12th did not get frightened at all. He did not know how fierce a Fu Beasts could be; he only felt curious. He really wanted to see what a Fu Beast was like.

All of a sudden, Luo Jie said, “It's not a Variant Fu Beast. It should just be an Ordinary Fu Beast, but it is really big. We have to be careful. It’s a power type beast.” He then exhaled his Innate Fu Book, tapped it, and opened it. He did not fly into the air this time. He stayed on the horse and watched quietly as Qi Nan Shan's group tried to restrain it. He was waiting for an opportunity to attack.

It was a huge bear, at least five meters tall. The bear's brown fur was exactly like a hedgehog's. It was a pretty common Fu Bear, but it was powerful. There were natural Fu Inscriptions on its body. Some traits of the Fu Warrior profession were, in fact, learned from Fu Bears. After continuous development and improvements over an extended period of time, it was perfected and became its own form of Fu Warrior techniques.

12th mumbled to himself, “What the f**k? How can a bear grow that big? ……it looks like a small mountain!”

Qi Nan Shan was not short. He was 195cm in height. He could be considered tall, but when he stood next to the bear, it resembled a lion standing next to an elephant. It was a big difference.

Luo Jie said, without worry, “12th, you can attack too, but we have to wait for the right time.”

Qi Nan Shan did not dare to directly fight against the Fu Bear. Fu Bears have very strong skin and flesh; they also have natural Fu Inscriptions. Even a Fu Warrior Great Master would not be able to stand if they directly took on a hit. The best way to fight against a Fu Bear was to use a hit-and-run strategy. Because Fu Bears are tall and strong, their actions are inevitably slower.

Qi Nan Shan took out a steel Fu rod. This Fu rod was not only heavy, it could also create shockwaves. It was designed to fight against power type enemies. The Fu Bear was extremely irritated; a little man dared to challenge him. The Fu Bear opened its mouth and roared in front of Qi Nan Shan. Qi Nan Shan refused to back down, so he also began to roar with his mouth wide open. They did not fight, they continued to roar at each other.

This scene caused 12th to be puzzled. A moment later, 12th came back to his sense and began to laugh. He laughed so hard he almost fell over. Watching those two was too funny.

Luo Jie did not laugh; he was closely observing the Fu Bear quietly.

The Fu rod was as thick as an egg. It was covered with Fu Inscriptions. It was made entirely of steel, and even though it was only a low level Fu Weapon, it was very strong. Qi Nan Shan suddenly shouted loudly and lifted his Fu rod above his head to attack. As the Fu rod slashed through the air, it created a sharp whistle. The Fu bear rolled its eyes and did not try to avoid it at all. The Fu Bear simply raised its paws and greeted the rod.

The expression from the Fu Bear’s eyes caused 12th to laugh even harder; the Fu Bear was very interesting. Everyone was extremely nervous. They all heard 12th laughing on his horse. Chen Hong could not help but ask, “12th, why are you laughing?”

“That Fu bear......it's very funny!”

Qi Nan Shan did not find it funny at all. The Fu Bear waved his paws and pushed him back repeatedly. The Fu Bear was too strong; if it was fighting against a Fu Warrior Master, the Fu Warrior Master would probably be spitting out blood from the shock of the paw.

Qi Nan Shan was very smart. After a while, he immediately changed his strategy. He continued to strike the Fu Bear with the Fu rod while avoiding it at the same time. The poor Fu Bear was. .h.i.t in the nose. 12th could clearly see that the tears were getting ready to roll down from the Fu Bear’s eyes.

Afterwards, Qi Nan Shan stabbed the Fu Bear’s b.u.t.t, even though he did not strike the vital area, the Fu Bear got scared and continued roaring. The Fu Bear felt that Qi Nan Shan was extremely hateful. It quickly stood up and got ready to recklessly charge towards Qi Nan Shan.

At that moment, Qi Nan Shan shouted, "Elder!"

Luo Jie smiled. It was a good opportunity. He tapped on his Innate Fu Book, and countless b.a.l.l.s of light rose out and condensed into silver ice picks which were four meters long. Luo Jie shouted, "Go!" and more ice picks were condensed, he continuously shot out three ice picks and began to breathe heavily.

