17: First hunt, perfect!

The Shadow Mantis, lurking on the side and rear, suddenly burst forth!

Its two forelimbs, transformed into bone blades, cut through the air and fiercely struck the connection between the Hard Shell Beetle's side carapace!

Crack!

With a crisp sound!

A small crack appeared in the tough carapace, and dark green fluid splattered out.

The Hard Shell Beetle shrieked in pain, turning its body clumsily, attempting to ram the Shadow Mantis with the short horn on its head.

The Shadow Mantis skillfully leaped backward, evading the attack.

"It's not over yet!"

Lu Yuan growled, activating his Source Power once more.

This time, he didn't interfere; instead, he drew a wisp of aura from the Raging Waves Sea Soul!

He was about to cheat!

Just a wisp!

Like the terrifying pressure from ten thousand meters beneath the deep sea, it descended instantly!

Buzz—

The Hard Shell Beetle's massive body suddenly stiffened, its six legs seemingly nailed to the ground, and its compound eyes revealed a creature's primal fear!

It even forgot to counterattack; the entire beetle was stunned.

"Good chance!"

The Shadow Mantis pounced again, its bone blade precisely piercing the previously opened crack, and twisted with force!

Pfft!

Dark green fluid gushed out.

The Hard Shell Beetle struggled a few times, then became completely still.

Lu Yuan quickly stepped forward, kicked the Hard Shell Beetle's corpse, and confirmed its death.

The battle ended.

The Shadow Mantis's figure slowly faded beside Lu Yuan, returning to its card.

The Wind Bamboo Worm also flew back, landing on Lu Yuan's shoulder.

"So easy!"

His first actual combat, though the opponent was weak, went relatively smoothly.

It also gave him a clearer understanding of Source Power control.

Indeed, traveling ten thousand miles is better than reading ten thousand books; the effects of Source Power interference and aura intimidation were better than expected.

"It's just this Source Power consumption..."

He sensed his body; the two simple uses of Source Power just now, plus summoning and maintaining two cards, had already consumed nearly ten points of Source Power.

A total of 77 points was indeed barely enough.

He squatted down and began to process the Hard Shell Beetle's corpse with a small knife he carried.

The hard carapace could be sold to an equipment shop, and the insect core contained a small amount of Source Power, which he could absorb himself or sell for money.

Even a small mosquito has meat.

A faint warm current flowed from the insect core into his body; his Source Power limit seemed to have increased by a tiny, almost negligible amount.

"Better than nothing, I suppose."

Lu Yuan put away the materials, stood up, and prepared to look for his next target.

Just then.

A cacophony of footsteps and voices came from not far away.

"Hey! You, kid over there!"

Lu Yuan frowned slightly and looked in the direction of the sound.

He saw three young men, dressed differently but all looking somewhat scruffy, walking towards him.

The leader was bald, with a ruffian look on his face, his gaze sweeping between Lu Yuan and the materials he had just put away.

Judging by their equipment and the simple card packs they wore, they were likely rogue Card Masters who frequently roamed the Beast Hunting Zone, or rather, wilderness scavengers.

The bald man walked up to Lu Yuan, sizing him up, "Looking at your build, you're still a student, right? How many stars?"

Lu Yuan glanced at him but said nothing.

He could feel that these three were not strong, probably only at the mid-to-late stage of a first-order apprentice.

"Heh, quite arrogant, aren't we?" The bald man sneered when Lu Yuan ignored him, "Little brat, has your dad arrived yet?"

Lu Yuan sneered inwardly.

Sure enough, there are all kinds of birds in a big forest.

These scumbags who bully newcomers by ganging up are everywhere.

"You want this?" Lu Yuan shook the small bag containing the Hard Shell Beetle materials in his hand.

"Oh, you're quite sensible!" The three exchanged a smile and reached out to take it.

"Too bad, I'm not giving it to you." Lu Yuan flipped his wrist, retracting the bag.

The bald man's face instantly darkened: "Kid, I'll ask you one last time, where's your dad?"

"Where's my dad? I'm not sure, but your dad, well, he's standing right in front of you!"

"Attack! I'm going to burst his balls today!"

"Come out, Claw Monkey!"

Chirp!

A monkey, half a person's height, appeared out of thin air, its fur yellowish-brown, its claws gleaming with a metallic luster, baring its teeth, looking very fierce.

Claw Monkey

Quality: Green

Star Rating: Two Stars

Type: beast taming card

The other two also prepared to summon their cards.

I didn't want trouble, but trouble always seems to find me.

Well, it's a good chance to test Ah Hu's precious.

A card glowing with a faint blue light rotated and appeared at Lu Yuan's fingertips.

Buzz—

An aura far more ferocious and massive than the Claw Monkey's enveloped the clearing!

The ground seemed to tremble slightly!

A gigantic crocodile, nearly three meters long, covered in thick dark green scales, with a gaping maw and chilling fangs, appeared with a crash before Lu Yuan!

Swamp Crocodile

Quality: Blue

Star Rating: Four Stars

Type: beast taming card

Splash!

The crocodile swung its thick tail, kicking up a spray of mud, its cold vertical pupils fixed on the trembling Claw Monkey.

"Chirp... chirp..."

The Claw Monkey, which had been arrogant just moments ago, now had its fur bristling, letting out whimpers, its claws trembling, not even daring to meet the Swamp Crocodile's gaze, shrinking back behind the yellow-haired man.

This monkey, it's quite human-like.

The bald trio's expressions were a bit ugly; a four-star blue card!

Where in hell was this a newcomer, grinding monsters in the one-star gray card edge zone?

To be honest, all three of them combined wouldn't be enough to fill this crocodile's teeth!

Without a second's delay, the three turned and ran, each heading in a different direction.

Lu Yuan hadn't expected it; he was about to chase but suddenly stopped.

"Heh, a bunch of trash."

The giant crocodile transformed into a blue light and disappeared into the card.

This small interlude also gave Lu Yuan a piece of information.

The edge is just the edge; it's only good for practice.

If he wanted to get real training, he had to venture deeper.

Moreover, the one-star Hard Shell Beetle provided too little Source Power feedback.

To quickly reach eight stars, he had to hunt stronger demonic beasts.

He opened his map.

"About two kilometers deeper to the west, there's a hilly area where traces of second-order, and even third-order demonic beasts, have been found..."

"I definitely can't beat a third-order, but escaping with the Raging Waves Sea Soul shouldn't be a problem."

"As for second-order," Lu Yuan weighed his current strength, thinking it should be on par with him.

Risk and reward coexist.

"I can give it a try!"

...