Su Mo's Shuanglin Village was located at the foot of Qingliang Mountain. Whenever the village hunters entered the mountains to hunt, they usually went into Qingliang Mountain. Qingliang Mountain was vast, and some hunters spent their entire lives without ever reaching its depths.
Qingliang Mountain had countless ridges and ravines, with hidden gullies and hollows. Many wild beasts and fierce beasts also dwelled there.
Su Mo's father had been buried in Qingliang Mountain. Back then, he had encountered a terrifying fierce beast. Fierce beasts were far stronger than ordinary wild beasts, possessing powerful explosive strength and biting force capable of crushing a hunter's body in a single bite.
When he entered the mountains, wind and snow filled the air. Relying on his memories, Su Mo proceeded with extreme caution. He set up the animal traps he had brought in secluded places and marked them, making it easier to catch game. At the same time, he was wary of accidentally triggering animal traps set by other hunters. Su Mo kept his mind highly focused, closely watching his surroundings.
"Aw—!"
Not long after entering Qingliang Mountain, Su Mo heard a tremendous wolf howl. His brows furrowed slightly. Could I have accidentally come to Green Wolf Ridge?
Green Wolf Ridge was a rather special place within Qingliang Mountain. A beast called the Green Wolf lived there. They were extremely fast and numerous, and many of the hunters in the surrounding area had suffered badly at their paws.
Because of the wind and snow, thick snow blanketed the mountains, turning everything silver-white. Taking a wrong turn was a common occurrence.
Su Mo left decisively. However, just as he turned around, a Green Wolf measuring a full one and a half meters suddenly appeared in front of him. Its entire body was covered in green fur, its pupils green-black and blood-red, its sharp fangs bared, and its claws scraping against the ground. Clearly, the Green Wolf had no intention of letting Su Mo leave.
Its bloodthirsty eyes stared coldly at Su Mo.
"Whoosh!"
Seeing this, Su Mo's right hand swept across his waist. He nocked an arrow in reverse motion and drew his bow, firing it explosively. The Green Wolf was a full ten meters away. At that distance, once struck by his arrow, it would suffer grievous injuries and die on the spot.
Yet the instant the arrow shot out, the Green Wolf moved. It pounced like a green afterimage, but despite moving so quickly, blood still burst from its body. The Green Wolf was fast, but the arrow was faster.
What surprised Su Mo was that the arrow had not pierced through the Green Wolf's body. It had merely sliced across its fur and drawn blood, making him somewhat tense.
He had underestimated the Green Wolf's speed.
The Green Wolf pounced straight at him, churning up a fierce stench. It came from the beast's gaping maw as it tried to bite the human in front of it to death. Suddenly, a dazzling, icy blade-light flashed, and a hunting knife appeared over the Green Wolf's bloody mouth at some unknown point.
With a single slash, the Green Wolf let out a violent howl of anguish. The blow nearly severed its mouth and fangs. When it landed on the ground, its jaws were already a bloody mess, with one fang shattered.
Taking advantage of the opening, Su Mo swung the ancestral hunting knife again. The blade struck the Green Wolf's neck, and blood sprayed in all directions. The Green Wolf was slain.
After wiping the blood from the hunting knife, Su Mo could not help but breathe heavily. Clearly, when facing a Green Wolf head-on, he had not been confident either, afraid that the beast would kill him one-on-one.
Fortunately, after his physical strength had increased, even a Green Wolf could not withstand two blows from him.
The tree stump behind Su Mo now bore two extremely deep claw marks. They had been left by the Green Wolf's claws when it pounced at him earlier.
Casting aside the thoughts in his mind, Su Mo prepared to take the Green Wolf away. It weighed a full hundred pounds. Once the hide was removed, there would be dozens of pounds of pure meat. That alone would let him survive the winter.
Just then, Su Mo's gaze suddenly froze, and he looked somewhat incredulous.
The Ancient Profound Pearl inside his body had actually begun to glow with a faint golden light again. Although the light was weak, it was far brighter than before. Yet that alone was not enough to surprise Su Mo; he had just experienced it earlier.
