Hunting

In the mist.

Xia Daoming walked step by step towards the center of the valley.

His eyes flashed with sharp light, and the vital energy and strength within his body circulated continuously, poised for an explosion at any moment.

His mind was highly taut, and his five senses keenly perceived any changes in his surroundings.

Two short spears were held tightly in his hands.

An individual's strength is limited!

It was far from the time for him to fall out with the Xu family.

He still needed to gather the strength of the masses to hunt the Ice Rabbits and collect the Ice-Cold Purple Ganoderma.

Only after hunting enough Ice Rabbits and collecting enough Ice-Cold Purple Ganoderma would it be time for him to seize an opportunity.

The mist grew thicker, and the surrounding temperature dropped lower, with some places on the ground even freezing over.

Faintly, through the mist, he saw a cold pool.

Mist continuously rose from the cold pool.

Around the cold pool, more than ten white figures leaped back and forth in the grass.

As Xia Daoming approached, those white figures became clearer and clearer.

Rabbits covered in white fur were actually as large as leopards.

The Ice Rabbit possessed the violent and ferocious nature of a Demonic Beast while retaining the innate caution and wariness of a rabbit.

As Xia Daoming drew closer, a young Ice Rabbit shot out like an arrow from a bowstring, leaping behind an adult Ice Rabbit. It then raised its long ears, its pair of purple eyes staring vigilantly and ferociously at Xia Daoming.

The adult Ice Rabbit's purple eyes also stared vigilantly and ferociously at Xia Daoming.

Xia Daoming worried that if he lingered too long, he might alert other Ice Rabbits. He picked up a stone from the ground, flicked his finger, and shot it towards the Ice Rabbit.

"Whoosh!"

Seeing this, the Ice Rabbit opened its mouth and spewed out a stream of white mist. The mist condensed into an ice arrow, meeting the pebble.

"Bang!"

The pebble was shattered into pieces and scattered everywhere.

The provoked Ice Rabbit seemed to be enraged. It stomped its hind legs and lunged towards Xia Daoming with lightning speed.

Its front paws were spread open, as large as tiger claws, sharp as knives, and glinting with cold light.

Xia Daoming had anticipated this outcome.

He stomped his feet on the ground and swiftly retreated backward.

"Bang!"

The Ice Rabbit lunged at empty air.

Its sharp claws landed on the ground, sending dirt and stones flying.

The Ice Rabbits by the cold pool were alerted, but by then Xia Daoming had already disappeared into the mist. The Ice Rabbits glanced in his direction from afar before resuming their playful hopping in the grass by the cold pool.

The adult Ice Rabbit, having missed its target, refused to give up. It stomped its hind legs again and pursued Xia Daoming, not forgetting to spray ice arrows as it chased.

Fortunately, Xia Daoming's speed was not only extremely fast, but his Dragon Snake Nine Steps were also practiced with unpredictable variations.

His movements were like a dragon soaring and a snake slithering, incredibly agile.

Each time, he managed to dodge the incoming ice arrows and the descending sharp claws.

Even so, Xia Daoming was inwardly alarmed.

He knew that his true strength was no less than that of an aging Eighth-Rank Great Martial Master, yet he still had to use sixty to seventy percent of his ability to barely evade the pursuit of the adult Ice Rabbit.

If it were someone else, they could only rely on luck.

With good luck, they might be able to lure the Ice Rabbit to the destination, while barely keeping half their life.

With bad luck, they would perish halfway.

"Prepare quickly, the Ice Rabbit is coming!" Xia Daoming shouted loudly when he was still some distance from the gathering spot. He significantly restrained the powerful vital energy and strength within him, while also making sure to mess up his hair and tear his clothes to shreds.

As soon as Xia Daoming finished speaking, a large net was cast towards him.

Fortunately, Xia Daoming was prepared. Before the net could fall, he was already hugging the ground, like a slithering snake, and shot out through the gap between the net and the ground with a "whoosh" sound.

Just as Xia Daoming shot out hugging the ground, a white figure closely followed and entered the net, getting caught inside.

"We caught it!" someone exclaimed excitedly.

But at that very moment, a tremendous force tugged hard.

"Screech!"

The piercing sound of feet scraping across the ground shattered the silence of the valley.

The four Martial Masters holding the four corners of the net were dragged across the ground by the Ice Rabbit, net and all.

Even the particularly excited Martial Master lost his grip, the rope of the net corner slipping from his hand. The flesh of his palms was torn open, and blood flowed freely.

Almost simultaneously, the Ice Rabbit shot out like an arrow from a bow, hurtling towards the Martial Master.

"Useless!" Just then, a cold voice rang out.

Following that, a cold glint cut through the mist, slicing towards the Ice Rabbit as fast as lightning.

"Clang!"

The Ice Rabbit raised a paw to block the Tiger Head Saber, but it was knocked back into the net.

