The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

The night was deep, the moon full.

The forests of Master Ridge were already pitch-black, and now it was so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.

Bai Yuan moved like he was flying, treating the protruding rocks and sunken pits on the ground as if they were perfectly flat.

He was here for one reason: to clear the stage.

’Looks like he’s gone?’

Bai Yuan muttered to himself.

Not long after the Zhu Family’s group had retreated, he sensed someone was still tracking him.

However, the person was quite skilled and an expert at concealment, so he hadn’t yet been able to identify who it was.

But he could tell from their long, steady breathing that it was definitely an expert.

Bai Yuan suspected it was an expert from the Iron Saber Gang, or perhaps the Zhu Family’s Yijin Martial Master.

To shake the person off, he was forced to run a few extra laps around Master Ridge.

Finally, he succeeded in losing his pursuer.

In a valley two li away, Elder Wu stared into the pitch-black woods, his face dark.

He had lived in Qinghe County for over a decade and had naturally heard the legends of Master Ridge.

For a Martial Artist of his level, the existence of demons was no secret.

"That little bastard. So damn cunning."

Bai Yuan had used his familiarity with the terrain to shake him. Once the target was lost, finding him again in these vast mountains would be next to impossible.

If Xue Gui weren’t protecting him, he would have torn Bai Yuan to shreds long ago.

In the pitch-black darkness, Elder Wu turned angrily and headed down the mountain.

Bai Yuan waited in the mountains for a while longer. Only after confirming Elder Wu had truly left did he venture deeper.

It was still early, so he had plenty of time.

He didn’t want to have to guard against a sneak attack while he was fighting the Huang Pizi.

...

A wind began to stir in the mountains.

The full moon, once hidden by clouds, peeked out from behind them.

And there, on the highest peak of Master Ridge, a yellow-furred creature no taller than a man’s knee was bowing to the moon, its paws pressed together in pious prayer like an old monk.

It was the Huang Pizi!

Folk wisdom often claims that weasels have a habit of worshiping the moon.

What they didn’t know was that only weasels that had become demons worshipped the moon, all to absorb its lunar essence and increase their cultivation.

The Huang Pizi’s worship was earnest and meticulous.

If the old monks from the temples outside Qinghe County were to see it, they would surely blush with shame.

The weasel bathed in the moonlight, a faint silver glow enveloping its body and adding a touch of sanctity. An unknowing observer might have mistaken it for some auspicious, sacred beast cultivating deep in the mountains.

Just as the weasel was trembling with pleasure—

—a feathered arrow suddenly shot toward its head!

"Human!"

Its moon-worship interrupted, the weasel let out a piercing, human-like shriek, like a vengeful ghost from the depths of hell. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

In the moonlight, Bai Yuan’s figure slowly emerged from the darkness, his face filled with killing intent.

The weasel was furious. The night of the full moon, the Mid-Autumn Festival, came only once a year. Missing it meant waiting another full year.

It was naturally enraged to be interrupted by this human tonight.

But before it could leap forward.

Bai Yuan pulled an oil-paper package from his robes, raised his arm, and flung its contents at the weasel.

Goose droppings!

The weasel’s deepest animal instincts took over, and it reflexively tried to dodge.

Anyone who has lived in the countryside knows that geese are naturally aggressive and are the nemesis of weasels. The elderly often collect goose droppings to repel them.

These were the very droppings Bai Yuan had gotten from Aunt Zheng.

It worked like a charm!

Under normal circumstances, a weasel that had become a demon would not fear such a thing, but tonight was the full moon—the time when it was at its weakest.

Bai Yuan had timed it perfectly.

SHING!

The Firewood Cutting Saber slid from its leather sheath.

The massive Firewood Cutting Saber swung down toward the weasel. The strike was ferocious, unleashing the full might of the Blood Tiger Saber’s powerful Evil Qi.

The Huang Pizi, already outmaneuvered by Bai Yuan, had lost the initiative and was now forced to flee.

A real life-or-death battle is never about trading skills. A single extra move can be all it takes to overwhelm your opponent!

Fighting is all about strategy.

Bai Yuan’s eyes were frigid. The Evil Qi from the Blood Tiger Saber flooded his body, turning his pupils an eerie scarlet.

After dozens of exchanges, the Huang Pizi was clearly starting to falter.

It was shocked to discover that its bewitching illusions had no effect on the human before it!

Without its greatest trump card, how could it possibly fight Bai Yuan?

The reason Bai Yuan was immune to the Illusion Technique was the Blood Tiger Saber.

The saber’s Evil Qi was so ferocious that its killing intent completely suppressed the Illusion Technique.

Fear crept into the weasel’s heart, and it wanted to flee.

But in a one-on-one battle, everything comes down to ferocity. Once that resolve breaks, death is not far behind.

To Bai Yuan’s master-level tracking insight, the weasel’s body revealed at least ten openings.

Those openings were enough for the weasel to die ten times over.

Bai Yuan poured all of his Evil Qi into the Firewood Cutting Saber. Under the moonlight, the blade turned crimson, looking utterly bizarre.

Slash!

The Firewood Cutting Saber whistled through the air as it slashed toward the Huang Pizi.

The Huang Pizi couldn’t dodge in time. It could only stare at Bai Yuan with a look of pure hatred. In the next instant, the Firewood Cutting Saber split its body in two.

Enhancement Points +103

Stage Cleared!

Bai Yuan gasped for breath like an ox, no longer able to suppress the wild joy in his heart.

The fight had not been easy. Even with every advantage, he had still struggled against the weasel. It had taken all his strength and the full power of the Blood Tiger Saber to slay the beast, leaving him nearly drained of stamina.

As the Huang Pizi died, his status panel quietly updated.

[Name: Bai Yuan]

[Class: Demon Hunter, Swordsman, Boxer, Cook]

[Skills: Cooking (Master), Demon Tracking (Beginner), Tiger-Crane Form (Proficient), Blood Tiger Saber (Expert)...]

[Enhancement Points: 103]

On the panel, the original Hunter’s Tracking skill had been replaced by the Demon Tracking skill.

This was why Bai Yuan had been so intent on killing the Huang Pizi. Only by killing it could he unlock a new skill for the Demon Hunter class.

Although "Demon Tracking" didn’t seem much different from "Tracking" on the surface, in reality, they were worlds apart.

A spectral scroll slowly unfurled before Bai Yuan’s eyes.

It was the exclusive item for Demon Hunters—the Ten Thousand Demons Painting.

At this moment, two figures appeared on the Ten Thousand Demons Painting: a great snake and a weasel. They were the two demons he had slain.

This was the greatest difference between Demon Tracking and Tracking.

Every time he killed a demon, its image would appear on the Ten Thousand Demons Painting.

If he were to encounter the same type of demon again, it would be suppressed by the Ten Thousand Demons Painting, allowing it to use only fifty percent of its combat power. It was an incredibly powerful ability, a true demon’s bane.

When the Ten Thousand Demons Painting was complete, all demons in the world would bow at his feet.

Hunting beasts and Demon Hunting were two completely different things.

Every demon that came into being possessed at least the strength of a Yijin Martial Master, far beyond what an ordinary Hunter could ever hope to challenge.

Therefore, every Demon Hunter had to be exceptionally strong, and their skills were naturally extraordinary as well.

Bai Yuan gazed at his new skill, overjoyed.

Now that his skill levels were getting higher, hunting mere beasts could no longer satisfy his needs.

The enhancement points gained from hunting demons were dozens of times greater than those from hunting beasts.

For example, this Huang Pizi alone had granted him a full one hundred enhancement points—far faster than slaughtering sheep and chickens.

’Add points!’