The Bustling Huo Family

"Can you raise the points?" Huo Hai asked blandly. The two of them finally came to their senses.

"Yes, yes, we'll do it right away." As he spoke, no one knew what the man before him did to the crystal panel. After a great mass of runes flickered, the glowing marks on all the point cards completely faded away.

At the same time, after placing Huo Hai's card to one side, a flash of light passed over it before it was returned to him. "It's done. Just inject spiritual power into it, and you'll be able to see it." Anyone who could obtain so many points was no ordinary person. No matter what, such a person was not someone to offend casually. He was not like the tester beside him; he possessed the strength of the Spirit Practitioner Realm.

Huo Hai nodded. After injecting a thread of spiritual power, the card immediately displayed his information, including his name, age, and number of points. There was also some information that would only be added after he arrived at Imperial City Academy.

After confirming that everything was correct, Huo Hai said his farewells and left amid everyone's utterly stunned gazes. He ignored everyone. If they came to their senses, things would become troublesome. Only after Huo Hai's figure vanished did they finally recover.

"This is bad, we let him leave. You stay here. I'm going back to ask what exactly happened." Huo Kai gave the other elders his instructions and turned to leave. What he did not see was that after Huo Kai left, Huo Yan's eyes brimmed with jealousy and hatred. The other elders were likewise full of thoughts, all wanting to return and see for themselves.

"All right, quiet down. Time is almost up. Those whose points aren't enough can come exchange them for Spirit Stones. Of course, you can keep your cards yourselves. In any case, when the next trial comes around, the cards will be replaced. These cards will be useless then."

The tester's voice rang in everyone's ears. Those who had originally planned to keep their cards and sell them to future test participants saw their plans come to nothing. They could still exchange them for a few Spirit Stones now, but if they did not exchange them this time, they would be useless next time. No wonder no one had ever sold point cards left over from the previous trial.

The difference was that everyone present was preoccupied now. Huo Hai's earlier card had truly frightened them.

Not long after returning home, Huo Hai caught up from behind. "Huo Hai, what exactly happened? How did you get so many cards? Don't tell me your cultivation has reached the Spirit Bone Realm. Even the Spirit Bone Realm couldn't do that."

As an expert of the Spirit Practitioner Realm, Huo Kai could tell Huo Hai's current condition at a glance. Naturally, he did not believe Huo Hai himself possessed any great strength. Huo Hai said nonchalantly, "It's actually simple. I was just lucky. Deep in Southern Mountain, I picked up ten thousand points." Then Huo Hai began making things up, saying he had discovered a pack of Ironclad Hounds led by the Iron Armor Hound King.

He then claimed that a powerful spirit beast had come running over from somewhere else, slaughtered all the Ironclad Hounds, and let an ordinary person like him reap the benefits. No one had seen it anyway. Who could prove otherwise?

Even if some powerful spirit beast really had come over, since no one had seen it, Huo Hai could say whatever he wanted. Even though guards protected the outskirts, it was not impossible for a powerful spirit beast to pass beyond their surveillance range at certain times.

It was not that Huo Hai did not trust Huo Kai, nor that he did not want to tell him. The problem was, how could he explain this secret technique for controlling insects? How could he explain where it came from, or explain its nature? And even if Huo Kai believed him, what then? For the sake of the entire Lineage, he would certainly have to hand over the method of refining Gu Insects.

The refining of Gu Insects was actually only one branch of an entire theoretical system. To pass it on to others, he would have to explain everything in full. There was not much to it, and it was simple, but no one knew how powerful it could become.

Its specific power depended on how strong the insects eventually became. This was Huo Hai's foundation for settling down and making a living in this world. He would not casually reveal it. Besides, Huo Hai did not trust those so-called family members at all.

There were very few people in this world Huo Hai could truly trust. As for those so-called Lineage members, to be honest, the family infighting he had seen back on Earth had left him with a sense of suspicion and fear. Since that was the case, before breaking through to the Spirit Practitioner Realm, Huo Hai would not let ordinary people learn the secret of his insects.

Once he broke through, it would not matter even if they knew. He could simply use the identity of a Beast Spirit Master or an Insect Spirit Master to conceal himself. The insects Huo Hai could raise were not something those so-called Insect Spirit Masters could compare with.

Though he had many doubts, Huo Kai ultimately believed him. Huo Hai had never deceived anyone before, and his character had always been very good. On top of that, he had suffered amnesia some time ago, so Huo Kai did not harbor too much suspicion.

The tiny shred of doubt he had was completely dispelled a few days later. Some people who came out from inside revealed Huo Hai's methods. Those methods were, in fact, the way Huo Hai used concealed weapons.

