Chapter 9: Hunting (Part 1)

Guo Shier suddenly slapped the top of the altar, causing it to soar high into the sky. The old man shouted, “Chase after it! It’s a Level 11 mutated Iron-Armored Bull!” While they might not be able to get the other mutated beasts, these Level 9 and Level 10 ones had to be captured—such opportunities were rare.

In other continents or secret realms, a Level 11 mutated Iron-Armored Bull could already be a dominant force, but here it was just an unremarkable mutated beast, desperately fleeing from more advanced ones. It had no time to pay attention to Guo Shier; the intimidating presence behind it forced it to run frantically.

The mutated Iron-Armored Bull had thick skin and immense strength, but its weakness was obvious: it was extremely clumsy. Once it started running, it could hardly turn around. Guo Shier flew to its side, gradually moving behind it, then transformed his Moon Blade into a beam of light and struck at the bull’s huge rear with lightning speed.

Moo!

The mutated Iron-Armored Bull went wild as the Moon Blade pierced its abdomen from behind. The intense pain made it furious, and its massive body swerved abruptly, crashing into a running Mutated Wild Lion. Its two knife-like horns pierced the lion’s body, driving it insane as well.

Although the Mutated Wild Lion was only Level 10, it was still not easy to deal with. It lunged at the bull, slamming into it and biting down on its back with a roar. The tremendous force knocked the bull off its feet.

Guo Shier was surprised—he didn’t expect the bull and the lion to engage in a fight. The old man cheered, “Great opportunity! Kill it!”

The Moon Blade twisted wildly inside the bull’s belly. Guo Shier cast two spells in succession, causing the Moon Blade to expand dramatically into a giant blade. In an instant, the bull’s strength waned.

The Mutated Wild Lion swung its huge head violently, snapping off a large piece of flesh from the bull’s neck with a crunch, sending blood flying. It roared again, opening its mouth to bite the wound once more. Suddenly, the wound split open, and a golden-red light flashed—as the Moon Blade pierced through the wound and into the lion’s mouth, passing through its brain.

The lion’s roar was choked in its throat. It couldn’t understand how there was a blade in the bull’s neck. With a loud crash, both the bull and the lion collapsed to the ground, their massive bodies convulsing endlessly.

Countless tentacles extended from Guo Shier’s altar, swiftly capturing the souls of the two mutated rune beasts before bringing the two dead beasts into the altar. At this moment, the other ancestors scattered, each pursuing their own prey. Only Hai Miluo, along with a few high-level altar specialists, was still fighting against the level-14 Abnormal Giant Roc. Li Ran had already stopped; he had taken the soul of the Giant Roc but not its body. To him, the level of this Giant Roc was still a bit too low. He said, “Shier, I’m giving you the body of this Giant Roc.” Guo Shier was overjoyed and immediately stepped forward to take it. The handsome old man smiled and said, “Not bad harvest… Haha, let me handle it.” Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan also returned happily; the two of them had jointly killed two mutated rune wolves, achieving a good harvest as well. Guo Shier followed Li Ran with a smile. Seeing Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan flying over joyfully, he asked, “How was your harvest?” Eagle Demon smiled and said, “Pretty good. It’s the first time I’ve hunted such a high-level mutated rune beast. I didn’t expect it to be so easy… Hehe, the soul plus the body of one mutated rune wolf makes for a great harvest.” Guo Shier said, “You’re an expert at the third-tier altar level. When you’re not yet a high-level Grand Sage, killing such a mutated rune wolf isn’t difficult.” Luo Zhan laughed and said, “Indeed. I didn’t expect it to be so easy either. Hehe, it’s a shame the other mutated rune beasts have run away; otherwise, we could have killed more.” Almost every ancestor had a harvest—ranging from one mutated rune beast to two. However, none had killed as many as three at once like Guo Shier. Adding the Giant Roc’s body given to him by Li Ran, his harvest was the greatest. Hai Miluo and his men had already left the Giant Roc barely alive. The other ancestors watched from the air, with no one stepping in to help. Li Ran smiled and said, “Xiao Hai, it’s just you and them now. Hurry up!” Hai Miluo couldn’t help but curse, “This thing is really tough… Damn it, its blood is almost gone, yet it’s still struggling desperately… Slash!” After being teased by Li Ran, the other ancestors launched a fierce attack and, in just a few breaths, cut the thousand-meter-long Giant Roc into several pieces. Hai Miluo took its soul, while the rest were given to the other ancestors. Hai Miluo flew over to Guo Shier, handed over the soul bead he had just obtained, and said, “Here!” Guo Shier was surprised. “For me?” Hai Miluo smiled and said, “You happen to be short of sacrifices. Use it first.”

