Chapter 102: Hunting

The mountains were desolate and devoid of life; nothing remained. The temperature at the epicenter of the nuclear explosion could reach 100 million degrees Celsius, making it impossible for any living creature to survive.

Unfortunately, the Gray Wolf King had avoided the epicenter at that time.

This area was once filled with ancient, towering trees, but now, at the epicenter, everything had melted completely, leaving not even ash.

As the group ventured deeper, they saw no signs of life; the lush primeval forest had been utterly destroyed.

The radiation was intense, creating a suppressive atmosphere in the area. Although invisible, countless interwoven rays could be perceived.

An ordinary person entering here would surely die.

Chu Feng, Chen Luoyan, and Ye Qingrou were all masters, considered top-tier among the Awakened Ones; they would be fine even without radiation suits.

Yet, in this land of death, they still felt a sense of dread.

The barren mountains were devoid of wild beasts, and all vegetation had completely melted away. This was a land of utter desolation. They wondered what would have happened if they had been targeted by a nuclear weapon.

Even a beast king suffered such a miserable fate; ordinary Awakened Ones would fare even worse, vaporized and evaporated in a matter of seconds!

"Found it! It's here!" Clairvoyant Du Huaijin suddenly exclaimed, rushing forward.

What he had found was not the Gray Wolf King itself, but the crevice in the ground—the hiding place where the Gray Wolf King had avoided the nuclear blast.

The crevice was pitch black, leading deep underground, and had allowed the Gray Wolf to escape.

Clairvoyant's eyes glowed brightly with golden light. He was solemn now, no longer joking, as he meticulously searched for traces of the Gray Wolf King, intending to track it from this point onward.

This was indeed the place, matching the photos captured by the detector, with various traces left by the Gray Wolf visible on the ground.

"Someone has been here!"

Du Huaijin frowned because the dried bloodstains had been removed.

"Is wolf blood still useful if it's dried on the ground and inactive?" Wind-hearing Ouyang Qing asked, puzzled.

"For major powers, even inactive, dried blood is worth extensive research," Chen Luoyan replied, "as they have never obtained a sample of king's blood before."

So far, only the state had obtained the Eagle King's corpse, which was killed by the immortal crane from Mount Shu and immediately transported away by the military.

Several top-tier laboratories in the country were working tirelessly to analyze the Eagle King's blood sample. Rumor had it that king's blood was mysterious and possessed many functions.

Some outside speculated that such blood could help beast kings unlock nearly supernatural abilities and also promote biological evolution!

All major financial groups were greatly tempted, and foreign powers were even more envious, eager to seize it immediately and take it back for research.

"Different king's blood has different miraculous effects," Ye Qingrou said.

They set off again, tracking the Gray Wolf's movements.

After advancing a dozen miles, Clairvoyant Du Huaijin began to curse because someone had tampered with the path, clearing away the traces left by the Gray Wolf.

"How despicable! Are they sure they can deal with the Gray Wolf?!" Wind-hearing Ouyang Qing fumed.

Interfering with latecomers and delaying others, if the Wolf King gained time to recover as a result, it would lead to disaster.

Ye Qingrou's expression also changed. She said, "Those people are too selfish; they want to stop others and obtain the king's blood for themselves. If they succeed, fine, but if they fail, the consequences are unimaginable!"

If the Wolf King recovers, it will be a catastrophe!

"There will still be clues; it's impossible for them to be completely gone!" Chu Feng said.

They continued for several more miles, searching very carefully.

Du Huaijin's expression was solemn. His eyes were like two golden lamps, exceptionally brilliant, with beams of light occasionally shooting out from them.

Half an hour later, he showed a joyful expression, saying, "Another discovery!"

The group followed him, rushing towards the rocks and soil several hundred meters away. He picked up a wolf hair, which was slightly charred and bent.

"You can find even this?" Chu Feng was surprised. After activating his divine sense, his eyesight was no less acute than Clairvoyant's, but he was still inferior in such fine detection.

"This is my ability," he explained. "When I focus on something and imprint it in my mind, my eyes can sense all its subtle details within a certain range."

Du Huaijin's words greatly astonished everyone.

Among them, Ye Qingrou reacted the most strongly, warning him never to use his special ability on her again, or she would beat him up every day.

Du Huaijin let out a dry laugh, golden light still shimmering in his eyes.

A quarter of an hour later, Du Huaijin made an astonishing discovery two miles away. He stared at a patch of loose soil, then squatted down and pushed aside the dirt and rocks.

A faint scent of blood wafted out. There were blackish-red, dried bloodstains on the rocks.

"King's blood!" The group was shaken.

The Gray Wolf King had stayed here, possessing intelligence no less than a human's. It had buried its traces and blood, not wanting to be tracked.

"How much is this worth?" Wind-hearing Ouyang Qing asked.

