Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

Wei Chen's arrows seemed inexhaustible. One box of arrows was emptied, and with a slight thought, the next box full of arrows was already in place.

With his mental energy highly concentrated, he cycled through the four steps of locking on, anticipating, shooting, and collecting, creating a brutal yet highly efficient rhythm. He wasn't just mechanically shooting arrows; he was employing profound techniques from the "Nine Heavens Sun-Shooting Technique" regarding "Qi-driven guidance," "mind's eye locking," and "true essence transforming into arrows."

With each arrow he fired, he could clearly feel the entire process of his true energy leaving his body, attaching to the arrow, breaking through the air, penetrating the target, and destroying its life force. This subtle control allowed his understanding of the technique to deepen rapidly in actual combat.

Gradually, he entered a profound and mysterious state. His eyes no longer focused on any specific gazelle, but rather on the surging "momentum" and "flow" of the herd; his ears filtered out the deafening roar, capturing only the faint whistling of the arrow leaving the bowstring and the slight "plop" sound when it hit its target;

His spiritual power, like an invisible spiderweb, covered the foot of the mountain, precisely marking every prey that met his criteria (strong, adult, and in a suitable location). His hands, eyes, heart, bow, arrow, and even the very breath of heaven and earth seemed to merge into one. Each draw of the bow was as natural as breathing; each arrow shot was guaranteed to yield a harvest.

Time lost its meaning in this frenzied slaughter. No one knew how many arrows were fired, nor how many gazelles were captured.

Wei Chen was like a highly precise machine, tirelessly repeating the harvesting motion. His arms ached from the high-frequency firing, his true energy was depleted from the continuous output, and his mental strength felt increasingly empty, but the flame in his heart burned ever brighter. It was the joy of the harvest, the pleasure of releasing power, and also a kind of indifference of standing at the top of the food chain, controlling the life and death of others.

On the eastern horizon, a faint glimmer of light appeared, signaling the approaching dawn. Below the mountain, the boundless golden torrent finally began to weaken. The "waves" behind it thinned out, losing their initial overwhelming pressure. The herd remained massive, but its destructive power had subsided.

As the last, sparse herd of gazelles swept past the foot of the mountain, neighing as they rushed toward the pale western horizon, Wei Chen slowly released the bowstring. The last arrow flew, pinning a plump ram that had fallen to the back of the herd to the snow, where it was then collected.

"Hoo..." He exhaled a long breath, which condensed into a white streak in the cold air.

The intense shooting and mental exertion left him feeling deeply exhausted, even with his peak minor cultivation level and the support of the game's stamina potion. His arms trembled slightly, fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and a sense of emptiness washed over him.

But he stood ramrod straight, his eyes still bright and sharp, gazing down the mountain.

As dawn broke, the morning light dispelled the veil of night, and also dispersed the lingering snow dust and the stench of blood.

At the foot of "Sleeping Ox Mountain," a scene of utter devastation unfolded. The snow had been trampled into a muddy black slurry, mixed with dark red bloodstains, revealing the hard frozen soil beneath. Everywhere were deep and shallow hoofprints, densely packed, with scattered patches of hair and broken horns from struggling gazelles, as well as a few mangled carcasses trampled beyond recognition by the following herds, rendered worthless.

Apart from that, it was completely empty. The thousands of plump and strong gazelles that he had accurately shot and instantly captured seemed to have never been there, leaving no intact carcasses behind.

This hunting feast, which lasted until midnight and was a one-man show against a natural disaster, ultimately left only this silent mess, a testament to the almost miraculous one-sided slaughter that had taken place.

Wei Chen didn't check his gains immediately. He instantly returned to the game world and slowly sat down cross-legged on the cold marble in the hall. He began to circulate the "Nine Heavens Sun-Shooting Technique," restoring his nearly depleted true essence and excessively depleted mental energy.

About half an hour later, he opened his eyes again, his fatigue gone, his eyes shining brightly, and his cultivation seemed to have improved slightly.

His mental energy sank into the storage space.

Even though he was mentally prepared, Wei Chen was still slightly shocked by the scene before him.

One storage compartment is now completely full, reaching its maximum capacity of 999 items! The other storage compartment is also mostly full, displaying 658 items, for a total of 1657 items!

Moreover, all of these more than a thousand animals are carefully selected adult, robust individuals with glossy fur and plump bodies, making them excellent sources of meat and hides!

In addition to the more than two hundred wild donkeys, dozens of other large prey, a huge amount of medium and small prey, and various supplies from the black market, Wei Chen's storage space has now become a super comprehensive warehouse!

Its meat reserves are so abundant that they would put any large meat processing plant to shame; its variety of local specialties is comparable to a small museum; and its total value is immeasurable in this era of extreme scarcity!

An unprecedented sense of fulfillment and confidence welled up within Wei Chen. With these resources, his plans in Beijing would have an incredibly solid foundation.

