Hunt One

Bang!

A massive boar's head dropped to the ground.

"Uncle Guan, was that the right way to use my blade?" Cao Bing sheathed his weapon, turned around, and asked Guan Yong with confidence.

"Very good. You're improving quickly!" Guan Yong clapped and laughed. "Hunt a few more beasts. As your experience grows, I'm sure your strength will at least double."

"Really?" Cao Bing's eyes lit up.

"Really." Guan Yong sighed. Cao Bing was progressing far too quickly. Guan Yong had only demonstrated a few times in person, yet Cao Bing had already grasped the essentials and mastered them rapidly.

Whoosh!

A piercing sound tore through the air, and a bird-like creature fell in response, crashing heavily onto the ground.

"Iron-feather Eagle?" Startled by the sound, Cao Bing hurriedly looked up and immediately recognized the beast that had been shot down.

"It's so huge. It must be Beast General Level, right?" Cao Bing exclaimed.

"It's a Junior Beast General Level." Song Shengnan smiled. "Hurry and butcher it. A Beast General Level Iron-feather Eagle is covered in treasures, especially those iron feathers. They're worth a fortune."

"Uncle Yan really is incredible. In that instant, he killed a Beast General Level monster," Cao Bing marveled.

"Of course. Among Martial Artists, aside from Mental Masters, archers like Uncle Yan are the hardest to deal with when it comes to raw killing power." Song Shengnan spoke to Cao Bing with pride in her voice.

"Besides, Uncle Yan is among the elite of archers. That makes him even harder to provoke. Unless they're more than one level above him, most wouldn't dare challenge him. A Junior Beast General like this only takes one arrow."

"My skills are nothing. A Mental Master of the same level could kill me in fewer than ten moves." Yan Ying walked over to the Iron-feather Eagle, drew his dagger, and spoke indifferently as he butchered it.

"Captain, you said Mental Master? We can't afford to provoke someone like that!"

Fang Ye, who had been observing the surroundings ever since they entered the ruins, suddenly chimed in. This "Old Fang" was practically intimately familiar with analyzing monsters and the environment.

"Captain, I found traces of a Flame Crystal Leopard on the ground ahead. What a surprise—I didn't expect such a high-level monster to be in a place like this." Fang Ye patted the dirt from his clothes and said with a smile.

"An Advanced Beast General Flame Crystal Leopard?" Xie Hongxin's eyes brightened. The others' eyes gleamed as well, and even Zheng Ke, who had barely made his presence known until now, parted his lips slightly.

Yet Yan Ying decisively waved a hand, cutting off their eagerness. "No need to provoke it!"

"We came this time to train Cao Bing and help him integrate into our team. The Flame Crystal Leopard's level is too high; it isn't suitable," Yan Ying said calmly.

"Captain, I can protect him when the time comes. As long as you and Zheng Ke quickly kill the Flame Crystal Leopard, there won't be any problem." Xie Hongxin spoke eagerly.

"You?" Yan Ying glared fiercely at him. "Can you stop a Flame Crystal Leopard?"

"Let's go." Yan Ying butchered quickly, and with Song Shengnan helping, the car-sized Iron-feather Eagle was completely carved up before long.

"All right." Seeing that Yan Ying disagreed, Xie Hongxin had no choice but to give up.

"Captain, there seems to be a Bloodthirsty Tank in the front-left. A large number of Horned Wild Boars and Iron-haired Wild Boars are gathered inside an abandoned school." Fang Ye spoke again.

"Bloodthirsty Tank? That's not a bad opponent." Yan Ying nodded, then asked Fang Ye, "How many Beast Soldier Level monsters are there?"

"It's hard to determine the exact situation, but based on the numbers at the perimeter and the amount of food remains, I estimate there are around three hundred to four hundred." Fang Ye replied calmly.

"Heh! What a haul!" Xie Hongxin said, rolling his shoulders and producing a series of crackling sounds from his bones.

"That'll do." Yan Ying considered it for a moment, then nodded.

"Zheng Ke, find a sniping position. Xie Hongxin and Song Shengnan, ambush the perimeter and prepare to forcefully kill them. Old Fang, stay by my side. Cao Bing, follow Guan Yong and wait for a chance to finish them off." The moment Yan Ying made his decision, he had already laid out the battle plan, perfectly assigning everyone in the team.

Without saying a word, Zheng Ke turned and left to find higher ground. Xie Hongxin and Song Shengnan nodded to Cao Bing before departing together.

"Let's go, kid. Stick close to me later." Guan Yong smiled at Cao Bing.

"Okay, Uncle Guan." Cao Bing nodded hard.

He was no fool. There were several hundred Beast Soldier Level monsters. If Cao Bing carelessly got trapped among them, even with strength close to that of an Advanced Warrior, he would probably be trampled into pulp in an instant.

After leaving their previous location, Cao Bing followed Guan Yong in a wide circle and hid inside an abandoned residence on the flank of the boar herd.

"Wait here. We'll move when the captain gives the order," Guan Yong said.

"Okay." Cao Bing never doubted Guan Yong's words. When it came to wilderness hunting skills, they were far superior to him, and he knew that well.

"Zheng Ke, are you in position?" Captain Yan Ying's voice came through the earpiece.

"I'm here." Zheng Ke's reply was brief.

"Can you locate any Beast General Level monsters?"

"I'm searching. I found a Junior Beast General Level Bloodthirsty Tank in the first classroom by the second-floor stairwell." Zheng Ke said.

"Good. Keep looking," Yan Ying said calmly.

After that, the earpiece fell silent. Only after a while did Zheng Ke speak again.

"Captain, I found a second Bloodthirsty Tank. It's around the corner from the third-floor restroom. The angle is poor. I wouldn't have spotted it if it hadn't moved. Its strength is hard to determine."

"Good! That's enough." Yan Ying said, "I'll handle that one. You kill the Junior Beast General. Old Xie, Shengnan, once the herd falls into chaos, prepare to charge in. Guan Yong, wait for an opening." Yan Ying's voice vanished again, and shortly afterward, a single word came through the earpiece: "Kill."

The entire herd instantly descended into chaos.

An arrow pierced through the wall in an instant, pinning the Bloodthirsty Tank of unknown level to the ground before it could make even the slightest sound.

The other Bloodthirsty Tank let out a pained roar, then violently smashed through the wall and fell from the second floor. After that, it made no further sound.

With that, the entire herd naturally fell into complete disarray. Some fled in every direction, while others charged about wildly, seemingly trying to find the enemies who had ambushed them. In moments, the school, already little more than ruins, was battered into even greater ruin by the monsters.

"Move! Try to kill Advanced Beast Soldiers. The mid- and low-level ones aren't worth much and would only waste backpack space." Yan Ying issued commands through the earpiece, while the arrows in his hands never stopped. Every shot took the life of a wild boar.

At the same time, Xie Hongxin and Song Shengnan charged out. The two worked together with perfect coordination. Xie Hongxin was like a great mountain—every monster that rushed at him was blocked, then slain by Song Shengnan behind him.

"Let's go too!" Without turning back, Guan Yong spoke to Cao Bing, then was the first to slip out.