Chapter 77

The black wolf cautiously approached the cave entrance, sniffed hard, and then observed the ground marks for a while before saying, "He's already gone. You two, go in and take a look."

The two people designated by the black wolf crawled into the cave. Moments later, their voices echoed from inside, "He spent the night here!"

Before the words had even finished, a violent explosion suddenly occurred inside the cave. The shockwave even blasted one person directly out of the cave!

"Damn it!" The black wolf immediately bent over and covered his head, but he was still thrown several meters by the explosion, landing unsteadily on the ground.

The black wolf rolled over and leaped to his feet, feeling extremely frustrated. The two people he sent into the cave were experts in wilderness tracking and survival. How could they still trigger a trap? With these two dead, relying on himself alone, the tracking would become very difficult.

Before the black wolf could steady himself, a flash of light suddenly caught his eye. He was instantly terrified; it was the glow of a force bullet!

This shot came unexpectedly, with a range of only about a hundred meters. The black wolf had no way to dodge it and could only barely move away from the vital areas.

With a惨叫, the black wolf was blasted backward, his arms already mangled with blood and flesh. The black wolf used all his strength to perform a backflip and land on the ground. However, before his legs even touched the ground, another flash of light appeared in his field of vision, another force bullet!

The black wolf's mind went blank, with only one thought remaining: How many people are there? What kind of firing rate is this?! How could it be the work of one person?

No matter what the black wolf was thinking at that moment, the force bullet still hit the same spot on his chest. This time, the protective force around his body was completely shattered, and his arms flew off.

Before the black wolf fell, he finally saw the position from which Qian Ye was shooting.

Qian Ye was hiding in a rocky area over a hundred meters away. The rocks were jagged, but the slope was not steep, and the plants were sparse, making it easy to spot any movement. This was not a suitable place for hiding, so the black wolf did not pay special attention to it when inspecting the surroundings. Qian Ye buried himself in the soil, remaining completely still, thus successfully deceiving the black wolf and launching a surprise attack.

Qian Ye discarded the empty assault rifle and burst out of his hiding place, charging at the Sky Snake gang members like a lone wolf hunting. As he ran, the Butcher and the hand axe were already in his left and right hands.

Boom! The Butcher fired from ten meters away, the force bullets blasting a Sky Snake gang member backward.

Qian Ye then dashed the final ten meters and plunged into the midst of the Sky Snake gang members, who were still frantically searching for the enemy. The battle axe flashed with a cold light, instantly cutting down two people. The Butcher spun, and Qian Ye grabbed the barrel, smashing the steel-embedded handle into another person's forehead!

A first-level Sky Snake gang combat soldier, who was a bit further away, raised his force rifle and tried to aim at Qian Ye. The patterns on the gun lit up one by one, almost completing the charge.

Qian Ye suddenly let out a low roar and charged forward, covering the ten meters in a blink. The Sky Snake gang member was knocked flying!

With a crack, the first-level combat soldier's chest caved in under Qian Ye's immense strength, comparable to that of a fifth-level combat soldier, and he was instantly on the brink of death. Qian Ye grabbed the nearly charged rifle and threw it backhanded, aiming for another Sky Snake gang member.

This Sky Snake gang member was also a first-level combat soldier. He had stumbled to the side, narrowly avoiding Qian Ye's charge. Now, still unsteady, he saw the force rifle spinning back and instinctively reached out to catch it. The flickering light on the gun suddenly made him realize the danger, and his face changed dramatically!

Boom! The force rifle, with its charge interrupted, exploded violently. The Sky Snake combat soldier was covered in blood and fell backward.

Qian Ye panted heavily, looking around. There was no enemy left standing around him.

Qian Ye slowly walked to the black wolf, looked down at him, and asked, "Are you the black wolf?"

The black wolf, hit by two force bullets and having lost his arms, had no strength to sit up. He weakly replied, "Do you recognize me?"

"You are one of the four great experts of the Sky Snake gang. Since we are at war, of course, we need to gather intelligence on each of you." Qian Ye said calmly.

The black wolf struggled to say, "You... are not an ordinary hunter! Who... are you?"

"Who I am is not important. Do you have anything else to say?"

The black wolf showed a tragic expression and said, "If I could, I hope... to die by a force gun. That is the proper end for me."

Qian Ye picked up the Butcher, slowly channeling the martial force, and the force arrays in the gun lit up, emitting a faint glow from the large barrel.

Qian Ye pointed the gun at the black wolf's heart and pulled the trigger. With a boom, a yellow light pierced through his body, and a fountain of blood over a meter high spurted from the black wolf's chest!

Qian Ye quickly cleaned up the battlefield, taking only a second-level force gun and the gold coins from the black wolf and the others. Then he walked to a slope a few hundred meters to the east, set up some traps, and gradually blended back into the environment.

Half an hour later, another group of Sky Snake gang members appeared, led by Fei Niao. He saw the bodies scattered in front of the cave from a distance and immediately changed his expression, rushing over.

