Chapter 8: Mutated Symbol Ants (Part 1)

The Fuye Family sent hundreds of hunting vehicles in pursuit of a child. Behind these vehicles, hundreds more arrived one after another.

Guo Shieru cursed as he fled. He couldn’t fight against the Fuye Family—his strength was limited. Though he was considered a skilled fighter, he couldn’t withstand their siege. Unless he reached Master Kumu’s level, his only option was to run; otherwise, death awaited.

He looked ahead, hoping to find forests or mountains that might offer a chance to escape. But to his disappointment, there was still only vast desert ahead, with no usable terrain.

Guo Shieru wasn’t tired. During his daytime escape, he had used the Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion as a means of transportation, so he still had some energy left. Looking at the sky, dusk was approaching, but it would be at least three more hours before night fell. These three hours would be the hardest. If he could get through them, he would surely be able to escape. But he knew well that these three hours would be extremely difficult to endure.

At the speed of the hunting vehicles, if he stood still, they could catch up in half an hour. Of course, Guo Shieru wouldn’t stand still—he was still fleeing. He estimated that in another hour and a half, no matter how hard he tried, the hunting vehicles would definitely catch up.

Gritting his teeth, Guo Shieru summoned the Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion again. He climbed onto its head and continued to flee. He needed to regain his strength for battle. He wouldn’t surrender—he wouldn’t miss any chance. Riding on the Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion, he kept looking back at the trails left by the hunting vehicles in the sky.

The scorpion’s tracks on the ground were very obvious, and the dust it raised when flying was even more noticeable. Thus, the people in the hunting vehicles quickly located Guo Shieru’s trail.

As the distance shortened, they could faintly see the figure of the Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion. Its large size made it far less inconspicuous than Guo Shieru’s small frame.

Inside the hunting vehicles, the members of the Fuye Family discussed eagerly. Most of them had seen the Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion, and the old man as well. He stared intently at the rapidly moving scorpion, filled with admiration. He immediately recognized it as a rare ancient insect symbol, sealing a sentient ancient scorpion.

“Let A Cheng lead forty hunting vehicles from the left, and A Yan from the right with another forty. The rest should pursue from the front. Once we distract the kid, A Cheng and A Yan will block his escape routes. Heh, I’m really looking forward to seeing how he performs.”

Someone sent out a signal, and immediately two groups of hunting vehicles rushed out from both sides, taking positions ahead to encircle them. The old man laughed and said, “Hehe, the kid should be proud. Being able to provoke such a large-scale response from our Fuyue family proves his own value…”
The young man beside him asked, “Elder, what’s the use of his value? Didn’t we decide to kill him?”
The old man replied irritably, “Idiot, even if we kill him, he’s still more valuable than you! If it weren’t for him killing so many of our family members, I would prefer to capture him alive… This kid has incredible potential. I hope we don’t let him escape this time; otherwise… we’ll be in big trouble.”
The young man retorted, “Just a kid—what can he possibly threaten us with?”
The old man snapped, “Ada, you’re so stupid it’s beyond words. Is your brain made of wood? If a child has such strength, there must be something terrifying behind him. That’s why we must kill him at all costs. Otherwise… it would be great to capture him as a slave! With such combat power, he can’t possibly be from the lower-tier Spellcraft Continent!”
Ada was already tired of being scolded by the old man. He dismissed it as unimportant and said, “So what if he’s from the intermediate-tier Spellcraft Continent? At worst, they can just retreat. Can they really chase us there?”
The old man ignored Ada. He was deeply uneasy. The strength and wisdom displayed by this kid made him worry that the boy might be a disciple from a higher-tier continent on a training mission. If he escaped and brought more experts with him, the Fuyue family wouldn’t be able to withstand them. So he resolved to kill Guo Shier at any cost.
As the distance shortened, the people in the hunting vehicles could clearly see the giant scorpion. The lower-tier disciples of the Fuyue family exclaimed in awe. The scorpion was truly magnificent—its tail was raised high, its pincers were enormous, and most frighteningly, it could fly. Though not very far, it could cover hundreds of meters in a single leap, and the hunting vehicles flying at low altitude were at risk of being attacked.
Guo Shier turned around in despair. He could also see the hunting vehicles clearly, even the figures inside.
He immediately activated his Golden Armor Amulet. It was a gift from his mentor, Monier, and he had never used it before. A faint glow flashed, and a set of light golden armor appeared on his body, entirely composed of runes. It looked like translucent soft glass, with countless tiny golden runes swirling inside.

