“I picked up a Xiao Huo from the Huo family, and he’s just too handsome! He wants to come home with me!”
Although Bai Hong and Huo Yuhao were actually the same age, given the transmigrator’s experiences, in terms of psychological maturity, Xiao Huo was purely a younger brother in front of Bai Hong.
What’s more, Bai Hong was a Sequence 6 “Hypnotist” of the Audience Pathway, and with a few words, he managed to trick Huo Yuhao into agreeing to hunt for his first spirit ring with him.
After helping Huo Yuhao spear a few fish onto the shore, Bai Hong brought his younger brother with the sparkling, large Spirit Eyes back to their campsite.
“Xiao Huo, it’s already noon. Let’s fill our stomachs first, and then I’ll take you to hunt for your first spirit ring.”
“Okay, Big Brother Bai.”
Bai Hong slightly activated the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear paw bone to strengthen his fingernails, deftly scaling and gutting the mackerel he had just speared from the stream. Xiao Huo cooperated by rubbing salt on the fish and stuffing them with perilla leaves, then placed the fish and the bear meat, which Bai Hong had generously provided, on the grill to roast.
Not long after, a unique aroma began to waft from above the bonfire. The several green fish and bear meat gradually cooked under their repeated turning, and with that rich fragrance, they were exceptionally enticing.
Bai Hong repeatedly examined the seasonings Huo Yuhao had brought, but couldn’t find any signs of added numbing or cooling agents.
But why was it so fragrant? Bai Hong was utterly baffled. Could this be the favored one of the God of Emotions?
“It smells so good!”
Just then, a surprised cry of delight rang out, clear and pleasant to the ear, startling Huo Yuhao.
Bai Hong wasn’t startled, but his expression grew serious.
His campsite was quite far from where Huo Yuhao had originally been. How did these two manage to find them?
Two people were seen walking along the stream. Leading the way was a spirited young girl with a long ponytail, followed by a gentle, elegant young man with dark blue hair. Both appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen years old.
The spirited young girl ran directly to the grill, drooling unconsciously: “Little brothers, do you sell this grilled fish…”
“Sure, ten gold coins a piece!”
Before the spirited young girl could finish, Bai Hong quoted his price on the spot.
“Ten gold coins! Why don’t you just rob us?!”
The spirited young girl gasped, then angrily retorted, “If you don’t want to sell, just say so! Your fish isn’t made of gold, how can it be worth ten gold coins?”
Xiao Huo was about to offer a freshly grilled fish to the girl in front of them, but Bai Hong stopped him: “Look around for dozens of miles, is there a second place selling grilled fish? Besides, do you two look like you’re short on this kind of money?”
“So what if we’re not short on money? Does not being short on money mean we deserve to be ripped off by you? Believe it or not, I’ll beat you up, you little scoundrel!” The spirited young girl showed her small fists, attempting to intimidate him.
Bai Hong remained unmoved. Instead, he picked up a freshly grilled fish and began to eat it in front of the spirited young girl, munching on it with great relish.
“You…!”
Just as the spirited young girl was about to step forward, she was stopped by the elegant young man beside her: “Forget it, forget it, Xiaoya. Since he didn’t intend to sell it in the first place, let’s not argue with him. We’ll just eat our dry rations…”
Bai Hong glanced at the reluctant spirited young girl, then looked at the gentle, elegant young man with dark blue hair, and continued to provoke them:
“Hey, I say, you’re really lacking in perception as a boyfriend, aren’t you? Your girlfriend wants to eat fish, so just buy her one! It’s only ten gold coins. You can’t be unable to afford it, can you? No way, right?”
The elegant young man’s face flushed red and then pale. Looking at the longing expression on the girl accompanying him, he finally gritted his teeth and pulled out ten large coins from his spatial spirit tool at his waist.
“Alright, sir! Here’s your grilled fish!”
Only then did Bai Hong pick up two grilled fish prepared by Xiao Huo and hand them to the elegant young man: “New store opening, spend ten gold coins and get one free! Please take these, honored guest!”
Then he turned and handed the ten gold coins to Xiao Huo: “Xiao Huo, you keep these. Your skill deserves to earn this much!”
Bai Hong didn’t care for these few coins; it was better to give them all to Huo Yuhao.
The elegant young man and the spirited young girl looked at each other, then at the grilled fish in their hands.
At least it had gone from ten gold coins per grilled fish to five gold coins per grilled fish. They could only assume this little scoundrel had suffered a huge loss.
“Xiao Huo, you just eat the meat I grilled.”
Bai Hong handed the freshly grilled Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear meat to Huo Yuhao, looking at the couple who were currently feasting: “Let them grill the fish. After all, we took ten gold coins from them, so we have to make them feel the money was well spent.”
“Worth it! It’s really too worth it!”
The spirited young girl devoured a grilled fish like a whirlwind, then quickly gave Bai Hong and Huo Yuhao a thumbs-up: “Grill two more for me! I’ll pay for these two!”
