Chapter 666: Dispute

A rough estimate suggests at least three or four thousand Danube Beasts were killed. He He Lingchuan had no idea whether the Thunder-Qing Beasts or the violent hurricane had killed more. At the cost of their companions' flesh and blood, the remaining Danube Beast herd had already waded through the rock formation and charged into the stone mountains at the rear.

Looking at the wreckage strewn across the ground, He He Lingchuan suddenly felt that the cultivators on his side were not much different from the Danube Beasts.

Within the rock formation, lightning and thunder still flashed.

One look was enough for everyone to know that the Thunder-Qing Beast was still alive.

Its lord was also still alive.

"Go dig for floating stones, quickly!" He He Lingchuan pointed to the Danube Beast corpses stretching for miles and said to his teammates, "Pair up, and watch out for sneak attacks!"

For a hunter, this was a wonderful moment where gold was scattered everywhere!

Others entered the Fu Realm to make a living or earn money, but He He Lingchuan's goal was different; he ignored the Danube Beast corpses covering the ground and focused entirely on advancing toward the rock formation.

There were quite a few others who held the same idea as him.

It seemed everyone understood that the closer the beast corpses were to the rock formation, the higher the potential yield.

But the battle in the rock formation had not ended at all.

As He He Lingchuan approached, he realized the scene here could be described as tragic.

The thunder barrier set up by the giant Thunder-Qing Beast had already been broken; the area around the barrier had the most beast corpses, some piled two or three zhang high, most of them charred black.

But its own kind had also suffered more than fifty percent casualties.

No matter how powerful this lord-level monster was, it could finally no longer withstand the dual assault of the beast tide and the sandstorm, and it was covered in wounds. When He He Lingchuan saw it from afar, he even noticed blood spraying from its mouth and nose.

The sandstorm had lasted for three and a half hours, and it had persisted here for three and a half hours; it was now exhausted to the extreme, and every breath brought out a thick mist of blood.

But its opponents had also lost numbers.

He He Lingchuan had counted; there were originally seven Wu Beasts, but only five remained standing now, especially the leader, whose body was covered in burns and lacerations, as if there were hardly any intact patches of hide left on it.

The giant Thunder-Qing Beast hated it the most and, naturally, gave it the most attention.

He He Lingchuan did not dare to provoke these two monsters, so he circled far around them to look for the dead Wu Beasts.

That was his primary goal.

None, none, there were none anywhere.

He suppressed his impatience and began to patrol a second time.

The Danube Beast corpses were strewn about in disarray; it was not easy to find a Wu Beast corpse here.

This time, he remembered the mirror and tucked it into his arm. The Soul-Sucking Mirror had no eyes, but its ability to find objects was much better than his.

Soon, the mirror cried out: "Stop, stop, stop, to your left, to your left! No, a bit more to the right."

Five zhang away, there was only a pile of Thunder-Qing Beast corpses.

"Look down!" the Soul-Sucking Mirror said bluntly, "That small Thunder-Qing Beast, you have to look at its belly!"

He He Lingchuan did indeed see a small beast lying on its back, seemingly pressed under an adult Thunder-Qing Beast, its size only half that of an adult. But the Soul-Sucking Mirror said, the belly? He turned to the front and was shocked: inside the small Thunder-Qing Beast's belly, there was actually a Wu Beast! The Wu Beast's upper body was outside, its head already flattened, while everything below the waist was inside the small Thunder-Qing Beast's belly. It looked as if it had burrowed out from inside the small beast's body, but before it could escape, it was trampled to death by the furious adult beast—dead!

Seeing this scene, He He Lingchuan could instantly reconstruct what had happened.

Nine times out of ten, after the Wu Beast killed the small Thunder-Qing Beast, it burrowed into its belly, hollowed it out like a half-empty sack, and crawled inside.

What was the benefit of doing this? Perhaps, at the very least, it could avoid the gale outside? But he immediately saw some fragments in the Wu Beast's claws, on its body, and on the ground.

The fragments did not look like stones, because they had blue and green snowflake-shaped spots on them; they must have been particularly beautiful when intact.

No sooner said than done, He He Lingchuan glanced at it and was about to step forward, but someone darted out from the side and sliced off the Wu Beast's head with one blade! This strike was as smooth as flowing water, without wasting a shred of extra effort. Even in the Fu Realm, where gravity was more than triple, it did not lose a bit of its essence of stability, accuracy, and ruthlessness.

Good skill! He He Lingchuan's pupils shrank subconsciously as he looked at the newcomer.

It was actually Hu Bin? "Oh, Young Master He." He seemed to have just noticed He He Lingchuan and grinned in greeting, "You've come over too?"

But everyone knew this was no place for idle chatter.

"Brother Hu, could you part with the Wu Beast's head?" He He Lingchuan did not mince words, "I will pay a high price."

If he could buy it, he wouldn't rob; it was a waste of time.

"This?" Hu Bin held up the Wu Beast's head and shook it twice, "What do you want this for? There are floating stones everywhere to be picked up."

Corpses were strewn everywhere here, and everyone was busy cutting off heads.

Time was precious, and digging for floating stones was too troublesome; unless the beast head was too large, everyone just chopped off the head and stored it, waiting to open it later when they had time.

"I am refining a magic treasure and need its brain pill."

Hu Bin said "oh" and smiled, "Fine, bring me forty Su Beads, and this head is yours."

Forty? He He Lingchuan was displeased: "Brother Hu, could you change the terms?"

