The Hunt

Although there had been an unexpected incident midway, it had not affected the morning training.

After the usual routine training, it was time for Xiao Tianyang and Tang San's friendly spar.

Naturally, the outcome remained unchanged: Tang San was pinned to the ground and beaten up. But this had become the norm, and he was gradually accepting it.

At noon, Tang San returned home, while Xiao Tianyang remembered something.

"The parents of this body's original owner died after being attacked by wild beasts while gathering firewood in the mountains. That means there may not be Soul Beasts nearby, but there are powerful wild beasts!"

Yesterday's Lucky Draw had been a bit of a rip-off, but all things considered, Bubu was not that bad—setting aside its personality.

According to the original explanation, aside from completing designated missions for rewards, defeating Spirit Masters, Soul Beasts, or wild beasts could also earn rewards.

The first two were still somewhat difficult for Xiao Tianyang at his current stage, and staying here made them even less realistic.

But wild beasts should be manageable. He might even find some unexpected gains.

With that in mind, Xiao Tianyang glanced over the two missions that had already appeared in his mind.

These had not just been generated. They had appeared when Su Yuntao left.

"Side Quest: [Challenge Su Yuntao]. Content: Duel Su Yuntao and remain undefeated!"

"Mission Reward: Random Martial Art ×1!"

"Main Quest: [Seeking Knowledge]. Content: Join Nuoding City Junior Spirit Master Academy!"

"Mission Reward: Random Spirit ×1!"

That was why Xiao Tianyang had, as if possessed, challenged Su Yuntao to a spar!

If the mission had not appeared, how could Xiao Tianyang have taken such a risk?

From beginning to end, the missions issued by the system had followed patterns.

At the very least, they were generated from information Xiao Tianyang had either thought of or learned from conversations with others.

So at the time, Xiao Tianyang had taken a gamble. He had not expected Su Yuntao to actually agree!

As for the Main Quest, it had appeared when Su Yuntao mentioned that enrollment at Nuoding City Junior Spirit Master Academy would begin in three months.

With those clues, Xiao Tianyang became even more certain of the answer in his heart.

"These missions can only be approached three months from now, but I still need to prepare in advance."

Xiao Tianyang rose from the ground, turned, and headed toward the forest farther beyond the village.

Before long, Xiao Tianyang arrived at that familiar forest.

The reason it was familiar was certainly not because his previous life's parents had died here.

It was simply because Tang San had brought him here before—to that pond where he had been stunned by his own appearance, leaving him with a vivid memory.

"Bubu, let's start here."

Xiao Tianyang surveyed the surroundings as he spoke, rubbing Bubu's head.

Although Bubu looked a little dim-witted and had somehow crashed into several trees on the way here, its sense of smell was undeniably professional!

Almost every time Xiao Tianyang secretly ate something, this fool would sniff it out. It was practically a real dog.

Bubu pressed its nose to the ground and sniffed a few times. Since this place was close to a water source, wild beasts surely came and went frequently. Xiao Tianyang believed that, barring surprises, they would definitely catch one or two.

"Woof!"

Sure enough, Bubu quickly found a trail. After barking once, it charged into the grass and sprinted ahead.

In terms of speed, Xiao Tianyang was no weaker than Bubu, so he barely managed to keep up.

Just two minutes later, Xiao Tianyang's eyes lit up at what he saw.

Not far ahead of him was a wild boar the size of a water buffalo, rooting around tree roots in search of food!

But the wild boar had also noticed Xiao Tianyang. Not because it had seen him, but because of Bubu's earlier ghostly bark!

"What a waste of such a perfect chance for a sneak attack. You actually ruined it!"

Xiao Tianyang had just been about to curse when, in the next instant, the dog was nowhere to be seen. His face darkened.

But the wild boar clearly had not thought that much. Seeing a human step into its territory, its eyes glowed red as its ferocity erupted.

It turned slowly, but when it charged over, the earth shook beneath it!

As the wild boar closed in, Xiao Tianyang did not panic. He simply dodged at close range, and those pale tusks swept past his clothes, perilously close!

But at that very moment, Xiao Tianyang shot out his right hand and grabbed a tusk. With lightning speed, he slammed his right shoulder into the wild boar's side.

Xiao Tianyang trained every day, often running long distances with weights. His muscles were not exaggeratedly large, but they were extremely solid. One could imagine the force behind that blow.

With a strange howl, the wild boar was knocked onto its side. Its four hooves thrashed wildly, but they could not touch Xiao Tianyang at all.

At the same time, Xiao Tianyang clenched his left fist. Internal Energy surged up, and the instant it enveloped his fist, he smashed it down onto the wild boar's skull!

Crack!

With a crisp sound, the wild boar twitched once before falling completely silent!

"Congratulations, Host, for killing a wild beast. Lottery Points ×2 obtained!"

"Such a small reward?"

Xiao Tianyang got to his feet and dusted himself off, his brows knitting slightly before relaxing again.

"Forget it. I put up with the rewards every time I challenged Tang San, so what's the difference this time?"

"Woof!"

Xiao Tianyang jumped at the bark.

Turning around, he saw Bubu sitting on the ground, wagging its tail and gazing at him ingratiatingly, occasionally glancing at the wild boar.

"You sure ran fast during the fight, but once it's over, you know how to act clever."

Xiao Tianyang rolled his eyes at it, then turned and hoisted the wild boar onto his shoulder. He did not bother pursuing the matter and prepared to return to the pond.

After reaching his destination, Xiao Tianyang took out the small knife he had brought from home. Following some effort, he cleaned the wild boar.

Though his technique was somewhat rough, Xiao Tianyang had at least taken first place in a school camping cooking competition. A mere wild boar was not enough to stump him.

Still, he could not deny that the process had disgusted him a little.

Before long, Bubu had gathered some firewood as well. After digging a shallow pit, it tossed the wood inside, took out a flintstone, and lit it. The entire sequence was smooth and practiced.

Xiao Tianyang believed in one principle: the simpler the cooking, the more it could bring out the ingredient's natural flavor.

And so, half the wild boar was set over the fire to roast. Fat dripped onto the charcoal with a series of crackles, and the rich aroma filled the air.

Looking at the pork laid on a banana leaf nearby, Xiao Tianyang fell into thought. "The internal organs can be kept as bait. As for the meat, whatever I can't finish can be given to the village chief."

Suddenly, Xiao Tianyang thought that since he planned to hunt wild beasts here, why not make some money from it?

He was still young, so he could mooch meals off the village chief's family or Tang San's family without them minding.

But once he went to Nuoding Junior Spirit Master Academy, he definitely could not keep doing that. Even if Village Chief Old Jack wanted to help, Xiao Tianyang would feel bad about it.

"It's a good idea, but I'll have to discuss it with the village chief when I get back. He should have connections for selling this stuff."

As he spoke, Xiao Tianyang used his small knife to poke several holes in the meat, allowing the heat to escape fully and the meat inside to cook through faster.