Movie: Get Alpha Dog at the start

Chapter 1370 Borrowing Two Heads for One Use! (Happy National Day, extra chapter for monthly votes!)

As soon as Qin Hao stepped into the passage, he activated the Xuan Tie Scale Armor without hesitation—the pale black armor instantly covered his entire body, and the defensive patterns on the armor plates glowed faintly; at the same time, he took out a Golden Gang Talisman from his storage bag, and with a "snap" he stuck it to his chest. The pale golden shield unfolded, forming a double defense with the Xuan Tie Scale Armor.

He knew very well that this passage was not set up by the Seven Sects, but was a remnant restriction of an ancient cultivator's cave dwelling. The Seven Sects spent a hundred years finding the loophole in the restriction, and could only open the passage during a period of weakness once every five years, and only cultivators in the Qi Refining stage could enter.

This ancient restriction is completely unpredictable. All disciples will be randomly teleported to any area of ​​the forbidden land. If they are unlucky enough to be teleported to a monster's lair or surrounded by enemy cultivators, even a cultivator at the twelfth level of Qi Refining may perish instantly without any defense.

"Bang!" A huge impact suddenly came from behind, and Qin Hao was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily onto the hard rock ground.

Fortunately, the double defense took effect in time. The Xuan Tie scale armor absorbed most of the impact, and although the shield of the Jin Gang Talisman cracked, it did not break. He only suffered some shock and was not seriously injured.

Before Qin Hao could get up, a series of heavy footsteps approached—a monster weighing a thousand pounds was charging towards him. The monster was grayish-black all over, with skin as hard as iron and mouth full of sharp fangs. It was a level one monster called "Shaking Mountain Boar".

"You beast, you're courting death!" Qin Hao's eyes turned cold. After stabilizing himself, he gently patted his storage bag with his right hand, and the Crimson Soul Blade flew out instantly, transforming into a streak of crimson light, carrying a scorching aura, and slashing straight towards the head of the Mountain-Shaking Boar.

"Pfft—" The blade easily sliced ​​through the tough skin of the mountain boar, splitting it in two. Blood splattered all over the ground, and the aroma of burnt meat instantly filled the air.

Qin Hao stood up, dusted himself off, and didn't even glance at the corpse of the Mountain-Shaking Boar—this kind of material from an ordinary level-one demon beast was tough and thick-skinned, only good for crafting the lowest-grade defensive magic artifacts. It could be bought for a low-grade spirit stone in the market, and it wasn't worth his time collecting it.

He leaped to the top of the cliff and took out a simple map of the Crimson Forbidden Land from his storage bag for reference.

"I wasn't very lucky; I was teleported to the outer perimeter." Qin Hao compared the map with the surrounding environment—the black miasma in the distance and the sparse vegetation on the ground were the outer perimeter area marked on the map.

He wasn't in a hurry; instead, he breathed a sigh of relief: "But it doesn't matter. The poisonous fog in the central area can only be dispelled by the Moon-Sun Pearl of the Hidden Moon Sect. If we head there now, we should be able to make it in time."

He put away the map and slowly descended to the ground—flying in the Blood Forbidden Land was tantamount to suicide: not only would the high altitude easily attract attacks from bird-like monsters such as the "Iron Feather Eagle," but he would also become a sitting duck for disciples from other sects, since everyone wanted to steal other people's resources.

Qin Hao took out a speed talisman from his storage bag and stuck it on his leg. The talisman instantly transformed into a light blue stream of energy that merged into his limbs, instantly increasing his movement speed by 30%.

"Let's go!" Qin Hao strode forward and ran towards the "ring mountain range" marked on the map. The ring mountain range is the dividing line between the outer and middle parts. Crossing the mountain range will allow him to enter the lava land, which is not far from the center.

