Chapter 55: The Lone Wanderer

Chapter 55: The Lone Wanderer

Ji Xinghuo sat on the train, the scenery outside flashing by under the starry night sky.

Despite the late hour, the carriage was still filled with passengers, most of them like himself, preparing for their hunting expeditions. However, they all traveled in groups, and solitary travelers like him were rare.

The train was headed for Freedom City.

Ji Xinghuo had spent a long time considering where to go for this hunting trip.

The area around Olympia was naturally the safest option, as most of the dangers had been cleared by other hunters, making it ideal for his first solo hunt.

However, with safety came lesser rewards.

He could also head to the areas around other cities.

For example, Dragonfly City.

Dragonfly City was also part of the Asia-Pacific Collective, located over a hundred kilometers east of Olympia. It was said that the feathered serpent's trail led to Razor Rift, south of Dragonfly City, according to Qi Zhaofeng.

Ji Xinghuo was tempted to try his luck at Razor Rift, but upon inquiring, he found that the news had spread far and wide.

The feathered serpent could potentially give birth to a "flying" variant, which was too great a lure for most hunters.

Numerous hunting parties would undoubtedly swarm the area.

Ji Xinghuo checked the map, and Razor Rift was only about twenty kilometers long. It would be easy for these hunting parties to comb through the entire rift, digging up every inch and clearing out all the monsters. Going there alone would likely result in a wasted trip, with little to no gains.

What he needed was spiritual source energy, and the variant monsters were secondary.

It would be best to go to a place with numerous monsters, where hunting parties were not competing for resources and the environment was relatively safe.

Ji Xinghuo immediately thought of Absolute Peak Valley!

The valley was infested with millions of stone sickle fiends, but their variant value was low, so hunting parties rarely targeted them.

While Absolute Peak Valley spanned a vast area of five to six thousand square kilometers, it was challenging for ordinary people to locate the stone sickle fiend hordes.

However, for Ji Xinghuo, it posed no difficulty.

Moreover, he had spent ten days in the valley with Ren Jie and her team, so he was familiar with the geography and climate, giving him more confidence than venturing into an unknown place.

As for the Nascent Soul-level stone sickle giant fiend, he would just need to steer clear of it.

Absolute Peak Valley was the perfect place to acquire spiritual source energy, and within the territories controlled by Earth's humans, there was no better hunting ground.

The only drawback was that it was a bit far.

Night was falling.

The train arrived at Freedom City, and Ji Xinghuo found an inn near the train station to spend the night. He woke up at dawn, had a quick meal, and left the city.

Many hunting parties also set off at this time.

By traveling during the day, they could cover a significant distance on the first day, improving their journey's efficiency.

Ji Xinghuo, with his bag on his back, walked alone on the road and encountered several teams. The hunters gave him curious glances when they noticed him.

At first, most of the teams he met had no ill intentions, but after walking for a few hours and moving farther from Freedom City, their gazes changed.

Freedom City was a city of the Western Alliance. Most of the hunters here were from the Western Alliance as well.

Due to geographical reasons, there was no direct conflict between the Asia-Pacific Collective and the Western Alliance. Still, historically, the relationship between the two had never been amicable, and they had often found themselves on opposing sides.

Earth in the 23rd century was dominated by a two-superpower, two-strong power structure.

The relationships between the four major powers were intricate, but they could be broadly divided into two camps.

On one side was the Eastern bloc, led by the Asia-Pacific Collective and seconded by the New Roman Empire, along with dozens of other nations. The other side comprised the Western bloc, dominated by the American Federation and supported by the Western Democratic Union. Neighboring the New Roman Empire, the Western Alliance held mutual enmity, with constant border conflicts and a deep-rooted hatred.

Most of the conflicts and wars on Earth, no matter which continent or country they originated from, eventually escalated into confrontations between these two camps.

The rivalry between the two superpowers was the main theme of the 23rd century!

Over the years, numerous historians, politicians, and international relations scholars had come to a consensus: Earth would inevitably unify!

Moreover, global unification would happen sooner rather than later.

