Tu Lou Bloodline

The cold, hard feel of the crossbow being reloaded pressed against his palm as Lu Heng's gaze remained fixed on the sparse, wary Horned Sheep below.

He had intended to take advantage of the scattered formation of the beasts to snipe one more and further disrupt their cohesive group mentality.

But in the next instant, something unexpected happened.

Instead of scattering and fleeing after losing their leader, the flock of sheep seemed to be thoroughly enraged. All the sheep had their ears taut, heads lowered, and sharp horns pointed towards the bushes. Following the trajectory of the arrows that had just pierced the air and the source of the bloody scent, they precisely located Lu Heng's hiding place.

Without the slightest hesitation, the dozen or so mutated Horned Sheep plowed the ground, trampling over the blood and carcasses of jackals, and charged swiftly toward the bushes.

The formation was tight and compact, and the steps were uniform, unlike the chaotic disorder of ordinary herds. Each sheep had its own position, with the front line charging forward to clear the way and the flanks flanking and blocking. It was an encirclement tactic that had been honed through countless battles.

Lu Heng's fingertips had just touched the crossbow mechanism when he couldn't even pull the trigger.

When a close-range barrage of fire comes, long-range shooting becomes pointless.

He decisively abandoned the Giant-Feather Crossbow, released the string with one hand, and steadied himself by lowering his waist. His instincts, honed through years of life-or-death struggles, instantly tensed all his muscles. He knew that his old leg injury was hindering his ability to quickly maneuver and move around. His only way out was to stand still and withstand the attack, relying on his strength and equipment to fight his way out.

He raised his right arm naturally, and the Black Iron armor fit snugly against his arm. The cold, hard metal covered the entire forearm, and its heavy texture brought a great sense of security.

The first Horned Sheep that charged forward, with the immense force of its full-speed charge, slammed its hard horns into his torso.

A muffled thud suddenly exploded.

For an ordinary survivor, this impact would have shattered ribs and caused severe injury on the spot.

However, Lu Heng's physical foundation far surpassed that of ordinary people, and his strength was profound and domineering. He did not choose to confront him head-on. The moment the horn touched the arm armor, he slightly turned his waist and used the force of the impact to deflect the force to the side. The violent impact slid down the metal surface, and most of the brute force was dissipated by his body. The remaining shock was completely within his tolerance range.

He firmly blocked the first attack.

The second and third heads followed closely behind, attacking from both sides in a continuous barrage.

The ferocity of these mutated sheep far surpassed that of any herbivorous beast Lu Heng had ever seen.

They abandoned all instinctive cowardice, employing a cunning and highly coordinated fighting style. The sheep in front constantly feigned attacks by butting their horns, forcing Lu Heng to defend the front line to the death, while the sheep on the flanks took the opportunity to get close, not charging but instead lowering their heads to bite and attack any openings in his body.

Throughout the entire process, Lu Heng remained focused and calm, his gaze icy, relying on his Black Iron armor to repeatedly parry the frontal attacks. Each impact landed on the metal, producing a series of dull thuds, but he used his immense strength to continuously deflect the shocks, keeping his upper body's defense as solid as a rock.

However, the defensive weaknesses were eventually torn apart by the relentless group attacks.

All his attention and defensive focus were on frontal and upper body attacks. His legs, hampered by an old injury, were unable to move flexibly, sidestep, or dodge, leaving his lower body defense blind spot completely exposed.

Seizing this fleeting opening, a sturdy Horned Sheep suddenly crouched low and charged forward.

It dodged the blocking arm, swiftly darted close to Lu Heng's side, and with a sudden drop of its head, its sharp molars went straight for his injured right leg and bit down hard.

Extremely fast, with insidious angles, it's a desperate, life-or-death biting attack.

Lu Heng's heart tightened, and he instantly sensed the danger.

The weight had just shifted to the left leg, and the right leg was stiff and sluggish, leaving no time to pull back and dodge.

At the critical moment, a cold glint flashed at his side.

"Clang--"

A crisp, piercing metallic scraping sound echoed through the forest.

The sharp sheep teeth bit down hard on the blade of the Tiger Blade Knee Guard, but the hard alloy blade held firm against the force of the bite, managing to block the fatal blow.

The intense vibration of teeth hitting metal traveled down the kneecap and down the entire lower leg, a mix of soreness, numbness, and swelling, instantly stimulating the lingering pain of an old injury.

Although his body wasn't broken or bleeding, this incident made Lu Heng fully realize his current disadvantage.

In a one-on-one duel, he can crush and slaughter.

However, the relentless attacks from a pack of over a dozen well-coordinated, fearless, and physically powerful mutated beasts magnified his weakness of being unable to move his legs.