By then, someone had already grabbed the net's ropes again.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Almost at the same time, several arrows pierced the air, shooting towards the Ice Rabbit, which was caught in the net and desperately tearing at it with its claws.

Two javelins also flew through the air, hurled fiercely at the Ice Rabbit.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

White mist spewed from the Ice Rabbit's mouth, transforming into ice arrows that successively blocked several arrows and one javelin.

However, the Ice Rabbit was ultimately entangled by the net, unable to unleash its true abilities.

Although it blocked several arrows and a javelin, some still managed to penetrate the net's mesh and strike it.

Blood slowly seeped from its pristine white fur, emitting a potent, chilling scent.

Seeing this, Xu Zhiji rejoiced. He grabbed a javelin from the ground, strode forward, and fiercely plunged it into the struggling Ice Rabbit.

The javelin pierced the Ice Rabbit entirely. Its limbs twitched violently a few times before it finally breathed its last.

"Demonic Beasts are still just Demonic Beasts. No matter how powerful, they ultimately lose to human intelligence!" Xia Daoming thought to himself, sighing inwardly as he watched the Ice Rabbit die.

"Haha! Liang Jingtang, your disciple performed admirably. He's made a great contribution!" Xu Zhiji said, releasing the javelin after the successful hunt. He clapped his hands, his gaze filled with admiration as he looked at Liang Jingtang and Xia Daoming.

As Xu Zhiji spoke, a Sixth-Rank Martial Master from the Xu Family stepped forward, extracted the Ice Rabbit's heart, and placed it into a leather pouch, tying it shut.

Only the Ice Rabbit's heart was needed to refine the Golden Crow Returning Origin Soup.

"Thank you for your praise, Clan Elder. It was merely luck!" Liang Jingtang replied.

"Heh heh, luck is also a skill! Besides, with these kinds of tasks, the first time is new, but the second time is familiar. Uncle-Ancestor, in my humble opinion, we should ask this Instructor Xia to make another trip!" Xu Shisen said with a smile, his gaze towards Liang Jingtang and Xia Daoming filled with mockery and amusement.

"Clan Elder! This is unfair. My disciple has already..." Liang Jingtang quickly interjected.

"Shisen is right. The first time is new, but the second time is familiar. I believe your disciple will need to make another trip!" Xu Zhiji interrupted leisurely.

Hearing this, Liang Jingtang's forehead veins bulged, and his powerful blood and qi surged wildly within him.

"Master, the Clan Elder makes sense. I'll make another trip," Xia Daoming said, seeing this.

"Daoming!" Liang Jingtang's eyes reddened, filled with regret and self-reproach.

If he had known this would happen, he would never have let Xia Daoming come along, no matter what.

"It's alright, Master. My fate is strong!" Xia Daoming comforted him, then turned to Xu Zhiji and cupped his fists. "Clan Elder, as the saying goes, rewards for merit and punishment for mistakes. You also said just now that I made a great contribution. I don't need any reward. I only hope that if I am fortunate enough to survive this trip, you will show leniency and spare the lives of my master and me. Our Hidden Dragon Martial Arts School has no special ties with the Ding Family. We just want to live peacefully in Li City."

"Heh heh, boy, do you think it's only because of the Ding Family? Have you forgotten..." Xu Shisen sneered.

However, before Xu Shisen could finish speaking, Xu Zhiji waved his hand, stopping him.

Seeing this, Xu Shisen swallowed his words.

"Liang Jingtang, you've taken in a good disciple!" Xu Zhiji praised, then looked at Xia Daoming. "Don't worry. Our Xu Family has guarded Li City for over a hundred years. We have enough magnanimity. As long as you survive this trip, I can guarantee that your Hidden Dragon Martial Arts School will develop peacefully in Li City without any trouble."

Xu Shisen's expression shifted slightly. His lips trembled as if he wanted to speak, but he was intimidated back by Xu Zhiji's icy gaze.

"With your word, Clan Elder, I can rest assured!" Xia Daoming cupped his fists, but inwardly, he sneered, Old man, I'm just trying to lull you into a false sense of security so I can use your hands to help me hunt the Ice Rabbit first, and then find an opportunity to kill you all and take your belongings!

"Go ahead!" Xu Zhiji said indifferently.

"Alright!" Xia Daoming nodded and turned to leave.

"Daoming!" Liang Jingtang called out.

Xia Daoming slowly turned his head, seeing Liang Jingtang's reddened eyes and trembling silver beard.

"Don't worry, Master!" Xia Daoming gave Liang Jingtang a carefree smile, then tapped his foot on the ground and leaped into the thick mist, disappearing quickly.

Watching Xia Daoming's back vanish into the mist, Liang Jingtang finally shed tears of old age.

As the others watched this scene, almost no one showed any sympathy. On the contrary, most wore expressions of relief, or even schadenfreude.

PS: We're competing for rankings on Monday. One chapter was released early at noon.