Passerby Eating Melon Hiding in the Dense Grass

The sun was setting, painting the azure sky with a vibrant hue.

"Hoo..."

Panting, Lin Li wiped the sweat from his forehead as he pulled the Spirit Artifact Longsword out of the Rooster Feather Exotic Beast.

Ever since he killed the first Rooster Feather Exotic Beast, it was as if he had disturbed a hen house, with more and more of them appearing one after another.

Thus, he had spent the entire afternoon battling Rooster Feather Exotic Beasts.

As of now, he had hunted a total of 9 Rooster Feather Exotic Beasts. Including the Black Snake Exotic Beast he hunted at the beginning of the day, Lin Li had hunted 10 exotic beasts today.

This far exceeded his initial goal of hunting five exotic beasts that afternoon.

"Haha... I'm so lucky today! I hunted ten exotic beasts in just one afternoon. If I start early tomorrow and work all day, can I hunt twenty exotic beasts?

If that's the case, won't I be able to see that small green fruit ripen soon?"

Lin Li crouched down to collect the dead Rooster Feather Exotic Beasts into the Mysterious Small Island, happily imagining in his mind that the next few days would be as smooth as today.

"Gulp, gulp, gulp..."

Tired from a busy afternoon, Lin Li took out a bottle of mineral water he had placed on the Mysterious Small Island, unscrewed the cap, and drank half of it in one go.

"Hoo..."

After drinking half the bottle of mineral water, he let out a long sigh, feeling instantly refreshed.

"The sun is about to set, I need to hurry home."

Lin Li took out his phone from his pocket, opened the map application, and located his current position. It was four to five kilometers away from the safe zone.

"Tsk... I was too engrossed in killing earlier and ran this far. I need to be more careful in the future and not accidentally wander further away. It would be terrible if I encountered a second-tier exotic beast then."

After confirming the general direction back to the safe zone using the phone's map, Lin Li prepared to head back.

But just then, a loud roar echoed from the distance.

"Boom."

Accompanying the roar was a pillar of fire shooting up into the sky.

This pillar of fire was enormous, clearly visible even from afar.

"What... what is happening?" Lin Li stared blankly at the spot where the pillar of fire had vanished, his mouth agape in shock.

The diameter of the vanished pillar of fire was impossible to estimate, but it had shot up at least fifteen to sixteen meters into the sky.

Looking around, all he could see were wild flowers and trees, with no modern human facilities in sight.

Lin Li had only seen such a pillar of fire on the news channels not long ago.

He remembered the news report at the time saying that a natural gas pipeline had been damaged due to the careless operation of construction workers.

Subsequently, the leaking natural gas pipeline caught fire, causing the pillar of fire to shoot into the sky.

But Lin Li was in the wilderness now, where there were clearly no natural gas pipelines laid. Furthermore, the pillar of fire disappeared immediately after appearing, making it even more impossible to be related to a natural gas pipeline leak.

After all, it was not easy to extinguish a pillar of fire caused by a natural gas pipeline leak.

Therefore, the pillar of fire that suddenly appeared and disappeared was most likely created by a cultivator using an ability, or possibly by an exotic beast using an ability.

If it was the former, it would be fine. But if it was the latter, then staying here would be too dangerous, and he had to leave quickly.

Lin Li quickly analyzed the situation in his mind and decided to flee immediately towards the safe zone.

Unfortunately, just as he was about to move, a fierce fighting sound suddenly came from behind him, accompanied by ferocious beast roars.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

"Roar..."

Hearing the fierce fighting sounds rapidly approaching his location, Lin Li abandoned the idea of fleeing. He turned and plunged into the dense grass nearby.

This decision was correct, because the second Lin Li dove into the dense grass, two figures appeared dozens of meters away from where he was hiding.

With their terrifying speed of movement, catching up to Lin Li, who had started to run, would only be a matter of time.

Without knowing if they were friend or foe, hiding was the best option.

"Bang."

The two figures exchanged a punch, and the resulting shockwave caused the surrounding grass and trees to rustle violently.

Both sides retreated six to seven meters, steadied themselves, and panted slightly, their eyes never leaving each other.

Lin Li, hiding in the grass, stared with wide eyes at the two figures confronting each other dozens of meters away.

One was a middle-aged man, around forty years old, about 1.75 meters tall, with a square face and a buzz cut, wearing camouflage clothing.

His hands were covered in metal self-sensing gloves, and the faint golden spiritual light occasionally flashing from the gloves indicated that these gloves were likely spirit artifacts.

The other figure confronting the middle-aged man was an exotic beast, an ape-like creature nearly two meters tall.

This ape-like exotic beast was covered in white fur, with strong limbs. Its fangs protruded from its lips, and its ink-black eyes stared at the middle-aged man filled with killing intent.

"What a terrifying exotic beast."

Lin Li, hidden in the grass, observed the White Ape Exotic Beast. Although he couldn't gauge its strength by sensing the intensity of the psionic energy fluctuations it emitted, like a second-tier cultivator could, he could clearly feel the terrifying killing intent radiating from the White Ape Exotic Beast at that moment.

"Calm down, adjust your breathing. That White Ape Exotic Beast and the middle-aged man in the distance are definitely second-tier cultivators. Cultivators at their level can sense their surroundings through mental power, especially being sensitive to creatures emitting psionic energy fluctuations. I absolutely cannot mobilize the psionic energy within me anymore. If they sense the psionic energy fluctuations emanating from me, I'll have no choice but to immediately hide on the Mysterious Small Island for safety."

Lin Li, hiding in the grass, tried his best to relax his entire body and not let his tension dictate his actions.

"Roar..."

After a period of confrontation, the White Ape Exotic Beast let out a roar at the middle-aged man.

"Heh... all brawn and no brain. Don't think you can scare me away like this... You took a stab to the heart, and if I keep fighting you, your death is not far off."

Facing the White Ape Exotic Beast's roar, the middle-aged man was completely unafraid. Instead, he chuckled and spoke to the beast.