The ice picks streaked across the field as if they were launched from a ballista. The Fu Bear continued to roar and tried to block the ice picks with its paws. The first ice pick was shattered from its paws and ice particles splattered towards the Fu Bear, causing it to temporarily unable to see anything.

At that point, a second ice pick flew in and pierced the Fu Bear in the chest. The ice picks shot out by a FuZhou Great Master were extremely powerful. The impact from the ice pick caused the Fu Bear to retreat backwards, and finally, the last ice pick flew in and pierced the Fu Bear's thick neck.

[t/n] The ice picks from Luo Jie are different from the Frostbolts 12th used before.

Luo Jie mumbled loudly, “Burst!” the Fu Inscriptions on the ice picks suddenly disappeared.

The Fu Inscriptions held the ice pick together. When it disappeared, the ice picks burst open.

The roars of the Fu Bear quickly died out. There were two b.l.o.o.d.y holes in the Fu Bear's throat and chest. The Fu Bear was not dead yet. It truly had an indomitable life-force. With all his strength, Qi Nan Shan struck with his Fu rod right into the wound on the Fu Bear's neck. With a "pop", the Fu rod penetrated into the back of the Fu Bear’s neck, and with a backflip, Qi Nan Shan escaped from the Fu Bear’s dying blow.

The five meter tall Fu Bear fell onto the ground, causing a tremendous cras.h.i.+ng sound as if a house collapsed. 12th did not even have a chance to attack. He simply watched as the two Elders worked together to defeat the huge Fu Bear in a few minutes. That impact force was tremendous. Huo Bao watched innocently and a while later, he said, “If we fight against a Fu Bear, we will definitely die!”

12th replied, “Nonsense. Not to mention us, I'm afraid even a small squad with a little strength would also have to run away if they encountered this Fu Bear. Even if they can defeat the Fu Bear, they would suffer miserably. This Fu Bear had amazing defense, only the ice picks from a FuZhou Great Master would be able to penetrate into its body and it was only able to penetrate about a foot deep. If the ice picks did not burst open, it would not have been as effective, and together with the attacks of a Fu Warrior Great Master, the Fu Bear was completely defeated......I now have an understanding of how fierce the Fu Beasts are.”

Chen Bing said thoughtfully, “Right now, we are still disciples, we are too weak, only 12th has advanced to a FuZhou Knight......Hmm, we have to work harder, otherwise we won't be able to synergize with 12th.”

Luo Jie smiled and said, “It looks like I'm not that old, Haha 12th! 12th! Come over!"

12th immediately rode over and smiled, “Teacher, you were really powerful. You defeated the Fu Bear with a few hits! Amazing! Amazing!” Without thinking, 12th flattered his Teacher with words. Luo Jie enjoyed such flattery. The truth was that, now, almost n.o.body dared to speak casually in front of him. Only this little disciple of his could flatter him endlessly, he smiled and said, “12th, go dissect the Fu Bear and learn about the special body of a Fu Beast.”

It was the first time 12th has actually seen a Fu Beast. 12th had only seen bones of Fu Beasts before in the Inner Court, so he smiled and said, "Ok, let's see what a Fu Beast is."

When 12th stood next to the dead body of the Fu Bear, it was then that he understood how big the Fu Bear was. It was truly a small mountain; the arm of the bear was a couple times thicker than his waist. It looked very scary. The sharp claws were actually more than a foot long. It would be miserable if someone was. .h.i.t with the claws.

12th grabbed a claw from the bear and broke it off. It looked like he was carrying a scimitar. What was interesting was that the Fu Inscriptions on the claw were similar to the Fu Inscriptions 12th had seen before.

"Ah, dissecting this huge bear will not be easy.”

Luo Jie replied, “It's easy, when the Fu Bear is dead, the Fu Inscriptions on its body will not get activated. It will be similar to how you dissect an ordinary beast, just a bit bigger."

12th now understood and said, “Ok, I will try.”

He climbed on top of the Fu Bear and saw the wounds on the chest and neck. Both of the wounds were extremely large. There were large chunks of coagulated blood around the wounds. The Fu Bear's mouth was open with both its eyes looking up towards the sky. It died in grievance.

