Observing the Black Wind Crawler, Chun Feng adjusted his mental state. It was something he always did when hunting, as it helped him focus solely on the task, avoiding distractions during the hunt.
Running his hand over the sword at his waist, he fixed his gaze on the Black Wind Crawler, remembering what he had read about it in a book called "Compendium of Ferocious Beasts". However, that book was partially damaged, and the section on the Black Wind Crawler was among the most deteriorated.
Calmly, Chun Feng tilted his head, scanning the surroundings for anything he could use to his advantage.
Looking around, he spotted a few things that might be useful, like a series of holes scattered about fifteen meters from where the Black Wind Crawler stood.
'This will come in handy,' Chun Feng thought, noticing a pool of tar about thirty meters away from the creature.
Seeing that the beast hadn't yet started devouring the deer's corpse, Chun Feng decided to act, intending to bring both carcasses home. With his bow in hand, he positioned himself and pulled na arrow from the quiver on his back.
Aiming at the crawler's eyes, he exhaled, then quickly held his breath. His eyes were not just for decoration, ever since his reincarnation, he had been able to see distant things with remarkable clarity. Even events that unfolded at lightning speed were easy for him to follow.
That was one of the reasons why he was so confident during hunts. Those eyes gave him a tremendous advantage in battle.
With a gleam in his sky-blue left eye, he loosened the fingers holding the arrow, releasing it at great speed toward the creature's large, diamond-shaped lizard head.
Groooaaawll...
As the crawler slowly lowered its massive head to savor the lunch it had claimed, its small eyes widened, as if sensing something. With a frightening growl, it quickly raised its head, just in time to feel a sharp pain in its jaw.
Na arrow was lodged in the underside of its mouth, piercing through its jaw from bottom to top, tearing through tough scales and flesh, wounding the inside of its mouth.
Graaaaiw
Enraged by the injury, the crawler thrashed its head, searching for whoever had harmed it. It recognized the object stuck in its jaw, it was a weapon used by humans.
It hated humans. Many had tried to hunt it down, always without success.
It had always killed those ignorant humans who tried to hunt it, but this one was different. It felt almost no bloodlust from him, and he was strong, unlike those fools who had come before.
And it was that lack of bloodlust that had made it react too late, getting injured in the process. Had it not moved quickly enough, it might have been blinded, or even killed, by that arrow.
Then it spotted him, near some bushes. A human boy in blue clothing, waving his arm at the creature.
"Hey, you stupid lizard! Why don't you come over here so I can roast you? I heard lizard tastes like chicken!"
Chun Feng shouted with a wide grin, mocking the creature.
Seeing the great lizard provoked, Chun Feng smiled and began running toward the tar pit.
Using the Gale Steps, Chun Feng dashed like the wind, as a breeze swept across the clearing. Each step landed so lightly it seemed he barely touched the ground. Even without spiritual power, the effect of Gale Steps was magnificent, he crossed thirty meters in just two and a half seconds.
Stopping in front of the tar pit, he turned to see the crawler still more than tem meters away. The massive lizard had halted, hesitant to come any closer.
For many years, the great crawler had seen countless animals, including ferocious beasts, fall victim to that natural trap. And it had instilled a deep fear in its heart. It was one thing to fight humans and other beasts in combat, that was nature's law. But dying of starvation, trapped in that pit? That was terrifying, even for the most savage of beasts.
Seeing the Black Wind Crawler hesitate, Chun Feng shook his head in exasperation.
"Alright, since you won't come to me, I won't go to you either. I'll just shoot you to death."
He said with a playful grin, pulling another arrow from his quiver, nocking it onto the bow, and drawing the string tightly.
Sensing the danger, the Crawler tensed its powerful hind legs and leapt toward Chun Feng, its mouth wide open, revealing deadly fangs over fifteen centimeters long, along with many razor-sharp teeth.
"Too late." Smiling, Chun Feng jumped over the Black Wind Crawler, releasing the arrow aimed once again at its head. Seeing the lizard dodge by shaking its head, he quickly drew another arrow, preparing to fire it.
But before he could release the shot, his danger sense flared with a warning. With adrenaline surging through his veins, his eyes lit up, slowing everything around him in his perception.
His gaze scanned rapidly for threats, until it locked onto the crawler's back. The spines there appeared to be detaching, and then, suddenly, they launched upward, straight at Chun Feng mid-air.
'Shit! That wasn't in the book!' Chun Feng thought, twisting his body in the air to avoid the first two spines.
Seeing another one heading straight for his chest, he swung his right arm and slapped the spine aside. Using the momentum of the spin, he dodged the remaining spines as well.
"Damn, that was close."
Landing softly on the ground, he wiped the sweat from his brow and let out a breath from the tension.
'Those spines are seriously sharp.' He thought, glancing at the cut on his right hand, the same one he had used to deflect the spine aimed at his chest.
