The Sudden Downpour, Pressing Deeper Through the Rain

Night had already fallen.

After killing one deer and two tigers in succession, Li Xian had expended a great deal of energy.

He found a quiet spot, lit a bonfire, and lay down on the snow to rest.

He scattered beast-repellent incense around the area, keeping away snakes, rodents, ants, and other creatures.

"Winter hunting is actually much more comfortable than hunting in spring or summer."

Li Xian muttered to himself.

Winter was cold, but it was also dry.

The mountains and forests in summer were full of snakes, insects, rats, ants, and leeches. Those things were truly terrifying.

A skewer of venison, tiger meat, and biao meat roasted over the bonfire, sizzling as grease glistened on the surface.

There were rules for the winter hunt. Apart from the valuable parts, the rest of any prey could be eaten freely.

The valuable parts referred to bear paws, bear gallbladders, tiger gallbladders, tiger hearts...

Hunting a wild beast brought immense profit. The value of its meat was only secondary. Take a tiger, for example—its hide could be made into clothes and blankets, and its price was far from cheap.

Tiger bones and tiger blood could be used in medicine or refined into pills. Tiger claws and fangs could be made into weapons... Tiger gallbladders, tiger hearts, and tiger penises had even more uses. They could be soaked in wine or eaten raw...

Of course, all that money belonged to the higher-ups and had nothing to do with the hunters.

Venison was the most tender and also finished roasting first. When he bit down, grease mixed with threads of blood trickled out.

Though there were no seasonings, it was richly fragrant.

This wild deer had not been very old. Its meat was at the height of tenderness.

Since Li Xian had used fruit branches to skewer the meat, a faint fruity fragrance lingered in it, leaving an endless aftertaste.

[You consumed cooked venison. Proficiency +4]

[You consumed cooked venison. Proficiency +3]

[You consumed cooked venison. Proficiency +2]

The proficiency of [Consumption] slowly rose.

Li Xian discovered that when he continuously ate the same kind of meat, the increase in proficiency gradually diminished until it finally became [1].

But this change was not fixed. After some time had passed—several hours or several days—if he ate venison again,

the proficiency gain would return to [4], then gradually diminish to [1] with continued eating.

However, changing the method of preparation, such as making "stew" or "jerky," produced different results.

"Only by eating meat in ever-changing ways can I raise my 'Consumption' proficiency faster."

"Although I have mastered Four Directions Fist and Clearwind Leg, among all my skills, perhaps the most useful one is [Consumption]."

What Li Xian knew was that the most direct way for martial artists to replenish energy was to "eat"!

By then, the tiger meat and biao meat had both finished roasting.

[You consumed cooked wild tiger meat. Proficiency +6]

[You consumed cooked Ghost-Patterned Biao meat. Proficiency +9]

After eating and drinking his fill, [Consumption] had risen by more than [70] points.

Li Xian was actually already full.

But in order to raise [Consumption] as quickly as possible, he cut off a piece each of tiger, biao, and deer meat, mixed them with wild vegetables and fruit, and simmered them into soup.

[You swallowed Three-Beast Soup. Proficiency +12]

After drinking a pot of soup, he accumulated another [47] points of proficiency.

"If I eat any more, my stomach will burst."

"At my current speed, if I have tiger meat, deer meat, and biao meat for every meal over these three days, raising [Consumption] to Proficiency should not be difficult."

"Right, tonight I can smoke the tiger meat, deer meat, and biao meat into jerky!"

"That way, even after the winter hunt ends, won't I still have beast meat to eat?!"

Li Xian was overjoyed at the thought.

He immediately used his small knife to slice the meat into thin strips and smoke-roast them over the fire.

He would make as much jerky as he could!

After finishing all that, Li Xian lay on the snow, his belly round and bulging.

Looking at the bright stars and moon, enjoying the moonlight brushing over him, he was dazed into returning to the past.

Hunting in the mountains... instead made him feel more at peace.