No matter what kind of Fu Beast it was, there would be treasure all over its body. 12th collected all the blood. First, the blood needed to be refined quickly after being obtained. This huge Fu Bear could refine about 50kg of purified blood essence. 12th used a specialized tube and suction device to suck out the blood. Afterwards, he performed the Four Fu purification method. It took 12th half an hour to complete the process. When he finished, he noticed that everyone had already set up their tents and were getting ready to rest.

“Chen Hong, Huo Bao, boil some water quickly, we will cook the Fu meat!”

Luo Jie observed on the side and directed 12th. This was considered a lesson; it would be useful to 12th in the future. All of the skin, bone, and fur of a Fu Beast could be considered a treasure. Almost all of the Fu Beasts’ skin was covered in natural Fu Inscriptions. With a little processing, the materials could become finished goods. For example, the skin of the Fu Bear could become Fu armor. If it was refined well, it could be made into at least seven to eight Fu armor sets. It was the same with the bones, since they also had Fu Inscriptions. After processing, they could be made into a single use defensive Fu. As for the meat of the Fu Bear, even though it could be used for creating Fu, it could be eaten; it was extremely delicious.

When 12th finished dissecting the Fu Bear, he was breathing heavily. He was only nine years old after all. After he nonstop refined and dissected the huge body of the Fu Bear, he was covered in blood and was thoroughly exhausted. He sat on the ground and said, “Teacher, this is child abuse......Ah, I am so tired......”

Luo Jie kept on laughing. He was very satisfied with 12th’s performance. 12th was not arrogant nor impatient. He was immersed with the dissection of the Fu Bear. He did not waste anything. Luo Jie was a little sad seeing 12th being so exhausted so he said, “Good job, go wash yourself and get ready to eat.”

12th was indeed exhausted. He said, “Let me sleep a bit first......” He staggered to the front of his tent, and jumped in before falling asleep. Fortunately, 12th had a very strong soul. After sleeping for half an hour, he walked out of the tent full of energy. He washed his face, changed his clothes, then sat in front of the cooking vessels, and started eating the meat of the Fu Bear.

He grabbed a piece of the meat and bit hard and he was instantly stunned. The meat of the Fu Bear had a taste that he had never sensed before. It was fresh and tender; it was extremely delicious. 12th said in surprise, "d.a.m.n, meat can have such a taste?"

Chen Hong brought in a small copper pot of meat soup; there were scallions inside. The rich and delicious smell filled 12th's nostrils. Chen Hong said, “12th, drink this soup, there is bread too.”

He placed down the pot in front of 12th and handed him a copper spoon. 12th said his thanks and began to fiercely eat. He was dying of hunger. He only stopped when food was up to his throat. He then said with satisfaction, "Ah, I feel a lot better now."

That night 12th slept very soundly. He noticed his soul once again became stronger after chanting.

Early in the morning, 12th was awoken by the sound outside. He could vaguely hear Qi Nan Shan giving a speech about Fu Beasts. 12th quickly got up and ran outside. Qi Nan Shan was sitting on a horse while talking to Fu Warrior Masters and Fu Warriors. 12th found Huo Bao and asked, "What is Grandpa Nan Shan doing?"

Huo Bao said, “Nothing much, He's just reminding everyone that we will soon enter the Active Region of Fu Beasts and is reminding everyone to be careful."

Qi Nan Shan said, “I've said everything that needs to be said. Remember that the Active Region of Fu Beasts is also the Active Region for the ancient Fu people. Pay attention to the ground as we travel. If you discover any bones, do not ignore it, carefully examine it and check if there is anything useful there."

Luo Jie interrupted, “You must report back if you discover any abandoned buildings. There will always be treasures inside! Remember to not provoke a large group of Fu Beasts. With our strength, it should not be a problem to fight against two to three Fu Beast, but there will be problems if we fight against more, if that happens......someone among us will most likely die within this Mysterious Land!"

Qi Nan Shan said, “Also, if you encounter anyone from the Beast Raising Fu Sect, mercilessly kill them off if you can. When you meet them......no nonsense, just immediately kill those dirty swines!"

