Chapter 3: Mutated Mammoth (Part 1)

Guo Shier looked up in surprise and saw a small patch of trees in the distant forest shaking violently. He said, “Such coincidence? Grandpa Qinan, go take a look and see what kind of mutated beast it is… Be careful and come back quickly.”
Qi Nanshan replied and swiftly headed toward the forest. His strength was the greatest here, so most difficult tasks were assigned to him.
Guo Shier said, “Let’s retreat to the cliff behind us. We can’t stay here for long.” He was very cautious—having seen the strength of the mutated earth dragon, he didn’t dare to engage a mutated beast recklessly. So far, he had only seen one mutated earth dragon.
The group immediately retreated to a low cliff. Guo Shier said, “Let’s hide first and wait until Grandpa Nanshan returns.”
A moment later, Qi Nanshan rushed back like the wind.
Guo Shier asked, “How was it? What was it?”
Qi Nanshan shook his head. “I can’t recognize it. It’s a strange mutated beast with a long thing on its head, two long teeth, and very long hair. It’s huge—I only saw its head and back. A tree as thick as a human arm was broken just by one of its blows… Not easy to deal with.”
As he spoke, he drew a simple diagram in the dirt with a branch. Guo Shier exclaimed, “An elephant?”
Lan Tianbao nodded. “Mm, it looks like an elephant.” Luo Jie said, “An elephant? That’s rare. Strange… Elephants are usually found in the south; you don’t see them in the north. No wonder Da Shan didn’t know.”
“It’s covered in hair…”
Guo Shier suddenly realized and said, “Could it be a mammoth?” With a roar, a giant mammoth stepped out of the forest. Luo Jie said, “A mutated mammoth! Shier was right. This is a unique beast from the Wild Beast Secret Realm, and it’s already mutated.”
Huo Bao exclaimed, “It’s so big… and its appearance is very strange.”
Guo Shier felt uneasy. He suddenly realized he had no confidence at all—this thing clearly wasn’t easy to deal with. He stared silently at the mutated mammoth. Tan Laoxi was eager to take action. “Should we fight it? It’s damn big… Are those two teeth? Damn, such long teeth… Who could withstand a hit from that?”
Luo Jie said, “Those are ivory… uh, should I say mammoth ivory?”
Guo Shier said, “Master, let’s wait and see. I’m not confident… This thing isn’t easy to deal with.”
Qi Nanshan said, “I wonder what level of mutated beast this is?”

Guo Shier said, “It’s definitely not a low-level mutated rune beast of level one to three. It’s at least level four… maybe even level five. It seems beyond our capabilities.”
Luo Jie looked at the mammoth in the distance with a bitter smile and said, “Although it’s weaker than the mutated Earth Dragon, its strength still exceeds ours! I can sense how formidable it is.”
Eagle Demon said, “Hmm, this mammoth gives off an oppressive vibe. I don’t think it’s easy to deal with.”
The mutated mammoth knocked down a large tree, used its long trunk to pick up the tender leaves, and put them in its mouth. It stayed there for about twenty minutes before leisurely returning to the forest and gradually disappearing.
Tan Laoxi asked, “Are we just letting it go? Shier, why don’t we attack?”
Qi Nanshan said, “Attack? How can we attack without understanding the situation first? You’re not a child anymore—why so impulsive? Look at Shier; he’s more calm than you.” He scolded Tan Laoxi bluntly, feeling much better afterward. Tan Laoxi, however, felt frustrated again for being reprimanded.
Guo Shier ignored Tan Laoxi. He still didn’t know that guy had a notorious nickname in the West Rune Sect. He said, “Master, let’s observe first to see if there’s any chance. If not, we’ll have to find another target.”
Luo Jie nodded in agreement. He agreed with Guo Shier’s caution. As the leader of the team, impulsiveness was the worst thing to have. He said, “Okay, let’s set up camp.”
Guo Shier said, “Let’s camp a bit further away. This place is too close to the mutated mammoth.”
They moved a few more miles and found a secluded spot to set up their tents.
Guo Shier, Luo Jie, and Qi Nanshan sat together to discuss their next hunting strategy. The mutated mammoth was very attractive, but it would definitely not be easy to catch. Even with nine masters, they still felt their strength wasn’t enough.
Seeing the three discussing, Tan Laoxi couldn’t help but run over. Eagle Demon and the others also came over, and everyone sat together.
Guo Shier said, “What are everyone’s ideas? Hehe, one person’s plan is short-sighted; two people’s plan is better.”
Tan Laoxi said, “It’s simple. Set a trap to get that damn mammoth trapped, then we attack and kill it, hehe…” He said proudly.
Guo Shier couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He said, “You’ve seen that mutated mammoth too. It’s at least ten meters long, enormous in size, and its strength is terrifying. Even trees as thick as a person’s arms get broken with just one hit from it. So, Mr. Tan… what kind of trap do you plan to set? Against such absolute strength, no trap will work!”

