My Path to Godhood: A Log
Chapter 23

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Several days later, Wu Yuntian led Su Hao in a leap down from the towering wall.

The cold wind slapped him in the face, and as Su Hao plummeted rapidly, his heart leapt into his throat. Only when Wu Yuntian held his hand and landed steadily in the snow did he finally relax.

The two then headed into the distance, one after the other.

Su Hao held the Short Blade that had slain the Green-Eyed Coyote and wore two crude pieces of iron armor. He followed behind in a convincing manner without making a sound, his curious yet wary eyes constantly observing their surroundings.

The iron armor on him had been casually made by his father, Wu Yuntian. He had simply punched holes in two iron sheets and tied them together with rope.

Su Hao found the two iron sheets awkward and asked Wu Yuntian why he had to wear armor.

Wu Yuntian told him solemnly that the wilderness was extremely dangerous. Wearing iron armor to protect the torso made serious injuries less likely. One more layer of protection meant one more measure of safety. With the strength of a High-Rank Ordinary Warrior like him, the weight of those two iron sheets was nothing, yet they could provide solid defense. They were crucial equipment for staying alive in the wild.

Su Hao said no more and decided that he would make himself a suitable suit of armor in the future. Wearing two iron sheets hanging front and back like this looked exceptionally ugly.

After following behind for about an hour, Su Hao finally could not help asking, "Father, where are we going?"

Without turning his head, Wu Yuntian said, "Don't speak loudly when traveling alone in the wilderness. We'll be there soon."

Wu Yuntian brought Su Hao up a small hill. Through the overlapping shadows of the trees, the scenery beyond the hill came fully into view. He pointed ahead and said, "Do you see that tallest tree ahead?"

"I see it."

"That is where One-Horned Flower Deer often forage. Many One-Horned Flower Deer appear there. Get a little closer and you'll see them."

Su Hao asked doubtfully, "So my target today is to hunt One-Horned Flower Deer?"

"No. One-Horned Flower Deer are extremely vigilant. You cannot get close to them at all. Your target is their predator—the Snow Flower Leopard. Use your blade to kill it."

Su Hao thought it over and felt something was off. He asked doubtfully, "I can't even catch up to One-Horned Flower Deer. How could I possibly catch their predator?"

"Snow Flower Leopards have a strong sense of territory. You do not need to chase it. As long as you enter its territory, it will attack you."

Su Hao suddenly felt a little uneasy. "Father, I won't be in danger, will I?"

Wu Yuntian said confidently, "No! Snow Flower Leopards are stronger than Green-Eyed Coyotes, but not by too much. As long as you are careful of its claws, you should be able to handle it for a while. Besides, I'll be watching from nearby."

Su Hao immediately felt relieved. He tightened his grip on the Short Blade and began considering countermeasures.

Seeing that Su Hao had no objections, Wu Yuntian turned and walked ahead. "We'll approach from the side."

A moment later, Wu Yuntian stopped and said to Su Hao behind him, "All right, this is as far as we go. You'll head over by yourself from here."

Su Hao took a deep breath and quietly stepped forward. He secretly encouraged himself, Don't panic. Dad is behind me protecting me. If I can't beat it, can't I just call for help?

But when Su Hao turned around again, his father was already nowhere to be seen.

"Where is he???" Su Hao's heart skipped a beat. He hadn't abandoned him here, had he? No, no, steady! Su Hao walked forward for a few more minutes and reached the territory of the One-Horned Flower Deer. He could already see them foraging in the snow. These flower deer, each with only one sharp horn, first thrust their horns into the snow to probe around. Once they found edible dry grass, they swiftly raised their heads and warily scanned their surroundings.

So where was the Snow Flower Leopard? Su Hao carefully lowered his center of gravity, keeping himself ready to erupt at any moment as the Blood Qi within him gathered, poised to strike.

