That figure seemed to be waving.

Li Xian frowned. At this moment, the rain was heavy, with dense raindrops, pervasive mist, and swaying branches all obstructing the view.

"Ears Listening in All Directions" and "Snow Stepping" traits were both hindered by the environment.

"In the hunting forest, humans are more dangerous than fierce beasts."

Li Xian wiped the water off his face, forming a shade with his palm over his forehead. He gazed at that figure, focusing his sight.

In the past two days of hunting, Li Xian had been trying his best to avoid human traces and conceal his whereabouts.

The first encounter with another person.

"It's C-class Nursing Home Zhang Dan."

Finally recognizing who it was, this Zhang Dan had once patrolled with Li Xian on one side of the deserted house, so they naturally knew each other.

Their acquaintance was shallow, just a nodding familiarity.

At this moment, he kept waving, greeting Li Xian repeatedly. If it were elsewhere, Li Xian would not ignore him, but here, he did not want any complications.

He made a gesture and turned to leave.

After walking several miles, he felt something was amiss, a vague uneasiness in his heart, recalling the previous scene repeatedly.

"C-class Nursing Home has only ten Lingyu Arrows, usually returning after a day in the mountains."

"Could it be that Zhang Dan is like me, intending to hunt three Bear Beasts to advance?"

Based on Li Xian's impression of him.

It didn't seem likely.

At this moment, Zhang Dan appeared in sight again. This time he seemed trapped, injured, emitting a kind of painful howl.

As if trying to attract Li Xian's help.

"No, if he really wanted help, he would definitely speak."

"Could it be…"

Li Xian squinted his eyes, recalling a mountain rumor, and immediately drew his bow and arrow, aiming at Zhang Dan.

In the mountains, there exists a kind of bear that is very cunning, often appearing in pairs, typically mother and cub.

The mother bear is large and powerful, and the cub bear is small, agile, and about the size of an average human.

This type of bear has sharp mouths and teeth, with a tongue several feet long, featuring fine barbs. It breaks human skin, extends its tongue inside the body, and the barbs grind the entrails into meat paste, sending it into the mouth.

In this way, the prey's internal organs are completely empty, but the skin remains intact.

The cub bear wears human skin to lure prey while the mother bear waits for the opportunity to attack.

It is called: Long-tongue Sharp-snouted Bear

Li Xian's mind raced, realizing he was already in a dangerous situation. He sensed a warning, suddenly hearing the sound of branches snapping overhead.

The mother bear had quietly approached, leaping down from above.

"The heavy rain masked the sound, dulling my hearing."

"To encounter such a fierce bear, this is truly unfortunate!"

Li Xian realized the danger just in time and reacted quickly. As he dodged to one side, he fired two arrows at the cub bear. His movements were seamless and his aim precise.

However, there was a fatal flaw; hunters in the mountains rarely shoot in the rain.

Heavy rain weakens the arrow momentum and affects aim, so these two arrows only grazed the skin but did not kill the cub bear.

The cub bear shook, its human disguise splitting apart, revealing its true form. It was a bear about the size of a person, and now both the large and small bear charged at the same time.

A moment of critical danger.

Li Xian cursed, "Come on, just when I was worried about not finding prey!" He stood firm, aiming at the mother bear.

One step, two steps, three steps…

As the mother bear closed in, Li Xian decisively shot an arrow. The mother bear's eyes gleamed with cunning, making a surprisingly human-like maneuver to roll and dodge.

Meanwhile, from the other direction, the cub bear had already pounced close.

However...

The one lying dead was not Li Xian but the cub bear.

As it turned out, Li Xian's arrow just now employed the principles of the "Four Directions Fist". The Four Directions Fist is precisely a fist technique for facing multiple opponents.

When outnumbered, ordinary martial artists struggle against multiple foes, and brute force alone cannot change the situation.

Therein lies a psychological battle.

If this mother-son bear pair was like ordinary fierce beasts without cunning, Li Xian might indeed have failed. Both bears charging at once, Li Xian in his current state would hardly withstand.