Guo Shier didn’t hesitate. After expressing his thanks, he took the Soul Pearl. He indeed needed many sacrifices.
Hai Miluo knew that to win over an elder like Guo Shier, no method was as effective as helping him strengthen his altar and boost his power. Guo Shier also understood Hai Miluo’s intention, so he accepted the Soul Pearl without any hesitation.
Li Ran nodded and asked, “Xiao Hai, do you have any talismans from this continent?”
Hai Miluo smiled bitterly. “It’s impossible. Getting this coordinate is already quite lucky. Otherwise, we would have to go through the Eight Paths and find Da Qian Fort to get here.”
Feng Miluo said with a smile, “Since we’re already here, let’s create our own talismans and explore slowly. It’s said this continent is enormous; otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many advanced mutated talisman beasts and aberrant talisman beasts.”
Li Ran said, “We need to find more advanced aberrant talisman beasts and mutated talisman beasts as soon as possible. I believe that even if there are many advanced talisman beasts here, they won’t be able to stop the massacres by various clans. So we should take the initiative to hunt them. We should be able to find quite a few powerful aberrant talisman beasts and mutated talisman beasts.”
Everyone agreed. If this continent belonged to a single clan, they would never allow such indiscriminate killing. But once it became public, all clans would send people to slaughter everything. Over time, no advanced talisman beasts would remain.
Guo Shier said with a smile, “We’ve already gained something just by arriving. There must be many prey here.”
Li Ran replied, “There won’t be many top-tier prey. Most of the prey here are at levels 8 to 14. Aberrant talisman beasts should be rare, and even more advanced mutated talisman beasts won’t be plentiful. I need the souls of aberrant talisman beasts at level 15 or above and those of mutated talisman beasts at level 18 or above. As for the rest… I don’t care.”
Guo Shier knew that Li Ran needed sacrifices of extremely high levels. If his altar was damaged, ordinary sacrifices wouldn’t be enough to repair it—he would need high-level soul beasts. That’s why he wasn’t interested in ordinary soul beasts. Of course, a level-14 aberrant talisman beast could still be useful, and if given to Guo Shier, its usefulness would be even greater.
The aberrant giant dragon killed by Hai Miluo was quickly stored in the talisman storage space by several elders. Apart from the smell of blood everywhere, nothing else remained. Although they cleaned up neatly now, it was because almost all the elders had empty talisman storage spaces that could hold large amounts of items. Once they killed too many creatures and their storage spaces ran out, they would discard most of the items and only keep the essential materials.

Li Ran said, “Wait for me a moment, please protect me…” He sat cross-legged in midair, floating there as a massive wave of spiritual power radiated out. The ancient ancestors were pushed back by this force. It wasn’t meant to harm anyone; it was merely a probing wave sent by Li Ran.

In an instant, the spiritual power spread far and wide.

Hai Miluo hurriedly said, “Spread out and be alert for any danger. No one or beast is allowed to get close.”

A moment later, waves of spiritual energy began returning. Guo Shier saw something interesting—these waves were like ultrasonic signals emitted by bats, reflecting back when they encountered objects. Of course, ordinary things wouldn’t cause a reaction; only beings or beasts with souls would make these waves reflect.

Soon, Li Ran opened his eyes. Smiling, he said, “It’s hard to believe—this continent has so many advanced talisman beasts. Hehe, follow me. I’ve found a target.”

…

Guo Shier stared in awe at an eagle soaring in the sky. It was a Thunder Eagle, an 18th-level mutated talisman beast. Its wings, spread wide, covered over two thousand meters, and its entire body sparkled with electric lightning. How could one fight such a creature?

Though they were hundreds of kilometers away, everyone could clearly see the Thunder Eagle flying in the sky. Its majestic appearance left them utterly unwilling to fight—it was too powerful. Even just the spiritual pressure it emitted was enough to stop them in their tracks.

A hint of excitement appeared in Li Ran’s eyes as he said, “I’ve searched for a long time without finding such a mutated talisman beast. Hehe, I’m incredibly lucky!”

The Eagle Demon’s face paled slightly. Though he was brave by nature, seeing the Thunder Eagle filled him with dread. It had nothing to do with courage—the gap in strength was too vast. Charging at it would be suicide.

Hai Miluo said with a wry smile, “Maybe I can go up and hold it off. Not to mention killing it, even defeating it is impossible. Only our elders have the strength to kill it.”

Li Ran laughed and said, “You don’t need to go up. Just stay nearby to prevent others from interfering. Once I launch an attack, I hope no one will disturb me!”