Along the way, he encountered many level-one demonic beasts: there were "Azure Scaled Snakes" spitting venom, "Black Iron Crabs" wielding giant pincers, and swarms of "Earth Ants." Qin Hao avoided them whenever possible, and if he couldn't avoid them, he would summon his Crimson Soul Blade and kill them with a single strike, never lingering in battle. As for the low-grade spiritual herbs growing on the ground, he didn't even bother to look at them—these herbs had weak medicinal properties and couldn't be exchanged for Foundation Establishment Pills; they would only waste his time.

After traveling for half a day, Qin Hao finally crossed the ring mountain range and entered the central basin.

As they ventured deeper, the surrounding temperature rose, the ground transformed from black rock into dark red lava, and the air was thick with the pungent smell of sulfur. In the distance, small volcanoes could be seen erupting, spewing lava that flowed slowly like a red river.

"Looks like we've arrived at the Lava Lands." Qin Hao took out a map and compared it with the surrounding environment—the map indicated that the Lava Lands were rich in fire-attribute spiritual herbs.

Just as he put away the map and prepared to continue his journey, a sharp cry suddenly came from not far away, mixed with the screams and roars of the cultivators.

Qin Hao's eyes narrowed, and he quietly circulated his magic power, concealing his aura, as he moved towards the source of the sound—in the Crimson Forbidden Land, any conflict could mean resources, or of course, danger.

He hid behind a huge lava rock and peered out—he saw three cultivators dressed in Tianque Fortress attire being besieged by hundreds of "Firebirds".

The Fiery Sparrow is a level one fire-attribute demon beast, only the size of a pigeon. A single one's combat power is equivalent to a Qi Refining Level 4 cultivator. However, once they gather in flocks, they can spew fireballs, forming a dense rain of fire, making them extremely difficult to deal with.

These three cultivators from Tianque Fortress were clearly trying to collect some kind of spiritual herb, but they inadvertently disturbed the nest of the Firebird.

"Quick! Unleash your defensive magic weapons!" the leading Tianque Fortress cultivator roared, pulling out a Vajra Talisman. Once activated, it formed a pale golden shield that blocked most of the fireballs.

However, there were simply too many Firebirds, and fireballs rained down on the shield, causing its light to dim more and more.

The other two cultivators also fought desperately, one using a high-grade defensive magic weapon and the other taking out a curved sword magic weapon to counterattack the Fiery Sparrows, but to little avail, and were unable to stop the massive flock of sparrows.

"No! The shield is about to break!" With a cry of alarm, the leading cultivator's Vajra Talisman shield shattered with a "crack," and the fireball instantly engulfed his figure, abruptly ending his scream.

The remaining two cultivators were terrified when they saw this and turned to run away, but they were caught up by the Firebird. The fireball landed on them and instantly burst into flames, turning them into two clumps of ashes in a moment.

Qin Hao quietly hid behind the rocks until the flock of firebirds dispersed before slowly emerging.

He showed no sympathy for the three Tianque Fortress cultivators—in the Blood Forbidden Land, let alone cultivators from other sects, even fellow disciples would kill each other for resources. If he rashly made a move, he might not only be besieged by the Firebirds, but also be bitten back by the Tianque Fortress cultivators, which would be a loss for him.

Just as he was about to leave, the spirit beast pouch at his waist suddenly stirred—it contained the long-nosed rat he had seized from the gaunt, evil cultivator. A thought struck Qin Hao, and he took the long-nosed rat out.

The long-nosed rat's long nose twitched incessantly, its eyes fixed on the direction the flock of fireflies had gone, chirping excitedly.

"Oh? Is there some treasure over there?" Qin Hao frowned slightly—the fighting power of over a hundred Firebirds should not be underestimated. If it's not a worthwhile resource, there's really no need to take the risk.

But the long-nosed rat has a very keen tracking ability, and its restlessness suggests that what lies ahead must be of great value.

