Female Assassin

The freed Ice Leopard did not pursue the two of them. Instead, it lunged straight at Jialan.

Facing the charging Ice Leopard, Jialan remained as calm as ever. One of a caster's basic qualities was maintaining absolute composure under any sudden circumstances.

At some point, a red scroll had appeared in his hand. With a light squeeze, a pale red wave of fire swept outward in all directions from him. Wherever it passed, the Ice Leopard was sent flying as if it had struck an invisible wall, rolling miserably several times across the snow.

The scroll Jialan had just used was called Resist Fire Ring. He had failed eight or nine times before successfully making it. Defensive scrolls were already in great demand, and its market price would never be below fifty Jintana.

Jialan himself staggered from the spell's recoil, his heart aching at the loss. This time, I really took a huge loss.

Even as he thought that, his hands did not stop. He flicked a pitch-black seed beneath the Ice Leopard's feet. The seed grew with the wind, and in an instant became a vine as thick as a child's arm, tightly binding all four of the Ice Leopard's limbs.

The vine was covered in sharp barbs that pierced the Ice Leopard until its entire body was drenched in blood.

Controlled once more, the Ice Leopard flew into a rage. It opened its mouth wide, intending to use its innate magic again, but Jialan would not let it repeat the same trick. His mental power transformed into a sharp sword and viciously pierced the Ice Leopard's sea of consciousness.

The Ice Leopard was a magical beast, after all. How could its mental power compare to a caster's? It let out a muffled groan as dark red blood seeped from its nose, and its innate magic was forcibly interrupted.

Jialan did not have it easy either. The repeated spellcasting without pause, combined with the earlier Mental Pierce, caused his mental space to tremble violently.

Mental Pierce was a reciprocal spell—it hurt both the target and the caster. If the target's mental power exceeded the caster's, the caster would be in serious trouble. Their mental power would backlash against them; at best, their sea of consciousness would rupture, and at worst, they would be reduced to an idiot.

Things had happened too quickly. Only now did Ike and the others return to Jialan's side and support his swaying body.

There was no time to rest. Taking advantage of the Ice Leopard's daze, Jialan forced himself to focus and rapidly recited an incantation. He raised his staff once more, the runes on its shaft surging as a Frost Ray shot from the sapphire atop it. This was the most penetrating spell among Tier 1 Spells.

With a muffled pop, it pierced through the Ice Leopard's skull. The egg-sized wound was frozen shut by frost, and not even a drop of blood flowed out.

Elsewhere, the smaller Ice Leopard charged wildly about within the encirclement. The warriors worked in tacit coordination, using Shield Wall to block its escape routes, while the archers occasionally fired cold arrows to keep it in check. What enraged it most was the elusive fat thief—every time he appeared, another wound was added to its body.

The death of its mate made the surviving Ice Leopard let out a mournful cry. Frenzied ice elements formed a frost field ten meters in diameter around it. The moment the surrounding warriors touched the field, their bodies seemed to freeze, and their movements gradually slowed.

It really is a mutated Ice Leopard. An ordinary Ice Leopard could never possess a second innate talent, Jialan thought.

The situation did not look good. The warriors holding the front were visibly slowing down. Before long, the Ice Leopard would escape the encirclement.

With the situation critical, Jialan endured the stabbing pain in his mental sea and raised his staff, chanting another incantation. As the chant continued, an Ice Crystal Spear slowly formed above his right hand.

Seeing this, the Ice Leopard was terrified. No longer conserving the ice elements within its body, it opened its mouth wide and sent an Ice Blade slashing fiercely through the air toward Jialan.

At the same time, Jialan's spell was ready. With a wave of his right hand, the Ice Crystal Spear met the attack, and the two remained locked in midair.

Seizing the opportunity, the Tavern Owner's eyes lit up. He entered stealth once again, and when he reappeared, a dagger had already plunged swiftly and viciously into the Ice Leopard's neck.

The Ice Leopard howled in agony and instantly lost control of the Ice Blade. The Ice Crystal Spear easily pierced through it, then continued onward without slowing, piercing the Ice Leopard's head. Its body shuddered before it could only collapse unwillingly.

Jialan dropped to the ground. That final spell had drained the last trace of mental power from his mental space. Before falling into deep meditation, he only had time to instruct the guards to remain alert.

By the time he woke again, two hours had passed. Although his mental power had not fully recovered, they were in the wilderness and did not dare linger for too long.

At the same time, he was delighted to discover that the fierce battle had caused his mental power to surge greatly. His magic power, which had not improved for a long time, had also increased. It seemed he was not far from Beginner Mid-Tier.

Suppressing the joy in his heart, he slowly opened his eyes, only to freeze in surprise.

A short distance away, atop a rock, sat a beautiful woman dressed in black leather armor. She was staring at him thoughtfully.

Looking around, he saw that the members of the Hurricane Mercenary Group and the two guards all looked as though they faced a formidable enemy. Seeing him wake, the woman in leather armor shifted her gaze to the Spatial Bag at his waist.

"Are you a mage from the military?" Her voice was crisp, but her tone was cold.

"I graduated from the Imperial Magic and Martial Arts School, and I'm currently serving in the military," Jialan answered honestly, though he had no idea why she was asking.

The woman in leather armor looked Jialan up and down again, then sneered. "The school actually has talent like you? A caster actually dared to exhaust all his mental power in the wilderness, then enter deep meditation? Didn't your mentor teach you the rules of wilderness survival?"

Jialan smiled awkwardly, mumbling without daring to explain himself. At the same time, he felt relieved. It seemed this woman was also a student of the Imperial Magic and Martial Arts School.

Within the Longsheng Empire's Imperial Magic and Martial Arts School, the magic department had the fewest students. After all, there were simply too few people with the talent to become casters.

The largest department was the warrior department. There were also knights, assassins, archers, hunters, and even priests. As long as a combat profession existed on the continent, the school had it, since it was specifically established to cultivate combat talent for the empire.

Seeing that Jialan remained silent, the woman in leather armor snorted again. She took a wooden box from her backpack and opened it, revealing the Nishang Grass from the cave.

"I've stayed here for three or four days for this Nishang Grass. If I could have defeated those two beasts, would there have been any share left for you? Today, I finally waited for the male to leave and was preparing to act, but then you people showed up. Just my luck!"

As she spoke, she took out another money pouch and tossed it to Jialan. "How about this? As a caster, you should be familiar with potion-making... I'll leave this Nishang Grass to you. This one is in decent condition and should be enough to brew three or four doses. Since you're my junior, I won't take advantage of you. The Nishang Potion is very important to me, so you must reserve one dose for me. As compensation, there are one hundred Jintana inside to make up for your spellcasting losses."

Jialan accepted the money pouch and blinked. This woman was truly decisive and fierce. After considering it, he realized he was not losing out. In any case, a person could only consume a Nishang Potion once in their lifetime; selling it to anyone was the same. This senior sister's strength was unfathomable, so doing her a favor would be beneficial.