Yin Xiu looked at the body of the frost-coat weasel. After he finished his practice with an uncomfortable expression. 'I can't wait to quickly master my technique so I don't have to practice with this method in the future.' Looking towards Hu Meng who was lazily lying on his back after his feast on the ox spirit beast. Contentment plastered all over his expression.
"Hu Meng can I use what's left for practice?" Yin Xiu asked his friend who looked quite horrifying after his meal. Hu Meng lazily opened an eye in a squint before snorting and rolling over. "Go for it, I've gotta digest this, there was a lot of energy in this guy." His tail swayed slowly before once again returning to his nap.
Yin Xiu shook his head in amusement, before sizing up the remnants of the ox. 'It's a first stage beast with solid defense, which should be similar to the stone-armed baboons we'll be fighting soon. I won't be in charge of the rank one beasts when we attack, but it'll be good to see what works just in case of an accident.' Yin Xiu observed carefully for a few minutes before noting the only likely weaknesses were the eyes, ears, and underbelly.
Determining the targets, Yin Xiu once again tried to practice as thoroughly as possible. Yin Xiu's needle squelched grotesquely with each thrust as he determined the feasibility of each location. 'All of those spots I can at least pierce through with a little difficulty.' he noted, 'If I really have to fend off a rank one beast at that time, it might be pretty risky unless I'm absolutely accurate.' His determination to increase his skills was cemented even further, as he imagined several scenarios that were extremely unfavorable to him.
'The eyes will probably be the best target, it's easy to pierce, and the lack of vision will give me the best opportunity to retreat unscathed once the poison starts to work its way into their system... If I have no chance at the eyes, another target will have to work. Living is the most important thing.' Yin Xiu kept up practicing his weapon skills until the early afternoon before stopping.
"Hu Meng, I'm going to go on my first hunt, wish me luck!" Yin Xiu yelled to the still snoozing tiger. "Good luck, I'll come find you later on. I've still got a while before I'm done here." Hu Meng waved him off with his paw in a daze before rolling back over to continue his nap.
Yin Xiu already expecting the tiger to act this way nodded back, before making his way out of the clearing. 'I'll go back to the summer area I stayed in originally to try my luck. There's plenty of plant coverage there that'll help obscure my figure. After that, if I still have the time, I know there's a spring area nearby that Hu Meng and I haven't explored yet. I should be able to find some new poisons to use on my bone refinement.'
With his mind made up he observed his surroundings carefully along the way, the drifting leaves and dazzling autumn colors were always calming to witness. His steps crunching on the fallen leaves, Yin Xiu felt a sense of peace overtaking him as he continued on his journey. His breath unconsciously becoming more restrained as he felt immersed in the atmosphere of the forest.
Reaching the edge of the Autumn zone controlled by the tiger mother and son, the stark change in the seasons was still as shocking as ever. The cool temperature, and drifting leaves making way to the scorching heat of summer and the sounds of lively birdsong and chirping insects was both jarring and beautiful to witness. Yin Xiu marveled mentally before focusing his mind to the matter at hand. 'I'll return to the first stream I found, there should be plenty of foot traffic from weaker beasts going there to drink, and anything too strong would have been wiped out by Hu Meng or Hu Fang long ago.' Yin Xiu slowly walked towards the stream, stepping lightly to make as little noise as possible. Upon reaching his destination he quickly scanned the area when he noticed a well concealed trail left behind by some creature as it made its way to drink. Yin Xiu crouched down nearby behind a low hanging tree branch with dense foliage that obscured his figure.
Yin Xiu waited patiently with the needle in his hand waiting for his prey to wander into striking distance. Two hours passed by slowly with Yin Xiu's only movement being his eyes occasionally glancing intently for any type of movement, his ears straining to notice any unusual sounds heading in his direction. His patience eventually paid off, as a slight rustling from his left caught his attention. Staying still, he waited calmly, as a badger like creature appeared from the corner of his vision. It was predominantly brown with two light green stripes running down its body. Yin Xiu watched as it shuffled its way down the path warily with its eyes darting around alertly.
