Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Easy Hunting Late at night, Redwood Ridge. The cold wind was piercing, the silver-clad landscape pure white. Countless massive trees, each adorned with long icicles, formed this tranquil and silent icy forest. Aside from the occasional sound of ice breaking from the trees hitting the ground due to the strong wind, there was virtually no other noise to be heard. Beneath a Golden Frost Tree with a diameter of over seven meters, nine figures were moving about. A person jumped down from a tree next to the Golden Frost Tree, holding a large saber in hand. He gave a few instructions to the nine people beneath the tree. The nine people immediately took out several ropes from their bodies, laid them on the ground, and then covered them with snow, each grabbing one end of the rope and hiding behind a nearby tree. The person holding the saber, seeing everyone was well hidden, looked up and made a hand signal towards a tree to the left of the Golden Frost Tree. Swoosh... As soon as the signal was made, in just two breaths, an arrow suddenly shot out from the tree to the left, flying straight towards the top of the Golden Frost Tree. The arrow was incredibly fast and frighteningly powerful, breaking through several thick icicles along its path. It eventually hit something, making a clear clanging sound. "Roar..." Following the arrow was a terrifying roar from a Cold Beast. Atop the Golden Frost Tree, there was actually an adult Snow Mane, over four meters in length. The Snow Mane leaped from the tree, its four sturdy hooves digging over a meter deep into the snow, with two tusks standing upright and a fierce gaze fixed on the man standing below the tree, its body ready to move. A Black Arrow was embedded in the Snow Mane’s right face, about ten centimeters from its eye, clearly the arrow that had just been shot from the tree to the left. "Roar..." The Snow Mane’s pupils took on a hint of blood red, and with an angry roar, its hind legs kicked off the ground like a cannonball, charging straight at the man with the saber. The terrifying impact force sent the accumulated snow high into the air, forming a white wave as it rushed towards the man in an instant. "Pull the rope!" Unfazed, the man with the saber gave the command, and the nine people hiding behind the tree all exerted force simultaneously, tightly pulling the ropes they held. Twang... The ropes in the snow were pulled taut by the nine people, just in time to block the Snow Mane’s charging path. Caught off guard, the Snow Mane’s legs were tripped, and despite the terrifying impact force causing the nine people pulling the ropes to stagger, its speed suddenly slowed down. Moreover, its forelegs were slightly caught, and the powerful inertia almost caused it to flip sideways. As the nine people emerged, the Snow Mane’s pupils shrank sharply, seemingly sensing a dangerous aura. After forcibly steadying its body, it no longer charged forward and instead turned its head, intending to flee. "Trying to run, it won’t be that easy!" As the Snow Mane nearly flipped over, the man with the saber had already lunged beside it. Seeing the Snow Mane trying to escape, he gripped his large saber with both hands and slashed forcefully towards the top of its head. Whoosh... The saber blade sliced through the air with a whistling sound. The cold edge of the saber reflected in its pupils, and the Snow Mane’s ferocity seemed to be incited as it turned its head and charged with its tusks extended at the saber. Crafty, the Snow Mane knew to use its hardest tusks to clash with the opponent’s saber. But the man with the saber wouldn’t let things go as it wished. As the Snow Mane charged, the man swiftly twisted his body, first dodging to the left, then holding the saber horizontally, using its sharp blade like a sword, and plunged it straight into the right side of the Snow Mane’s neck. The Snow Mane, realizing its right neck had been pierced by a few inches, flashed fear in its pupils. Yet, it couldn’t halt its wild power and could only charge forward, hoping to knock the saber away. Unfortunately, the man’s grip on the saber remained unwavering. Tear... The blade, initially only a few inches deep, was driven by the Snow Mane’s own wild impact, slicing from its right neck to its abdomen and even its tail, turning a few inches deep wound into more than half a meter. Eventually, as the Snow Mane halted, only half of the blade was still outside. Splat... A gush of dark green blood spurted from the wound. The Snow