Chapter 43: The Hunt

The shadows of the trees danced, and the sunlight filtering through the leaves carried a faint shade of eerie green. A chilling coldness pressed in.

Li Yi strolled through the forest shadows, his steps steady, neither hurried nor slow.

Leaves drifted down from time to time. Occasionally, a leaf caught by the wind fluttered right before his eyes.

“Hmm, how annoying…”

Li Yi seemed bothered. He waved his hand to swat it away, his gaze shifting, becoming slightly unfocused for a moment.

Then, sudden danger erupted!

From the right, a furious and savage giant claw roared through the swirling fallen leaves. Its arm was wreathed in pale green hurricane winds that sucked away the air, gathering a blade of vacuum at its claw-tip!

At the same time, two figures overhead swung past. As their massive shadows swept over Li Yi, they kicked off from branches. Crimson light erupted from their bodies as their hulking beast-like forms, like depth charges, plummeted downwards amid howling winds!

Their coordination was flawless, as if rehearsed.

A cold smile touched Li Yi’s lips. He seemed to have anticipated this. His swatting motion abruptly stopped. He interlocked his fingers and snapped them apart!

Crack!

With the sound of the snap, a sharp shriek—like a dragon’s roar, a phoenix’s cry, and the wail of a vengeful spirit—echoed and spread in all directions!

Black ripples, like a raging Black Dragon from the Sin Abyss, twisted and surged. First, they nimbly swept past the monster on the right. Then, like a fierce arrow hitting two birds with one shot, they pierced through both colossal beasts overhead in succession!

Thud!

Li Yi’s expression was calm, his steps elegant. With just a single sidestep, three black figures crashed to the ground one after another.

Amid the shifting tree shadows, standing between the three massive corpses, his figure also carried an aura of unfathomable depth.

The beast on the right was called a “Wind Howler.” It excelled at “Rending Wind-Claw.” The two above his head were “Stone Apes.” They liked to crush with their weight and were skilled in “Multiple Gravity” and “Petrified Skin.”

Both types of magical beasts were Rank 0, equivalent to apprentice swordsmen at the sixth or seventh layer, below the Sword Song realm among martial artists.

Both types possessed strong physical bodies but fragile minds.

Currently, Li Yi’s snap had also incorporated the profound meanings of “Thunderclap Strike” and “Vengeful Spirit Wail.” It contained not only mental shock but also sonic wave attacks, its power growing layer by layer.

He had a hunch that this technique might become one of his strongest methods in the future.

Lost in thought, fallen leaves and dust behind him suddenly erupted as if startled from hibernation. A dark figure slithered towards him—it was a “Corpse-Carrying Monitor Lizard” that had lain in ambush for a long time! Its large mouth split open into four petal-like sections as it lunged to bite!

This beast had no innate magic, but its skin was thick and tough, and its resistance to spells was remarkably high.

A chain of assaults, with primary attackers, support, and ambush, linked together seamlessly, clear and distinct in their roles.

This didn’t seem like magical beasts; it was more like a human hunting squad!

Li Yi seemed momentarily stunned as well; he didn’t even turn his head. But the large coat he wore billowed without wind, a huge spherical bulge growing more and more pronounced.

The coat fluttered open, revealing a pale white Mana Missile!

Clearly, this Mana Missile had been condensed at his fingertips long ago, held back, awaiting release.

Boom!

This unnaturally large Mana Missile smashed hard against the giant beast’s upper jaw. Not only did it force the mouth shut, but it also slammed the creature hard onto the ground.

Its momentum didn’t stop!

Like a small hill, the Mana Missile crushed its jawbone, caused its eye sockets to burst, and even made the ground beneath its head cave in deeply!

“Trying to play the game where the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind? You should weigh your own capabilities first…”

Li Yi’s words seemed pointed. His faint voice echoed through the woods.

Shaking his head, he took out a small knife and unhurriedly began collecting magical materials.

A hundred meters away, amidst the confusing tree shadows, a magic arrow gleaming with secret light aimed squarely at his exposed back, killing intent palpable!

After a long while, what seemed like an unwilling sigh sounded, and the arrow dissolved.

Hong He turned and hid behind a giant tree, gasping for breath like a drowning man.

“Damn it, is this guy really just an Outer Manor Disciple?”

“Yu Qian, you must be lying to me! Laozi has seen Heaven’s Pride before, but even a Heaven’s Pride at this age shouldn’t be so terrifying!”

“No wonder you were willing to pay four times the price. For a freak like this, even ten times would be worth it!”

“Damn it all, if I kill such a talented young man, would Dawn Cliff really do nothing?”

After half a day of trailing, Hong He’s initial confidence and satisfaction, like sand in water, had long since crumbled and dissolved.

And his eyelid was twitching even more fiercely now!

He was an experienced hand, skilled at seizing opportunities. He had grasped a chance right after entering the forest.

At that time, Li Yi had bad luck and ran into over twenty Blood Hounds.

These beasts weren’t particularly strong, but they moved in packs and had a fierce, bloodthirsty nature. Hong He believed that even he would lose a layer of skin if he encountered them.

