Chapter Twelve: Two-Star Advanced Magical Beast, Death
Vote for me~
The Blackwater Mountains are not the Hortenklein family’s private garden; anyone traveling through them must exercise extreme caution! Especially the newly recruited registered disciples of the Hortenklein family, whose strength is generally below three stars—even in the outskirts of the Blackwater Mountains, they might encounter formidable two-star or three-star magical beasts.
Year after year, promising registered disciples on the outskirts of the Blackwater Mountains fail in their hunts and are instead devoured by magical beasts! For those who charge ahead blindly, fail to assess their own strength, and lack self-control, the Hortenklein family pays little heed.
Because of this, most registered disciples never risk entering the Blackwater Mountains…
Even so, each year, many proud young men and women eagerly test their strength against the magical beasts of the Blackwater Mountains.
Clearly!
Xu Wen had encountered such people this time.
Unfortunately…
They were too far away.
This was already the farthest edge of the Blackwater Mountains; the rescue team waiting at the entrance would need at least ten minutes to reach them!
"There may still be hope! Should we go see?" Xie Zhan’s suggestion and determined gaze made Xu Wen again feel his cold exterior masked a warm heart.
"It could be a high-level two-star beast, or even three-star..." Xu Wen looked at him quietly, unmoving.
Xie Zhan hesitated, recalling that the previous team had dealt with a low-level two-star beast… With Xu Wen’s one-star, eighth-tier fire mage strength, facing a high-level two-star beast, his attack would be negligible and his defense nonexistent!
"Then… you stay here, I’ll go take a look!" Xie Zhan still didn’t want to just leave; the person was a disciple of the Hortenklein family, to whom he owed a debt of gratitude.
Xu Wen sighed inwardly, swiftly reached into his storage pouch to grab a porcelain bottle, poured out two pills, tossed one to Xie Zhan, crushed the other and smeared it beneath his nose—the spicy scent rushed straight to his brain.
"Do as I say!"
Though puzzled by Xu Wen's actions, Xie Zhan did not resist; after following suit, the two rushed unhesitatingly in the direction from which the distress signal had come.
"Ugh! What is this?" Xie Zhan wrinkled his brow at the acrid smell invading his nose.
"Don’t worry about it," Xu Wen replied, not directly answering. As he ran, he continually pulled out packets of fire phosphorus powder wrapped in paper from his storage pouch, scattering them every short distance—before a high-level two-star magical beast, Xie Zhan possessed a two-star defensive spell, Flame Shield, which could expand its area of protection and withstand several rounds of magic, but Xu Wen could not…
This battle was far more dangerous than the two previous stinking swamp beasts; even the slightest mishap could mean death! To guard against the unexpected, he had to make extra preparations!
Watching Xu Wen sprinkle a hundred-meter stretch of fire phosphorus powder as easily as flour, Xie Zhan grew increasingly astonished and was tempted to ask if Xu Wen had spent the past twenty days solely refining "fire phosphorus powder."
Suddenly!
A chill seized both their hearts.
"Damn! Looks like a wind-type beast!"
A powerful surge of magical energy was just ahead, drawing nearer and nearer—the air was filled with the endless hiss and crash of high-speed slicing.
"Careful!" Xie Zhan’s expression grew grave; after tossing out these words, he accelerated past Xu Wen.
Seconds later!
A familiar, frenzied roar echoed clearly from ahead…
"No!!"
"You beast!!!!"
"I’ll tear you apart with my own hands!!!" The childish voice was brimming with overwhelming rage and murderous intent!
Xu Wen halted in his tracks:
"Ding Yushan?!"
Among all the registered disciples, aside from Wan’er and Xie Zhan, Ding Yushan spoke to him the most; the moment the roar rang out, Xu Wen recognized him instantly.
Rushing onto the battlefield where Ding Yushan faced the magical beast, the scene before him made even the always composed Xu Wen’s heart clench violently—cold air raced into his chest, his mind went numb, nearly exploding; if not for the spicy scent beneath his nose, he would have frozen on the spot.
The battlefield was unbearable to witness!
Blood soaked the fallen leaves and soft earth, bodies, severed limbs, and heads lay scattered with not a single corpse intact. The originally vibrant youths now lay colorless, their faces twisted with terror and pain, frozen in disbelief.
It looked nothing like a normal battlefield—more like an abattoir. Before Ding Yushan stood a magical beast of the fox tribe, twisting its head with a pair of narrow fox eyes.
"Damn it! It’s a Gale Fox!!"
Xie Zhan exclaimed, recognizing the culprit responsible for slaughtering several registered disciples.
Xu Wen did not know this snow-white beast with crimson eyes and murderous aura, but judging by the aura it emanated, the wind-element gathering effect during its spellcasting, and its sharp claws, he couldn’t help but hold his breath. It was evident this beast possessed not only wind magic attacks but also formidable close-combat abilities.