“Pack up and get ready to leave. We don't know what we will encounter today. Everyone be careful.”

12th realized that Qi Nan Shan was patiently telling everyone to be careful over and over again, he understood that the road in front of them was not going to be easy.

Everyone got on their horses and left under the orders of Qi Nan Shan.

They went towards the East.

For seven straight days, there were no encounters with ordinary beasts or Fu Beasts. They saw a few herbivores at the start of the journey, but as they traveled further, they could not even seen herbivores anymore. This caused everyone to be puzzled. Where did the Fu Bear they encountered in the beginning come from?"

The gra.s.s on the ground was gradually disappearing, replaced with brown land. The air was extremely dry, even the blowing wind was hot. 12th could not stop wiping his sweat as he looked enviously at his teacher, who was covered with a s.h.i.+ning Fu glow which blocked off the hot air, there was not even a drop of sweat on his teacher's face.

Within this hot land, only Luo Jie and Qi Nan Shan were unaffected, even Fu Warrior Masters were sweating.

The rumbling sound of horse hooves broke off the silence of the land, and soon, the land was barren. There were no plants nor animals that could be seen. The land was very bizarre; there were no traces of life.

12th could not bear the silence. He rode forward and caught up with Luo Jie and said, "Teacher, it is very strange here......it doesn’t feel right."

Luo Jie said, “Don't worry, this is just a characteristic of the Mysterious Lands, the changing scenery of every step. Even though it's a bit of an exaggeration, the fact is that it's true. Perhaps it was snowing like the winter just a few days ago, and now it is as hot as the summer. Just a few days ago we saw the vibrant gra.s.slands, but now we see a barren desert, this is normal."

12th secretly whispered to himself, even a desert is not as barren as this. There were no signs of life here; it was just a land of death. It was truly bizarre.

The horses ran across the desert and created a blast of dust everywhere. Everyone hoped to get out of the desert region as fast as possible. 12th could not help but think of a phrase from his previous life, this G.o.dforsaken place was just like the Gobi Desert.

Zhan Luo, who scouted ahead, rushed back with the two Fu Warriors. He shouted from the distance of a hundred meters, "Run that way! Don't stop......that way......" His voice was extremely loud. It could be heard over the rumbling sound of the horses. Qi Nan Shan immediately stood up on the horseback and looked towards the distance. A few seconds later he sat back down and shouted, "Towards the left......follow me!"

A light rumbling sound could be heard. 12th turned around to look and saw a curtain of brown stuff which stretched from the ground all the way to the sky moving towards them. He said in surprise," What is that? A sandstorm?"

Qi Nan Shan took the lead of the group.

12th, again, praised the strength of the horses from this world. They ran for three to four hours, and even though they were not running at full speed, it was still a long run. Despite that, the horses still had energy left. 12th asked, “Teacher, what was that?”

Luo Jie looked a bit pale and said, “I don't know, but it absolutely cannot be good, we have to go as far away as possible."

The rumbling sound was getting louder and louder. 12th constantly turned around and looked. He had excellent vision and vaguely saw lots of black dots. Soon, he clearly saw that the black dots were actually beasts running away. They were chased by the violent sandstorm which reached the skies. 12th shouted loudly, "Look, there are beasts......and people too!"

Luo Jie turned around to look and shouted, "Don't worry about that, run! Run faster......"

12th immediately understood that since the beasts were madly running away like it was the day of apocalypse, he could imagine how horrible the sandstorm was. 12th gave a hard slap to the back of the horse.

The speed of the horses accelerated again, Luo Jie was uncertain of the situation and continued shouting, “If your horse is exhausted, immediately change to another one, do not spare using another horse!" Everyone had four to five horses; they continued swapping between horses. When they noticed that the speed of their horse was a bit slow, they immediately change to another one.

Fortunately, the horses were tough. They were able to run and recover at the same time as long as the weight on their back was reduced. Only seven or eight horses got too tired and were left behind. n.o.body could take care of those horses; they could only move forward.

