However, they were not far from the domain of the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth now, and the two monsters ahead possessed potent frost powers. He Lingchuan wanted to try his luck and see if they might produce concretion stones similar to frost pellets.
A frost silver beast might not be harder to fight than those two, but their whereabouts were a mystery. Besides, this was He Lingchuan's first time entering the Fu Realm; searching for their tracks among the vast mountains would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The further southwest they went, the more open the terrain became, and the beast herd grew ever more colossal. From several hundred beasts at the start, it gradually swelled to several thousand, until the plains were densely packed, the original color of the ground scarcely visible.
By He Lingchuan's rough estimate, there had to be at least ten thousand.
Predators and prey mingled within the throng, each and every one irritable and frenzied, yet all surging forward in a single direction.
Behind the massive herd were several more tiny black specks moving so fast they could barely be tracked with the naked eye.
Wherever they dashed, the beasts in that sector jostled and scrambled desperately forward.
Evidently, there were far more than just two of those bizarre monsters.
Even an experienced hunter like Captain Zhou watched for a while before remarking in astonishment, "They're actually herding the Donao beasts."
The creatures understood flanking, encircling, and coordinating in unison, working together as seamlessly as hunting hounds.
For Donao beasts, this was inconceivable.
"See that giant white rock ahead? Once we pass it, we'll be in the domain of the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth."
He Lingchuan looked over. The ground there was a deep black, completely different from the iridescent colors outside. Occasionally, arcs of lightning slithered across the surface, sparking with bursts of blue-white light.
"Thunder-Wielding beasts occasionally patrol this area to reinforce their borders."
He Lingchuan noted that he said "Thunder-Wielding beasts" rather than "Behemoth." "Are there many of them?"
"Squads rarely venture into this area, and no one has counted in recent years, but their numbers should be substantial," Captain Zhou said. "After all, once a lord is born among their kind, the pack gains its protection."
Once they passed the white boundary stone, hollow, rhythmic clacking cries echoed across the plains, rising and falling one after another.
The monsters driving the herd were communicating with one another.
Almost simultaneously, they picked up their pace.
Under this uncanny pressure, the beast tide blanketing the land surged forward faster and faster.
In the end, it turned into a raging torrent, rolling inexorably ahead.
Plumes of dust blotted out the sky.
Just then, several new hunters arrived from behind, drenched in sweat.
Joining the main group, they brought grave news:
"A dust storm is coming."
He Lingchuan immediately heard sharp intakes of breath all around him. A dust storm? Was it really that terrifying?
Looking into the distance, he indeed saw movement along the far horizon.
Whirling vortices of sand and dust billowed upward, seemingly streaked with flashes of violet-red lightning, presenting an eerily surreal sight.
Remote though it was, He Lingchuan could already sense the impending pressure.
Of course—the Fu Realm had virtually no vegetation. Once a dust storm kicked up, the scale of it... well.
The hunters burst into groans and curses.
"How can we be this cursed this time? A beast tide and a dust storm all at once!"
Captain Zhou bellowed, "Disperse! Disperse! Go gather cleansing beads, now!"
There was no time to explain. The crowd scattered at once without needing to be told twice.
The Chiyan squad also dashed outward. A teammate warned He Lingchuan, "Gather cleansing beads—as fast as you can, as many as you can!"
Everyone fanned out across valleys, rocky crevices, and open plains, harvesting every bead they spotted.
He Lingchuan asked humbly, "What's going on?"
"A dust storm in the Fu Realm is nothing to take lightly! One hit ten years ago, and over a hundred hunters died!"
A dust storm could kill people? But the hunters who entered the Fu Realm were no ordinary folk; they were at least cultivators or demons, possessing immense resilience against harsh natural environments.
"They weren't necessarily killed by the storm itself, but a dust storm here lasts a long time—easily two or three shichen!" His teammate bent over to pluck beads, speaking rapidly. "Most died because their supply of cleansing beads ran out, and they suffocated to death!"
He Lingchuan understood.
The key to surviving in the Fu Realm was the cleansing bead, and once the dust storm hit, it would likely sweep them all away!
That meant no beads could be harvested for two or three shichen.
Moreover, cleansing bead grass grew prostrate along the ground, with visibly shallow roots. When the gale struck, the plants would surely be torn to shreds, wiped out along with their beads.
Once the storm passed, basic survival would become an ordeal for these outsiders.
Therefore, before the storm struck, everyone had to harvest every bead they could and stockpile enough to stay alive!
Understanding the gravity of the situation, He Lingchuan dared not dally, deploying his Returning Swallow movement technique to dart all about.
Each plant usually bore three to seven cleansing beads, and after being harvested, it took another two or three shichen for new ones to grow.
Which meant that from the onset of the storm until everyone weathered the catastrophe and ventured out to harvest again, at least five to six shichen would elapse!
Every hunter consumed eight cleansing beads per shichen, so to survive five to six shichen, one needed over forty beads at the bare minimum.
Only now did everyone realize the grim predicament:
Earlier, they had all been trailing behind the beast tide. In its advance, countless cleansing bead plants had been trampled to pieces. Consequently, this vast plain had become barren ground for foraging. He Lingchuan dashed dozens of zhang, yet found only two plants.
On such an open plain, beads were scarce while people were many.
Trouble. Looking northeast, he saw that the distant dust storm was sweeping forward like an advancing wall, having long since breached the horizon.
