Luring Them In, Driving Them Back, and Reaping the Rewards

But climbing the trees would only solve their immediate problem. If the wild boars surrounded them here, they might not be able to move an inch. If the Avatar fought them in close combat, there were so many that he would only be able to withstand a few more blows and would more likely be worn down to death. These boars were also very smart and learned quickly. The longer it dragged on, the harder they would be to deal with.

They could only try to lure the few leading boars over.

The Avatar ordered the team members:

"Stop shooting. They're using up our arrows. You all wait until the boars get close, then attack."

After several rounds of probing, the herd discovered that its attempts to wear them down were no longer working, and both sides were exhausted.

Chen Yanshan and Liu Tingquan led the way with machetes, their hands and bodies covered in cuts from bushes and thorns. Sweat streamed down their backs and faces. The intense work had left their lips dry and pale and their eyes somewhat unfocused, but when they thought of everyone behind them risking their lives in battle, they could only grit their teeth and keep swinging their blades on sheer determination.

Chen Zhenhua, Hu Jun, Li Guohua, and Mo Yuemei had drawn their bows and shot arrows without pause until their arms were too sore to lift. They could only sling their compound bows over their backs and draw the short blades they had yet to use, driving back any boars that approached.

The boars were also panting, foam bubbling constantly at their mouths. They could no longer charge. Like toads, they moved forward a little whenever the adult boars behind them drove them on, then retreated a little when the team members stabbed them.

Only after the six adult boars had repeatedly confirmed that the exploration team had no strength left did they prepare to join the fight themselves. They broke into a full sprint and charged toward them.

But the Avatar had seen through the boars' trick long ago, so he had deliberately conserved his strength and obligingly put on an exhausted act. The others, however, really were exhausted, so the Avatar had simply told them to use every ounce of strength to climb the trees beside them when they saw the adult boars preparing to join the fight.

Once he confirmed that the adult boars were charging and were only twenty meters away, the Avatar used [Precision] to fire three arrows in rapid succession, predicting their positions and severely wounding three boars in front. The three were unable to control their bodies from the pain that pierced to their marrow and fell to the ground, obstructing the other boars. The three behind them could not stop in time and collided.

When the team members saw their captain descend like a divine warrior once again and break up the boars' formation in an instant, their faces flushed with excitement.

The Avatar seized the opportunity and fired his last two arrows, severely wounding another boar.

The other, younger boars saw what had happened and seemed afraid to advance. They let out low grunts. Were they communicating about something?

"So these beasts know fear too!"

Chen Zhenhua roared, venting the frustration they had bottled up over the past two days.

The others' blood boiled at their captain's valor, yet they also despaired at the other young boars eyeing them like tigers eyeing prey.

The Avatar paid none of that any mind and seized this brief opportunity.

He burst into a short sprint, drew his machete, and crippled another boar with two slashes.

The last boar saw that the Avatar's previous burst of strength had ebbed and a new one had yet to rise. It raised its tusks and charged at him.

Without thinking, he kicked out. The boar's tremendous impact pushed the Avatar back five or six meters, but it also knocked the boar off course and sent it plunging into the rest of the herd.

The boar let out a low grunt, urging the other young boars to attack the Avatar.

But the other boars had seen the Avatar go on a killing spree and deal with the adult boars one by one, his ferocious aura bearing down on them. Exhausted and frightened, the herd no longer had the courage to face him.

The adult boar saw that it had no real chance to attack. When it saw the Avatar charge toward it with his blade, it immediately turned and ran.

The other boars saw this and scattered in a rush.

Seeing this, the Avatar was certain that they had killed enough of the herd to frighten it and that the boars probably would not dare come back.

The Avatar finished off the few boars still breathing with his blade and called for everyone to come down from the trees.

"Everyone, hurry down and retrieve our arrows. We're leaving."

The other team members climbed down and gazed at their captain as though looking up at a god. This captain, who had led them away from danger and helped them overcome difficulties time and again, had once more displayed his extraordinary martial prowess, composure, and wisdom.

Chen Yanshan, Liu Tingquan, and Mo Yuemei, three young people in their twenties, looked at him with worship in their eyes. They could no longer put their feelings into words.

It was as though they had been reading a novel, and suddenly the great hero from its pages was standing right in front of them.

Chen Zhenhua, Hu Jun, and Li Guohua, on the other hand, looked proud to be associated with him.

Everyone looked at the scattered boars and the large ones lying on the ground, blood still flowing from their bodies, with the expressions of people who had escaped with their lives.

They had been chased and attacked like this for two or three hours. It was now around nine.

"Everyone, hurry and take out some food to replenish your energy. Once we're done gathering our things, we'll keep moving and put some distance between ourselves and that herd first."

The others were too tired to bother speaking. They laboriously chewed their food and pulled arrows from the ground and the carcasses.

Once everyone had finished gathering their things, the Avatar looked back at the place where they had fought. No qi had been born there. Perhaps a special aura was needed for it to be born.

Everyone continued on their way.

The rest of the journey was much more peaceful, and they encountered no more major dangers.

Once everyone had recovered and confirmed that the herd had not followed them, the Avatar continued organizing the search for meteorites.

That day, they found two meteorites in total, one of which had not yet been used.

On the fifth night, everyone rested in the trees with their hearts in their throats, afraid the boars might catch up at any moment, leaving them unable even to run.

On the morning of the sixth day, there were no boars. Everyone woke in the gradually noisy forest to find a thick fog filling the sky once again.

The team continued toward the mountains to the north. Near noon, they collected a meteorite that had already been used.

That afternoon, the exploration team finally made it back to a place they had explored before, then continued west toward Huang Family Village.

In the end, they spent another night on the way and entered Huang Family Village at nine on the seventh day.

This time, they had collected twelve meteorites (used Class Change Stones) and eight Class Change Stones, twenty in all. It was quite a haul.

But the exploration team as a whole knew of only eight: two Class Change Stones and six meteorites (used Class Change Stones).

The only ones the Avatar actually had to turn in were the eight everyone knew about.