After checking over his hunting gear, Su Mo picked up his ancestral Hunting Knife, slung the Beast Hide Great Bow over his shoulder, and strapped a quiver to his waist. Then he entered Qingliang Mountain once more.
This time, Su Mo planned to kill another beast. He could gain its innate traits and strengthen himself, while also securing enough meat to last through the winter.
Heavy snow blanketed the mountains, and the howling wind roared like a wild dragon, whipping up countless snowflakes.
On Green Wolf Ridge, wolf howls and furious roars rose and fell. A vicious Green Wolf suddenly sprang from the bushes, turning into a green blur as it pounced. A fierce wind swept in every direction.
The moment he saw the Green Wolf racing straight at him, Su Mo's Beast Hide Great Bow flashed. A Birchwood Arrow shot out, tearing through the air. Before the Green Wolf could dodge, a burst of blood erupted from its body.
The arrow pierced straight through the Green Wolf, sending it tumbling five or six meters away.
Clearly, killing a Green Wolf was now easy for Su Mo. His Minor Realm archery meant that any living creature within twenty meters would be felled by a single arrow. Even a Green Wolf, despite its speed, couldn't escape.
He hadn't wandered into Green Wolf Ridge by accident this time. He'd entered deliberately to kill a Green Wolf and test his strength.
When he'd faced one before, it had put him under immense pressure. Now, he could kill one with ease!
After hunting the Green Wolf, Su Mo went to check the Animal Traps he'd set in the mountains earlier to see if he'd caught anything.
On his previous trip into the mountains, he'd set three traps. The first and second had yielded nothing. After resetting them, Su Mo went to check the third.
But as he approached it, his expression instantly turned grave. The good news was that the third trap had caught something. The bad news was that it had caught a massive Fierce Beast.
Roar!!!
A Mountain Boar over two meters long, its body covered in black bristles, had its hind leg caught in the trap. But what made Su Mo's eyelid twitch was the sight of its sharp tusks, each as thick as an arm. With a pained grunt, the boar actually snapped the trap open with its right leg.
Ordinary beasts caught in one of his traps would hit the ground on the spot. They couldn't break free and could only wait to die.
But this enormous Mountain Boar had not only broken his trap, it didn't even seem injured. Its hide was so thick and tough that Su Mo was already thinking of retreating.
This Mountain Boar was too fierce. Charging in headfirst might not be the answer.
Just as Su Mo was about to turn and leave, the enormous boar seemed to have already spotted him. Like a small mountain, it charged straight at him. If the maddened boar hit him, even Su Mo wouldn't be able to withstand it.
Su Mo moved, leaving a blur across the snow. With the Green Wolf's [Swift Sprint] and the Gray Rabbit's [Swiftness] traits fused into him, dodging the boar's charge took little effort.
As Su Mo dodged, the boar's massive body crashed into a tree trunk wide enough for a person to wrap both arms around. Wood chips flew everywhere as the impact snapped the tree, sending it crashing more than ten meters away. Such incredible strength was terrifying.
Su Mo quickly put some distance between them, brushed a hand over the quiver at his waist, and nocked an arrow. He drew his bow and took aim at the boar. With a swish, the arrow shot out and struck its body. Blood seeped from the wound.
The Mountain Boar kept charging, roaring and smashing into everything, as though the arrow couldn't kill it. Su Mo understood that the problem wasn't his archery but the arrows. Though the arrowhead struck the boar, its thick hide and layer of fat had caught it, preventing it from sinking any deeper.
Even with blood flowing, the boar only grew more frenzied and ferocious. It smashed into several trees and stumps around it, while repeatedly trying to ram Su Mo. But Su Mo moved too fast for it to catch him.
Using his ancestral Hunting Knife in close combat would clearly do little against this boar. So Su Mo kept his distance and attacked from afar, shooting arrow after arrow at it.
One of the boar's eyes was shot out, blood streaming from it. Its body was covered in arrows, and even with its thick hide, the boar couldn't help but howl in agony.
In the end, only when its strength was spent did the boar finally collapse, unwillingly.
Su Mo estimated that the Mountain Boar weighed more than three hundred pounds. It was ferocious beyond belief.
