Grid Search

Chapter 43: Grid Search

This not-so-large dirt hill, despite the severe drought this year, still had quite a few wild animals on it.

Li Dingguo led his small team of sixteen people, moving quietly. Every now and then, they would see common animals like wild rabbits, large rats, and snakes.

The reason for this was obvious: it was mainly because in this magical vast world, the desolate mountains and wilderness were rarely visited by humans.

Under normal circumstances, humans simply didn't dare to enter the desolate mountains and wilderness, deep forests, rivers, lakes, seas, and vast swamps.

Without humans, the natural predator of all sizes of wild animals, and without humans endlessly harming the natural environment, the vast areas that still maintained their original terrain and landscape were simply a paradise for the rampant proliferation of all wild plants and animals!

Especially animals with extremely strong adaptability and ridiculously strong reproductive capabilities, like wild boars, wild rabbits, and rats.

Take wild boars, for example. They are extremely adaptable omnivores, eating almost anything. They have thick hides and flesh, strong disease resistance, and among ordinary beasts, they have almost no natural enemies.

As long as humans don't cause continuous devastating damage to the natural environment and there is enough living space, their reproductive speed is beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

The same goes for wild rabbits. Most of the grass and tender leaves in nature can meet their survival needs. With their super strong reproductive ability, even with many predators in the wild, nothing can stop their populations from rapidly expanding.

And most carnivorous animals and Demonic Beasts only need enough wild rabbits as a source of food to hunt to ensure the survival and reproduction of their respective populations, not to mention the large number of highly prolific animals of all sizes.

Therefore, despite the continuous natural and man-made disasters currently occurring, they haven't had much impact on the various animal populations living in these vast areas that ordinary humans dare not step into.

"Bang!"

Walking on the overgrown hill, Li Dingguo suddenly swept with his long spear, then thrust into the air. In the instant he swept away a three-foot-long venomous snake hidden in the grass, he pierced it to death in mid-air!

This was the ninth venomous snake he had killed on his journey so far.

It was easy to imagine how many snakes, insects, rats, and ants lived in the mountains with this primitive terrain.

His current mental strength was extremely strong, equivalent to the combined total of ten adult ordinary people. His perception and observation skills were extremely sharp.

Therefore, he could now easily sense danger around his body.

This ability, which he gained after becoming a Martial Artist, was far beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

"Everyone, be careful!"

After piercing the venomous snake to death, Li Dingguo turned back and warned the fifteen youths in his team behind him, "In this world, danger in the wilderness is almost everywhere."

"If you're careless, it's very likely to cause unnecessary casualties!"

This was not the first time he had warned everyone.

There was nothing he could do. These young Martial Artists had never experienced this before, so he had to remind them repeatedly to avoid the tragedies they didn't want to see.

Seeing everyone nodding solemnly, indicating they had remembered, he continued, "This hill isn't very big, and because of the drought, the weeds and trees aren't very dense. As long as that Iron Tusk Pig group is still on this hill, it won't take too long to find them."

"As for the wild beasts that are everywhere here, don't bother with them to avoid wasting time. Go around them if you can."

"Demonic Beasts of the pig species are very large, such obvious targets shouldn't be hard to find."

"However, once you find their whereabouts, everyone must, at the first possible moment, try their best to conceal their bodies and auras, and not make any noise, so as not to alert the other party!"

Although he had never fought a Demonic Beast before, Li Dingguo didn't dare to be careless.

Although his current attributes and skill proficiency could overwhelm Martial Artists of the same level, he was still only at the late stage peak of the first level of the Martial Path.

The most crucial point was: not only had he never experienced a life-or-death battle himself, but the members of this Martial Artist team around him were also the same.

On the battlefield, new recruits who had never killed an enemy with their own hands were completely different from veteran soldiers who had killed countless people.

"Okay! Boss!"

"Boss, don't worry."...

Hearing Li Dingguo's reminders and warnings, the fifteen members of the Martial Artist team behind him all nodded repeatedly in agreement.

To be honest, if Li Dingguo hadn't been leading the way just now, listening in all directions and observing everywhere, helping everyone avoid dangers time and time again, perhaps someone in this team would already be injured, either from poisoning or injury.

Moreover, Li Dingguo was right. Demonic Beasts of the pig species were large and quite numerous. It wouldn't be very difficult to find their whereabouts on this not-so-large hill.

Perhaps they could encounter them at any moment.

Therefore, it was always right to raise vigilance first and prepare for battle.

These youths immediately took action. With Li Dingguo as the single arrow, Tang Guangqiang and Cao Yongxiang, the two genius Martial Artists, guarded the flanks, and the rest of the youths formed three columns, following closely behind.

This formation was one of the basic marching formations.

Although it wasn't a formal military formation, it was much better than being disorganized.

For these young Martial Artist soldiers, the practice of military formations had just begun, and they hadn't even gotten the hang of it yet.

The reason was obvious: the time they had been Martial Artists was too short, and in addition to learning various Martial Artist combat skills and cultural knowledge over the past month, they also had to diligently cultivate their Cultivation Methods, so there wasn't enough time.

To truly form a regular military formation to fight and kill the enemy, these young soldiers would need at least another month of training to barely achieve it.

As for Ai Nengqi, Liu Wenxiu, and Zhang Huier's other three Martial Artist teams, they were not far away, moving forward side by side with Li Dingguo's team, conducting a grid search while also being able to support each other.

Unlike Li Dingguo's side, the other three teams of young Martial Artists nearby, lacking experience in surviving in the desolate mountains and wilderness and being temporarily careless, had suffered several rounds of attacks from venomous snakes and insects.

Fortunately, everyone was a Martial Artist, and their reactions when attacked were very fast, so they escaped without casualties, albeit with some close calls.

Of course, this was mainly because the attackers were not Demons and Monsters, but ordinary snakes, insects, rats, and ants.

If some Demons and Monsters had attacked just now, even the lowest-ranked ones, it was very likely that some youths would have suffered unnecessary casualties.

This was like a bucket of cold water poured over these young Martial Artists' heads, thoroughly waking them up and causing them to raise their vigilance to the highest level.

Ai Nengqi, Liu Wenxiu, and Zhang Huier, feeling somewhat annoyed, saw Li Dingguo's team in the distance starting to change their combat formation. They quickly ordered their own team members to do the same.

Shortly after, the four teams advanced side-by-side, covering an area of over ten zhang.

After making full preparations, they resumed their sweeping search.

This mountain range wasn't very large, and it was estimated that they wouldn't need much time before encountering that group of Iron Tusk Pigs. A bloody battle was already foreseeable