bookbashuk Chapter 41 Strange Movement
Chapter 41 Strange Movement
"Hurry up and leave!" Jiang Yuan shot an arrow.
Gray Rock gritted his teeth, clutched his severed arm, turned and ran, quickly disappearing behind the undulating snow slope.
Songzhen withdrew his gaze, took a deep breath, and drew the bowstring taut.
The arrow shaft also shone with a penetrating brilliance.
The magical beast before them was a lurking assassin from the Gray Cover Forest, one of the most troublesome even among third-tier magical beasts.
Its carapace is incredibly hard, and the explosive power of its six legs allows it to launch itself off the ground, not to mention its mandibles that can bite a person in half.
It is no exaggeration to say that it is a top predator among third-tier magical beasts.
Under normal circumstances, a single Tier 3 warrior and a Tier 2 warrior are simply not enough to deal with it.
The giant beast with the top horn scrambled its forelegs into the ground, its heavy body slightly retracting.
It was gathering its strength, and the next second, its massive upper jaws swept towards Ke Shan with a whooshing sound.
Ke Shan parried with his sword.
clang!
The upper jaw slammed into the blade of the broadsword, sending sparks flying.
The snow at the foot of Ke Mountain was shaken and splashed in all directions. He took half a step back, the veins on his arms bulged, and his hand went numb.
That strike was incredibly powerful.
His body stiffened for a moment, his hands still gripping the knife.
But the horned behemoth recovered first. Its dark yellow eyes rolled, its six legs gripped the ground again, and its body shrank back, already preparing for its second attack.
Just then, Jiang Yuan's arrow arrived.
The piercing brilliance condensed into a white trail on the arrow shaft, and the arrowhead precisely struck the right foreleg joint of the giant beast with the highest horn.
The force of the piercing shot was unmatched by ordinary arrows; the moment the arrowhead struck the gap in the carapace, the entire insect leg was jolted outwards.
The giant beast's charging rhythm was interrupted, and its body tilted to one side.
Taking advantage of the moment, Ke Shan regained his strength, pushed off with his foot, and slashed at the seam of the carapace with his knife, leaving a shallow groove.
The giant beast, in pain, let out a low growl.
It suddenly shook its head, its upper jaw sweeping across.
Ke Shan ducked to avoid it, but the upper jaw of the giant beast swept past his head, and the wind it generated made his neck feel cold.
If that hit me hard, my head would no longer be on my neck.
The giant beast with the top horn is gathering its strength once more.
At that moment, the second arrow of the pine needle arrived.
The arrow, though deflected off the carapace, still managed to interrupt the horned behemoth's charge-up once again due to the impact of the piercing shot.
Ke Shan has delivered another blow.
This time, the blade struck the shallow groove perfectly, and a visible crack finally appeared on the carapace.
He felt a little strange as he stepped back.
The arrows were too dense.
The limestone has lost an arm and cannot draw the bow.
After the pine needle shot out and the arrow pierced through the air, there shouldn't be a second arrow so quickly.
He should have parried the giant beast's latest attack with his sword and waited for the pine needles to fire another piercing arrow.
Only through such cooperation could the two of them maintain the stalemate and wait for the arrival of the tribe's warriors.
But what's going on now? Ke Shan wondered.
Taking advantage of a brief moment of interruption, he delivered a final blow, then glanced at the scene with a slight tilt of his head.
A hundred meters away, the human was seen drawing back the bowstring.
The bowstring was drawn taut, and a shimmering light flowed across the arrow shaft, illuminating half of his face with a cold white glow!
Then the arrow shot through the air, the force of the impact pressing the entire arrow into a straight white line.
"What is this?!" Ke Shan was shocked and delighted. He turned around and tightened his grip on the knife.
If two soldiers cooperate, it will be easy!
The giant beast with the top horn retracted its body, opened its upper jaw wide, and was about to charge out after gathering its strength.
Jiang Yuan's arrow struck the joint of its left foreleg, the force of which sent the entire insect's leg bouncing outward.
The force that had been built up to half its strength was released again.
Seizing the opportunity, Ke Shan used the same trick again, slashing fiercely along the fine line on the carapace with his hunting knife.
The blade was embedded three or four inches deep.
But this time, the ligament and muscles inside the carapace gripped the blade tightly.
