Chapter 3: Violence (Part 1)

Guo Shier and Eagle Demon immediately rushed toward the dragon’s head. Not far away, they saw a person running frantically, clearly in a state of panic. Guo Shier said, “Yang Pangzi, come here—shout at him!” Yang Qi was known in the team for his loud voice.
Yang Pangzi shouted loudly, “Stop! Don’t run!”
The man suddenly sped up, vanished into the gray mist, and disappeared. Guo Shier didn’t order the Giant Perch Dragon to chase after him. Yang Pangzi urged, “Hurry up and chase after him!”
Guo Shier laughed and said, “Why chase? Since he’s so scared, let’s leave him be!” There were only eight people in the team now, and he still wanted to invite other experts to join, but he wasn’t interested in someone who ran at the slightest sign of trouble.
The Giant Perch Dragon kept running.
Zhou Xiaoling praised, “The Giant Perch Dragon is really fast. It took me a long time to get out of the Black Mist Area, hiding everywhere along the way… It was really tough.”
Guo Shier asked, “Why didn’t you hunt in the Black Mist Area?”
Zhou Xiaoling replied, “Hunt in the Black Mist Area? No one dares to. We look for food in the Gray Mist Area and the Blood Mist Area. The mutated beasts in the Black Mist Area are too powerful. We’re just master-level professionals. If we were sage-level, the Black Mist Area would be an excellent hunting ground.”
Eagle Demon asked, “Going to the Black Mist Area… is it for cultivation?”
Zhou Xiaoling said, “Yes. As long as you reach the level of Mad Master, you can leave! The Black Mist Area is the best place for cultivation.”
Guo Shier looked at the mist ahead and asked, “It’s hard to tell directions here. Dingding, how do you know where to go?”
Zhou Xiaoling said, “I have path talismans. Don’t you have any…?”
Guo Shier couldn’t help but smile bitterly and said, “Alright, from now on, you’ll be the guide.”
Yang Qi said, “I also have path talismans. Shier, didn’t your sect give you any? That can’t be… With your status as a high-level master and your young age, your sect must have prepared everything for you.”
Guo Shier didn’t know what to say. Eagle Demon said, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t have path talismans. Don’t you all have them? As long as one person has them, we all have them.”
Zhou Xiaoling said, “Having path talismans isn’t enough. If you’ve never been there, you still won’t understand the situation. Hey, we’re almost at the river. The Giant Perch Dragon is really fast!”

A faint red tint could already be seen in the gray mist. Guo Shier said, “We’re almost at the Blood Mist Zone.” As he spoke, a strong smell of rust hit them, and the surroundings suddenly turned blood-red; even the ground turned dark red. The Giant Perch Dragon rushed into the Blood Mist Zone and immediately became excited, letting out a thunderous roar.

Zhou Xiaoling screamed in anger, “You stupid dragon! You scared me to death… uh, you really scared me… Why are you roaring like that…?”

Everyone burst into laughter. Guo Shier remained silent, sitting on the dragon’s back and practicing for a while. Indeed, he felt a difference—the blood mist around him turned into thin strands of blood that were drawn directly into his body, giving him a wonderful sensation. Without hesitation, he said, “Let’s stay in the Blood Mist Zone for a while.”

Zhou Xiaoling asked, “Why? It’s not as good as the Black Mist Zone!”

Guo Shier replied, “There must be a deeper reason for dividing it into the Gray Mist Zone, the Blood Mist Zone, and the Black Mist Zone. We can’t be careless. Let’s practice here for about ten days first. Dingding, you’re a senior master, and there are also junior masters here—they’re different from you.”

Xuan Ai was stunned. After thinking for a moment, he said, “I think Shier is right. The Blood Mist Zone… should be useful for Fat Yang and the other two, as well as Lan Hu. My experience here is completely different from that in the Gray Mist Zone… I agree with Shier’s plan to stay here for a while.”

Everyone agreed, and Zhou Xiaoling nodded as well. “Alright, since that’s the case, let’s camp by the river. There’s still some life there… Just a reminder, there are mutated fish and shrimp in the river. Be careful. As long as you don’t go into the water, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Guo Shier said proudly, “No problem. My Giant Perch Dragon is an amphibian… it can live both on land and in water.”

A river about a hundred meters wide appeared before them, with extremely clear water. The Giant Perch Dragon couldn’t hide its joy and rushed toward the water’s surface with a loud cry. Guo Shier quickly shouted, “Let’s get down!” He jumped off first. Fortunately, everyone could fly, so they all flew off the dragon’s back one after another.

The Giant Perch Dragon was extremely excited and dived headfirst into the river. Due to its enormous size, when it entered the water, the water in the entire river surged onto the banks, creating a tremendous impact. Its nearly hundred-meter-long body lay almost across both banks. It turned slightly, roared once, and swam upstream along the river.

When Guo Shier landed on the ground, he found that the blood smell wasn’t as strong here. There were even some sparse wild grasses on the ground. However, these grasses weren’t green but light red, beautiful yet eerie.

