Hunting Beasts Outside the City

Dry City lay in the north of Dragon Nation. It had been the first stop of the beast race's invasion. Back then, on this land, humanity and the beast race had fought bloody battle after bloody battle, tragic and stirring, composing a magnificent epic worthy of song and tears.

In the end, as the nation's territory expanded, the battlefield continued to stretch outward. At the height of the fighting, the power unleashed by the experts of both races exceeded the limits this world could bear, causing space to collapse and forming the Ten-Thousand Mountains, which stretched across the entire north and even the northwest, cutting off Dragon Nation's roads to the northern countries.

Later, as time passed, the outer reaches of the Ten-Thousand Mountains were occupied by the beast race. With land expanding everywhere, much of the unused land surrounding cities became beast territory, creating a pincer attack against all of Dragon Nation from within and without.

Present-day Dry City was one of the northern strategic base cities. To its west lay the Dark Forest, at the outermost edge of the Ten-Thousand Mountains.

The name sounded pretty badass, but in reality, it was merely a habitat for some Black Iron Rank beasts. Only deeper inside did higher-level beasts appear.

It was mostly a place for low-level Spirit Martial Practitioners to train. Occasionally, high-level Spirit Martial Practitioners came here to hunt low-level beasts and obtain Beast Crystals in exchange for suitable rewards.

Most of those people had limited talent and potential. Compared to hunting beasts of the same level, low-level beasts offered better value: they were numerous and reproduced quickly. It was all about volume over quality.

At that moment, at the edge of the Dark Forest, Su Wuming stared blankly at the woods before him, shrouded in white fog.

"Careless. I came without checking the weather forecast."

Staring at the latest weather forecast for the Dark Forest displayed on his phone, Su Wuming could not help but feel a headache coming on.

Looking out, even visibility at the outer edge barely reached a hundred meters.

Before gaining Observation Haki, as a strength-type Spirit Martial Practitioner, he could not use spiritual perception to sense his surroundings. He could only rely on his eyesight.

It would have been great if there were a wood-type scouting Spirit Martial Practitioner here, but that kind of person would never team up with a strength-type Spirit Martial Practitioner like him.

Since he was already here, wouldn't it be awkward not to go in and take a look? After all, youth was about charging forward bravely.

This would be Su Wuming's first step toward becoming a Martial King, and also his first step toward becoming the future Red Beast. So he would just do it, even though he was terrified of dying...

"Small objective: advance three kilometers and kill one beast. If I fail, then advance another three kilometers and kill one beast."

After giving himself a pep talk, Su Wuming finally took a step forward and rushed into the Dark Forest.

The map on his phone showed his traveling distance. Before long, he had gone one kilometer deep, bringing him one-quarter closer to his small objective.

At the same time, his little heart began pounding, and his blood accelerated through his veins, faintly carrying a boiling sensation. Su Wuming had never experienced this thrill of pursuing adventure, neither before nor after his transmigration.

The descriptions he had read in books were ultimately just words. They could not make him truly feel it for himself.

That immediately made Su Wuming quicken his pace. After sprinting three kilometers in one breath, he did not feel the slightest bit tired.

After stopping, he did not hurry onward. Instead, he began searching sideways across the area.

According to online forum descriptions of this place, whenever it became foggy, the beasts would begin mating on a large scale. Their activity was at its most frequent during this time, and most Spirit Martial Practitioners would not come here to train then.

Experts had determined that the fog in the Dark Forest contained toxins harmful to the human body. Staying in it for too long could make one lose oneself. Only Spirit Martial Practitioners at Silver Tier or above were immune.

But Su Wuming was not afraid of that. As long as there was enough food, he could down a bottle of pesticide right in front of them without changing expression.

He had made thorough preparations last night for today's outing.

He had practically begged and pestered Lin Pangpang into helping him make ten Qi-Blood-Enriched Spicy Strips, exhausting the other boy so badly that he had gone to school early in the morning with dark circles under his eyes.

That resentful little look in his eyes when he left was something Su Wuming still did not dare recall. It gave him goosebumps too easily.

Su Wuming had also discovered a problem: aside from cultivating and sleeping, he had to eat once every two hours during daily life.

Thankfully, he had Lin Pangpang. Otherwise, with the way he ate, an ordinary family simply could not afford to feed him, much less he himself.

After slowing down and searching for nearly ten minutes, he heard the sound of flowing water from his front left, making his heart leap with delight.

His luck was not bad. There would definitely be beasts near a water source. Sure enough, after approaching, Su Wuming discovered a stream four or five meters wide.

After confirming the direction of the flow, he followed the stream upstream.

Twenty minutes later...

Su Wuming stopped amid a rocky forest. At that moment, strange cries of heavy panting occasionally came from the jumbled rocks ahead, sometimes high-pitched and sometimes low.

After looking around, he chose a huge boulder more than ten meters tall and leaped onto it.

The moment he got up there, Su Wuming saw a scene he would never forget.

Damn!

In broad daylight, under the clear heavens.

Those two vile beasts were actually doing such filthy things here, ruining the beauty of this rocky forest.

Su Wuming recognized the two beasts about fifty meters away.

They were Devil Horses, the most numerous beasts in this outer region.

However, do not be intimidated by their name.

They were called Devil Horses because they were exceptionally ugly, covered from head to toe in pitch-black scales. They were carnivorous as well, and their spike-like teeth could easily bite through steel.

They were roughly the size of ordinary warhorses. They were native beasts that had been corrupted by the beast race's power into this form.

Among beasts, they were the lowest class. Limited by their bloodline, they possessed only Black Iron Rank strength and could not evolve. They had brute force but no spells, skills, or techniques.

They corresponded to humanity's strength-type Spirit Martial Practitioners. To put it bluntly, they were the beast race's bottom feeders and cannon fodder.

After only two glances, Su Wuming decided to break apart this pair of Devil Horses making love.

That nonsense about not tearing apart a marriage even if one tore down ten temples did not exist here!

He had learned a skill but had yet to truly use it, and his hands were itching.

Thus, Su Wuming pressed his left hand against his right shoulder. As he clenched his right fist, he suddenly exerted force and stretched his right arm backward.

This was the opening stance of [Rubber Gun]. His current attack range could reach exactly fifty meters, which was just enough.

Once his arm had stretched to the point where he could not extend it any farther no matter how hard he tried, it suddenly snapped back, striking at the female Devil Horse.

Because they were mating, the two Devil Horses' vigilance was practically zero. By the time they noticed the attack, Su Wuming's fist had already struck the female Devil Horse's waist, its weakest point.

The male Devil Horse riding on her back felt the space beneath him suddenly vanish, followed by a sharp pain somewhere. When he looked again, the female Devil Horse had already flown more than ten meters away and was convulsing on the ground.

The male Devil Horse immediately understood. White vapor blasted from its nostrils as it snorted heavily, its eyes turning red while it stared at Su Wuming.

It looked as if it were saying, "You fucking dared to hit my mare! Are you tired of living?!"