Ke Shan drew his sword, but it didn't budge.
The knife is stuck.
Ke Shan suddenly leaped into the air.
His body twisted half a circle in mid-air, and his right foot stepped on the top of the knife handle.
A powerful burst of force poured down from the end of the hilt, causing the blade to sink two inches further.
Click!
A dull cracking sound came from inside the shell.
This stab wound hit a vital spot.
The giant shovel at the top of the horn let out a sharp screech, and its entire body thrashed wildly.
The hilt was violently thrown back by the force bursting from its body, and the broadsword escaped the wound, spinning upwards in the air.
The giant beast, writhing in agony, went berserk.
His dark yellow eyes were fixed on Ke Shan.
But even as it paws the ground with all six legs, it still retracts its body and opens its upper jaw wide.
This attack was more powerful than any of the previous ones.
Ke Shanren was in mid-air, the knife just slipped from his hand, and he was unable to parry the attack.
Just then, a new arrow flew from behind him, grazing his ear and striking the horned beast.
This disrupted the rhythm of the horned behemoth once again.
Ke Shan caught the falling hunting knife in mid-air, gripped it with both hands, and brought it down on his head.
The blade cut straight into the crack in the carapace that had been repeatedly torn open.
blah-
The cracking sound extended from the junction of the head and chest of the giant beast all the way to its abdomen.
The black iron-colored carapace flipped open to both sides, and the two halves of the insect's body crashed onto the snow with a thud, splattering insect fluid and snow everywhere.
Ke Shan lay between the two halves of the corpse, his chest heaving violently as he gasped for breath.
Is it over? Jiang Yuan looked at this scene and let out a soft breath.
After firing more than a dozen arrows in quick succession, his magic power was almost depleted, but the gains were enormous.
A fluorescent blue panel appeared before my eyes.
The "Piercing Shot" skill has been added to the "Abilities" section.
Exciting battles definitely unleash potential... but why haven't I changed jobs yet...?
Songzhen ran over, bow in hand, "Captain!"
Ke Shan took several breaths before straightening up, patted Song Zhen's shoulder, looked at Jiang Yuan who was walking towards him, and grinned:
"Well done!"
……
After resting for a while and catching their breath, the three of them worked together to lift the carcass of the giant beast with the top horn and walked back through the snow.
They hadn't gone far when snow dust billowed ahead, and the rescue team arrived.
The leader was a burly cat-eared warrior with sharp eyes.
He was the captain of another hunting party, and also a Tier 3 warrior.
He strode forward and immediately spotted the monster's corpse, cleaved in two, on the ground. His eyebrows shot up, and he turned to pat Ke Shan on the shoulder:
"Keshan, as expected of you! This has broken our tribe's record! With only a second-tier warrior, the two of you took down a horned behemoth!"
Ke Shan shook his head: "Not just two, there are also our human friends."
The captain was taken aback.
He naturally saw Jiang Yuan as well; everyone in the tribe recognized this human.
But this human's strength has actually reached the second tier?
"He mastered the art of penetration," Pine Needle added.
Upon hearing this, the rescue team members all turned their attention to Jiang Yuan, their expressions becoming more serious.
By the time they returned to the tribe, the news had already reached them before they even arrived.
A large group of tribesmen gathered in the open space, their eyes all fixed on the corpse of the giant beast with the top horn.
Its enormous body, with deep, bone-revealing wounds on its black iron-colored armor, is enough to make one imagine the ferocity of the battle.
Ke Shan was naturally the focus of everyone's respect, but those gazes were increasingly turning to Jiang Yuan standing to the side.
Previously, there was only friendliness and closeness, but now there is an added layer of respect in the eyes of those ordinary cat-eared people.
In the Frostclaw tribe, there are many people who can draw a bow and shoot arrows, but to be selected as a warrior, one must reach the second tier of strength.
This human has already revealed his true second-tier strength.
Jiang Yuan didn't linger in the crowd and returned to the tree hollow alone.
I had barely sat down when I heard hurried footsteps outside the tree hollow.
The curtain was lifted, and Hilu rushed in, her little face full of panic. "Jiang Yuan! They said you defeated a horned behemoth?!"
She pulled Jiang Yuan up and down, and after confirming that he was not injured, she visibly relaxed.