Everyone had just survived the sandstorm; no one had that many Su Beads on them. Besides, the gale had just passed, and who knew how far they would have to walk to find Su Bead grass again.

Right now, every Su Bead was a life-saving bead, yet Hu Bin dared to ask for forty in one go?

This was an intentional attempt to make things difficult.

"No changing, that's it." Hu Bin shook his head, "Or you can kill a Wu Beast yourself. There are still five or six alive over there."

He He Lingchuan's eyes flickered; since this person wouldn't drink the toast, why not? He had done his fair share of killing and black-on-black thievery.

But just as this thought arose, three or four more people appeared around them, all members of the Gold Horn family team.

Team Leader Zhou stared at the two and said: "Is there a problem?"

Considering that this guy had just mediated for others, He He Lingchuan tried one more time: "I want the Wu Beast's head, but he refuses to sell."

"I only want forty Su Beads; bring the Su Beads, and the beast head is yours." Hu Bin was unhurried, "Su Beads aren't worth anything outside, but a Wu Beast's head can sell for at least seven or eight thousand taels; in the end, you're the one profiting."

Team Leader Zhou coughed lightly: "Young Master He, trade is voluntary; it cannot be forced."

The others also gathered around, backing Hu Bin.

Should he fight this battle or not?

During the three and a half hours of the sandstorm, He He Lingchuan had slowed his breathing and only used seventeen Su Beads, but he had given three to his teammates, so he now had nineteen left.

It seemed more than enough, but Su Beads were the kind of thing that vanished quickly once a fight started. Besides, no one knew how far they had to walk to find Su Bead grass again to replenish their stock.

Therefore, every single one was precious.

Time and Su Beads were the most important strategic resources at the moment.

The Soul-Sucking Mirror also hurriedly urged its master: "Isn't there another dead Wu Beast? Look for it! It's not worth fighting them."

He He Lingchuan glanced at Hu Bin and turned to leave.

This person's voice still came from behind: "The deal is valid for one hour."

He He Lingchuan said nothing and continued to search for Wu Beast corpses.

"This person is targeting me."

The Soul-Sucking Mirror made an "eh" sound: "Aren't all hunters like this?"

"Forty, this price was set very skillfully. Any less, and I could scrape it together; any more, and I definitely wouldn't want it." He He Lingchuan looked back and found Hu Bin still staring at his back, "Usually I can find teammates to pool Su Beads, but at this critical juncture, no one can give me any."

After experiencing the super-long sandstorm, the teammates didn't have many Su Beads left either; every one was for saving lives. At this time, asking for beads was asking for their lives! Moreover, everyone was currently facing a time trap: as every second ticked by, they had to leave the sandstorm's area of influence before their Su Beads were exhausted, to reach other regions to harvest Su Beads.

The length of this journey was unknown, so they had to keep enough beads.

At best, most hunters' Su Beads couldn't last two hours; some teams had already left after the sandstorm ended, painfully leaving the Danube Beast corpses behind because there wasn't enough time.

The Fu Realm's sandstorm had a huge area of influence, and sending someone out specifically to harvest was not feasible; the round trip alone was more than two hours. No one dared to take such a risk.

Therefore, teams like the Chiyan team had to leave after lingering for at most another half hour.

Was Hu Bin hoping he would turn against the Chiyan people or go attack other teams?

After all, robbing was the fastest way to get goods.

But Hu Bin was intentionally staying with the Gold family team, so He He Lingchuan really couldn't just rob them.

A hunter from the Gold family team jumped down from the top of the corpse pile and happened to step on the Wu Beast's claws; with a "squelch," those fragments were shattered even further.

"This is a Wu Beast?" This person took out a blade to cut the outer skin and claws. Danube Beast materials could be sold for money; the rarer they were, the higher the price.

However, he walked two steps before realizing his shoe soles were stained with some pale greenish-white mucus.

"What the hell is this?"

But on this chaotic battlefield, what strange things weren't there? He didn't care, wiped his shoe soles, and went to harvest floating stones from other Danube Beasts.

Here, He He Lingchuan took the mirror and began a new round of searching.

However, there was nothing.

He was already sweating profusely, his legs felt like lead, but he couldn't find the remaining Wu Beast corpse anywhere.

Perhaps it was buried by sand, or perhaps it had already been decapitated by someone else. On this extremely chaotic battlefield, who could say for sure? He He Lingchuan could only set his sights on the living Wu Beasts.

The leader, he didn't even dare to think about; were there any softer persimmons among the other Wu Beasts? After observing for a round, there were.

There was a Wu Beast with a broken left leg and two clear burn marks on its belly, one of which had punched a hole through it. It not only walked with a limp but also kept its head half-lowered, clearly heavily injured and struggling.

But the problem was that another Wu Beast was staying by its side, almost never leaving its step.

Such monsters actually had emotions and bonds.

The most troublesome thing was that they were not far from the two giant beasts fighting in the center.

If He He Lingchuan wanted to kill a Wu Beast, he had to get close to the center of the battlefield.

In the end, a battle was unavoidable, he sighed, held a pill in his mouth, and went up with his blade.

The further he walked toward the center of the rock formation, the more He He Lingchuan felt his hair stand on end.

The stray electricity in the air almost made his hair stand up.

There were still dozens of living Thunder-Qing Beasts, gathered in the beast nest, facing outward in a circle, united against the Wu Beasts' attack.

When he climbed onto the mountain of corpses and looked, the scene before him made He He Lingchuan suddenly realize: on the sand pile in the center of the beast nest, there were two round eggs lying there!

(End of chapter)