"You…?"
Ding Yushan, nearly deranged with rage, held up a semicircular defensive spell, clutching a magic scroll and facing off against the Gale Fox ferociously. When he noticed Xie Zhan and Xu Wen had suddenly appeared at the edge of the battlefield, he thought reinforcements had arrived. But a quick glance revealed only the two of them; his delighted expression immediately shifted to despair and fear:
"What are you doing here? Run! Run, quickly!!"
Ding Yushan shouted hoarsely at the pair, his usual arrogance gone.
The six registered disciples brought into the Blackwater Mountains were all dead without exception—Ding Yushan could no longer maintain his pride. This unprecedented blow left him in utter agony! He couldn’t care less about grievances with Xu Wen and Xie Zhan now—he just yelled in hopes they would escape before the Gale Fox’s attention shifted.
He didn’t want the blood of these two, both favored candidates for Elder Xu’s direct disciples, to stain the hands of the damned Gale Fox! If both died here, the Seventh Medicine Peak would lose its elite this year…
Not only would he regret it for life, the Hortenklein family rules might not show him mercy!
Unfortunately!
As he shouted, the Gale Fox had already moved!
Swish!
High-level two-star magical beasts are not lacking in intelligence, and the fox tribe is renowned for its cunning in the magical beast world.
With a glance, the Gale Fox judged the strength of the two newcomers.
One was a high-level one-star, no stronger than the mutilated corpses on the ground; the other was a low-level two-star, slightly stronger but not a threat.
With a leap, the Gale Fox landed nimbly atop a nearby tree, its claws digging deep, its body poised effortlessly.
Visible to the naked eye, three gleaming, razor-sharp blades of wind formed before the Gale Fox.
Swish!
Without hesitation, the wind blades shot forth, their speed surpassing that of the Flame Blade by more than double!
"Ugh!"
Xie Zhan barely had time to raise his Flame Shield before three horrifying gashes ripped through it and struck him, sending him flying backwards in a spray of blood.
"Run!!"
No need to ask; this cry was directed at Xu Wen.
When the Gale Fox shattered the two-star defensive spell and closed in—
Both Xie Zhan and Ding Yushan felt a wave of utter despair.
Xie Zhan was filled with regret…
If only he’d known they faced a wind-type magical beast, if only he’d known the rescue team stood no chance, nothing would have persuaded him to show off—against wind magic, a fire mage below three stars is helpless! Now, he’d dragged Xu Wen into a death trap.
Ding Yushan even shut his eyes tight, unable to bear witnessing Xu Wen and Xie Zhan torn apart by the Gale Fox…
However!
After several seconds…
The pain Xie Zhan expected never came.
Nor did Ding Yushan hear their desperate, dying screams.
Thud!
The sound of something heavy hitting the ground.
Xu Wen’s face was cold; after dispersing a drop of Drunken Breeze with his Flame Hand, he rushed at the Gale Fox, whose body had crashed down from the air in a stupor, and, in a flash, raised his elite short sword high…
Pfft!!!
!!!
A piercing scream tore through the skies above the Blackwater Mountains! With a thunk, a tremendous force struck from below, Xu Wen grunted, nearly losing his grip on the short sword, his body sent flying like a cannonball.
"Damn it! It’s still not dead?"
Xu Wen cursed inwardly…
Drunken Breeze was famed as an unbeatable dirty trick below three stars, effective on both humans and beasts—if unguarded, the victim would collapse for ten seconds.
He’d targeted the beast’s weakest point, its eye, aiming straight for the brain, intending to finish it.
The elite short sword pierced several inches deep, but the Gale Fox’s reaction was so swift—it woke in agony instantly, causing him to fail at the last moment…
"Damn!"
Clutching his abdomen, torn open in several places, Xu Wen pushed himself up from the ground, just in time to see the Gale Fox’s eye socket streaming blood, the short sword still lodged there. Its magical eyes turned crimson, and after a few seconds of agonized struggle, it stared at him with bone-deep hatred and rage!
Whoosh!
Three enormous wind blades took shape!
Luckily, Ding Yushan wasn’t useless; though he didn’t know how the Gale Fox had been so seriously wounded, he snapped open his magic scroll like a spring, sending it flying like a card!
"Ha! Fireball!"
The fiery card transformed in the air into a huge fireball, swelling rapidly against the wind, growing to over two meters tall, roaring toward the Gale Fox.
Ding Yushan had been on the defensive, unable to land a hit on the lightning-fast Gale Fox, but its intense pain distracted it, weakening its control over its surroundings and giving Ding Yushan his chance!
By the time the Gale Fox noticed the fireball’s approach, it was too late—the fireball appeared behind it like a miniature sun, sealing off all escape routes!