Movie: Get Alpha Dog at the start

Chapter 1371 The mantis stalks the cicada and the oriole follows behind!

After passing through the narrow canyon of Yixiantian, a dense primeval forest suddenly appears before your eyes.

A thick, pale gray fog filled the forest, clinging to the tree trunks as if it were a tangible substance. A wave of the hand could only disperse the fog half a foot in front of you, before it would gather again further away, reducing visibility to less than five meters.

The air was filled with the damp smell of decaying leaves and a faint stench of monsters. The fallen leaves underfoot were several inches thick, making a soft "rustling" sound when stepped on, which was particularly clear in the silent, dense forest.

Qin Hao activated his divine sense to try to investigate the road ahead, but found that his divine sense was suppressed by the strange power in the thick fog after extending only ten meters. It was as if he was stuck in a quagmire and could not go any deeper. He could only vaguely sense the outlines of objects within a few meters ahead.

"This mist can actually suppress divine sense; it seems to be a residual effect of an ancient restriction."

He became secretly vigilant, his left hand reaching to his waist, and the Xuan Tie Scale Armor instantly activated—the pale black armor flew out of his storage bag, fitting him like a living thing, covering his shoulders, neck, chest, abdomen, and limbs. The joints of the armor plates gleamed with a cold metallic luster, and it felt cool to the touch but not heavy. At the same time, he took out a Golden Qi Talisman, and with a "snap," he stuck it to his chest. The talisman transformed into a pale golden light film, which quickly spread into a shield half a foot thick, enveloping his entire body.

After walking no more than a hundred steps, a gray figure suddenly darted out of the thick fog, its sharp teeth bared and claws gleaming coldly, heading straight for Qin Hao's throat—it was a level one demonic beast, the "Mist-Hidden Leopard."

This beast excels at concealing itself in the mist and is extremely fast; ordinary cultivators can easily lose their lives if they are not careful.

Qin Hao's eyes narrowed. His right hand didn't move, but the Crimson Soul Blade at his waist flew out on its own, turning into a streak of crimson light. With a "whoosh," the blade flashed, and the head of the Mist Leopard was separated from its body. The corpse crashed heavily onto the pile of fallen leaves, and the blood was instantly diluted by the moisture in the thick fog.

Qin Hao sheathed his Crimson Soul Blade, not even glancing at the corpse, and continued on his way.

Two hours later, Qin Hao had ventured dozens of miles into the dense forest. Along the way, he had dealt with three Mist-Hidden Leopards and a "Bone-Rotting Beast." His magical power was not greatly depleted, but he had to remain vigilant at all times, and his mind was inevitably somewhat fatigued.

He found an ancient tree that required two people to hug, and prepared to sit cross-legged to recover his magical power.

Shortly after they sat down, a loud "boom" suddenly came from the thick fog in front of them, followed by two figures rushing out one after the other, breaking through the fog and creating a brief moment of emptiness.

The figure in front was dressed in a yellow shirt, with a hot figure, but looked flustered and had disheveled hair, clearly having just gone through a fierce battle.

The figure behind her, dressed in white, appeared to be only sixteen or seventeen years old, but her eyebrows were raised and her eyes were filled with murderous intent: "You can't escape! Hand over the 'Blood-Coagulating Grass,' and I might leave you with a whole corpse!" The girl in white shouted coldly, raising her glass sword and sending a streak of cyan sword energy straight towards the female cultivator from Yellow Maple Valley.

"Don't even think about it! I found this Blood-Coagulating Grass first!" The female cultivator hurriedly dodged to the side, the sword energy grazing her shoulder and slicing a deep gash in the ancient tree behind her.

Qin Hao remained hidden in the thick fog, pondering, "The people of Huangfeng Valley? I might as well observe their situation. If there's an opportunity, I might as well play the role of the mantis stalking the cicada."

Before he could observe further, the female cultivator from Yellow Maple Valley suddenly shouted towards the ancient tree where Qin Hao was hiding: "Which senior brother is here? Quickly save your little sister! My fellow disciple is in trouble, I hope you can lend a helping hand!"

A helpless sigh came from the thick fog, and a black figure leaped down from the branches of an ancient tree—it was Han Li.

He was dressed in the gray outer sect robes of Huangfeng Valley, with a somewhat depressed look on his face. He had deliberately used a "fragment of a magic weapon" to conceal his aura and hid among the dense branches and leaves, thinking that he could hide safely. However, he did not expect that the disciples of Huangfeng Valley had planted the "Sympathic Attraction Technique" among themselves. As long as they were within a ten-mile range, they could sense the aura of their fellow disciples. Liu Rumei's shout directly exposed his location.

"Senior brother, save me! She destroyed all my magical artifacts!" Liu Rumei cried out as she saw Han Li appear, as if grasping at a straw.

While cursing inwardly, Han Li cupped his hands in greeting to the girl in white: "Fellow Daoist, always leave a way out for others, why be so ruthless?"

The girl in white sneered, "Since you insist on meddling in other people's business, then we'll die together!"

The two instantly clashed, with the white-clad girl's cultivation level clearly higher, having reached the twelfth level of Qi Refining, and she gradually suppressed Han Li.

