Chapter 115: Violent Hu (Including Bonus Chapter)

"You had better change your cultivation method quickly. If you do it now, you still have a sliver of hope to awaken the Heavenly Wolf blood within you. If you persist in practicing your previous dual-cultivation technique, I suspect all hope will be gone," Qinghu remarked, eyeing the little black dog with a gloating expression.

She had let him go off finding people for dual cultivation without a care in the world, and now he had made a mess of things.

"But my dual-cultivation technique was chosen for me by my mother. She wouldn't try to sabotage me, would she?" The dog was on the verge of tears, unable to believe it. It couldn't be his mother; he was her only son.

"Then someone must have tricked your mother," Qinghu pointed out.

"Didn't your old man ever tell you that you black dogs aren't suited for dual-cultivation techniques?" Qinghu asked with a smile.

The dog paused, then nodded. His father had indeed said so, but he hadn't listened at the time.

"Back then, you were surely already practicing that technique, thinking it would help you improve faster and allow you to surpass your brothers and reach a higher realm quickly," Qinghu said.

The dog’s expression stiffened further. Qinghu had guessed every bit of his secret intentions.

"You didn't tell your father, you practiced it in secret, and even when he warned you, you showed no sign of repentance. It's no wonder you were targeted. You were simply greedy and foolish. No wonder they were so confident they could manipulate you," Qinghu said. The reason they provided such a "shortcut" technique was precisely because they knew the dog would inevitably choose to practice it.

"Then what should I do now?" the dog asked sadly. There had been a chance for him to awaken his bloodline and become a Heavenly Wolf, but because he was stupid enough to practice that dual-cultivation technique, he had missed it. *Whimper, whimper.*

"Naturally, you serve me as a good little dog. If I'm happy, I might help you," Qinghu said with a sly, unreliable grin.

"You... can you give me a cultivation method that leads to bloodline awakening? I want to awaken my Heavenly Wolf blood! I want to be the wolf of wolves!" The dog raised his head, eyes full of anticipation. None of the other wolves had noticed the issue, but Qinghu had identified the conflict between his Heavenly Wolf blood and the dual-cultivation technique. This gave the dog an inexplicable sense of worship and trust toward her.

Even though Qinghu looked incredibly cunning and unreliable, the dog was willing to believe her. (You really are a bit of a fool, dog.)

"You're not even a big dog, and yet you have such grand dreams. Why should I? Why would I go through the trouble of finding a technique for you? And help you awaken your bloodline? Hmph, what price are you prepared to pay?" Qinghu asked impatiently.

"Then... I will listen to everything you say while we are in the Xuantian Tower. Whatever you tell me to do, I will do."

"You think you can swindle a cultivation technique out of me just by listening to orders? You've got quite the imagination. You can't just take advantage of people like that. A cultivation technique is a precious thing," Qinghu said indignantly. For a certain dog, having a suitable technique was no less than changing his destiny. And all he offered was obedience and a few chores?

"Then... what do you want me to do to get a suitable technique from you?" the dog asked hurriedly.

"Can't you find one yourself?" Qinghu asked, puzzled. "It’s just a technique. What do you black dogs usually practice? Just pick one."

The dog looked troubled. He spoke with complete honesty: "While there are many techniques, not a single one is suitable for me that doesn't sacrifice the speed of cultivation I had with my previous technique. At least, I haven't seen one. If I practice those others, I'll fall far behind my brothers. They'll definitely bully and mock me when they find out."

"You have quite high demands. You want to awaken your bloodline *and* have fast cultivation speed. If such a perfect technique existed, I could sell it for a whole pool of spiritual liquid!" Qinghu said, hands on her hips in annoyance.

"Ahem, I know where there is a pool of spiritual liquid. If I tell you the location and help you seize that pool, will you give me the technique? There is a type of moon-white spirit clam growing there, called a Moon Clam, a rare seventh-grade treasure. A group of fire-lion hybrids with immense combat power rushes in every time the Xuantian Tower opens to guard it. Moon Clams have a special talent: when they are over a hundred years old, they can easily convert a pool of clear water into a pool of spiritual liquid," the black dog explained eagerly.