"King's blood is priceless!" Ye Qingrou said. If sold abroad, many major powers would desperately bid for it, fighting tooth and nail to get it.

King's blood was too rare; currently, no one abroad had ever obtained it.

Ouyang Qing was responsible for carefully collecting the bloodstains on the rocks, as if handling a rare treasure.

"There's more here!" Clairvoyant Du Huaijin successively found several more spots. Evidently, the Wolf King had rested here, and blood was stuck to every place it had lain.

One could imagine how severe its injuries were, with its wounded body continuously oozing blood.

The group dispersed, collecting the wolf blood.

"Just these findings alone could fetch a sky-high price!" Ye Qingrou said with certainty.

Suddenly, Chu Feng's body tensed, then he leaped up abruptly, shouting, "Get clear!"

He sensed danger; his divine sense had already activated. He felt a slight pain at the back of his head, and based on past experience, someone was aiming a thermal weapon at him.

Chu Feng grabbed Clairvoyant Du Huaijin and threw him behind a rock.

The others were scattered in different positions. Chu Feng saved Du Huaijin, who was closest to him.

Ye Qingrou and Chen Luoyan were very strong, ranking among the top fifty Awakened Ones nationwide. They didn't need Chu Feng's protection and quickly dodged after hearing the warning.

Wind-hearing Ouyang Qing's hair stood on end. Although he dodged, he couldn't completely avoid it; with a thud, he was hit by a bullet, and a spray of blood splattered.

Chu Feng rushed forward like a gale. His speed was incredibly fast, already reaching subsonic levels.

He grabbed Ouyang Qing, moving him to dodge the subsequent bullets, and rushed behind a large rock.

Ouyang Qing's left arm was shot through, and blood flowed, but fortunately, no vital organs were hit.

His face was pale, but his large ears twitched rapidly. He whispered fiercely, "East, there are seven people in total!"

When he flared up, his hearing seemed to become even more acute; due to intense emotional fluctuations, his special ability activated even more astonishingly.

Chu Feng was surprised. Even he could only roughly sense six or seven people there at the moment; he hadn't expected Wind-hearing's hearing to perform so extraordinarily.

"They have heavy thermal weapons," Clairvoyant, hidden behind the rock, reported after peering at the people, "1500 meters to the east!"

To snipe from 1500 meters away, these were definitely expert marksmen, not ordinary people.

"How despicable! They have no grievance with us, yet they tried to kill us!" Ouyang Qing was furious, having nearly died there.

"They saw us collecting the Gray Wolf King's blood, got greedy, and wanted to steal it!" Chen Luoyan said.

Everyone was enraged. Those people were malicious and hateful; to seize their wolf blood, they resorted to outright murder.

*Whoosh!*

Chu Feng moved, ignoring the fierce gunfire, and ran at extreme speed. His body dodged the terrifying flashes of fire as he rushed towards the low hill.

Ye Qingrou also followed, unfurling her snow-white wings like an angel soaring across the sky. She was beautiful yet powerful, exuding a terrifying aura of killing intent.

On the low hill, the pupils of those few people rapidly contracted. They felt a chill in their hearts because that person could actually dodge their bullets; he was practically inhuman.

Chu Feng was too fast. He could run over 260 meters per second, already at subsonic speed. Swift as lightning, he left even the flying Ye Qingrou behind.

With a whoosh, he stormed up the low hill.

*Bang!*

Someone fired at him, but Chu Feng simply extended his hand and, with a thud, caught the bullet in his palm. His body was unharmed.

"Ah..." That person screamed in terror.

Chu Feng attacked. All those people suffered broken bones and torn muscles, spitting blood as they were thrown back.

They were terrified, as if they had seen a ghost. How could a person be so fast? And he wasn't afraid of bullets!

With a swish, Ye Qingrou landed, retracting her wings.

Next, Chen Luoyan rushed up the low hill, also arriving.

"You're not afraid of bullets? Invulnerable?" Ye Qingrou was startled.

"It's alright," Chu Feng smiled slightly.

Chen Luoyan was speechless. Was this "alright"? Thermal weapons had no effect on him.

A moment later, Clairvoyant and Wind-hearing approached, rushing up the low hill.

"Why did you attack us? How malicious!" Ouyang Qing roared angrily, clutching his arm. "Instead of killing the Gray Wolf King, you tried to shoot us in the dark. Are you even human?!"

The people on the ground were filled with fear. They knew they had picked a fight with the wrong people; these Awakened Ones were too powerful to deal with.

Chu Feng simply questioned them, learning their origins.

They were just a team of ordinary "hunters" who, hearing that the Gray Wolf King was severely wounded but not dead, wanted to come here and get a share. While observing with binoculars, they accidentally discovered Chu Feng's group finding wolf blood and decided to kill them to take it.

