The journey in the daylight went smoothly—undead only appeared at night, after all.
As dusk fell, one of the large, silent bodyguards pulled a few grey cloves from his pack.
"It's getting dark—eat these first."
"Edible? Should've said earlier!" Mo Fan immediately grabbed his.
Zhou Haoyu cautioned, "The taste is… unique. Best be mentally prepared."
"Heh, it's just a clove—what, I'm gonna puke?" Mo Fan scoffed before shoving it into his mouth.
Within seconds his eyes bulged and his stomach heaved. He almost threw up several times—but with his earlier pride still hanging over his head, he forced it back down in agony.
Zhou Haoyu shook his head, then took one as well. After hesitating briefly, he bit it twice and swallowed straight down.
The flavor was pungently harsh—but bearable.
Asharuiya and her two guards ate theirs without fuss. Even behind her black veil, Zhou Haoyu caught a flicker of pain in her eyes.
All around them, undead were already clawing their way up from underground.
Yet with everyone having eaten grey clove, the undead moved past them with hoarse groans—as though they couldn't see them.
"So these are undead? Doesn't seem that terrifying…" Mo Fan grumbled, still recovering from the taste.
"That's just rotting corpses—you can kill them with a Basic spell. Use magic here and you'll attract worse things," Zhou Haoyu reminded.
"Since we're traveling, best not provoke them needlessly," Asharuiya agreed coldly.
Mo Fan shrugged—fine, since they both said so.
Led by the short guide, they finally neared Yangyang Village.
[Activation condition: met.]
[Activating.]
[Obtained Fire Stardust.]
Fire Stardust…
Zhou Haoyu temporarily ignored the village, slipping his consciousness into his spiritual world.
There it was—a new fiery-red Stardust among his constellations!
After confirming, he opened his eyes again.
The guide and others had just stepped into Yangyang Village—now a ruined wasteland.
Zhou Haoyu wasn't surprised.
Ancient Capital was riddled with Black Vatican agents. Slaughtering isolated villages for Kun Well water was standard for them.
To Zhou Haoyu, this was actually good news…
He still needed to kill another dozen Black Vatican zealots to open Xu Zhaoting's treasure chest.
"We'll have to try the next village. If that one is like this too…"
Asharuiya didn't finish—but the implication was clear.
The short guide came over and asked Zhou Haoyu, "Young Master Zhou, we plan to head to Hua Village next—what do you think?"
Zhou Haoyu rubbed his chin. Now that his treasure chest had opened, he didn't need to go with them… but Hua Village might contain another chest.
"Fine," Zhou Haoyu agreed.
"It's just—the grey cloves are almost all used up. We probably don't have enough to reach Hua Village… maybe not even half the way," the short man said awkwardly.
"Then save them until the undead numbers get heavy. I'll use that time to hunt a few undead," Zhou Haoyu said calmly.
As long as the number of undead didn't exceed a thousand, he could handle it.
Hearing this, Asharuiya glanced at him with newfound interest.
Her two burly attendants, however, wore slightly mocking looks. Could a random Chinese mage they picked up really be that strong?
The guide didn't suggest returning—he knew all too well how terrifying Zhou Haoyu's strength was now.
Along the way, undead surfaced frequently—each time Zhou Haoyu cleared them in one shot with Thunder Strike, Level 4.
Under the amplification of Profound Yang Golden Thunder, not a single Servant-level undead managed to survive the lightning storm.
That one spell alone left an intense impression on Asharuiya and her two followers.
…A Soul-Seed!!
That meant this man was a bona fide High-Tier Mage!
The two followers, who were originally dismissive, immediately became well-behaved.
"Which force in China are you from?" Asharuiya suddenly moved up beside Zhou Haoyu and asked.
"The Zhou Clan of the Imperial Capital. You probably haven't heard of it—but you should know my teacher, the Imperial Magic Court Chief Mage—Pang Lai."
Zhou Haoyu didn't hide it. With her intelligence network, she could learn it easily anyway.
While the Zhou Clan had some influence in the Imperial Capital, it wasn't much within China—and even less globally.
That said: with a B-grade Fire Vein now… the Zhou Clan would rise rapidly, perhaps even to the level of a top-tier noble house.
But reaching the level of a 'clan' would require either the wealth of the Zhao Family—or a Forbidden-Curse mage.
"Pang Lai… then your primary Element should be Summoning?" Asharuiya said in surprise.
Naturally she knew Pang Lai—China's number-one Summoner.
Since Zhou Haoyu was his personal disciple, she assumed Zhou practiced Summoning as his main. She had thought he was Lightning-primary a moment ago.
"…You could say that," Zhou Haoyu answered vaguely.
Exposing his identity was one thing—exposing all his strength was another.
"Since I've shared mine, shouldn't you reveal yours too?" Zhou Haoyu asked with a smile.
At that, both of Asharuiya's attendants instantly became vigilant.
Asharuiya's eyes flickered playfully. She stepped lightly, smiling faintly: "You offered your identity on your own. I never forced you…"
Zhou Haoyu's mouth twitched. This Saintess is completely shameless…
"You do realize we're in the wilderness, yes? If I wanted something from you, do you think those two guards could stop me?" Zhou Haoyu suddenly leaned in with a rather wicked smile.
The two attendants stiffened, stepping forward protectively.
Yet Asharuiya only laughed, crystal clear.
"You're welcome to try."
....
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