Chapter 21: Barbarians (Seeking Recommendations)
As the days went by, Old Liu couldn't help but feel a little anxious as his first growth period approached. He hadn't been idle these past few days, taking his younger brothers out to wander around and search for powerful magical beast blood in the vicinity to supplement their own strength. However, things hadn't gone as smoothly as they had the previous two times, and despite Old Liu's best efforts, he had only succeeded once, and that was after running several kilometers away to lure a mid-tier super ability magical beast that didn't know the situation here. As mentioned earlier, these super ability magical beasts may not be able to use elemental attacks
However, most of the skeleton was cast in iron, and the scales were even harder than ordinary steel armor. Finally, Old Liu's good cooperative partner and close comrade-in-arms, Old Tree, successfully entangled this possibly mid-tier peak super-powered magical beast, but he couldn't break through its thick scales either. He could only use brute force to slam it to the ground, killing it by sheer strength. However, in the end, Old Tree himself was also caught and covered in blood, with wood chips flying everywhere, his injuries far exceeding those of last time. For a while, Old Tree was also enraged by this inexplicable enemy and the inexplicable battle, which also made things difficult for those hardworking black-ant soldiers.
Old Liu took advantage of the opportunity to stick his head into the corpse of the demon beast, absorbing the fresh blood flowing from its seven orifices and drinking it down with great effort. However, this time due to a poor appetite, Old Liu only drank until he was 70% full and did not experience the same bloating as before. But after this incident, Old Liu realized that things were not as simple as he thought. He didn't know if it was because he had absorbed too many abilities, causing mutual rejection, or if he had touched some unknown taboo. The originally absorbed and assimilated lava power began to dissipate, and even the earliest absorbed lightning power had unknowingly leaked out a lot. This finally made Liu truly shocked and lost his color, no longer daring to go around looking for trouble and making more attempts. Instead, he quietly stayed in his own nest, waiting for the arrival of his first growth.
That day. The weather was great, everything was thriving, and Old Liu finally welcomed the first molt of his life, and under the protection of tens of millions of younger brothers, he prepared to break through the high ranks in one fell swoop, shed his insect shell, and reach a realm that had never been seen before or since! Of course, this was all just Old Liu's own fantasy, so everyone didn't need to take it seriously.
It's unclear whether Old Liu was lucky or unlucky, but before he went into seclusion, he had been wandering around his own territory every day without seeing any magical beasts lurking around. The entire Stone Forest was eerily quiet, with only mosquitoes flying about. This was also a lingering effect of the last time Holker's iron-blooded intimidation left a shadow on most magical beasts that liked to eat blood-sucking mosquitoes, and they didn't dare come to this place to find food again. Instead, they ran to other mosquito tribes to seek sustenance. But today, as soon as Old Liu went into seclusion, the surroundings of the Stone Forest began to stir, and several people emerged from the dense vegetation. That's right, humans. Not like the aquatic goods that evolved from the Water Witch, but genuine human beings.
These people were robust and tall, with only simple animal hides draped over their bodies. Their dark skin was painted with colorful patterns using oil paint, making them look like giant beasts standing upright on two legs. For some reason, the vampire mosquitoes that had been given patrol orders by Liu Ting did not show any warning signs when they saw these humans, nor did they react in any way. They simply flew back and forth, diligently patrolling the perimeter of the stone forest, as if they hadn't seen them at all.
These barbarians are the indigenous people of Gaya, who have lived on this land for thousands of years. Legend has it that their ancestors were the barbarian war gods who created the Archibis dynasty tens of thousands of years ago, with an extremely ancient heritage and a long history, almost the earliest and longest-lasting branch of human civilization on the entire continent. Moreover, their glorious civilization and that magical insect-repelling technique are still being passed down by the wandering poets on the mainland, constantly sparking fierce debates in the civilized world.
"Eagle, is this the place you were talking about?" An old man who looked like he was at the end of his years walked out shakily, his turbid eyes staring blankly into the void where thousands and millions of Blood Mosquitoes hovered. After a long while, he shook his head slightly and coughed, saying: "It seems to be just an ordinary swarm of native Blood Mosquitoes. Although there are many of them, they don't have any real combat strength. They're probably not even as useful as a mid-tier magical beast."
"High Priest, I'm telling you the truth. This native Blood Mosquito is quite peculiar, especially their leader, who isn't just a regular queen or even a magical insect, but can command an astonishing number of its kind to fight for it. Just a few days ago, they lured that Golden King Beast into the Devil's Vine and had them both injured, then their leader sucked out the Golden King Beast's blood. Isn't this enough to prove my point?" The young barbarian couldn't bear being doubted and immediately spoke up.
"Eagle, do not be presumptuous in front of the High Priest!" A middle-aged man who should have been a young person's father immediately spoke out to stop him and looked at the High Priest, saying hesitantly: "Could it just be a coincidence?"
The eagle wanted to say more, but was immediately stared back by the middle-aged savage's gaze, and could only hold its breath in anger.
"Don't blame the kid, he's still young. We need the vitality of young people, can't be like us old men who are half dead all day." The old man smiled slightly and continued: "We've been tracking this Golden King Beast for three months, just another half month and we'll break through the middle rank demon beast's shackles, achieve the true Golden King Dominant Body, and become one of the top high-ranking demon beasts. Who would have thought it would be lost here, what a pity!"
"But whether it's a coincidence or not, the leader of this Blood Mosquito tribe has absorbed the blood of the King Kong Beast after all. It's likely that it will advance to mid-tier or higher demonic insect. However, it's not the Queen, so it can't pass on such superior genes. Even if we subdue it now, it won't be of any use. It's still too weak!" The middle-aged barbarian sighed and said.
"That's not necessarily true!" The high priest murmured a sentence, suddenly his whole body trembled, and he looked up at the sky as if he had seen something unbelievable. He cried out in a loud voice: "War God above, what is this? Heaven, what have I just seen?!"
This made all the other barbarians confused for a moment, unclear what the high priest was pointing at. But the next moment, they also saw a very strange scene. The swarms of vampire mosquitoes that were flying in the sky suddenly contracted sharply, gathered together, and finally formed a rotating dark cloud that enveloped the largest and most magnificent nest in the stone forest.
However, they didn't understand why the high priest was so moved, looking so shocked. It seemed like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Had the high priest really gotten old? Almost all the barbarians couldn't help but think this at that moment.
