Fierce Horned Rhinoceros

The next morning, dawn broke.

Duke rose early, slung a large pack over his back, and boarded the Black Beetle Car.

The car still had to wait a while before departing, so he simply closed his eyes to rest and turned his awareness inward toward his Spirit Sea.

Within the resplendent ocean of stars, Nine-Ring Xiao Yi and the One-Ring Desert Eagle shone like two suns. Beside them was a pool of faint, transparent, pale-blue liquid.

This was Spirit Liquid.

There were three hundred and forty-eight drops in total—the result of Xiao Yi's nonstop, day-and-night idle cultivation.

"Master, according to Xiao Yi's calculations, when the Spirit Liquid gathers to three hundred and sixty drops, quantitative change will trigger qualitative change. The liquid will condense into a line, forming the first energy line." With Xiao Yi's computational power, Duke had a basic understanding of the condition of his Spirit Sea.

"Mm, not bad, not bad. How many more days of idle cultivation do you think it'll take to condense the liquid into a line?"

"At the current rate of idle cultivation, approximately one more month."

Duke silently estimated for a while. "A month, huh... I opened my Spirit Sea on May 23, began formally cultivating the meditation method at the end of May, and today is June 21. In other words, in two months, I've advanced from a One-Star Spiritual Apprentice to a Two-Star Spiritual Apprentice... That pace actually isn't slow."

His talent for Spirit Sea cultivation was below average, and he had needed drugs to open it in the first place.

Advancing one star in two months basically meant he was no slower than those geniuses who had opened their Spirit Seas naturally. As for the geniuses among geniuses, there was certainly no comparing himself to them.

The book Opening the Spiritual Arcane had recorded such a case.

There had once been a great Arcane Mage who, on the very day he opened his Spirit Sea as a child, spontaneously comprehended a closed energy route. He then solidified it into a Spirit Core and advanced to become a 1-Ring Arcane Mage.

Comparing people to others was enough to drive one mad.

Of course.

Duke wasn't angry. He already had Nine-Ring Xiao Yi. According to the theories of the Spiritual Arcana system, an Arcane Mage couldn't control an Arcane Artifact of a higher rank than themselves. In that sense, he was now equivalent to a 9-Ring Arcane Mage.

Though this was an unknown change caused by his transmigration.

Still, with Nine-Ring Xiao Yi around, Duke figured that even if he had to grind away at it, he could eventually reach the unheard-of, supreme realm of the 9th ring.

Toot toot toot!

The whistle rang across the West Station. The Black Beetle Car rolled slowly along the gravel road, and before long it left behind the billowing black smoke of Chen Jiao City, restoring the azure sky overhead.

When the route was halfway complete, the Black Beetle Car suddenly jolted and came to an immediate stop.

A spirit beast had blocked the way ahead.

Of the two Great Knights accompanying the car, one happened to be Great Knight Owen, who had once taught a public class at the Spirit Society. They each got out, carrying a knight longsword and a knight round shield.

"Everyone, remain calm. A 2-Ring Spirit Beast, a Fierce Horned Rhinoceros, has blocked the route. It'll take a hard fight to deal with it." A crew member entered the carriage to soothe the passengers.

Duke leaned against the window and watched the scene outside carefully.

Although he had encountered spirit beasts blocking the road more than once, every collision between supernatural powers still left him refreshed and eager to investigate the roots of those powers in meticulous detail.

"Roar!"

With a leopard's roar, Great Knight Owen's Contracted Spirit Beast, the 1-Ring Spirit Beast Swift Black Panther, leaped down from the roof and joined Great Knight Owen in battle.

The other Great Knight's Contracted Spirit Beast, the 1-Ring Spirit Beast Long-horned Antelope, likewise jumped down from the roof.

The two Great Knights mounted their steeds and approached the Fierce Horned Rhinoceros from opposite sides. The Fierce Horned Rhinoceros resembled a rhinoceros and was about the same size, but its body was more slender, and the single horn on its head was spiral-shaped.

Without exchanging a word, the two Great Knights launched a swift attack from either side. Their knight longswords released two sword gleams in an instant, slashing toward the Fierce Horned Rhinoceros's neck.

The Fierce Horned Rhinoceros moved with agile leaps. Its spiral horn suddenly burst forth with two flames, which darted about like fish and flew precisely toward the two sword gleams from either side.

Sizzle!

The sword gleams and flames annihilated each other.

The Fierce Horned Rhinoceros scraped the ground with a forehoof. Its spiral horn condensed flames once more and blasted them toward the Great Knight on the left.

