Red!
Not yellow, which represented neutral demon beasts, nor green, for friendly spirit beasts. It was redârepresenting hostile monsters!
A hostile creature!
And it had suddenly appeared right on the sect map!
Most demon beasts spawned on the back mountain or inside the Demon-Locking Tower.
âThis thing that suddenly appeared over the sect... There must be some unexpected reward for it!â
After all, the "Golden Autumn Harvest Festival" was starting tomorrow.
âMaybe itâs a warm-up for the event?â
ăMeanwhile, not far away.ă
Lu Wu, who had come to the Hundred Herbs Valley to gather some Spirit Plants, also noticed the red dot.
"What manner of demon dares cause trouble in my righteous sect!"
Shen Nong looked at the coordinates displayed by the red dot and determined it was in the sky.
He raised his head. The afternoon sun was a bit blinding. He squinted for a long time but couldnât make anything out, seeing only countless mosquitoes and flies buzzing around.
âWhich one is it?â
"Forget it. They all look the same. Iâll just kill them all."
Meanwhile, in the sect channel, the disciple named [TheGreatFlameWolf] was also making an announcement:
[TheGreatFlameWolf: Coordinates (XXX, XXX, XXX), thereâs a red-named mob! Big rewards, go get it!]
TheGreatFlameWolf had realized he was too far away to have a chance at snagging the kill, so heâd posted the information directly to the sect channel.
As for why...
If you know, you know!
On another side, Ji, who was preparing to go to the Artifact Refining Pavilion to "sacrifice" himself to raise his proficiency, also saw the information on the sect channel and the map.
"Audacious demon! Surrender at once!"
The next moment, Ji drew his bow and fired an arrow, which was instantly wreathed in cold, blue flames as it flew.
The little Contracted Spirit Insect was flying along when it suddenly saw a flash of light appear in its field of vision without any warning.
A heavenly ray of light that tore through the sky shot straight up from below!
The Contracted Spirit Insectâs minuscule consciousness didnât even have time to react.
And in that instant, Su Lingâerâs heart stopped!
She wanted to use their connection to force the insect to dodge, but it was too late!
Following closely behind the sword light was a burning giant axe, then a rolling wave of fire, several Magic spells, and a dozen or so magic artifacts...
Countless attacks rose from the ground, their target being the insignificant... insects in the sky.
SNAPâ!
In her mind, the connection that stemmed from her bloodline broke.
A sharp pain shot up from the depths of her soul, and her vision went black.
The Contracted Spirit Insect was dead.
Annihilated by a dozen powerful Magic spells, not even a speck of dust remained.
She could feel how the little insect had disintegrated under the first sword light that reached it.
The remaining attacks arrived one after another, blasting it until nothing was left...
The connection that carried all her hopes was severed, just like that.
Why?!
Why did this happen so suddenly?!
Everything was fine just a moment ago! Why would they suddenly be so ruthless toward a seemingly ordinary insect?!
What did this insect ever do to you?!
...
"Did you hit it?"
"Nope. You?"
"Me neither! My god, so many people fighting over one mob!"
"Can someone tell us who hit it? Who got the kill? Tell us, what was the reward?!"
Shen Nong, however, was stunned by the message on his panel.
[Game Notification: You have eliminated a great hidden danger for the sect. Gained Sect Contribution Points +200.]
Although nothing dropped, he got 200 Sect Contribution Points in one go!
That was the equivalent of doing 200 basic daily quests!
He immediately posted about this, along with his own judgment, in the sect channel:
[Shen Nong: Brothers! Itâs real! You get 200 contribution points for killing one! Keep an eye on the sky, look for small, black flying insects that look like mosquitoes or flies! Anyway, if you see one, donât worry about which it is, just kill it!]
[Shen Nong: Be careful not to hit Mr. Qianâs incarnation. We donât want him to bug out and mess up our contribution farming for the event.]
[Ji: Should we log off and tell Eldest Brother?]
[Shen Nong: Letâs just tell him when he logs on. Besides, it only gives contribution points. No treasure drops, no EXP. If itâs just contribution points, Eldest Brother probably canât be bothered with this kind of thing.]
[Lu Wu: Why donât we catch the insects first, and when the event starts, we can have Little Sister kill them one by one. The contribution points will be doubled then, so weâd get 400 points for each one!]
[Wang Xian: Iâm too lazy... Iâm going to hang out with the Grievance Beast...]
[Shi Gandang: That would probably count as helping, so it wouldnât give her contribution points. And youâd be catching them and putting them right in front of her to kill one by one. Thatâs too much of a shortcut. I doubt thereâd be such an obvious loophole.]
[Shen Nong: Then forget it. Anyway, I think this is just a warm-up for the event. Maybe more will appear after the Golden Autumn Harvest Festival starts. It wonât be too late to have Little Sister kill them then.]
[Shen Nong: Besides, when I saw her go back to her hut earlier, she looked dead tired. We should let her rest.]
[Ji: True. I donât know what Little Sister is thinking. She wonât even improve her own living conditions. Sheâs already at the peak of Qi Refining, but sheâs still living in that thatched hut.]
[Yan Buliu: This is just... if you can endure hardship, youâll just get more hardship. Ai, forget it, none of my business anyway.]
Despite this, the entire Guixi Sect was in an uproar.
Countless disciples, while doing their daily quests, also kept a close eye on the sectâs minimap, refusing to let a single moving red dotâa potential source of massive contribution pointsâslip by.
...
ăIn the shadows of the thatched hut.ă
Su Lingâerâs body went limp, and she slid down onto the straw.
Her face was pale, and her red clothes were soaked with cold sweat, clinging tightly to her back and outlining her slender frame.
Through that fragile bloodline connection, she had clearly "seen" the excited expressions on the faces of the nearest disciples.
Their prey was just a swarm of flying insects, each the size of a sesame seed.
Just sesame-seed-sized! Flying! Insects!
The agony of her blood essence being forcibly torn away was still seared into the depths of her soul.
Why?
She couldnât understand.
In the storybooks she had read, villains acted erratically and unpredictably, but even the most erratic actions had a reason.
For profit, for revenge, for lust, or even just for the pleasure of killing.
But this was just a single, unremarkable flying insect. Did it really warrant the use of a dozen or so Magic spells, sword beams, and talisman flames?
With such a grand display, she would have believed it if someone told her this demonic sect was besieging a righteous one!
Su Lingâer hugged her knees, curling herself into a ball on the straw.
Although this thatched hut was in the heart of the sect, allowing her to carry out her schemes in secret, she didnât dare make a move now, not even daring to breathe too loudly.
âHave they discovered me?â
âAre they going to come knocking on my door any second?â
She couldnât be sure.
Her outward appearance was supposed to be one of exhaustion, so she was even more afraid to take a single step out of the thatched hut.
This left her unable to respond effectively.
She could only hope that these Evil Cultivators hadnât discovered her because of that insect.
After all, logically speaking, the insect had been blown to bits...
âThere... shouldnât be any problem, right?â