Why Must We Press Each Other So Hard?

When their rest was over, they continued on their way.

Along the path, they encountered many mutilated corpses, all members of the Senran Tribe’s search parties. There were at least a dozen dead. The chief leading the group wore a grim expression and pressed onward, directing his team to keep searching. Unsurprisingly, they discovered more bodies, including two killed secret-ring sorcerers.

News was sent back to the tribe, and the priest presiding over the sacrificial ceremonies flew into a rage. Every secret-ring sorcerer was a pillar of the tribe, capable of bringing back abundant prey and serving as the backbone of their fighting force. Even though Senran was a large tribe, and the priest could offer blood sacrifices to the sacred bone for power, generations had only maintained about forty secret-ring sorcerers, with occasional deaths from age or accidents.

Now, a tenth had perished in an instant, including one who ranked among the top five warriors. How could the old priest not grieve?

Yet, despite the pain, the sacred bone must be reclaimed! It was a relic tied to the legacy of the secret-ring sorcerers. The priest resolved to command the flocks of Blue-Eyed Vultures to assist the tribe's warriors in their hunt.

If it could not be found, he would be forced to call upon the entire tribe to attack others, seizing their inferior sacred bones to fill the void.

For the next three days, the Senran Tribe sent forth their finest. Some teams even had wild Blue-Eyed Vultures, greatly boosting their combat strength. However, these vultures were sometimes unruly, occasionally harming their own and roaming wildly to hunt.

Nevertheless, their effectiveness was remarkable. Over these three days, Xiu Nan was relentlessly pursued, managing only to ambush and kill one secret-ring sorcerer on the first day. After that, every Senran squad kept their distance close, so whenever one was attacked, another could quickly respond and provide support.

Moreover, as soon as Xiu Nan appeared, they would immediately use their bone-hardening powers, giving him no chance to react.

Thus, even though Xiu Nan could grant meditation time to the Blue-Eyed Vulture, he gained no advantage in battle. Outnumbered, he could only survive precariously, barely managing a meal from time to time.

He dared not even light a fire, for the smoke would be spotted by patrolling vultures in the sky, and a horde of enemies would descend upon him.

Yesterday, he had nearly lost his life.

Leaning against a tree trunk, Xiu Nan tossed a handful of berries into his mouth. With each bite, his stomach felt even more sour. He hadn’t tasted meat in two days and survived solely on mushrooms and berries from the forest.

"Ah... You're such a disappointment!" he sighed, batting away Bai Mu's ugly head as it tried to eat his berries, annoyed.

In the past few days, including before, he had accumulated six evolution points, all invested in Bai Mu. As a result, Bai Mu’s size had grown rapidly, from one meter forty to a full two meters.

Its bulk had grown several times over, its beak and claws sharper, now glinting with black at the tips.

Its strength had improved considerably; a single swipe could break a tree trunk thicker than a man's body.

But it still wasn’t much use. Either Xiu Nan avoided enemies altogether, or he ran into three Blue-Eyed Vultures at once, each unleashing their bone-hardening domains. The overlapping effect was lethal.

He had experienced it firsthand: forced out of meditation time, his bones crackling, burdened as if weighed down by thousands of pounds. Every step felt as though his frame would collapse.

In comparison, Bai Mu’s three white eyes could focus the bone-hardening frequency for single-target attacks, but its range and intensity didn’t change. Against multiple foes, it was powerless—only its strong physique allowed it to hold its own.

Xiu Nan had invested eight evolution points, but Bai Mu still couldn’t break through its next bottleneck. It was absurd.

He had researched the matter; the Blue-Eyed Vulture was simply too low-level, a lower-middle-tier extraordinary creature of the first circle. Its potential and upper limit were meager, so each upgrade consumed a disproportionate number of points—poor return for the investment.

But Xiu Nan had no choice. Bai Mu, however weak, was his first and currently only rune beast.

Under threat of being hunted, he couldn’t afford to save evolution points, pouring them all in, hoping brute force would work wonders.

A bird call echoed from the sky.

Xiu Nan reflexively sprang up, ready to flee. But he quickly realized—there was only one!

Was it a trap? Or was it alone?

In the past, three Blue-Eyed Vultures would charge together, overwhelming him by numbers.

Now, only one circled above.

“Let’s go for it! Worst case, I’ll restart!” These days had left Xiu Nan seething, his body covered in wounds. If not for Bai Mu’s shared strength attribute, he would have died already.

“Grant meditation time, duration: 2 seconds.”

Bai Mu instantly became a blur, flying so fast it was invisible to the naked eye.

“Activate bone-hardening!”

The air sac in Bai Mu’s mouth vibrated, emitting a corrosive mechanical sound that enveloped its foe.

“Activate targeting!”

All three eyes turned gray-white, locking firmly onto the other vulture dozens of meters away. The bone-hardening frequency was concentrated on that spot.

A harsh crackling echoed.

The other Blue-Eyed Vulture in midair attempted to resist, but it was clearly a beat too slow.

With a rush, Bai Mu passed by, clutching a bloody throat in its claws—the other vulture’s. It killed its opponent in a single blow.

“Yes!” Xiu Nan reached out to retrieve the rune.

“You have gained evolution points: 2.”

His joy was short-lived. Three Blue-Eyed Vultures approached from afar, quickly discovering their fallen comrade.

They chased him, letting out piercing cries.

The calls resounded through the air, echoed by others all around.

“I’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest!” Xiu Nan felt his scalp tingle.

He picked a direction to the left and ran with his head down. Behind him, a long line of secret-ring sorcerers gave chase.

By a small creek, Xiu Nan sprinted wildly, only to see a burly man, radiant with silver light, rushing toward him.

As he drew closer, he recognized the assassin, Iron Sun!

The two locked eyes, neither attacking, but instead passing each other, heading in opposite directions.

Xiu Nan felt both tense and relieved, then gloated. Iron Sun was about to face a squad of a dozen Blue-Eyed Vultures—he’d be done for in seconds.

He gave no warning; after all, they were enemies.

Refocusing, Xiu Nan sprinted onward.

Thirty seconds later, both men, faces pale, rushed back to the same spot, their first words to each other: “Damn!”

Then, without hesitation, they started running south together.

After another half minute, two native armies converged, with a total of twenty Blue-Eyed Vultures circling above.

They adjusted their direction, all aiming south, united in their purpose.