Chapter 141: Intermediate Thunder Kui, Second Skin Reforge |
Crack……………
Deep within Redwood Ridge, an Intermediate Snow Mane with iron-tipped arrows piercing both eyes was frantically fleeing north. Already blinded, it could only crash around by instinct.
The Snow Mane's right hind leg dragged an animal trap, the clamped area with skin and flesh torn open, continuously seeping fresh red blood.
Though its speed was greatly reduced from normal due to the leg injury, its massive frame combined with a fierce will to survive still allowed it to burst forth with tremendous impact force.
Within less than a hundred meters, it had already knocked askew three or four giant trees.
"Zhao Long trio provide long-range suppression! Xia Chuan deploy threads for restraint! Yuan Cheng and Yue Feng continue placing traps ahead! Luo Yuan and all others pull ropes to control this beast's escape direction!"
As Xia Hong's voice rang out from behind, several white threads suddenly shot from the Snow Mane's side; two figures accelerated sharply, running from left and right flanks to dozens of meters ahead of the Snow Mane, then swiftly threw four more animal traps onto the ground, each trap still tied with ropes.
From behind came three waves totaling dozens of arrows, all accurately hitting the Snow Mane's abdomen and the leg dragging the trap.
When hit in the abdomen, the Snow Mane showed little reaction as the wounds weren't deep.
As its movements slowed, eight pursuers caught up from behind, each gripping a rope whose end was tied to the trap dragging from the Snow Mane's right hind leg.
"Almost there, pull!"
Xia Hong shouted another command. The eight people behind, including Luo Yuan, gritted their teeth, found the nearest large tree, quickly wrapped the ropes around it several times, then anchored themselves behind the tree, gripping the ropes with all their strength.
The eight people stopped, but the Snow Mane didn't. The rope connected to the trap on its leg instantly tautened mid-air.
Snap…………
The rope made a loud whip-crack sound as it tightened. Though the Snow Mane's charging body didn't stop completely, its right leg stumbled violently, causing its body to veer slightly left.
Crack…………
Just from that slight veer, the Snow Mane's left foreleg happened to step right onto one of the four traps previously set by Yue Feng and Yuan Cheng.
The half-meter diameter trap suddenly snapped shut with a loud crack, crushing the bones of the Snow Mane's left foreleg.
"Roar…………"
In pain, the Snow Mane became even more frenzied, the power bursting from its body stronger than before.
Crack…………
The eight people pulling the ropes, despite using all their strength, couldn't hold back the completely enraged Snow Mane. They couldn't even hold for two breaths before being dragged down, with both the ropes and the ten-meter diameter tree being forcibly snapped.
If not for the eight reacting quickly and letting go of the ropes in time, they might have been dragged dozens of meters and smashed into trees, possibly suffering severe injuries.
Thud…………
With both left foreleg and right hind leg caught in traps, the power burst from its fierce survival instinct only sustained it briefly. After running northward over a hundred meters, its speed visibly slowed.
Meanwhile, Xia Hong, who had been following from the trees and had already moved ahead of the Snow Mane, seized the moment as it approached and finally made his move!
Bang…………
Xia Hong leaped from a twenty-meter high tree with both hands raised overhead, the double-bladed giant axe hanging behind him. Mid-air, he forcefully swung the axe in a semicircle from back to front, brutally chopping onto the Snow Mane's head just as it reached beneath the tree.
An axe blade splitting skull should make a cracking sound, but Xia Hong's axe actually produced a bang.
Like sudden thunder on calm land, the sound echoed across two to three hundred meters around.
Xia Hong's base strength had already reached over thirty-two thousand jin. The Long Fist power technique could add twenty percent, plus the acceleration from falling from height.
The force behind this axe strike was at least over forty thousand jin.
This strike devastatingly shattered the Snow Mane's skull. The seventy-five centimeter radius fan-shaped axe blade completely embedded in its head, leaving only the other side visible.
Just from that slight veer, the Snow Mane's left foreleg happened to step right onto one of the four traps previously set by Yue Feng and Yuan Cheng.
