Poisoning to Death

The scouting proceeded just as quickly as before. The Star Gu possessed a measure of spiritual power, yet they concealed it completely without revealing the slightest trace. From the outside, they looked like ordinary little insects, merely somewhat prettier than most.

In the eyes of spirit beasts, so long as an insect was not especially dangerous, its appearance meant absolutely nothing. Thus, while those insects circled nearby, the Ironclad Hounds paid them no attention at all. Before long, Huo Hai had the Star Gu thoroughly scout the Ironclad Hounds' dwelling place back and forth. At last, amid the piles of rubble, he found what he had been looking for.

"There really are some, and so many at that. This time, I might be able to obtain enough point cards." Huo Hai muttered to himself. The greater the danger, the greater the opportunity—those words were indeed no empty saying. Even in a place like this, cards still existed.

"Huo Hai, y-you aren't really planning to deal with those things, are you? Those beetles of yours simply can't break through the defenses of Spirit Practitioner Realm spirit beasts. And their sense of smell is incredibly sharp—they could easily find us."

Ji Mu's face was filled with tension. No matter what, she did not want Huo Hai to do this. She was even wondering whether this guy truly was a calamity, bringing misfortune everywhere he went. Yet from Huo Hai's expression, he seemed determined to do it.

What should I do? What exactly should I do? Should I run away by myself? No, I can't just leave him behind. Ji Mu's heart became tangled in conflict. Her reason told her to leave this place as quickly as possible, or disaster would befall them soon. Yet her heart refused to leave; she simply did not want Huo Hai to encounter danger. Even if they left, they had to leave together.

Besides, even if she left on her own, who knew whether she could get out of this place, or what other dangers awaited her. Ji Mu's feelings were exceptionally complicated as she pondered how to persuade Huo Hai to abandon this dangerous idea.

Huo Hai turned a deaf ear to Ji Mu's persuasion and continued observing. The Ironclad Hounds' skin was like iron plating, and they had only a few weaknesses. Their eyes and mouths were weaknesses common to most living creatures, and their paws were another weak point.

Although their underbellies were softer than the fur and hide elsewhere on their bodies, they still were not something the Star Gu could easily pierce. With so many Ironclad Hounds, he had to kill them quickly, or the consequences would be unthinkable. Looking at it this way, there was only one place left to attack: their noses. When dealing with the Fang Howler last time, he had used this very method.

But what about that Hound King? It was a powerful Spirit Practitioner Realm spirit beast that had entered the Profound Grade. Even the Profound Grade dagger in his hand might not be able to injure it. Its bodily defenses were extremely formidable, and its spiritual power defense was even more seamless.

Huo Hai did not believe the Star Gu were incapable of breaking through that layer of defense. The problem was that although the Star Gu could breach it, they needed time. The current Star Gu, even the insect kings, possessed only Spirit Blood Realm strength. If they attacked by force, they would likely suffer grievous casualties. Losing too many Star Gu would definitely affect his point collection and even his own protection.

Only killing it at the first possible moment mattered. If they delayed too long and were discovered, then before the Hound King died, it would certainly kill them first. There could be no delay. Though the two of them were currently far from the Ironclad Hounds—

What should he do? Did he truly have to gather all the Star Gu and launch a full-scale attack on the Hound King? Huo Hai felt a headache coming on. If he attacked that way, at the instant of attack, he could at most injure the Hound King once before many Star Gu were wiped out.

"Damn it. If only the Star Gu were poisonous. If I'd known, when refining the Star Gu before, I would have tried using venomous beetles. Wait—poison." Huo Hai suddenly remembered that he still had Little Gold. Little Gold was a genuine Gu Insect, the kind that carried deadly poison. Even Spirit Adepts could at most have somewhat stronger poison resistance.

Against a venomous insect like Little Gold, whose entire body carried mixed toxins and whose strength had even reached that of a Spirit Blood Realm spirit beast, it should still be in trouble. Whether this succeeds depends entirely on you, Little Gold. Huo Hai spoke silently in his heart.

This operation had to be swift, or his own safety would become a problem as well. Thus, Huo Hai kept only a few Star Gu by his side for vigilance. He sent all the others out, including Little Star, to hide among the Ironclad Hounds from afar.

Before long, several Star Gu were stationed beside every Ironclad Hound. Huo Hai knew that against ordinary Ironclad Hounds, this was all he could do. Now, he had to kill the Ironclad Hound King before it could react. Huo Hai's movements told Ji Mu that he had already begun. Since she could not persuade him otherwise, Ji Mu turned her head and ignored Huo Hai.

Instead, she began observing the surroundings. If they were besieged later, she had to find an escape route as quickly as possible. There were so many Ironclad Hounds that merely looking at them made her scalp tingle. This guy was far too arrogant and reckless.