The earliest it could occur would be within this century, and the latest it would take would be three hundred years.

However, there was no consensus on who the ultimate victor would be.

More than 95% of Earth's population believed that the winner would inevitably be either the Asia-Pacific Collective or the American Federation, with other countries having slim chances.

As an ally of the American Federation for many years, the Western Alliance naturally hoped for an American victory.

Consequently, people from the Western Alliance were generally unfriendly, even hostile, towards members of the Asia-Pacific Collective.

The disputes on Earth extended into the starry realm.

Within human cities, citizens of different countries could maintain a superficial peace and order. However, once they ventured out of the cities, if they encountered teams from other countries, especially hostile nations, they would rarely let an opportunity pass.

Most of the teams leaving Freedom City were from the Western Alliance.

Seeing Ji Xinghuo, an Easterner, traveling alone with an obviously valuable hawk bow on his back, they found it hard to resist the temptation.

"People are truly treacherous!"

Ji Xinghuo sensed malicious intent on several occasions. If there hadn't been other teams on the road, someone might have already made a move.

He tried to create distance, but some teams kept drawing closer.

"Forget it," Ji Xinghuo thought. He didn't want to get into a conflict right after leaving the city, as it would disrupt his hunting plans.

He lightly touched the stealth ring on his index finger with his thumb, and the light around him bent, cloaking him in transparency. It would be challenging to spot him from more than three meters away.

Activating the rotating magnetic field, Ji Xinghuo broke into a sprint.

The "silencer" absorbed the vibration sound waves, ensuring that his running produced no noise.

The hunters from the team who noticed Ji Xinghuo's disappearance immediately became vigilant, standing guard and searching for his figure. However, after waiting for a long time without any attack, they realized that Ji Xinghuo had already left.

Ji Xinghuo ran for several kilometers before deactivating his stealth.

The stealth ring continuously consumed starlight, and 185 points of starlight would only last for an hour at most.

Carrying a heavy bag while sprinting consumed both his physical energy and starlight, and he would be exhausted in less than half an hour.

For an entire day, Ji Xinghuo traveled over three hundred kilometers.

He overtook one hunting party after another and walked for over a hundred more kilometers under the starry night sky.

It was only when night fell that Ji Xinghuo set up camp in the forest. He had carefully chosen this spot, nestled between two large boulders, with branches covering the top. If any monsters approached from the front, he could easily escape through the top.

Ji Xinghuo didn't start a fire, relying on his Myriad Illusions Star Pupil to see in the darkness.

He ate some dry food and water, filling his stomach casually.

Alone in the tent, Ji Xinghuo listened to the insects and birds chirping outside. The forest was pitch-black and shrouded in darkness, with occasional distant calls piercing the silence.

Using magnetic field induction, he scanned an area of 800 meters around his camp, and before setting up the tent, he had walked around to confirm there were no dangers lurking nearby.

Despite these precautions, he still felt a bit uneasy.

It wasn't fear, but being alone in the wilderness for the first time tended to make one's imagination run wild.

"No wonder everyone prefers to team up," he muttered to himself.

"Without someone keeping watch, you lose that sense of security."

Ji Xinghuo's lips twisted as he suddenly missed Ren Mian.

During their previous hunting trip, they had taken turns keeping watch, and whenever he woke up in the tent, all he had to do was open his eyes to see her sitting there, filling him with a sense of security. Moreover, without the plant protection layer, the simple traps he set up could only make a little noise, which was better than nothing.

"Time to sleep," he told himself.

Ji Xinghuo climbed into his sleeping bag and closed his eyes, his breathing soon becoming slow and steady.

However, he didn't fall into a deep sleep, maintaining a state of pseudo-sleep where he would immediately wake up at the slightest disturbance outside the tent.

The night passed.

Ji Xinghuo hadn't slept well, yawning several times.

He had woken up numerous times the previous night due to wild beasts or small animals approaching the tent. Although they hadn't posed any real threat, they had still disturbed his sleep.