This time, Bai Hong didn’t even need to speak; Xiao Huo’s eyes immediately sparkled with the light of gold coins, and he quickly began preparing for the second round of grilled fish.
Mid-meal, after the elegant young man Bei Bei, who had already exchanged names, had devoured three grilled fish, he pointed at the bear meat Bai Hong was grilling and asked, “Little brother Bai Hong, how much is this grilled meat?”
“Twenty gold coins per piece, no bargaining, no buy-one-get-one-free… However, if you can buy this, then I can treat you to it for free.”
Bai Hong swiped his spatial spirit tool, and a large piece of dark golden fur appeared before Bei Bei’s eyes. There were still traces of blood on it, as if it had just been cut off and not yet cleaned. The entire fur emitted the unique fierce aura of a Spirit Beast, as if showcasing the formidable might the Spirit Beast had possessed in life.
“This is… Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear fur!”
Bei Bei’s pupils contracted, staring intently at the fur in Bai Hong’s palm.
The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear was a famous fierce beast species in the Star Dou Great Forest, a powerful Spirit Beast with almost no rival in offensive and defensive capabilities within the same age limit.
“Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear fur!?”
The spirited young girl, Tang Ya, couldn’t sit still either. A woman’s innate love for fur made her eyes fixate on the bear fur.
“That’s right, a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, five thousand years old. I encountered it a few days ago in the Star Dou Great Forest mixed zone. It took me a tremendous effort to kill it…” Bai Hong caressed the bear fur in his hand.
“So this grilled meat…”
“Indeed, it’s Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear meat.”
Bai Hong nodded to Bei Bei: “Five thousand eight hundred gold coins. As long as you buy this Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear fur, this meal of grilled meat is free!”
Xiao Huo Yuhao was very happy; he had made a hundred gold coins this noon. Bai Hong was also very happy; he had made a small profit of five thousand eight hundred gold coins this noon.
Bei Bei and Tang Ya ate to their heart’s content, and Xiao Huo Yuhao also ate his fill. Having been continuously fed Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear meat by Bai Hong, he now felt warm all over, and his body became more energetic.
“Brother and sister, I still need to help Xiao Huo obtain his first spirit ring. Xiao Huo and I will take our leave first.”
Bai Hong took Xiao Huo Yuhao and bid farewell to the young couple from Shrek Outer Court.
He was eager to take Xiao Huo to solo the Beast God Wind Ape and also had to welcome the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm and Iler克斯, so he wouldn’t delay any longer with Bei Bei and Tang Ya.
Tang Ya watched Bai Hong and Huo Yuhao’s departing figures, nudged Bei Bei with her elbow, and thoughtfully said, “Hey, what do you think of these two?”
Bei Bei shook his head and said, “It’s hard to say. That Xiao Huo doesn’t have his first spirit ring yet, but little brother Bai Hong… although he didn’t reveal his Spirit, I feel his spirit power and vitality are quite profound, and his words and actions are rather old-fashioned. I have a hunch that the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear was probably hunted by him alone.”
Tang Ya stuck out her tongue and said, “You even think he’s very good. Why don’t we recruit them into the Tang Sect?”
“You’re not just trying to recruit them because their grilled food tastes good, are you?”
“Heh heh!”
…With different excited moods, Bai Hong and Huo Yuhao finally saw the legendary Spirit Beast of the Spirit Beast World, the ten-year Wind Ape, which was both a Beast God and a novice village monster!
Xiao Huo Yuhao nervously clutched his White Tiger Dagger. Just as he was about to do something, he heard several clicking sounds beside him.
Bai Hong held up his photographic spirit tool and continuously snapped photos of the Wind Ape. The blinding flash made the Wind Ape howl.
“Pay attention, this is the first ferocious beast in the history of the Star Dou Great Forest that can only drop a white spirit ring! The co-lord of Spirit Beasts! The Beast God Wind Ape… Oh, little brother, why did you die?!”
Bai Hong, who had just pressed the record button and was about to narrate, saw the unbearable Wind Ape roar and charge at him. He quickly slapped it away… Five dark golden, ferocious claw marks, accompanied by a whistling sound that cut through the air, flashed by. The Wind Ape had just leaped forward when its body disintegrated into more than a dozen large pieces, scattering across the ground.
Huo Yuhao watched all of this in disbelief, feeling that everything had happened too quickly, his brain overloaded… “Alright, Xiao Huo, let’s keep going. The Wind Ape’s spirit ring isn’t suitable for you…”
Bai Hong pulled Huo Yuhao, and just as they were about to continue walking, the ground in front of them suddenly trembled slightly, and cracks began to appear.
“I finally encountered humans with mental attributes, and two of them at that! It’s a pity I can’t cry, otherwise, I’d be in tears!”
A voice filled with ecstatic joy simultaneously rang out in Bai Hong and Huo Yuhao’s Minds.