"Truly?" Qinghu became interested upon hearing the last part.

"Truly."

"Get up, wake your underlings. We're leaving." Qinghu kicked the little dog in the rear, sending him scrambling up.

*Ouch! My butt feels like it’s going to split! Is this person even human? Even the Great Golden Demon Ape tribe isn't this savage.*

"Hurry up."

"Coming, coming!"

...

Qinghu led the pack of dogs, sneaking toward the edge of a swamp. The swamp was vast, filled with treacherous pits; if you fell in, it was nearly impossible to climb out. Worse, the mud in some places was incredibly soft. The dogs fell in several times, and they would have been finished if not for Qinghu.

After yet another dog fell into a mud pit and was forcibly yanked out by Qinghu's gravity restraint, she finally lost her patience. She grabbed the black dog by his pointed ears. "Didn't you say this route was absolutely safe? Safe? It's a death trap! Look how many dogs have fallen in along the way. At least eight or ten. If it weren't for me, you'd all be dead."

The black dog looked confused. "There weren't this many pits when I came through last time!"

"Did they discover you last time?" Qinghu asked.

"Yes, they did. As soon as I was teleported in, I appeared near the spirit pool. I smashed through the seven-colored barrier and went in. I was so excited, thinking I'd found a super spirit cave. But then a group of fire-lion hybrids discovered me. They chased me everywhere, and I got bitten and wounded multiple times. I barely escaped with my life."

"Was this the route you took?" Qinghu asked again.

"Yes."

Qinghu kicked him again. "You idiot! You already escaped once, do you think they wouldn't set up traps on the path to stop you from sneaking back in?"

*Whimper.* He hadn't thought about that.

The black dog tumbled and stayed on the ground, not daring to move. Here, Big Sister Hu was the boss.

"Come here. I still have questions for you."

The black dog timidly crawled toward her.

"Tell me, exactly where is the spirit pool you found?" Qinghu took out a piece of white paper and had the dog draw a simple map. The black dog was actually quite capable; he managed to map out the entire swamp area.

"Just how many times did you sneak back here?" Qinghu couldn't help but ask.

"I didn't! When they were chasing me, I just ended up running in circles around the swamp," the dog replied cautiously.

Qinghu was amazed. *You survived all that running around without being bitten to death?*

"If you ran so many circles, why do you keep leading us into death traps? Are you trying to get me killed?" Qinghu asked with a cold tone.

"No, no, I wouldn't dare! The path I took everyone on was the safe path in my memory—the solid ground I had stepped on before. But as soon as we returned, the path-finding dogs started falling into pits. No, wait, they aren't dogs, they're black wolves! Even when I changed the route, we kept having problems. It’s like no matter what I do, it’s all wrong."

Qinghu pulled an iron pot with a handle out of her storage bag and brought it down on the black dog's head. *Bang, bang, bang!* With a few strikes, the dog was buried waist-deep in the soil.

"If the route was a problem, why didn't you say so earlier? I'll teach you not to speak up!"

"Ouch, ouch! Help, I was wrong! I was wrong!" the black dog wailed.

The other dogs watched, their expressions complex. They were sad for their young master, but also secretly happy? The young master usually bullied them, so seeing him get a taste of his own medicine was... interesting.

Finally, the black dog, covered in bumps, clutched his head and groaned.

"If you run into similar problems next time, tell me early, got it?" Qinghu kicked him again, sending him flying out of the ground.

The black dog scrambled up and hurried back to Qinghu's side, nodding his head as obediently as a husky that had just been scolded by its master.

"Hmph," Qinghu scoffed. "You said it was a spirit pool, but then you called it a spirit cave. Which is it?"

"It's a spirit pool because it's a basin several miles wide, filled with spiritual liquid. It’s very deep, at least three or four yards, and it's all liquid," the dog explained. "I broke through the seven-colored barrier and jumped right in. If I hadn't made such a scene, I wouldn't have been discovered so early. I didn't even get to collect much liquid or many Moon Clams."