More and more Horned Sheep noticed the opening in his lower body and began to surround, squeeze, and attack him, biting him.

The impacts were relentless, and the biting probing attacks were endless. Lu Heng struggled to hold on with the help of his equipment and physical strength, constantly deflecting and blocking the force, but his body was being exhausted more and more, his breathing became increasingly heavy, and his stance began to waver slightly.

The situation has completely turned against them.

Trapped tightly in the bushes, unable to advance or retreat, if this continues, it will eventually be worn down and severely injured, collapsing to the ground.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lu Heng made a quick decision and used his trump card.

He calmed his mind and activated the Geothermal Talisman he kept close to his body.

This was the first time he had actively activated the rune since acquiring it. No one knew its true power; all that remained in his heart was a desperate attempt and a resolute determination in the face of adversity.

In an instant, an indescribable, extreme heat suddenly exploded outwards from him.

There was no fire, no flames, no deafening roar.

Only pure, violent, and destructive scorching energy instantly swept across a radius of several meters.

The moment the heat wave hit him, Lu Heng's pupils contracted sharply, and a storm raged in his heart.

That's terrifying.

The temperature was far beyond his imagination, enough to instantly cook human flesh. He could clearly feel the surrounding air distorted and steaming from the high temperature, and his exposed skin felt a burning pain. He was absolutely certain that if it weren't for the rune's binding and damage reduction, he would have been burned and maimed by this high temperature in an instant.

But this terrifying heat did nothing to harm him.

All the Horned Sheep that couldn't retreat in time were completely engulfed by the torrent of high temperatures.

The thick wool clinging to the sheep's body instantly charred and carbonized, emitting wisps of black smoke. The sheep's skin and flesh rapidly curled, charred, and hardened under the extreme heat, and the originally taut and firm body instantly lost its vitality, with all its colliding and tearing movements abruptly ceasing.

The entire horde of beasts that had been attacking them froze in place in an instant.

In the areas swept by the heatwave, low-lying weeds withered and crumbled, the surface frozen soil hardened, and the bark of small tree branches cracked and curled, leaving the entire woodland in a state of utter devastation.

As the intense heat gradually subsided and dissipated, only a faint smell of burnt wood remained in the forest.

Lu Heng stood there, slightly out of breath, his eyes filled with disbelief and shock.

A single rune, in a mere instant, ended the entire horde of mutated beasts that had been plunging him into a fierce battle.

He suppressed the shock in his heart and slowly walked forward.

The sheep carcass underfoot was charred black and carbonized, its fur completely destroyed, but it could still be clearly felt when touched. The high temperature had only burned the outer skin, while the flesh inside was intact, even cooked instantly by the extreme heat, emitting a warm aura.

That's truly incredible.

If a fire had just been lit, the entire forest would have been engulfed in flames, with unimaginable consequences. Fortunately, the Geothermal Talisman only emitted pure high temperatures without open flames, merely destroying the target and damaging a small area of the environment, without causing a wildfire.

Lu Heng drew the Bronze Hunting Blade from his waist, bent down, and gently sliced open the charred skin of the nearby sheep carcass.

The blade cuts into the meat, revealing the charred and cracked outer layer, while the tender, cooked meat inside remains intact, without any burnt or rotten parts, its nutritional value completely unaffected.

Just as he was about to continue cutting and dissecting the precious mutated beast materials one by one, the survival Wristband on his wrist suddenly vibrated violently.

The pale blue light screen instantly popped open, refreshing a series of brand-new mythical beast entries that had never appeared before.

[Mythical Beast: Horned Sheep]

[Rank: Black Iron Tier]

[Hidden Bloodline: Sparse Tu Lou Bloodline]

[Mutation Status: Ecological Alienation & Dietary Reversal]

[Characteristics: Social and cooperative, physically robust, horns that can penetrate armor, and violent temperament]

Lu Heng's gaze was fixed on the four words "Tu Lou Bloodline," and the fingertips holding the Hunting Blade paused slightly.

Tǔlóu?

He had never heard of this name before, nor was there any record of it in the Bestiary of strange beasts in this snowy mountain forest.

A strange chill slowly crept into my heart.

It turns out that the herd of Horned Sheep didn't suddenly mutate.

This seemingly familiar snowy mountain forest harbors countless unknown secrets. These strange mutations and special bloodlines have always been lurking deep within this forest, but in the past, due to insufficient strength and limited knowledge, he had never encountered the true dangers of this forest.

Only then did he truly realize that the mountains and forests where he had lived, hunted, and lived were far more unknown and dangerous than he had imagined.