Su Hao's life was simple. During the day, he wandered through the corners of the small town, and at night, when the sky turned pitch black, he'd slip back through a narrow dog hole near the kitchen and hide himself in the pile of firewood, finding warmth and safety in the crackling logs.
Within five days, Su Hao had managed to "acquire" everything essential to survive on his own.
He now had a sturdy set of clothes, a pair of handmade straw sandals, and a short spear he'd crafted himself—an iron shard securely lashed to a strong wooden stick for self-defense. With a small stash of coins in his pocket, he no longer worried about his daily meals.
His body began to slowly regain its strength, his complexion improved, and the dull ache of hunger subsided.
With things in place, Su Hao began dedicating two hours each day to refining his blood Qi. Before he started, he performed a full scan on his body and discovered numerous differences between his current form and the one he'd inhabited in his previous life.
First, the race he now belonged to in this world referred to themselves as the Zhu'Harronir.
Physically, they were taller and stronger than regular humans. Despite being only around three years old, his body had the strength of a human child nearly twice his age.
His skin had a dark shade, warm tone, and his hair was a rich, brown-black, thick and wiry, with distinct tufts of white fur near the tips of his pointed ears that gave him exceptionally sharp hearing.
His eyesight was particularly fascinating: by day, his vision was as sharp as any human's, but at night, his eyes transformed, becoming reflective and cat-like, allowing him to see clearly in darkness.
He noticed other details as well—his nails were unusually strong, almost claw-like. If properly maintained, they could be used as weapons.
His canines were slightly longer, poking out from his upper and lower jaws, hinting at a more primal lineage.
The Zhu'Harronir skeletal structure was especially resilient yet flexible, enabling a range of motion beyond what a normal human body could ever managed.
His organs were similar to a human's, but with an additional organ near his stomach. It was about the size of an egg and connected to his stomach. A network of tiny tubes spread out from it, connecting to various parts of his body.
This organ baffled Su Hao. Even after extensive scanning with [Cosmic Light], he couldn't figure out its purpose. it seemed like an enigma woven into his very biology, a mysterious lump of flesh.
On a cellular level, there weren't many significant differences, but the genetic information—responsible for recording life's data—had some variations from the reguler humans of Su Hao's previous lives. It seemed more optimized.
Still, Su Hao found this to be normal. After all, he was in a completely different world, so it made sense for there to be genetic differences.
But none of this information mattered to Su Hao.
What he really cared about was whether this Zhu'Harronir body could successfully refine blood Qi. If it could, everything would be fine. If not, he'd truly be starting from scratch again.
....
The good news was that his new body could indeed refine blood Qi. Even better, it could generate far more of it than the human bodie he'd inhabited in the Warrior world.
This made Su Hao realize that blood Qi, as a form of life energy, existed objectively across worlds.
So, Su Hao immersed himself in refining blood Qi, tapping into his newfound potential.
....
Two months later.
Su Hao had reached the level of a High-Level Common Warrior. His body had adapted to the presence of blood Qi, and he had accumulated it to the point where it had reached the limits of his physical capacity.
At the same time, Su Hao had successfully learned the basics of the language of this world. He could understand what others were saying and could even manage to express himself, albeit somewhat clumsily.
Through fragmented memories, Su Hao slowly unearthed the background of the child whose body he now inhabited.
The boy had been a street urchin in the small town, named Duwei. A year ago, his parents had mysteriously disappeared, leaving him to fend for himself by scavenging for food. He was often bullied by other, slightly older street kids. These small gangs saw him as useless due to his young age and never took him in, leaving him to survive on his own.
Just when he was about to succumb to starvation, Su Hao had taken over his body.
Since Su Hao's arrival, he had managed to survive quite well. Everything had gone remarkably smoothly.
The best part was that he now possessed the blood Qi of a High-Level Common Warrior, giving him a certain degree of self-defense.
All he needed to do was use the [Centrifugal Method] to quickly amass elite blood Qi.
The only problem was that his body wasn't even four years old yet. Although stronger than a human child, it was still quite fragile.
Such a weak body with an abundance of elite blood Qi might not be a blessing. In fact, it could easily harm itself if not handled carefully.
But Su Hao had no other choice. He needed to acquire stronger self-defense capabilities as soon as possible. While elite blood Qi couldn't be used for close combat for now, it could definitely strengthen weapons and be used to inscribe simple runes.
Once he possessed elite blood Qi, his chances of survival would drastically improve.
Otherwise, a simple accident could send him back to wandering through the cosmos once again.
Su Hao wasn't afraid of dying, but if he did die, it had to be meaningful.
"So next, the goal is to advance to the Elite Stage!" Su Hao was filled with hope for the future. Once he reached the level of a Master, he could begin exploring this world.
What kind of terrifying creatures lurked in the night of this world? Su Hao was burning with curiosity.
