Surviving in the chaos of war begins in the wilderness.

Chapter 117 Hunting and Visiting

Having hunted for so long, Zhou Ye had already discovered that neither wild beasts nor monsters were actually that easy to hunt.

Firstly, they are difficult to spot. These monsters aren't actually monsters in the game; they seem to spawn periodically and cluster together. In the wilderness, their distribution is quite scattered.

In other words, Zhou Ye is exceptionally agile, and his range of movement is quite large. In addition, he has accumulated a wealth of hunting experience from the very beginning of his life hunting in the wilderness.

Another area is the Gray Swamp. Thanks to the "protection" of the miasma, the unique flora and fauna here can thrive and multiply in relatively large numbers.

Furthermore, they are incredibly fast at escaping. In truth, demonic beasts are just like wild animals; they don't care about saving face. In fact, demonic beasts are often much smarter and more agile. Once they sense any danger, they will usually flee for their lives.

In other words, Zhou Ye's hunting efficiency was quite astonishing. The number of monsters he hunted alone was equivalent to several hunting teams that ventured deep into the mountains. And this was even after Zhou Ye only hunted for a few seasons and was selective in his hunting.

That's why the He and Gu families value it so much, right?

For example, these oil-armored crocodiles, upon discovering they were facing a martial arts master with profound strength, immediately turned and ran. They had no intention of continuing the fight.

As long as they can get back to the mudflats along the coast and burrow into the mud, Zhou Ye will have no way to deal with them.

No matter how out of his mind Zhou Ye is, there's absolutely no way he would jump into the mud and fight the oil-armored crocodile in such unfavorable terrain.

Needless to say, the oil-armored crocodiles are even faster in water and mud than they can crawl on land. Those at the late stage of the Strength Realm will at least reach an Agility of +4, slightly lower than Zhou Ye's Agility. And that oil-armored crocodile at the early stage of the Bright Strength Realm can even reach an Agility of +10 or more, far exceeding Zhou Ye's current Agility.

It's entirely fair to say that on land and in water or mud, the oil crocodile is a completely different creature in terms of fighting ability.

But since they're already here, how could Zhou Ye possibly let them escape? Especially that late-stage Ming Jin level oil-armored crocodile, which is extremely difficult to hunt.

"Whoosh—!"

Zhou Ye finally unleashed his full power, accurately ensnaring the oil-armored crocodile at the early stage of the Ming Jin realm with his net, temporarily holding it back. Zhou Ye then thrust his spear straight forward, incidentally piercing through another crocodile at the late stage of the Ru Jin realm.

They couldn't care less about the other oil crocodiles. They figured they couldn't bring any more back with them anyway.

虽说在突破明劲后，周野的力量已经超过1000多斤。但油甲鳄的个头也相当不小。入劲后期一般就有5、600斤，那条明劲初期的更是高达7、800斤。

Having dealt with the late-stage Energizing Oil-Armored Crocodile, Zhou Ye flicked his spear, leaving it to flounder on the ground. Then, he pulled back the net, flicked his spear, and swiftly thrust it towards the head of the early-stage Ming-level Oil-Armored Crocodile.

The oil-armored crocodile also became extremely ferocious. A thick layer of blood-red armor appeared on its body, and the oily armor also emitted a bright light. The oil-armored crocodile twisted its body, dissipating most of the force of the shot, leaving only a bloody gash on its head.

Zhou Ye wasn't surprised at all. He knew perfectly well that the Mingjin monster wasn't so easy to kill. So he followed up immediately, his next shot also aimed at the oil-armored crocodile's throat.

Suddenly, the oil-armored crocodile leaped into the air and bit the shaft of the black dragon spear, then immediately performed a death roll.

The Death Roll is one of the signature moves of crocodile-like monsters. Therefore, a tremendous force surged through the spear shaft. Zhou Ye, equally unwilling to let go, continued his attack.

The combined forces of the man and the crocodile collided, instantly creating a tremendous combined force.

With a loud "crack," the Black Dragon Spear snapped in two, and the Oil-Armored Crocodile struggled to escape. Seeing an opportunity to flee, the crocodile immediately and swiftly crawled towards the mudflats—

Holy crap!

Zhou Ye tossed aside the broken spear and took a few leaps to catch up. In this muddy environment, the agile movements of Bishui Youlong were more effective.

With a lunge and a charged attack, the Fish Scale Shield struck the Oil Armored Crocodile precisely, sending it tumbling and exposing its most vulnerable area: its abdomen.

At that moment, Zhou Ye had already drawn a javelin from behind his back. He had already clearly judged the possible movement patterns of the oil-armored crocodile through his keen observation.

These are all javelins made by the Gu family. The main material for the spearhead is the thorns of a porcupine that has reached the late stage of the Energizing Realm.

Zhou Ye produced a total of more than a dozen.

In fact, to upgrade weapons, ordinary metals are no longer sufficient; they must utilize materials from demonic beasts, demonic trees and vines, rare and special metals, and so on. Although these thorns are of a relatively low grade, these javelins are already third-rate weapons, and are arguably the most capable offensive weapons Zhou Ye can currently field—right?

"call--!"

