Chapter 169: 60% Of A Real Man (II)

"Little Black!"

Reaching another area, Lin Zheyu shouted again, but there was still no response. He took out the beetle, which sniffed the air before flying off toward the left. Lin Zheyu caught it again and followed in that direction.

After walking less than three hundred meters, he caught the faint scent of burnt fur mixed with roasted meat. Soon, he found the source of the smell. Not far away, Little Black was staring eagerly at a campfire where a chunk of beast meat, still covered in fur, was roasting directly in the flames. It kept its eyes fixed on the fire, and when the flames began to die, it ran off to gather some twigs and tossed them in to keep it burning.

Lin Zheyu was speechless.

Well, well... this little thing actually knows how to barbecue.

"Little Black!" Lin Zheyu called out softly.

The creature froze mid-motion, then slowly turned its tiny head toward him, and a glimmer of recognition lit up in its eyes.

"Hiss. Chirp, chirp."

Little Black jumped and waved its claws in excitement, hopping in place a few times before dashing toward Lin Zheyu. Halfway there, it suddenly turned back. It plunged its claws into the fire, enduring the heat to snatch out the half-charred beast meat and flung it far away.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss. Chirp, hiss, hiss."

After that, Little Black pointed at the campfire, then at its mouth, mimicking the gesture Lin Zheyu had used when calling it earlier. It sat down, spun in circles, and even barked twice like a dog. The clever display made Lin Zheyu laugh out loud.

"Not bad! That beast looks to be at least at the early stage of Blood Qi Realm, and here you are, little one, enjoying yourself like a king," Lin Zheyu said with a grin.

He glanced at the other beast's carcass on the ground and chuckled. He finally understood why the scent of the tracking powder had spread all over the mountains. Little Black must have been hunting during that time. But there was one thing he couldn't figure out: where had this little creature found fire?

"Little Black, how did you make the fire?" Lin Zheyu asked curiously, his tone carried genuine curiosity.

Unfortunately, although Little Black was intelligent, it still couldn't understand such complex speech. It scratched its chubby belly, tilted its head, and looked at Lin Zheyu with puzzled, anxious eyes. It wondered whether this two-legged creature had said something it didn't understand again, and if failing to respond properly meant no more roasted meat.

"Chirp, chirp?"

Little Black chirped twice, seemingly asking what Lin Zheyu meant just now. Lin Zheyu smiled and motioned for Little Black to sit before starting to roast the meat. He didn't plan on eating the meat himself. After scraping the fur off the beast with his saber, he began roasting it without bothering to clean it.

Hot oil sizzled from the meat as he sprinkled salt, chili powder, and seasoning over it, and the aroma quickly spread through the air. Little Black sat nearby and was drooling uncontrollably once again.

More than two hours later, after finishing the roasted meat, Little Black lay on the ground comfortably, its belly round and full. The beast it had hunted was enormous, so despite Little Black's strength, its small body limited how much it could eat. It couldn't even finish a third of the meat before it was completely stuffed.

"Get up. You've eaten enough, so it's time to work," Lin Zheyu said, giving Little Black's belly a light kick.

Chirp, chirp.

Little Black rolled over, sat up, and chirped twice as if asking what they were going to do. Ever since tasting roasted meat, it had completely boarded Lin Zheyu's pirate ship. There was no going back. Gone were the hard days of eating raw meat and blood.

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Come on. Let's hunt something stronger. Lead the way."

Lin Zheyu waved his hand, signaling for Little Black to go ahead. After several days of teaching, Little Black could now understand simple words like beast, catch, strong, and barbecue. The Blood Qi Realm beast from before had been found thanks to Little Black's guidance. Without it, Lin Zheyu would've returned empty-handed again.

Hearing him, Little Black's eyes flickered before it bolted into the forest. Its speed was incredible; clearly, this was its natural talent. Lin Zheyu had to run the Golden Goose Technique at full power just to keep up.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Man and beast darted rapidly through the forest, heading deeper into the wilderness. Little Black also possessed a remarkable ability to conceal its aura; even Lin Zheyu might not detect it if it didn't fight.

Lin Zheyu circulated the Tortoise Breath Grand Method, suppressing his own aura. With Little Black leading the way, he no longer needed to rely on his old, time-consuming methods to find strong beasts. The only problem was that Little Black wasn't always reliable, often leading him to weak, low-level beasts.

Hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss.

Suddenly, Little Black stopped, lowered its voice, and pointed toward the depths of the forest, its face showing clear anger. It seemed the beast hiding there had bullied it before.

