Chapter 45 The Hunt

"Stop!" Yun Bai heard Captain Zeng Fu's Divine Sense transmission.

Since the operation began, all verbal communication within the team had to be conducted through Divine Sense transmission.

"There is a water pool ahead, with a small clearing on the left. A Magic Mane Wolf is drinking water," Captain Zeng Fu said. "Judging by its Devilish Qi, it should be a First Realm Mid-stage."

"No other dangers detected for now," Li Ying replied while watching the surroundings.

The Magic Mane Wolf is a low-level devilish beast, usually living alone in the mountains and forests. Its cultivation is typically at the First Realm Early Stage or Middle Stage. It is highly aggressive and likes to sneak attack Human Race camps at night.

"Yun Bai, your cultivation is on par with it; you go," Captain Zeng Fu said. "Remember, strike its weak point."

"Good luck!" Li Ying flashed an encouraging smile at Yun Bai.

"Understood!" Yun Bai licked his lips. "I'll go bring back its devil core."

With that, Yun Bai moved forward alone under the gaze of the four.

"Captain, isn't it a bit too hasty to have Yun Bai take on a First Realm Mid-stage Magic Mane Wolf for his first time?" After Yun Bai left, Li Ying couldn't help but say. "His Breakthrough only happened a few days ago; his combat experience is not necessarily reliable. It would be better to proceed step by step and test his limits gradually."

Although both were at the First Realm Mid-stage, the Magic Mane Wolf had an Innate physical advantage over the Human Race. It is difficult for an untrained ordinary person to deal with an ordinary wolf alone. This was Li Ying's point of view.

"Since they are both at the First Realm Mid-stage, and he is fully armed, even if he is no match, the worst that can happen is he suffers a little. We are all here to back him up, what is there to fear? Our team does not keep idlers," Fu Lianchuan said coldly.

"But this is his first mission," Li Ying said. "And, that water pool..."

"Letting him suffer a little is for his own good," Fu Lianchuan said.

"We do not have much time for him to grow. One must learn to fight in battle and learn war in war," Captain Zeng Fu spoke up at this moment. "He didn't have to execute this mission. After we disbanded yesterday, I asked for his opinion privately. He said he volunteered; he is in urgent need of accumulating merit and wealth."

"I can see his sincerity, and I can see his confidence," Captain Zeng Fu observed the situation ahead expressionlessly. "Stop arguing, and watch."

Up ahead, Yun Bai held his breath and quietly crept to within a few meters of the Magic Mane Wolf.

His sword was already sheathed.

Since he had the advantage of the first move, he naturally wouldn't be bored enough to choose immediate close-quarters combat with the opponent.

He took out a crossbow from his Storage Pouch, identical to the one in Fu Lianchuan's hand. This repeating crossbow was named "Three-Chain Pearl"; it was compact and portable, with three bolts pre-loaded in the magazine, capable of firing three shots in succession.

This weapon was the crystallization of the cooperation between an Artifact Refiner and a mechanism master. The crossbow was low-cost and high-power. Equipped by an ordinary person, it had the ability to kill Cultivators below the Second Realm.

This is where Captain Zeng Fu's thoughtfulness as a team leader must be mentioned. The Storage Pouch he gave to Yun Bai contained almost every type of equipment that could possibly be needed during the mission.

And Yun Bai was no pushover.

Although he appeared to be a newcomer to outsiders, in reality, Yun Bai had the experience of a past life, and his attributes in all aspects were not low. That was why he could perform so unexpectedly when answering the captain yesterday.

[Locked!]

Yun Bai had already aimed at the Magic Mane Wolf.

The Magic Mane Wolf seemed to sense danger. It raised its head, its cold, dark eyes staring ahead.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

Three sharp bolts were fired in succession.

The moment the wolf raised its head, the first bolt struck the Magic Mane Wolf's black nose squarely!

"Awoo~" The Magic Mane Wolf let out a mournful howl.

However, before its howl could be fully released, the following two bolts arrived.

With two "thuds," the bolts buried themselves into the wolf's waist. The Magic Mane Wolf could no longer hold up and collapsed into a pool of blood.