The Snow Mane's head slammed into the ground with tremendous force. The terrifying momentum from the powerful impact created a circular shockwave that sent snow flying high across a ten-meter radius.
"Roar…………"
Even with its skull nearly split in two, the Snow Mane's ferocity hadn't completely vanished. Lying prone on the ground, it let out a desperate roar, its blood-red pupils slightly raising to glare at Xia Hong above before suddenly contracting.
"Everyone gather here, quickly!"
Noticing this, Xia Hong urgently shouted to everyone.
Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan and the team, including the Zhao Long brothers shooting arrows from the rear, moved at the sound, quickly running toward the Snow Mane.
All fourteen people gathered around the Snow Mane in less than three breaths, then actually crawled underneath its body; Xia Hong, who had warned them first, had already positioned himself under the Snow Mane's chin.
Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh...
The Snow Mane's back spines shot out indiscriminately in all directions, just like before. The numerous trees around pierced full of holes showed how powerful these spines were.
Unfortunately, Xia Hong and the fourteen hunting team members were all hiding beneath its abdomen. No matter how strong its back spines were, they couldn't turn around to shoot downward.
"Hahahaha, this Snow Mane probably never imagined we'd use its own body to counter its final move..."
After three or four breaths, as the back spines finished shooting and the Snow Mane whimpered before collapsing, Yuan Cheng was the first to laugh loudly, his voice filled with excitement and triumph.
Though the others didn't speak, they all showed excited expressions looking at the huge prey on the ground.
But finally, seeing the double-bladed giant axe still embedded in the Snow Mane's skull, everyone turned their gaze to Xia Hong at the front, faces full of reverence.
"Is intermediate frost beast blood that powerful? The leader only used it once, yet his strength changed so dramatically. I need to reach the thirty-thousand jin limit quickly too..."
Xia Chuan, Luo Yuan, and all the others had this thought flash through their minds.
Xia Hong's transformation was simply too dramatic.
Everyone remembered during the previous intermediate Snow Mane hunt, Xia Hong needed to use that long ceremonial saber, attacking from the face or eyes to reach the cranial area. Yet just days later, he could already use a giant axe to directly split the Snow Mane's skull.
Crack…………
Unaware of everyone's thoughts, Xia Hong pulled the double-bladed giant axe from the Snow Mane's head, showing excitement on his face.
Just over three hours, and an intermediate Snow Mane was already secured.
Tonight's hunting process was much smoother than expected!
The Snow Mane's skin membrane and skull strength should both be around forty thousand jin.
No wonder when watching that Yuwen Tao against the Magic Goat last time, he could leave so many wounds on it with his broadsword.
The reason this hunt went so smoothly was largely due to his own strength improvement, but also benefited from familiarity with intermediate Snow Mane and the hunting team's seamless coordination.
"As long as we hide under the Snow Mane's abdomen, its spine move is basically useless. But the only thing to note with this method is we must seize the moment when it's dying and weakened. If we crawl under too early, it's not avoiding spines but seeking death!"
After Zhu Shun and Zou Yuankai were severely injured last time, Xia Hong had been thinking how to avoid the Snow Mane's back spine move. After much thought, this was the only method he could devise.
Judging by the speed, power, and range of the Snow Mane's back spines, running outward was certain death. Lying flat was also a method, but still couldn't guarantee complete avoidance.
During the first Snow Mane hunt, when it shot spines before dying, Xia Hong had everyone jump from the trees and lie flat to avoid them.
Yet ultimately, Zou Yuankai and Zhu Shun still got hit.
Escaping was too slow, lying flat couldn't guarantee complete avoidance.
This strike devastatingly shattered the Snow Mane's skull. The seventy-five centimeter radius fan-shaped axe blade completely embedded in its head, leaving only the other side visible.
Tonight's first attempt proved this method currently worked, though it required precise timing.
"Alright, that's enough for tonight."
"Ended? Leader, we can continue!"
"We're not injured at all, we can definitely continue. Leader, take us to hunt one more!"
"Arrows are plentiful, weapons intact, and only three hours have passed. No need to return so early, leader continue!"