The javelins pierced deeply into the oil-armored crocodile's lower abdomen. With another "whoosh—," all five javelins hit their target. Seeing that the oil-armored crocodile seemed to still be quite resilient, Zhou Ye drew his black steel battle sword and immediately pounced—

After a hundred breaths, Zhou Ye smiled as he looked at the two crocodile carcasses on the ground. This was the second oil-armored crocodile at the early stage of the Ming Jin realm that he had recently hunted, along with seven other oil-armored crocodiles at the late stage of the Ru Jin realm.

Since there were so many crocodiles on the island in the middle of the lake, Zhou Ye simply named the place Crocodile Island.

The two oil-armored crocodiles were simply processed. The other materials from the crocodiles weren't very useful; the most important thing was the crocodile skin. Also, the glands that secreted oil were of unknown use, but the Gu family was willing to pay a high price for them.

However, the meat of the oil crocodile is quite delicious, tender and smooth, much like chicken.

Even after breaking through to the Ming Jin level, the meat of ordinary demonic beasts in the late stage of the Jin realm can only provide a mere 3 points per month. Even the most prized meat only provides around 10 points per month.

Ordinary monster meat in the early stages of Ming Jin can provide 15 points per month, while the heart meat provides around 45 points.

As for the mid-grade Qi and Blood Pills? The amount has been reduced to about 10 points per month, and one pill only provides 3 experience points.

Therefore, Zhou Ye made a decision: he would keep all the meat from the two early-stage Ming Jin crocodiles, and also keep most of the meat from the late-stage Jin Jin crocodiles. The rest would be sold off! The level of those monster meats was too low; their effect on aiding cultivation was negligible.

After finishing all that, Zhou Ye tied everything to the broken spear. The Black Dragon Spear had likely fulfilled its purpose and could now only be used as a carrying pole.

Looking around Crocodile Island, he discovered that the miasma here was already at a very high concentration, and his blood transfusion technique was nearing its limit.

Furthermore, there are far too many oil crocodiles on the island. If you are near the mudflats and suddenly attacked by several oil crocodiles of the Mingjing stage, you could be in danger.

That's settled then!

This Crocodile Island will serve as a temporary stop, and it's about time to conclude this in-depth exploration. Perhaps I should continue my exploration after I break through to the mid-stage of the Ming Jin realm?

Suddenly, Zhou Ye caught a glimpse of a group of colorful frogs just a few dozen steps away.

"Whoosh!"

The net accurately caught most of the spotted frogs. Although spotted frogs are just early-stage Qi Refining beasts and not very big, they taste delicious, don't they?

After reaching the Ming Jin stage, Zhou Ye's appetite increased significantly, and he could consume 3 to 5 catties of meat every day. He could also eat much more demon beast meat, increasing it to about 2 catties a day. Therefore, he would definitely choose the tastiest pieces of meat from the excess.

There's nothing we can do! Zhou Ye is a citizen of the Great Foodie Empire, after all.

A day later, Zhou Ye returned to his little home carrying his things. To his surprise, Hua Hua came running over excitedly, carrying a baby in its mouth. It happily placed the baby in front of Zhou Ye.

Good heavens! Zhou Ye was stunned. He almost burst into tears of joy.

So you little leopard who eats for free actually know how to hunt prey for yourself?

Although this cub-bearing beast was just an ordinary wild animal, Zhou Ye was still very happy.

I cut off a piece of crocodile meat, killed two more spotted frogs, and cut one of the frogs' hind legs into pieces as well. I put everything together and cooked a big pot of spicy, flavorful meat.

-

That evening, Zhou Ye patted his round belly, grinning foolishly and exclaiming: "I never thought my Hua Hua would finally grow up!"

More than ten days later, Zhou Ye had returned to the county town. This time, he had brought back all the remaining salted fish and salted beef. And from now on, he would basically no longer hunt these ordinary wild animals—right?

Early the next morning, Zhou Ye packed more than 10 kilograms of the heart meat of a late-stage Qi-level demon beast and went to visit his third senior brother, Han Guang.

Han Guang had always treated him well at the martial arts school. Now that he knew Han Guang had failed to break through to the Dark Force realm, it was only proper etiquette to visit him.

As for the monster meat? Actually, the meat of monsters at the Enlightenment stage isn't particularly remarkable. Even a mountain hunter like Zhou Ye, who has already reached the Enlightenment stage, occasionally manages to hunt a few. But the heart meat is relatively more effective, and it's perfect for helping Han Guang regulate his body.

Regardless, this is a token of my appreciation!

Upon arriving at Han Guang's house, the two exchanged a few polite words. The third senior brother was quite pleased with Zhou Ye's visit. However, he was clearly in a bad mood, so Zhou Ye didn't intend to disturb him any longer. After exchanging pleasantries for a while, he took his leave.

Unexpectedly, just as they arrived at the door, they encountered Wu Junhe—a young woman?

Wu Jun has broken through to the late stage of the Entry-Level Strength realm, so he has been serving as a bodyguard and has been frequently traveling with Wang Ji Pharmacy's caravan recently, which has reduced the number of times he has encountered Zhou Ye.

And Wu Jun had started growing a beard, trying to look more mature. But that beard—was it still just sparse, downy hair?

In any case, Wu Jun is about the same age as me. How come he already has a girl?