The air seemed to freeze.
Li Yuan held his breath, his body pressed tight against the rough tree trunk, like a stone carving blended into the woods. His eyes stayed fixed on the Tusked Boar dozens of paces away, rooting through the soil with its tusks as it searched for tubers.
At close range, the beast's ferocity was even more apparent. Its black bristles gleamed like a coat of armor, the muscles in its thick neck bulging, and every step of its hooves landed with a heavy thud. Its pair of curved, razor-sharp tusks shimmered with a chilling light beneath the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves.
This wasn't a drill. It was a true fight to the death. One mistake, and those tusks could rip his guts open, or its massive body could crush him into a pulp.
Li Yuan's heart beat powerfully and slowly in his chest, not from fear, but from a battle lust that blended tension with excitement. Crimson Sun Qi and Blood surged faster through his body, bringing a searing sense of power and sharpening his five senses to their limits. He could hear the boar's heavy breathing, smell its strong, rank stench, and even make out the grass and specks of mud clinging to its bristles.
He didn't attack rashly. The boar had thick skin and dense muscle; unless his crude Iron Rod struck a vital spot, he doubted he could even pierce its defenses.
He waited, holding out for the perfect opportunity.
Time passed bit by bit. The boar seemed unaware of the danger lurking nearby. It continued foraging leisurely, drawing closer and closer to the tree where Li Yuan was hiding.
Now!
The instant the boar turned broadside to him and lowered its head to bite at a plant's roots, exposing the relatively vulnerable side of its neck and belly—
Li Yuan moved!
He kicked off hard, blasting a small crater into the soft layer of leaf mold beneath his feet. His body shot out like a leopard that had been coiled to spring, kicking up a fierce gust of wind!
He didn't cry out. All his strength and focus poured into the Iron Rod in his hand. Crimson Sun Qi and Blood flooded his right arm, making the crude rod grow almost hot to the touch. Its point aimed beneath the boar's neck, near the base of its foreleg—the general area of its heart!
"Whoosh!"
The sound of it cutting through the air was sharp!
The boar was a Fierce Beast, after all. The instant Li Yuan moved, it sensed him! It jerked its head up, murderous light flashing in its tiny eyes, and let out an angry roar. Its powerful hind legs drove it forward—not to dodge, but to charge straight at Li Yuan! It meant to smash the little thing daring to challenge it with its hard head and tusks!
But Li Yuan was far faster than it had expected!
In the split second before the tusks touched him, Li Yuan abruptly dropped low and slid sideways, narrowly dodging the deadly charge! At the same time, his right arm, gripping the Iron Rod like a drawn bowstring, snapped forward!
"Squish!"
A muffled sound of a sharp weapon sinking into flesh!
The Iron Rod, driven by all his strength and Crimson Sun Qi and Blood, struck exactly where he had intended! Its point pierced the tough hide, tore through muscle, and burrowed deep inside!
"Rrraaaagh—!!!"
The Tusked Boar let out an agonized scream. Its massive body froze from the pain, then erupted with even more frenzied strength! It swung its head wildly and thrashed its body, trying to fling the "bug" clinging to it away!
A tremendous force surged through the Iron Rod. Li Yuan's palm split open at once, blood pouring from it! He clung to the rod as the boar dragged him into a stumbling roll, but gritted his teeth and held on. Instead of letting go, he summoned every ounce of strength and rammed the Iron Rod even deeper—then twisted it!
"Gurgle..."
It sounded as if one of its organs had been torn open.
Crimson Sun Qi and Blood poured through the Iron Rod into the boar, its scorching, domineering power exploding inside the beast and intensifying its pain and injuries.
Blood gushed from the wound and the boar's mouth and nostrils, splattering across half of Li Yuan's body and staining it scarlet.
The boar's struggles grew weaker and weaker. Its roars dwindled to feeble wheezes, and at last its massive body crashed to the ground. Its legs twitched a few times, then fell still.
All that remained in the woods was Li Yuan's ragged breathing.
He let go of the Iron Rod and stumbled back a few steps, leaning against a tree until he could steady himself. His right arm throbbed with tearing pain, his palm burned fiercely, and he was covered in mud and blood, a wretched sight.
But as he looked at the dead Tusked Boar, a blazing fire burned in his eyes.
He'd done it!
Alone, with nothing but an Iron Rod and his newly awakened "Crimson Sun," he had successfully hunted a low-level Fierce Beast!
This wasn't scraps handed down by the Lineage, nor discarded ore he'd picked up at the Marketplace. This was spoils he had seized with his own strength, snatched by his own hands from these perilous woods!
An indescribable sense of accomplishment, mingled with the reek of blood, filled his chest.
He didn't waste time resting. He quickly pulled out the Iron Rod and wiped it clean in the grass nearby. Then he crouched beside the boar's carcass and began to process it.
He had no proper skinning skills. Relying only on brute force and the Iron Rod's sharp point, he struggled to remove the most valuable part: the hide, as intact as he could manage. Then he laboriously cut off the pair of unbroken tusks. As for the meat...
Li Yuan's gaze fell on the boar's bloody carcass, its flesh brimming with vital energy, and his throat bobbed involuntarily.
"Crimson Sun" sent a signal of hunger more intense than ever before.
He grinned, baring teeth streaked with blood.
"Easy... dinner's coming."
Before you continue