Chapter 4: Collective Advancement (Part 1)

The shortest of the three stared at Guo Shier and Zhou Xiaoling, a hint of surprise in his eyes. These were two children, not yet adults, yet they were already advanced masters. Even in their own sects, such children were extremely rare. The short man stepped forward and asked, “Whose Spirit Beast is this?”
Guo Shier replied calmly, “It’s mine!”
Zhou Xiaoling grew anxious and shouted, “What do you want?” There was a trace of fear in her voice.
Guo Shier realized something was wrong—the girl was worried. He demanded, “Why did you attack my Spirit Beast?” He needed to take control of the situation first. If the other side admitted it, then they were the ones provoking him. No matter whether he won or lost, he would be in the right. This was a habit he had developed in his past life.
But the other side didn’t care about who was right or wrong. The short man said, “We saw two mutated talisman beasts fighting. That level-6 mutated talisman beast was killed by your Spirit Beast. Hey! Your Spirit Beast is pretty good. We didn’t even realize it was a Spirit Beast, so we attacked. Luckily, we didn’t kill it; otherwise, your loss would have been huge. Haha.”
Guo Shier sighed inwardly, knowing he couldn’t regain the upper hand. Fortunately, the other side didn’t intend to make things worse, so he didn’t want to pursue further. There was nothing to pursue anyway—the Giant Nest Dragon’s attack had been in vain.
Guo Shier said solemnly, “If that’s the case, forget it. Let’s go!”
Eagle Demon had long known Guo Shier wasn’t an ordinary child, so he wasn’t surprised. But Zhou Xiaoling was puzzled. “Just like that?” Guo Shier replied, “Let’s go, Dingding.” His tone showed no dissatisfaction, calm as if he weren’t a child at all.
The short man laughed, “This kid is pretty good! Knows when to hold on and when to let go! Guys, it’s fine. Let’s go!” With a whoop, he led a group of experts and flew away low over the ground. A few seconds later, they disappeared.
Only then did Guo Shier breathe a sigh of relief. In fact, he didn’t know that the other side also had significant concerns. Since Guo Shier and Zhou Xiaoling were so young yet at the level of advanced masters, it was likely they were disciples of extremely powerful sects. It was better to avoid provoking them if possible. With both sides having their reservations, the hidden conflict was resolved.
Eagle Demon wondered, “I thought you weren’t afraid.”
Zhou Xiaoling also looked at Guo Shier curiously, not understanding why he had been so calm earlier but now seemed a bit nervous.

Guo Shier hit his forehead and said, “Can’t you see? They’re a group of experts with extensive combat experience. Fighting against my Giant Nest Dragon, they can hold their own and even injure it. Their strength is definitely beyond what we can handle.”
Zhou Xiaoling said, “So what? They can’t attack us!”
Guo Shier replied, “To be precise, they can’t kill us directly, but they can steal our supplies and attract higher-level mutated beast spirits… They can use any method to kill us secretly…”
Zhou Xiaoling broke into a cold sweat. She said, “If we can’t win, I’ll just run away!”
Guo Shier shook his head. “If you can escape, I and Uncle Eagle Demon can also escape, but Lan Hu, Xuan Ai, and the others are doomed. After all, they’re our companions. We can’t abandon them.”
Zhou Xiaoling asked, “Is that really what you think?”
Guo Shier retorted, “Do I need to lie to you?”
Zhou Xiaoling thought for a moment and laughed. “Indeed, there’s no need to lie to me. Hehe, it’s okay, I was just scared…” She quickly covered her mouth. She knew calling herself “lao niang” sounded unpleasant, but she just couldn’t change it and blurted it out.
Guo Shier chuckled. He didn’t care at all about Zhou Xiaoling calling herself “lao niang”. Just like when he got anxious, he might say things like “I, the great master”. He said, “We should try not to offend such a group. It’s obvious they’re from the same sect. United, they can almost dominate the entire Bloody Secret Realm.”
Zhou Xiaoling shook her head. “Not necessarily. In fact, there are even more powerful experts hidden in the Bloody Secret Realm. They usually don’t intervene but choose to live in seclusion, unless provoked. These people… are those who have advanced but refuse to leave. They’ll only return after reaching the level of Saint Master or even Great Saint Master. But… that’s also very dangerous. If discovered by patrol experts, they’ll be immediately expelled from the realm, and their sect will also face compensation demands.”
Guo Shier asked, “What’s the requirement for leaving when practicing here?”
Zhou Xiaoling replied, “One must leave once they reach the level of Advanced Mad Master. Those at the Junior or Intermediate Mad Master level won’t be disturbed.”
Guo Shier felt anxious and asked, “So, there are quite a few Mad Master-level experts in the Black Mist Area?”
Zhou Xiaoling nodded. “Yes!”
Guo Shier smiled bitterly. “That’s troublesome… Mad Master-level experts are incredibly powerful.”

