Chapter 21: Iron Bull
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Zhang Ruochen carried the Wire Bow on his back and dashed into King Mount riding on the antelope-horse.
King Mount was the hunting ground for the Royal Family. It was high and steep, with waterfalls, cliffs, valleys, and forests all over it. Almost all the savage beasts there were at the first level and a few at the second.
Like a handful of sand thrown into the ocean, the 43 young warriors soon vanished into the woods after they were sent into King Mount.
“Phhf!”
A white shadow flashed through the one-meter-tall brambles. It instantly passed through the open field over 60 meters long and dashed into the distant thick forest.
The white shadow was so fast that a man without Martial Arts could never see it clearly.
With his ability, Zhang Ruochen saw that it was a rabbit-like savage beast.
It was a first-level savage beast, a Lightning Rabbit. It ran fast and had sharp claws and teeth, but was weak in defensive power.
Their power and speed were equal to a warrior’s in the Initial Stage and the Dawn State of the Yellow Realm, respectively.
“It’s just a Lightning Rabbit, not worthy of a Thunder Arrow.” Zhang Ruochen had already drawn his Wire Bow into a half-moon-shape, but then he shook his head and put it down.
It was known that the higher level the savage beast was at, the higher score a warrior could attain.
Lightning Rabbits were only from the inferior class among the first-level savage beasts. To Zhang Ruochen, wasting a Thunder Arrow on a beast like that was not worthwhile.
“Whew!”
A wind-breaking sound rang out from the other direction.
A Thunder Arrow with lightning-like splendor precisely slammed into the Lightning Rabbit’s head.
“Pfft!”
The Lightning Rabbit’s head was punctured by a Thunder Arrow. The Thunderbolt Crystals inlaid on the arrowhead blasted immediately and turned into fist-sized electric balls. The balls cracked and melted into flows of current.
The Lightning Rabbit died at once and fell by a tree.
The Sixth Prince rushed over on his antelope-horse. Without getting down, he leaned forward to the ground and lifted the beast by gripping the arrow that was in its head.
“My ninth brother, it’s your first time hunting in King Mount and you don’t dare to kill a savage beast? You need more courage to be a man.” The Sixth Prince sneered at Zhang Ruochen with the Lightning Rabbit in his hand.
In his eyes, Zhang Ruochen might be a genius in Martial Arts, but this was his first time hunting and it was normal to be frightened.
After all, fighting and killing were completely different.
The hunting in King Mount was intended to test not only warriors’ abilities, but also their courage.
If a warrior was so timid that he could not even kill a savage beast, he would be of no use, no matter how high his cultivation was.
The Sixth Prince reached the peak of the Dawn State when he was 18.
Zhang Ruochen said, “I just don’t want to waste a Thunder Arrow.”
The Sixth Prince gave a brittle laugh and said, “You are absolutely wrong. There aren’t too many savage beasts, and not everyone can hunt five beasts with five Thunder Arrows.”
The Sixth Prince rode off and vanished into the woods, leaving Zhang Ruochen with these words.
“King Mount is indeed not too large. It seems that I really have to speed up as there won’t be too many savage beasts for me to hunt!”
Zhang Ruochen rushed in the other direction on his antelope-horse.
Zhang Ruochen encountered three Lightning Rabbits in one hour. He, however, did not shoot any of them. Rather, he kept on searching for other higher-level savage beasts.
“Moo!”
An earsplitting whine rang out from Zhang Ruochen’s left side.
Zhang Ruochen was delighted. He immediately went to look for the sound and found three huge Brute Bulls next to the riverside.
Brute Bulls, inferior-class level-one savage beasts, had the power and the defensive power of a warrior at the Advanced Stage and the Dawn State of the Yellow Realm, respectively.
The Strength of a Bull referred to a Brute Bull’s power.
But someone had come here earlier, and now she was standing right in front of the three Brute Bulls.
The Ninth Commandery Princess, Zhang Yuxi, sat on an antelope-horse in her royal finch robe. Her black hair dropped to her waist. She smiled enchantingly and said, “My ninth brother, you are too late. These three belong to me!”
“Moo!”
The three Brute Bulls’ eyes were glowing. They pedaled the ground with their iron heels that sparked when they crashed on the stones.
“Boom!”
The three Brute Bulls rushed toward the Ninth Commandery Princess at the same time.
She took out three Thunder Arrows at once, placed them on the bowstring, and drew the Wire Bow into a full-moon shape.
“Crash!”
All three Thunder Arrows were released at once and slammed into their foreheads seven inches deep.
Lightning blasted out of the arrowheads. The three Brute Bulls all died immediately and fell heavily into the river, splashing sheets of water.
The Ninth Commandery Princess put her Wire Bow away, looked at Zhang Ruochen in the distance and smiled brightly. “My arrow technique is in the Inferior Class of the Human Stage, and I’ve managed to master it. What do you think, my ninth brother?”
Zhang Ruochen stared at the water surface behind her and yelled, “Watch out!”
She also recognized the danger. She turned around to find a savage beast, which was twice as big as a Brute Bull, dashing out of the water.
It had metal-like skin and two sharp horns. It ran toward her abruptly.
“Boom!”
The Ninth Commandery Princess’ antelope-horse roared with pain. Its bones were broken, a bowl-sized bloody hole was pierced in its body by the horn. It fell to the ground heavily.
This happened so suddenly that the Ninth Commandery Princess could not react and fell to the ground with her antelope-horse.
