First Blood

Tie Niu confessed that Su Yuan had directed all their previous hunts. Combined with the tracking skills Su Yuan had demonstrated, everyone ultimately agreed to follow his lead for now.

Before the competition, Chai Nian had also warned them to be especially wary of the Shan Family's people and, ideally, stick together.

The Shan Family's group had gathered together as well. Du Hengfeng shot them a vicious look.

Tie Niu didn't back down. "What're you looking at? I suggest you focus on hunting instead of playing tricks. The Chai Family saved you, after all. You should know how to repay a kindness."

He'd decided he would protect Su Yuan and, more importantly, claim first place and leave both batches of pills for Brother Yuan.

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Du Hengfeng nearly bristled with rage at those words. That humiliating defeat that night was the greatest disgrace of his life.

He'd been searching for any trace of the masked man, but had found nothing.

And those Chai Family martial warriors who'd seen him in such a sorry state with their own eyes all deserved to die!

"Let's go!" Du Hengfeng knew better than to start a conflict now. There was plenty of time. They'd settle the score slowly once they were in the mountains.

The Shan Family's team left at once.

Su Yuan drew a deep breath, memorizing the scents clinging to them, especially Han Gui and Du Hengfeng.

As the martial warriors entered the forest, the young masters and ladies on the viewing platform lost sight of them.

Rong Yuzhi hesitated. "Could Su Yuan really know how to hunt? Did we bet on the wrong person?"

Her words made the others uneasy, too.

The bets were just for fun. Each person could bet on several placements, and anyone who guessed correctly would share the winnings according to the odds.

If Su Yuan wasn't among the worst, the silver they'd wagered on him placing in the bottom ten would go up in smoke.

Shan Xiongqing spoke coldly. "That kid's all talk, at most. Besides, when the hunt reaches its end, it'll come down to strength."

At his words, everyone nodded and set their worries aside.

The hunt would last seven days. These nobles wouldn't sit around the whole time, of course, but they'd have the patience to watch on the first and last days.

Su Yuan led the group through the forest.

His nostrils twitched. Now and then, he bent down to examine tracks or stood still to pick out scents. Before long, he'd located a nest of Tusked Demon Boars.

He signaled with his hand, and everyone quietly closed in.

Tie Niu sprang into action, smashing the lead boar's skull with a punch. The others attacked as well, and in an instant, they'd hunted down the entire nest.

Zhu Yan and the others were thoroughly impressed. "Junior Brother Su Yuan, your nose is sharper than a dog's!"

At this rate, their whole team might place extremely well.

When it came time to divide the points, everyone kept their agreement: half the prey was credited to Tie Niu, and the rest was split according to each person's contribution.

Su Yuan was speechless. Was that supposed to be a compliment?

At the first hunting gong, the whole Chai Family team returned, carrying their prey.

When the points were tallied, they were unmistakably ahead of every other team.

"Chai Nian, your team is surprisingly good at hunting," Rong Yulian remarked, her gaze lingering on Tie Niu, who stood at the front.

"Tie Niu led them well." Chai Nian smiled as he waved his fan, looking pleased.

Once the points were announced, Su Tieniu took first place without a doubt.

Since the prey had to be counted whole, the Chai Family team made a show of modestly yielding to one another, then credited several of the more valuable kills to Su Yuan.

In the end, Zhu Yan and Kuang Hong also squeezed into the top ten, while Su Yuan somehow ranked in the twenties. The rest of the Chai Family martial warriors all placed in the top fifty.

But among the prey the Shan Family turned in were quite a few human heads, all belonging to mountain drifters.

Though this didn't violate the rules, many of the women frowned and took Du Hengfeng for a madman.

Even so, his points only put him in second place, far behind Tie Niu.

Everyone's faces fell at the results.

Shan Xiongqing was the first to object. "This isn't fair! The hunting competition is meant to test individual skill. How can someone muddle through with a team and sit back to enjoy the rewards?"

He didn't name names, but his accusation was clearly aimed at Su Yuan, who was coasting on the group's efforts.

As soon as he spoke, many voices chimed in. "Young Master Shan is right! It's terribly unfair to those of us fighting alone!"

"The Wolf God Ritual has always prized cooperation. A pack that hunts as one can bring down more prey," Chai Nian replied calmly.

"But these Jing People are dogs, not wolves! Great Liang needs its strongest, most loyal hounds." Shan Xiongqing wouldn't let the matter drop and began arguing with Chai Nian.

Gao Mian suddenly cut in. "Maybe someone else is the one coasting. Su Yuan is obviously the brains of that team."

"Impossible. Absolutely impossible!" Shan Xiongqing denied it flatly.

He was determined to break up the Chai Family's team. Otherwise, they wouldn't just outperform him in the hunt—he'd lose his chance to go after Su Yuan, too.

The two sides argued endlessly, to the point that the higher-ups took notice.

