Poof!
Following a giant splash of blood, a lower ninth-rank Gold Hare collapsed under the pincer attack of the Dark Dragon Hound and the Inferno Dragon.
The hound happily picked away several slices of hare meat, before it skillfully tore through the creature’s stomach, pulled out an energy crystal, and approached the Purple Python waiting nearby. While sitting behind the python’s sharp scales, Su Ping remotely pulled the crystal to him and stuffed it into his storage.
“Don’t leave any traces,” he ordered his pets using his spirit.
The Inferno Dragon was pretty good at such clean-up work by then. It unleashed some deadly flames from its body and burned up the hare’s corpse within a few seconds, leaving only a patch of charred dirt behind.
They moved on after their enemy had been dealt with. This was a shortcut along a river that would take them to the treasure faster. Only that it was a riskier choice compared to wider paths since there were lots of monsters dwelling both inside the river and along the riverbanks.
The Mysterious Realm became open to the public two days ago. Someone might have already come here when no one was looking. I wonder if the treasure was already taken… Su Ping thought with a grim look.
The Dark Dragon Hound suddenly sent him an alert. Immediately, both the Purple Python and the Inferno Dragon hugged the ground.
Following the hound’s direction, Su Ping looked up and managed to see a tiny dot drifting in the sky.
That’s a… Hermit Sparrow.
Su Ping squinted his eyes and carefully inspected this eighth-rank avian pet which was usually famous for its superior eyesight, even more effective than thermal scopes. Common means of camouflage were useless against it. Although this bird had a huge weakness; it couldn’t detect targets with exceptionally low body temperatures very well.
Although, most monsters in the wilderness were “hot enough” for the bird to see, unless something deliberately lowered its metabolism to escape such detection, which was not very likely; only battle pet warriors could think on that kind of level.
Hermit Sparrows are social, which means there are more of them nearby. Or, maybe it’s being controlled by a settler… Su Ping carefully assessed the situation while assuming the worst. This was necessary if he wanted to stay alive.
If it has an owner, that man must be within 25 kilometers.
Such knowledge was usually available in academies, though Su Ping still knew it thanks to his survivalist training. At the moment he had another reason to avoid unnecessary battles so as to not to attract troublemakers. He wanted to snatch the treasure and leave as fast as he could manage.
I can’t hide from that sparrow. If its master is an eighth-rank pet master, then he or she should already know I’m here…
As Su Ping tried to decide what to do, the bird suddenly dashed away.
What is it doing? Maybe its master is in danger, or…
He pondered and began chasing the bird with his pets.
Momentarily, he arrived at a cluster of dead trees, a place he was quite familiar with.
Without a second thought, he ordered his pets to stay low and head further inside.
The smell of rot in the air immediately reminded him of where he was.
“There’s an Anima Fruit growing around here.”
Such a fruit was a potent supplementary item for Undead-type Astral Pets because it contained rich undead energy. Low-rank Undead pets might directly evolve by consuming it. The fruit was also a valuable treasure in this sector. Still, Su Ping had only thought about it until then because he had been too focused on getting the main one.
Retrieving the fruit wouldn’t be easy, however, as those woods were being guarded by a great many ninth-rank monsters. To make it worse, there was an upper ninth-rank Quietus Wraith watching over the fruit, which was skilled at powerful spiritual attacks that couldn’t be defended against easily. Back inside the corresponding dragon scale land, Su Ping managed to kill it after dying a dozen times together with the Inferno Dragon.
He believed that the wraith was an even worse enemy compared to that giant Flame Blood Dragon.
=
He lifted an arm and summoned Little Skeleton. The skeleton stayed unmoving for a moment beside his feet, before it hopped in delight upon sensing the undead energy all around the environment. With his full team in operation, Su Ping slowly entered the woods.
In the middle of the woods lay a patch of empty earth surrounded by towering trees, save for a lone pile of dirt and a tiny tree growing in front of it.
This tree was pitch black from top to bottom, and was constantly coated inside ominous dark mist from which the faint cries of ghosts could be heard.
Two groups of people stood waiting on both sides of the tree, together with several pets of various sizes and looks. The bigger group with nine people had only summoned three pets, but they appeared no less compelling when compared to the other six-men group who had more pets out. “I know the Tang family is well-respected in the base city. But we’re not in the city anymore! We found it first, and we’ll take it!”
The speaker was carrying a sealed box in his hand, from where tiny swirls of black energy were leaking, either because the box was not tight enough, or whatever was inside could not be fully contained.
With the help of the Hermit Sparrow, Tang Ruyan’s group had arrived at a rare Wraith Tree only to find that somebody was already collecting the bounty.
It was said that this tree only produced a single fruit over the course of 1,000 years, which was used for greatly enhancing Undead-type Astral Pets. The Tang family did have many young members who used such pets, so they wanted to retrieve the fruit for their own use. The growth of their future generation was critical.
“Since you know who we are, I suggest that you hand it over,” Zhuo Fengqun responded steely. “Even if you manage to get away with it, I doubt you’ll live long enough to keep it.”