Mane turned its head and tried to stick out its tongue in a final struggle, only to have its tongue severed as the man withdrew the saber and slashed at the tongued head. Its long tongue severed, the fear and rage in the Snow Mane’s pupils quickly dissipated, and its body only struggled once or twice before collapsing in the snow. Whoosh... Only then did the man take a deep breath, looking at the fallen Snow Mane and then at the saber in his hand, a satisfied expression on his face. Seeing the Snow Mane collapse, the nine people who had been pulling the rope earlier excitedly gathered around, talking amongst themselves. "Leader, this Shock Frost Saber is incredibly powerful, isn’t it?" "The saber is strong, but the leader’s skill is even stronger. The Snow Mane’s impact was so terrifying, if it were us, even with the saber, I doubt we could have stopped it." "This Snow Mane was quite cunning, its first reaction was to flee." "Hahaha, from now on, we won’t need to hunt by chance with small torches. With this saber, our Great Xia genuinely has hunting capabilities." ...... This group, of course, was from the Great Xia Camp. The saber having just been sharpened, coincided with nightfall. Xia Hong didn’t waste any time and immediately led the group to Redwood Ridge to test the saber. Xia Hong was also feeling very exhilarated at this moment. Although he had used a ten-forged saber in the Rogel Camp before, at that time, he was up against deceitful monsters. The real effect was from the solidified fire oil and torches, making it hard to truly feel the power of the iron weapon. Only after testing it did he realize just how effective this freshly crafted Shock Frost Saber was against Cold Beasts. Now, looking at the Snow Mane’s corpse on the ground, Xia Hong naturally felt confident. Ten-forged Weapons easily pierce through the defenses of lower-tier Cold Beasts without any issues. Of course, it also depends on the skill of the user. As Xia Chuan just mentioned, even if they wielded the Shock Frost Saber and broke through the Snow Mane’s defenses, they couldn’t have withstood the terrifying charge of over ten thousand pounds. This was also why despite having sabers, Da Shi Camp still prioritized using bows and arrows for hunting. While everyone was discussing, a person jumped down from the left tree as well. Carrying a bow and arrow on his back and his right eye covered with a piece of leather, he walked over to the Snow Mane’s corpse. He removed the Black Arrow embedded in its right face, feeling a bit disheartened, and said to Xia Hong: "Leader, my archery skills are still too poor; I couldn’t contribute much!" Xia Hong shook his head, patting Xu Ning’s shoulder with a smile: "You’ve only practiced for a day and already reached this level. It’s pretty good. Keep practicing with Shi Qing and his sons. Becoming a sharpshooter is just a matter of time." Xu Ning’s injury had long healed, but without his right eye, his capabilities were undoubtedly diminished. Having not gone out for a long time, he was quite anxious. Just after Xia Hong and others returned yesterday and handed the bow and arrow back to Shi Qing, Xu Ning immediately sought them out. Knowing he needed assistance from the Great Xia, when Shi Qing learned of Xu Ning’s intentions, he gave him the bow and arrow previously used by his brother Shi Dong, and even directly taught Xu Ning how to shoot. What could be explained, he explained directly, what needed demonstration, he let his son Shi Ping demonstrate. His son Shi Ping and daughter Shi Lu both had considerable archery talents, and teaching a beginner like Xu Ning was more than sufficient. Perhaps Qiu Peng was right; Xu Ning truly did have a high archery potential, so much so that even Shi Qing couldn’t help but praise him. That previous shot, according to the plan, was supposed to hit the Snow Mane’s eye to cause the greatest harm. Though Xu Ning missed, he wasn’t far off, hitting the Snow Mane’s face about ten centimeters away from the eye. To think, Xu Ning had only practiced for barely a day by then. Given time, he was sure to become a sharpshooter with unerring accuracy. "Alright, we won’t chop trees tonight. I’ll make some saws in the coming days. You eight carry the Snow Mane back first, and Chuanhe City, come with me to check on the Ice Trees over at Da Shi Camp." Yue Feng and the other eight nodded, carrying the Snow Mane back to the camp. Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng followed behind Xia Hong, heading towards the location of the Ice Trees.