The old man on the hunting cart saw the pale golden armor on Guo Shier’s body, his pupils contracting sharply as he closely examined his attire. He inwardly sighed, realizing that Guo Shier surely wasn’t from the Lower Spellcraft Continent. This made him even more determined to kill the boy—this child was too dangerous.
The old man ordered, “Give the command! Launch the first wave of attacks!”
More than thirty hunting carts rushed forward, their riders holding spell javelins, ready to shoot at any moment.
Guo Shier suddenly retracted the Dark-Winged Scorpion. He knew well that the Dark-Winged Scorpion’s target was too large; even though it was powerful, it couldn’t evade a group attack, so it was better for him to dodge alone.
Two golden threads shot out, and Guo Shier flew into the air, continuing onward. Once he retracted the Dark-Winged Scorpion, his speed soared instantly. The first wave of attacks from the hunting carts had already begun, with hundreds of spell javelins fired at once. But they didn’t expect Guo Shier to suddenly speed up, causing all the javelins to fall to the ground.
Boom! Boom! Boom…
The power of those hundreds of spell javelins was immense. As they hit the ground behind Guo Shier, they raised clouds of dust.
The old man shouted, “Attack in batches, calculate the timing carefully, and target the area ahead where the boy is flying!”
Guo Shier knew he couldn’t keep flying forward. He turned and rushed toward the approaching hunting carts. The golden threads instantly transformed into massive blades of light, sweeping through the air with a howling sound. Guo Shier fought desperately.
The old man suddenly saw the sword-shaped blades of light and screamed in fear, “Sword Spell! Hide quickly!” He had underestimated Guo Shier, not expecting the boy to possess such a powerful spell. The Sword Spell was a rare true spell even on the Intermediate Spellcraft Continent, and it was famous for its sharpness and extreme offensive power.
All the hunting carts activated their defense shields, but they couldn’t withstand the slashes of the light blades. In an instant, explosive sounds rang out like firecrackers. Guo Shier guided the blades in circular cuts, instantly destroying over a dozen hunting carts. The carts shattered and fell, filled with cries of pain. Guo Shier turned and continued to flee.
Fortunately, he had flying spells; otherwise, facing the encirclement of the hunting carts, he would have been helpless. With flying spells, he could launch surprise attacks and quickly approach the carts to use his deadly Sword Spell. This made the people of the Fuyue Clan cautious, preventing them from closing in recklessly.
Guo Shier had tried several times to use the bird spell, that firebird spell. By his estimation, it was likely a spell above true spirit spells, possibly even a true ancient spell. But during his last battle with the Fuyue Clan in the Secret Realm of Tongyou, that bird spell hadn’t brought him much surprise, so he hadn’t used it yet.

That old man was a junior spellmaster of the Fuye family, named Fuye Xiangrong. He certainly understood the power of sword spells, so he immediately ordered the hunting vehicles to move back a distance from Guo Shier, about 300 to 400 meters—far enough for defensive shields to ward off the attacks of sword spells. He also ordered that skilled disciples, at least at the master level, be sent to assist. He knew that lower-level disciples would only be sending themselves to death.

Guo Shier fled desperately. His only hope was to avoid being surrounded; once trapped by the hunting vehicles, he would have no choice but to fight to the death. That was a price he couldn’t afford. If he died here, he wasn’t sure if he could be reborn, so he had to fight to survive.

Fuye Xiangrong said, “Find a way to slow him down! He’s too slippery… The spellmasters, get ready to act. Use whatever spells you can to hinder his movements!”

With this order, Guo Shier’s situation became dire. Low-level spells like fireballs, ice spells, and lightning spells rained down on him like hail. Though not very powerful, and thanks to his golden armor amulet and agile dodging, they barely harmed him, but they significantly slowed him down.

Fuye Xiangrong smiled triumphantly, “Little guy, let’s see how you run now!”

With a shout, Guo Shier suddenly changed direction and charged straight into the group of hunting vehicles. The light blades formed by the sword spells spun rapidly, creating a giant ring of light. Anything that touched it was cut in two, leaving behind piles of broken hunting vehicles. Guo Shier then roared and fled once more.

Fuye Xiangrong shouted, “Why haven’t the elite fighters who are supposed to encircle him arrived yet? Damn it, hurry up! If we delay any longer, it’ll get dark.” Unnoticed, the two sides had been fighting for nearly half an hour.

While flying, Guo Shier noticed many bulging mounds on the ground, and there were more and more of them. Looking up, he saw a tower-shaped mound in the distance. His heart stirred slightly, and he flew rapidly in that direction.

Guo Shier suddenly changed direction, causing chaos among the hunting vehicles. Most of them veered off course. Since they were chasing at full speed, it was difficult for them to turn around. Fuye Xiangrong cursed loudly and ordered the hunting vehicles to turn and continue the pursuit. In just that brief moment of delay, Guo Shier had already approached the tower-shaped mound.

It was a mound over thirty meters high, covered densely with openings, each about the size of a washbasin. Guo Shier felt a surge of excitement: “An ant nest? Could it be mutated ants? But I don’t see a single ant around… Never mind, let’s test it out first.” He flew past the tower-shaped mound from the side with a whoosh. A blade of light followed his movement, slicing diagonally across the upper half of the mound. The power of that blade was unparalleled; the upper half of the mound slowly slid down and collapsed with a loud crash.