Poisoned Blue Eagle! Please Keep Reading! Please Vote!

Somewhere on the outskirts of the Monster Mountain Range, Jiang Lin, clad in black armor and a black robe, joined Xiao Yi Xian's herb-gathering party amid the strange looks of those around him.

Since Xiao Yi Xian and the others would not be venturing deep into the Monster Mountain Range, the group was led by a middle-aged Nine-star Dou Zhe named Li Miao.

"Captain Li, don't keep looking at me like that. I'll get embarrassed too," Jiang Lin joked to the stern-faced Li Miao at his side while chatting with Xiao Yi Xian.

Li Miao looked complicatedly at Jiang Lin, a remarkably burly iron can wrapped in black armor and a black robe who looked very hard to provoke, then shook his head. "No, it's just my first time seeing you like this, so I'm a little curious."

Jiang Lin merely smiled. "If anything happens later, I'll have to trouble Captain Li to take Xiao Yi Xian and retreat. Don't get dragged into this mess."

Li Miao shook his head. "I'm just an ordinary Dou Zhe. With that armor of yours, I might not even be able to scratch the surface. There's no need."

The struggle between important figures had nothing to do with a nobody like him.

"Hahaha, Captain Li is a smart man too." Jiang Lin smiled. Many of Mr. Yao's arrangements had strong ulterior motives. Since the mercenary group Li Miao belonged to could undertake guard duties for Myriad Medicine House, Mr. Yao clearly knew their background well.

Seeing that Li Miao did not object to his presence, Jiang Lin followed Xiao Yi Xian for three days, accompanying her as she reviewed her knowledge of herbs.

"Little Linzi, look, Purple Leaf Grass! Judging by its age, it must be fifty years old. It's worth several hundred gold coins!" Carrying a somewhat intimidating tattered-cloth greatsword on his back, Jiang Lin watched gently as Xiao Yi Xian skipped over to a rocky outcrop, crouched down, and happily held up a greenish-purple plant in both hands.

Jiang Lin generally did not tell Xiao Yi Xian about the chaotic affairs outside. Thus, in Xiao Yi Xian's eyes, Jiang Lin had specifically come into the mountains to gather herbs with her, which made her especially happy.

"The weapons you forged finally have a use. Come into the mountains with me, be my foot soldier, and keep this young lady safe. Not bad, not bad!" Xiao Yi Xian cleaned the freshly picked Purple Leaf Grass, placed it in a wooden box, then handed it to the burly Jiang Lin beside her. Patting the hard armor beneath his black robe, she said with a beaming smile.

Little Linzi had been much more obedient these past few days than the Little Linzi back at Myriad Medicine House!

"Hehe." Jiang Lin chuckled softly and reached out to take the wooden box. Just as he was about to place it in the basket on his back, his expression suddenly froze. He threw away the Purple Leaf Grass worth three or four hundred gold coins, wrapped his left arm around the girl's slender waist, and leaped a step backward amid her startled cry, while his right hand gripped the hilt of the greatsword near his right shoulder.

The sudden change made Li Miao and the others standing guard nearby tense up. They immediately gathered around Jiang Lin.

"Danger?" Li Miao looked at Jiang Lin, raising a brow. This was the very outer edge of the Monster Mountain Range. Logically, no Magical Beasts above the first tier should appear here.

Holding the bonelessly delicate girl protectively in his left arm, Jiang Lin stared ahead warily and shook his head slightly.

Thanks to the body-tempering effects of the Forging Fire Art and the imposing presence of the Black Knight Armor, twelve-year-old Jiang Lin looked unusually burly. Xiao Yi Xian, already around five foot one, looked like a little girl in his arms, her head only just reaching his cold, hard breastplate.

Screech!!

Just as Jiang Lin shook his head, a blue figure suddenly fell from the sky ahead. After a piercing cry, it plunged into the nearby forest, while several bloodstained blue feathers drifted down from the branches.

"A wounded first-tier Flying Magical Beast—a Blue Eagle!" Li Miao was startled by the Blue Eagle's sudden fall from the sky, but after recognizing it, he could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. The look he gave Jiang Lin became even more complicated. Such terrifying perception—without Jiang Lin's warning, Li Miao and the others would definitely have been frightened by the Blue Eagle's sudden appearance.

Seeing that it was merely a wounded first-tier Magical Beast, Li Miao and the others quickly crept forward. After advancing more than thirty meters, they finally spotted the Blue Eagle amid a thicket, its feathers in complete disarray.

This Blue Eagle was enormous. Even lying there, it was as large as a grown adult. If it spread its wings, its wingspan would be at least four meters! As expected of a Magical Beast—just from its size alone, an ordinary adult would be no match for this mere first-tier Flying Magical Beast.

Thump! Thump!

When the wounded Blue Eagle saw humans approaching, it immediately began flapping frantically. Unfortunately, its wings had also been injured in the fall, leaving it unable to take flight for the moment.

Clang!

Li Miao drew a sharp longsaber, preparing to step forward and end the Blue Eagle's life.

"Huh? Wait!" Xiao Yi Xian, who had arrived late while half-held in the Black Armored Knight's arms, saw the wounded Blue Eagle and Li Miao's drawn blade, then immediately cried out.

Li Miao and the others turned back in confusion to look at Xiao Yi Xian, who had run over from Jiang Lin's side. "Does Xiao Yi Xian have any instructions?"

Xiao Yi Xian stepped forward and looked at the Blue Eagle, which showed a hint of panic and helplessness while surrounded by mercenaries. Her gaze examined its injuries. She discovered a black wound near the Blue Eagle's claws, as though it had been bitten by something poisonous. As for the other bloodstained areas on its body, they were only minor scrapes. With a Magical Beast's powerful physique, it would be able to fly again after resting for a day or two.

"It... it seems to have been poisoned, then came here on its own to find antidotal herbs to eat." Xiao Yi Xian explained the Blue Eagle's purpose to everyone. At that moment, Jiang Lin, who had been the last to arrive, stood holding the herb basket he had just thrown away and looked at the motionless crowd in confusion.

"Huh? Aren't you taking its Magic Core?" As he spoke, he prepared to raise his blade and step forward himself.

He was a kind-hearted person. In his daily life, he could not bear to see partings in life and death, nor could he bear to see injuries and suffering. He simply wanted to send people to reunion and spare them the torment of pain.

"Jiang Lin!" Xiao Yi Xian huffed softly, glaring angrily at Jiang Lin as he drew the greatsword from his back. Under everyone's gaze, and the Blue Eagle's terrified eyes, he stepped forward one pace at a time and pressed the greatsword against the Blue Eagle's head.

Jiang Lin's strength was simply beyond what an ordinary Dou Zhe could imagine. His already mysterious bloodline physique, tempered by the Forging Fire Art, coupled with the strength training and weighted training he did almost every day, had made his body extraordinarily monstrous. Even without armor, in a traditional fist-to-fist battle between Dou Zhes, an ordinary Dou Master would absolutely be unable to gain much advantage over Jiang Lin in close combat.

With a full set of armor, Jiang Lin was literally an Iron Turtle whose armor Dou Zhes of the same rank could not break even after punching until their hands hurt!

Jiang Lin (drawing his sword): When I'm out and about, please call me Iron Pagoda!