Eagle Demon said, “There’s a mound here; let’s set up camp here.” The group began clearing the ground and setting up tents. Guo Shier suddenly had an idea and smiled, “We’ll have fish to eat today…” Before he could finish speaking, there was a loud crash, and a super-large, fat fish over ten meters long fell from the sky, almost hitting the camp. Eagle Demon cursed, “Who did this?” It was a living mutated Fu Fish. No one knew what kind of Fu Fish it was. Everyone knew only that this Fu Fish was at least at level five. But no matter how powerful a Fu Fish was, it couldn’t survive outside water. If it were in water, it seemed no one here could defeat it. Guo Shier said, “Uncle Eagle Demon, let’s kill that fish so we can eat its meat tonight!” Hearing this, Eagle Demon rushed outside and called, “All the senior Fu Martial Artists, follow me!” A few senior Fu Martial Artists joined forces and quickly killed the giant Fu Fish, collecting a large amount of fish meat. Guo Shier was fascinated by the fish’s scales, each as big as a washbasin, covered with intricate natural Fu patterns in a faint blue color that glowed with a cold light—very beautiful. It was the first time Guo Shier had encountered a mutated fish, and he was filled with curiosity. He carefully examined the mutated Fu Fish and found a Fu Pearl in its head. The pearl was the size of a fist, sky blue, and extremely beautiful. Holding it in his hand, he felt a coolness emanate from his palm. Xuan Ai said, “This thing isn’t very useful; it’s just one of the materials for making a life-bound Fu Book.” Guo Shier was deeply moved. What seemed useless in Xuan Ai’s eyes was actually a highly precious material in the Northern Fu Sect. He said, “It’s still a useful material; we can’t waste it casually.” He put away the Fu Pearl, planning to use it for his family members when he returned. During this trip into the Bloody Secret Realm, he had collected many materials, most of which came from level-five mutated Fu Beasts. On the advanced continents, these materials were common, but on the lower-level continents, they were rare treasures. Guo Shier released the Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion to guard the camp. … After living by the riverbank for dozens of days, with the Dark-Winged Demon Scorpions on guard and the Giant Nesting Dragons protecting them, everyone practiced in peace. Guo Shier felt he was about to reach a breakthrough and advance in level. In the team, Yang Qi had already successfully advanced to intermediate-level senior Fu Sorcerer, Lan Hu had advanced to intermediate-level senior Fu Martial Artist, and Sun Min’er and Peng Yuanwang were also close to advancing, so they were intensifying their training these days.

This natural progression is superior to the inheritance-based progression in the Path of Delusion, but since this kind of progression does not come with inheritance, one must go through the Path of Delusion again upon returning to obtain supplementary inheritance before it can be considered true progression. Professionals with strong willpower and souls often manage to progress further while traversing the Path of Delusion.

Guo Shier decided to wait until Sun Min’er and Peng Yuanwang had progressed before attempting it. If those two advanced, their team’s strength would increase significantly, making their journey to the Black Mist Area safer.

Apart from cultivation, Guo Shier loved nothing more than riding the Giant Nesting Dragon and roaming around the camp. If he could encounter a mutated talisman beast, it would be a great fortune. However, he rarely saw such beasts, as those active in this area had long been scared away by the Giant Nesting Dragon.

He had killed quite a number of mutated fish and shrimp in the river, most of which were absorbed by the Giant Nesting Dragon, with only a few falling into Guo Shier’s hands.

During this time, Guo Shier also tried hard to search for Blood Soul Stones but found nothing, not even a glimpse of them. Thus, he planned to look for them in the Black Mist Area.

The Giant Nesting Dragon, having absorbed numerous mutated talisman beasts and fish, had become even more robust. It was close to reaching level eight and nearly restoring its original strength.

The Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion also went out hunting from time to time, but with limited efficiency. It still couldn’t defeat larger mutated talisman beasts, and it had to guard the camp as well, leaving little time for it to wander around.

Guo Shier sat outside practicing cultivation, surrounded by a circle of small scorpions. The Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion lay about ten meters away, with thick blood mist gathering above it. Its ability to absorb blood mist was even stronger than Guo Shier’s, allowing it to draw the mist toward itself. Guo Shier benefited greatly from this, enjoying the dense blood mist as well.

The blood mist turned into strands of blood, slowly being absorbed into the body of both man and insect.

Guo Shier could clearly feel his soul growing stronger. After about two hours, when he felt his soul could no longer absorb more blood mist, he began reciting scriptures repeatedly to compress and refine it. Through this process, his soul grew rapidly.

Thanks to the scriptures he knew by heart, Guo Shier essentially possessed a powerful secret weapon. With the power of those scriptures, his soul was stronger than that of local professionals. With a powerful soul, he could progress quickly. It was a virtuous cycle, with the soul being the foundation of his strength.

Guo Shier guessed that even if he died, his soul would not dissipate and might be able to reincarnate. Of course, he had no intention of attempting such a thing.

Eight hours of chanting and meditation were the daily tasks that had to be completed before anything else could be done. Guo Shier opened his eyes and sighed silently, thinking, “I was so close to advancing. It still didn’t work today. I need to wait a few more days. If it still doesn’t work, I’ll have to wait until I enter the Black Mist Area to continue. Once I reach the level of Mad Master, I can go back… But am I really willing to go back?” Advancing to Mad Master was Guo Shier’s goal for staying in the Blood Mist Area. Once he reached that level and returned to the Black Mist Area, their team would be strong enough.