Chapter 96: Climbing the Rankings
Chapter 96: Climbing the Rankings
The Dragon Falcon Bow could propel arrows at a speed of 275 meters per second. With the addition of the Silencing Arrows and the bow's own wind-cutting effect, the arrows could fly even faster, surpassing 300 meters per second.
The five arrows released made no sound.
Like phantom lightning bolts, they silently and swiftly sliced through the sky.
The first arrow loosed by Ji Xinghuo was not aimed directly at the Fisher Dragons or the Dagons on their backs. Instead, he calculated the lead and shot ahead of their flight path.
By the time he shot his third arrow, the first had already found its mark.
The last Fisher Dragon in the formation had no idea danger was approaching. The Silencing Arrow pierced its cloaca and penetrated its body.
The Fisher Dragons' skin was exceptionally tough, and the Dagons had also equipped them with lightweight armor. Ordinary bows and arrows couldn't inflict any damage, and there weren't many weak spots on their bodies.
Only the eyes and cloaca.
Both areas were not very large, and the chances of hitting them while they were flying high in the sky were slim. However, in Ji Xinghuo's eyes, as long as they were exposed, he had a 100% hit rate.
The Fisher Dragon's eyes widened in an instant, and it opened its mouth to roar, but no sound came out.
The excruciating pain caused it to roll frantically in the air, tossing the Dagon and Golaukr on its back off into the air. Then, it began to plummet toward the ground.
The Dagon shouted in surprise, not understanding what had just happened.
Then he saw the Fisher Dragons in front of him going crazy one by one, throwing the knights on their backs off and struggling desperately. They rolled in the air, spewing blood from their mouths, their wings and claws flailing as if grasping for straws, but they couldn't stop their descent.
"Ambush!"
The Dagon shouted, but they couldn't pinpoint the enemy.
They were also spinning in the sky, unable to control their bodies. Their training kicked in, and they managed to calm themselves, each finding an opportunity to regain their balance and open their parachutes.
The ten Golaukr also spread their wing membranes and glided around the Dagons, trying to locate the enemy.
What they didn't know was that they themselves, suspended high in the sky, were the perfect targets.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Swoosh...
The sound of arrows tearing through the air rang out.
This time, it wasn't the silent arrows, but regular titanium-aluminum alloy arrows, as fast as lightning. Under the dim starlight, they accurately struck the Northern River's Gate tribe members in the sky.
The Dagon at the back of the formation had just heard the sound when, before he could react, an arrow pierced his brain.
The next second, another Dagon met the same fate.
Every second, an arrow claimed the life of a Dagon.
The farthest Dagon finally discovered the source of the attack and pointed at the big tree where Ji Xinghuo was hiding. But he was in the air, unable to fly, and the parachute on his back only hindered his movement, leaving him helpless.
In the blink of an eye, all five Tier 3 Dagons were dead.
The remaining Golaukr frantically tried to escape, but they were only adept at flying at low altitudes. At this height, the strong winds blew them askew, and they struggled to control their flight posture, unable to gain any speed.
After a series of miserable screams, the ten Golaukr also fell to their deaths.
Only then did the Fisher Dragons crash to the ground, their massive corpses slamming into the tree line with a dull thud.
Ji Xinghuo jumped down from the treetop and rushed to the crash site.
He didn't bother with the Fisher Dragons, which had been reduced to a bloody mess. Instead, he quickly collected the spoils from the Dagon and Golaukr corpses before fleeing the scene.
Less than five minutes after Ji Xinghuo left, two Fisher Dragon patrol teams arrived, led by a towering Legendary Dagon. Looking at the dead Fisher Dragons and their tribesmen with their scalps removed, the Legendary powerhouse's eyes blazed with fury.
However, with night having fallen, it was impossible to find the culprit.
"Cut down that tree!"
The Legendary Dagon guessed what had transpired and, in his anger, ordered the tree where Ji Xinghuo had been hiding to be chopped down, feeling it was the only recourse he had.
Ten-plus kilometers away.
Ji Xinghuo looked at the interface of the Myriads Star Pupil, and the spiritual source energy he gained from hunting this patrol team far exceeded his expectations.
Killing the Fisher Dragons also yielded spiritual source energy, with an average of 3 points per dragon.
The Dagons and Golaukr in the patrol team were all Tier 3 or Tier 2, and eliminating the entire team had earned him 60 points of spiritual source energy, twice as much as a regular patrol team! Ji Xinghuo invested it all into the Rotating Magnetic Field.
[Ability: Rotating Magnetic Field (Tier 2: 342/1699)]
The distance of magnetic field induction had broken through 900 meters and was approaching the 1,000-meter mark. As the Rotating Magnetic Field progressed, his strength, speed, explosive power, and self-healing abilities had comprehensively improved and reached new heights.
Growing stronger every day!
Ji Xinghuo relished this feeling.
However, he didn't let it go to his head. Instead, he stealthily returned to the human defensive line to rest for over an hour before continuing his hunt.
The hot season in the Star Realm was coming to an end, and the starlit nights were growing longer.
Currently, the starlit night lasted for over 20 hours, while the daytime lasted only a little over four hours.
Next month, when the Star Realm transitioned from "Flame Month" to "Prosperous Month," the length of daytime would shorten further until one day there would be no daytime at all, and then the cold season would begin.
Ji Xinghuo took full advantage of the lengthy starlit nights. On this night, he eliminated two more patrol teams, though his efficiency had decreased.
But this was out of caution.
Each patrol team was now on guard, and Ji Xinghuo had also discovered that some patrols had hidden experts among them, obviously trying to lure him out.
Before taking action, he conducted thorough reconnaissance.
