Chance Encounter

"Rumble~"

With a heaven-shaking clap of thunder, a torrential downpour immediately descended upon the world, the pearl-sized raindrops falling like strings of beads.

Patter, patter~

The roars of beasts that could be heard everywhere in the Magical Beast Mountain Range suddenly ceased.

Jonathan hid inside the hollow of a giant tree, glancing at the sky. Seeing that the rain showed no signs of stopping anytime soon, he sat cross-legged and began to cultivate his battle qi.

Half a day later, the sound of rain gradually faded.

Jonathan opened his eyes and walked to the entrance of the cave. Outside, the landscape was bathed in sunlight, a sea of gold as far as the eye could see, and even the air felt exceptionally fresh and invigorating.

Jonathan began to head deeper into the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Aside from mercenary groups, students from various academies would also come here in teams, though they generally wouldn't venture too deep; reaching the territory of a level six magical beast was usually their limit.

Not long after, Jonathan encountered a team of five youths, consisting of both mages and warriors, men and women alike.

They are all at the level six standard. Looking at their ages, the oldest is at most twenty-five or twenty-six, and the younger ones are likely under twenty. Interesting. Setting aside the warriors, the only place capable of producing such mage geniuses would be that academy.

Jonathan was naturally referring to Ernst Academy.

By the way, Linley should have the strength of a level five mage by now.

Merely studying sculpture had granted him an almost cheat-like improvement.

However, he was still a bit behind him.

Seventeen-year-old Linley had become a level seven dual-element mage, but Jonathan had achieved this feat just after turning sixteen, making him absolutely the greatest genius mage in the history of the Yulan Continent.

This small group was currently facing a peak level six magical beast—a Red-Tailed Silver-Armored Scorpion—that was incredibly close to reaching level seven.

This magical beast was covered in what looked like gleaming silver armor, standing several meters long and over a meter high. Its two giant pincers were massive and incredibly hard, and when its sharp fangs opened, purple-black poisonous mist would leak out from time to time.

Its tail, which resembled a red steel bar, was its most powerful weapon. It could spray red-black poisonous flames, and when it whipped through the air, it emitted a whistling sound, proving to be extremely fierce.

Several of them had already sustained minor injuries, but now was not the time to rest; if anyone retreated, they would immediately be subjected to a ferocious assault from the Red-Tailed Silver-Armored Scorpion.

None of them could fully withstand it on their own.

Currently, they were relying on two warriors, bolstered by wind-style and earth-style magic, to hold the line.

A bit further back stood a youth holding a bow and arrow. Whenever the Red-Tailed Silver-Armored Scorpion tried to leap toward the rear to attack, it would be blocked by his fierce, peerless arrows and forced back.

After buffing the warriors, the mages would also join the offensive.

Compared to the warriors' attacks, they were the true primary damage dealers, inflicting the most harm on the Red-Tailed Silver-Armored Scorpion.

Melee tanks, a ranged archer, and mages for heavy offense and support.

Why did this routine look so familiar?

The Red-Tailed Silver-Armored Scorpion seemed to be losing its patience. Its red tail began to spew poisonous flames, and a large cloud of vision-obscuring poisonous mist appeared from its mouth.

Before long, the group was trapped deep within the poisonous fog.

Because the poisonous flames were burning over a wide area, the group could only defend themselves and were unable to immediately break out of the encirclement of the poisonous mist.

Massive walls of earth rose up, sealing them all inside and temporarily blocking the poisonous flames and mist.

However, the Red-Tailed Silver-Armored Scorpion smashed its giant pincers against the walls frantically, and it wasn't long before cracks appeared in the earth walls.

"We're out of healing potions now. I told you not to provoke it, but you wouldn't listen."

"What's the point of hindsight? We've already reached this point."

"Stop arguing. When it breaks through the earth walls, that will be our best chance to escape. I will cast a wind-style magic, Speed, on everyone, and then we'll scatter. We'll save whoever we can."

Everyone's expression turned grim. Running separately would naturally give them the best chance of survival, but whichever one of them was caught by this magical beast would surely die.

Furthermore, once separated, the dangers of being alone in the Magical Beast Mountain Range would increase significantly.

It wasn't just the magical beasts; there were also other humans.

They had encountered one such group before, but they had managed to drive them off by working together.

"Roar~"

A furious roar came from outside, and then there was silence.

"Listen, why is there no sound outside anymore?"

"I'll use Wind Perception to check."

Then, the wind-style mage said, "The Red-Tailed Silver-Armored Scorpion no longer has any life force, but there is one more person out there. It must be him who killed the Red-Tailed Silver-Armored Scorpion."

"Does that mean we're saved!" The only woman in the group, who was an earth-style mage, revealed a look of joy.

"Wait for him first. When entering the Magical Beast Mountain Range, humans are the least trustworthy. Once they betray you, the danger is even greater than that of a magical beast."

Seeing that they weren't moving, Jonathan couldn't help but say, "Quite cautious, aren't you?"

"Come on out. If I could kill this magical beast, do you really think I couldn't break through your crumbling earth walls?"

Soon, the earth walls dissipated, revealing the figures of the group.

"Many thanks to you, senior, for saving our lives." One of the warriors cupped his hands and replied with a smile.

"A verbal thank you? Is that all your lives are worth?"

"Since I was kind enough to save you, just hand over the level six Magic Beast cores you're carrying, and we'll call it even."

One of the assassin's codes: fair trade; never do anything without compensation.

Of course, the code also stated that if something didn't concern you, don't interfere, or you'll only invite unnecessary trouble.

Jonathan didn't save them for their money, but to inquire about some matters in Fenlai City and confirm certain details from his memories.

The easiest benchmark to use was Linley.

If he had become a level five mage, it meant the world hadn't changed much and was still following its original trajectory.

This was useful for his future plans.

A hoarse voice continued to emanate from beneath the black robe: "Are you unwilling?"

Unable to see what the other person looked like, the group exchanged glances and decided it was better to pay up and avoid disaster than to lose their lives.

After obtaining the items, Jonathan said: "You are lucky you ran into me, otherwise you would have become a meal for this Red-Tailed Silver-Armored Scorpion."

"Yes, thank you, senior."

The group thanked him repeatedly.

"You two aren't very old, yet you possess the strength of level six mages. Could you be from Ernst Academy?"

Jonathan looked at the male and female mages, and the male wind-style mage replied: "Yes, senior."

"It is said that Ernst Academy is the number one magic academy on the continent. I wonder if any geniuses have emerged recently."

"Senior, don't our reaching level six in our twenties count?"

"You? Heh. If you were at the peak of level six right now and on the verge of breaking through to level seven, then in my eyes, you would barely qualify as geniuses."

"As for now, if you can break through to level seven before the age of thirty, that would be considered decent."

The two mages were somewhat unconvinced, but they dared not talk back, as who knew if the old monster before them was temperamental.

In their eyes, the person draped in a black cloak, hiding their figure, was surely ugly and at least forty or fifty years old.