. It was truly humiliating.

"Hmph, what do you know? Of course we're taking revenge. We can't simply let this go. Are you just going to ignore what he did to Big Brother? What we need to do now is follow him. Once we have enough strength, we'll take revenge."

The young man's expression became even more bitter. How could he not want revenge? But how could they possibly accomplish it? "Third Brother, it's not that I don't want to avenge Big Brother. It's that that kid is too terrifying. Look at this place—are we really capable of dealing with something like this?"

Third Brother shook his head. "Just because we can't deal with it doesn't mean others can't. Third Young Master has already gone to contact other people. A dangerous fellow like this absolutely cannot be allowed to run wild, or nobody else will be able to obtain any points. Along this entire path, have you seen a single points card? That kid's scouting ability is extremely strong, so we can't get close."

Huo Hai would never have imagined that it was precisely because he had not left behind any cards that his scouting ability had been exposed. These two had been following from afar the entire time, while Huo Hai's Star Gu could not range so far from him, so he had never discovered them.

"Third Brother, that's not what I mean. Even if so many people gather together, nobody will kill him. He's the Huo Family's young master. At most, they'll suppress him a little and stop him from going too far. If we want revenge, won't we still have to do it ourselves?"

"Hmph, who told you that others would not dare kill him? The Huo Family's rise over these years has already drawn the vigilance and dissatisfaction of many Lineages. On top of that, the Huo Family has few descendants. As long as Huo Hai is killed, the Huo Family will be in serious trouble. Besides, even if the others fail when the time comes, we'll act personally. Once that kid is severely wounded, killing him will be much easier."

At that point, Third Brother's expression suddenly changed. He stared fixedly at a footprint on the ground, his eyes wide as saucers.

The young man found this strange and asked quietly, "Third Brother, what's wrong? Why are you so shocked? Isn't it just a footprint? I don't even know what spirit beast left it." His words finally jolted Third Brother awake.

"Smack!" Third Brother struck him hard. "I keep telling you to learn more, but you refuse. Do you know what kind of footprint this is? It belongs to a Fang Howler—an adult Fang Howler. There are not many of them in all of Southern Mountain. This thing has reached the Spirit Bone Realm. That kid could even kill something like this and make its corpse disappear somewhere in such a short time. What do you think that means?" Third Brother lectured him with the fury of one who hated iron for not becoming steel. At this rate, the fool would be dead sooner or later.

After being struck, the anger that had risen in his heart seemed to have cold water poured over it by Third Brother's words. Killing an adult Fang Howler—what sort of ability was that? It meant Huo Hai possessed the formidable cultivation of the Spirit Bone Realm.

This was an extremely serious matter. The two exchanged glances, unable to conceal the terror in their hearts. He had not lacked the ability to kill them earlier; he had merely deliberately shown weakness. The depth of that kid's scheming was terrifying.

"No, we have to send this news back quickly. That kid's supposed amnesia is probably fake too. What deep scheming—what a Huo Family. To protect their young master, they actually went so far as to employ such methods." Third Brother's heart was filled with horror. In an instant, he had thought of so much. The other young man beside him also sensed that something was wrong.

The two exchanged glances and began moving. They left behind information and a signal at their original location, waiting for the people behind them to discover it.