Chapter 25: Three Years |
Su Hao swiftly closed the distance between himself and the snow leopard. The leopard, sensing the imminent threat, arched its back in a defensive posture, letting out a guttural growl before launching another desperate attack. If it couldn't defeat this opponent soon, it planned to retreat.
It closed in rapidly, extending its claws to knock Su Hao to the ground, intending to follow up with a lethal bite to the throat. But to the snow leopard's shock, the small figure before it sidestepped in a swift, fluid motion, vanishing from its line of sight.
«Wind Slash!»
“Swish∼!”
A gleaming arc of light swept across the snow leopard’s neck and back, leaving a long, narrow gash.
Blood splattered onto the snow, staining it red. The snow leopard collapsed heavily onto the ground, whimpering as it feebly attempted to lick its wound, but it couldn’t reach. Moments later, it unwillingly closed its eyes and exhaled its last breath.
At that moment, Wu Yuntian emerged from the side, approaching Su Hao. He looked down at the now lifeless snow leopard, its body riddled with scars, and praised, "Well done, Xiangwu!"
Su Hao grinned, casually waving his short blade. "Hehe∼, just lucky."
However, Wu Yuntian sighed regretfully, "Such a shame about this fine pelt—it won't fetch much of a price now."
Su Hao immediately piped up, "Father, are there any more prey around? I feel like I still have room to improve my combat techniques!"
Wu Yuntian smiled. "Good, we'll go somewhere else tomorrow."
....
The next day, Su Hao faced off against a giant pheasant.
At first, Su Hao didn’t take it seriously. If he could take down a snow leopard, what harm could a overgrown bird do? As it turned out, the pheasant humiliated him, leaving him battered and bruised. Wu Yuntian had to step in and rescue him, and from then on, Su Hao became determined to get the better of that bird.
This pheasant had razor-sharp claws and a beak like a spear, and it could even fly short distances. Most importantly, it was incredibly quick to react, rendering Su Hao’s short-distance evasive techniques ineffective.
For six whole days, the pheasant tormented Su Hao. In the end, he resorted to crafting a trap to capture it.
The next day, Wu Yuntian restricted Su Hao’s use of any makeshift tools in battle. He was only allowed to use his short blade and armor—nothing else. After Su Hao’s persistent requests, Wu Yuntian upgraded his armor, reinforcing it to protect his vital areas.
....
Then, he encountered a small black boar. During the boar’s relentless charges, Su Hao learned firsthand what it meant to face a "bulldozer." From this experience, he figured out how to fully utilize the power in his body to create devastating impact. The battle ended in a pyrrhic victory after ten grueling days, and Su Hao had to rest for half a month to recover.
....
Next came a ferocious bear, with thick skin and tough muscles that neither blade nor kick seemed able to penetrate. Against such a high-defense, high-power adversary, Su Hao mastered the art of repeatedly targeting the same weak spot. It took him two months to wear the bear down and kill it.
....
He faced cunning jackals, agile lynxes, nimble raptors, and swift serpents...
Wu Yuntian led Su Hao through the mountains, hunting any beast that would serve as suitable practice. With each encounter, they ventured farther and farther away.
Under Wu Yuntian’s guidance and protection, Su Hao overcame challenge after challenge. Each battle took varying amounts of time, but every one added to his wealth of combat experience. Su Hao’s understanding of his power as a High-Level Common Warrior deepened, giving him a clearer grasp of his own abilities.
As time passed, Su Hao began to grow. His frame shot up, his arms and legs became stronger, and his muscles became more defined. His armor and blade were upgraded along the way.
....
Three years later, Su Hao was now eight years old.
Standing at nearly 1.5 meters tall, his build was upright and strong. Clad in gleaming iron armor, he looked both impressive and intimidating. His once youthful face had started to mature, though his cheeks still retained a bit of childlike roundness. His eyes sparkled with life, and his short-cropped hair gave him a look of determination. Anyone who saw him could tell that in a few more years, he’d grow into a striking young lad.
"Father, today’s target is a white-striped tiger, about five meters long, right?" Su Hao’s voice had deepened slightly, carrying the vigor of youth.
Wu Yuntian, who now had a few more crow’s feet around his eyes, looked surprised. "Yes, it’s the white-striped tiger. But how did you know?"
"I spotted it earlier," Su Hao replied with a grin.
Over the past few years, Su Hao had amassed a vast amount of data on various beasts. His information library had grown to an impressive size, and with just a glance, [Little Light] could identify any creature. No matter how well a beast tried to hide, it was of no use.
[Little Light’s] automatic search function had come a long way since the crude commands Su Hao had used three years ago. He had rewritten the search algorithms, creating detailed databases for the creatures around Chashan Outpost. Now, [Little Light] functioned as Su Hao’s own unique scouting skill.
Once an entity was recorded, it could be instantly recognized. If Su Hao encountered something new, all he had to do was name and log it. From then on, [Little Light’s] could always identify it. Over the last three years, Su Hao had cataloged nearly every wild beast around the Chashan Outpost.
As for the white-striped tiger, Su Hao had first encountered it two years ago, though Wu Yuntian hadn’t let him confront it back then.
"Since the target is that tiger, it’s no problem. Father, wait here for a moment," Su Hao said. With a light leap, he jumped off the large rock they stood on and dashed toward the blue-striped tiger.
Wu Yuntian stayed behind, glancing around, feeling slightly puzzled. "Does this kid have eagle eyes or something? I can’t even see where the tiger is."
After watching Su Hao grow at a staggering pace over the past three years, Wu Yuntian had become numb to surprises. If something beyond understanding happened again, he doubted he’d even blink.
If three years ago Su Hao was a High-Level Common Warrior, now he was far beyond that. His combat power exceeded even that of a mid-level elite Warrior.
To Wu Yuntian, this was an incomprehensible phenomenon. What baffled him the most was the boundless vitality of Su Hao’s Blood Qi. Wu Yuntian had never seen anything like it. In any normal person, this level of Blood Qi would be impossible.
It seemed that even the slightest increase in Su Hao’s Blood Qi would push his body past its natural limits. Yet, somehow, he maintained this overflow of energy constantly.
"Just what is this [Blood Qi Enhancement Wave] Xiang Wu keeps talking about?" Wu Yuntian had spent three years studying it, yet he still couldn’t grasp the concept. He could only lament his lack of understanding.
Watching Su Hao’s figure disappear into the distance, a trace of pride surfaced on Wu Yuntian’s face. ‘As expected of my son.’
Su Hao darted nimbly through the forest, his speed increasing, but he still managed to avoid all the obstacles in his path. When he was within 50 meters of the white-striped tiger, the beast’s ears twitched, and it detected Su Hao’s approach.
“Roar∼!”
A thunderous roar echoed through the forest.
"Awoo∼!" Su Hao let out a howl of his own in response, challenging the tiger’s dominance.
The white-striped tiger, ruler of the mountain forest, was enraged by the provocation. It charged toward Su Hao with the speed of wind and the force of a storm.
The two figures collided in a split second.
“Bang∼!”
The massive body of the white-striped tiger tumbled to the ground, crashing into a few tree branches before finally coming to a stop. Blood gushed from its head, pooling beneath its enormous body.
In that brief moment of contact, Su Hao had thrust his short blade straight up from beneath the tiger’s jaw, piercing its brain and killing it instantly.
"Done!" Su Hao sheathed his blade and clapped his hands. He grabbed the tiger’s tail and began dragging the beast away.
Comments 28