Astral Apostle

In the next few days, Zhou Jing followed the hunter team to search for their hunting target in the forest.

Zhou Jing practiced as he traveled as if he couldn't get tired. Whenever he was free, he would look for Griff to teach him all kinds of knowledge. When the other hunters were free, they would come over to give him some pointers as well to relieve their boredom.

In addition to the usage of the dagger, Griff also gave simple pointers on the skill of hunting blades, as well as some skills for surviving in the wild. The interface showed the learned skills as [Weapon Mastery - Hunting Blade] and [Wilderness Survival], respectively.

Zhou Jing activated the Accelerated Learning function for both. The cost was 30 Astral Points and 20 Astral Points, respectively.

As for archery skills, the hunters never mentioned wanting to teach them to him.

Zhou Jing didn't mind. Accelerating one's training did not mean that one had the ability to multitask, and one's energy was limited. In just a few days, he had learned three different skills, and he had infused enough knowledge for now.

The level of these skills were all Level 0, which meant that they had yet to learn and would not be included in the skill column.

Thus, on the way, he tried his best to learn the three abilities. On the fourth day, he finally got rid of his "whiteboard" interface panel — [Weapon Mastery - Dagger], [Weapon Mastery - Hunting Blade], and [Wilderness Survival] had reached Level 1 consecutively, and the prefix showed that he had reached the standard of "Apprentice" for the skills.

The effect of Accelerated Learning came to an end. Zhou Jing thought for a moment and didn't choose to continue paying for more accelerated learning.

He had reached a higher skill level, so the cost of training speed would naturally increase. He only had 305 Astral Points left, so he had to use them sparingly. On the other hand, the interface estimated that he would stay for five to seven days, and he had already been here for four days.

He didn't know how the number of days spent in this place was calculated. He couldn't figure out what determined the standard duration of "one day."

Even the length of a day on different planets was different, not to mention the current realm he was in… He could not figure out what formula was used to determine the length of time that determined a day.

Maybe it is based on my main body's time? Perhaps the duration of time that my consciousness spends projected will equate to the number of days I can spend in this world.

Zhou Jing lacked information and knowledge in this area and could only make wild guesses. However, he had roughly estimated the length of a day in this world over the past few days. It was similar to the planet where his main body lived.

(TL Note: Just in case it's confusing, what the author is trying to say is that which person determined the length of time in his current place to be ~24 hours for a day.)

In comparison, he was more curious about how he would return when the duration of his stay expired. He didn't have any information on whether his body would suddenly disappear or something else…

He would know when he returned, so Zhou Jing didn't feel too conflicted.

After upgrading the three skills, he did not immediately display them out of caution.

An apprentice's standards were nothing to a hunter, but he felt that in the minds of these people, it was impossible for a person to improve so much in such a short period of time. He didn't want them to suspect him for hiding something about his skills and make the mistake of having them think he was just fooling around with them.

Previously, in order to gather information, he had to ask a lot of questions. Now that he was already suspicious, it was better to avoid trouble.

Zhou Jing was used to keeping a low profile. This was similar to the "cautious" trait of this apostle.

Along the way, other than having to talk to him, he maintained a cautious attitude most of the time. This Astral apostle's synchronization rate gradually increased to 26%, but he did not feel any changes brought about by the increase for the time being.

Zhou Jing's journey was relatively safe and fulfilling. On the afternoon of the fourth day, the hunter team finally approached their target.

...

"We're very close. That white spider beast is not far ahead."

Barong crouched down, picked up a branch, and stirred a pile of white trails on the ground, pulling out a trail of slime.

There was more white fluid on the forest floor ahead. It formed a winding trail that extended into the forest.

Barong threw away the branch and stood up before ordering in a deep voice.

"Everyone, gather your weapons and prepare the bait. We need to set up traps and ambushes ahead."

The other hunters looked serious as they took off their quivers to check the state of each arrow. Then, they took out pieces of tightly wrapped animal internal organs from their luggage.

These were all taken out from the bodies of the dozen or so snake wolves four days ago, so they were all rotten now. The hunt then was to obtain this bait.

"The white spider beast is a carnivorous animal, and it loves the internal organs of animals the most. As long as we can lure it into a trap with this bait, we will be able to gain the initiative. We might be able to defeat our target easily."

Griff stood beside Zhou Jing and explained casually. He was still fiddling with the animal's soft and rotten internal organs. His face was calm as usual as if the pungent smell did not exist.

Zhou Jing tried his best to hold back the urge to cover his nose and asked in a muffled voice, "What exactly does that white spider beast you mentioned look like?"

This hunter team's goal was to kill this mutant beast. He had been hearing the hunters say that mutated beasts were very dangerous along the way, but he had never seen one in real life, so he never had a direct concept in his mind.

"It's white all over and can secrete white mucus. Its vital area is the abdomen… Well, actually, I've never seen it before. It's also my first time hunting this species of mutant beast. It was Captain Barong that told us all the information.

"Before he came to Frostwood Village, he was a freelance hunter. He hunted mutant beasts everywhere and was very knowledgeable. He's a veteran in the Mutant Beast Hunter circle."

Barong heard their conversation and looked back before quickly waving his hand in denial.

"I'm not considered a veteran… I have the experience, but my strength is far from enough. I don't have the guts to take a second blood potion."

The blood potion could be used multiple times for strengthening, but the higher the consumption, the lower the chance of survival… Zhou Jing had already heard it from Griff on the way.