Across the barren wasteland, it moved far faster than a galloping steed.
He Lingchuan kept his head down and chopped away, his movements swifter than the others' thanks to the Returning Swallow technique.
By unspoken convention among hunters in the Fu Realm: harvest the bead without harming the grass.
That way, after two or three shichen, the cleansing bead grass could produce pearls anew. If the stems and roots were severed, there was no telling how long it would take for new plants to sprout.
It was a courtesy that benefited everyone.
Faced with a natural disaster, however, no one cared anymore. A single slash severed the stem; taking the grass along with the beads was far quicker.
He Lingchuan was exceptionally fast; in the time it took others to harvest three or four plants, he had already slashed ten.
There was only so much cleansing bead grass on the plain. If he harvested more, others got less. Thus, another hunter grew furious and shouted at him, "Leave some for the rest of us, will you? Don't be so ruthless!"
Between the crevices of some nearby rocks sat three or four surviving clumps of cleansing bead grass. He Lingchuan swung his blade in a blur, swiftly chopping them all down.
The man flew into a rage, poised to swing his axe at him.
Yet He Lingchuan tossed two intact cleansing bead plants over. "You're too slow."
The man instinctively caught them, caught off guard. By then, He Lingchuan had already leapt away in two strides.
Time was precious; he had no desire to waste it squabbling.
He was just about to harvest some cleansing bead grass seven zhang away—a few clumps growing at the edge of a rock formation that had also escaped trampling—when another hunter charged toward them like the wind.
Weighing the distance, He Lingchuan yielded.
Yet before he could turn around, he saw that hunter backing away step by step, chin raised, gripping a warhammer tightly.
Though He Lingchuan stood behind him and could not see his face, he could feel the man's muscles coiled tight, fraught with extreme tension.
Tracing the line of the man's fixed gaze, He Lingchuan saw a colossal beast leisurely saunter out from behind the boulder.
It was another of those unknown monsters, but this one measured well over three zhang—more than ten meters—in length, and when rearing on its hind legs, its height could approach a full zhang.
At such immense size, the sense of oppression was on an entirely different level.
Though another man stood between He Lingchuan and the monster, when those yellow eyes locked onto him, he still felt an overpowering aura bear down upon him.
That gaze was at once bloodthirsty and savage, cunning and suspicious.
He Lingchuan could even discern contempt.
Could Donao beasts truly possess such high intelligence?
What proved most chilling was that it had originally been grayish-black; crouched among the boulders, not even He Lingchuan had detected it. Yet as it stepped forward, its skin rapidly shifted into a spotted, dark reddish hue.
The creature actually knew how to use camouflage.
When the people of Lingxu City entered the Fu Realm, whether Tongxin Guards or Imperial Guards, their origin power vanished, making it very difficult to see through such camouflage.
Different worlds, different laws; origin power from the mortal realm could not be brought here.
The monster watched the retreating hunter without pursuing. Instead, it reached out a foot and crushed the cleansing bead grass beside the rocks.
The three or four little plants that had grown together were thoroughly trampled underfoot. The pearls shattered across the ground with crisp pops, dissolving into vapor.
Everyone who witnessed this was left speechless.
He Lingchuan was certain that the monster had deliberately stomped the cleansing bead grass before their very eyes.
In other words, it knew full well how vital the cleansing bead grass was to visitors from the mortal realm.
Moreover, doing so brought no benefit to itself, yet it did it anyway—purely indulging in spiteful pleasure at others' expense.
Pleasure, vengeance, malice, mockery—could Donao beasts truly harbor such complex emotions?
Next, the monster strode forward.
With such a massive body under such heavy gravity, it moved completely soundlessly, without causing the slightest tremor in the ground.
The hunter in front went pale as ash. Unable to bear the pressure any longer, he turned and bolted.
"Idiot!" the others cursed under their breath upon seeing this.
Turning your back and running before a predator wasn't fleeing; it was provoking it.
Stirring up a beast's bloodlust served no one well. You couldn't even pull that stunt before ordinary Donao beasts without them giving chase.
Yet the behemoth merely cast him a detached glance, entirely unmoved.
Instead, it swerved and walked toward He Lingchuan.
His scalp prickled. Why did this thing have to single him out?
Looking up at the behemoth from this close truly gave one the perspective of prey; the hairs on He Lingchuan's back stood on end.
Yet the monster did not pounce. It merely lowered its head and sniffed twice.
He Lingchuan saw its nostrils flare, as though trying to identify a scent.
Fusheng was already in his grasp, muscles taut as he prepared to leap back at any moment.
To his surprise, the beast snorted loudly, shook its neck, turned, and sauntered away.
In the blink of an eye, it vanished in pursuit of the beast tide, its massive bulk bounding away with an uncanny grace.
Watching its silhouette disappear, the hunter who had just dodged a bullet murmured, "Could that have been a lord-tier beast?"
The aura of oppression it exerted was immense, but no one could be sure if it was a new lord of the Fu Realm without fighting it.
None of those present had any desire to do so, and they immediately turned back to gathering beads.
Yet He Lingchuan was uneasy. Why had the behemoth taken an interest in him?
Amid everyone's frantic scurrying, the dust storm drew ever closer.
By now, both Donao beasts and hunters had entered the territory of the Thunder-Wielding beasts, continuing their march toward the southwest.
Chapter 648