Chapter Six: Snatching Food from the Tiger’s Jaws

The lake was encircled by mountains, with wild beasts roaming everywhere. As long as one possessed sufficient strength, there was no limit to how many could be hunted. Yet, among them, only a few offered truly delicious meat.

Qin Feiyang searched for nearly half an hour before finally spotting a bristle boar. The meat of the bristle boar was excellent—whether roasted, stewed, or stir-fried, it promised a mouthwatering flavor.

Moreover, the bristle boar was not particularly aggressive. With Qin Feiyang’s abilities, it would be an easy prey.

He hid behind a thicket, locking his gaze on the boar, approaching silently and steadily. The creature was at least two meters long, its entire body covered in jet-black bristles as sharp as steel needles.

When he was nearly upon it, Qin Feiyang sprang from behind the bushes with a sudden burst of speed, his fist smashing down fiercely onto the boar’s head. With a pitiful squeal, the beast collapsed, lifeless.

“In the past, I would’ve had to give this guy a wide berth. The feeling of having strength is truly exhilarating,” Qin Feiyang licked his lips, strode over, and grabbed the boar’s front and hind legs, testing its weight. With a satisfied chuckle, he said, “Good heavens, this fellow must weigh four or five hundred jin—enough for Uncle Yuan and me to feast on for quite a while.”

He hoisted the bristle boar onto his shoulders and dashed toward the lake, swift as a gust.

Suddenly, a piercing wolf’s howl erupted from somewhere behind, startling the wild beasts of the forest into a panicked scramble.

Yet, Qin Feiyang’s eyes gleamed. He came to an abrupt halt, turning to look in the direction of the howl. This beastly cry was full of power, shaking the very mountains, with a faint trace of menace—clearly the work of a fierce beast!

A fierce beast was different from an ordinary wild beast. Wild beasts relied solely on instinct to fight back, much like ordinary humans. Fierce beasts, however, were akin to martial artists—they had mastered the art of cultivation.

Back in the imperial capital, Qin Feiyang had seen many such creatures. Not only did they possess intelligence rivaling humans, but they also boasted powers capable of overturning rivers and splitting mountains.

Most importantly, fierce beasts were far more valuable than wild beasts. In Qin Feiyang’s current circumstances, nothing mattered more than money. Only by earning enough could he buy more Body Tempering Pills!

“Let’s go have a look and see what level of fierce beast it is,” Qin Feiyang muttered, racing toward the source of the sound with the bristle boar over his shoulder.

Fierce beasts, too, had levels: Primary, Intermediate, and Advanced. Even within the same rank, there were variations in strength. A Primary fierce beast’s power was equivalent to that of a one- to three-star martial artist. Intermediate matched four to six stars, and Advanced, seven to nine.

Qin Feiyang silently prayed it wouldn’t be an Advanced beast—otherwise, even if it stood right before him, he could only stare helplessly.

After sprinting several hundred meters, he stopped atop a small hill and looked ahead. What he saw startled him.

On the dead leaves fifty meters away lay a white wolf, battered and covered with wounds. It was alone, licking its injuries.

Wolves were cunning, ferocious creatures. It was possible this one was feigning weakness to lure prey closer.

Moreover, wolves were pack beasts.

Seeing it was a wolf, Qin Feiyang immediately retreated from the hill, gently set the boar down, and crept back up, hiding in the grass to watch quietly.

Gradually, he began to sense the wolf was not pretending. Each wound on its body was deep, some exposing bone.

After careful confirmation, Qin Feiyang decided to act. This wolf was an Intermediate fierce beast—worth at least ten gold coins.

A single Body Tempering Pill cost fifty silver coins. One gold equaled a hundred silver. That meant this wolf could fetch at least twenty pills.

An unexpected windfall indeed.

“There it is!”

Just then, a cry of excitement rang out from nearby.

“That voice sounds familiar…” Qin Feiyang quickly ducked back into the grass, frowning.

The white wolf, hearing the shout, also struggled to its feet and staggered in his direction. Yet, after only a few steps, it collapsed again, too wounded to continue, a look of despair rising in its eyes.

Two boys, about fourteen or fifteen years old, came running toward the wolf.

“So it’s them,” Qin Feiyang murmured coldly.

One was Lin Shi, a burly youth towering over his peers at nearly one meter eighty-five, muscles bulging with explosive strength. The other, Lin Feng, was thinner, about one meter seventy, dressed in a gray robe. His long, narrow eyes, gleaming coldly like a serpent’s, inspired instant revulsion.

Both were members of the Lin clan. Because Qin Feiyang was close to Lin Yiyi, the Lin clan youths generally shunned him—these two, in particular, had tormented him for five years.

