The Warrior's Gall

For the past few days, Li Beichen had mostly been subsisting on dried Black-White Strange Pig meat.

He needed to finish this stuff as quickly as possible, fully converting it into the fuel for his martial path, before he could truly feel at ease.

As for the Black Market, Li Beichen had visited again two days ago, but he hadn't stumbled upon any auctions for Exotic Beast Meat.

Lady Li had explained that the auction in early September featured so much Exotic Beast Meat only because several big shots had just returned from the Lingnan Mountains.

In reality, under normal circumstances, auctions for Exotic Beast Meat typically only occurred once every two or three months.

Li Beichen could already feel that the martial arts resources in Ram City were tightly monopolized by those at the top.

Ordinary martial artists could only struggle and scheme within this vast web just to get a taste of meat.

But to eat one's fill? Without climbing to the very top, that was absolutely impossible.

Looking at the Exotic Beast Meat stored in the cellar, Li Beichen pondered.

The meat I have left is only enough for one month of my needs...

He recalled the Black Wolf that Zhao Si had mentioned.

A decision was made in his heart.

He would go to Small Gravel Mountain to hunt the wolf!

By now, his cultivation techniques and skills had reached a certain height.

As for a Ninth-Grade exotic beast, he had a great deal of confidence in hunting it alone.

Not to mention that his safety was guaranteed; even if there were danger, Li Beichen would not fear it.

How could a martial artist lose their courage!

If he could kill the Black Wolf and obtain a hundred pounds or so of Exotic Beast Meat, it would be enough to sustain his cultivation for a long time.

Before Clear Creek Village, the stream gurgled.

It still wound its way around the head of the village as it always had.

Everything seemed unchanged.

Li Beichen took one look, did not linger, and did not enter the village to disturb anyone.

Following the small path outside the village, he headed straight into the mountains.

The village was still the same village, and the mountains were still the same mountains.

But Li Beichen's situation was vastly different from the last time he went hunting in the mountains.

He had transformed from an ordinary hunter who only knew the Locust Stone technique into a Ninth-Grade martial artist capable of striking Hundred Echoes.

Yet, to reach his goals, this was merely the beginning.

Small Gravel Mountain was filled with soil, rocks, and shrubs.

Li Beichen moved through it with the speed of a flying bird.

Even without any light-body techniques, his raw strength allowed him to leap a full ten feet with a single bound.

Utilizing the branches and vines in the mountains, Li Beichen was as agile as an ape.

With Sharpness active, everything around him was revealed in minute detail, allowing him to precisely identify sturdy branches and hidden patches of grass.

He would not misstep, nor would he grab onto dead branches that couldn't bear his weight.

Before long, Li Beichen had entered the deep, dense forest of Small Gravel Mountain.

Compared to his previous trips into the mountains, the surroundings seemed much more desolate.

Although the vegetation remained lush.

Along his path, he saw far fewer small and medium-sized animals than before.

Traces left by the wolf pack were everywhere.

"It seems this pack of wolves has quite the appetite."

"At this rate, once winter arrives, Small Gravel Mountain certainly won't provide enough prey for the pack."

"These wolves will either head into the Lingnan Mountains to hunt, or descend the mountain to terrorize the common folk."

"Compared to the former, the latter is far more likely."

"Villages like Clear Creek Village, which back onto Small Gravel Mountain, will bear the brunt of the wolf disaster."

Thinking of this, Li Beichen focused his attention and began to earnestly search for the tracks of the wolf pack.

Living in this world, Li Beichen sought only to protect himself, but if he could conveniently nip such a disaster in the bud, he was more than happy to do so.

Clear Creek Village had honest, simple folk, and he had a good impression of it.

"Awoooo..."

Li Beichen's ears twitched; amidst the chirping of cicadas and the calls of birds, he heard a wolf howl echoing from the distance.

Although his [Hunting] skill was still at the initial stage, Li Beichen could grasp the general meaning behind the wolf howls.

Generally speaking, a wolf's vocalizations are divided into four basic sounds: barking, whimpering, growling, and howling.

The howl he was hearing now was a method used for long-distance communication.

It usually meant prey had been discovered, using this howl to signal location and summon the pack for a coordinated hunt.

Li Beichen knew that by following these howls, he could find the main body of the wolf pack.

That Ninth-Grade Black Wolf was very likely among them.

He quickly rushed toward the direction of the howls, plucking some medicinal herbs along the way and crushing them to smear over his body.

This was to mask his own scent.

Li Beichen moved swiftly, all while keeping his movements controlled.

Within a quarter of an hour, he followed the direction and climbed up a mountain ridge.

Looking down from his vantage point, Li Beichen soon spotted the pack.

They were stretched out in an arc-shaped battle line, driving three Yellow Sheep before them.

They were also tightening their formation.

They had reached the final stage of the hunt.

Li Beichen's gaze sharpened; he saw a One-Eyed Wolf that was noticeably larger than the others around it.

It took the lead and charged forward rapidly.

This One-Eyed Wolf was the very pack leader he had wounded previously.

However, the Black Wolf that Zhao Si had spoken of was not among the hunting pack.

Seeing this, Li Beichen did not act rashly.

He watched silently as the wolves hunted the Yellow Sheep.

His target had always been only that Ninth-Grade exotic beast; these ordinary wild wolves were useless to him.

The wolves had completed their encirclement, and the three Yellow Sheep were undoubtedly doomed.

But after the One-Eyed Wolf tore open the throat of the last Yellow Sheep, it did not immediately feast on the flesh.

Instead, it stood guard quietly beside the prey.

It was as if it were waiting for its superior to arrive.

The only creature that could make a former leader of a dozen wolves wait like this was that Ninth-Grade Black Wolf.

Li Beichen stared intently at the pack, and finally, a Black Wolf as long as a typical tiger leaped out from the shadows of the woods.

The other wolves, including the One-Eyed Wolf, lowered their heads and whimpered softly upon seeing the Black Wolf emerge.

Within the pack, the hierarchy was clear.

Lowering their heads and whimpering was a sign of complete submission.

The two-meter-long exotic beast held its head high, flicking its tail as it strode through the pack.

It walked up to the three Yellow Sheep, selected the fattest one, and began to lower its head to feed.

The other wolves remained motionless, standing guard in the periphery.

They had to wait for the leader to finish eating before they could feed themselves.

Seeing this, Li Beichen took advantage of the gap and immediately approached with caution.

He was two miles away from the pack, but at his pace, he could reach them in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

He had plenty of time.

However, when he closed the distance to two hundred paces, Li Beichen deliberately slowed his speed and further suppressed his movements.

Although he possessed Hundred Echoes and the [Shuriken] skill, there were dozens of wolves ahead.

If he were discovered and swarmed by them all, he had no confidence he could kill the Ninth-Grade Black Wolf without sustaining injury.

After all, he was still only in the Flesh-Refining realm; a single bite from these wolves would cause him harm.

To catch the horse, first catch the rider; to catch the bandits, first catch the ringleader.

As long as he could ambush and kill the Black Wolf first, he would achieve his goal and leave the pack without its backbone.

As pack animals, once wolves lost their leader's command, they would become nothing more than scattered stragglers.

They would be unable to organize a coordinated attack.

In that case, Li Beichen was confident he could pursue and kill them one by one, completely wiping out the wolf pack of Small Gravel Mountain.