"Right, there's still time, leader."
Hearing Xia Hong declare the hunt over, everyone immediately voiced objections.
Xia Chuan finally spoke gravely, "Leader, didn't you say breaking through to Warmth Realm requires much frost beast blood? This is just one. We still have strength. Let's hide this prey and continue?"
Seeing everyone nod emphatically at Xia Chuan's words.
A warm feeling flowed through Xia Hong's heart.
Clearly, Xia Chuan's final statement reflected their true thoughts.
"Fine, let's continue. But we can only target Snow Mane—other intermediate frost beasts are temporarily not considered for now."
After brief contemplation, Xia Hong agreed to everyone's suggestion, though with strict limits on prey choice—only intermediate Snow Mane.
Everyone nodded, immediately dividing tasks to lift the huge Snow Mane into a large tree's upper branches, even deliberately posing it in a resting position.
After everyone finished preparations and marked the prey, Xia Hong led the team to continue searching northward.
"Depth here should be 1300 meters. We've searched almost everywhere south to north. Besides Cloud Pythons, no other prey visible. Let's go deeper!"
Everyone nodded. Though they unexpectedly went four kilometers deep into Redwood Ridge during the first intermediate Snow Mane hunt, that feeling of being watched by powerful frost beasts was truly uncomfortable and extremely dangerous.
Before strength was sufficient, search range needed strict control.
"Go 200 meters deeper, see if there are new discoveries!"
"Hey, look over there..."
Just as Xia Hong decided to go 200 meters deeper, Zhao Long in the group exclaimed in surprise, pointing northward for everyone to see.
Everyone looked where he pointed, momentarily stunned.
Though no one carried torches, because Redwood Ridge's ground and trees were covered in snow, the dense forest wasn't pitch black but presented a bleak gray-white color.
Amidst this myriad gray-white, over a hundred meters north, a sturdy crystal fruit tree emitted a faint golden glow.
Moreover, the sky directly above that crystal fruit tree occasionally flashed with lightning, the lightning transforming into thunderbolts striking downward, landing precisely around the tree's base.
"Is that crystal fruit tree the one we encountered last time?"
Xia Hong's prompt made everyone remember.
"Right, that's the one. I remember that tree was huge, with ground around it fluid-like, resembling a golden swamp."
"I remember too. The crystal fruits on that tree must weigh ten to twenty thousand jin. The leader even tried digging the ground last time but couldn't move it."
............
"Let's check it out first!"
Hearing everyone, Xia Hong also confirmed it was the giant crystal fruit tree discovered previously. Without hesitation, he led everyone toward it.
Boom crack……………
As distance closed, the thunder sounds grew increasingly clear.
Everyone, including Xia Hong, felt slightly apprehensive.
This wasn't about courage—humans inherently revere lightning and thunder these kinds of natural phenomena, especially from mere dozens of meters away.
"Climb trees first, see what's happening!"
Only when within forty meters of the crystal fruit tree did Xia Hong sense something wrong, stopping before signaling everyone to follow him up a nearby tree.
At the tree top, about fifty-sixty meters high, Xia Hong—first to climb—looked toward the crystal fruit tree's vicinity and immediately froze.
Those climbing after him similarly froze upon looking.
In the swamp beside that crystal fruit tree, there clearly lay a massive frost beast about ten meters long, resembling a rhinoceros.
The beast had pale golden skin, two large lantern-like eyes, and a three-meter-long black upward-pointing horn on its head.
Though its limbs were in a lying position, they visibly measured over a meter in diameter—extremely thick and muscular, radiating terrifying power even to the eye.
The lightning from above the crystal fruit tree wasn't striking the swamp but this beast's head horn.
Crack…………
With each lightning strike, the beast's horn flashed with electric arcs flowing from tip to base, spreading across all its skin surface.
Its skin, originally pale golden, gained more texture and deeper color with each arc flow, visibly evolving toward pure gold.
"Golden-Armored Thunder Kui?"
............
Seeing the frost beast's appearance clearly, several hunting team members exclaimed, clearly recognizing it.
