He hesitated for no more than three breaths.
The Iron-Scaled Giant Rat slowly squeezed out from a crack in the rocks, its four limbs pressed to the ground.
Its enormous rat head gently knocked against the ground, letting out a low whimper of submission.
The corners of Wang Yuan's lips curved slightly. With a wave of his hand, a stream of golden energy wrapped around the giant rat's body, signaling it to follow.
Man and rat, one before and one behind, stepped over rubble and moonlight, flipping out through the hole blasted through the cave ceiling and landing amid the night of Black Wind Ridge's rear mountain.
Outside the mine, Zhou Cheng, Zheng Shan, Shi Long, and the others who had been waiting were already tense from that sky-shaking punch. They were leading the elite iron cavalry in a mad dash toward the mountain mine.
From afar, the sight of the ruptured hole in the cave roof and the dust filling the sky made everyone's hearts clench.
But when that familiar figure descended steadily through the moonlight, the hearts they had held in their throats finally eased back down.
Then—when they saw the pitch-black Iron-Scaled Giant Rat following behind Wang Yuan, its bulk comparable to that of a small calf—
Their steps halted in unison. The iron cavalry sharply reined in their horses; the warhorses neighed, iron hooves stamped, and the killing air across the grounds nearly erupted in an instant.
"Yuan'er! That is..."
Zheng Shan stepped forward, his tiger eyes wide as his great saber had already left its sheath by half an inch.
"No matter."
Wang Yuan raised a hand in a calming gesture and replied,
"Master, this beast has already submitted to me. There is no need to be nervous."
Only then did everyone lower their weapons,