Chapter 10: The Gu Ming Family (Part 1)

Hai Miluo recited a few spells and said, “Whose symbol storage space is the largest? Hide this giant thunder eagle’s body!” The ancestral elders exchanged glances—this was no ordinary mutated symbol beast. It was an 18th-level mutated giant thunder eagle, over 1,500 meters long with wings spanning more than 2,000 meters. Who could have such a vast symbol storage space?
Li Ran said, “Let’s put it with me for now. We can divide it up later when we have time.” His altar contained a small secret realm, much smaller than normal realms but far larger than a symbol storage space. With a wave of his hand, the giant thunder eagle’s corpse disappeared.
Hai Miluo finally breathed a sigh of relief. If anyone had arrived at this moment and seen the 18th-level mutated giant thunder eagle, it might have caused conflict. Murder and looting happened frequently. Although Hai Miluo wasn’t afraid, such situations were troublesome, and he tried to avoid them whenever possible.
A moment later, over a dozen symbol lights streaked across the sky. They weren’t originally heading here, but halfway through their flight, they suddenly turned and flew toward the group.
Guo Shier and the others flew up to Li Ran and said, “Brother Li Ran, congratulations!”
Li Ran smiled and said, “I’m very excited about this place, hehe.” His gaze, however, was fixed on the distance. Soon, over a dozen altar-level professionals emerged from thin air, each sitting on an altar.
Guo Shier glanced around and saw that the highest-ranking one was a professional using a seven-layer altar, with most others using five-layer altars, and two using six-layer altars. When they recognized the ancestral elders of the Gu Miluo family present, they couldn’t help but step back slightly. This group was clearly stronger than them.
Feng Miluo stepped forward and said, “I’m Feng Miluo, the head of the Gu Miluo family. May I ask… which family are you from?”
The leader of the group stepped forward slightly and said, “We’re from the Gu Ming family, Ming Wudeng.”
Feng Miluo said, “Pleasure to meet you. Do you have any business?”
Ming Wudeng remained silent for a moment before saying, “If possible, could we form an alliance?”
For some reason, Guo Shier had a poor impression of Ming Wudeng. But since Hai Miluo and Li Ran were in charge here, he couldn’t make any decisions. He could only sit on his altar and silently communicate with the handsome old man.
“Handsome old man, why do I feel this guy is so sinister?”
The handsome old man laughed and said, “Don’t worry about it. With Brother Li Ran around, there’s nothing to worry about. Even if there’s danger, who can defeat him? Think about your real sister—hehe. Whoever gets on her bad side will truly be in trouble.”

Guo Shier turned to glance at Li Ran and saw him calmly hovering in the air. Among all the ancestors, he was the only one who hadn’t set up a altar, and this guy was very good at disguising himself—no one could tell his professional rank.
Feng Miluo asked, “Why join forces?”
Ming Wudeng said, “We’ve discovered a Level 16 Abnormal Talisman Beast…”
A Level 16 Abnormal Talisman Beast was equivalent to a Level 20 Mutated Talisman Beast, or even higher. Li Ran’s eyes lit up as he stared intently at Ming Wudeng but said nothing.
Feng Miluo said, “There’s prey… You can hunt it yourselves…” Before he could finish, he realized that with the strength of these professionals, it was impossible to defeat a Level 16 Abnormal Talisman Beast. No wonder they needed help.
Ming Wudeng said calmly, “Our strength isn’t enough to hunt such a powerful Abnormal Talisman Beast.”
Feng Miluo turned to look at Li Ran again. Seeing his indifferent expression, he felt a bit uneasy. Hai Miluo finally spoke up, saying, “Collaboration… isn’t a problem, but we need to clarify how the loot will be divided first. Otherwise, there’s no basis for cooperation.”
Ming Wudeng had already noticed Hai Miluo. Professionals with a seventh-tier altar were the top fighters here. Having a master with a seventh-tier altar in a team meant no other professionals would dare to provoke them. Provoking a high-level altar professional was a foolish move.
Li Ran showed a teasing smile.
Ming Wudeng said, “Of course, we’ll take the lead. We need the soul, blood, and heart of that Abnormal Talisman Beast.”
Hai Miluo laughed and said, “Then why cooperate? We’ll give you all the good stuff—just go kill it yourselves.”
Ming Wudeng’s expression remained unchanged as he said, “If we’re going to cooperate, we can negotiate. These are our demands, and you can also put forward yours.”
Guo Shier immediately realized this guy was a negotiation expert. Seeing him speak calmly and unflustered by Hai Miluo’s sarcasm, he knew this person would be tough to deal with.
Hai Miluo said, “The soul beast must belong to us—that’s the minimum. The rest can be discussed one by one.” He was also an old fox who had lived for a long time, so of course he wouldn’t show weakness.

