Chapter 124 - 116: Investigation
The Beaked Eagle wanted to land on his shoulder, as usual.
Qin Ziwen quickly dodged out of the way.
Having its affectionate landing spurned, the Beaked Eagle felt a little wronged and unhappy. It let out two cries.
Perhaps due to its larger size, its voice had become somewhat deep and powerful.
"Don’t you have any damn idea how big your talons are? If you landed, it’d be like a few daggers stabbing into me," Qin Ziwen said helplessly.
The Beaked Eagle, having landed smoothly, looked at the talons embedded in the dirt beneath it. It lifted its foot, examined its large, sharp claws, and let out a cry of unclear meaning.
Qin Ziwen used Insight on Du Yu again.
[Ordinary Human (Du Yu): ☆☆☆☆]
’Only Four Stars, not Full Stars.’
’But on second thought, Five Stars represents the theoretical peak of an Ordinary Human’s physical fitness. It’s reserved for the top echelon of individuals throughout history who stood at the apex based on physique alone. Reaching Four Stars is already quite strong.’
’Besides, this is just a rating of physical fitness, not combat power.’
’Things like Combat Skill and weapon proficiency are all classified as techniques.’
Curious, Qin Ziwen used Insight to check everyone present.
[Ordinary Human (Qin Ziwu): ☆☆☆]
[Ordinary Human (Li Tieshan): ☆☆☆]
[Ordinary Human (Li Yue): ☆☆]
[Ordinary Human (Deng Guang): ☆☆]
[Ordinary Human (Zhao Pu): ☆☆]
After seeing the results, he roughly understood the criteria for the Star Level ratings.
A normal, healthy adult male with no injuries was Two Stars.
Those who trained year-round or engaged in manual labor, the ones who were considered strong, could reach Three Stars.
Those with exceptional innate talent, who were naturally superior to ordinary people in some aspect and consciously trained to develop that talent, were like Du Yu and could achieve a Four-Star rating.
As for Five Stars, that was the peak of physical fitness for an Ordinary Human.
Of course, even within the same Star Level, there were still differences in physique. Furthermore, their specialty wasn’t necessarily strength; some might be naturally faster runners, while others had greater stamina. The Star Level represented a range.
’But I wonder what my Star Level is.’
Qin Ziwen was a little curious. He took out his phone and opened the camera.
He used Insight on the man on the screen.
[Ordinary Human (Qin Ziwen): ☆☆☆☆]
"Bro, what are you admiring yourself for? Taking selfies now?" Qin Ziwu leaned over and flashed a peace sign at the camera.
CLICK.
Qin Ziwen pressed the shutter button, and the photo was captured.
"Alright, let’s go. We’re heading down the mountain!"
In the sky behind them, several Black Falcons watched from a distance.
The Beaked Eagle glanced back, then immediately took flight, charging toward the Black Falcons.
This spooked the Black Falcons, which hurriedly scattered and fled.
But soon, the fleeing Black Falcons turned around and charged furiously at the Beaked Eagle.
"SCREEE!"
The Beaked Eagle was like a heavy fighter jet, plowing straight into a Black Falcon and forcing it downward.
Qin Ziwu asked in surprise, "Huh? Why’d they suddenly stop running? How did the Beaked Eagle draw their aggro?"
Du Yu’s eyes were sharp. "Their nest must be nearby. The Beaked Eagle is pretty smart. It attacked their nest on purpose to force them to turn back."
Li Yue praised, "Damn, it’s using tactics. Attacking the nest to force them back."
The Beaked Eagle, forcing one of the Black Falcons down, plunged into the forest, obscuring the details of the situation.
A few minutes later, the Beaked Eagle flew back into the sky, triumphantly brandishing a dead Black Falcon in its talons.
Several other Black Falcons circled it, crying anxiously, but they didn’t dare get close.
Finally, after circling once above their heads, the Beaked Eagle flew over, looking smug.
"Wheeeer——!"
