Chapter 345: This Boy—He Must Not Be Allowed To Live!
"Meow~"
Pururu gently put down the still-flopping fish. After its two bodies merged back into one, it quietly sat beside the fire pit, watching Qi Han with anticipation.
Human, I caught these myself—you better cook them well!
Qi Han smiled slightly. With a practiced motion, he reached out and grabbed the fish. The flash of a knife danced across its body—descaling, gutting, and cleaning all done in a single smooth sequence.
Finally, he skewered the fish from mouth to tail with a wooden stick to hold it in place.
Once done, Qi Han repeated the same process for the second fish. Then he stuck both skewers upright into the ground, positioning them over the fire pit.
"Pururu, Zhui Yun, keep an eye on the food. I'm going to collect some firewood."
With that instruction, Qi Han's figure disappeared into the nearby forest to gather dry wood for the fire.
Roughly five minutes later, Qi Han judged that he had enough kindling. Tossing it into Ruyi's system space, he prepared to return—but suddenly, his expression shifted.
He heard the sounds of a fight coming from ahead… and that was exactly where he had chosen to rest!
Crap!
Qi Han's face darkened, and he dashed forward like a gust of wind. In no time, the creekside clearing came into view.
A tall, thin middle-aged man was walking toward Zhui Yun, who neighed furiously, panic and anger in its eyes. The man's gaze gleamed with barely hidden greed, and four spirit rings hovered behind him in a steady rhythm:
White, Yellow, Yellow, Purple.
Beside him stood a young man—also tall and thin, with about seventy percent similarity in appearance, clearly father and son.
The young man's two yellow spirit rings glowed brightly, and a long whip-like martial spirit appeared in his hands. He lashed out with the whip toward Pururu, shadows of the weapon slicing through the air.
"Meow!"
Pururu's eyes flared with fierce instinct, but due to its lack of real combat experience, it could only flee clumsily under the flurry of attacks, occasionally vanishing and reappearing using Mist Blink to dodge.
When the young man saw Pururu's ability to teleport, the greed in his eyes was fully unveiled.
"Stop!"
Qi Han roared, charging forward and blocking the whip with his body. Though it was an attack from a two-ring spirit master, he didn't even bother to release his own spirit rings. His gaze was piercing, and with a single slash of his cooking knife, he chopped the tip of the whip, forcing it to snap back.
"Meow!"
Pururu immediately darted behind Qi Han like it had found its protector, visibly shaken.
Meanwhile, Zhui Yun let out a piercing neigh and galloped toward Qi Han.
The middle-aged man, who had just reached Zhui Yun, narrowed his eyes but did not attack. He simply stared openly at Qi Han, gaze sweeping him up and down.
"This Blood Red Unicorn and that cat—are they yours?" he asked.
"Yes." Qi Han's face was stone-cold. He noticed a faint wound on Pururu's body, obviously from that young man's whip. "You attacked my companions without provocation. What do you think you're doing?"
"Companions?" The middle-aged man sneered. "This is the Star Dou Forest. We're spirit masters. When we encounter spirit beasts, we hunt them. Isn't that perfectly natural?"
"Are you blind? Can't see the signs of camp?" Qi Han replied coldly, pointing at the untouched packs and skewers of roasting meat and fish nearby. "Do spirit beasts roast fish over a fire?"
There was sarcasm in Qi Han's voice. This was the first time he'd been this angry, to the point that he no longer cared to be polite with this father-son pair.
The so-called "perfectly natural" was just an excuse. Their actions stemmed purely from greed.
Being rebuked and mocked by someone about the same age as his own son, the middle-aged man's face couldn't help but darken. The young man behind him looked even more furious and was just about to curse, but was quickly stopped by the older man.
The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes and locked a cold gaze on Qi Han.
"Young man, this is the Star Dou Forest. Countless spirit masters have died here. If something were to happen to you… no one would ever know."
The threat in his words was unmistakable.
"Hand over the Blood Red Unicorn and that cat, and I might let you live."
As Yu Lan issued the threat, a trace of glee flickered deep in his eyes.
'What incredible luck this is.'
His son, Yu Hong, had just turned twenty and recently broke through to level thirty in spirit power. Since finding a suitable thousand-year spirit ring was no easy task, Yu Lan had ultimately decided to bring him to the Star Dou Forest. Though more dangerous, the forest was teeming with a wide variety of thousand-year spirit beasts—making it much easier to find the perfect match.
As for Yu Lan himself, due to poor-quality spirit rings in earlier years, he had likely reached the limit of his cultivation. Four rings were probably all he'd ever get, which made him place even more importance on the quality of his son's spirit rings.
They hadn't even ventured deep into the thousand-year beast region yet. Just as they entered the forest and found a water source to rest, they stumbled upon these two spirit beasts.
The Blood Red Unicorn was strong and robust, with spirit power fluctuations that clearly placed it at the thousand-year level. As for the cat, it seemed to be only a hundred-year spirit beast—but it could teleport, a truly rare and valuable ability.
Either beast would be an ideal spirit ring for his son.
Yu Lan had of course noticed the nearby packs and setup, realizing this wasn't a random encounter—these beasts likely belonged to someone.
But so what?
Strike first, or risk losing the prize.
As long as they took the spirit beasts before the owner returned, everything would be fine.
Unfortunately, Qi Han had returned faster than expected, catching Yu Lan off guard.
Still, seeing the youth's age—similar to his own son—and sensing the level of spirit power when he blocked the attack earlier, Yu Lan made a quick judgment:
'This boy's cultivation is nothing impressive—probably only at the three-ring level, or just barely four rings.'
But Yu Lan was a seasoned Spirit Ancestor, with level forty-eight spirit power. Add in his level thirty son, and two against one? Victory was all but certain.
And once they beat him… both spirit beasts would be theirs.
Upon hearing Yu Lan's threat, Qi Han's expression turned even colder.
Perhaps because most of the spirit masters he'd met before were friendly, he had almost forgotten—not all spirit masters are good people.
This father-son pair was proof.
Instead of feeling ashamed when confronted, they responded with threats and murderous intent.
'Very well,' Qi Han thought, 'since you've delivered yourselves to me… then I'll settle the score for the injury Pururu suffered.'
His decision made, Qi Han gently patted Pururu behind him, motioning for it to retreat. Then he stepped forward and said in a cold voice:
"If you want them… then you'll have to step over my dead body first."
"Hah! Refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit?" Yu Lan sneered in rage. Behind him, his four spirit rings lit up instantly, and a serpent-like whip lashed out from his hand, its tail darting straight at Qi Han like a striking viper.
In that instant, Qi Han felt intense pressure. Though both had four spirit rings, Yu Lan's spirit power level was clearly much higher.
"Hmph!" Qi Han snorted coldly. His own four spirit rings appeared and hovered around the kitchen knife in his right hand. The first and fourth spirit rings flared simultaneously, and a dark blade arc slashed out at the whip's tail.
The attack's terrifying force shattered the oppressive pressure of Yu Lan's higher cultivation. The whip dimmed instantly upon being struck, a deep cut now marring its length.
With his martial spirit damaged, Yu Lan paled. But when he got a clear look at the outrageous spirit ring configuration on Qi Han's knife, his expression changed dramatically.
"Ah Hong, attack together!" he shouted.
This boy—he must not be allowed to live!
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