"That's a massive Tier 3 monster!"
After becoming the Moon Guide, the priest arranged a training schedule for her, and she spent most of her time improving her strength each day.
In the past, given her personality, she would have been restless long ago.
But her experience in the cave had a profound impact on her.
If Jiang Yuan hadn't saved her at the crucial moment, she would have died from the stinger of that giant scorpion.
So she also had to become stronger, strong enough to protect the people she wanted to protect.
"It's nothing, I'll just hide in the back and shoot arrows." Jiang Yuan spread his hands, showing himself up and down, and indeed he didn't even have a scratch on his body.
Hilu breathed a sigh of relief.
Just then, a sound came from outside, and a soldier's voice came in:
"My human friend, the priest wishes to see you."
The priest is back? Jiang Yuan immediately stood up.
He had previously speculated that gold was likely the material needed to repair the seal, so he specially bought a small gold bean weighing one gram and kept it with him, waiting to show it to the priest.
But after that, the priest disappeared without a trace.
It seems the priest knew he had sought him out, and now that he's back, he's sent someone to deliver a message.
Jiang Yuan followed the soldier and came once again to the ancient tree where the moon goddess statue was placed.
He went inside and met Priestess Twilight Leaf.
The priest looked at Jiang Yuan, his tone tinged with a hint of感慨 (gan3kai3, a complex emotion encompassing both admiration and regret): "You've caused quite a stir again."
He had just returned to his tribe when he heard that this human had cooperated with Keshan in battle and had genuinely helped his people.
A faint smile appeared on the priest's lips, but his brow was furrowed, as if he had something on his mind.
"Is the priest in a bad mood?" Jiang Yuan asked. "Did the priest go to the Wugai Forest again this time?"
Priestess Muye shook her head and sighed again:
"I've already seen the Ugai Forest. This time I just did a quick look around the area near the tribe, hoping to find out why winter came early, but I discovered something very bad."
His tone turned serious:
"A number of high-level magical beasts have escaped from the Ugai Forest, but fortunately, Gray Ridge has managed to stop some of them."
"In the past, these magical beasts were unwilling to leave their homes because the forest was rich in resources. I even suspect that they were bound by some kind of rule and rarely left the forest."
"Especially those of the third rank and above, you might not encounter one outside the forest for several years."
He paused, his gaze becoming serious:
"But during this investigation, I encountered two Tier 3 magical beasts in a short period of time, and you just happened to run into one as well. It's hard to explain this as a coincidence."
Jiang Yuan's heart skipped a beat, and he followed the priest's train of thought:
"You mean, this is very likely related to the anomalies of Winter?"
"And that seal might be connected to this unusual winter, so ultimately, the strange movements of the magical beasts are also inextricably linked to that seal?"
The priest nodded slowly: "That's true."
"My reason for looking for you is related to that seal." Jiang Yuan took out a small gold bean from his pocket and handed it over.
"Priest, take a look. Is this the material needed to strengthen the seal?"
The old priest reached out and took it, bringing the small golden bean close to his eyes and examining it closely, turning it over and over.
The golden beans gleamed slightly on his withered fingertips, and the expression on his face shifted from doubt to focus, and then gradually from focus to joy.
He looked up, his voice trembling with obvious excitement: "Where did you get that from?"
As soon as he said it, he found the answer himself, muttering to himself:
"Right, it's divine magic. You obtained it using divine magic..."
He then shook his head, looking at the tiny golden bean in his palm, so small it was almost impossible to hold, his brows furrowing again:
"But this little bit is far from enough."
So that material really is gold? Jiang Yuan continued:
"It is indeed a divine spell. Since we got the right one this time, it means we're on the right track. This one is indeed small, but I feel that as my strength increases, I'll be able to extract more and more divine spells."
"It's only a matter of time before we gather enough materials to repair the seal."
The old priest was somewhat taken aback.
The strength of divine magic has always depended solely on the depth of divine favor. The gods can grant whatever they wish, and it cannot possibly grow in tandem with one's own power.
Could it be that the deity has been watching this human all along, but is unaware of it?
After all, with these events laid out before us, what could possibly explain them other than divine magic?
The old priest couldn't understand, and stopped thinking about it, repeatedly saying:
"Alright! Just tell me what you need."