If another hunter came across this boar, disaster would be all too likely. Just one hit would snap their bones and pulverize their internal organs.
Just then, the Ancient Profound Pearl inside Su Mo glowed with golden light. Its radiance was no longer faint but crystalline and bright. Within the pearl, the phantom of a Mountain Boar roared and snarled, struggling to break free of its restraints.
At a thought from Su Mo, the runic markings outside the Ancient Profound Pearl ground the phantom to nothing and swallowed it. Then that familiar wave of warmth appeared, enveloping him and flowing through every limb and bone. This warm current was far stronger than the ones from the Green Wolf and Gray Rabbit.
At the same time, he gained two innate traits from the Mountain Boar.
When Su Mo saw what they were, his eyes went wide.
[Thick Hide and Flesh], [Great Strength]!
As the warmth flowed through him, Su Mo began to fuse with and master the Mountain Boar's innate traits. In an instant, his body was greatly strengthened and his blood and qi surged. His physique was visibly growing tougher, while a vast, powerful force arose within him.
The warm current faded away.
Su Mo's skin was now taut and leather-like, brimming with vigor. Ordinary punches and kicks could hardly hurt him. He picked up the Beast Hide Great Bow and applied a little force. The bowstring tightened, the bow curved like a full moon, and he drew the Three Stone Great Bow all the way.
Before, he could draw the bowstring only four-fifths of the way. It was, after all, a three-stone bow. But now, he drew it completely.,
He even felt that this wasn't the limit of his strength. He was incredibly strong now.
"These two traits from the Mountain Boar have made me much stronger. [Thick Hide and Flesh] has given my skin and flesh incredible density, greatly boosting my defense. [Great Strength] has dramatically increased my strength. I can now draw the Beast Hide Great Bow with ease, and even..."
As he spoke, Su Mo went to the boar's carcass, bent down, and hoisted the three-hundred-pound beast onto his shoulders with both hands. Then he reached out with his right hand, grabbed the Green Wolf he'd killed earlier, and carried it too.
The Green Wolf weighed over a hundred pounds. Along with the Mountain Boar, which weighed over three hundred, the two animals came to a total of five hundred pounds. Yet Su Mo carried them off with ease, thanks to his tremendous physical strength.
"Stop! Put down the two game animals you're carrying!"
A voice suddenly rang out.
Just as Su Mo was carrying the Green Wolf and Mountain Boar out of Qingliang Mountain, five unwelcome figures appeared on the snow-covered path ahead. Snow and howling wind surrounded them.
They wore black clothes and black headwraps. Some carried Wolf Tooth Clubs, others held long sabers and butcher knives. Every one of them looked vicious, their eyes gleaming with malice as they stared brazenly at Su Mo.
Su Mo recognized their outfits. They were Black Wind Stockade Gang Members. These were men from Black Wind Stockade. His predecessor had encountered them while hunting in Qingliang Mountain and had been beaten badly. They'd stolen the prey he'd worked so hard to catch, leaving him to starve to death in the dead of winter.
Every year, the Black Wind Stockade Gang came down the mountain to demand taxes from the surrounding villages, seizing villagers' grain and hunters' prey. If they found nothing to take, they might even forcefully abduct women and children from the villages and haul them up the mountain. Their wickedness made people want to hack them to pieces.
But the Black Wind Stockade Gang was powerful. They say a Martial Artist was stationed there.
"Can't you hear me? I told you to put down the prey you're carrying."
One of the Black Wind Stockade Gang Members—a Bearded Man holding a saber—saw that Su Mo still hadn't put down his prey and shouted at him. The saber-wielding Bearded Man was the leader of the group.
At first, the Bearded Man hadn't paid attention. He'd thought Su Mo was carrying two large game animals. But when Su Mo came closer, he saw that the man was carrying a Mountain Boar and a Green Wolf—fierce beasts of the mountains. The Mountain Boar in particular could already be called a Fierce Beast, and only a Body Tempering Realm Martial Artist could kill one.
Could this man be a Martial Artist? The Bearded Man felt uncertain.
The Black Wind Stockade Gang was so used to robbing hunters in the surrounding area that they couldn't imagine a lowly hunter having anything to do with the lofty Martial Artists.