But unfortunately, these bears were quite clever.

The mother bear, though large and fast, intentionally exaggerated its presence with each step to attract attention.

The cub bear, although small, moved quietly. It was the genuine threat.

The mother-son bear pair worked in perfect harmony.

The large was a decoy, the small was the real threat; there were multiple layers of deception, incorporating true and false moves.

Seeing through these, Li Xian gambled and stood his ground, using the ploy to his advantage.

He appeared to aim at the mother bear, but in reality, he was "Pointing East and Hit West". At the moment of releasing the bowstring, he twisted his ankle, pivoting his body rapidly.

And shot the cub bear.

The near-perfected "Four Directions Fist" was flexibly applied at this moment. The principles of the fist technique were applied to the arrow, remaining calm in the face of a collapsing mountain.

The mother bear, witnessing this scene, uttered a mournful howl, picking up the cub bear's corpse.

It was unclear whether it was tears or rainwater.

Li Xian distanced himself, climbed a tall tree, and with his foot hooking onto a branch, drew his bowstring like a full moon, his eyes cold and indifferent.

"It seems even fierce beasts have their true feelings."

"Alas, if I don't kill you, you will kill me, such is the world."

Li Xian released an arrow, which shot downwards, piercing through the top of the mother bear's head.

He completely shot the mother-son bear pair dead on the spot.

Then he retrieved his Lingyu Arrows, with an additional shot into each corpse.

"Hunting in the rain is truly too perilous."

Li Xian landed on the ground, exhaling heavily. Just now was truly a step between life and death.

More dangerous than the Ghost Pattern Tiger.

The Ghost Pattern Tiger was formidable, but Li Xian had prepared in advance, scouted the terrain, and had a plan, responding with ease.

This time was truly unexpected, with things changing at a moment's notice.

"The bond between mother and cub is deep. If not for this, the mother bear alone would have been a formidable challenge."

This mother bear's combat strength probably surpassed the Ghost Pattern Tiger. If not for the cub's death, the mother bear would not have wanted to live much longer.

In this heavy rain, there would have been a fierce battle.

Collecting the two bears together, Li Xian checked his prey.

One deer, three tigers, three bears… already perfect.

"That's enough, on the way back, if luck is good, I can use the remaining three Lingyu Arrows as well."

Li Xian smiled.

Suddenly remembering something, he walked to a certain spot.

On the ground were pieces of human skin fragments, belonging to the "C-class Nursing Home Zhang Dan".

Winter hunting is risky, death is not unexpected.

But the way Zhang Dan died must have been extremely tragic. Because the Long-tongue Sharp-snouted Bear always eats its prey alive. Only by eating alive and raw can skin toughness be maintained.

"The bears on this mountain are even more cunning and deceitful."

"And there are more exotic wild beasts."

"Ordinary brown bears compared to them are like cute kittens."

"Three bear beasts, three tiger beasts… advancement is a sure thing; no need to venture deeper riskily!"

Li Xian felt invigorated.

Hard work pays off, his efforts were not in vain after all!

Despite the heavy rain, the markers Li Xian left along the way were still there. Following the red cloth markers, he returned along the path.

Soon he reached the edge of the inner zone.

Li Xian didn't head back in a straight line; it was rare to be in the mountains, so he made full use of his arrows.

He avoided the tiger and bear beasts, choosing instead to hunt deer, roebucks, and other animals.

Whenever he encountered sweet berries, he would pick them to eat. Sweet and delicious, he felt exceptionally good.

Around midday.

After eating some venison and tiger jerky, the accumulated skill level was finally enough to breakthrough the [Consumption] skill.

[Skill: Consumption]

[Skill Level: 12/1000 Mastery]

[Description: Martial arts thrive on eating. Mountain flavors, wild tastes, and celestial delicacies are all within your reach. You possess excellent digestive and absorptive abilities, enhancing everything consumed by thirty percent.]

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