The reason this hunt went so smoothly was largely due to his own strength improvement, but also benefited from familiarity with intermediate Snow Mane and the hunting team's seamless coordination.
Xia Chuan took out an animal skin scroll from his chest titled "Great Xia Frost Beast Chronicles" on the cover. Flipping to the Golden-Armored Thunder Kui page and comparing with the beast before them, he quickly concluded.
The Great Xia Frost Beast Chronicles, compiled based on Luo Ming's frost beast illustrations, currently recorded only seven species: bone-spike frost wolf, Long-Tongued Frostback, Golden-Eyed Demon Goat, Blue Moon Spirit, Mist-Treading Cloud Python, Golden-Armored Thunder Kui, and Long-Tailed Gnawer Rat.
These seven definitely had intermediate forms, but Great Xia had only successfully hunted intermediate Snow Mane; had experience with intermediate Gnawer Rats; had personally seen intermediate Cloud Pythons and Magic Goats;
Only the Kui—hadn't successfully hunted low-level ones.
Intermediate ones—today was the first sighting.
Xia Chuan maintained strict standards for the chronicles' compilation—only adding entries after successful hunts with confirmed understanding of weaknesses and habits. Thus far, the chronicles recorded only these seven species, eight including intermediate Snow Mane.
"Should we try?"
"I think we can. This Kui's skin membrane looks tough—even withstands lightning. Seems defensive, probably not strong offensively."
"That pale golden beast hide could probably make armor. We happen to need armor—worth trying."
"I also think we should try!"
............
"What daydreams are these? Haven't even hunted low-level Kui, already thinking about intermediate ones. Everyone wake up! Let's go, continue searching for Snow Mane. This Kui can wait!"
Xia Hong interrupted everyone's urging, immediately shaking his head.
This was called—the weaker, the more ignorant. Even with intermediate Snow Mane hunts, he couldn't guarantee 100% success rate now. This lightning-summoning Kui was even less certain.
This Kui was clearly using lightning to temper its body.
This scene alone proved its strength definitely surpassed Snow Mane's.
Not just surpassed—lightning tempering probably meant even Magic Goats were inferior.
These people, not even knowing low-level Thunder Kui circumstances, wanted to target intermediate—clearly seeking death.
Seemed the recent smooth hunting made the team somewhat carried away!
Xia Hong glanced at the Thunder Kui, frowning slightly.
The swamp by the tree was probably the Thunder Kui's habitat. Its golden fluid state likely resulted from long-term Kui occupation.
Last time, he tried digging that swamp ground. Remember, his base strength then had reached the thirty-thousand jin limit, yet no matter how much force he applied, the ground remained completely immovable.
Yet this Thunder Kui could not only move freely in the golden swamp but even completely bury itself within.
This alone showed the Thunder Kui's strength wasn't simple.
"When you go hunting later yourselves, first hunt several low-level ones. Figure out Thunder Kui habits and methods, then tell me. I'll consider it then!"
Though somewhat disappointed, Xia Chuan and others knew Xia Hong's approach was more prudent, all nodding.
............
Redwood Ridge's frost beast density was indeed high.
Xia Hong led everyone 200 meters deeper, and within less than an hour, found another intermediate Snow Mane.
This was while specifically targeting only Snow Mane. With more hunting options—Cloud Pythons, Thunder Kui, Frost Wolves—the fifteen-hundred meter range had plenty of intermediate frost beasts.
First time unfamiliar, second time familiar, third time already well-practiced.
Fourteen ten-thousand-jin iron-backed bows, five animal traps, Xia Chuan's white threads, plus Xia Hong's double-bladed giant axe, and everyone's seamless coordination.
This Snow Mane lasted only over an hour before falling.
With two intermediate Snow Mane secured, over six hours had passed. Though night was only half gone, everyone's physical condition was nearing limits.
Successfully harvesting two intermediate prey in one night satisfied both Xia Hong and everyone else.
Returning to the first prey's location, everyone happily brought both prey back to the valley base.
