Chapter 24: Fierce Battle
Su Hao swiftly moved aside, but to his surprise, the Snowflake Leopard reacted instantly, changing its direction and pouncing towards him once again.
The cold and indifferent pupils of the Snowflake Leopard were right before his eyes. Su Hao's legs burst with strength as he dodged once more.
By this time, the Snowflake Leopard was unable to change direction again, but it extended a forepaw, sweeping towards him horizontally. Its five sharp claws were already open, glinting with a chilling cold light.
Su Hao hastily extended his short knife to block in front of him and used his other hand to grasp the back of the knife for support.
However, he didn't have enough time to firmly plant his feet on the ground and stabilize his balance.
"Crack!"
The leopard's paw struck the knife's edge, and a powerful force sent Su Hao flying.
In terms of strength, Su Hao was completely defeated. His weight of around 20 kilograms was nothing compared to the Snowflake Leopard's 200 kilograms or more. If he didn't have the short knife in his hand, Su Hao wouldn't even qualify to stand in front of the Snowflake Leopard.
Su Hao rolled on the ground for a few rounds, flipped himself up, and just as he stood firmly, the Snowflake Leopard's attack was already approaching.
"Horizontal slash!"
Su Hao adjusted his balance, gripping the knife with both hands. Calculating the speed carefully, he aimed at the Snowflake Leopard's neck and made a horizontal sweep.
This technique was taught to him by Wu Yuntian three days ago, said to be Wu Yuntian's signature move.
He first activated the blood qi beneath his feet, then his thighs and waist, which in turn drove his arms. A series of explosive bursts of blood qi permeated his entire body, concentrating on the knife in his hand, severing everything that dared to stand in front of the blade.
Su Hao had practiced this move for a long time before grasping its essence.
"Swish!"
A cold light swept past, leaving only a few strands of white fur floating in the air.
At this critical moment, the Snowflake Leopard actually sensed the danger and avoided it.
In other words, Su Hao's lethal attack failed.
After using the technique, he felt a momentary emptiness, making it difficult for him to unleash his blood qi again.
Su Hao's eyes followed the mark left by Xiao Guang and locked onto the Snowflake Leopard's figure.
He saw the Snowflake Leopard, after evading Su Hao's attack, plant all four feet on the snow and curl its body into a ball. In the next instant, it sprang up and pounced toward Su Hao.
This time, it was the Snowflake Leopard's true attack. It opened its mouth for the first time, revealing its sharp teeth.
"I can't dodge it!" Su Hao realized that he couldn't avoid the Snowflake Leopard's attack; he was running out of time.
Turning the tip of the knife towards the Snowflake Leopard's open mouth, he took the risk of thrusting the knife into the Snowflake Leopard's mouth, piercing through its upper jaw and into its brain, aiming for a decisive kill.
Just as the critical moment arrived, Su Hao's collar was suddenly grabbed from behind, pulling him aside. When he finally reacted, he found himself in an open space to the side, while the Snowflake Leopard was standing ten meters away.
"Let's call it a day for today. We'll continue tomorrow. Let's go!" Wu Yuntian's voice came, and only then did Su Hao react, his mind in a daze. "Okay, Father."
Looking at the Snowflake Leopard, which was now alertly watching Wu Yuntian who had suddenly appeared, crouching low and ready to attack at any moment, Su Hao could sense its retreat.
It wasn't until now that Su Hao began to breathe in the fresh air in big gulps. His chest felt like it was about to explode, his heart almost jumping out of his chest, and his hands and feet started to numb.
That was too exciting!
Just like that, he followed behind Wu Yuntian, dazedly walking for a long time before slowly coming to his senses.
"What? We're coming back tomorrow?"
...
The next day, Su Hao followed Wu Yuntian and once again arrived at the Snowflake Leopard's territory.
After locating the Snowflake Leopard through Xiao Guang, he stood in front of it again.
By replaying the battle with the Snowflake Leopard repeatedly, Su Hao realized his shortcomings.