“Of course… if you can dig a pit fifty meters in diameter and thirty meters deep, cover it with wooden planks to disguise it as the ground, then lure the mutated mammoth onto it—hehe, maybe there’s a slight chance. But… it’s impossible for us to do that!”
Tan Laoxi wanted to argue, but after thinking it over, he shut his mouth. Such a trap was indeed difficult to set up.
Luo Jie said, “We can drop the idea of a trap. Any other ideas?”
Everyone started discussing enthusiastically, and soon they realized there were no good solutions. According to Guo Shier, when a mutated spirit beast possessed absolute power, most schemes wouldn’t work against it.
Guo Shier said, “If there were a spirit beast similar to the mutated mammoth, hehe, if we lured it to the mammoth’s territory, would they fight? If we stoked the conflict from the side… we might benefit from it. But the prerequisite is… there must be another powerful mutated spirit beast near the mammoth’s territory.”
Luo Jie said, “That’s not easy either… There are several prerequisites: first, a mutated spirit beast with strength comparable to that of the mammoth; second, it must be near the mammoth’s territory; third, who will lure it over; fourth, we need to ensure they fight to the death instead of backing down as soon as they meet; fifth, even if the two mutated spirit beasts fight, they shouldn’t both get severely damaged…”
Guo Shier couldn’t help but sigh bitterly. His master was right—there were too many variables, and it wouldn’t be easy to achieve the goal.
Qi Nanshan said, “Don’t worry, Shier. Hehe, mutated spirit beasts have always been the hardest to hunt. We still have plenty of time; we’ll definitely find a way.”
Tan Laoxi muttered, “Not fighting… Damn it, how do we know we can’t beat it? Always thinking of useless things.” His voice was soft, but everyone heard him clearly.
Guo Shier had an idea and said, “Uncle Tan has a point. We’ve been intimidated by the mammoth’s appearance and strength. Actually… we could take action to test it and see just how powerful it really is. Maybe we won’t even have to go through the trouble… Well, even if we can’t beat it, we can still lure it and take it to another mutated spirit beast’s territory.”
Luo Jie’s eyes lit up as well, and he nodded. “Yes, Shier. You take command, and we’ll go and test it… to see how strong this guy really is. The mammoth is tall and strong, so its speed probably isn’t very fast.”
Tan Laoxi grew proud and said, “Exactly! I was right after all!”

Guo Shier said, “Master, me, Grandpa Nanshan, Uncle Eagle Demon, Uncle Luo, Uncle Xiaofeng, Uncle Luo Jing, Uncle Tan—us eight of us will go together. Sister Lan will stay at the camp. Well, Grandpa Nanshan will go scout first. Even if we have to take action, it has to wait until tomorrow morning. Let’s rest first.”
Qi Nanshan said, “Okay, I’ll go look for the mammoth’s lair first.” He turned and left.
Tan Laoxi approached Guo Shier with a big smile on his face. Guo Shier frowned and said, “Uncle Tan, don’t even think about it… It’s absolutely impossible!”
Luo Jieqi asked, “Shier, what do you mean it’s impossible?”
Tan Laoxi immediately looked distressed and asked, “Shier, how did you know?”
Guo Shier was not polite at all and said, “As soon as you sit down, I know what kind of shit you’ve taken!”
Tan Laoxi complained, “Lao Luo, your disciple is using vulgar language!”
Luo Jie said, “That’s not vulgar language; it’s a compliment! Hehe, Shier, what does he want?”
Guo Shier said, “Ask him yourself.”
Tan Laoxi said aggrievedly, “Lao Luo, Old Master Luo, I’m being wronged… I didn’t say anything at all. He just said it’s impossible and told me not to even think about it… What was I supposed to think…”
Guo Shier held back his laughter and said, “It was you who said it. Since you’re not thinking about anything, go get ready. At least you have a group of Snow Talisman Wolves to back you up. Hehe, I hope you’ll contribute your part.”
Luo Jie wasn’t stupid and quickly realized what was going on. He blurted out, “Impossible! That’s not possible!”
Tan Laoxi was extremely eager to obtain the mammoth’s spirit. But the blood of the mutated talisman beast was an irresistible temptation for the people of the Northern Talisman Sect. How could they let him ruin it? And once the spirit of the mutated talisman beast was sealed inside a spirit talisman, that talisman would gain the power of an ancient talisman—another irresistible temptation for Tan Laoxi.
Lan Tianbao had been watching them curiously. She couldn’t help asking, “Shier, what were you talking about?”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Nothing much. We were just discussing how to deal with the mammoth.”
Lan Tianbao was confused. After a while, she asked again, “Shier, don’t I need to join the hunt?”
Guo Shier said, “Sister Lan, the camp is very important. We need a master-level expert to guard it. Otherwise, I won’t feel at ease. Actually, I wanted to leave a great Talisman Warrior behind, but the mammoth is extremely powerful. We need to concentrate our efforts.”
Lan Tianbao nodded and said, “Okay, I’ll guard the camp.” She knew Guo Shier was being considerate of her.

Guo Shier began arranging the defense of the camp. He took a few martial artists with him to set up many traps around the area. As he saw it, even if these traps couldn’t kill the enemies, they would still serve well as early warning systems. He also consulted Lan Tianbao to discuss better defense methods. Lan Tianbao had a large number of poisonous insects, so he added many terrifying little bugs to the traps. Only then was Guo Shier satisfied.