"Let's go take a look first. If it's not worth much, we'll leave immediately." Qin Hao, carrying the long-nosed rat, followed the direction the flock of firebirds had gone, walking along the lava ground. After walking for about half an hour, a dark underground cave appeared ahead. At the entrance of the cave, there were still firebird feathers and traces of flames, clearly indicating that it was the location of their nest.

The long-nosed rat pointed into the cave and squawked even louder. Qin Hao peered into the cave and his eyes lit up instantly—on the rock wall deep inside, there grew more than a dozen fiery red spiritual herbs, their leaves shimmering with a faint flame-like glow—they were "Fire Velvet Fruits"!

Firefly Fruit is a fire-attribute spiritual herb that can be consumed directly without the need for alchemy, and can greatly enhance the power of a cultivator's fire-attribute spells.

No wonder the Firebird built its nest here; it turns out it was to protect these Firefly Fruits. Those three cultivators from Tianque Fortress must have come for the Firefly Fruits as well.

"It's worth the risk," Qin Hao thought to himself. Although he mainly cultivated metal-attribute techniques, he also knew fire-attribute spells. After consuming the Fire Velvet Fruit, the power of his fire-attribute spells would increase by at least 10%.

Without further hesitation, he took out a set of five-colored command flags from his storage bag—these were the "Inverted Five Elements Array Flags" that he had specially crafted based on Xin Ruyin's array formation insights.

Six months ago, he and Xin Ruyin repaired this ancient formation and added a fire pattern formation to make up for the defect of the Inverted Five Elements Formation that "only traps but does not kill". Now the formation can not only create illusions to trap enemies, but also ignite earth fire to burn those trapped.

"Go!" Qin Hao shouted, throwing the five-colored command flags around the entrance of the cave. After landing, the flags instantly disappeared into the lava ground.

Then, he summoned the Crimson Soul Blade, which transformed into a streak of crimson light and flew straight into the depths of the cave.

"Chirp chirp—" The Fiery Birds inside the cave were instantly startled. Hundreds of Fiery Birds turned around in unison and spat fireballs at Qin Hao. The dense rain of fire was like a red waterfall, enveloping the entire entrance of the cave.

Qin Hao was prepared. He took out five Golden Gang Talismans from his storage bag and activated them at the same time. Five pale golden shields were stacked together, firmly blocking the fire rain outside. The fireballs hit the shields and could only stir up ripples.

He wielded the Crimson Soul Blade, its blade ablaze with flames. He unleashed a barrage of blade energy, slaying the Firebirds that stood in his way. The Crimson Soul Blade's fire attribute was effective against the Firebirds, and wherever the blade energy passed, the Firebirds were reduced to charred remains.

In just a few breaths, Qin Hao rushed to the rock wall where the Fire Edelweiss grew, reached out and picked all the Fire Edelweiss fruits, and put them into the jade box that he had prepared in advance.

"Got it!" Qin Hao didn't linger and turned to fly out of the cave.

The flock of firebirds was utterly enraged and chased after them, trying to reclaim the Firefly Fruit. But the moment they flew out of the cave entrance, the scene before them suddenly changed—the dark red lava ground had transformed into a dense bamboo forest, and the fireballs they shot out vanished without a trace, like mud sinking into the sea, without even causing a ripple.

This is precisely the illusion created by the Reversed Five Elements Formation! The Firebird, lacking intelligence, cannot distinguish between illusion and reality. It can only rush around and spew fire in the bamboo forest, but it is unable to break through the formation.

After an incense stick's time, the Firebird finally stopped moving, tilting its head and chirping, clearly unable to comprehend the bizarre scene before it.

Just then, the illusion created by the formation vanished, and the entrance to the cave reappeared before their eyes.

The flock of flamingos hesitated for a moment, but eventually flew back to the cave in a huff.

After an incense stick's time, Qin Hao's figure slowly emerged from behind the lava rocks not far from the cave entrance.

He put away the five-colored command flag and checked the spirit stones on it—the formation had consumed a lot of spiritual power and needed to be replaced with new spirit stones before it could be used again.