Mingwudeng said, “Although this continent is full of Abnormal Talisman Beasts and Mutated Talisman Beasts, truly advanced ones… are still rare. Even if you stay here for several years, you might not be able to find one. That’s why cooperation is the right approach. With your current strength, it will be very difficult for you to kill a Level 16 Abnormal Talisman Beast. You might be able to defeat it, but not kill it… and in that case, you won’t get anything.”

Haimiluo said, “Hehe, that should be something I say.”

Li Ran suddenly interjected, “What kind of Abnormal Talisman Beast is it?”

Mingwudeng replied, “It’s a Silver-Threaded Spotted Dragon—a very rare dragon-type Abnormal Talisman Beast. It’s a completely abnormal dragon, mysterious and powerful.”

Guo Shier quickly searched through his inherited memories for information about abnormal dragon types. He soon found data on the Silver-Threaded Spotted Dragon. After reflecting for a moment, he understood this kind of dragon-type Abnormal Talisman Beast.

The Silver-Threaded Spotted Dragon is a variant of the Blood Dragon. Strangely enough, once it mutates, it almost always becomes an abnormal dragon, with its strength and value increasing by dozens of times. The most valuable part of it is its soul. Extracting its soul as an offering can greatly enhance the strength of the altar. If the altar is damaged, using the soul of the Silver-Threaded Spotted Dragon to repair it is not only fast but also makes the altar even stronger.

Secondly, its blood is one of the main ingredients for refining high-level talisman pills. Especially for this abnormal Blood Dragon, its blood is extremely precious. As for other parts of its body, they are also extremely rare materials. That’s why Mingwudeng, knowing he couldn’t defeat it, still tried to find help—he really didn’t want to give up.

Li Ran stopped talking. He went over to Guo Shier and said, “Be careful in a bit.”

Guo Shier was shocked. He asked in a low voice, “Is it a trap? Or do they want to play a trick on us?”

Li Ran grinned and said, “If they want to play a trick… that would be perfect.”

Guo Shier broke into a cold sweat. He knew Li Ran had intentions of stealing. He said, “We need to find the right place first.”

Li Ran smiled and said, “That’s why I let them act.”

In fact, with Li Ran’s strength, he could have directly captured Mingwudeng and obtained the location of the Silver-Threaded Spotted Dragon. But doing so would make them seem too domineering. Li Ran and Guo Shier shared similar views—they didn’t want to provoke trouble on their own, but if others took the initiative, they wouldn’t hesitate to act.

Soon, Hai Miluo and Mingwudeng finished their negotiations. The two sides reached an agreement and allocated the spoils in advance. Hai Miluo glanced at Li Ran. Seeing Li Ran nod slightly, Hai Miluo smiled and said, “Alright, Mingwudeng, lead the way. Let’s go together.”
Mingwudeng nodded and said, “Follow me.” The joy on his face was noticed by Guo Shier, who felt a slight disturbance in his heart. He always sensed something was off but couldn’t find any evidence to prove it.
The group split into two teams—Mingwudeng leading the way and Hai Miluo following. The two groups flew westward without interfering with each other.
Along the way, Guo Shier occasionally encountered mutated rune beasts, mostly low-level ones in groups. For example, groups of Iron-Armored Wild Bulls, mostly at level five or six, or seven or eight. Generally, among such groups, there were a few level nine or ten mutated rune beasts leading the larger group around.
Eagle Demon said, “No wonder there are so many high-level and aberrant mutated rune beasts here. There’s also plenty of food.”
Guo Shier replied, “Yeah, food…”
Li Ran had been by Guo Shier’s side the whole time. He simply flew onto Guo Shier’s altar and said with a smile, “Excuse me, excuse me… Hehe…”
Eagle Demon didn’t understand what he meant and asked, “Excuse me?”
Guo Shier knew it was a phrase from his past life and said with a laugh, “Sit down, Brother Li Ran. Do you think Mingwudeng… would dare trick us?”
Li Ran laughed and said, “If they knew I had the strength to surpass a ninth-tier altar, they definitely wouldn’t dare. But they don’t know.”
Guo Shier said, “Just pretend…” Ever since he first met Li Ran, this guy had been pretending, so he was always surprised whenever he saw him. It was only as a friend that he felt such surprise; if they were enemies, he probably wouldn’t even be able to cry.
Li Ran said, “One must keep a low profile, hehe. Have you noticed… if you’re too strong, it’s hard to make friends.”
Guo Shier thought it was true. If this guy had shown off his altar from the first meeting, he probably wouldn’t have dared to talk to him at all. But even back then, even if Li Ran had shown off his altar, he wouldn’t have understood. He had no idea what high-level professionals were like, let alone what an altar was.
Li Ran said, “That’s just this world. Life here is too monotonous. There’s nothing but cultivation and fighting. It can’t compare to the bigger world at all.”
Guo Shier replied, “Compared to life on Earth, it’s not bad here.”

Li Ran shook his head and said, “Life in the big world is beyond your imagination. Earth… is just an ordinary place. But there are many things on Earth that I find amazing, especially some ancient things. Like that elegy—it brought me such a surprise that I never expected it at all.”