That's right, concealed weapons, not insects. With a flick of Huo Hai's hand, countless starlike concealed weapons flew out. He could use so many concealed weapons at once, with incredible speed, tremendous power, and precise control. It was enough to demonstrate Huo Hai's formidable strength. Before him, even experts of the Spirit Blood Realm had no ability to resist. Such strength had already surpassed the ordinary Spirit Bone Realm.

With such formidable strength, everyone attributed it to an exceedingly wondrous concealed-weapon technique. They had never expected the Huo Family to be hiding such a powerful technique. If not for this incident, they truly would never have known.

And so, the Huo Family became completely bustling. Other great families, even medium-sized families, flocked over in hopes of observing the Huo Family's concealed-weapon technique. Of course, some came to probe the Huo Family, while others wished to form alliances or submit themselves. Rogue Cultivators considered how they might join the Huo Family. Such powerful strength was simply too terrifying.

Huo Hai himself was not idle either, because Huo Yuner had been pestering him. After being pestered for a long time, Huo Hai finally revealed the great strength of Little Gold and the Star Gu. But he only revealed it to Yun'er; no one else knew.

Presumably, even if Yun'er accidentally let it slip, no one would believe her. Huo Hai himself certainly would not admit it.

After learning how powerful the insects were, Huo Yuner began pestering Huo Hai, wanting him to give Little Gold to her. Little Gold was useful now, so naturally he could not give it away. Thus, Huo Hai's miserable days began. Yun'er was not afraid of the insects in Huo Hai's home either, drilling into his courtyard every day. Those outside who did not know the truth all envied how close this pair of siblings was.

Left with no choice, Huo Hai could not drive her away. He simply brought back many more beetles and continued cultivating Star Gu. During this trial, the Star Gu's formidable power had allowed Huo Hai to fully discover just how terrifying these things were.

No wonder someone had once said that a swarm of Star Gu could destroy everything. Though they could not truly destroy everything in this world, once they formed a real swarm, experts of the Spirit Practitioner Realm would be utterly unable to stop them.

Besides cultivating new Star Gu, the old Star Gu's breakthrough into spirit beasts of the Spirit Blood Realm also had to be put on the agenda. Once these Star Gu completed their metamorphosis and entered the Spirit Blood Realm, if they swarmed together again, they could easily kill the Iron Armor Hound King from before even in a frontal assault. Fewer than ten Star Gu would die from the Iron Armor Hound King's resistance.

At this moment, the Star Gu had already begun to transform. More than five hundred Star Gu spat out strange liquid in the place Huo Hai had prepared, turning themselves into egg-shaped objects. The egg-shaped objects were extremely hard, even harder than the cocoons they had emerged from before.

As for Huo Hai, during this period, no new Star Gu had been born while the old ones were still transforming, so he had lost his greatest safeguard. Only Little Gold remained by his side to protect him. Thus, Huo Hai simply stopped leaving the Huo Family compound.

Because of Huo Hai's outstanding performance, no one knew how many people secretly wanted to kill him. If he went out, would that not be handing them an opportunity? Every day, a great number of people came to visit the Lineage. Their purposes varied, but most came because of Huo Hai. Yet Huo Kai could not simply ignore these people, or he would offend far too many.

Thus, during these days, the upper ranks of the Lineage lived in pain and joy every day. The pain was that they had no leisure at all, to the point that they were nearly losing even their time to cultivate.

As for the joy, it came from the things others brought them. Those seeking to befriend the Huo Family sent precious gifts one after another. These items alone were worth as much as one or two years of the entire Huo Family's income.

These people were truly mad, Huo Hai thought gloomily. Just now, another family had come visiting with their daughter. There was no need to wonder; they had come for Huo Hai, hoping to bind the two families through marriage. Huo Kai had not yet considered such matters, so he rejected them all. If he truly favored one family, he would likely offend every other family with the same intentions.

People outside the Lineage were crazily squeezing their way in, and the inside of the Lineage was no calmer. Huo Hai's concealed-weapon technique allowed him to challenge those above his level. Such a thing had never appeared before. How could it not shock people?

After they searched the Scripture Pavilion and failed to find this concealed-weapon technique, and later discovered that not even a single elder had learned it, some people began to let their imaginations run wild. Was this a method exclusive to the direct line? Did the direct line not want them to surpass it, so it had hidden this technique away?

Those harboring all sorts of thoughts began considering how to obtain the technique. Huo Hai remained in his own courtyard and never came out, so they had no opportunity. Huo Kai was also extremely busy and had no time during the day.

After some time passed and Huo Hai left, the opportunity would become even slimmer. No, they had to succeed as soon as possible.