At first, the officials paid them no mind. But over the next two days, the Chai Family's haul grew ever larger, and they nearly monopolized the top spots. Even the lowest-ranked Chai Family martial warrior had climbed into the top thirty.

At last, everyone began to realize something was wrong.

At this rate, the Chai Family would sweep the top ten. What would be the point of watching the competition then?

Quite a few of the other contestants began slacking off.

Great Liang held the competition to get martial warriors to harvest Monsters for free—or to feed their flesh to Monsters.

Now everyone was either banding together or refusing to hunt. The whole thing had gone completely off the rails.

Under pressure, the rules were finally changed.

"This competition is intended to temper lone wolves! From now on, everyone must hunt separately and may not share their prey. Anyone who breaks the rules will have their spoils confiscated! The Fierce Horse Army and the Martial Masters will be keeping watch in secret. Don't think you can get away with it!"

Du Hengfeng glared viciously at Su Yuan. "Our chance has finally come!"

Han Gui followed beside him, too, repeatedly glancing at Su Yuan as if looking at livestock meant for slaughter.

Su Yuan sneered inwardly. Just what I wanted!

Tie Niu, however, was deeply worried. "Brother Yuan, once we're in the mountains, we can secretly meet up. They might not notice..."

Shan Xiongqing looked smugly at Chai Nian, feeling he'd finally won one back.

But Chai Nian smiled as he waved his fan. "Brother Shan, why are you so fixated on Su Yuan? Without that burden, Tie Niu might do even better. He's sure to claim the Chief's position."

From beginning to end, Tie Niu was the only one he'd cared about.

Shan Xiongqing's expression changed. He looked at Gao Mian, only to find her still wearing the same cold expression. "Don't rush. There's another new rule."

Sure enough, the examiner immediately announced, "To encourage everyone to hunt with all their might, there will be rewards for the top ten and punishments for the bottom ten. Those who place in the last ten will be sent to the Dalian Mine to perform forced labor for ten years!"

The news hit the crowd like cold water poured into boiling oil. Everyone erupted.

Those currently in the bottom ten were especially stricken, their faces turning ashen.

Ten years in the Mine—what was that but a death sentence?

Even martial warriors would be hard-pressed to last ten years in a place like that, to say nothing of being stripped of their freedom.

Gao Mian's expression finally changed. She shot Shan Xiongqing a cold glare.

Shan Xiongqing grinned, as if to say, "Madam, you brought this on yourself."

With the new rule in place, everyone was on edge and fought with all their might. Nobody wanted to end up in the bottom ten.

"Brother Yuan!" Tie Niu's face was full of worry.

Su Yuan smiled calmly. "Relax. Don't you trust my skills?"

"I'm worried about the Shan Family..."

"They're the ones who should be worried." Su Yuan's voice turned icy, making Tie Niu's heart tighten. He said no more.

Once they entered the forest again, Su Yuan didn't hurry to hunt. Instead, he hid himself, improving his Hibernation skill while waiting for the right moment.

[Hibernation: 1546/2000 (Perfection)]

He was waiting for a chance to act with a clear conscience.

He didn't know how tightly Great Liang was monitoring them, but he still had to keep up appearances.

Since Su Yuan stayed hidden, Du Hengfeng and the others couldn't find him for a while.

But without any prey, his points quickly plummeted.

Shan Xiongqing looked smug. "I told you. Su Yuan's just dead weight, a useless bottom-feeder!"

Just then, good news arrived from the Void Cloud Horse Ranch. Yun Xu and the others had finally confessed, revealing many of the secrets behind the Cloud-Striding Palm.

Two pieces of good news at once. Shan Xiongqing was thoroughly pleased with himself.

The others who'd bet on Su Yuan finishing last also breathed a sigh of relief.

Chai Nian remained calm, but Gao Mian furrowed her brows.

This still wasn't enough.

Shan Xiongqing secretly sent word to his men, ordering them to hurry and deal with Su Yuan and Su Tieniu and make sure they claimed the Chief's position.

As everyone spread out to hunt, people began disappearing in the mountains.

"The chance is here." Su Yuan deliberately left a few traces behind.

Han Gui spotted the trail and gave chase alone.

He was a Three-Blood Realm martial warrior, while Su Yuan was merely a First-Blood Realm martial warrior.

"This achievement should be mine alone! Hahaha!" Han Gui was convinced that Su Yuan was the reason he'd fallen out of favor.

First, he'd lost Madam's affection. Then, because he'd handled Su Yuan poorly, he'd lost the young master's favor as well.

This time, he would take Su Yuan's head and prove his loyalty to the young master!

Crack—

Han Gui's sneer cut off abruptly.

He felt a little dizzy. It seemed his head had lost its way, parted company with his body, and rolled across the ground.

"First blood." Su Yuan dispatched Han Gui with casual ease, then dragged his corpse and silently vanished into the depths of the shaded forest.