A faint sense of freedom lingered beneath his nose.

"Freedom... must be fought for by oneself. It cannot be begged from others."

With his head pillowed on his hands, Li Xian thought resolutely.

The next day.

Li Xian left marks along the way, intending to venture a little deeper.

His luck was excellent. In just one morning, he hunted a tiger and a bear respectively.

The tiger was an ordinary mountain tiger, while the bear was a Black Velvet Bear.

Hunting the tiger had been uneventful. Li Xian spotted the mountain tiger's tracks from a great distance away and directly shot it dead.

It was nothing like that troublesome Ghost-Patterned Biao.

But an accident occurred while hunting the bear. The Black Velvet Bear had been licking honey.

It was honey from Blackneedle Bees. These venomous bees did not fear the bitter cold and carried a deadly poison.

After Li Xian shot the Black Velvet Bear dead, the Blackneedle Bees pursued him. In the end, he barely escaped disaster by hiding in an icy river.

Fortunately, his inner qi was condensed, and he had methods to ward off the cold.

Otherwise, he would surely have frozen to death in the river.

But because of that, all his clothes were soaked through. He could only light a fire first, dry his clothes, and make other plans afterward.

Everything had originally been going well. If he maintained this pace, he could gather three bears, three tigers, and three deer.

Yet at noon that day, a gust of wind blew over, and Li Xian immediately sensed that something was wrong. He smelled moisture in the air.

He promptly found a cave to take shelter in.

Sure enough, before long, a torrential downpour began.

"The heavens truly change their expression whenever they please, without leaving the slightest room for mercy."

Li Xian let out a heavy sigh.

This was greatly troubling. Heavy rain would wash away tracks, obscure his vision, and make the cold even more intense.

The drifting mist was even colder to the bone.

It disrupted Li Xian's rhythm. In such circumstances, he could only hide in the cave and wait for the rain to stop.

When he was hungry, he ate jerky.

The downpour did not stop once it began. In the blink of an eye, night fell, and the rain only grew heavier.

Li Xian frowned as he watched the rain. Could it be... that it would continue for another day?

He had already gained quite a harvest on this trip. One deer, three tigers, and one bear—and all of them were of extremely high quality. One Brindled Tiger, one Ghost-Patterned Biao, and one Black Velvet Bear.

These three beasts were all stronger than ordinary tigers and bears.

"With my harvest, I can already enter the Idle Martial Pavilion and exchange it for an Entry Vehicle martial art."

"But... this winter hunt is a rare opportunity for me to advance to Grade B. Am I really going to let it slip away like this?"

As Li Xian smoked the meat of the bear, tiger, deer, and biao,

he considered his plans for what came next.

"Hunting in the rain truly carries enormous risks."

"But opportunity must not be missed. Tomorrow... whether the rain stops or not, I will seize the last day, press deep into the mountains, and strive to hunt two more bears!"

Li Xian clenched his fists and made up his mind.

He would seize every opportunity!

Night fell.

Heaven and earth were shrouded in darkness, and the rain surged wildly. At such a time, the mountains were at their coldest. Freezing dampness seeped through every opening, leaving one at a loss what to do.

Li Xian stared blankly at the rain... The downpour only grew heavier, endless and relentless, leaving him helpless.

He sat in silence through the entire night.

Around the hour of the Snake, the sky gradually brightened a little.

Li Xian no longer held out hope for the rain to stop. He slung the Deer-Shooting Bow across his back and headed deeper into the forest.

Rainwater mixed with frost, collecting into pool after pool on the uneven ground.

The moment he stepped into one, coldness surged straight into his heart.

It sent a shiver through him.

Before he had gone far, Li Xian was already soaked from head to toe. Inner qi circulated through his body, keeping him from losing heat and falling unconscious.

The heavy rain had washed away all traces. Li Xian's skill at tracking prey was no longer of any use, so he could only wander about and try his luck.

Suddenly...

Within the hazy winter rain, a figure abruptly burst into his field of vision.