Qin Hao was observing from the side when he suddenly noticed an extremely concealed aura in the thick fog three meters to his side. The aura seemed to blend into the fog, and if it weren't for his heightened senses after breaking through to the twelfth level of Qi Refining, he wouldn't have been able to detect it at all.

The source of the aura was under an old tree. The other party was even holding their breath, with only occasional faint fluctuations of magical power. Clearly, they were a hidden master who also wanted to be the one to suffer the consequences.

"Interesting. It seems I'm not the only one who wants to reap the benefits without lifting a finger." Qin Hao's lips curled into a cold smile.

In the center of the battlefield, Han Li had already taken out his most treasured Golden Light Brick Talisman from his storage bag, preparing to counterattack.

Just then, a beam of yellow light suddenly shot out from the thick fog to the side.

"Pfft——"

A three-inch knife pierced through the girl's heart from behind.

The girl in white was completely focused on Han Li's golden bricks and was utterly unprepared for the sneak attack from behind. With a "thud," her body stiffened, and she turned her head in disbelief, but before she could even scream, she fell heavily to the ground, lifeless.

A blue figure darted out of the thick fog and landed beside the white-clad girl's corpse. The man was short and stout, with dark skin and an extremely ugly appearance; a long scar ran from his forehead to his chin above his left eye. He ripped the storage pouch from the white-clad girl's waist, opened it, and burst into laughter: "I've been watching you for so long, finally my chance!"

Liu Rumei stared at the blue figure, her face turning deathly pale, her voice trembling: "Feng Yue, the 'madman' at the thirteenth level of Qi Refining in Tianque Fortress? What are you doing here?"

Han Li's heart sank – he had long heard of Feng Yue's reputation. This man was known for his ruthlessness and had already reached the thirteenth level of Qi Refining, just one step away from Foundation Establishment. He was much more difficult to deal with than the white-clad girl from before.

Just as Han Li was secretly lamenting his misfortune, a familiar voice suddenly reached his ear. A hint of joy flashed in Han Li's eyes, and his tense body relaxed a little. He began to quietly adjust his position, moving towards Feng Yue's left side, while reaching for the dungeon talisman in his storage bag.

Feng Yue was smugly examining the white-clad girl's storage bag when he suddenly heard a mocking voice coming from the thick fog: "Hey, ugly thing, that storage bag on the corpse was my prey that I had my eye on first. It's not appropriate for you to just take it like that, is it?"

He paused, then added with a deliberate sarcasm, "Well, that makes sense. Someone like you probably doesn't have any manners. How about you hand over your storage bag, kowtow to me ten times, and I'll let you go?

Feng Yue hated nothing more than having his appearance mentioned. Upon hearing the words "ugly monster," he flew into a rage, abruptly looking up at the source of the voice, his eyes filled with murderous intent: "Boy, you're asking for death! How dare you speak to me like that? I'll tear you to pieces!"

He turned to look at Han Li and Liu Rumei, gritting his teeth as he said, "And you two too, none of you are leaving here today!"

Liu Rumei's legs went weak with fear, and she secretly blamed Han Li: "How did you manage to provoke this madman? We're all doomed now!"

Han Li ignored her and, taking advantage of Feng Yue's rage and distraction, suddenly took out a dungeon talisman, infused it with magic power, and threw it at Feng Yue: "Fellow Daoist Feng, take this!"

The dungeon talisman transformed into an earthen-yellow light shield, instantly enveloping Feng Yue. "Hmph, a mere trick!" Feng Yue sneered, pulling out a talisman from his robes—the talisman paper was gray, with a small knife drawn on it; it was the "Wind-Splitting Blade Talisman." He channeled his magic power into the talisman, and the paper transformed into a three-inch-long gray knife, cleaving through the dungeon talisman's light shield with a single strike, freeing him from his confinement.

"Kid, is that all you've got? Remember to keep your mouth shut in your next life!" Han Li had just thrown out the dungeon talisman when he was in the middle of a power transition, leaving the entrance wide open and no time to dodge.

Seeing this, Liu Rumei closed her eyes in fright, thinking that Han Li was doomed. But just as Feng Yue revealed a bloodthirsty grin, a gray light suddenly shot out from the thick fog behind Feng Yue, moving so fast that it was invisible to the naked eye—it was Qin Hao's gray sword talisman! The gray light instantly pierced through Feng Yue's back and out through his chest, bringing with it a spray of blood.

"Pfft—" Feng Yue's body stiffened, and he looked down in disbelief at the bloody hole in his chest, where blood was gushing out continuously.

He slowly turned his head and saw a burly figure emerge from the thick fog, dressed in a blue Taoist robe, holding a long sword that glowed red in his hand. It was Qin Hao.

"Who...who are you?" Feng Yue's voice was weak, his eyes filled with resentment. Before he could finish speaking, he collapsed heavily to the ground, his breath fading away.

"Senior brother!" Han Li saw Qin Hao and his face lit up with a delighted smile. He quickly stepped forward.

