Wielding a Spiritual Longsword that shone with a faint golden Spiritual Light, Lin Li chuckled at the cowering, giant rat-like Mutant Beast.

"SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK..."

The giant rat-like Mutant Beast let out another piercing shriek at Lin Li, then turned and fled.

Never expose your back to an enemy. This rule applied not only to the Exotic Beast Hunters who roamed the treacherous wilderness, but to the Mutant Beasts as well.

The moment the giant rat-like Mutant Beast turned to run, exposing its back to Lin Li, its fate was sealed.

Wielding his Spiritual Longsword, Lin Li erupted with speed. He closed the distance in an instant, catching up to the fleeing Mutant Beast.

Lin Li leaped up and kicked the giant rat-like Mutant Beast in the back. The immense force sent it off balance, and it crashed to the ground, tumbling head over heels.

"SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK..."

Screeching in pain, the dazed and disoriented Mutant Beast scrambled back to its feet.

It shook its dizzy head, but before its thoughts could clear, a sharp edge glowing with a faint golden Spiritual Light plunged into its brain as easily as a knife through tofu.

"SCHLICK."

The giant rat-like Mutant Beast’s red eyes stared blankly at its enemy. It wanted to fight back, to strike at this detestable human, but it no longer had the strength.

The next moment, the world in the Mutant Beast’s eyes went dark.

Lin Li glanced at the giant rat-like Mutant Beast, dead with its eyes wide open. With a tug, he pulled his Spiritual Longsword from its brain.

He gave the Spiritual Longsword a sharp flick, flinging away the red and white matter coating the blade.

Although he couldn’t get it completely clean, it was still cleaner than not flicking it at all.

After taking care of the giant rat-like Mutant Beast, Lin Li crouched, placed a hand on its corpse, and with a single thought, sent it to the Mysterious Small Island.

"Friend, thank you."

The young man, who had been gaping in astonishment at the fluid, effortless way Lin Li had ended the battle, finally snapped back to his senses after Lin Li stored the giant rat-like Mutant Beast’s corpse in the Mysterious Small Island. He quickly hurried over to thank his savior.

"Mm." Lin Li nodded, his gaze falling to the bloody wound on the young man’s chest.

"You’d better treat that wound. If you let it keep bleeding, you’ll die of blood loss before another Mutant Beast even gets the chance to kill you."

The young man’s face immediately flushed with embarrassment at Lin Li’s words.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to treat his wound. When the giant rat-like Mutant Beast had ambushed him earlier, he had panicked and lost both his backpack and his Spiritual Weapon. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

His medical supplies were in the backpack, so even though he wanted to treat the injury, he had nothing to use.

"Uh... friend, do you have any spare Hemostatic Medicine?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Uh... could I borrow some?"

Lin Li gave the embarrassed young man a strange look. ’He doesn’t even have Hemostatic Medicine? This guy’s a real piece of work.’

But he quickly got over it. ’For a rookie who almost got eaten by a Mutant Beast, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by any kind of screw-up.’

With a thought, a half-used tube of hemostatic ointment appeared in Lin Li’s hand.

"Thank you." The young man took the hemostatic ointment Lin Li handed over, his voice full of gratitude.

Seeing Lin Li pull a tube of hemostatic ointment from thin air up close, and noticing he wore no special equipment on his hands, the young man was now certain. His savior was a rare Cultivator who had awakened a Storage Space Superpower.

While the young man was treating his wound, Lin Li walked toward his motorcycle.

"RUMBLE..."

The motorcycle’s engine roared to life. Under the young man’s watchful gaze, Lin Li steered with one hand and quickly rode away.

"He’s... just leaving like that?" The young man watched his savior shrink into the distance and shouted, "Hey, friend! Can I get your contact info? I’ll treat you to a meal when I’m back in the city!"

Lin Li ignored the shouts from the rookie Hunter behind him. He gunned the engine, and a moment later, he vanished from sight.

’I’ve been called out on the forums by other Hunters for riding a motorcycle before,’ Lin Li thought. ’To avoid exposing my identity, it’s better to keep my distance from other Hunters when I’m on my bike.’

"He really just left?!!!" the young man muttered to himself, staring at the spot where Lin Li had vanished without a trace.

"WHOOSH..."

"RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE..."

In the afterglow of the setting sun, a sudden gust of wind swept across the perilous wilderness.

The wind rustled through the flowers, grass, and trees, lending an air of desolation to the silent wilderness.

’I need to get out of here,’ he thought. ’If another Mutant Beast shows up, there won’t be anyone to save me this time.’

The sound of rustling leaves and branches startled the young man. He quickly squeezed the rest of the hemostatic ointment onto his wound.

After applying the ointment, he didn’t even wait for the bleeding to stop completely before taking off in the direction of the safe zone.

The young man had hoped his savior might give him a ride on his motorcycle after he’d treated his wound, but reality had other plans.

’Since my savior didn’t give me a ride, I guess I’ll have to run back to the safe zone on my own.’

The young man was philosophical about it. There was no reason to hold a grudge just because the man hadn’t given him a ride back to the safe zone.

’The man saved my life and asked for nothing in return,’ he thought. ’That’s already more than I could ever ask for.’

’To complain about him not giving me a ride would be repaying his kindness with ingratitude. That would make me less than human.’

Besides, he was already very close to the safe zone. If he ran at full speed, he could make it back in just four or five minutes.

"RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE..."

Not long after the young man left, a few Mutant Beasts darted out of the tall grass.

They came to the spot where the giant rat-like Mutant Beast had died and sniffed the blood on the ground. Then they moved to where the young man had been standing and sniffed the blood there too.

Human and Mutant Beast blood smell different. After a few sniffs, the beasts knew that a fierce battle between the two species had taken place here not long ago.

"ROAR..."

The Mutant Beasts that had scented the blood exchanged glances. The lack of any dismembered human parts on the ground meant the human had won. They let out a disappointed roar.

The human safe zone was not far ahead. For some reason, these Mutant Beasts were forbidden from crossing the boundary into human territory.

Knowing that the human had won, they figured the victor had most likely already retreated to the safe zone. The late-arriving beasts could only turn back empty-handed.

...

The streetlights lining the road flickered on, one after another, illuminating the city blocks as night began to fall.

As soon as the lamps lit up, moths emerged from unseen nooks and crannies to dance around the bright globes.

「East District Wangxi Road.」

Just as a recently opened flower shop was preparing to close for the day, a sleek sports car rounded a distant corner and pulled up to the curb right in front.

"CLICK."

After stopping the car, Zhang Xiaohao immediately got out. He smiled as he walked toward the nearby flower shop, which was just about to close.

Inside the flower shop, Wang Ling was at the register settling the day’s accounts when she glanced through the glass window and saw a familiar figure step out of the sports car parked at the curb.

Then, she turned her head to look at her friend who was restocking the shelves and said, "Su Yue, that Zhang Xiaohao is here for you again."

...