Back at camp, without needing Xia Hong's orders, Xia Chuan immediately instructed Camp Supplies Office personnel to bleed both Snow Mane.
"Fine, let's continue. But we can only target Snow Mane—other intermediate frost beasts are temporarily not considered for now."
"Leader, two Snow Mane yielded 130 jin blood total, all here."
"Good, everyone out."
After Shi Ping and others left, Xia Hong stood and walked to the basin. Smelling the strong bloody scent overflowing from the basin, excitement flashed across his face.
Everyone nodded, immediately dividing tasks to lift the huge Snow Mane into a large tree's upper branches, even deliberately posing it in a resting position.
Reshaping the skin membrane was undoubtedly painful, but enduring it led to skin membrane strength improvement and foundational power leapfrog growth. Anyone experiencing it once would find it irresistible.
[Resources: Wood 12590 Coal 580 Iron 1220 Silver 0 Gold 0]
In just half a night, wood had increased over 1300 points—demonstrating the camp's logging enthusiasm.
With the entire hunting team out, coal and iron naturally didn't increase.
Looking at remaining system resources, Xia Hong pondered.
Everyone nodded. Though they unexpectedly went four kilometers deep into Redwood Ridge during the first intermediate Snow Mane hunt, that feeling of being watched by powerful frost beasts was truly uncomfortable and extremely dangerous.
Then, wood was nearly 100,000, iron over 5,000, coal over 8,000.
Though unclear about specific consumption rules, with current meager resources, he definitely couldn't jump directly into the wooden basin again.
"Start testing slowly!"
Xia Hong removed his upper garment, took out a prepared one-jin large wooden spoon, scooped one spoon of blood, then slowly applied it on himself.
First jin—only slight pain;
Second jin—pain intensified but within tolerance;
Third jin... fourth jin... fifth jin............
"Hiss............"
By the tenth application—ten jin—the pain intensified to where Xia Hong began hissing.
But the system still gave no prompt—apparently still within tolerance.
Gritting his teeth, Xia Hong continued applying frost beast blood.
Fifteenth jin... twentieth jin... thirtieth jin...
"Ah................"
Xia Hong began screaming. His skin started suffering large-scale burns, even smoking, flesh becoming blurred again.
Yet the system still gave no prompt.
"Ah................"
Xia Hong's screams intensified. His pupils began glazing over, intense pain causing dizziness. His remaining willpower still waited for the system prompt.
"Still... no... prompt... this............"
Xia Hong's pupils became bloodshot, body weakening, hand holding the wooden spoon trembling, yet still no system prompt.
The skin membrane reshaping process's pain continued without reduction.
This process couldn't be stopped.
In other words, without system prompt, Xia Hong would endure this pain continuously—whether adding more or not made no difference.
Looking at the wooden basin, Xia Hong gritted his teeth, quickly scooping blood with the wooden spoon, continuously pouring it over himself.
Thirty-five, thirty-six............ forty-one... forty-two...
[Detected host nerves reached bearing limit. Can consume system resources to offset partial nerve pressure]
"Finally............"
At forty-two applications—forty-two jin—the system prompt finally came.
Wood consumed first—dropping 1000 at a time, emptying after thirteen drops;
Then coal—dropping 50 at a time, emptying after eleven drops;
Finally iron—also dropping 50 at a time, emptying after twenty-four drops.
[Resources: Wood 0 Coal 0 Iron 0 Silver 0 Gold 0]
The moment resources zeroed, Xia Hong was shocked to discover the pain he endured hadn't reduced one bit—exactly the same as before.
"Ah............"
Xia Hong screamed once before collapsing beside the wooden basin.
Before losing consciousness, he realized:
Consuming resources only helped offset additional nerve pressure—meaning the pain intensity he endured always remained at his willpower's limit.
This wasn't about courage—humans inherently fear lightning and thunder these kinds of natural phenomena, especially from mere dozens of meters away.
Before fainting, this thought flashed through Xia Hong's mind. The pain on his face seemed to dissipate somewhat, even showing a slight smile.
Of course, this smile, appearing alongside extreme pain, inevitably appeared somewhat distorted.