Luo Jie's group had more horses than people, and the sandstorm behind them was moving forward at a very slow pace. Therefore, after running for two hours, they no longer saw the sandstorm, but the area around them was even more barren than before.

Qi Nan Shan shouted, “Stop! Rest! Feed the horses with water and food. Remember……use the best fodder and add some salt! Everyone use this time to have some dry food and to drink water."

Luo Jie shouted loudly, “Do it fast, we will immediately move when the horses recover.”

12th jumped off the horse, took out a rectangular bronze bowl from his Fu Hidden bag, and gave water to his horses. After the long run at this unbearable hot land, the horses were hungry and thirsty.

Huo Bao was eating braised meat while Chen Hong was the only one feeding the horses. 12th scolded, “Huo Bao, Hong s.h.i.+, Chen Bing……put down the meat and feed the horses! You guys can eat while you ride! Taking care of your horse is the most important task right now. If your horses are weak, who can save you here?" 　　

Huo Bao, Hong s.h.i.+, and Chen Bing quickly blushed and placed away the braise meat. They started to feed their horses. Almost everyone was doing the same thing; the horses were their only means of survival.

12th soaked a brush into clean water and began brus.h.i.+ng the horses to cool them down. Even though 12th was young, he was still responsible for his own horses.

Twenty minutes later, a faint rumbling sound could be heard and Qi Nan Shan shouted, “Hurry and eat something! We will be moving soon!"

Fortunately, there were horses from the Beast Raising Fu Sect. Those horses were stronger than the ones from the North Fu Sect. The horses which got left behind were all from the North Fu Sect and the horses from the Beast Raising Fu Sect were the ones which still had spare energy remaining.

After about half an hour, Luo Jie's group could clearly see the sandstorm and the pack of beasts running away in the front. The land shook a bit. When 12th carefully observed the sandstorm, he said, “That thing does not act like a sandstorm……it looks like it is being controlled."

Qi Nan Shan shouted, “Get on your horses……Go!”

12th easily climbed up on his horse and said to his teammates, "We are light, the burden on our horse will also be light. There will not be any danger if we pay attention to our horses. We need to change horses frequently to lessen the burden on them and let them maintain full strength longer. Do not get left behind!"

The horses began to move again.

Even though the horses were not fully recovered, after the short rest, they were already energized. From a jog to a run, the speed of the horses grew faster and faster.

After running for four hours, the sandstorm was far behind again. Starting from the morning, the group ran for almost eight hours, with breaks which lasted less than thirty minutes. Not to mention the horses, even the people could not stand anymore.

Luo Jie shouted, “Nan Shan, take a break. The horses are tired!”

There were dozens of horses who died of exhaustion this time, they bolted straight into the ground as they ran. There was no possibility of treatment, and even if the horses could be saved, there was no time to stop for the treatments.

“It's already the afternoon, the sky will turn dark within a few hours……”

Qi Nan Shan’s tone was a little serious. The horses were animals after all. They were not machines. Continuous running has gradually exhausted their strength; it could not be recovered within a couple tens of minutes.

Luo Jie said decisively, “Dismount and rest!”

The group rested a bit longer this time, forty minutes, but seeing the sandstorm come over, they fled again. Everyone was gloomy because up to that point they still did not know anything about the sandstorm. They noticed the beasts which were running in front of the sandstorm had gradually dispersed. There were a few horses mixed in with the beast, but it was too far away to clearly see.

After another four hours of running, half the horses within Luo Jie's group died of exhaustion. All five of 12th's horses survived. He shared three horses because a few Fu Warrior Masters only had one horse remaining. If they continued to run and their horse died, then there was nothing they could do.

There were less than sixty horses remaining. All of the supplies on the horsebacks were thrown away. It was fortunate that there were Fu Hidden bags to hold supplies, so throwing away the supplies carried by the horses did not matter much. However, after so much running, the horses were exhausted.

Luo Jie looked toward the distance and said, “If we find ruins, we could temporarily use them as shelter."

It was dusk. The horses were covered with sweat, and the sound of heavy breathes from the horses made the group worried.

Even though the sandstorm got left behind again, everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before the sandstorm showed up.

Without notice, Luo Jie smiled and said, “Looks like we will be saved!”