That was, he only relied on speed and strength in battle. However, when facing opponents who were both faster and stronger than him, he had no advantage.
So he understood what Wu Yuntian meant: through fighting the Snowflake Leopard, he needed to hone his close combat skills, fully unleash his body's strength and speed, and improve his overall strength.
This made Su Hao sigh. The teaching methods in this different world were so straightforward and crude.
Learning from his previous experience, Su Hao was now prepared. He was confident that he could hold on for a longer period of time and had a chance to kill the opponent.
Before the Snowflake Leopard launched its attack, Su Hao charged towards it.
This time, Su Hao didn't go all out in his charge but reserved enough strength to adapt to the situation.
His idea was simple. Since his speed and strength were inferior to the opponent, a straightforward fight would undoubtedly lead to his defeat.
So he would avoid the sharpness and not confront it head-on, but instead dodge and block up close, catching it off guard, to have almost a chance of winning.
The Snowflake Leopard suddenly crouched low. As Su Hao approached within three meters, it shot out, delivering a full-force attack, intending to bite this small figure with little flesh to death.
This absolute self-confidence was formed over the Snowflake Leopard's many years of hunting. No prey could escape its close-range pounce.
Su Hao was already waiting for this moment and didn't directly jump to the left or right like yesterday. He knew that even if he jumped away from the original spot, the Snowflake Leopard would quickly turn and swipe at him with a paw. In that moment, he would be at a disadvantage.
The moment the Snowflake Leopard pounced, Su Hao stopped his forward momentum, exerted force with both feet, and quickly jumped backward, narrowly avoiding the Snowflake Leopard's bite.
At that moment, while the Snowflake Leopard missed its bite and its forepaw hadn't touched the ground yet, Su Hao seized the opportunity and lunged forward, fiercely kicking the leopard's chin with his foot.
"Bang!" A muffled sound rang out, and the Snowflake Leopard's entire head shook as if struck by a large hammer from below, with its upper and lower jaws clashing with a crisp sound. This kick was Su Hao's revenge for being slapped away yesterday.
However, due to the vast difference in size between Su Hao and the Snowflake Leopard, he failed to lift the leopard's head. Instead, he felt a sharp pain in his own foot from the impact.
Startled by the sudden kick to its chin, the Snowflake Leopard leaped high in fright, retreating four to five steps before stopping, its eyes watchful and fixed on Su Hao.
"Roar~"
A low growl came from its throat. Su Hao's kick didn't cause
much damage, but it was highly insulting.
Su Hao had no intention of letting it go and charged at it again.
He brandished the sharp knife, once again evading the Snowflake Leopard's attacks in a small area. In the intervals when the Snowflake Leopard's attacks missed and it hadn't gathered new strength, Su Hao would rush forward, stab at its body randomly, and then retreat, regardless of the outcome.
At any moment, he never exerted his full strength, ensuring that he had enough power to dodge any incoming attacks.
With its enormous size, the Snowflake Leopard gained powerful strength and incredible sprint speed, but its advantage in small-area maneuvering was greatly reduced. After each attack, it needed a brief moment to gather strength before launching the next attack.
Therefore, when hunting, the Snowflake Leopard always pursued a one-hit kill, because as long as one attack missed, the hunting would end in failure.
Su Hao seized these fleeting moments and continuously inflicted new wounds on the Snowflake Leopard.
Soon, the Snowflake Leopard's body was stained with bright red. The red color stood out prominently against its snowy white fur and soon froze into ice crystals, glistening under the sunlight.
This back-and-forth continued, and Su Hao's grasp of the rhythm of the battle became stronger and stronger, while the Snowflake Leopard's chances of clawing him diminished.
No matter how the Snowflake Leopard roared, it couldn't do anything to Su Hao. Instead, it caused more and more blood to flow, weakening its own body.
Su Hao could tell that the Snowflake Leopard was now showing signs of fear and retreat. Once it started running, he had no confidence in catching up with it.
"Well then, let's settle this with one final strike."
(translated by begs)