TL: Etude
"Fierce spotted snake!"
Ye Tian stared at a two-meter-long giant snake five meters in front of him. This snake was not particularly strong, and an ordinary Martial Disciple could handle it. As long as one was not entangled by the snake, they would be fine. But if entangled, even a Martial Warrior with the strength of four or five hundred jin would be unable to break free.
Whoosh!
The spotted snake suddenly lunged at Ye Tian, attacking him.
Ye Tian did not dodge. With his speed, it would have been easy to evade the spotted snake, but there was no need.
Clang!
His blade flashed. The snake's body froze, falling to the ground, and struggling for a moment before dying.
If one looked closely, one could see that the snake's vital point had been cut open. It was Ye Tian's knife that had sliced it.
"Too weak!" Ye Tian shook his head.
He then took the snake's pair of eyes: an item required as proof that he had slain a spotted snake, with a value of 1 point.
The spotted snake was the most common fierce beast in this small wilderness area. It was said that there used to be a giant beastly snake in the area, and these spotted snakes were its descendants. One day, a few Elite Martial Warriors joined together to slay the giant beastly snake, then cleared other beasts in the area, turning it into a small wilderness.
This tidbit was revealed by a teacher on the road, though its authenticity was unknown.
In a blink of an eye, more than half a day had passed, and night was about to fall.
"Today's harvest is not much!" Ye Tian opened his bundle and carefully counted; various materials from fierce beasts amounted to only 23 points.
For the average student, these points were quite good, but they were far from enough to compete for the top three, and even making the top ten would be difficult.
The night was very dangerous. Human eyes, affected by the darkness, had difficulty detecting some beasts, so it was best not to hunt at night, lest one be hunted by the beasts.
In the trees, there were mainly spotted snakes, but as long as one was cautious and observant of the surroundings, it was not easy to be attacked by them.
Even if a snake did approach, Ye Tian's reflexes and speed were enough to handle it.
The night passed without incident.
The next morning, after roasting and eating a rabbit, Ye Tian continued hunting.
At this time, he moved deeper into the small wilderness area, for only in the deeper parts were there stronger beasts, worth five or six points each, far more than what could be earned on the outskirts.
"Help!"
"Someone, save us!"
Sparse cries for help reached Ye Tian's ears, accompanied by the howling of wolves.
"Someone's run into a wolf pack?" Ye Tian thought to himself.
After considering for a moment, he sprinted in the direction of the wolf pack. Not that he wanted to save those people, but because wolves were valuable in points, especially the tooth wolves, each worth 10 points, much more profitable than hunting ordinary beasts.
Soon, Ye Tian arrived at an open area, where about a dozen tooth wolves were attacking seven or eight students, with several bodies lying on the ground.
"Zhang Bao!" Ye Tian recognized one person, Zhang Bao, who he was on good terms with.
But Zhang Bao looked extremely disheveled, blood oozing from his body, his face pale. Waving an empty bow, he was clearly at the end of his rope.
To Ye Tian, Zhang Bao's plight seemed quite normal. After all, Zhang Bao and the others were weak; even with a group of over ten, they were still easy prey for a strong beast.
Ye Tian had known long ago that this group had little hope of obtaining beast blood, but he had not said so outright, understanding their desire.
Taking his bow, Ye Tian aimed at a tooth wolf and shot an arrow.
Thump!
The arrow pierced a tooth wolf, but unfortunately, it was off-target, missing its vital spots, yet still injuring the wolf.
"Aoow!!!" The fang wolves had spotted Ye Tian and started charging toward him.
Not far away, Zhang Bao and others had also seen Ye Tian approaching. They initially ignited a glimmer of hope, but upon closer examination, they were filled with despair.
Zhang Bao knew Ye Tian, and also knew Ye Tian's strength; he had just entered the rank of a Martial Disciple, the same as him.
"Ye Tian, run quickly, you can't deal with these fang wolves!" Zhang Bao shouted.
"This chubby fellow is not bad, he actually doesn't want me to be in danger!" Ye Tian felt a warmth in his heart and had sincerely decided to rescue them.
Had Ye Tian unleashed all his strength, he might have been able to kill these fang wolves in a short time, but that would undoubtedly have revealed many issues.
"I should hold back a little!" Ye Tian thought to himself.
The strength of the fang wolves was formidable, no less than a Martial Disciple with the strength of four to five hundred jin. If Ye Tian were to collide head-on, he would undoubtedly suffer.
Therefore, Ye Tian fully demonstrated the sharpness of his swordsmanship and a bit of speed. He maintained 1.5 times the speed while fighting with these fang wolves. Possessing a medium talent in swordsmanship, he could precisely seize the opportunity to deliver a fatal blow at the critical moment.
Thud! The blade suddenly slashed across a fang wolf's neck, killing it with one stroke.
No matter how the fang wolves attacked Ye Tian, he seemed to have the ability to foresee, always able to dodge.
And each time he struck, he inevitably took the life of a fang wolf!
In no time, more than a dozen fang wolves' bodies lay on the ground, and Ye Tian's body was stained with some blood, the blood of the fang wolves.
"Are you all right?" Ye Tian sheathed his sword, looking at Zhang Bao and the others.
"No... problem!" Zhang Bao's pupils dilated, and he swallowed his saliva, stammering.
"I killed these fang wolves, and I will take their fangs. You don't mind, do you?" Ye Tian asked in a deep voice.
"Not at all!" The group of people shook their heads.
How could they mind? Such fierce fang wolves were all killed by Ye Tian alone, and he had saved their lives. Even if they were brainless, they wouldn't dare demand a share of the fangs!
The fangs were the only proof of killing the fang wolves!
Of course, Ye Tian didn't need to take all the fangs, just the two largest canine teeth of each wolf.
More than a dozen fangs, collected together, amounted to quite a bundle.
Fortunately, Ye Tian's strength was up to 300 jin, so carrying this on his back was not a big deal.
"I advise you to get out as soon as possible. With your strength, it's difficult to win the reward of beast blood. Don't lose your lives; you only have one life, and there will be more opportunities to get the beast blood later!" Ye Tian persuaded.
After saying this, Ye Tian was ready to leave.
At that moment, Zhang Bao's expression changed, and he said, "Ye Tian, with your strength and the fangs you obtained this time, getting a share of the beast blood shouldn't be a problem, but you probably want a good ranking, right? I have some news, I'm not sure if I should tell you?"
"Speak!" Ye Tian said curiously.
"In the small wild area, there has appeared a pseudo-beast, a mottled snake, and students from the first academy have gone to hunt it down. That snake is worth 500 points!" Zhang gritted his teeth and said.
He didn't know whether it was good or bad to reveal this information to Ye Tian, but he said it anyway.
"What? A pseudo-beast mottled snake!" Ye Tian was completely shocked.
More importantly, he was attracted by those 500 points.
If he could obtain the eyes of the pseudo-beast mottled snake, he would surely be ranked first in the trial.