Zhou Xiaoling said with a smile, “Don’t worry. There’s no inheritance involved in advancing here. Even though your rank goes up, your strength increases only slightly.”
Guo Shier understood. Rank was like a weapon—pistols weren’t as powerful as rifles, rifles were definitely not as strong as machine guns, and machine guns couldn’t compare to artillery. The actual “inheritance” was the ammunition—without it, an artillery piece and a machine gun were no different. This comparison might be a bit odd, but it could roughly explain the relationship between advancement and inheritance.
“As long as they don’t bother us, we don’t need to bother them either.”
Eagle Demon said, “Hmm, we’re in a hurry… Try not to cause trouble.”
Zhou Xiaoling nodded as well. “People in the Black Mist Zone are all obsessed with cultivation. They usually don’t bother us, but… when operating in the Black Mist Zone, we often get dragged into trouble.”
Guo Shier asked in surprise, “Dragged into trouble?”
Zhou Xiaoling laughed. “Yes. I’ve been dragged into trouble a few times. It’s always because some guys accidentally attract high-level mutated beasts. They can’t defeat them, so they have to run. Hehe, if they encounter cultivators along the way, everyone runs together, often drawing a large group of people behind them… Then it depends on individual strength. Those who manage to escape are lucky; those who can’t… well, no one can blame them, because they’re already dead.”
Guo Shier said, “That’s really chaotic.”
Zhou Xiaoling said, “When cultivating in the Black Mist Zone, it’s best not to stay in one place for too long. Keep changing locations to stay a little safer.” Having cultivated in the Black Mist Zone for some time, she knew some patterns and taboos, which was very helpful to Guo Shier’s team.
Guo Shier sighed. “Our strength is still too weak. Uncle Eagle Demon, Dingding, go back and train them hard!”
Zhou Xiaoling was eager to train and discipline Big Beard and the others—it felt great. She said, “Shier, don’t worry. I’ll train them well, haha…” and laughed happily.
Guo Shier asked in surprise, “Dingding, what’s so funny?”
Zhou Xiaoling laughed. “It’s nothing. I just thought of something amusing.”
Guo Shier rode back to the camp on the Dark-Winged Demon Scorpion. Xuan Ai and the others felt as if they were facing a great threat. Eagle Demon said, “It’s okay. Nothing’s wrong. Everyone, continue cultivating.”
Big Beard’s son, Sun Min’er, ran up to Guo Shier and asked, “Shier, who are they?”
Before Guo Shier could answer, Zhou Xiaoling spoke up first, “People you can’t afford to provoke—we can’t afford to provoke either. Eleven high-level professionals, two of them at or above the level of Mad Masters!”

Sun Min’er turned and walked away, muttering, “Eleven advanced professionals? That’s too much. I’d better just focus on practicing earnestly…”
Guo Shieru went to the riverbank, released the Giant Perch Dragon, and said, “Hunt by yourself. Be careful not to draw attention.” The Giant Perch Dragon roared at the sky. In fact, it was also very angry, but with so many skilled opponents, it had no way to deal with them. It dived back into the river to continue hunting.
Eight more days passed. It wasn’t Sun Min’er who advanced first, but Eagle Demon. He successfully rose to the rank of Mad Master and seemed much younger than before. The talismanic patterns on his body gradually disappeared, only appearing on his skin occasionally. He was overjoyed and secretly relieved that he had persisted in following Guo Shieru, as his strength had improved so rapidly.
Guo Shieru looked at Eagle Demon and couldn’t help but say, “Oh, Uncle Eagle Demon, now you really look like an uncle!”
Eagle Demon asked in surprise, “Then what did I look like before?”
Guo Shieru replied nonchalantly, “Before… you looked more like an old man… well, a really old man!”
Eagle Demon laughed happily. “So I’ve become younger? Haha, great! I like it…” He swung his arm forcefully and said, “I feel my strength has at least doubled. If I get some inheritance, it shouldn’t be hard to increase it by three to five times.”
Guo Shieru sighed. He knew that if he took the Path of Illusion now, he could definitely break through to Mad Master, or even reach the rank of Intermediate Mad Master. But through his own hard practice, he still needed to put in more effort to reach that rank. He understood that only by breaking through through his own cultivation could he build a solid foundation. Although advancing on the Path of Illusion was easy, it had its drawbacks—namely, an unstable foundation.
Eagle Demon’s breakthrough inspired everyone, and they all entered a state of fervent practice.
This time, it took longer—eighteen days. As Sun Min’er and Peng Yuanwang successfully advanced, Guo Shieru regretfully realized that he still hadn’t made any progress. But he wasn’t in a hurry. At this point, advancing was only a matter of time; it mainly depended on accumulation. Once enough accumulation was reached, advancement would happen in an instant.
Both Guo Shieru and Eagle Demon were shocked—advancing here was so easy. Guo Shieru still had a question: Why had Li Ran sent him here? Could it be for the Blood Soul Stone? But why hadn’t Li Ran explained from the start? This mystery could only be solved when he met Li Ran again. But where could he find this mysterious Li Ran?

Guo Shier sighed secretly, thinking of his master Luo Jie from the Northern Talisman Sect and Grandpa Nanshan, as well as his master Kuumu and his wife Monier from the Chenxiao Sect. He wondered how they were doing now. His greatest concern was still Luo Jie and Grandpa Nanshan; they had disappeared in the altar secret realm, and no one knew where they had gone.
Zhou Xiaoling was getting impatient. She asked, “Shier, should we head to the Black Fog Zone now?”
Guo Shier nodded. “I’m about to reach the next level, and so are you. That way, we’ll have three experts at the Mad Master level; we shouldn’t have to worry in the Black Fog Zone.”
Zhou Xiaoling said, “If we encounter a level-9 mutated talisman beast, we still have to run…”