“Filthy beast, why don’t you keep running!” The pair closed in, blocking the wolf’s escape, sneering.

“It seems they’re the ones who wounded the wolf,” Qin Feiyang muttered. Both were six-star martial artists—teaming up against an Intermediate beast wasn’t difficult. Yet, judging by their battered state, the wolf had put up a fierce fight.

Faced with their encirclement, the wolf’s despair deepened.

Lin Feng looked down at the creature, sneering, “Dare to harm us? Once we kill you, we’ll go to Wolf Valley and slaughter your entire brood. Over fifty Primary fierce wolves—a tidy sum in gold coins.”

“What? The king of Wolf Valley?” Qin Feiyang was taken aback.

He’d long heard of Wolf Valley’s fearsome reputation; it was the most perilous place in the region, home to a pack of man-eating wolves. Ordinary hunters who entered never returned.

In five years, he’d never set foot there. Even when passing nearby, he steered clear. Who would have thought he’d encounter the king of Wolf Valley today?

The wolf king was worth ten gold coins. A Primary fierce wolf, three gold. According to Lin Feng, there were more than fifty in the valley. If all were hunted, that would mean over a hundred gold coins—enough for two or three hundred Body Tempering Pills!

Just imagining it made Qin Feiyang’s blood race.

At that moment, Lin Feng and Lin Shi finally moved in. Dealing with a gravely wounded, dying Intermediate beast—even a wolf king—was an easy feat for them.

But suddenly, the unexpected happened!

The nearly lifeless wolf king sprang up with desperate force, jaws agape, fangs gleaming, lunging for Lin Shi’s head.

“Damn!” Lin Shi roared in horror. At the last instant, he dodged, but the wolf king sank its teeth into his right shoulder.

Crunch!

The bone shattered instantly. The entire arm was torn clean off!

Blood gushed forth in a torrent.

“Aaah!” Lin Shi screamed in agony, clutching his wound, cursing, “Lin Feng, kill it! Now!”

The wolf king’s surprise attack had startled Lin Feng as well, causing him to instinctively step back. But at Lin Shi’s shout, fury overtook his fear, and he smashed his fist down on the wolf king’s back.

The wolf king howled miserably, its body flung like a meteor, crashing through a swath of bushes and landing with a heavy thud in the mud.

Witnessing all this, Qin Feiyang could not help but break into a cold sweat. The wolf’s cunning and ferocity were legendary indeed! Though on the verge of death, it had still managed to rip off Lin Shi’s arm. If not for their arrival, he might have been the one caught off guard.

Shuddering at the thought, he realized the wolf king was now truly spent. Half-buried in mud, it glared fiercely at Lin Shi and Lin Feng, a glint of satisfaction in its despairing eyes.

Such was the nature of the wolf—to make even death come at a price for its enemies.

“It’s my turn now. Time to take care of Lin Shi and Lin Feng as well,” Qin Feiyang’s eyes flashed coldly as he emerged from the grass and strode boldly toward the trio.

“Hm?” Lin Shi, bandaging his wound, saw Qin Feiyang approach and murderous intent flared in his eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“Who’s that?” Lin Feng, heading for the wolf king, turned at the sound with a sneer. “So it’s you, the useless wretch.”

He spoke with utter contempt, then turned back to the wolf king, his eyes glinting coldly.

Qin Feiyang said nothing, his pace quickening.

Lin Shi sensed something amiss. “Qin Feiyang, what do you want?”

“To kill you!” Qin Feiyang replied with a chilling smile, breaking into a run straight at Lin Shi.

“Kill me?” Lin Shi stared, then laughed scornfully. “Even with one arm lost, you’re no threat to me. Lin Feng, finish off the wolf king; leave this trash to me—I’ll crush him with a single blow.”

“Understood,” Lin Feng nodded, showing no intention of helping. Even wounded, Lin Shi was a six-star martial artist—killing a useless cripple like Qin Feiyang should be child’s play.

“Let’s see about that!” Qin Feiyang licked his lips, a bloodthirsty gleam in his eyes. Clenching his fist, power surged through his body. As he neared, he unleashed his full strength, swinging a punch at Lin Shi.

Lin Shi’s gaze was disdainful, but he did not hold back, meeting the blow with a punch of his own. Since fate had placed them here, he would end things once and for all.

Bang!

A scream of agony rang out.

“What?” Lin Feng spun in shock.

The cry was Lin Shi’s!

He turned in time to see a scene he would never forget. The “useless” Qin Feiyang was standing firm, while the supposedly invincible Lin Shi lay sprawled on the ground, blood bubbling from his mouth. His remaining arm was twisted at a grotesque angle—broken, with the sharp edge of bone piercing the skin as blood gushed forth.