My Journey to Immortality Begins with Hunting-Chapter 086 – Establishing Authority - Part 2

Li Yuan’s plan was straightforward. He’d use pressure, not brute force. He had no desire to handle it all on his own. Knowing that he was far stronger than the people around him, he felt perfectly safe.

Whoever targeted Lin Silang almost certainly did so to steal secrets from the tavern’s distillery. If that was the case, Li Yuan needed to make an example of them; otherwise, people would think he and the Ginger Tavern were easy prey, and his growing business could be threatened.

After a quick trip to the inner district and back, Li Yuan soon returned with a contingent of people from the Blood Blade Sect—both outer disciples and associates—plus Qian Da. Accompanying them were Zhou Jia and the hulking blackrock mastiff, Cinder.

They marched down the wide central street of Silver Creek. Li Yuan strode in the middle, carrying the Horse Butcher and a horned beast-bow slung across his back. Zhou Jia followed close by, and the Blood Blade Sect disciples fanned out around them.

At the front, Cinder sniffed the ground, tail wagging warily. Earlier, it had been given Lin Silang’s scent, but the chaotic smells of a bustling town made it tough for the creature to track. It wandered anxiously, stopping every so often with a puzzled whine, as though apologizing for losing the trail.

Li Yuan only grunted, urging the mastiff to keep going. Cinder trotted down a side alley, nose low, searching diligently.

Behind them, the disciples and even Zhou Jia couldn’t help but stare. It was a demonic beast, yet it behaved with the loyalty of a well-trained guard dog. Who had ever seen such a docile demonic beast? Invariably, it must have been raised from a pup to be this obedient.

They continued for a while, but Li Yuan started to worry that wandering through the streets like this was pointless. He could hardly blame Cinder, though. His own Scent Seeking skill couldn’t pick up the trail, either.

He glanced at his status window.

Master Scent Seeking's mastery was at (1/160), and he had 417 stat points available. Since he was having trouble tracking Lin Silang, why not max it out? He tapped the + symbol next to Scent Seeking.

Master Scent Seeking (1/160) ➔ Master Scent Seeking (160/160)

This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.

In a flash, 159 stat points were consumed, leaving him at 258 points.

An influx of new experiences flooded his mind.

He felt himself recalling countless hunts, the disciplined honing of senses, the eureka moments that led to mastering this skill. He saw how he’d learned to cloak himself from detection and track targets with the precision of a ninth rank demonic beast.

But now, at this highest level, he could do more. He could selectively filter out irrelevant odors. With that, even the faintest scent of his target would shine through like a lantern in the dark.

Li Yuan stopped in his tracks, prompting the group to halt as well. Closing his eyes, he mentally willed himself to filter out every smell except that of Lin Silang.

Cinder ambled into another intersection, looked left and right, but seemed uncertain. Li Yuan took a quick sniff. A faint trace lingered near a stone on the left side of the road.

He knelt down to pat Cinder’s head, gently nudging it left. “Try that way,” he said. “Don’t rush; keep sniffing.”

The mastiff let itself be guided, and Li Yuan announced to the group, “Left side!”

So they turned left, Cinder trotting forward in confusion. Huh...? the demon mastiff’s expression seemed to say. It wasn’t used to a human leading it during a search.

Eventually, they came to another fork. Cinder stood at the edge of Silver Creek’s main canal, staring uncertainly up- and downstream. Once again, it had lost the scent.

But here, Li Yuan found it clear as day. Lin Silang’s odor was entwined with two other distinct smells—one carrying a hint of floral perfume, the other a pungent reek of body odor. The three trails merged and wound downstream.

Li Yuan crouched beside Cinder again, rubbing its head and discreetly guiding it to the right. “Just take another sniff, no need to hurry.”

The mastiff cocked its head as though to say, Eh? Right, I think? while Li Yuan explained, “He’s saying it’s to the right!”

He tugged the leash gently, and the entire group followed him along the water’s edge, everyone secretly marveling that Li Yuan seemed to understand every grunt from the demon dog.

Before long, they left Silver Creek altogether, stepping beyond the township's bounds into open country. Out here, smells were far less muddled—Cinder bounded forward, wagging its tail, leading them to a derelict fishing shack by the river.

The mastiff stopped, gazing intently at the shack while its tail thumped excitedly. Clearly, the scent was strongest inside.

Li Yuan also sensed it. Lin Silang was here, along with those same two unknown odors.

At that moment, he turned his head sharply, meeting the eyes of someone hiding behind a nearby tree.

Standing some distance away was a lean, sharp-eyed man who faintly smelled like women’s perfume. Over his head hung the numbers 60~64. At a glance, both sides recognized each other’s identities.

Li Yuan immediately saw that this was one of the new enforcers recruited by the Blood Blade Sect, while Ruan Ah-Fei realized Li Yuan had somehow tracked him down.

Without a word of warning, Ruan Ah-Fei spun around and bolted, his toes skimming across the grass as if he were weightless.

