Chapter 221: The Footprint Horse Appears

In the martial world, mounts are also divided into different grades. The more magnificent a horse is, the stronger its speed, endurance, defensive capabilities, and harmony with its rider tend to be. Ordinary steeds pale in comparison when placed next to higher-grade mounts, appearing significantly inferior. Many players try their best to avoid this situation after encountering advanced mounts, so as not to be affected by their aura.

However…
Even among high-grade mounts, there are distinctions between top, middle, and lower tiers. Among them, Happy’s jujube-red horse, though taken from the leader of the Mysterious Realm bandits and considered a decent high-grade mount, can only be classified as slightly above the lower tier. The jujube-red horse is much larger and more beautiful than ordinary steeds, but it still lags behind true legendary horses. Compared to horses like Footprint Horse, which possess intelligence nearly on par with humans, it falls far short.

Footprint Horse…
In their past lives, almost every expert owned one, as its speed was indisputable—serving as a symbol of status, wealth, and power. But for Happy, the true value of Footprint Horse lies beyond that.

…
Arriving near an ancient tomb about fifty li away from Wuhu County, Lei Zhan and Happy exchanged knowing smiles. It was because of this ancient tomb that the two met and became good friends. Although this place wasn’t outside Yangzhou City, its design was created by the same person, giving it a very similar atmosphere, which naturally evoked emotions in them. The three of them did not enter the tomb but stopped outside in a relatively open and sparsely wooded area…

Lei Zhan scanned the surroundings on his own, sighing with regret: “I once encountered Footprint Horse too. That thing was absolutely stunning—I was captivated at first sight. Unfortunately, its speed was too great. At that time, I only had basic light martial arts skills, and in the blink of an eye, it vanished, leaving me far behind.”

“Mm.” Happy nodded.

In fact, even today, with “Fox Spirit Shadow” in his hands, Lei Zhan still couldn’t catch up to Footprint Horse! To date, very few people have successfully hunted down Footprint Horse, usually by using a mass assault strategy.

“Brother Lei, have you seen Footprint Horse?” Xiao Bei, clearly a devoted admirer of Footprint Horse, became excited again upon hearing this and kept asking where it was found.

“Yangzhou City. It was also on the way to an ancient tomb back then…”

At this point, Lei Zhan suddenly showed a look of surprise and suspicion as he glanced at Kai Xin. It seemed he had vaguely grasped something, beginning to understand why Kai Xin had brought them two here.
Xiao Bei also quickly realized what was going on, his eyes suddenly lighting up:
“A ancient tomb too? So, Ti Ying often appears near ancient tombs?”
“Probably. It’s just a guess on my part. But aside from Brother Lei, I’ve seen it near an ancient tomb once, and some of my friends have had similar experiences. So I guess the chance of encountering Ti Ying increases when we’re near ancient tombs.”
“That’s why you had someone check our three of us’ fortunes?”
“Mm.”
Kai Xin nodded and then pointed in the northwest direction: “Let’s explore around first. There are quite a few players here; maybe we can find some clues.”
Indeed.
Although Stone Giants hadn’t yet become popular, many players had already noticed them, appreciating their sturdy and durable bodies. They used Stone Giants to train diligently. While the three of them were talking, they could often see players hurrying into the ancient tombs.
“The three of us should split up and search. That way we’ll be faster. We have half an hour. When we find something, don’t alert them. Use carrier pigeons to signal us, and we’ll make a decision once we arrive! If there’s still no clue after half an hour, meet here.” As he spoke, Kai Xin tapped a spot on the map. After Lei Zhan and Xiao Bei remembered it, they promptly separated from outside the ancient tomb.
But Kai Xin didn’t leave right away…
Because he had a better method for finding “Ti Ying.”
Everyone in the martial world knew that “Ti Ying” had great endurance and left no traces in the snow, never leaving obvious signs for players to discover or chase. However, later generations had some “Ti Ying enthusiasts” who pursued them for a whole month before finally spotting a clear trace along their path.
“Ti Ying” also needed to eat. When no one was around, it would eat grass dampened by rain and dew, as well as fresh fruits.
But!
The former was highly concealed, easily overlooked by players, and hard to detect or distinguish. As for the latter, since even players could eat it to regain a little stamina, it was usually picked by players right after being found, making it even rarer.
That’s why it took that “Ti Ying enthusiast” so long to realize this.
Of course!

It’s not that wherever there’s grass damp with dew, there must be hoofprints; rather, one can judge whether hoofprints are present by the integrity of the grass. With his unwavering determination, the once “Hoofprint Enthusiast” quickly became the envied “Hoofprint King,” specializing in selling “Hoofprint” horse tokens and the wildly popular “Illusionary Demon Movement” that drove countless martial artists crazy. As a result, he became one of the wealthiest men second only to the “All-Knowing Master of the Martial World”! But later, as the overall strength of players improved, the “Hoofprint King’s” secret was exposed, and he gradually faded from the martial world.

Happy’s goal wasn’t to obtain a “Hoofprint” mount. Though a group of top-tier horses was indeed tempting, Happy was someone who pursued absolute strength. Between appearance and substance, he would undoubtedly choose the latter—the “Illusionary Demon Movement.” Scanning the surroundings, Happy quickly spotted a patch of emerald green grass and flew over there…

From left to right, his gaze swept swiftly across the soft emerald carpet, looking for any signs of being grazed, before quickly moving on. There were rules to following hoofprints: there weren’t many grassy areas near the ancient tomb. If nothing was found there and there was no commotion nearby… then searching in remote, uninhabited areas was the right approach!

After searching for some time, a homing pigeon suddenly descended onto Happy’s shoulder! Energized, Happy quickly took down the note attached to it and unfolded it. There was only one line of numbers—a coordinate.

“Sure enough, I found it!” Without hesitation, Happy summoned his jujube-red horse, mounted it, shook the reins, and rushed toward the coordinates indicated on the note…

Several miles away, in a corner of the ancient tomb, a black-haired, exceptionally shiny horse was covered in various poisonous insects and centipedes. It neighed in pain, constantly shaking off the insects, looking in dire straits. Its resistance grew weaker, its eyes grew dimmer, and it seemed on the verge of death at any moment.

“Enough! Stop it!” At that command, from outside the corner, over thirty players with unfriendly expressions puffed out their cheeks, opened a pot-like device, and emitted a unified, strange tone…

As if receiving some command, the insects quickly stopped moving and attacking the black horse, dispersing in dozens of groups and crawling into different pots.