Ta Qing's eyes immediately filled with astonishment, which then morphed into a dangerous, gloomy look.

"You want to block my way?"

"Hou" stood its ground, and the other six mother hyenas of the Hyena Clan also gathered behind it.

Only then did "Hou" speak in a deep voice, "I have never obstructed your path. But now, you are leading our clan down a path to ruin. Therefore, I disagree. Even if you kill the seven of us today, we will never agree!"

"King, we still revere you, but we will not gamble!"

"The Hyena Clan has endured too many hardships to reach this day, to possess what we now have. Do not let our choices completely destroy the Hyena Clan..."

"King, you can go if you wish, but you must leave behind seeds of hope for us. Otherwise, you will not be going anywhere today!"

"Bullshit!" Ta Qing roared, smashing a stone the size of a human head to pieces underfoot. One could only imagine the fury raging deep in his heart.

"I am the King of the Hyena Clan! I am the one who forged the glory of the Hyena Clan! Victory is within sight! We are on the verge of escaping our predicament, and I will not tolerate anyone defying my orders!"

"Hou" immediately held its head high and said resolutely, "Then kill us! Kill the seven pillars of the Hyena Clan! Kill us, your old comrades who have always followed you and witnessed your glory! Then, let the Hyena Clan obey only your orders!"

"You!..."

At this moment, apart from the seven mother hyenas and Ta Qing, no one else knew what had transpired. Those leader-level beasts and General-level beasts also hurriedly left the scene the moment the standoff began, leaving them to sort out their internal affairs.

Eventually, only Ta Qing emerged, its gaze profound. It refused any accompaniment from "Hou" and then directly summoned one hundred Martial General-level beasts. Only then did it turn to the leader-level beasts and speak menacingly, "You, return to their side now and guard them well. Remember, this is not a split in the clan. It's just that a group of females are somewhat hesitant for the sake of our Xinuo. Whoever dares to spread rumors will die instantly!"

He had compromised!

There was no way around it. In a matriarchal society like the Hyena Clan, seven leader-level mother hyenas possessed enough power to ensure Ta Qing's throne remained as steadfast as a mountain, which was also beneficial for the clan's development. But if he had insisted on acting unilaterally, then even before anything began, that day would have marked the Hyena Clan's doom—a complete and utter ruin, from top to bottom.

...

Some were gathering; others were advancing. Some clamored for separation, while others were already preparing to strike with all their might.

Just as Wang Zhan had once predicted, if the appearance of this strange object could attract the attention of one Martial Emperor, it would inevitably draw the notice of many other powerful existences. Therefore, at this very moment, countless powerful existences were undoubtedly rushing towards these jungles.

However, Wang Zhan did not know the exact location of its emergence. Similarly, those Martial Emperors also did not know its precise place of appearance. This gave Wang Zhan a small amount of room to maneuver and was his only chance to seize the initiative.

Thus, starting the day after he bid farewell to Lin Hao and the others, he began to constantly utilize his powerful mental energy, initiating a carpet-style search. Area by area, group by group... Under the frenzied sweep of his nearly forty thousand points of mental energy, almost every inch of the vast jungles was scoured from top to bottom.

Although he still hadn't found the strange object in the process, he did discover many medicinal herbs. These were marked in a treasure album secretly cherished by the small shopkeeper in Qian Shui City—the one who had died of kidney failure because of Wang Zhan. Some of them appeared ordinary, but only after Wang Zhan actually came into contact with them did he realize their medicinal effects were comparable to a Pure Essence Pill—effective immediately and with no complications.

It made one marvel at the wonders of nature. At the same time, he reaped a huge profit, returning fully laden. Of course, accompanying these medicinal herbs were powerful entities that guarded them. Although they had not yet developed their own consciousness, they understood that these medicinal herbs had an unimaginable effect on their advancement and the unlocking of their spiritual wisdom.

Unfortunately, when faced with Wang Zhan—who, despite being unable to kill Martial Kings, could still leave King-level beasts utterly discomfited—their ferocious wild instincts couldn't save them. Their only fate was to be killed and have their beast cores harvested by him.

After such a haul, Wang Zhan almost began to wonder. Could it be that the first batch of goods for the trading platform will come from my hands? KEKEKE! It's really true: a man cannot get rich without a windfall, just as a horse cannot get fat without wild grass!

The storage ring from Tao Zhu—so vast that while it couldn't hold an entire mountain, it could certainly fill several large warehouses—was already more than half full thanks to Wang Zhan's efforts. One could imagine how enormous the harvest was. He had practically stripped the land bare. And this was from searching less than half of this particular expanse of jungles.

It made Wang Zhan suddenly feel the impulse to go rob those Martial Kings. If he, a newcomer, could become so wealthy so quickly, one could only imagine how astonishing the foundation of those races entrenched here for countless years must be—enough to make anyone burn with envy.