"Such people are too malicious; keeping them alive would only cause trouble. Kill them!" Chen Luoyan said.

He was very handsome, appearing entirely unlike a fierce villain, but when he acted, he was merciless and ruthless.

*Puff, puff, puff...*

Chen Luoyan drew his long blade and chopped off their heads.

Ouyang Qing, the victim, hadn't even had a chance to act, and those people were already dead.

They set off again, crossing the barren red land. They finally saw trees, which glowed strangely.

"Divine trees?" Du Huaijin stared blankly.

Ahead, lush greenery appeared. Tree trunks and leaves were glowing, making them seem very mysterious.

Ye Qingrou curled her lip and said, "Ignorance. This is because the nuclear radiation is too intense, and they've absorbed too many radioactive substances."

Especially in shaded, darker areas, the tree glow was most pronounced.

"Oh, so that's it. I thought we had encountered divine trees," Du Huaijin chuckled.

They entered the forest, stepping into the vast wilderness. This meant they would have to face various fierce beasts and vicious birds at any time.

For the next day and more, they continued tracking. Clairvoyant played a significant role; his eyes were like electricity, always able to spot subtle clues.

Along the way, they saw human corpses. Some were the result of mutual slaughter, while others had been torn apart by fierce beasts.

"At least a dozen teams have entered the depths of this primeval forest," Chu Feng said. "They haven't even found the Wolf King yet, but they're already fighting amongst themselves. Be careful."

"Huh, is this a foreigner?" Soon after, they found half a corpse in the forest. It had blonde hair and blue eyes; it was a Westerner.

Subsequently, they successively found several more people, all of Western European ethnicity, clearly from the same team.

"This team was very powerful; they actually found the Gray Wolf King, but they were all killed," Clairvoyant said, having found wolf fur in the grass.

This indicated they were approaching their target!

"How did experts from Europe get here?" Chu Feng asked, puzzled and suspicious. After all, the two regions were too far apart, and air routes had been cut off.

To date, no safe air routes had been established.

Yet, there was a team of Western Europeans here, which was truly strange.

Continuing further, they found more corpses. Most were people from this land, but there were also Western faces.

"There are masters from the Pre-Qin Research Institute," someone noted, "people from the Ancient Access Alliance, and also from the Extraterrestrial Civilization Institute..."

Along the way, they saw many dead Awakened Ones. For this operation, there was no need to hide identities, so their origins could easily be traced from their belongings.

"Things aren't looking good; most of these people died encountering the Wolf King!" Clairvoyant Du Huaijin said.

Suddenly, Wind-hearing Ouyang Qing's face turned pale, and he signaled him to be silent.

His large ears twitched, listening carefully. In areas with dense trees, his ability was far more useful than Clairvoyant's, as he could hear sounds from great distances.

Chu Feng was surprised. With so many miscellaneous noises in the forest, including ape cries and tiger roars, Wind-hearing could distinguish each one individually, which surpassed him.

He could also hear distant sounds, but not with such meticulous detail, distinguishing all of them.

"We've most likely... found it!" Ouyang Qing's large ears twitched continuously, and his face grew even paler. He said, "I heard a peculiar breathing sound. Although it's not loud, it exerts a terrifying suppression on me, making me tremble."

He pointed deep into the primeval forest, 1600 meters due south, where a terrifying behemoth lay dormant.

"Wait here, don't come any closer!" Chu Feng also sensed something. After saying this, he vanished, holding a long spear and rushing out at extreme speed.

This weapon was provided by Jade Void Palace, forged from rare metals, making it extremely tough and incredibly sharp.

The distance of 1600 meters was covered in an instant!

Chu Feng knew that other methods would be useless; this beast king's divine sense was too acute.

Ahead, the Gray Wolf had already raised its head, its eyes coldly staring in this direction.

Perhaps it had detected Chu Feng and the others even earlier.

*Boom!*

Before Chu Feng even arrived, he first launched a rocket at it.

A massive explosion sounded ahead. Flames surged into the sky, and giant trees snapped.

A terrifying aura permeated the air. Even with half its body severed and only one eye remaining, the Gray Wolf King's perception and speed were still astonishingly fast.

With a swish, it moved sideways dozens of meters, dodging the attack.

Chu Feng's eyelids twitched. This wolf had half its body severed, yet its movements were still so swift?

"Awoo..." The Gray Wolf roared, shaking the forest. Many trees snapped, and leaves scattered everywhere.

The Gray Wolf's massive head was as large as a house. It opened its gaping maw, and its remaining body lunged forward, looking incredibly ferocious and bringing with it a terrifying gale.

"Whoosh!"

Chu Feng also charged directly forward, holding a cyan-gold battle spear. He thrust fiercely towards the Gray Wolf's eye, moving at an incredibly fast speed.