Feeling a sudden chill down his spine, Chun Feng stomped the ground and flipped backward, narrowly dodging the Black Wind Crawler's sweeping tail.
"I don't think the bow's going to work anymore. I've only got a few Common-grade arrows left. Only that first one was a Fine Arrow, made from Cold Blue Iron, barely qualifying as a Fine Weapon. The rest might scratch him a little, but they're not going to do any real damage to the Black Wind Crawler."
Still spinning in midair, Chun Feng quickly assessed the situation before landing firmly on the ground. He looked at the bow in his left hand, then let it drop to the ground.
"Well, since it's come to this... let's keep going," Chun Feng said as he unsheathed the sword at his waist. Looking at the gleaming blue blade, he smiled.
That sword was his own creation, the result of his studies on the properties of various metals. Even though it wasn't a spiritual weapon, due to his inability to use spiritual power, it had reached the peak of the Fine Weapons category, the highest level a mortal weapon could attain.
Forged with Cold Blue Iron as its primary material, the sword possessed a faint trace of ice spiritual energy. Even if Chun Feng couldn't activate that latent energy, the metal was still incredibly hard and durable, ideal for forming the sword's core.
Blended with other metals like Black Steel and Bordo Iron to create a stronger alloy, he had forged the sword in the style of a "jian", a double-edged straight sword. It had a seventy-five-centimeter blade and a twenty-five-centimeter hilt, making it exactly one meter long.
He had also used Crimson Oak for the handle, giving the sword a striking contrast. The crimson-red grip was adorned with silver accents, and the silver scabbard was decorated with fish motifs. The light-blue blade shimmered every time it caught the light.
Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh.
Swinging it swiftly, he smiled.
"I made this to fight humans... but since you're asking for it, I'll break it in with you."
With a single step, he closed the distance to the Black Wind Crawler and unleashed a horizontal slash toward the creature's right side.
GRRAAWWW
With a roar, the Crawler twisted its body, using its spines to block the sword strike.
The clash between blade and spines produced a loud metallic sound that echoed through the clearing.
Chun Feng quickly retreated, but didn't lose momentum, he immediately launched another attack.
With a downward diagonal slash, he carved a bloody wound into the Black Wind Crawler's front right leg, causing it to howl in pain and retreat, lashing its tail toward Chun Feng.
Seeing the tail swing in his direction, Chun Feng sidestepped effortlessly, dodging the strike before swinging his sword again, this time slicing into the crawler's tail.
"She's really sharp," Chun Feng muttered, satisfied with the sharpness of his creation.
Noticing a claw swiping toward his face, Chun Feng ducked swiftly.
Having dodged the attack, he gripped the crimson hilt of his sword with both hands, tightened his hold, and thrust the blade toward the crawler's throat.
Sensing danger, the Black Wind Crawler tried to dodge, but the injuries to its front right leg prevented it from moving at full speed.
Taking advantage of the beast's limited mobility, Chun Feng drove the blade into its throat, and blood began pouring out in a heavy stream.
Pulling the sword free, Chun Feng flicked the blood off before sheathing it.
Watching the Black Wind Crawler struggle to breathe as it bled out more and more profusely, Chun Feng shook his head in disappointment.
"I was expecting a more exciting hunt… but I guess it was fun. At least it managed to wound me."
He pouted slightly, glancing at his injured hand, then placed it on his head in mock frustration before retrieving a knife from the pouch at his waist and getting to work skinning the Crystal-Horned Deer and the Black Wind Crawler.
Once he had finished skinning them, he removed the deer's crystal antlers and the bony spines from the Black Wind Crawler.
Stowing them in his bag, he began separating the edible portions of the Crystal-Horned Deer's meat, and a few small edible parts from the crawler's corpse.
Even though it was a mid-tier Ferocious Beast, its body didn't contain much edible meat, as it was made up mostly of dense muscle, which was extremely difficult to chew.
After separating the usable parts, Chun Feng wrapped them in the appropriate hides and pulled out a rope from his bag to tie them up.
With everything ready, Chun Feng recalled that the blood of ferocious beasts held a lot of nutrients and energy. Even if it wasn't as effective on him as it used to be, it would still be quite beneficial for the kids.
Taking a large flask from his bag, Chun Feng filled it with the Black Wind Crawler's blood.
With all preparations complete, he looked over the remaining scraps of meat and bones, then shook his head.
"Well... I still can't manipulate spiritual power. If I could, a storage pouch would really come in handy for this kind of thing. At least I'm almost at the Energy Creation stage. Once I get there, I'll be on the verge of entering the Qi Refinement realm."
Hoisting all his hunting spoils over his shoulders, Chun Feng began the trek home.
After walking for several hours through the forest, he finally spotted a city in the distance.
"At last... I'm almost home,"
Chun Feng said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
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