Strength of a Deer

Through the drone's observations, Su Shijie watched the deer herd enter the forest and gradually disperse, gaining a more intuitive understanding of why P-314 was such an ideal hunting ground.

He had known before that the deer herd would scatter, but since he had never participated in the hunt himself, he had only treated it as a spectacle.

Now, through the drone, he watched people use the complex forest terrain to set all kinds of traps for the deer herd. As the herd was gradually separated by giant trees and could no longer maintain its formation,

he understood the importance of terrain more and more.

Their earlier ambush against the pursuers had also made full use of the terrain.

"If these environmental traps are set well, even ordinary people can hunt Spirit Beasts—perhaps even Awakened Rank Spirit Beasts."

Su Ren landed on the same branch as Su Shijie. Looking at the few sturdy stags passing below them, he seemed somewhat moved as well.

The herd would actually pass through once more each year on its return journey, but that was when they brought back their newly born fawns. Hunting was forbidden then. The only time there was truly large-scale hunting was this one.

"Keep an eye on the surroundings. For ordinary Spirit Deer, just drain them directly. If you encounter an Awakened Rank one, hold off first and practice close combat."

Su Ren laid out the next step of the plan.

Although Su Shijie still had little experience in close-quarters combat, with the physical qualities of an early Awakened Rank Level Three, along with the boost from Bloodline Transformation, hunting Spirit Beasts below the Awakened Rank was a complete slaughter on paper.

But after reaching the Awakened Rank, even if Su Shijie held the advantage in physical attributes, he might not be able to adapt immediately.

Going from nothing to something had always been the hardest part.

"Alright."

Su Shijie took a breath, then pulled out his dagger.

Since he was practicing his nerve, he would use a short weapon directly!

He did not ask to become exceptionally skilled at fighting. He only wanted to avoid panicking if someone suddenly got close to him.

Still, even within a herd of this size, not every deer was a Spirit Beast, and most Spirit Beasts were only at the Mortal Rank.

Hauling away ordinary deer would take time as well, so the two of them focused solely on hunting Spirit Beasts along the way.

Su Shijie drained them dry with his tendrils, while Su Ren stepped forward to deliver the finishing blow before their bodies died, preventing any clues from being left behind through the corpses.

Although Mortal Rank Spirit Beasts did not provide much Soul Power, there were simply too many of them!

They had previously only managed to harvest a few in one night, but this time, in less than half an hour, with the drone's scouting assistance, they had already drained seven Spirit Beasts to death.

"There's a trader up ahead. Let's dispose of the prey."

Through the Personal Terminal, they could see four trader points within a one-kilometer radius. The nearest was only fifty meters away, and the father and son had been hunting in a deliberate direction anyway.

The corpses of seven Spirit Deer, piled together, already formed something like a small hill.

Fortunately, his father's strength spoke for itself. He bound them with vines, hoisted the mountain-like bundle, and carried it away.

They headed toward the trader point.

When they arrived, they saw four massive Kodo Beast-like pack animals tied beneath the trees. There were also tents nearby, presumably for receiving and processing goods. A figure swiftly jumped down from a tree.

"Well, if it isn't Instructor Su."

Su Ren's crippled appearance was highly recognizable around here. Combined with the strength and power he had displayed, people could recognize him even if they had never met him.

Producing seven Spirit Beasts in one go was not something ordinary people could manage.

"Just transfer the money."

With every second counting, Su Ren could not be bothered with pleasantries. The other party seemed to understand. After quickly calculating, he transferred 4,200 Credit Points over. It was a very fair price.

After all, the seven were only Mortal Rank. Even sold whole, they were worth at most that much.

After collecting the goods, the traders would do some simple on-site processing. The professional machines in the tents could quickly dry and grind valuable organs into powder, while the offal could be promptly cleaned and smoked.

Besides that, they had brought a large amount of supplies that might be needed. They arrived fully loaded and returned fully loaded.

"Give me a few more steel-barrel hunting rifles."

"Sure thing."

The man did not care whether Su Ren intended to use them to lure beasts or for something else. He quickly brought them out and even gave them a small discount: five for one thousand.

The entire transaction was extremely swift and straightforward.

After receiving the goods, Su Ren turned around and left with Su Shijie.

After they had gone, Su Shijie could not help asking, "Aren't they afraid of being robbed?"

"Robbed, my ass. They're earning hard money. Taking this stuff back to the city is a hassle. Unless they have a large quantity of Transformation Tier materials, no one would risk it."

Seeing his son's wary expression, Su Ren felt somewhat helpless.

Still, he quickly continued teaching him about surviving in the wilderness.

"At a time like this, there are deer everywhere. Rather than robbing someone, it's better to kill a few more yourself. There are violent incidents every year during this period, but not many. Usually, someone gets lucky with traps and kills a high-level Awakened Rank or even Transformation Tier prey. If their own strength is lacking, that's when it attracts attention.

"And in the wilderness, while there are indeed people who force others to transfer money, the amounts usually aren't large. Those people are just gambling—gambling that no one can trace it back to them. We don't need to take that risk..."

As Su Shijie listened to his father, his expression turned strange again. Did you just reveal something? I never said I wanted to force anyone to transfer money...

With Su Shijie's drone, finding targets was quick. Though the drone could not distinguish whether they were Spirit Deer, it could roughly judge their size, and its accuracy was not low.

While heading toward the next trader stop, the two of them luckily encountered a small family: two Awakened Rank Spirit Deer leading three Mortal Rank Spirit Deer.

"You handle the doe."

Su Ren deliberately made a sound to draw the Spirit Deer's attention. The two Awakened Rank deer moved in front of the three young deer, scraping their hooves and aiming their antlers at the two men in warning.

"Alright!"

After steadying himself, Su Shijie drew his dagger and charged at the doe.

Judging from the other party's movements earlier, this deer was inferior to him in every aspect. It should have only recently broken through to the Awakened Rank.

Yet this Spirit Deer, which was weaker than him across the board, gave Su Shijie his first practical lesson in close-quarters combat.

He had clearly started by precisely cutting off one section of its antler with his dagger, yet it nearly gored him with the remaining antler, now even sharper at the break.

The wound he left on its body did not frighten it in the slightest or make it retreat. It wanted to trade injury for injury, even injury for life.

Even with an absolute advantage in every respect, Su Shijie was briefly left in a sorry state.

Even after he finally plunged his dagger into its neck, he was still kicked by one of its hooves.

Using the momentum of the kick to fly backward, then rolling twice across the ground, he barely dissipated the force in a somewhat embarrassing fashion. That was with his Protective Suit and his Level Four Tough Skin—otherwise, he would have been injured!

"Was I almost beaten by something below my level? Where's the justice in that?"

Su Shijie had thought it would be easy, but now he found it hard to believe.

How could a deer be this troublesome?!

"Because it knew it would die if it lost."

At some point, Su Ren had already appeared behind Su Shijie, wiping the blood from his dagger.

By then, the other four Spirit Deer had already been laid out neatly together. Even the stag, which was obviously much stronger than this doe, had failed to stir up the slightest trouble in Su Ren's hands.

That made Su Shijie understand why his father had made him fight up close.

This was only a deer. If he encountered a stronger predator, or even a mercenary who lived by the blade, he would perform even worse.

Indeed, this weakness needed much more intense training...