Jiang Ying peeled an apple for her big brother and sat by the hospital bed, tilting her head as she looked at him.

  Jiang Lan glanced at the apple, momentarily lost in thought.

  "Brother, what are you thinking about?"

  Jiang Lan snapped back to reality and smiled slightly, "I was thinking about your second brother. He said next time he visits me, I should peel an apple for him."

  Jiang Ying wrinkled her nose and said, "That guy, he's got the thickest skin!"

  Jiang Lan kept smiling, "That's right, among the three of us, he's the thickest-skinned."

  When Jiang Kai was mentioned, both siblings couldn't help but look a bit wistful.

  Ever since Jiang Kai entered his Calling, their family's life had been getting better and better. Jiang Lan's illness was treated, and Jiang Ying transferred to a new school, far away from the Huang Family.

  Moreover, the savings on Jiang Ying's card were now enough to buy a villa by Serenity Lake.

  Everything felt like a dream, yet it was all real.

  "That kid must be having a hard time on Ghost Star," Jiang Lan said softly.

  Jiang Ying felt sorry for her second brother too, but given her big brother's current condition, it was best not to worry too much. So she changed the subject, saying, "Brother, our second brother is clever, don't worry about him. By the way, why don't you look at some houses online? Once you're discharged, we can move to a new home."

  Jiang Lan smiled slightly, picked up the new phone Jiang Ying bought him, and opened a website.

  "Alright, I'll take a look..." As he spoke, Jiang Ying suddenly froze.

  "What's wrong?" Jiang Ying leaned over to look at Jiang Lan's phone.

  Jiang Lan was browsing the "China News App," and the homepage had several news items related to the Calling.

  "The number of countries discovering Connection Teleportation Arrays has risen to 55. Our nation is fully searching for these arrays within our territory, and the military has increased the search reward to 2000 guild points!"

  "At the beginning of this month, stowaways from an island nation organized the largest 'smuggling' operation, launching attacks on the Newcomer Trials in 23 of our cities. The trial pass rate hit a historic low of 6.5%."

  "Following the discovery of the powerful combat profession 'War Dancer' in South America and the emergence of the new profession 'Pirate' in several Northern European countries, the rare mental strength combat profession 'Wizard' has appeared in Western Europe's Y country. In the 'Golden Compass Profession Evaluation,' China's Martial Apprentice has fallen out of the global top five."

  "The global championship has yet to start, but the public area has already become a battlefield! The Chinese military will form an elite squad, selecting the strongest from the War God Temple training camps in 23 cities to counter foreign blockades!"

  A series of news about the Calling made Jiang Lan momentarily forget he was supposed to be looking at real estate information.

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  "Recently, the competition on Ghost Star seems to be getting more intense," Jiang Lan said softly. "In the past, whenever global competition intensified, it meant the threat from the Beast God to all countries was growing stronger!"

  Jiang Ying frowned and asked, "Brother, shouldn't the Nuclear Soil be enough now? Why do they still fight so fiercely?"

  Jiang Lan shook his head, "Enough? Silly girl, do you know how much Nuclear Soil a single Beast Tide consumes? Often, it's the savings of a city for several years!"

  "I read a report a few days ago that the Beast God's power seems to be continuously increasing, and nuclear cannons are becoming less effective against powerful Beast Gods."

  "And high-level energy requires Extraordinary Beings to harness it, or only Extraordinary Beings have the power to fight the Beast God. So every country is doing everything possible to raise the strength limit of their players."

  "But the path to getting stronger can't be found in previously occupied areas; it can only appear in new areas!"

  After her brother's explanation, Jiang Ying nodded, half-understanding, "New areas... like this public area, which is a competitive zone, so there will inevitably be fierce competition."

  Jiang Lan looked at his sister with satisfaction; she was smart and understood quickly.

  However, this fierce competition, though still distant for people like Jiang Lan and Jiang Ying, also brought a subtle pressure.

  If China were to lose in this competition, it wouldn't be good news for any citizen!

  ...

  At this moment, Jiang Kai was leveling up with Hu Yan and Ruan Yu on the Taiping Mountain Path.

  The reason they chose this place was because of a type of pack beast called the Howling Moon Wolf Demon.

  These wolf demons retained most of the physical characteristics of wolves, but they walked upright on two legs and only appeared at night.