This interrupted sleep naturally affected the quality of his rest. Normally, he would have needed only five or six hours to fully recover his energy, but now he required more than ten hours.

It was inconvenient to start a fire at night, but he could do so during the day.

Ji Xinghuo set up a small pot to cook instant noodles for himself, tending to the fire while he packed up his tent and bags.

"Chirp... chirp..."

A sharp cry rang out from the horizon.

Ji Xinghuo paused and turned toward the source of the sound, his eyes narrowing. There weren't many trees around his campsite, and the location was relatively high, allowing him a clear view of the sky to the north, where several dark silhouettes were moving about three to four kilometers away at an altitude of about two hundred meters above the ground.

Using his Myriad Illusions Star Pupil, he brought the silhouettes closer into view.

"Man-faced Owls!"

Ji Xinghuo recognized these monsters.

They resembled owls, but their size was several times larger, with a wingspan of over three meters. At the ends of their wings were a pair of black giant claws that resembled human hands. Their heads had sharp, scythe-like beaks, large eyes, brow feathers, and distinct facial contours, resembling a human face, hence their name.

Man-faced Owls were very aggressive and liked to hunt in packs, especially preying on primates, including humans.

They had excellent eyesight.

As Ji Xinghuo spotted them, they also detected the human on the ground.

A sharp shriek pierced the air.

The six Man-faced Owls immediately accelerated and flew toward him, descending in height as they locked onto their prey.

"Perfect for a snack," Ji Xinghuo muttered.

He quickly grabbed his Dragon Falcon Hawk Bow and a handful of titanium-aluminum alloy arrows, leaping onto the rocks and aiming his bow at the sky.

The Man-faced Owls were fast fliers, and in less than half a minute, they were within range.

However, Ji Xinghuo didn't shoot right away.

He waited until the lead owl dove toward him, closing the distance to less than 200 meters, before releasing his first arrow.

Zing!

The dragon falcon's bowstring contracted and snapped back, releasing a tremendous force that sent the arrow flying forward and out of sight in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, the diving Man-faced Owl let out a mournful cry as its heart was pierced. Its wings lost momentum, and its body fell toward the ground due to inertia.

Ji Xinghuo fired his arrows in rapid succession, each time the dragon falcon hawk bow opened and closed, sending an arrow flying with deadly accuracy.

He fired a total of five arrows.

Yet, all six Man-faced Owls were taken down, with the third arrow striking two targets at once.

Thud! Thud! Thud...

The owls' bodies crashed through branches, falling one by one into the forest. In mere moments, the entire group was eliminated.

Ji Xinghuo caressed his hawk bow, highly satisfied with the performance of his new weapon.

He jumped down from the rocks, removed the pot from the fire, and walked over to the fallen Man-faced Owls, which were only about a hundred meters away. By the time he reached them, they were long dead, and when he touched their bodies, an information interface popped up in front of his eyes.

[Monster: Man-faced Owl]



[Level: Bizarre]



[Variant: Rip]



This group of Man-faced Owls was a typical bizarre monster group, lacking an elite among them. They only possessed one variant, "Rip," derived from the sharp claws at the ends of their wings.

Rip was a basic ability with relatively average power.

Humans lacked claws, and their fingernails weren't sharp enough, so they could only use short weapons like daggers to achieve a similar effect, causing larger wounds in their enemies.

However, as few people chose to merge with this ability, it held little value.

Ji Xinghuo didn't even bother to collect the variant, inspecting all six owls and finding no other variants.

He cut off a piece of owl meat, retrieved his titanium-aluminum alloy arrows, and returned to his campsite. There, he cooked the bird meat over the fire and ate it with his noodles.

"Tastes pretty good, and the meat is tender," he commented.

"If Caiyi were here, she'd probably make it taste even better."

Ji Xinghuo glanced at the Myriad Illusions Star Pupil interface.

Aside from providing bird meat for his meal, the greatest value of these Man-faced Owls was the 6 points of spiritual source energy they contributed, bringing his total to 35 points.

After packing up his campsite and gear, Ji Xinghuo continued on his way, heading west.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end