CHAPTER 71: CHAPTER 40: PROVOCATION

A gigantic snowball collided head-on with a giant buffalo. The continuous rolling had compacted the snow wrapped around stones so solidly that even when crashing into the buffalo, only a few snowflakes splattered off the surface.

However, the snowball was not as tall as the neck of the giant buffalo, and the impact only struck one of the buffalo’s forelegs.

Of course, this collision didn’t harm the giant buffalo in the least, but it could hinder its movement.

The buffalo angrily raised its leg and stomped the snowball to pieces, pressing the stones buried in snow into the ground as well.

During the time the buffalo’s movement was hindered, Yan Luo’s figure had already vanished up the mountain.

He used a grappling gun to descend swiftly, successfully reaching the foot of the mountain, though on the opposite side.

The red dot in his vision shifted again, prompting the buffalo to turn and charge down the mountain.

Even a City-breaking Level mutant creature couldn’t defy gravity; the buffalo couldn’t run down the steep mountainside and had to take a detour, giving Yan Luo ample time to escape.

Dressed in an exoskeleton, Yan Luo sprinted through the forest, controlling his speed to avoid displaying agility far beyond that of an ordinary person.

Yan Luo knew that the Hunter Skill Competition program team must be watching him, surely livestreaming his encounter with the City-breaking Level mutant creature.

Just as Yan Luo anticipated, the main livestream room of the Hunter Skill Competition kept the camera fixed on him, waking up the two extremely tired commentators who became excited as the situation changed.

"Yan Luo used a clever strategy to temporarily escape the buffalo’s sight. However, the buffalo seems to have locked onto him. We can see on the map that the giant beast is chasing toward Yan Luo’s location. I bet it’s because Yan Luo’s previous actions angered it."

"But how did Yan Luo know that the monster would charge at him? When we first spotted the buffalo, it should have been over ten kilometers away from Yan Luo, right?"

"Who knows? Maybe it’s because his intuition is strong? After all, he’s a walking Abyss, a hunter who battles Demons. Reports show that many hunters who have condensed soul seeds can pass on a portion of their intuition to others when they inherit the soul seed."

"Wow, that’s really interesting!"

"Alright, let’s refocus on the competition site... Damn, this kid runs fast!"

Even in the forest, Yan Luo’s pace could be described as moving swiftly.

No tree root could trip him, nor could any mutant animal impede his movement.

Perception is one of the few abilities Yan Luo could fully utilize without worrying about getting noticed. Currently, his perception wasn’t particularly strong; some ordinary people with well-developed brains had much stronger perception abilities than him.

Compared to those who could foresee a few seconds into the future, Yan Luo’s perception was still quite weak.

Using his perception and neural reactions, Yan Luo avoided everything that could slow him down, running swiftly across the ground.

Even so, the thunderous sounds from behind gradually closed the distance.

Yan Luo was indeed running fast, but compared to a gigantic creature, his speed seemed almost humorous.

The giant buffalo stood ten meters tall at the shoulder, with an eighteen-meter-long body, and each step could cover a dozen meters. Even though its stride frequency was lower than Yan Luo’s, its direct charging speed was much faster than Yan Luo’s.

Fortunately, Yan Luo had already reached his destination and didn’t need to run anymore.

Yan Luo suddenly shot out a grappling hook, letting the winch spin to retract the cable while he leapt into the air.

The distant tree caught by the grappling hook showed signs of being uprooted, but luckily, while in mid-air, Yan Luo pressed the release button to retract the grappling hook.

He certainly didn’t want to be stuck mid-air and have a tree suddenly fly toward him, crushing him into a trap.

On Yan Luo’s path, there was a natural trap. He didn’t know which mutant creature dug it out, but there was a large pit there.

The pit was deep. Yan Luo checked with the range-finding function on his monocle and found the pit’s bottom at least thirteen meters below the surface.

Previously on the mountain, Yan Luo had observed the giant buffalo, knowing its shoulder height was only ten meters. Even when one foot got trapped in the deep pit, its heavy body would collapse the pit rim, but its hoof could never touch the bottom.

For a City-breaking Level mutant creature, this was no issue for the giant buffalo. Yan Luo knew that given enough time, the giant buffalo could pull its leg out of the pit.

The problem was, Yan Luo wouldn’t give it that time.

Yan Luo continued running, but this time, he slowed his pace.

"Yan Luo’s speed suddenly dropped. What’s happening? Is he exhausted?"

"No, he just used a grappling gun to leap over what looked like an open space. I suspect there’s a trap there... right, it’s the pit he found yesterday!"

"So, Yan Luo intends to use that pit to limit the giant buffalo’s movement?"

"That’s how it looks."

The two commentators quickly conveyed Yan Luo’s current situation, enlightening the audience.

Yan Luo listened calmly to the approaching rumble from behind, sensing that the buffalo was getting closer.

Though he didn’t know how the buffalo targeted him, he had figured out its modus operandi.

With its massive size and thick skin, this buffalo didn’t dodge any obstacles but charged headlong.

Since its appearance, Yan Luo had tried several tests, finding that it always charged straight at him, never deviating.

Thus, Yan Luo arrived at his current position.

Yan Luo stopped and looked back.

The buffalo was charging forward, and he could already see the trees shattered by the giant beast flying into the sky.

But, at this distance, Yan Luo didn’t need to worry about those trees hitting him.

"Moo!!"

The buffalo roared deeply as it ran.

It was like a massive ship sailing on land, cleaving through the forest sea ahead.

Then, its hoof stepped into the deep pit.

The buffalo’s right forehoof missed its step, letting out an alarmed bellow, unable to stop its body from tipping over under gravity.

Its right forehoof slipped into the deep pit, and its massive body collapsed the opening, causing the deeply trapped foreleg to slide further, making it more challenging to pull out.

At this moment, the red dot in the buffalo’s eyes gradually enlarged, moving slowly toward it.

Yan Luo stepped over a felled log, appearing in the buffalo’s line of sight.

Immediately, the buffalo let out a furious roar.

The deafening bellow emitted a storm from its mouth, striking directly on Yan Luo’s face.

Without stopping, Yan Luo walked straight toward the giant buffalo.

The giant buffalo, with its remaining three legs shaking, struggled to pull its right forehoof from the deep pit. The problem was, its current posture made it hard to exert force.

Even though the giant buffalo was a City-breaking Level mutant creature, it couldn’t defy physical laws.

The giant buffalo had a large lung capacity, but it still needed to breathe.

After an earth-shaking roar, the giant buffalo expelled all the oxygen from its body and began to take deep breaths.

At this moment, Yan Luo swiftly threw a grenade.

Yan Luo put all his might into the throw. The grenade was already moving fast, and with the giant buffalo inhaling fiercely, the grenade immediately fell into the giant buffalo’s mouth.

Boom!

A muffled explosion emanated from the buffalo’s mouth, and its eyes abruptly widened, letting out another skyward roar.

The grenade didn’t cause any damage to the giant buffalo. Even a missile couldn’t harm it, not to mention a mere grenade.

Even if the grenade exploded in the buffalo’s mouth, the giant buffalo’s muscles were tenacious, and its mouth was equally sturdy.

When the buffalo raised its head to bellow, Yan Luo saw its tongue, noting that not only its mouth but even its tongue remained unharmed.

Indeed, with the weapons he had, it was impossible to kill a City-breaking Level mutant creature.

Yan Luo smirked self-mockingly and turned to run.

He had now completely enraged the mutant creature. Next, it would definitely chase him, which was exactly what he wanted.