However, after the initial euphoria came a more sober reflection. He stood up, walked to the edge of the cliff, and looked down at the muddy "battlefield" below, and the distant herds of gazelles that had become sparse lines and eventually disappeared into the horizon.

"Tens of thousands, even tens of thousands, of gazelles pass through... I took only a small portion of the strongest and healthiest individuals. For this vast population, it's just a drop in the ocean, and it might even help them eliminate some competitors, which is more beneficial for the long-term development of the population." Wei Chen understood perfectly. "As for the weak, cubs, and the sick and disabled, I didn't touch a single one. They will continue to migrate with the population, becoming food for wolves, vultures, and even other herders, returning to the grassland ecological cycle."

"Do not take everything, do not kill indiscriminately. Seize the essence of creation from heaven and earth to strengthen yourself, and leave a sliver of life for all living beings in nature. This is the way of giving and taking, and it is also the foundation for longevity."

This is his choice, his vision. He plunders the finest resources to strengthen his own foundation, while avoiding short-sighted exploitation, leaving behind seeds for the survival of the grasslands that sustain all life, and leaving hope for the herders who depend on the grasslands for their livelihood. This is not a woman's compassion, but a clear-headed wisdom for survival and a long-term strategy based on strength and foresight.

The rising sun fully emerged above the horizon, casting its golden rays upon the snow-covered plains and illuminating Wei Chen's tall, pine-like figure. He took one last look at this land that had bestowed upon him unimaginable gifts, then turned and, with steady, resolute steps, began his journey eastward, towards Inner Mongolia, towards his return home.

The more than twenty-day traverse of the grasslands, the hunting phase, has now come to a perfect end with an earth-shattering "Arrow Rain Godhood" battle, the harvest of which far surpasses even the wildest dreams.

What followed was another "hunt" without the smoke of gunpowder, but one that was more complex and required more wisdom and patience—how to safely, reasonably, and subtly transform these earth-shattering "harvests" into the capital and power he needed to establish himself, rise to the top, and even control his own destiny in Beijing and in that turbulent era.

In the morning light, his figure gradually receded across the vast snowfield, eventually becoming a black dot that merged into the golden sunrise. Only the silent "Sleeping Ox Mountain" remained, along with the chaotic traces below, silently recounting the miracle of a lone man's struggle against the power of nature the previous night, slowly freezing in the biting morning wind.

After leaving "Sleeping Ox Mountain", Wei Chen slipped into the hunter's cabin in the game world. The battle of the night had taken a toll on Wei Chen, and he needed to recover.

Wei Chen sat cross-legged on the floor of the small house, circulating the Nine Heavens Sun Shooting Technique several times to slowly replenish his nearly depleted true essence and excessively consumed mental energy after the fierce battle.

As the last trace of fatigue was dispelled by the gentle true energy, he opened his eyes, his gaze shining brightly, more profound and luminous than ever before. This extreme hunt had not only yielded immeasurable gains, but had also further refined and elevated his cultivation and state of mind.

His mental energy sank into the spatial backpack that connected to the mysterious game world. Even though he was prepared, the scene before him still made Wei Chen, who was used to all sorts of things, feel a slight tremor.

The space was now packed. It contained the newly acquired 1,500 plump and strong gazelles, the previously hunted 200 large Mongolian wild asses, dozens of red deer and roe deer, as well as scattered wolves, foxes, and other prey.

In comparison, it seemed rather "unremarkable". Not to mention the various hides, dried meat, dairy products, medicinal herbs, old silverware, old knives, raw stones that looked like jade, a sizable piece of gold, a tattered sutra box, etc., which were all traded from the "Grey Teng Liang" black market. They filled this already enormous space to the brim, leaving almost no empty space.

An unprecedented sense of fulfillment and confidence welled up within Wei Chen. In this era of extreme scarcity, the value of these resources could not be measured in simple monetary terms. They represented a guarantee of survival, capital for development, and a fulcrum for leveraging a larger scale.

"A little over a thousand gazelles...that's enough," Wei Chen murmured to himself, his eyes calm and unwavering. With the gazelles and wild donkeys as his "main course," the other prey, whether wolves or deer, instantly paled in comparison. It wasn't that they were worthless, but compared to this massive herd of gazelles, they were no longer enough to affect the overall situation.

Counting the days, it's been almost a month since I left Beijing. With the year-end approaching, the factory's targets have already been exceeded countless times; it's time to go back. The most important thing now is to safely and rationally transform these profound experiences into a solid foundation and stepping stones for my future in Beijing.

Looking up, all I could see was a vast expanse of snow-covered plains and Gobi stretching to the horizon. Apart from this solitary mountain and the scattered traces at its foot, there was nothing else. Last night, I had been racing wildly while chasing a herd of wild donkeys, and later changed direction to engage a tide of gazelles. Now, I was far from the familiar heart of the grasslands and deep inside Outer Mongolia.