The surroundings were deathly quiet. Su Hao did not spot the Snow Flower Leopard Wu Yuntian had mentioned, but he did not dare relax in the slightest. Failing to find any trace of it only made things more dangerous. It meant that the Snow Flower Leopard was watching him from the shadows.

Su Hao's Brain spun at high speed, analyzing the Snow Flower Leopard's position. His eyes swept back and forth between near and far, but he found nothing unusual.

"Maybe I should try Little Light." A flash of inspiration struck Su Hao, and he came up with a good idea. He could not spot anything unusual himself, but computer intelligence could.

No sooner had he thought of it than he acted. He immediately issued Little Light a new command: "Identify regular shapes within my field of view. Identify living creatures within my field of view. Identify fur within my field of view..."

One precise Search command after another was issued. Little Light processed them quickly and gave feedback in an instant.

The living room in Marble Space, after intelligent Simulation, had become a vast expanse of white. It was a Simulation of everything within a hundred meters of Su Hao.

Large and small red circles marked the special locations sought by the commands. With a glance, Su Hao saw that most of the marked targets were One-Horned Flower Deer. He then issued another command: "Species naming: One-Horned Flower Deer."

"Naming successful. Data recorded. Comparison successful."

"Exclude One-Horned Flower Deer."

As the command was issued, more than half the red circles in his field of view vanished.

The closest remaining red circle was on a tree only ten meters away. Su Hao looked up toward the marked spot and saw two round blue eyes staring fixedly at him through a gap in the snow-covered branches, filled with coldness and vigilance.

Snow Flower Leopard!!

Su Hao's scalp instantly went numb. The leopard was only ten meters away, yet he had not noticed it. If he had taken a few more steps forward, he would likely have been attacked. At such a close distance, he absolutely would not have had time to react.

The Snow Flower Leopard also understood that Su Hao had discovered it. It lightly leaped down from the tree, took two steps forward, and stopped to face Su Hao.

The Snow Flower Leopard had a slender body, with sparse black spots scattered across its snow-white fur. Walking through the snow, it was like it had turned invisible. Coupled with its light footsteps, Su Hao figured that even if it walked right behind him, he would not notice.

This Snow Flower Leopard looked far too ferocious. Including its Tail, it was visually around three meters long. Su Hao did not believe this thing was merely a little stronger than a Coyote.

"Father sending me to deal with this thing—isn't that too rash? I don't think I'm a match for it at all."

Su Hao cried bitterly inwardly, but his expression remained unchanged.

"Species naming: Snow Flower Leopard."

"Naming successful."

The Snow Flower Leopard seemed unwilling to attack first. Instead, it patiently waited for its enemy to expose a flaw.

After thinking for a moment, Su Hao decided to take the initiative and probe it.

He slowly bent down, scooped up a large clump of snow, packed it into a snowball, and flung it at the Snow Flower Leopard.

The Snow Flower Leopard lightly leaped aside, dodging the snowball.

Su Hao scooped up more snow and threw another one.

The Snow Flower Leopard dodged again. Su Hao threw again.

Behind Su Hao, Wu Yuntian stood ready to act in case of an accident. Watching this scene, the corner of his eye could not help twitching. He had brought Su Hao here to familiarize himself with combat, not to have a snowball fight.

Perhaps its dignity as a ferocious beast had been provoked, or perhaps it had sensed that Su Hao's light and harmless attacks posed no threat. The Snow Flower Leopard launched its attack.

The moment it moved, it went all out.

"So fast!" Su Hao's pupils constricted, and his entire body tensed.

The Snow Flower Leopard attacked differently from a Coyote. Coyotes liked to pounce through the air, opening their jaws wide to bite an enemy's throat. But the Snow Flower Leopard kept its center of gravity very low and used an upward attack from below. This allowed it to rapidly adjust its direction during high-speed attacks and adapt to changing circumstances.

The instant the Snow Flower Leopard suddenly charged at him, Su Hao was hit by immense pressure and could barely breathe.

End of Chapter
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