After a successful strike, he immediately changed locations, never hunting in the same place twice. With a defensive line spanning over 2,000 kilometers in length and a few hundred kilometers in width, finding a single person was akin to searching for a needle in a haystack.
Among these solitary foes were also traps set by legendary powerhouses in disguise.
However, their true forms were exposed under magnetic field induction.
As soon as Ji Xinghuo sensed something amiss, he immediately retreated, never daring to engage targets with such high magnetic field strength.
On several occasions, he detected someone tracking him and decisively withdrew back to the human defensive line.
When day broke, Ji Xinghuo returned to Midpoint Fortress.
Due to the extensive range of his hunting grounds, he had traveled quite a distance, and by the time he arrived, he had missed the first opening of the city gates. After waiting for half an hour, he finally entered the city. Stepping into the bounty hall, he found only a handful of bounty hunters remaining to collect their rewards.
The bounty hunters' eyes turned to Ji Xinghuo as he entered.
"I knew it. He's not the kind to go down so easily," one bounty hunter whispered to his teammate.
The others wore similar expressions of surprise.
Ji Xinghuo guessed that many of the bounty hunters had assumed something had gone wrong when he hadn't returned earlier in the day.
"After you," one of the bounty hunters in line graciously offered his place to Ji Xinghuo.
"Thanks," Ji Xinghuo said as he stepped up to the counter and pulled out a black bag from his backpack.
The staff member took the bag and immediately felt that it was heavier than the day before. Upon emptying its contents, over a hundred bloody trophies spilled out, forming a small mountain on the counter.
The bounty hunters in the hall were stunned.
"Mr. Ji, your total bounty for this trip is 4.17 million, and you've earned 156 points," the staff member quickly tallied and respectfully announced.
"Good," Ji Xinghuo nodded.
Soon, he was handed a thick stack of cash totaling over four million dollars, and he couldn't help but marvel once again at the ease of earning money.
The bounty hunters in the room looked on with envy, but none dared to harbor any ill intentions. A man capable of hunting down over a hundred members of the Bei Luo Shi Men tribe daily was not someone they could afford to provoke. Such strength was likely enough to climb the ladder and rival the likes of Jing Ji and Hong Mo.
After collecting his reward, Ji Xinghuo didn't immediately leave the bounty hall.
A staff member, sensing the situation, promptly brought over a ladder and climbed up to the scoreboard. He erased the last dozen or so lines and rewrote them.
"35th place, Ji Xinghuo, 288 points."
He made it onto the leaderboard! Ji Xinghuo felt a surge of happiness as he saw his name up there.
Although it was only 35th place and merely the monthly leaderboard for Midpoint Fortress, he had made it onto the board and proven his strength in just two days.
Moreover, his ranking would continue to climb.
Ji Xinghuo nodded in satisfaction and left the bounty hall.
After a few hours of rest at an inn and a hearty meal, along with feeding Qinghong several roasted chickens, he set out once more on his hunting expedition.
In the following days, Ji Xinghuo embarked on a leaderboard climb.
Despite the increased vigilance of the Bei Luo Shi Men tribe, his daily bounty count remained stable.
On good days, he brought back over a hundred trophies, and on slower days, he still managed to collect sixty or seventy.
His bounty never fell below 2 million.
His points steadily accumulated.
Ji Xinghuo's ranking on the monthly leaderboard at Midpoint Fortress rose daily—28th, 23rd, 14th... In just five days, he climbed to 3rd place, second only to Jing Ji and Hong Mo Alex.
However, this rank didn't last long.
A few days later, Ji Xinghuo's points surpassed both of them, placing him firmly in 1st place!
Ji Xinghuo's name spread throughout Midpoint Fortress. Bounty hunters and soldiers alike knew that a new formidable figure had arrived, relentlessly hunting down members of the Bei Luo Shi Men tribe.
Even the generals of the various nations stationed at the fortress had heard whispers of his exploits.
One morning, as Ji Xinghuo returned to Midpoint Fortress, the surrounding bounty hunters regarded him with awe-filled gazes.
Just like the day he had first arrived and the bounty hunters had looked at "Hong Mo" Alex, wherever he went, he became the center of attention.
When he had first gained fame, some had even approached him to strike up a conversation.
Now, however, the other bounty hunters' eyes held more wariness and fear, and they kept their distance.
Ji Xinghuo was accustomed to this treatment.
After entering the city, he went to the bounty hall to turn in his trophies. Today's haul was meager, only about eighty, resulting in a lower bounty and points than usual. Hunting had become increasingly challenging, and he had to be cautious at all times, ever vigilant for traps.
Ji Xinghuo managed to stay safe, always able to dodge the dangers, but other bounty hunters weren't so fortunate.
This was why the other bounty hunters kept their distance from him.
Several bounty hunters had already lost their lives, falling prey to the enemy's strong ones who couldn't find Ji Xinghuo and took their anger out on the others. Many bounty hunters were now afraid to venture out.
Ji Xinghuo felt no guilt about this.
After collecting his bounty, he lingered in the bounty hall as usual. The scoreboard displayed the top rankings: 1st place, Ji Xinghuo, 1245 points.
2nd place, Jing Ji, 890 points.
3rd place, Alex, 876 points.
These were the rankings from the previous day, and today's update had not yet been reflected. With the points he had just earned, Ji Xinghuo's lead over the next two would only widen.
Ji Xinghuo left the bounty hall, and on his way, he noticed people recognizing him and turning to stare.
Back in his room at the inn, Ji Xinghuo opened the interface.
[Ability: Rotating Magnetic Field (Level 2: 1658/1699)]
[Spiritual Source Energy: 72]
Ji Xinghuo invested all the spiritual source energy he had gathered over the past few days into the Rotating Magnetic Field, and now, his most important core ability was finally about to level up!
(End of Chapter)
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