It didn't take him much longer before he spotted another Ash Crowned deer that had wandered off from the herd and killed it immediately before storing it into the ring. He repeated the same thing over and over again, till he had hunted fifteen Ash Crowned deers.
It took him an hour to do this, and by now the Ash Crowned deers in the head had discovered that their companions were missing. They would have been alerted if they smelled the scent of blood, but because of Lin Mu's strategy, no blood was actually spilled outside.
The herd was now slightly alert but did not seem to be much bothered. Lin Mu waited for a minute before seeing that everything was still normal. He resumed his hunt and killed six more Ash Crowned deers when he was spotted.
The herd made loud grunting noises as they all started running away. The Ash Crowned buck also locked its gaze on to Lin Mu and had lowered his head, pointing his horns towards Lin Mu.
~Sigh~
"Guess this is it… Now, no more plan," Lin Mu muttered before his short sword came floating in front of him.
He then waved his hand in the air, and the short sword shot forward. The speed of the short sword was much faster than that of the Ash Crowned deer's and was able to catch up with them rather easily.
~Slash~ ~Slash~
~Splatter~
Blood spilled on the grass, as eight Ash Crowned deers were killed in one move. But before Lin Mu could attack again, the Ash Crowned buck came charging at him. He immediately sensed it with his spirit sense and dodged it at the last moment by using Blink.
The Ash Crowned buck stooped in its tracks and dragged its hooves across the ground uprooting grass, once it noticed its enemy had disappeared. It turned around and let out a loud grunt before charging at Lin Mu again.
This time Lin Mu blinked again, but only to the side of the Ash Crowned buck before he withdrew a long spear and stabbed it into the Ash Crowned buck.
A pain filled grunt was let out by the Ash Crowned buck as the spear pierced from one side of its body to the other. It crashed on the ground due to the impact and struggled in pain. Lin Mu walked close to it and waved his hand in the air making the short sword return to his hand.
He then swiftly slashed the throat of the Ash Crowned Buck before storing it into the ring.
"Well, that went well." Lin Mu spoke before looking towards the other corpses of the Ash crowned deers that were lying on the other side.
The rest of the herd had long since run away and there was little chance of Lin Mu to catch up with them. But still, he had obtained around thirty beast carcasses, including the Ash crowned buck's.
'This is good enough for one day, I need to test out my skills now.' Lin Mu thought to himself before storing all of the carcasses in the ring.
He then continued onward into the forest until he found a suitable place that was wide and open. But just as he was about to test out his skills, his stomach rumbled with hunger.
"Been a while since I did this. It'll be a fresh change…" Lin Mu spoke to himself before withdrawing one of the Ash Crowned deer carcasses and skinning it swiftly.
Over the months, Lin Mu had already skinned hundreds of beasts and had now become rather good at it and did not need much time for him to prepare them. His rising cultivation base also made it much easier for him to rip the pelt and break the bones.
Once the meat was butchered, he set up a fire to cook the meat.
Soon, a delicious aroma of roast venison spread out in the area. This of course ended up attracting some beasts, but they did not approach close, smelling the blood of the qi refining beast in the area. The blood which had been spilled out while skinning and butchering was acting as both a deterrent and a bait.
'If some spirit beasts do end up coming here, it would be much easier for me. I'll save time and kill two birds with one stone.' Lin Mu thought to himself.
He then sat under a tree and closed his eyes while waiting for the meat to cook. His spirit sense though was fully extended and he was observing everything that was happening in the surroundings.
Lin Mu's impromptu plan seemed to be working as a spirit beast eventually came close and reached the range of his spirit sense.
"There!" Lin Mu muttered as he flicked his and towards the direction of the spirit beast.
~Shing~
Lin Mu's short sword short forward and instantly nailed a spirit beast that had gotten close to the tree next to it.
~Gurgle~
Blood spilled from the beast's mouth as the short sword nailed in its throat made it unable to make a noise. Lin Mu opened his eyes and saw that the beast he had just killed was actually a razor maw ox. He was a bit surprised upon seeing it.
Lin Mu had seen a razor maw ox before when he was in the body tempering realm, but that razor maw ox was a normal beast. While this one seemed to have reached the early stage of the qi refining realm. Lin Mu stood up and walked up to the now dead beast and pulled out his short sword.
"Hmm, is this the same one from back then?" Lin Mu wondered as he took a close look.
But even after a minute, Lin Mu could not find anything that could confirm his guess.
"It isn't uncommon for normal beasts to reach the qi refining realm naturally after a sufficient amount of time." Xukong said, "Especially a strong beast like the razor maw ox, which can actually hunt a spirit beast even if it's at the body tempering realm." He added.
Lin Mu hummed in response and stored the carcass in his ring before returning to his position, waiting for more beasts to take the bait.
