Anyone can die at any moment

Although the blood tracking fly was sent crashing with enough force to create a dint on the rock, it wasn't dead, but fell on the ground and feebly moved its legs in the air.

Despite its small stature, it was still a blood beast and wasn't as easily killed as the average bug.

The fly rolled on the ground and stood up slowly but it was still stunned from the strike as it walked disorderly.

Ye Mo removed his attention from the fly and rummaged in Liu Qiao's remains, taking the thread from the corpse.

He rolled the thread around his finger and made a knot, the same way it was when he observed Liu Qiao, then approached the blood tracking fly.

The latter recovered in the meantime and immediately threw itself at Ye Mo when he got close.

Ye Mo slapped it down on the ground another time then crouched down and tied the other end of the thread to the fly.

"Don't make me regret it." Ye Mo uttered softly as he looked at the bug before he stood up.

Previously, the plan was to exterminate the elders, the clan members and the blood tracking fly after him to cover his tracks, doing so also implied killing Liu Qiao and his team since he was the one holding the bug.

However, now they were most probably all dead and only a small number of teams isolated in this part of the forest remained, they were of no danger to him.

Similarly, the blood tracking fly by itself couldn't do anything to Ye Mo, blood tracking flies are dangerous because they travel in pack of hundreds or thousands, but one alone ain't threatening to cultivators.

This way, Ye Mo decided to take the fly with him. If he was in the midst of a battle and saw a chance he wouldn't hesitate to immediately kill it and secure his objective but since everything ended already and the fly was alone then he should as well make it his.

"I could sell the fly to a clan or use its tracking abilities for my own purposes, who knows what the future holds? It's better to take everything i can now and make use of it later than to regret because i lost an opportunity." 

Ye Mo's thoughts were mainly turned towards the future rather than the present. To be prepared for any complications that might arise in his journey he would anticipate the issues he could face and think of a counter measure.

The greatest quality of a strategist was anticipation, having a clear grasp of the situation and predicting the difficulties to come, moving two steps ahead at all time.

This kind of person, they don't think 'how do i get out of this predicament' when they are threatened, but 'how do i not fall in one' way before.

Once you are in a hopeless situation, hoping for something to save you at the last moment is futile.

The blood tracking fly dangled at the end of the thread, unconscious due to Ye Mo's last slap, but quickly, it woke up and flapped its wings.

When it understood it was tied once again, and by its prey at that, it flew head first onto Ye Mo's hand and bit him.

At first, it had a bit of trouble piercing the skin which was much tougher than a normal human but its sharp teeths which specially served to pass this layer of defense quickly got through after munching for an instant before the fly began to suck the blood out.

Seeing this, Ye Mo raised his hand in a way the middle finger bent and touched the thumb.

Suddenly, the middle finger was released from the thumb's grasp!

Flick!

The middle finger accurately struck the fly which was sent hurling back until the thread was completely outstretched before it stopped harshly in the middle of the air.

The blood tracking fly screeched loudly, enraged, then attacked again, flying towards the hand to suck its blood once more.

Flick, flick, flick!

Ye Mo flicked his middle finger repeatedly, hitting the fly again and again. The latter bounced back each time before it was stopped by the thread then it would charge even more furious than before.

Seconds quickly transformed into minutes as the bug was being hit constantly.

Ye Mo wasn't trying to kill it but just to make it lose the will to defy him so he only flicked his finger the whole time. He had a lot of strength so even though it was a blood beast, he could easily crush it if he wasn't careful.

At some point the fly gradually stopped attacking and just stayed at distance flapping its wings as it understood from the beating that it couldn't defeat him and that attacking led to pain.

Yet, because of the thread, it couldn't escape either so it just remained there looking at Ye Mo while making strange noises, showing its stubbornness and intense hatred.

Flick.

Ye Mo was very patient and didn't grow frustrated by the situation as he continued flicking his finger, resuming the battering.

The fly tried to avoid the strikes, but how could it succeed against Ye Mo at this distance? It screeched loudly in pain while getting beaten up again.

It was like a small speed pear getting hit time and time again before the inertia would send it back towards another strike.

After some time, the fly submitted looking completely dispirited, it stopped flapping its wings and landed on Ye Mo's hand but it didn't attempt to bite him even though it was in direct contact with his skin, going against its natural instincts, it just stood there motionless.

"This is a good method, i won't forget it if i need to tame another beast." Ye Mo mumbled, satisfied as he let the fly be.

He couldn't make it enter his pouch since the spatial formations inside don't activate for living beings so it would just die after some time in this small bag due to the lack of space and air.

He returned to Liu Qiao's remains and fumbled through his clothes, but didn't find anything valuable.

"Of course, they wouldn't come in such a dangerous mission with their belongings, they must have left everything to the clan." Ye Mo said casually, shaking his head.

He searched through all the corpses he could when he killed Liu clan members but never found anything useful, even their spatial pouch contained only first necessities and distress flares.

