Kill and Harvest

"It's moving too fast; I can't get a lock on it!" Qin Yang said at once. As an archer, he excelled most at ambushes. Hitting a moving dire beast in such a dense mountain forest was extraordinarily difficult—especially with a Leaping Flying Bear this powerful. Its movement speed was simply too high. Around Level 24! Under normal circumstances, a martial artist of the same level was considerably stronger than a beast, but that was because martial artists had the advantages of equipment and martial arts technique. In terms of pure explosive physical strength, a martial artist could not match a beast of equal rank. Consequently, a dire beast was often faster than a human martial artist of the same level. "Roar—" This Leaping Flying Bear was even larger, already standing well over two meters tall. It had spotted its companion's corpse. With intelligence far exceeding that of ordinary wild animals, coupled with the scent of blood, it instantly understood that its companion was dead. Boom! It snarled and charged Bai Chen like a small mountain, moving with lightning speed and terrifying ferocity. "Get lost!" Bai Chen's gaze turned frigid. Alerted by Xia Yao's warning, he had already lowered his short blades, grasped his spear with both hands, and thrust violently forward. The spear tip struck like lightning, aiming to run the Leaping Flying Bear through. However! The Leaping Flying Bear was terrifyingly agile. Tilting its head, it actually dodged Bai Chen's thunderous thrust, followed immediately by a massive paw swatting down hard against the spear shaft, batting the weapon aside. Boom! The bear's massive body hurtled forward like a speeding truck violently crashing toward Bai Chen, causing his expression to change drastically. The beast's power and speed were both staggering. Though he wanted to dodge, in such haste, even unleashing his Dark Force would not allow him to completely evade the impact. Bang! A black figure darted in from the flank, wielding a massive shield and slamming hard into the Leaping Flying Bear's bulky frame. Caught off guard and thrown off balance by its high-speed charge, the bear was knocked sideways and crashed heavily against a massive tree, instantly cracking the trunk. "Roar—" The Leaping Flying Bear roared, its eyes blood-red as it glared at Fang Yu, who had just charged into the fray. "Fang Yu, thanks!" Bai Chen said hurriedly. If Fang Yu had not arrived in the nick of time, Bai Chen would definitely have suffered minor injuries. "Captain, let's work together and make an opening for Qin Yang," Fang Yu said, holding his sword in one hand and his shield in the other, his eyes locked onto the Leaping Flying Bear as he tracked its every movement. "All right!" Bai Chen nodded, feeling a wave of relief wash over him. *Fang Yu's strength seems even greater than I imagined, and he doesn't fear clashing with high-level dire beasts at all. He truly is a great help.* *Fang Yu's timing was spot-on.* "Good!" Watching from a distance, Qin Yang, Xia Yao, and Xiong Meng also breathed sighs of relief. If Bai Chen were injured, their month-long practical combat exercise would be in serious trouble. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The three of them were also closing in rapidly. Meanwhile, Fang Yu and Bai Chen were already coordinating their efforts, locked in a fierce clash with this powerful Leaping Flying Bear. Swish! Swish! Swish! Bai Chen possessed tremendous power. Every thrust of his spear struck like lightning, forcing the Leaping Flying Bear into a position where it dared not take the hits head-on, having no choice but to swat with its paws again and again to defend itself. Yet with every parry, the spear tip spun, carrying an astonishing tearing force that delivered immense shock to the bear's paws. Tough as its hide was, it could not withstand impact after impact. Soon, both of its forepaws were dripping with blood, and multiple wounds appeared across its chest, waist, and back. "Roar—cough! Hmph!" Every time the Leaping Flying Bear attempted to charge Bai Chen recklessly, Fang Yu would interfere from the side. Although Fang Yu's speed and strength were noticeably lower, the power of his saber was not to be underestimated. Very quickly, the Leaping Flying Bear realized that it could not