Of course… No wonder the Beast Clan is so powerful! Take this Seven-star Grass, for example. Simply consuming it allows even a wild beast, not yet at the soldier-level, to rapidly develop its vital energy potential, absorb Spiritual Energy, and reach the level of a top Lord-level beast. If its Talent were slightly higher, it could directly glimpse the threshold of a King-level beast…

Compared to the Beast Clan, who live off the bounty of the heavens and earth, the Human Race is truly too poor.

One should know that back when Wang Zhan was in high school, before becoming a Martial Student, the only accessible thing that could effectively increase his vital energy was the beast flesh his sister brought home.

Beyond that, such things could only be obtained by exchanging vast amounts of resources and money. Yet, the Star War Battlefield was teeming with them.

Wang Zhan had a feeling. Was it that to the Star War Battlefield, the Beast Clan was like its own child? But to Earth, the Human Race was, at best, merely a parasitic insect squirming across its surface.

The disparity in treatment was too severe!

Just as Wang Zhan finished collecting the Seven-star Grass, a rat roughly the size of a dog suddenly appeared behind him.

Wang Zhan whirled around, his gaze as sharp as a blade, fixing on the elusive creature before him. He found it hard to imagine: if this giant rat, capable of shielding itself from mental energy perception, were to become an enemy of his or the Human Race, what devastating damage could it inflict?

Fortunately, upon seeing Wang Zhan staring at it, the rat immediately spoke in a somewhat aged and respectful voice, "Greetings, Sir! As per your instructions, we have been searching for the emergence of the strange object, and we finally have a clue. Would it be convenient for you to accompany me now to investigate?"

A glint flashed in Wang Zhan's eyes. It's here already? This is too much of a coincidence!

He had nearly turned these entire jungles upside down and still couldn't find a single clue. But for these giant rats, was it truly that simple?

Yu Huan, Yu Huan, what on earth are you scheming?

Regardless, no matter what Yu Huan planned, Wang Zhan was now fearless. The little wolf cub's presence had once been a bridge for amicable communication between them. But who was to say? Wang Zhan had now established a connection with a Martial Emperor of the Human Race. A wooden bridge is fragile most of the time; how could it compare to a powerfully delivered fist?

Wang Zhan nodded, his expression solemn and unreadable. "Lead the way! Take me there now!"

However, the giant rat, after a furtive glance at Wang Zhan's surroundings, tensed upon not detecting the little wolf cub's scent. Daring not to ask further, it quickly sent a silent message to its kin, relaying the information to Yu Huan.

Meanwhile, Wang Zhan had also quietly dispatched a clone behind the large rat.

...

Upon returning to his encampment and hearing this news, Yu Huan abruptly turned his head, staring intently at the rat before him. "Are you saying there was no trace of my offspring's scent around him?"

The large rat nodded quickly. "Correct! We searched for a long time but found no trace of the Young Master. Unless he has already been sent away, we suspect…"

Yu Huan shook his head. "No need to dwell on that. Even if he's dead, there's nothing we can do."

"Then what should we do now?" a voice suddenly asked Yu Huan.

Yu Huan pondered for a moment. Finally, he made a decision. "Tell your clan leader to bluff him! This is our only gamble. Say that such strange objects have appeared on the Star War Battlefield before. However, sometimes, the claims from some Martial Emperors that humans can also consume them are false. Swallowing it might instantly transform one into a member of the Beast Clan, or cause one's body to explode, resulting in death. In short, your words must be as convincing as possible; let him use his own discretion for the rest."

All the Blood Wolves and the medium-sized giant rat listening to Yu Huan's words looked puzzled, whispering amongst themselves.

"Will this work?"

"Won't he be suspicious?"

"What if he doesn't believe us and just swallows it?"

Yu Huan sneered. "Humans are inherently suspicious. They will never swallow it without distinguishing right from wrong. As long as we plant this seed of doubt, they will have to ensure there are no risks. Especially a genius like Wang Zhan, born into the upper echelons of the Human Race; for a mere minor fortuitous encounter, he would never be willing to abandon his status to become something neither human nor demonic. Besides, we aren't exactly lying to him. KEKEKE! If he really swallows it, he can just wait for his eyes to mutate, just like ours!…"

It had to be said, Yu Huan's ploy was indeed feasible.

After the giant rat led Wang Zhan on a slight detour—a distance Wang Zhan was perfectly clear about in his mind—they finally arrived at a small swamp land. It reeked of blood and the heavy stench of decay.

The giant rat immediately pointed to the swamp land and said to Wang Zhan, "Sir, it's down there!" Its words seemed tinged with a strange anticipation.

Wang Zhan glanced at the swamp land, where floating corpses and rotting flesh drifted on the surface. He took a deep breath, and a thick Essence Energy barrier instantly enveloped him securely.

"Alright, let's go down!" It's just entering a swamp land, what's the big deal? BLECH...

The next moment, a pungent smell assaulted his nostrils.

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