It made its way closer and closer as Yin Xiu felt the situation overlap with his vision of hunting as a snake. Sinking into that experience he imitated the feeling as closely as possible. Naturally his muscles tensed and his breathing calmed. Even his heartbeat subconsciously slowed as he prepared to make his move. A short distance from Yin Xiu's hiding place, the badger stopped as its nose twitched furiously seemingly catching a scent, but it was too late to escape as Yin Xiu suddenly struck, The weapon overlapping with the fangs of the snake in his vision. As he made his move, the needle sliced the air apart before burying itself into the top of the beasts head. The badger didn't even have the chance to struggle before it became prey.
Yin Xiu carefully reviewed the process in his mind before a smile graced his pale face. 'It seems my practice wasn't in vain.' Quickly he removed the needle from the badger before carefully cleaning it off with some leaves before holding it up to the sunlight to inspect his weapon. 'I'll need to find the time to sharpen it soon...' He noted as he carefully observed some faint imperfections appearing on the tip of the needle. 'It's not made of very high-level material, so this level of wear is normal for the amount of times I've used it.' He smiled reluctantly, 'I'll use it until I can't anymore I guess.'
Yin Xiu then turned to his prey noting that where he pierced it was extremely clean and efficiently placed. 'I'll try to hunt a larger beast in the future to attempt aiming for the eyes. Practice makes perfect, but this guy was too low to the ground for that to be feasible.'
Yin Xiu then cleaned up his catch, carefully before observing the time. 'There's still a few more hours of daylight... I'll hide this in a tree, and make my way to that spring zone to try my luck searching for poisons.'
Acting on his decision, Yin Xiu found an unoccupied tree hole a ways away from the stream to avoid having his hard won prey stolen while he was gone. After ensuring that the badger was secure, Yon Xiu trekked once again into the forest. Before long the smell of blooming flowers became his guide as the breeze led him closer, and closer to his destination.
The spring area of the forest was vibrant and soothing with beautiful flowers blooming everywhere. Whether on the ground or the trees, buds unfolded themselves in a plethora of colors, an intoxicating aroma filling the air with a decadent atmosphere. Yin Xiu's already good mood once again rose as he ventured into the idyllic scenery. Carefully avoiding stepping on any of the flowers Yin Xiu focused his attention for any that gave off the tell tale glow of poison.
After searching for a short ten minutes Yin Xiu found his first target. It was a beautiful orange orchid with faint droplets forming on its petals, each exuding a faint glow. Yin Xiu smiled happily as he carefully removed the droplets, placing them in his handmade bamboo container. 'The flower itself isn't poisonous, but the moisture it produces on its petals is, I should be able to harvest from each of these plants multiple times.' Thrilled with the prospect Yin Xiu's mood became even better as he continued his search.
Not long after he found a plant with deep purple bell-like flowers that matched Yin Xiu's hair closely. The whole plant gave off a slightly more brilliant glow than the drops he had collected before. Yin Xiu once again gladly harvested it, carefully handling the delicate flowers. As he was about to continue searching nearby, a much stronger scent cut through the myriad fragrances in the air quickly catching his attention. Yin Xiu felt a warmth in his chest, as the runes flickered into life with a longing feeling. Soon the wind blew once more allowing Yin Xiu to pinpoint where to go. The flowers dancing in the breeze along the way.
He carefully made his way over with caution. Anything that could make his physique react this strongly would more than likely carry a significant risk to acquire. Yin Xiu finally got close enough to the source of the smell to make out a strong glow in a field of flowers. It was coming from a unique plant which had three stems that were braided together in a twist, each ending in a large plum-sized green fruit surrounded by pale yellow flowers. One of which, didn't glow, while the other two had a deep attraction to Yin Xiu. Calming his stirred up emotions he carefully observed the area around the plant. Struck with the feeling that something was amiss with the atmosphere. When suddenly another glow appeared in his vision, observing carefully he realized there was a guardian protecting the plant, a meter long white spider with flower-like growths along its back, seamlessly blending in harmlessly with its beautiful surroundings.