  The Fire God Squad's target was the warlord-level Howling Moon Wolf Demon.

  A warlord-level Howling Moon Wolf Demon was often accompanied by four or five wolf packs, each led by an elite wolf demon with about 20 to 30 ordinary wolf demons, totaling around a hundred.

  This was the second reason they chose the wolf demons.

  Few squads dared to provoke a wolf pack with over a hundred wolf demons.

  And as for the king-level Howling Moon Wolf Demon, no guild had taken it down yet, and no guild had even proposed a plan to kill the Wolf King.

  Clearly, this was a very tough nut to crack!

  At this time, with one or two hours until dark, the Fire God Squad had already locked onto their target and was setting up camp by a stream two kilometers from the wolf pack.

  "Kai, are you sure you can handle so many wolf demons?" Hu Yan asked, throwing some oddly shaped stones on the ground repeatedly and observing them, "You said in the secret realm you had some kind of rapid recovery state to hold on, but you don't have that state now."

  Ruan Yu set up a sturdy tripod with some thick logs, placed the Frost Shield flat on it, took out some small dishes, and set them up neatly, then went to rinse the rice.

  "Old Hu, hurry up and start the fire; we're waiting for your fire to cook."

  Jiang Kai casually shot a Quenching Pursuit arrow at the pile of firewood, igniting it.

  Before answering Old Hu's question, Jiang Kai said, "I should be able to manage. My attributes have improved a lot. The wolf demons have strong attacks but weak defense and aren't resistant to fire. A first-tier Pursuit can instant kill them, so it's not a big problem."

  "Old Hu, what do the divinations say? Is our trip auspicious or ominous?" Jiang Kai, not fully trusting Hu Yan, asked curiously as he saw Hu Yan focused on divination, even forgetting to start the fire.

  Hu Yan looked up and saw Jiang Kai staring at the stones on the ground, then replied, "Kai, I wasn't divining for this trip's fortune; I was divining my own love life."

  Jiang Kai felt a pang of internal injury.

  Talking about caring for his safety, but actually divining his love life?

  "With your looks, what kind of love life could you have?"

  "Kai, love life isn't necessarily related to looks. You look good, but aren't you still single? Besides, I've always said, once I clean up, I'm definitely an old handsome guy."

  Ruan Yu, who was rinsing rice by the stream, suddenly chimed in, "Old Hu, when you clean up, you're indeed quite handsome!"

  Jiang Kai was at a loss for words, grumbling, "Alright, alright, you're handsome! I've seen you divine several times. Last time, when I asked you to divine for me, you did it half-heartedly and ended it quickly. But for yourself, you've done it several times!"

  Hu Yan quickly explained, "Kai, I couldn't divine your love life, so I didn't do it. Mine is strange, so I did it several times."

  "Since advancing to the second tier, it's rare for such a situation to occur."

  Hu Yan's words piqued Jiang Kai's curiosity. He squatted by the stones, "What's strange about it? Does the result keep changing?"

  Hu Yan shook his head, his eyes fixed on the stones, "No, on the contrary, the result has been the same four times in a row!"

  "According to the divination, it says... when blood blossoms, that's when love arrives... I've deciphered the divination, but I can't interpret what it means."

  Unknowingly, night fell. After the Fire God Squad finished dinner, the three suddenly felt something strange around them.

  They felt enveloped in a dark red glow.

  Jiang Kai looked up and squinted slightly.

  The originally pale yellow full moon had somehow turned into a blood-red moon!

  "Blood Moon Night?!" Hu Yan's eyes widened in terror, "Kai, we have to go!"

  "What's happening?" Jiang Kai asked, puzzled.

  "I don't know, but someone is killing the king-level BOSS of the Howling Moon Wolf Demon. It's the king-level BOSS that triggered the Blood Moon Night, and all the Howling Moon Wolf Demons will transform into human form, greatly increasing their power!"

  "Huh? Killing a king-level BOSS? There's no news about this from the main city." Jiang Kai said in surprise.

  After the Murloc Lord battle, the Black Tortoise Guild needed to announce their actions in advance, specifying the time so others could come to help.

  All king-level battles required the guild to announce in advance.

  Yet this time, they hadn't received any notification!

  Hi everyone, if you like this novel and want to read more in advance, please support me on .