"This Reversed Five Elements Formation is indeed very useful. With it, defeating the Ink Dragon solo should not be a problem." Qin Hao was secretly delighted. Although the Ink Dragon was a level two demon beast with extremely strong defense, as long as he trapped it with the Reversed Five Elements Formation and then attacked it with the Golden Halberd Talisman, he would definitely be able to kill it.

He took out the jade box containing the Firefly Fruit, opened it, took out a fruit, and swallowed it directly. The Firefly Fruit melted in his mouth, turning into a warm current that flowed through his meridians. Wherever it passed, the fire attribute magic became more active.

"The medicinal power of the Firefly Fruit will take ten to fifteen days to fully digest, now is not the time to refine it." Qin Hao put the jade box into his storage bag and affixed another Swiftness Talisman. "First, find the stone palace in the central area, that is the core of the Crimson Forbidden Land."

After another day of travel, a massive canyon appeared before Qin Hao. The canyon seemed to have been cleaved in two by a giant sword; the cliffs on either side were sheer and hundreds of feet high, covered in black vines. At the bottom of the canyon, there was only a narrow path, barely wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side—the very "One Line Sky" marked on the map.

Through here, one can enter the heart of the Crimson Forbidden Land. Qin Hao did not rush in, but instead hid behind a rock at the entrance of the canyon to observe—the narrow pass was easy to defend and difficult to attack, making it an excellent ambush location; a slight mistake could lead to falling into someone else's trap.

He waited patiently for half an hour and finally saw two figures running from a distance. They were two cultivators dressed in the attire of the Spirit Beast Mountain, one at the eleventh level of Qi Refining and the other at the tenth level of Qi Refining.

As soon as the two entered the narrow passage, three figures suddenly darted out from the cliffs on both sides of the canyon—they were cultivators from Huadaowu, Tianquebao, and Huangfenggu, all at the eleventh level of Qi Refining, clearly having been lying in ambush for some time.

"Hahaha, we've finally found our prey!" The leader of the Huadaowu cultivators laughed loudly, summoning his mid-grade attack magic weapon, the "Mountain-Splitting Blade," and slashing straight at the Spirit Beast Mountain cultivator.

The cultivators of Spirit Beast Mountain were shocked and hurriedly summoned their defensive magical artifacts to resist. "Clang, clang, clang—" The booming sounds of clashing artifacts echoed through the canyon, fireballs, arrows, and blade flashes intertwined. The Spirit Beast Mountain cultivators, already weaker and caught off guard, quickly found themselves at a disadvantage. A cultivator at the tenth level of Qi Refining was struck in the shoulder by a mountain-splitting blade, bleeding profusely; a cultivator at the eleventh level of Qi Refining was also wounded by a poisoned dagger from a cultivator from Heavenly Palace Fortress, his face turning pale.

Just as the two were about to perish, Qin Hao suddenly appeared at the entrance of the canyon.

"Fellow Daoist of Qingxu Sect, come quickly and help!" The Qi Refining Stage 11 cultivator from Spirit Beast Mountain cried out as if grasping at a straw, "These villains deliberately set up an ambush here and killed many cultivators. If you don't help us, you'll be next to die!"

“That’s right! They are greedy and will never let you go easily!” The cultivator at the tenth level of Qi Refining hurriedly echoed.

The three who had set up the ambush changed their expressions. The leader, a cultivator from Huadaowu, quickly said, "Fellow Daoist, don't listen to their nonsense! We have old grudges with these two, but today's matter is a personal one and has nothing to do with you! Please pass through the canyon, we will not stop you!"

"If you insist on getting involved in this matter, don't blame us for being impolite!" The cultivator from Tianque Fortress spoke with a threatening tone.

Qin Hao watched their clumsy performance and a cold smile curled at the corner of his lips: "Oh? Is that so? But what if I don't trust you guys?"

