บท 33: Chapter 33: Grass and Snake
บรรณาธิการ: Dragon Boat Translation
Duke lacked experience in wilderness hunting, but that didn't hinder his ability to navigate through the thicket like a fish in water. The constant activation of the "Rainfall Breathing Technique" allowed him to detect anomalies in his surroundings through a resonance with the plants.
By synchronizing his breath with that of the surrounding flora, he could grasp any abnormalities in the environment.
As he moved forward, utilizing the detection ability of the breathing technique, he managed to preemptively avoid several large wild beasts. It wasn't that he was afraid of danger; he simply couldn't be bothered to shoot and kill these creatures.
Carrying their carcasses back was impractical, not to mention covering up the bullet holes.
Preventing other hunters from discovering anything suspicious was also important.
Even though any discoveries might not necessarily lead to exposure, minimizing the likelihood of exposure was still necessary. Only by remaining low-key could he safely develop in the transcendent world.
"We must be around five kilometers away from Snakehead Town now," Duke glanced back, his view obstructed by the thicket.
However, he wasn't worried about getting lost. Xiaoyi had meticulously recorded all the places he had been to and all the paths he had taken, making it easy for him to consult at any time.
Suddenly, Xiaoyi alerted him, "Master, about fifty meters ahead to the left, there's an unusual rhythm, not caused by an animal... It somewhat resembles the rhythmic pattern of recorded spiritual plants."
"Spiritual plant!"
Duke immediately headed toward the left. When he got closer, he abruptly halted, cautiously observing his surroundings, "Wild-growing spiritual plants usually attract spirit beasts to inhabit. Xiaoyi, activate auxiliary vision and help me spot any discrepancies!"
"Yes, Master."
Step by step, Duke moved slowly and observed meticulously.
Before long, within a cluster of bushes, he saw something emitting a different breathing rhythm. It was a small grass that resembled chives, with long and thin leaves that were somewhat yellowed, possibly due to malnutrition.
"The aura isn't rich; it's probably an unevolved 0-ring spiritual grass."
A 0-ring spiritual plant was a transitional stage between ordinary plants and true spiritual plants. They possessed some of the mystique of spiritual plants but were far less effective than genuine 1-ring spiritual plants.
"I can't sense any spiritual energy field from it; this small grass can't even refine spiritual energy..." Duke felt both pleasantly surprised and slightly disappointed.
If a 0-ring spiritual plant couldn't refine spiritual energy to form a spiritual energy field, its value would be greatly diminished. It would only exist as an economic material, providing some minor edible and medicinal value.
However.
This small grass was still very young; perhaps it hadn't grown enough yet. After it matured and bloomed, it might be able to refine spiritual energy.
Just as Duke was about to take out a small shovel from his backpack to dig out the 0-ring spiritual grass, Xiaoyi suddenly alerted him, "Master, in the thorny bushes to the right, there seems to be a suspected spirit beast hiding."
"Spirit beast?"
Duke picked up his Desert Eagle 1.0 and quickly aimed at the thorny bushes to the right.
Nothing was visible.
However, Xiaoyi's judgments were never wrong. It was an anomaly sensed through the breathing technique, and its accuracy was far superior to human senses.
"Not coming out?" Duke squinted.
He directly pulled the trigger of his Desert Eagle, producing a faint sound of three gunshots, which startled the hidden spirit beast in the thicket. It dashed out to the side.
It turned out to be a completely black snake.
"Likely a 0-ring spiritual beast, the Black Jade Snake, with an extremely small chance of evolving into a 1-ring spiritual beast, the Black Jade King Snake, after reaching maturity." Xiaoyi transmitted this information through thought communication in an instant.
Whether it was 0-ring or 1-ring, Duke didn't care.
He continuously shot at the location where the Black Jade Snake moved using his Desert Eagle. Nine bullets were fired, clearing the area.
He then pushed out and reinserted the magazine, completing a magazine change process. For a pistol that had become an arcane weapon, this process was unnecessary.
