Qingliang Mountain's Su Mo! Ancient Profound Pearl!

Qingliang Mountain, Shuanglin Village.

Heavy snow filled the sky, and the wind howled.

Inside a dilapidated mud-and-tile house.

Su Mo woke up from hunger. His stomach, devoid of food, was already cramping in pain. Enduring the intense hunger, he forced himself to get up and search for food.

He shuffled to the rice jar in the corner. It was empty, not a single grain of rice in sight. Su Mo's expression shifted as his gaze landed on a hunting knife hanging on the earthen wall, along with a beast hide great bow and quiver.

A flood of memories surged into his mind...

"Am I going to starve to death right after arriving?"

It turned out Su Mo was a transmigator. He had just arrived, and the original body's owner was also named Su Mo. He was a hunter whose parents had died long ago. It was said his father met his end while hunting in the mountains; when the other hunters brought his body back, it was already missing a large portion, eaten by a fierce beast. His mother, upon hearing this news, didn't last long either and passed away from grief, leaving him all alone.

When he was young, he survived on the charity of the village elders. As he grew older, he took up the ancestral hunting knife and beast hide bow and arrows to hunt in the mountains for survival.

However, during a recent hunting trip, he encountered the Black Wind Stockade, and his prey was stolen.

Su Mo slowly pulled open the clothes on his chest. He saw a large patch of bruising on his skin. According to his memories, this was an injury inflicted by the people from the Black Wind Stockade when they robbed him of his prey. It was because of this injury, coupled with the lack of food in the harsh winter, that the original Su Mo died, and he came to this world.

Su Mo felt the hunger in his body and the pain of the bruise on his chest. He didn't want to die; he wanted to live.

Creeaak!

The dilapidated, drafty door was pushed open, and a middle-aged man entered carrying some food. Seeing Su Mo, who was pale and almost lifeless, he said urgently:

"Eat something. This is a rabbit I hunted in the mountains today. I saved a rabbit leg for you. I know those scoundrels from the Black Wind Stockade stole your prey. They're all sons of bitches, they deserve to die!"

Su Mo suppressed his hunger and focused his gaze on the plate the middle-aged man was holding. On the plate was a rabbit leg, steaming hot, clearly just cooked. Su Mo recognized this middle-aged man. According to his memories, this was Uncle Chen Shan, a neighbor from the village.

Chen Shan and Su Mo's father had been close friends in their youth. It was Chen Shan who carried Su Mo's father's body back from the mountains. Over the years, Chen Shan had helped Su Mo numerous times. However, in recent years, the beasts in the mountains had become more ferocious and difficult to hunt, often resulting in hunters' deaths. Furthermore, bandits were rampant in Qingliang Mountain, with the Black Wind Stockade entrenched there, robbing and plundering food.

This had made life miserable for hunters like them, whose families had relied on hunting for generations.

"Uncle Chen Shan, if you give this rabbit leg to me, you won't have enough."

Su Mo desperately wanted to grab the rabbit leg and devour it immediately because he was truly starving. The intense hunger made his mind hazy, but he restrained himself. He knew Uncle Chen Shan had a large family, five mouths to feed. A rabbit, once skinned and bled, yielded only two to three pounds of pure meat. Moreover, due to the Black Wind Stockade in the mountains and the heavy snow in winter, Uncle Chen Shan hadn't caught any prey for a long time.

His family of five was eagerly awaiting this rabbit meat to be cooked, yet Uncle Chen Shan had brought him a rabbit leg.

In truth, at this moment, the rabbit meat before him was a lifesaver.

"It's fine, eat up. The elders and children at home don't eat much."

Chen Shan's rough hand placed the rabbit leg from the bowl into Su Mo's hand, urging him to eat quickly. Then, Chen Shan turned and left.

"Uncle Chen Shan, thank you!"

As Chen Shan turned and walked out of the house, Su Mo gazed at the fragrant rabbit leg in his hand. His thoughts were complex, and he finally spoke slowly.

"Eat it quickly, don't let it get cold."

Chen Shan smiled upon hearing this, turned, and walked out of the house, his figure disappearing into the wind and snow outside.

Su Mo withdrew his gaze, picked up the rabbit leg in his hand, and began to devour it ravenously. He was too hungry. Only after he finished eating the rabbit leg, leaving only the bone, did the hunger in his body slowly subside, no longer surging violently.

Su Mo was truly terrified of starving.

"If I want to survive now, if I want to have food, I have to go into the mountains to hunt!"

Once Su Mo's condition stabilized, he looked at the ancestral hunting knife and beast hide great bow hanging on the earthen wall. Without hesitation, he took down the ancestral fine iron hunting knife, slung the beast hide great bow over his back, and fastened the quiver to his waist. He also grabbed the animal traps from the corner.

In this cold winter, the only way to survive was to enter the mountains.

"Huh!"

Just as Su Mo was about to leave the house and head into the mountains, he suddenly stopped. A faint warmth emanated from his chest, followed by a warm current that swept through his entire body. The bruise on his chest skin began to slowly heal.

As he stood there stunned, he noticed a golden bead, emitting a faint glow, had appeared within his body. The bead's glow was weak, and its entire surface was engraved with ancient, profound runes that drew one in with just a glance.

Su Mo recognized this ancient bead. It was called the Ancient Profound Pearl, named after the rune patterns on it. He had bought it by chance at a street stall long ago. He never expected it to have transmigrated with him and inexplicably merged into his body.

And now it was reacting, emitting a faint golden glow. Was it because of the rabbit leg he had eaten earlier? Su Mo guessed.

When the warmth in his chest disappeared, Su Mo found that the bruise on his chest skin had vanished, which greatly surprised him.

Su Mo tried to summon the Ancient Profound Pearl, but it seemed unresponsive.

Su Mo remained calm about this. He already had a guess. He picked up the beast hide great bow, gently pulled the bowstring, bending the bow nearly two-fifths of the way. When he released it, the bowstring made a dull sound.

"This is a three-stone bow. Before, I could only draw it about one-fifth of the way, but now I can draw it nearly two-fifths!"

This beast hide great bow was a three-stone bow. One stone was equal to 120 jin, so three stones were 360 jin.

Su Mo was eighteen years old and possessed great strength due to years of hunting. Even so, it was difficult for him to draw the beast hide great bow to its full extent, at most one-fifth. However, even with that much strength, any prey within ten meters that he hit would die on the spot, indicating its immense power.

His neighbor, Uncle Chen Shan, had once drawn this beast hide great bow. Although he drew it further than Su Mo, he couldn't fully draw the bowstring, at most three-fifths. Currently, Su Mo's strength in drawing the bowstring and bending the bow was still less than Uncle Chen Shan's.

But his strength seemed to have increased compared to before.

Was it because of the Ancient Profound Pearl?

Immediately, the Ancient Profound Pearl flashed with golden light, and a message appeared.

"As long as you kill beasts or fierce beasts, you can obtain their innate characteristics to strengthen yourself!"

Su Mo's eyes sparkled. Was this the function of the Ancient Profound Pearl?

After killing animal Beasts, one can obtain their innate characteristics, which can be used to strengthen and enhance the physical body.

After inventorying and packing up the hunting equipment, Su Mo chose to go into the mountains to hunt.

There was no food left at home; if he didn't go into the mountains to hunt, he would starve to death.

Wolves travel a thousand miles to eat meat; humans travel a thousand miles to survive!

The world is dark and uncertain; Su Mo is going into the mountains to hunt, only to survive!