“Old Zhou,” Li Yuan said calmly.

Zhou Jia’s eyes flicked open. With a slight crouch, he launched himself forward like a hunting leopard, fingers gripping his blade. In a single burst, he covered a dozen zhang, hot on Ruan Ah-Fei’s heels.

Meanwhile, Li Yuan led the others toward the dilapidated shack. From within came a muffled commotion, which then abruptly fell silent.

Moments later, a towering man standing at eight feet tall stepped out, dragging the badly beaten Lin Silang in one hand.

Chang Kui surveyed the newcomers, glanced around at the circle of armed individuals, and let out a raspy chuckle. “So that bastard Ruan Ah-Fei ran off without warning me... Well, can’t say I’m surprised.”

He hefted Lin Silang’s limp body. “I haven’t killed him. I’ll leave him right here. Just let me walk away from Gemhill County. How about that?”

Li Yuan turned slightly, exchanging a look with Qian Da. Having only recently reached ninth rank, Qian Da was watchful but clearly hesitant.

Another disciple, Yue Ling, sidled up and whispered, “Young Master Li, that’s Chang Kui, one of the newest enforcers. He was supposed to be heading to Union Town.”

Nodding, Li Yuan glanced at the 62~70 floating above Chang Kui’s head. “Release him first,” he said. “I’ll count to ten. If you can escape, go ahead. If not, don’t blame me.”

Chang Kui wasted no time. He hurled Lin Silang forward in one quick motion.

“Qian Da!” Li Yuan called.

Qian Da raced forward to catch Lin Silang while Li Yuan raised his horned beast bow, nocking and releasing an arrow in one smooth motion.

Chang Kui spun about, swinging his curved blade in a desperate arc that knocked the arrow aside with a metallic clang. Though it was no surprise, it stalled his retreat.

Seeing their chance, the Blood Blade Sect disciples rushed in, surrounding him. Several were at eighth rank themselves, such as Yue Ling, Yu Mao, and Tian Feng, who’d recently advanced after receiving the sect’s resources.

Chang Kui could only rely on his protective blood veil, but each time he tried to break free, Li Yuan would launch another arrow, forcing him to slow down and preventing a clean escape.

Meanwhile, Qian Da had already pulled Lin Silang to safety. He called out, “Young Master Li, he’s alive!”

Chang Kui tried to speak, but couldn’t find an opening. Gritting his teeth, he let out a roar and flared his eighth rank energy, boots pounding into the earth as he charged wildly ahead like a maddened bear. Ignoring a slash across his shoulder, he fixed his gaze on Li Yuan, intending to smash straight through to him.

So that’s the key, huh? Chang Kui thought. I’ll take Li Yuan hostage, drag him out of Gemhill County, and kill him along the way. Once I’m gone, who cares about the Blood Blade Sect?

But as Chang Kui closed in, Li Yuan simply lowered the horned bow and drew the Horse Butcher. A flash of steel reflected in his eyes.

“Rolling Grass Double Strike!” Chang Kui bellowed, dropping low to the ground. He pressed one palm against the dirt and kicked off, darting like an arrow. His curved blade whistled ominously as it sliced toward Li Yuan’s lower body.

Despite having fought off multiple disciples already, Chang Kui’s desperation seemed to push him to a new level, as if on the verge of a breakthrough in real combat.

A glint of savage glee lit his face...until a cold light crashed down from above.

Li Yuan’s blade descended with blinding speed, like a lightning bolt cleaving the sky. The unstoppable force ripped through Chang Kui’s guard and carved him apart from shoulder to waist, splitting him into two gruesome halves.

The Blood Blade Sect disciples rushing after him froze in shock.

Li Yuan calmly lowered the dripping blade, eyeing the remains on the ground. “How foolish. Didn’t you realize you’d already spent most of your strength? Only a worn-out bowstring, and you thought you could kill me?”

He wiped a flicker of blood from the blade, then turned to the circle of onlookers. “So...why exactly did we kill him?”

They exchanged uncertain glances until one disciple ventured, “He challenged the Blood Blade Sect’s authority, disrupted order in Silver Creek, and—”

Li Yuan fixed Qian Da with a meaningful look.

Qian Da cleared his throat and announced loudly, “He abducted someone, tortured them, and attacked us on sight to silence witnesses! If not for Young Master Li’s swift blade, he might have succeeded in his plot.”

Li Yuan gave a final nod. “He was supposed to head to Union Town, but he came here instead. And once cornered, he tried to kill us outright, no sign of fleeing. Remember that.”

“Understood!” the disciples answered in unison.

From within the tall grass nearby, Lin Silang, still dazed and wounded, called weakly, “Y-Young Master Li...”

Li Yuan turned to him. “Take it easy and recover.”

Tears threatened to spill as Lin Silang rasped, voice trembling, “They...they demanded the secret to our brewing. I...I told them nothing...”