However, the Desert Eagle had transformed from a real gun, retaining many of its original modes.
Perhaps in the future, as Xiaoyi continued to develop, the Desert Eagle would completely rid itself of the influence of being a real gun and become a convenient arcane weapon.
The Black Jade Snake wasn't hit by any bullets, quickly disappearing from Duke's view. However, with Xiaoyi's reports, Duke was well aware that the Black Jade Snake hadn't fled far; it had merely found another hiding spot nearby.
Clearly, the 0-ring spiritual grass had a great attraction to the Black Jade Snake.
"Xiaoyi, monitor its movements. I'm going fishing!" Duke took out a small shovel from his backpack and began to dig the soil intermittently, creating the illusion that he was digging up the small grass.
Before he had dug for long.
The Black Jade Snake couldn't hold back any longer. It shot out like an arrow from a nearby pile of dry leaves.
Duke was well-prepared. As soon as it emerged, he lifted his gun and fired a burst of nine bullets. Eight of them narrowly missed the Black Jade Snake, while one bullet hit its body.
However, that single bullet nearly severed the wrist-thick Black Jade Snake in two.
Lying on the ground, it could no longer move and continued to convulse.
"I'm a senior member of the Falcon Shooting Club after all. I've spent most of the money I earned from the factory on guns. Shooting you is a piece of cake!" Duke smirked.
After pushing out and then pushing back the magazine to complete the reloading, he aimed at the writhing black jade snake on the ground and said, "This shot is for your life!"
*Puff!*
A bullet hole appeared on the ground.
"Oops, my mistake." Duke didn't blush; he treated it as practice for his marksmanship.
With his internal fighting energy circulating and the strength of his wrist multiplied, he held the 1.0 version of the Desert Eagle with one hand, steady as can be. Maintaining a stable posture, he followed the struggling of the black jade snake, making slight adjustments to the alignment of the gun's sight.
At the moment when the sight aligned with the snake's head.
His finger almost reflexively pulled the trigger.
*Puff!*
The head of the black jade snake exploded, and its body, almost severed into two pieces, could no longer move.
"Phew."
He blew gently at the muzzle of the gun, then quickly squatted down, picking up the over two meters long Black Jade Snake's corpse and coiling it into a bundle before stuffing it into his backpack. It weighed a hefty fifteen kilograms.
After ensuring there were no further abnormal movements around him, he continued to dig up the 0-ring spiritual grass.
He dug up the soil along with its roots, bundled it in a cloth bag, carefully stowed it in his backpack, pressing it down on top of the Black Jade Snake's body.
Once everything was done, Duke didn't linger. He retraced his steps quickly.
Originally, Duke had come here to test his luck and practice his marksmanship, but now his luck was overflowing. He had obtained a 0-ring spiritual beast, the Black Jade Snake, and a 0-ring spiritual plant, the 0-ring spiritual grass. His gains were enormous.
During his journey back, he also took the opportunity to practice his marksmanship.
With the enhancement of battle energy in his body, he continuously shot at the small birds he encountered on the way. He could hit about one out of three birds that were perched on tree branches within a hundred meters.
As for the birds in flight, it was mostly a matter of luck.
"Stationary targets are manageable, but moving targets are a mess... I need to practice hard and improve! Mastering marksmanship will make me much more formidable than practicing knight's battle energy combat techniques. The power of a single shot from the Desert Eagle is much stronger than the martial skills knights painstakingly cultivate for years."
The combat techniques cultivated by knights through years of hard training might not even match the power of a single shot from the Desert Eagle.
Duke activated his Sea of Blood, but he didn't intend to immerse himself in the path of a knight. He didn't have the energy or determination to diligently cultivate battle energy combat techniques. His goal was simply to enhance his physique, ensuring that he wouldn't have any regrets.
The same applied to his Sea of Qi cultivation.
Only the Sea of Spirit was his main focus for future cultivation; priorities couldn't be reversed.
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