"Very crisp!" Du San, who was watching the battle from not far away, nodded repeatedly.

"I thought he would foolishly engage in close-quarters combat," Fu Lianchuan also expressed his approval, his cold expression slightly loosening. "He knows how to utilize his advantages, at least."

"Keep watching," Captain Zeng Fu said.

After seeing the Magic Mane Wolf collapse and remain motionless, Yun Bai waited for a few breaths before stepping out from the shadows.

Only then did he draw the sword from his back and approach step by step, holding it.

His mind was highly concentrated, paying attention to all unknown dangers.

"He stopped? Did he discover something?" The four observers saw Yun Bai suddenly stop in his tracks.

Yun Bai glanced toward the water pool and continued to approach.

Just as he was approaching step by step, the Magic Mane Wolf's limp "corpse" suddenly leaped up, opening its bloody maw to pounce at Yun Bai.

Yun Bai was unhurried, appearing as if he had expected this all along.

He did not dodge or evade, holding the sword in one hand and slashing down fiercely!

"What is he doing!" Fu Lianchuan's expression, which had only just relaxed, became serious once again. "Arrogant brat! He didn't listen to a word of our advice!"

Yun Bai and the Magic Mane Wolf were both at the First Realm Mid-stage.

It is common knowledge that human strength is usually inferior to a wolf's at the same level. Moreover, this Magic Mane Wolf was fighting for its life, yet Yun Bai dared to not make any attempt to deflect the force, holding the sword in one hand and clashing head-on with the wolf!

This was completely contrary to Yun Bai's cautious and steady demeanor from just a moment ago; it was contradictory.

Most importantly, could Yun Bai win this clash! If he were to be seriously injured because of this, he would become a burden to them.

Yun Bai, however, wore a cold sneer; he had never feared anyone in a head-on clash at his own level. A faint light emerged on the sword; that was a sign of overflowing Spiritual Qi.

This was indeed Yun Bai being sufficiently confident.

According to his thinking, although it was true that he was at the First Realm Mid-stage, after he Cultivated the Gouchen Technique, the Golden Core in his Dantian had begun to take shape, and the Spiritual Qi in his body was far stronger than when he had just broken through to the Middle Stage.

So he wanted to test how strong his head-on combat power was.

Anyway, relying on the people behind him, it was highly likely that nothing would go wrong.

Seeing that sword swing from top to bottom, it forcibly split open the Magic Mane Wolf's hard skull.

The Magic Mane Wolf, which had been pouncing upward, was split into its body by the sword and flew backward, crashing heavily onto the ground.

Just as Yun Bai was engaging the Magic Mane Wolf, a huge splash suddenly erupted from the water pool beside Yun Bai, and a Water-Pattern Python as thick as an arm suddenly lunged out, biting toward Yun Bai's back.

But what this devilish beast did not expect was that Yun Bai did not take a single step back when facing the Magic Mane Wolf's sudden outburst.

This Human Race Cultivator instead pressed forward and hacked the Magic Mane Wolf to death!

This resulted in its sneak attack missing.

Captain Zeng Fu's eyes widened. "Attack!"

At this moment, Yun Bai freed up his hand; he twisted his waist and flung a flash of silver light with his left hand!

Who knows when, but the repeating crossbow in Yun Bai's hand, named "Three-Chain Pearl," had been reloaded!

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

The bolts, carrying powerful Spiritual Qi, struck squarely, piercing three bloody holes below the python's head.

At the same time, Captain Zeng Fu, Du San, and the others also attacked.

Four or five bolts flew out, pinning the Water-Pattern Python's corpse to a tree.

"I didn't expect this kid to be on guard so early; it seems he truly took your words to heart, Captain. Truly rare," Du San clicked his tongue and said.

Fu Lianchuan thought of his words from just a moment ago, and his face became stiff.

In fact, the experienced Captain Zeng Fu, Li Ying, and Du San had long since seen that there might be potential threats in the water pool.

This time, letting Yun Bai go up to hunt alone was both a test and an attempt to teach Yun Bai a lesson.

What they didn't expect was that this "new student," Yun Bai, would perform so excellently!

He understood immediately.