The Ninth Commandery Princess was overwhelmed. She rolled on the ground and was about to stand up quickly.
All of a sudden, a huge shadow appeared above her head. The huge savage beast lifted its iron heel and was going to step on her.
If one was stepped on by a savage beast, there was no doubt that his body would break into pieces.
“Bang!”
A Thunder Arrow flew from a distance and dashed on the beast’s neck, knocking the beast away a little bit.
Its iron heels brushed past the Ninth Commandery Princess and hit the ground beside her, forming two half-inch-deep pits.
“This is certainly a medium-class level-one savage beast! The Iron Bull! But its defensive power is so strong that a Thunder Arrow can’t break through its skin!”
It was not only because of its strong defensive power, but also the far distance between Zhang Ruochen and the beast that weakened the power of the Thunder Arrow.
Zhang Ruochen stood up on the antelope-horse’s back. He quickly jumped up and rushed to the riverside.
An Iron Bull’s power was equal to a warrior in the Medium State of the Yellow Realm, and its defensive power was equivalent to a warrior in the Final State of the Yellow Realm, which was quite outstanding among medium-class level-one savage beasts.
“Moo!”
The Iron Bull was infuriated by Zhang Ruochen’s arrow. It lifted its iron heel up again and took a huge step next toward the Ninth Commandery Princess.
“Crash!”
Rising up four meters high, Zhang Ruochen took out a Thunder Arrow, drew the bow, and shot it out.
“Pfft!”
The Thunder Arrow accurately shot into the Iron Bull’s mouth. The Thunderbolt Crystal exploded in its throat and turned into an electric ball that completely smashed its throat.
The Iron Bull stepped back in great pain with blood coming out of its mouth.
“Bang!”
Finally, it fell to the ground heavily with a loud noise.
With a long sigh of relief, the Ninth Commandery Princess stood up with her legs shaking. It was so dangerous! She would have died under those iron heels if Zhang Ruochen had not shot the beast.
Zhang Ruochen walked toward her and asked, “Are you okay?”
She shook her head and said, “I wouldn’t be okay if you hadn’t shown up in time. My dear ninth brother, why is your arrow technique so excellent? An Iron Bull is a medium-class level-one savage beast, and has the defensive power of a warrior in the Final State of the Yellow Realm! But you killed it with only two arrows!”
Zhang Ruochen took a look at the beast’s body on the ground and said, “No matter if it’s a savage beast or a human, they all have weaknesses. You will easily win if you attack its weakness. Even if your power is weaker than his.”
The greatest advantage that humans have is wisdom. They could use soldiers and weapons, as well as the ability to analyze a savage beasts’ weaknesses.
Therefore, human warriors could kill the savage beasts that were a lot stronger than themselves.
In fact, the Ninth Commandery Princess also had the chance to kill the Iron Bull with her strength. Yet, the beast surprised her and had put her in a difficult position.
She put the Wire Bow on her back and picked up her quiver with only two Thunder Arrows in it. She said, “There are different marks on our Thunder Arrows. The royal security guard will collect the prey later, so we don’t need to take them out in person. Let’s go.”
While she was speaking, she walked toward Zhang Ruochen’s antelope-horse.
Zhang Ruochen slightly frowned and said, “What are you doing?”
She smiled and said, “My antelope-horse is badly hurt. I can only ride on yours now. You won’t let me go hunt on foot, will you my ninth brother?”
The Ninth Commandery Princess was wearing a tight, royal finch robe that outlined her nice hour-glass figure, with plump breasts and a tiny waist. Every inch of her skin was white as snow and sent out a light fragrance.
She lightly pushed on the antelope-horse’s back and elegantly jumped on it.
“Come on, my ninth brother! If we don’t hurry up, other warriors will kill all the savage beasts!” She winked at him and stretched a hand out as an invitation.
At last, Zhang Ruochen walked over to her and took her hand in order to jump onto the antelope-horse’s back.
The antelope-horse carried both of them off and rushed into the deep woods.
“If we work together, we are powerful enough to kill medium-class level-one savage beasts with our strength,” said the Ninth Commandery Princess with an expectant look in her eyes. One could obtain a very high score if they could hunt down a medium-class level-one savage beast.
The calculation equation of the score was as follows: One superior-class level-one savage beast was equal to five medium-class level-one savage beasts.
One medium-class level-one savage beast was equal to five inferior-class level-one savage beasts.
In other words, although Zhang Ruochen only killed one Iron Bull, it was equivalent to five inferior-class level-one savage beasts.
Not everyone could kill a medium-class level-one savage beast. It took at least the cultivation of the Medium State of the Yellow Realm.
Furthermore, medium-class level-one savage beasts had outstanding speed and defensive power. Therefore, it was not easy to hunt them, even with the cultivation of the Medium State.
Although Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation was only at the Peak of the Dawn State, his strength was much more powerful than many warriors at the Medium State. That was why he could kill the Iron Bull successfully.
With a sharp look in his eyes, Zhang Ruochen said, “It would be amazing if we can kill a superior-class level-one savage beast!”
“That’s impossible! The power of a superior-class level-one savage beast is equal to a warrior who has reached the Completion of the Yellow Realm. It will be a disaster if we actually encounter one! We will probably struggle to escape!”
The Ninth Commandery Princess continued, “The Seventh Prince is the only one who killed a superior-class level-one savage beast in the past 10 years. As for this year, I believe nobody has the ability to kill one.”