But when Fei Niao saw that it was the black wolf's body, he suddenly stopped, raised his hand, and all the Sky Snake gang members behind him immediately stopped, dispersed, and found their battle positions, quickly entering a combat state.

Fei Niao stood ten meters from the black wolf's body and did not move forward. He scanned the battle traces and, after a moment, his gaze accurately landed on the spot where the black wolf was first blasted away. He silently observed and calculated for a while, then looked at the initial sniping position of Qian Ye.

Fei Niao slightly bowed, moving like a lithe cat, approaching the sniping position at varying speeds. The area was naturally empty. The pit where Qian Ye had hidden was already filled and covered with a few rocks.

Fei Niao's gaze fell on a small grass blade between two rocks, which was a bit awkwardly positioned. He looked along the sniping line and then scanned the entire rocky area.

The wind on the plain began to pick up in the afternoon, and the plants in the open areas leaned slightly with the wind. However, this small grass, caught between two large rocks, was also pressed down and tilted. It seemed that this was where Qian Ye had initially hidden and had erased the traces afterward.

Fei Niao took a few steps forward and bent down to examine the traces left by Qian Ye. An excellent hunter could deduce the habits of the opponent from these subtle clues, thus gaining an advantage in the next encounter.

But just as he bent down, he felt as if he had been bitten by something and immediately jumped up from the ground! However, it was already too late. Fei Niao saw a flash of light out of the corner of his eye, and the sound of the gun followed.

The light exploded, and Fei Niao was thrown like a rag doll. He performed a backflip, barely landing, but his left hand hung limply by his side, unable to be raised, and his entire arm was mangled with blood and flesh.

On a gentle slope a few hundred meters away, Qian Ye stood up from his hiding place, looked at Fei Niao from a distance, made a throat-cutting gesture, and then turned and climbed the mountain.

Fei Niao's face was pale, and he slowly straightened up. The Sky Snake gang members wanted to chase, but he stopped them.

Qian Ye was clearly overextended in force, and he did not have the strength to take on all of them at once. That was why he chose to retreat after wounding Fei Niao. If the Sky Snake gang members pursued, without Fei Niao leading, they would be picked off one by one in a mobile battle.

Fei Niao bandaged his wound and then carefully examined the entire battlefield, including inside the cave, before climbing to the ridge and looking in the direction Qian Ye had left. His eyes showed a bloodthirsty madness, but also deep caution.

Qian Ye ran continuously for dozens of kilometers before slowing down and proceeding cautiously. This area was already outside the control of Dark Blood City, and dark races often roamed here. Humans hunted dark races, and dark races also captured humans. The difference was that humans were always on the menu for most dark races, especially those with powerful force, who were considered a rare delicacy by some races.

As Qian Ye moved forward, he also looked for a hiding place. Finally, he found a hidden cave on a low cliff covered with shrubs, entered it, and camouflaged the entrance before relaxing.

Qian Ye took out a map, studied it for a while, and then marked the route for the next day, making annotations at several key points. He then checked everything from start to finish.

If Fei Niao followed this route, his injuries would make the journey on the plain particularly arduous. After both sides had expended a large amount of energy, Qian Ye would prepare a memorable encounter for Fei Niao. On the plain, the relationship between hunter and prey was never absolute.

After completing the preparations, Qian Ye began to cultivate the martial force. He could now withstand twenty-five cycles of force tides during each node nurturing, up from twenty. In the foreseeable future, he hoped to cultivate with the force tides of a martial king.

Qian Ye looked forward to such a prospect. The cumulative impact of thirty cycles of force tides was so great that it could almost shatter any barrier below the rank of a war general. This meant that there were no bottlenecks for a martial king before reaching the ninth rank. Although a small amount of force was still consumed by the blood qi during the nurturing process, his force was already condensed and heavy, and this loss only brought him to the level of an ordinary cultivator.

During Qian Ye's cultivation, the blood qi in his body continued to act on its own. The golden and purple blood qi became more active, each killing and consuming a common dark red blood qi. Their activities were becoming more frequent, almost a small interlude during each nurturing session. Qian Ye almost took it for granted and considered it part of his cultivation.

After finishing his cultivation, Qian Ye began to maintain his guns and loaded a new force bullet. After completing all the battle preparations, he closed his eyes and fell into a light sleep, waiting for dawn.

The night, as always, was not quiet. There were long wolf howls, the roars of wild beasts, the booms of guns, and the rumbling of explosions. Under the deep, eternal night, humans, dark races, and fierce beasts were all killing each other, struggling for a place to survive.

The assault rifle and the Butcher were within reach, and the battle axe was also within arm's reach. Qian Ye's fingertips could always feel the cold and solid metal, and his mood was very calm. As long as he could still fight and was still alive, he would never give up.

Qian Ye gradually fell asleep.

After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly found himself standing in a forest. It was dark all around, with nothing to see, but he could feel the heavy killing intent, like needles pricking his exposed skin, causing goosebumps to rise.

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound from the bushes. Qian Ye immediately crouched low, like a hunting animal, holding his breath and staring at the source of the sound.