He paused, his eyes turning cold: "How about you entrust your lives to me, so that I can pass through the canyon with peace of mind?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Hao took out two dungeon talismans from his storage bag. Two beams of earthen yellow light flashed, and the dungeon talismans transformed into two earthen dungeons half a zhang high, instantly trapping the leading cultivators from Huadaowu and Huangfeng Valley.

The trapping array patterns on the walls of the earthen prison glowed faintly. The two inside attacked frantically, but could not break through the defenses.

The cultivators from Tianque Fortress were terrified at the sight and turned to flee. But Qin Hao was much faster; in a flash, he transformed into a streak of crimson light and instantly caught up with them.

"How dare you! You're courting death!" The Tianque Fortress cultivator hurriedly summoned his mid-grade defensive magic weapon, the "Copper Shield," to block in front of him.

"Pfft—" The Crimson Soul Blade easily cleaved through the bronze shield. With a flash of light, the head of the Tianque Fortress cultivator flew into the air, and his corpse crashed to the ground.

Upon seeing this, the two cultivators from Spirit Beast Mountain in the canyon were overjoyed: "Thank you for your help, fellow Daoist! We are deeply grateful and will repay your kindness if we have the opportunity in the future!"

Qin Hao ignored their thanks, a cold smile curving his lips: "No need for thanks, but I would like to borrow something from you two."

"What do you need, fellow Daoist? Just say the word!" The cultivator from Spirit Beast Mountain thought Qin Hao was also going to rob him, and said sullenly.

"What I want to borrow are your heads." Qin Hao's voice was icy, and a fireball talisman had appeared in his hand.

"What?!" The cultivator from Spirit Beast Mountain's expression changed drastically. He tried to escape, but it was too late.

Qin Hao threw out the Flame Bullet Talisman. With a loud "boom", the flames exploded. The two men, who were already injured and whose defensive magic artifacts were also damaged, were instantly engulfed by the flames, and their screams echoed throughout the canyon.

The cultivator at the tenth level of Qi Refining died on the spot. The cultivator at the eleventh level of Qi Refining tried to escape, but Qin Hao controlled the Crimson Soul Blade, which transformed into a streak of red light, caught up with him, and cleaved him in two.

At this moment, the cultivators from Huadaowu and Huangfeng Valley, who were trapped in the earthen prison, finally broke free. However, upon seeing the horrific scene inside the canyon, their faces turned deathly pale, and they stood rooted to the spot, not daring to move—they had never expected that this Qingxu Sect cultivator would be so ruthless, even killing his "allies."

"Gentlemen, it's time to get going." Qin Hao turned around, his eyes like those of someone looking at a dead man. The two men snapped out of their daze and turned to flee—the cultivators from Huadaowu ran towards the depths of the canyon, while the cultivators from Huangfeng Valley ran towards the entrance.

"Hmph, trying to escape? Too naive!" Qin Hao snorted coldly, summoning the Crimson Soul Blade and the Golden Light Blade, two streaks of light chasing after the two.

"Pfft-"

"Thud—" After two screams, the two fell to the ground, and the canyon returned to silence.

Qin Hao stepped forward and inspected the five people's storage bags—most of them contained low-grade spiritual herbs, ordinary talismans, and a few hundred low-grade spirit stones. As for magical artifacts, they were all worthless items that Qin Hao didn't even bother with.

When he opened the storage bag of the Qi Refining eleventh level cultivator from Spirit Beast Mountain, his eyes lit up—inside was a "Purple Monkey Flower" that was three hundred years old! The Purple Monkey Flower is one of the main medicinal materials for refining Foundation Establishment Pills, and a three-hundred-year-old Purple Monkey Flower can be exchanged for a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Qin Hao carefully put the Purple Monkey Flower into the jade box, then took out a Flame Bullet Talisman and threw it at the five corpses—flames ignited, burning the corpses to ashes to avoid leaving any traces.

Having done all this, he followed the narrow path through the crimson sky towards the heart of the forbidden area. (End of Chapter)