"Get to the point," Qinghu said.

"Yes, yes, Big Sister Hu," the black dog said, accidentally using the nickname he had given her in his mind.

"Big Sister Hu?" Qinghu was satisfied. "Call me that from now on."

"Yes, Big Sister Hu." The dog was much smoother now. He couldn't win a fight, he couldn't escape, and he still needed her to find him a cultivation technique. He had accepted his fate. He was still just a little dog, so being bullied a little wasn't the end of the world.

"This space is inside the Xuantian Tower, like a secret realm. There are many treasures here, like the spirit pool I mentioned. However, these treasures don't exist in isolation. Their perimeters are wrapped in a seven-colored barrier formed by array patterns. Only after breaking the barrier and entering the small, spirit-filled cave space inside can you see the treasure. These places are what we call spirit caves. The whole area is filled with countless spirit caves for people to explore and excavate."

"So that’s how it is. Seven-colored barriers? Array patterns?" Qinghu frowned. "What kind of thing is that? Fine, we'll see once we get there."

With that, she drove the dogs along, using the map and her own "hacks" to quickly cross the swamp. She simply slapped the ground, causing the earth to harden. The muddy, treacherous terrain turned into a flat road under her feet.

After half a day of traveling, as dusk fell, they reached a grove of reeds. The reeds here were absurdly tall, almost tens of meters high.

"Why do I feel like we've arrived in a land of giants? Everything grows so large, except for us," Qinghu complained.

"Big Sister Hu, please stop complaining. This tower isn't our place; we're just here to scavenge. Who cares why things grow so big?" the black dog whispered, keeping a cautious eye on the seven-colored barrier nearby.

A few fire-lion hybrids were sitting around a campfire, eating meat.

"I'm hungry." Seeing them eating, Qinghu touched her own stomach, which was quite empty.

"I'm hungry too. Should we go up and rob them?" the black dog suggested.

Qinghu looked at their food and shook her head. "Swamp crocodile meat doesn't taste good—it's fishy and tough. We'll just go in directly and eat the Moon Clams," Qinghu said.

"Don't do that! I have plenty of jerky. Once we're inside, I'll cook you soup. The Moon Clams are too precious; eating them would be a waste," the dog advised.

"You can watch me eat. You don't have to eat," she shot him a glare.

The dog immediately changed his tune. "Never mind, let's just eat together."

Qinghu snorted and beckoned them to follow. They circled around the fire-lion hybrids, sneaking close to the barrier. The black dog prepared to break it, but before he could move, Qinghu grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and hauled him away. *Ouch, why does she have to grab there?*

"What are you doing?"

"Breaking the barrier!" the black dog said.

"Break it? Forget it, get out of the way." Qinghu pushed him aside and stared at the seven-colored barrier. It was essentially a dumbed-down version of a divine seal. For her, dismantling this little toy was no problem. But why break it? Just sneaking in with the dogs would be easier.

"Stand straight! Get into two rows. When I tell you to move, move. Remember, once we're inside, knock the fire-lion hybrids down first," Qinghu instructed.

"Yes, my lady." The dogs were very obedient.

Qinghu nodded in satisfaction. She raised a small hand, and a wave of earthen-yellow spiritual energy swirled around them. Like a warm beam of light, they plunged into the ground, using earth-escape.

When the light faded, they were standing beside the spirit pool. Thick, milky-white spiritual liquid obscured the bottom of the pool. However, the outlines of various moon-white fanshaped clams were visible, pulsing with light as they fed.

"What a treasure." Without another word, Qinghu began collecting the spiritual liquid and the Moon Clams. She sucked them into her own small shell, having dug a massive pool in the center of the large earthen platform she had previously condensed.

The spiritual liquid was drained with a loud roar. The sound was so loud that even the dead could hear it. As the liquid and clams vanished, the fire-lion hybrids in the cave were enraged and charged at the dogs.

"It's you! It's you again! I should have killed you, you bastard! Return my spirit pool! Return my Moon Clams!" The leader of the fire-lions recognized the black dog and attacked with fury, hoping to tear the dog's head off.