win this battle. Its companion's death filled it with fury, but the pain from its wounds swiftly brought it to its senses, making it realize that if it continued fighting, it would lose its life. "Roar—" The Leaping Flying Bear attempted to retreat. Right at that instant— Whoosh— A metal arrow tore through the air like a bolt of lightning, plunging straight into its eye socket. The eyeball burst instantly as the arrowhead buried deep into its brain. Thud— The Leaping Flying Bear's massive body crashed heavily to the ground, its limbs still twitching. "Great shot!" Fang Yu could not help praising. That shot was truly exquisite. Without it, if he and the captain wanted to keep this Leaping Flying Bear from escaping, they likely would have had to unleash bursts of Dark Force... and today was only their first day of hunting. "Fang Yu, quick, we need to hurry! You harvest the smaller one," Bai Chen reacted swiftly. "I'll carve up the big one." "Understood," Fang Yu replied at once. Neither dared waste a second, immediately getting to work skinning and harvesting. Qin Yang and Xia Yao also reached the battlefield, while Xiong Meng quickly joined in skinning the pelt. In less than a minute— "Move!" Bai Chen commanded. Carrying large bundles of pelts, Xiong Meng and Xia Yao sprinted upwind alongside Fang Yu and the others, quickly leaving the blood-soaked area behind. ... Ten minutes later, in a safe zone. "Haha, brilliant work, everyone!" "This is a great start—taking down a Level 23 beast and a Level 24 beast in our very first clash," Bai Chen chuckled. "Qin Yang's two arrows were crucial, especially that second one, dropping a Level 24 Leaping Flying Bear in a single shot." "It truly was incredible," Fang Yu agreed sincerely. Hitting a stationary beast with such accuracy was understandable, but piercing the eye of a dire beast moving at high speed? That was nothing short of miraculous. "Just luck," Qin Yang said. "Mainly, it was thanks to Captain and Fang Yu. You two pinned the Leaping Flying Bear down, leaving it no attention to spare on me. Otherwise, it definitely would have guarded its vitals." Fang Yu listened attentively. High-level dire beasts possessed considerable intelligence and understood the threat of bows and arrows. Once they realized an enemy had a powerful archer, they would do everything possible to guard against incoming shots. Given a dire beast's immense vitality, unless a vital spot was struck directly, it could easily flee out of sight. In the Wilderness Zone, human martial artists generally did not dare pursue prey recklessly, fearing they might stumble upon extraordinarily powerful dire beasts or entire beast packs. "Yes, Fang Yu was impressive too. Without you, I expect I would've taken some damage, and that second Leaping Flying Bear would have been much harder to kill," Bai Chen said with a smile. The others also looked at Fang Yu. After this battle, they had fully acknowledged Fang Yu's strength and truly embraced him as a member of the squad. "All right." "Xia Yao, apply preservative treatment to the pelts of both beasts first while the rest of us rest," Bai Chen said. "We'll head out again shortly. Our target is to kill ten dire beasts at Level 20 or above." "Understood." "Got it," everyone answered in unison. While Xiong Meng stood guard, Fang Yu, Qin Yang, and Bai Chen closed their eyes to rest. As Fang Yu rested, he checked the two messages that had just arrived on his communication star ring. *My coefficient score has risen to 1.2, and my ranking is back to third?* Fang Yu thought to himself. Yesterday, busy with his cultivation, he had not engaged in any hunting in the Safe Zone outside the base, so his coefficient score ranking had dropped straight to twelfth among the freshmen. *Killing the two dire beasts also gave me 0.3 points and 2.3 points respectively.* Fang Yu sighed inwardly. *Hunting mid-level dire beasts truly yields points much faster.* *In just this brief moment, I've matched what took me so long to earn by hunting low-level dire beasts in the Safe Zone.* ... Advancing along their route, they killed several more low-level dire beasts, but encountered no more beasts at Level 20 or above. Finally, the members of the Scarlet Flame Squad arrived at their destination for this excursion—Mount Daling.