Chapter 17: Chu's First Battle Amidst a Forest of Rivals

"Whoosh..."

"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."

From time to time, gusts of wind would sweep across the wilderness, blowing through the tall wild grass—at least as high as a person—which grew lushly due to the nourishment of the free-floating psionic energy in the air, causing it to sway with a rustling sound.

If one were in a bustling, peaceful urban area, the rustling of plants would not provoke any thought.

But in this wilderness filled with hidden dangers, the sudden sound caused by a gust of wind would involuntarily make a person tense up.

Entering the wilderness alone, Lin Li avoided areas where the vegetation grew excessively thick, choosing instead to grope his way forward through relatively open and flat terrain.

Furthermore... a one-kilometer radius. This was the activity range Lin Li had set for himself for his first foray into the wilderness; any distance further than that was temporarily out of his consideration.

One shouldn't think a one-kilometer radius was too small.

One must realize that within this single kilometer, quite a few exotic beasts were already active.

After stepping into the wilderness, Lin Li had only slowly walked about a hundred meters before encountering the first exotic beast of his life.

This beast stood one meter tall, possessing long ears, crimson eyes, sharp protruding teeth, and keen claws... what a fierce and terrifying rabbit beast.

Rabbits had always been synonymous with gentleness, but this rabbit beast Lin Li faced had absolutely nothing to do with being gentle.

With its one-meter height and its crimson eyes staring maliciously at him, it radiated undisguised hostility, completely overturning Lin Li's preconceived notions of rabbits.

"Damn... this rabbit beast is so fierce! I wonder how strong it is, but according to the 'Newbie Guide' I read earlier on the Exotic Beast Hunter app...

The strongest beast within a one-kilometer radius here shouldn't exceed the middle stage of Rank One. I should be able to kill this rabbit beast quite easily."

Lin Li was currently nervous to death, his right hand gripping his spiritual tool longsword trembling slightly.

He finally understood why, while browsing the discussion forums on the Exotic Beast Hunter app yesterday, he had seen many Rank One peak-level hunters looking to team up with hunters of Rank Two or higher.

Once a practitioner breaks through to Rank Two, their mental strength undergoes a qualitative change, granting them perception abilities. This ability allows them to judge an opponent's strength by the fluctuations of psionic energy they emit.

Just like now, the eyes of the rabbit beast facing Lin Li were glowing with a faint golden spiritual light; it was already mobilizing the psionic energy within its body.

If Lin Li had reached the early stage of Rank Two, he could use his perception.

By sensing the psionic fluctuations emitted when the opponent used energy, he could determine their level of strength, rather than being as ignorant and uncertain as he was now.

This rabbit beast, possessing only middle-stage Rank One strength, could sense that the human before it was somewhat afraid.

This made it feel that the human was inferior to itself; consequently, it took the initiative to launch an attack on Lin Li.

"Hmm? This rabbit beast isn't very fast!"

Facing the rabbit beast charging toward him with eyes glowing in faint golden light, Lin Li immediately pushed off the ground, dodging to the right and easily evading the attack.

Seeing its attack miss, the rabbit beast immediately pivoted and charged at Lin Li again.

"I dodge... I dodge again..."

Time and again, Lin Li easily evaded the rabbit beast's lunges, while the beast remained doggedly persistent.

Successfully dodging the attacks in succession boosted Lin Li's confidence. Even a fool could see by now that the strength of this rabbit beast was far inferior to his own.

"Die."

After another sidestep to evade a lunge, at the exact moment he passed the rabbit beast, Lin Li acted.

He immediately mobilized the psionic energy within his body, pouring it into the spiritual tool longsword in his hand.

A faint golden light instantly erupted. His right hand swung the sword violently, and the sharp spiritual blade lunged fiercely toward the rabbit beast's neck.

*Puchi.*

Although the spiritual longsword Lin Li had purchased was a discounted item, it was still a spiritual tool forged from psionic materials, and its sharpness far exceeded that of ordinary weapons.

Coupled with the infusion of psionic energy, its sharpness had reached a whole new level.

The tip of the blade, glowing with faint golden light, pierced into the rabbit beast's body as easily as cutting through tofu when it struck its neck.

*Thud.*

Severely wounded in the neck, the rabbit beast fell heavily onto the grass, struggling to crawl back up.

However, a large wound had appeared in its neck from the spiritual sword, and blood gushed out profusely. Its strength drained rapidly along with the blood; it collapsed immediately after attempting to rise.

As time passed, after only a minute, the rabbit beast that Lin Li had stabbed in the neck died.

"Phew..."

Having completed his first kill in life, Lin Li let out a long breath. The tension vanished instantly, replaced by a heart full of excitement and elation.

"Exotic beasts aren't all that much!" Lin Li muttered with a triumphant, joyful smile, then walked quickly toward the rabbit beast.

"I've finally obtained exotic beast flesh that is less than an hour fresh."

Lin Li crouched down, reaching out his right hand to grab one of the rabbit beast's ears.

Then, with a thought, a flash of spiritual light enveloped him, and he vanished from the spot, along with the rabbit beast held in his hand.

***

On the mysterious small island, Lin Li dropped the rabbit beast he was holding at the base of the miraculous small tree in the center of the island.

He then stared intently at the miraculous tree, watching to see how it would handle the rabbit beast.

Five seconds, ten seconds, fifteen seconds...

The miraculous tree showed no movement at all. Just as Lin Li was about to voice his frustration, the corpse of the rabbit beast lying beneath the tree began to change.

White mist drifted from the corpse of the rabbit beast. As time passed, more and more white mist emerged, and simultaneously, the corpse began to decay.

In less than ten seconds, the one-meter-long, sturdy rabbit beast had decayed completely, leaving not even a fragment of bone behind.

The white mist rising from the corpse converged in mid-air, forming a white, spherical mist orb.

This white orb was only the size of a pigeon's egg. Just as Lin Li wanted to reach out and poke it, the orb suddenly flew toward the miraculous tree and merged into its trunk.

***

(End of Chapter)