Black dog: *What a massive scapegoat I've become! I wasn't the one collecting the liquid!* He wanted to shout it wasn't him, but he didn't dare.

The black dog was no match for the fire-lion; he wouldn't have been chased out earlier if he were. So, after being beaten by Qinghu, he was now beaten again by the fire-lion. *Twice in one day!*

The guards he brought were also surrounded and beaten by the other fire-lions. *Whimper, whimper.* The sounds of their suffering were truly pathetic.

The only one spared was Big Sister Hu, who looked like a delicate flower. She was busy collecting the last of the liquid and the clams, and then she received a clam-shaped token—the reward for clearing the spirit cave, which granted access to the fifth floor.

"Hand over the liquid, the clams, and the token!" The fire-lion slammed the black dog to the ground, stepping on his face while threatening Qinghu. "Otherwise, I'll kill him."

"Then kill him. What's the point of keeping a useless dog? Oh, right, he was the one who told me about this place and led the way. Don't go easy on him—torture him, then kill him," Qinghu said, adding fuel to the fire. *A pack of stupid dogs—not only could they not handle the lions, but they let the lions handle them! It's embarrassing.*

Qinghu decided to tame the lions. A top-tier henchman was always useful.

"What? You bastard! I'll tear you to shreds!" The little fire-lion was furious, stomping on the black dog's head repeatedly.

"Yes, stomp him! Stomp him hard! It would be even better if his head exploded!" Qinghu cheered the fire-lion on.

"You... you... why aren't you saving him?" the fire-lion asked, bewildered.

"He's a black dog, I'm a human. Why would I save him?" Qinghu gave the fire-lion a look as if to say, *Are you kidding me?*

The little fire-lion was stunned: "..."

"Big Sister Hu, help! I'm still useful! I know another place with even better treasures!" the black dog cried out in a desperate bid to save himself.

"Really?" Qinghu hesitated. "You're so useless, how could you know where better treasures are?"

"Big Sister Hu, I'm only weak because I'm young! I'm barely twenty, and they are all nearly thirty. They won't be able to enter the Xuantian Tower next time, so it's normal that I'm currently weaker. But my nose is sharp, and my memory is good. When it comes to finding treasures, I'm not inferior to anyone. I have a unique intuition; whenever there's a great treasure, I can sense it."

"A treasure-seeking sense? Is that comparable to a Treasure-Seeking Mouse?" Qinghu looked at the black dog suspiciously. Could he be a special mutated species? "Fine, I'll save you once. If you're useless next time, I won't save you."

"I'm useful, I'm very useful!" the black dog shouted.

At this moment, the other dogs were also on the verge of being completely wiped out.

Then... Qinghu rolled up her sleeves and joined in.

One punch per lion-dog—or rather, lion-cub. As soon as she used her gravity restraint, the little lions were frozen as if hit by a immobilization spell, forced to take a beating. *Pow, bam!* In no time, she had beaten the group of fire-lions to the ground.

The leader of the little lions couldn't believe his eyes. He had been beaten, and beaten multiple times.

The black dog, rubbing his waist and limping over, laughed wildly in triumph. "You have your day, don't you? Weren't you tough before? Stomping on my head? Go ahead, stomp some more!" The black dog stepped right back on him.

The little lion was too weak to resist, but he shot daggers at the dog with his eyes. The fire-lions would never submit.

"Don't kill them yet. If they're dead, who will help us clear out spirit caves and dig for treasure?" Qinghu felt great after beating the fire-lions. A little exercise was good for the body and mind.

After the exercise, her stomach grumbled. Qinghu pulled out her pot, lit a fire, added fresh meat, cracked open several large Moon Clams, and poured in half a pot of spiritual liquid to make soup. She was in high spirits, and she had even harvested a few pearls the size of pigeon eggs.

The rich, meaty aroma drifted throughout the spirit cave.

The fire-lions lying on the ground suddenly woke up. *So fragrant!* They stretched their necks, staring at the pot.