Riding the Long-horned Antelope, the Great Knight leaped and dodged the fiery attack. But the next second, the flames wheeled around and continued blasting toward the Great Knight's back.

"Hmph!"

The Great Knight snorted coldly, turned around, and raised his shield with his right hand to block.

Boom!

The flames exploded against the knight's round shield, causing no harm to the Great Knight.

On the other side, Great Knight Owen urged the Swift Black Panther forward. It shot toward the Fierce Horned Rhinoceros like a black shadow, while Owen's knight longsword swept through a bizarre angle and stabbed directly beneath the Fierce Horned Rhinoceros's belly.

The Fierce Horned Rhinoceros twisted its body wildly, but the knight longsword still scraped across its belly.

With a splurt, blood dripped down.

"Aw-oo!" The Fierce Horned Rhinoceros raged.

Its bull-like body began to unleash a savage charge. It galloped toward Great Knight Owen, but the Swift Black Panther beneath him was like black lightning, dodging into the distance after several leaps.

Using Great Knight Owen as bait, the other Great Knight quietly slipped behind the Fierce Horned Rhinoceros. His knight longsword showed no regard for martial virtue as it attacked the Fierce Horned Rhinoceros's anus directly.

The sword tip had yet to touch the chrysanthemum.

The Fierce Horned Rhinoceros sprang high into the air as if electrocuted, then stomped heavily onto the ground. With its tail tucked between its legs, it turned around and charged toward the Great Knight.

The Great Knight squeezed his legs against the Long-horned Antelope, and after several flashes, he was already far away.

Then it was Great Knight Owen's turn to sneak over. He suddenly struck the Fierce Horned Rhinoceros with a sword, sword gleam flickering from the blade and leaving a wound that was not too serious across its back.

Harried and toyed with from front and rear by the two Great Knights, the Fierce Horned Rhinoceros raged helplessly for a while before finally regaining a sliver of clarity.

It turned and ran.

Seeing that it had moved away from the route, the two Great Knights did not pursue it. They silently returned to the Black Beetle Car.

After all, a 2-Ring Spirit Beast was powerful and difficult to kill without foolproof preparations. Moreover, there was no way to know whether the Fierce Horned Rhinoceros had companions nearby. Driving it away was the best way to deal with the situation.

"Although the Seven Towers Federation is ruled by Arcane Mages, Arcane Mages are ultimately few in number. The federation's primary fighting force is still the knight class."

Duke looked forward even more to opening his Blood Sea.

When the Black Beetle Car stopped at the Snakehead Town station, he hurried to a new potion shop and spent eleven silver dragons on a Blood Boiling Potion.

He went home.

The door was still locked.

After Duke opened it, he could hear faint cries coming from above the suspended ceiling.

He hurriedly opened the ceiling panel and lifted out the cardboard box. Inside, the palm-sized Long-Haired Mongoose cub was starving and crying loudly. The pot of milk he had prepared earlier had long since been drained.

"Quite the appetite!"

Duke picked up the cub and felt that, despite it having been only a few days, it had already grown twice as large.

Just then, the Long-Haired Mongoose cub's eyes, which had remained closed all this time, began to tremble. Then, under Duke's expectant gaze, they slowly opened.

"Chirp, chirp." The cub called out to Duke.

Its tiny eyes were bright and clear, without the slightest trace of fear.

It was said that spirit beasts would recognize their masters as soon as they opened their eyes. But Duke had recently consulted quite a few books related to spirit beasts and discovered that this was not the case. Recognizing a master was a behavioral pattern formed through long-term feeding and domestication.

Spirit beasts did tend to grow close to the first things they saw, however, and that was well documented.

Of course, spirit beasts came in all shapes and forms, so no single rule could cover them all.

He had found records of Long-Haired Mongooses in a book. This 2-Ring Spirit Beast primarily relied on scent to make judgments.

The cub was close to Duke now because he had fed it every day for the past few days, making it familiar with his scent and causing it to treat him as the person closest to it.

"Here, drink this." Duke mixed a cup of milk powder.

The cub hugged the milk bottle with both paws. Its squirrel-like mouth clamped onto the nipple, and it gulped down mouthful after mouthful. Once it finished the bottle of milk, it let out a satisfied burp, found a comfortable corner in the cardboard box, stretched, and went back to sleep.

Duke withdrew his gaze.

He took out the Blood Boiling Potion he had just bought, drew a deep breath, and drank the entire tube in one gulp. He then quickly rinsed it down with water twice, making certain not a single trace of residue remained.

Then.

He waited quietly. "Xiao Yi, I'm counting on you."