Taking the Black Falcon from the Beaked Eagle’s talons, Qin Ziwen laughed and chided, "You little rascal, you’re quite the vengeful one. I wonder who you learned that from."
Qin Ziwu secretly glanced at his older brother but said nothing.
The others looked at the Beaked Eagle, and Qin Ziwen explained, "It was mobbed by these Black Falcons before, when it came here to investigate the altar. It was pecked until it was covered in blood and had to make a sorry escape..." The Beaked Eagle quickly slapped its wing over Qin Ziwen’s face, stopping him from saying more.
This drew a round of laughter from the onlookers.
Pushing its wing away, Qin Ziwen laughed and chided, "Alright, alright. This guy’s got quite the ego. I won’t say any more."
The Beaked Eagle pecked at the Black Falcon on the ground with its beak, then nudged it toward Qin Ziwen.
Qin Ziwen said, "This bird barely has any meat on it and won’t taste good. Go catch a bigger one next time."
The Beaked Eagle lowered its head in thought, though it was unclear if it had understood.
On their way down the mountain, the Beaked Eagle, circling above their heads, suddenly whipped its head around. Its gaze, sharp as lightning, locked onto a figure in the nearby woods.
The Beaked Eagle flew over, startling the leopard hiding behind a tree into a frantic scramble.
It leaped a few times into the depths of the forest, hiding behind a bush and staring intently at the Beaked Eagle.
The Beaked Eagle folded its wings and landed on the branch of a large tree.
It let out a few irritated cries.
After growing larger, flying in the forest wasn’t as easy as before. Its wings would easily scrape against the leaves, and if it wasn’t careful, it could hit a branch.
Colliding with branches while flying was actually quite painful.
"Haaa~"
The leopard kept its body low to the ground. Facing the Beaked Eagle, it slowly backed away.
Seeing that it wasn’t being pursued, it spun around and nimbly fled deeper into the forest.
"What’s wrong? You couldn’t catch it?"
Qin Ziwen ran over from behind.
The Beaked Eagle’s cry sounded a bit dejected.
Qin Ziwen laughed. "It’s no big deal. So you didn’t catch it, what of it?"
"Sir, there’s a wild boar over there," Du Yu said, pointing into the distance.
The group looked in the direction he was pointing. In the tall grass forty or fifty meters away, a wild boar, about as tall as a man’s waist, was rooting around in the ground.
"Oink oink~"
It seemed to have noticed the movement.
It raised its head and looked warily at the group.
The seven of them exchanged glances, their faces lighting up with joy.
Du Yu made a hand signal, then crouched down, hunched his body, and slowly moved upwind to circle around from the side.
Qin Ziwen tightened his grip on his Long Spear. "I’ll go to the front."
Gradually, the wild boar seemed to sense the subtle change in the atmosphere. It stopped what it was doing, raised its head, and looked from side to side. Finally, its gaze landed on Qin Ziwen’s group not far away. It grunted twice, then turned and headed for the dense woods.
Suddenly, a startled squeal came from within the dense woods.
Seeing this, Qin Ziwen raised his Long Spear and charged.
After running a few dozen paces, he saw Du Yu in the dense woods, holding a Long Spear with both hands. The spearhead was plunged into the boar’s side, pinning it against a tree.
The wild boar struggled desperately, letting out terrified squeals. Du Yu held the Long Spear tight, using skillful leverage to contend with it.
The boar, which had been spinning in place, saw someone approach. Its eyes became bloodshot, and it let out a furious snort, trying to charge at Qin Ziwen.
"Sir, be careful!" Du Yu gripped the Long Spear tightly, restricting the boar’s movement.
"Perfect timing," Qin Ziwen said, raising his spear to meet it.
He plunged his spear into the wild boar’s snout.
He and Du Yu pushed at the same time. The boar’s hooves thrashed wildly in a panic, but the two men—one in front, one on the right—pinned it from both sides, forcibly holding it in place.
The redness in the wild boar’s eyes gradually faded. It let out a mournful cry and was finally pinned fast against a large tree.
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