After that he returned to the area where Liu Qiao's teammates fought lightning horn rhinos.

There, the ground was littered with blood and limbs while only two corpses were complete, both of them having multiple large holes due to perforating wounds.

But these injuries and the loss of blood didn't cause their demise.

They died of cardiac arrest from the electric currents sent in their body by the horn of lightning horn rhinos.

Ye Mo used the nine revolutions fiend body on both corpses then let the fly swallow the blood on the ground and from the limbs left.

When it was done, the fly seemed much more vibrant and lively, making rounds on Ye Mo's hand, but after returning from its meal, it still refused to fly by itself, apparently fearing to be hit by his finger once more.

At this moment, the bug became unable to track Ye Mo, that is at least, until it drink his blood again.

After nourishing the fly, he returned to the area where the elder fought against the blighted treant.

He didn't need to search much, just a few meters away from the battle site, he found a strange tree. When he got closer, he realized it wasn't really a tree but what seemed like several wooden spikes sharing the same base that emerged from the ground.

Their form was crooked, taking many curves left and right before ending in a sharp spear-like tip.

On the peak of the tree was impaled the body of a man, his flesh was traversed by the spikes on every parts of his corpse, one them even went through his crotch and left through his mouth.

However, his features couldn't be made out as a swarm of insects covered every spot of his remains, ravishly devouring his flesh.

In spite of this fact, Ye Mo could easily infer through the body's frame and the way he died that it was the elder which rescued Liu Qiao's team.

"Such a pitiful end, this world is really cruel, no matter how high a position you hold or the strength you achieved, you can face the death of a dog at any moment. Only when you reach the peak and become unparalleled in the boundless space can you truly be at ease." He thought in his heart.

This person has been the elder of a clan and had the power to easily kill him if they met, but here he was in this grotesque position, being devoured by bugs even Ye Mo could crush with a wave of his hand.

Although the prerequisite to travel safely is said to be the Foundation Establishment realm, this is just a vague estimation dependant on circumstances, actually with a bit of luck and well prepared, a powerful, high level Qi Gathering cultivators could still travel some distances while even Inner Core realm experts could fall if they went too deep in the wilderness or unknowingly entered a dangerous zone.

In these lands, no one had it easy, it's just so that the weaker you are, the easier it is for you to meet your demise.

"The stronger you grow, the less things there is that can kill you. I am still too weak, i have to hurry and return to the pagoda so i can attempt to breakthrough the 8th later." Conviction shined in Ye Mo's eyes.

He invoked the winds and left the scene running, going through the safe green route of the map until he reached the third mountain.

At this point, he sat on a rock near the base of the mountain and cultivated to recover all the Qi used up on shadow walk as he eliminated Liu clan members.

He wanted to be at the maximum of his abilities to traverse the jungle in a straight line and attain the fourth mountain in one fell swoop under his concealment battle skill.

When his Qi was fully restored and he was about to depart for his destination, he thought of something.

Once he turns in shadow form, the thread that was coiled around his finger won't be tied to anything anymore and the fly he put much efforts to tame would be able to escape.

"No choice then." After pondering for some time, Ye Mo caught the fly and slightly pressed its head making it open its mouth then forcefully plunged it on the back of his hand.

The teeths pierced the skin and its mouth was soon filled with blood.

In less than an instant, Ye Mo retracted the fly from his hand and turned in a shadow, quickly moving through the jungle.

The blood tracking fly quickly swallowed the blood as it flapped its wings in the air, seemingly confused.

The thread wasn't relied to Ye Mo and it could move freely.

It was about to leave when suddenly, it caught the trail of a prey.

It was only a bug after all, it didn't think of the blood it just consumed nor the person who left but followed its nature and pursued the trail, expecting its next meal at its end.

As for Ye Mo, he quickly advanced through the woods and although he met multiple blood beasts, they didn't notice him at all.

He rejoiced at the smooth progress and in a short time, he arrived before the fourth mountain.

It was enormous, reaching the sky and piercing the clouds.

Soon enough, as he was contemplating the landscape, a buzzing sound was heard and a blood tracking fly tied to a thin thread flew towards him.

The bug sensed it was near its prey, when it noticed Ye Mo, it didn't recognize him as anything more than a bag of blood to bite so it opened its mouth wide and attacked.

Flick!

Ye Mo grinned while he flicked his finger as the blood tracking fly was pushed back.

At this moment, the fly looked at Ye Mo immobile for an instant as a bad feeling emerged in its heart.

The pain from this strike, it was ingrained on its flesh.

The torture from before, it was him!

After a moment of hesitation, the bug turned around and flapped its wings hurriedly but Ye Mo moved faster as he grabbed the thread hanging down and tied it to his index.

"So much trouble just to reach the cave, this time i will definitely retrieve the pure iridescent iron." Ye Mo declared with determination.

As he walked towards the mountain with the intention to ascend, the lonely figure of a bug flying behind him looked miserable.