Huo Hai did not concern himself with any of that. He lightly patted his arm—or more precisely, his sleeve cuff. Little Gold slowly crawled out, then spread its wings and transformed into a streak of golden light, vanishing in a flash.

Ji Mu, who had planned to ignore Huo Hai, was immediately drawn in by the sight. Forgetting her previous thoughts, she asked softly, "What is that? A new insect of yours? Why have I never seen it before? Y-you, how exactly did you do it? How can someone control so many powerful insects before reaching the Spirit Practitioner Realm?"

That was right—powerful. Insects were supposed to be tiny and weak. Yet in Huo Hai's hands, these insects were all powerful, all naturally gifted strange species. Where in the Western Frontier could there be so many bizarre insects? In Ji Mu's eyes, they were all naturally gifted strange species.

Huo Hai shook his head and said flatly, "Miss Ji Mu, casually probing into another person's secret cultivation methods seems rather improper."

Ji Mu froze, then pursed her lips and fell silent. This guy was truly infuriating. Hadn't she merely said one wrong thing? After spending so much time together, could they not even joke around? In her heart, Ji Mu had already regarded Huo Hai as one of her own. Yet after Huo Hai's reminder, she did not know why, but her heart felt terribly uncomfortable, as though something were lodged inside it.

Huo Hai did not care about any of this. Before he possessed absolute strength, he would never reveal the secret of Gu Insects to anyone but himself. Allowing her to see them, and for such a long time at that, was already the limit of his tolerance.

By then, Little Gold had slowly made its way into the Ironclad Hound pack. Little Gold was golden all over, but in truth, that was merely reflected light from its surroundings. It was a form of protective coloration; with that layer of radiance, it became even harder to notice.

The Ironclad Hounds were the same. Though they found it strange that so many insects had suddenly appeared nearby, those insects had not come to provoke them, so they simply ignored them. No one noticed that a strange golden centipede, relying on its wings, was inching closer and closer to their king—the only Spirit Practitioner Realm spirit beast among the Ironclad Hounds.

No one knew how much time passed. Beneath the pleasant sunlight, the well-fed Ironclad Hounds slowly enjoyed themselves. At last, the golden centipede crawled out from a crack between the rocks. Directly before it was the Hound King's leg.

Without the slightest hesitation, Little Gold bit down. Little Gold's jaws were quite formidable as well. Though they were not as terrifying as the Star Gu, capable of biting through anything, they could still pierce the vulnerable spot exposed beneath the Hound King's paw.

With that single bite, Little Gold did not hesitate to release every bit of poison stored within its body. Whether it succeeded or failed, it had only one chance. After releasing the poison, Little Gold turned and fled, refusing to face that Ironclad Hound directly.

The Hound King had not activated its spiritual power defense, nor had its spiritual power reached the point of defending automatically. The Ironclad Hound King took that bite full-on. Pain flashed through its paw, followed by numbness, and for a moment, even the Hound King itself failed to react. By the time it realized it had been attacked, it could only see a streak of golden light vanish at the very edge of its vision.

The Hound King flew into a rage, rose to its feet, and let out a roar: "Woof..." Its voice made no attempt to conceal its fury. Hearing the sound, the other Ironclad Hounds jolted and hurriedly stood up, looking toward the place where the Hound King was focused.

But it was only an insect, and an extremely fast one at that. Where could they possibly search? The Hound King, the only one able to freely attack with spiritual power, had not reacted in time. It could only watch helplessly as Little Gold fled. Then, the Hound King suddenly realized that something was wrong. Why had the leg that was bitten just now suddenly lost all feeling?

One of its legs had become completely numb. If it could see its wound, it would surely discover that it had already begun to turn black. The poison spread extremely quickly. The toxins Little Gold had stored in its body for who knew how long were astonishingly potent.

At last, the Hound King began to panic. In the end, it was merely a spirit beast that had not opened its spiritual intelligence. It was somewhat smarter than other Earth Grade spirit beasts, but it had not reached the level of humans. Faced with such a situation, the Hound King panicked, not knowing what to do.

After crying out in confusion for a while, the Hound King had completely lost its chance to make a desperate final counterattack. Huo Hai glanced over from afar, an unconcealed smile appearing on his face. "It worked. Once the Hound King dies, the rest are nothing to fear." Ji Mu also widened her eyes. She had never imagined that Huo Hai possessed such an ability. Clearly, that insect just now had been poisonous.

And judging by that toxicity, it was not weak. The Ironclad Hound King had already tempered its entire body once, greatly improving its poison resistance, yet the poison still took effect so quickly. If it were used against other humans, heaven knew what the consequences would be.

The way Ji Mu looked at Huo Hai changed somewhat. This guy was simply too dangerous. Huo Hai, however, did not notice Ji Mu's reaction. At that moment, all his attention was focused on the Hound King. During this stretch of wasted time, the poison had already spread through more than half of the Hound King's body. Some of it had even begun to spread into its heart.