Qin Hao smiled at him: "Junior Brother Han's acting skills are getting more and more superb. I almost believed his panicked look just now."

"Not at all," Han Li chuckled and scratched his head. "It was thanks to my senior brother's timely telepathic communication that I was able to avoid that blow today."

Liu Rumei stared blankly at the two men, unable to react for a long time—these two knew each other? And they seemed quite familiar with each other? She had just thought she was going to die, but now she realized what was happening and quickly stepped forward, saying, "Thank you so much, senior brothers, for saving my life! I, Liu Rumei, will definitely repay you in the future!"

Qin Hao glanced at Liu Rumei, then slightly raised his right hand, the tip of the Crimson Soul Blade glowing red—Liu Rumei was only at the tenth level of Qi Refining, and without her magic weapon, keeping her around might actually leak information.

Before he could make a move, Han Li stopped him: "Senior brother, let her go. Her magic artifacts were destroyed by that girl in white, and she doesn't have anything valuable on her. Why not let her take a Forget-Dust Pill and forget what just happened?"

Liu Rumei realized that she had just escaped death, and her face turned pale with fright. She hurriedly said, "I don't know anything after taking the Forget-Dust Pill. Please don't kill me."

Han Li tossed two Forget-Dust Pills to Liu Rumei, who immediately tilted her head back and swallowed them. Before long, she fell into a deep sleep.

Qin Hao looked at Han Li with a half-smile: "When did Junior Brother Han start showing tenderness towards women? This isn't like the person I know."

Han Li blushed and quickly changed the subject: "Senior brother, please don't tease me. By the way, what are your plans next?"

"Naturally, we'll go to the central stone hall. What about you, Junior Brother Han?"

After thinking for a moment, Han Li finally decided to split up with Qin Hao. After all, his purpose in coming to the Crimson Forbidden Land was to collect those spiritual herbs that were not old enough and take them back to mature them with the little green bottle. It would be inevitable that he would be suspected if he went with Qin Hao.

The little green bottle was his biggest secret, and he wouldn't reveal a single thing to Qin Hao.

Qin Hao naturally knew why Han Li did this, and said with feigned regret, "Then let's part ways here. Take care, Junior Brother Han."

"Take care, senior brother!" After parting ways with Han Li, Qin Hao continued to advance towards the central area, searching through the storage bags of "Duobao Nu" and Feng Yue along the way.

Duobao Nu's crystal ball magic artifact has an erosion effect and is a rare top-quality magic artifact. There is also a Qingning Mirror, which is also a top-quality magic artifact. Finally, there is a talisman with only a thin silver needle on it.

"Could this be Qiong Laoguai's Invisible Needle Talisman?" Qin Hao's heart stirred. Qiong Laoguai was known as the number one person below the Nascent Soul stage in the Seven Sects. His natal magic weapon was the "Invisible Needle," which was said to be able to fight against Nascent Soul cultivators.

As for the other high-grade magic artifacts, Qin Hao didn't think much of them. He tossed them into his storage bag, which was specifically for storing spoils of war, and planned to exchange them for spirit stones in the market after he left.

Feng Yue's wealth was not as great as that of "Duobao Nu" (a woman with many treasures). Only his small dagger talisman and cloud-stepping boots caught Qin Hao's eye; the rest of his possessions were only good for exchanging for spirit stones.

"With this, we now have three talismanic treasures. Not to mention Qi Refining stage cultivators, even Foundation Establishment stage cultivators would probably rarely have this much wealth, right?"

Qin Hao nodded in satisfaction, put away the storage bag, and continued to move towards the central area.

Three hours later, the thick fog gradually thinned, and a dark blue-green stone wall appeared faintly ahead. Qin Hao quickened his pace and passed through the last patch of fog.

A stone wall stretching for dozens of miles lay before us. The wall was ten zhang high and five zhang thick, made of huge bluish-black rocks, with ancient patterns carved on its surface, gleaming with a faint spiritual luster.

"Finally, we've reached the central area." He took out a map to compare with the map. The map showed that the central area was extremely large, accounting for one-third of the Crimson Forbidden Land. There were three layers of stone walls. The further in you went, the older the spiritual herbs became, and the stronger the demonic beasts became. The stone palace was located in the center of the innermost ring-shaped mountain range.

Qin Hao walked along the stone wall for half an hour and finally found a bronze door. The bronze door was five zhang high and three zhang wide, with patterns of ancient monsters engraved on its surface. It had no keyhole and could be pushed open by brute force.

After passing through the passage, a ring-shaped mountain range appeared before us. The mountain range was thousands of feet high and pierced the clouds. The clouds and mist swirled among the mountains, and the visibility was still very low.

Just then, a white beam of light suddenly shot out from the southwest, soaring straight into the sky and instantly condensing into a sphere of light a hundred feet in diameter, radiating a soft yet powerful light like a newly risen sun. Wherever the light passed, the thick fog in the mountains receded like a tide.

"So this is the Moon Sun Pearl? It truly is a rare treasure! It's a pity it's too conspicuous, and only suitable for use within the Crimson Forbidden Zone. Otherwise, I might consider stealing it!" (End of Chapter)