The dogs, who had been beaten into a state of spiritual malaise, were suddenly energized. *So fragrant!* They looked at the pot with longing. *Can we have some?*

"Big Sister Hu, my subordinates and I are also very capable of doing work," the black dog said, fawning over her. He had to keep the lions down—it was either him or the lions.

"Yes, but at the critical moment, I still had to save you myself," Qinghu retorted.

Black dog: "..." The lions were indeed better fighters.

"Bring that little lion over here," Qinghu said.

The black dog forgot his pain and limped over, dragging the half-dead little lion to Qinghu.

"Little lion, you didn't beat me, admit it?" Qinghu said to the little lion.

The little lion turned his head away.

"While in the Xuantian Tower, you must listen to me and do as I say, understand?" Qinghu said.

The little lion ignored her.

"Dog, go and castrate that little lion. If he doesn't want to be a proper male lion, he can be neither man nor woman," Qinghu ordered loudly.

The little lion immediately clamped his legs together, looking at Qinghu with terror in his eyes.

The dog, now feeling cocky, pulled a gleaming dagger from his tunic. "Yes, ma'am!"

"I'll listen to you, but only while inside the Xuantian Tower." A smart lion knew when to submit. Being castrated would be the end of everything. The red-furred little lion immediately compromised.

"Good, that's better. You can get up too. Manage your own subordinates. Eat when it's time to eat, drink when it's time to drink," Qinghu instructed.

Little lion: *But you took all the spiritual liquid and the Moon Clams, what are we supposed to eat and drink?*

Soon, the little lion found out: they had to bring their own supplies. The dogs were doing exactly that—chewing on tasteless dry rations while staring at Qinghu's pot.

*Whimper.* It was so miserable.

The little lion nearly covered his eyes. They were all in the same boat! *Bah, we are lions, not dogs!*

However, Qinghu was fair enough to eventually give each dog and lion a large bowl of spiritual liquid soup. "Look how good I am to you! You each get a big bowl. Make sure you work hard for me from now on."

What could the dogs and lions say? They could only bury their faces in their bowls and nod vigorously. If you couldn't win, you might as well lie flat.

Qinghu's mysterious and unpredictable methods had completely broken them. Beating dogs and lions until they were hung out to dry—there was no one else like her.

After dinner, they set up camp. Qinghu ate and slept well, while the others had to make do. The dogs, aching all over but not daring to cry out, and the lions, who lay awake hating the dogs with every fiber of their being, tossed and turned.

Qinghu slept soundly all night, and the next day, full of energy, she set off with her pack of dogs and lions. Across the water, her treasures were waiting to be dug up!

Just as they marched out of the spirit cave, the cave itself shrank into nothingness and vanished.

"Hmph, so the spirit cave wasn't physically located here. This was just a teleportation coordinate. Using a coordinate to project treasures here is quite a clever design." Qinghu knew the liquid and clams she collected were real, but the spirit cave itself was just a projection. Perhaps the spirit cave was fake, and the pool she raided was just a small part of a much larger body of spiritual liquid located elsewhere.

Qinghu smiled at the sky. Once her divine power and divine body were restored, she would definitely go on a little tour.

"What do you mean by 'using teleportation coordinates to project treasures'?" the dog asked, confused.

"If you don't understand, don't ask," Qinghu snapped.

The dog quickly ran off to lead the way. The lions followed, looking relaxed but feeling deeply depressed. Being captured and beaten, then forced to work for someone else—it was a blow to their pride.

The problem was that Qinghu wasn't a lion-keeper, and she didn't care about their mental health. If they didn't work, they got beaten, and she wouldn't spoil them. Under the suppression of the "violent Big Sister Hu," the lions who tried to show their claws were beaten into bruised, panda-eyed messes. They all became obedient.

They had to be—Big Sister Hu was Big Sister Hu! None of them could beat her!

"Get your spirits up! Whoever looks sluggish, I'll break all five of their legs!" Qinghu was increasingly developing into the image of a tyrannical mountain bandit chief.