However, the kitchen in the small courtyard was no longer a viable hideout—the firewood was running out. If he continued to stay there, he might end up getting tossed into the stove one day as kindling.
He needed to find a new hiding place. The money he had was only enough for food, not enough to rent a room. Besides, who knew what dangers a child like him might encounter while trying to rent a place?
Now that he had a certain level of self-defense, Su Hao no longer hesitated. When he made up his mind to do something, he acted immediately.
He wrapped the sharp iron piece of his short spear in cloth, using it as a walking stick, and began exploring unexplored parts of the town.
Su Hao's ideal hiding spot was somewhere unexpected—he would trust his instincts to guide him.
....
Before long, Su Hao found his ideal hideout.
It was nestled behind a fallen earthen wall, where the collapsed bricks and earth had created a small, triangular hollow space. Hidden from plain view, the space was just the right size for a child, provided one knew where to look.
After clearing out the weeds and debris inside, spreading some dry grass and rags, and sealing both ends while leaving a small entrance just big enough for him, it became the perfect little hideout.
When he went out, he could block the entrance with dirt so no one would discover the space.
Su Hao quickly set to work on final touches.
Within a short time, he had finished constructing his hideout. After surviving alone in the wilderness in his previous world, he had become quite proficient at this sort of thing.
Su Hao crawled into the hideout and used a stone to block the entrance, leaving only two small air holes at the top and bottom. The whole structure was perfectly camouflaged; from the outside, it was impossible to tell anyone was inside.
Letting out a long sigh, Su Hao relaxed. After a brief rest, he sat up cross-legged and began converting his blood Qi into elite blood Qi.
....
Three days later, Su Hao emerged from his hideout and headed towards the bustling marketplace.
He needed to buy some food first, then find someone from whom he could "borrow" a little more money to purchase fabric and clothing. Winter was approaching, and he had to buy enough warm clothes and bedding before the cold set in.
Su Hao had also learned the name of this small town—it was called Silin City.
It sprawled with low, modest houses clustered around the outskirts, while more elaborate buildings getting progressively more impressive as one moved toward the city center. The local currency was called Zhu, small coins made from a mix of metals. One hundred Zhu could be exchanged for a single gold coin, or named Sun coin.
That's right—gold was still the universal currency in this world.
Su Hao bought some food and, as usual, lowered his presence, opting to walk through the alleys. However, he soon found himself blocked by six kids, each larger than him.
Su Hao was nearly four years old and stood about 1.2 meters tall. These six kids varied in size, but they were all much bulkier than Su Hao. Their average age was around six, and their average height was about 1.5 meters.
In terms of both size and numbers, they had Su Hao thoroughly outmatched.
The tallest kid had a noticeable scar on his forehead, clearly the leader of the group. He glanced at the food in Su Hao's hand and sneered, "New here?"
Su Hao glanced around, assessing his escape routes. He played up a nervous expression, lowering his gaze as he stammered "What do you want?"
The scarred kid grinned and said, "What do I want? If you want to live here, you have to pay the Dragon Gang protection fees."
Without warning, he reached out to snatch the food from Su Hao's hand.
Su Hao swiftly twisted his wrist, dodging the scarred kid's hand, and said softly, "Oh, I don't have anything."
The scarred kid, having missed his grab, felt humiliated and was about to attack Su Hao.
Su Hao stepped forward and stomped hard on the kid's foot.
"Ahhh∼!" The scarred kid immediately screamed and clutched his foot in pain.
The other five kids quickly surrounded Su Hao, ready to gang up on him.
A series of painful cries followed, and soon, all six kids were sitting on the ground, holding their feet and howling in agony.
Now, their eyes were filled with terror as they stared at Su Hao.
"Mu… mu… mutant…". The scarred kid instinctively started to say something, but then abruptly stopped, his face even more terrified.
Su Hao frowned. "Mutant? What were you about to say?"
But the scarred kid, even more scared now. Ignoring his injured foot, he scrambled to his feet and hobbled away, with the other five following close behind.
Su Hao managed to grab the slowest one, intending to find out more, but the child's eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot, a pungent odor spreading in the air.
"..." Su Hao let go and quickly left the area.
....
By the end of the day, Su Hao had made a decent haul, buying himself a thick set of clothes and a small cotton blanket. He was sure he would sleep soundly tonight.
As the sun dipped below the rooftops and shadows crept into the narrow alleyways, Su Hao gathered his things and prepared to quietly return to his hideout.
The streets of Silin City, which had buzzed with activity throughout the day, were growing hushed. The townspeople, aware of something Su Hao couldn't yet name, were swiftly closing up shops and disappearing into their homes. Even the city's stray animals seemed to vanish, leaving the streets eerily vacant.
As he walked through the dimming streets, the still air carried a strange sense of unease.
It felt like something had locked its gaze onto him.
Su Hao glanced back but saw nothing.
His pace remained steady as he silently called out, "[Little Light]..."