“Big Brother Bai, this is…”
Huo Yuhao, without being taught, shielded Bai Hong in front of him.
“Don’t panic, your spirit ring is being delivered to your doorstep now.”
Bai Hong chuckled softly, and a quill pen and notebook appeared in his hands.
The cracks in the ground gradually turned into fissures, and faint golden-white light could vaguely be seen shining from within them.
A moment later, a massive animal burst out of the ground!
It had a round, plump, and fleshy head, over a meter in diameter. It slowly wriggled out, its body over seven meters long, with ten golden stripes from head to tail.
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, making a grand debut!
Xiao Huo Yuhao cowered behind Bai Hong, yet still couldn’t hide his curiosity as he looked at this giant silkworm baby.
“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you…”
Brother Tianmeng had just opened his mouth to comfort them when Bai Hong combined the quill pen and notebook in his hands and loudly chanted: “Oh Fantasist who descends into the peerless!”
What on earth?
Brother Tianmeng sensed a terrifying, rapidly growing aura from the black-haired, black-eyed youth in front of him: “Wait, I’m not your en…”
“You are the supreme ruler of the World of Mind! You are the Father of Insight of all things! Your humble favored one, Bai Hong, implores your favor!”
A brilliant white radiance suddenly surged from Bai Hong’s body!
“This is… divine force? You are a favored one? No, no, no! I’m not your enemy!”
Brother Tianmeng began to panic. Crucially, it also discovered that it couldn’t use its proud mental force to forcibly interrupt Bai Hong’s chanting process!
“I implore you to bestow upon me the Sword of Dawn to slay my wicked foe!”
Bai Hong completed his chant, and the brilliant white radiance beneath his feet gradually solidified, finally forming a greatsword wielded with both hands, its blade like flame!
This was the “Sword of Dawn,” the iconic skill of a Warrior Pathway Sequence 6 Dawn Knight, which he had briefly materialized using the Sequence 0 Fantasist God Position!
It was a Sword of Dawn with full divine force pressure, and it even possessed a certain degree of lethality—determined by the full power of Bai Hong’s current Spirit Master cultivation.
In other words, it could only unleash the power of a full-force strike from his current three-ring, level 38 Spirit Elder cultivation, with a bit of pressure from the Sequence 0 Fantasist True God Position.
Aside from intimidating Brother Tianmeng and preventing him from acting rashly, this Sword of Dawn had almost no practical use.
Bai Hong drew the greatsword and rested its blade on Brother Tianmeng’s head: “Shut your mouth! You flying bug that’s been lying around for a million years! From now on, you’ll do whatever I say! Can you do that?!”
Brother Tianmeng’s pair of sparkling golden eyes were filled with panic, and its white silkworm head nodded incessantly.
It only wanted to find a mental force Spirit Master as a host to carry out its god-creation plan, but it had never thought it would actually be cut down by a True God who had descended into the World?!
“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you…”
Patting Brother Tianmeng’s crystal-clear big head, Bai Hong, who hadn’t paid Brother Tianmeng for the copyright of that last sentence, turned and said, “Xiao Huo, this is the spirit ring I’m going to have you absorb later, the first million-year intelligent spirit ring in the history of the Douluo Continent!”
“Ah?!”
Huo Yuhao stared dumbfounded at Bai Hong and the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm in front of him. For a moment, he even lost the ability to think.
“Yes, yes, yes! I can become your first spirit ring! This is a million-year intelligent spirit ring!” Brother Tianmeng, desperate to survive, nodded like a pounding garlic!
It had originally wanted to choose Bai Hong, after all, Bai Hong looked much stronger than the scrawny Xiao Huo Yuhao.
Unfortunately, the Sword of Dawn was still resting on its neck, Bai Hong still looked at Tianmeng with disdain, and Bai Hong was only level 38 now, not yet time to absorb a spirit ring, so Tianmeng couldn’t possess him either way.
“Let’s start now. Don’t worry, Brother Tianmeng, the co-lord of Spirit Beasts in the land of great danger can sense the pressure of a True God here. Those fierce beasts that bullied you before definitely won’t dare to come over now.”
Bai Hong rubbed Tianmeng’s head again; it was soft and squishy, and felt good to the touch.
Gu Yue, the little girl who self-righteously believed she had a great grudge against the God Realm, and Di Tian and the other fierce beasts, if they were to sense the divine might created by Bai Hong at this moment, their first reaction would only be to think that people from the God Realm had come to arrest the fugitive Silver Dragon King.
Naturally, they would have to play dead and stay silent.
Only then did Tianmeng Ice Silkworm relax. With a favored one of a True God protecting it, it wouldn’t have to fear being caught and taken back by Di Tian and the others.
“I’m going to start now, okay? Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle, it won’t hurt you too much… Oh, I’m sorry, don’t hit me!”
“If you keep mouthing off to me, I’ll take this sword and chop you into eleven pieces along your golden stripes!”