"Go lure it out," said Lin Zheyu with a smile, patting the angry creature on the head. Meanwhile, he tightened his grip on the Golden Scale saber, blood qi surging within his body as his focus sharpened.

Whoosh.

Little Black lunged forward with a roar, diving straight into the woods. Lin Zheyu waited intently, ready to strike at any moment, but time passed, and neither Little Black nor the beast appeared.

"Still unreliable... It probably went to the wrong place again," Lin Zheyu muttered helplessly. He couldn't help but shake his head.

Most likely, Little Black had worked itself up with anger, charged in roaring, only to find nothing, leaving it sulking somewhere.

Another ten minutes passed. At last, a thunderous roar echoed from deep within the forest, shaking the surrounding mountains.

Lin Zheyu moved at once, dashing toward the sound. After about three hundred meters, he spotted Little Black darting frantically from side to side, desperately fleeing. The moment it saw Lin Zheyu, joy flashed in its tiny eyes, and it bolted straight toward him.

Behind it thundered a massive beast over three meters long, covered in dark fur with two sharp fangs jutting from its upper jaw. Its aura was terrifying; with another roar, an overwhelming pressure spread through the air, sending a surge of danger through Lin Zheyu's heart.

"Good grief, Little Black! You really think highly of me, bringing me to fight something like this!"

Lin Zheyu tightened his grip on the Golden Scale saber as a powerful wave of momentum qi surged from his body.

Bang!

Lin Zheyu struck first. He leapt forward and swung his saber forward, its edge carrying the full force of his gathered momentum qi as he slashed toward the beast's face.

Roar!

The beast finally noticed Lin Zheyu and immediately abandoned Little Black, letting out a thunderous roar as it lunged toward him. Though massive in size, its movements were startlingly agile.

With a slight twist of its body, it easily dodged Lin Zheyu's slash and continued its charge without losing momentum. But Lin Zheyu's movement techniques were no less nimble; when it came to agility, he feared no one. He tapped his toes lightly, his figure gliding aside to evade the beast's snapping jaws, then leapt just in time to avoid its sweeping claws.

Whoosh.

A surge of blood qi burst forth within his body as he swung his second strike, cleaving down toward the beast's back.

Hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss.

Perched on a branch nearby, Little Black waved its claws excitedly, eyes gleaming with wild energy. It bared its tiny fangs and waved its paws furiously, as if it were the one locked in combat rather than Lin Zheyu.

The battle between Lin Zheyu and the beast was fierce and unrelenting. The beast was exceptionally strong. When his saber struck its hide, it felt like chopping at a blunt iron block; only the outer fur was cut, leaving little real damage.

On the contrary, the tremendous recoil left Lin Zheyu's arm aching painfully. Each of the beast's attacks was ferocious beyond measure. Given his current offense-heavy, defense-light condition, even one misstep would mean certain death.

Boom!

He narrowly dodged another strike as a thick tree trunk behind him exploded into splinters under the beast's claws.

"Finally, the ninth strike!"

Lin Zheyu grinned, channeling all his surging blood qi into his arms as an immense wave of momentum gathered along his saber. This strike carried the full might of the eight previous swings.

As the saber swung down, it sliced through the air with a sharp, whistling hiss. Even the beast sensed the terror in that strike. It twisted violently, trying to evade the blow, but it was already too late. The saber came down, carrying a terrifying force that sliced through the beast's tough hide as if cutting through tofu.

Roar!

The beast let out a shrill cry as blood spattered through the air. However, after landing the hit, Lin Zheyu had no intention of pressing the attack. Instead, he spun around, grabbed Little Black, and activated the Golden Goose Technique at full strength, fleeing for his life.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Lin Zheyu screamed.

His strike had only managed to cut through the beast's hide. When the saber hit the beast's bone, it felt as though he had struck unbreakable steel. It sank in only a little before stopping dead. Not only did he fail to seriously wound it, but the powerful rebound tore open his palm, blood dripping from the torn flesh between his thumb and forefinger.

"I can't win. Let's run first and think about this later."

Lin Zheyu made a quick decision and didn’t hesitate to retreat when he realized it was the wiser choice. He was, as he put it, only 60% of a real man; once he unleashed his full power, his blood qi would be drained within 6 minutes. Without the blood qi burst technique, he couldn’t even dodge the beast’s attacks, much less fight back; staying would only mean certain death.

Hiss, chirp, chirp, hiss, hiss.

In Lin Zheyu's grasp, Little Black flailed its claws and screeched indignantly, as if demanding to know why they weren't still fighting. He was so exasperated that he nearly tossed the little creature away right then and there.