He drew his bow to full draw. Mana, like a bursting dam, gathered into an arrow of slaughter. Three enchantment arrays—”Wind God’s Breath,” “Bison Charge,” and “Blazing Flame Power”—lit up in sequence, each adding a shade of green, black, and red to the arrow, making it eerie like demonic light!

He was confident. He just needed Li Yi to show a single flaw, and another medal would be added to his hunting list.

But faced with over twenty magical beasts, Li Yi simply… snapped his fingers three times in a row!

Three snaps of his fingers, and all twenty-plus Blood Hounds fell dead, not a single survivor!

“Dragging this out is getting troublesome… Should I follow or not?”

Hong He wavered. The Tree Shadow Cloak could borrow the spirit of the trees to provide him vision and concealment, but it couldn’t block the effects of the Behemoth’s Breath. His Mana was constantly draining.

…

The Wind Howler’s wind-howling nails, the Stone Apes’ hearts, and the Corpse-Carrying Monitor Lizard’s fangs were collected one by one.

Actually, the monitor lizard’s steel hide and the Wind Howler’s mane were also excellent magical materials, but time was limited; he had to reluctantly leave them behind.

The harvest was quite good, but Li Yi wasn’t happy.

“This guy has remarkable patience. I even exposed my back to him, and he still wouldn’t make a move…”

A cloud of gloom surfaced between Li Yi’s brows as he thought to himself.

His spiritual power was not inferior to a Lower-Rank Spell Disciple. Although the Mage’s Intuition of the profound and mysterious realm was still some distance away, his soul perception far surpassed his peers.

Several times now, a stabbing chill on his spine was clearly a sign of being targeted by someone’s spiritual lock!

“Troublesome, too troublesome…”

Li Yi looked at the back of his hand. The score there hadn’t yet broken a hundred.

Perhaps to intensify competition, this mark could also record others’ scores. Zhangsun Shenji and Su Xuan’er were both at zero, while Yu Qian was already nearing two hundred!

A single Rank 1 magical beast was worth fifty points. Hunting a few more could allow him to catch up.

Li Yi had the ability to hunt Rank 1 magical beasts. He just didn’t want to face a rampaging magical beast while a cold arrow shot at his back!

“Yu Qian, your underhanded tricks really are something else!”

Pursing his lips tightly, Li Yi gave a light snort and glanced around.

The pale green Behemoth’s Breath surrounding him had the ability to interfere with the five senses and the spirit. Li Yi’s visual range extended only about five meters, and his spiritual projection didn’t exceed four meters.

Slowly exhaling a mouthful of turbid air, he suddenly widened his eyes. Deep within his pupils, starlight flickered, thunderbolts roamed, and his irises glowed!

A mental technique—Focus Mind—could concentrate spiritual power into the eyes or ears, enhancing the five senses.

“Darn it, even under Focus Mind, my visual range is only about ten meters.”

Li Yi shook his head unwillingly. His gaze fell on his arm, and he jolted abruptly, his expression changing dramatically.

The pale green aura, like swarms of invasive mosquitoes, swirled around from all directions, constantly siphoning the Mana leaking from his skin’s surface. It seemed insignificant, but drops of water gather into streams—that was frightening!

“No wonder! I thought the Mana loss was just an illusion from fatigue…” Li Yi rubbed his chin. A thought stirred in his mind, and he said coldly, “Behemoth’s Breath? Let’s see if your Behemoth’s Breath is greedier or my Ancient Alligator Qi more domineering!”

Pointing a finger skyward, a dark, black energy, like an oil lamp’s flame, ignited at his fingertip.

A roar, ancient and profound, rose fiercely. The Ancient Alligator Qi transformed into a black vortex. With every rotation, it tore a piece from the pale green aura, forcibly dragging it into his body!

“Seems like I win…” A smile appeared on Li Yi’s face.

However, the Ancient Alligator Qi didn’t seem interested in the pale green energy; it simply let it dissipate within his body.

As the pale green energy dispersed, the first feeling that arose in his heart was one of refreshed clarity.

Immediately after, from the depths of his soul, a wonderful feeling of joyous elation spread out!

“This is…”

Unrelated to Mana, this energy could actually nourish his bone structure—or as the saying goes, his “life essence”!

Li Yi felt that this aura not only nourished his Elemental Affinity but also slightly elevated his bone structure in domains like “Forest,” “Toxin,” and “Wild Nature.”

“Good stuff!”

Greatly stirred, Li Yi spread his palm flat. The Ancient Alligator Qi surged forth, and the black vortex expanded several times over!

But it only lasted for a short while before the pale green energy scattered and fled far away.

Li Yi tried moving quickly forward and backward, and the aura seemed to have a will of its own, swiftly dodging.

This pale green mist actually seemed to have its own consciousness, seeking benefit and avoiding harm!

After trying for a while, Li Yi could only shake his head and concede defeat.

At that moment, looking around again, his expression changed once more.

“What’s this…”

He was astonished to find that he had actually formed a connection with the Behemoth’s Breath. His spiritual perception now reached about thirty meters!

“Someone’s coming!” Li Yi’s expression shifted, turning alert.