"Damn it! Our boss is talking to you! Can't you hear him?" While the Bearded Man hesitated, one of the Black Wind Stockade Gang Members beside him lost patience. He roared, raised his Wolf Tooth Club, and charged at Su Mo, ready to beat him to death.
Su Mo dropped the Mountain Boar and Green Wolf heavily onto the ground. Without saying a word, he raised his Beast Hide Great Bow and drew it in an instant, the bowstring taut as a full moon. A Birchwood Arrow shot out. With just one arrow, he blew the head off the Black Wind Stockade Gang Member, sending blood spraying everywhere.
Before the remaining men could react, Su Mo drew and loosed again and again. Arrows sliced through the air, and in an instant, the snow was stained red. Birchwood Arrows pierced through three more Black Wind Stockade Gang Members, who collapsed helplessly in pools of blood.
They didn't even have time to run.
Of the five Black Wind Stockade Gang Members who'd blocked the road to rob him, only the Bearded Man remained. His expression was grave. He hadn't expected this hunter's arrows to be so fast. In the blink of an eye, the man had killed all his subordinates with such ruthless methods.
Su Mo shot another arrow, intending to finish off the Bearded Man. But unexpectedly, the Bearded Man raised his saber and knocked the arrow aside. Even so, his body shuddered violently, and he staggered backward again and again.
Su Mo's arrow had clearly packed a heavy punch. The Bearded Man had struggled just to meet it with his saber.
Su Mo was surprised. He hadn't expected the Bearded Man in front of him to block his arrow. That shot could kill even a Green Wolf outright, and now he'd fused with the Mountain Boar's Great Strength trait. Its force was ferocious and unstoppable.
The Bearded Man's expression was solemn, and his heart was swept by a storm of shock. He was on the verge of becoming a Martial Artist. He'd spent years tempering and honing his skin and flesh, and had practiced Basic Saber Technique for twenty years, reaching the Mastery Realm.
With Basic Saber Technique at the Mastery Realm, the Bearded Man believed he could face some newly initiated Martial Artists and still hold his own.
But now, the hand gripping his saber was trembling violently, and blood was seeping from it. It was clear that blocking Su Mo's previous arrow had taken every ounce of his strength.
Whoosh!
Su Mo raised the Beast Hide Great Bow and shot another arrow. As it flew, the air boomed. The falling snowflakes were torn apart and shredded. The terrifying force behind the shot was enough to make anyone recoil in horror.
The Bearded Man's face changed dramatically. He hurriedly raised his saber to block. But he'd barely managed to stop the previous arrow, which had driven him back several meters. There was no way he could block this shot, fired with even a little more care by Su Mo. The Bearded Man roared and swung his Basic Saber Technique, hoping to stop the powerful, domineering arrow.
The arrow knocked the saber from the Bearded Man's hands, then struck his right leg. Blood sprayed, and the Bearded Man cried out in agony. With such a grievous injury, he could barely stay upright before collapsing into the snow.
Relying on his vast, domineering Great Strength, Su Mo's arrow had pierced straight through the Bearded Man's leg bone. Even though the man had spent years tempering and honing his skin and flesh, he couldn't withstand an injury like that. He'd lost the ability to fight back.
"I heard there's a Martial Artist in the Black Wind Stockade. Are you a Martial Artist?"
Su Mo walked over and looked at the Bearded Man, who was lying in the snow as blood streamed from him. He asked the question slowly.
He'd deliberately aimed the arrow off target. If he'd meant to kill the Bearded Man, he would've aimed at his head instead of his right leg.
"I'm not a Martial Artist!" The Bearded Man had already been scared witless by Su Mo. His face was deathly pale, and he repeatedly shook his head.
If someone who wasn't a Martial Artist could block one of his arrows, then how terrifying would a real Martial Artist be?
At that moment, Su Mo felt that Martial Artists were powerful, and that he still couldn't match them!
But out of fear, the Bearded Man left out one detail: with his Mastery Realm Basic Saber Technique and the body he'd tempered for years, he could actually hold his own against some newly initiated Martial Artists.
He'd just run into the wrong person.
Before you continue