What truly astonished him was the image of a wild beast appearing inside the Ancient Profound Pearl. Looking closely, was it not the Green Wolf he had just hunted?
Before Su Mo could react, the Green Wolf's phantom let out a howl of anguish and was extinguished by the rune marks on the Ancient Profound Pearl. Immediately afterward, Su Mo sensed something. That familiar warm current surfaced, and four words appeared in his mind.
"[Swift Sprint], [Sharp Claws]?"
"Are these the talent traits of the Green Wolf?"
The warm current flowed throughout his body. After lasting for a while, it slowly vanished. But Su Mo's eyes now flashed with brilliance. He threw a punch, and the air exploded. His body seemed to have been slightly strengthened, while the strength in his hands increased greatly. At the same time, when he moved, he vanished from his original position. He discovered that he had become even faster.
"[Swift Sprint] and [Sharp Claws], the traits of the Green Wolf—one increased my speed, while the other strengthened the power in my hands and slightly enhanced my physique."
"Could this be the Ancient Profound Pearl's proper use?"
Su Mo took the beast hide great bow in hand and pulled it open with all his might. The bow was drawn three-fifths of the way, which meant that his strength was no weaker than Uncle Chen Shan's.
One had to know that Uncle Chen Shan was a veteran hunter who had traveled through Qingliang Mountain for decades!
And with the trait [Sharp Claws] added in, the explosive power of both his hands would become even stronger.
To verify his guess about the Ancient Profound Pearl, Su Mo came to a secluded mountain hollow. He took out his hunting knife and dug a large pit, burying all the Green Wolf's flesh inside to prevent other hunters and wild beasts from discovering it.
After hiding the Green Wolf's body and marking the spot, Su Mo rose and came to a thicket. Rabbits often moved through places like this. To be safe, he did not hunt any of the larger beasts.
Instead, he wanted to hunt rabbits to confirm his theory.
A gray rabbit appeared. It was extremely fast and nimble, drawn out by the bait Su Mo had tossed. The instant the Gray Rabbit appeared, the beast hide great bow in Su Mo's hands suddenly flared into action, and the speeding arrow whistled through the air.
With a single arrow, the Gray Rabbit was shot dead on the spot.
At the instant it was killed, a phantom of the Gray Rabbit appeared atop the Ancient Profound Pearl inside Su Mo's body. The phantom seemed to want to break free from the pearl's restraints. It leaped and rolled ceaselessly, yet remained sealed within the Ancient Profound Pearl.
As long as Su Mo formed a thought, the Gray Rabbit phantom would be devoured and extinguished by the Ancient Profound Pearl. Clearly, control lay with a single thought from him.
As his thought shifted, the Gray Rabbit phantom instantly dispersed into a radiance. A faint golden light surfaced on the Ancient Profound Pearl, much weaker than the Green Wolf phantom's. Then that familiar warm current appeared and began circulating throughout his body.
At the same time, a talent trait appeared in his mind.
[Swiftness]!
Clearly, this was the ability trait the Gray Rabbit had given him. As the warm current emerged, Su Mo's physique continued to strengthen. Once the sensation vanished, he moved, and an afterimage was actually dragged through the air behind him.
This speed was incredibly swift. Although it was not as fast as the Green Wolf's earlier, it was not far behind at all.
After all, Su Mo now possessed three beast talent traits. [Swift Sprint] and [Swiftness] were both talent traits aimed at movement speed, allowing his speed to rise tremendously in a short time. Traveling through the mountain forests would also become far more relaxed and safe.
Over the following days, Su Mo continued roaming Qingliang Mountain and hunting. Two more wild rabbit carcasses appeared in his hands, but to his slight disappointment, neither rabbit granted him any talent trait.
"Looks like talent traits can't be obtained repeatedly!"
After confirming this, Su Mo did not hesitate. He went to the mountain hollow where he had buried the Green Wolf's body, dug it out, and returned to Shuanglin Village with the Green Wolf's flesh and three wild rabbits.
He wanted to eat meat...
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