Wind of Knowing

The Magical Beast Mountain Range stretched on without end.

Once they entered, ancient trees that had stood for hundreds or even thousands of years blotted out the sky. Weeds covered the ground, and thorny brambles grew everywhere. Withered leaves carpeted the earth, rustling underfoot, while old vines and weeds crowded densely around them.

"In a deep forest like this, where who knows how long the trees have stood, the weeds and vines are packed so tightly that even if a magical beast were hiding ten meters away, you probably wouldn't be able to see it." Lin Feng felt a chill run through him.

Doehring Cowart was beside him as well.

"Forget ten meters away, Lin Feng. There might even be a giant python hidden in that patch of weeds right in front of you," Doehring Cowart said with a laugh.

Lin Feng couldn't help looking at the patch of weeds. They were so thick and nearly half a person tall that a python could certainly be hiding among them. He took a deep breath, stood still, and silently recited a magic incantation.

A faint breeze suddenly spread outward from Lin Feng in every direction, then gradually faded into the world around them.

Wind magic: Wind of Knowing!

Generally, a mage who had reached the level of a third-level mage could cast Wind of Knowing. The stronger the mage, the wider its range. A third-level mage's Wind of Knowing covered only a dozen or so meters, while a fifth-level mage's could reach more than a hundred meters.

"Within a radius of nearly two hundred meters, there are only Bubble Rabbits, first-level magical beasts, and a few second-level Earth Scorpions," Lin Feng said confidently.

Wind of Knowing could sense the shape and aura of living creatures.

"Don't be too confident. Powerful magical beasts can burrow underground, and some Saint Realm magical beasts can even disguise themselves," Doehring Cowart warned. Then he smiled. "Of course, you're a nobody. Powerful magical beasts don't need to disguise themselves or sneak around when they're dealing with you."

Hearing this, Lin Feng grew even more cautious.

From Lin Feng's experiences in the original story, he knew all too well how dangerous the Magical Beast Mountain Range was. Although he was stronger now than the Lin Feng in the book, he also had Dilia with him, who was only a second-level mage. In the perilous Magical Beast Mountain Range, the strength of a second-level mage was practically negligible.

Lin Feng made his way quietly through the Magical Beast Mountain Range, carefully watching his surroundings. The Shadow Mouse perched on his shoulder was just as vigilant, its two tiny, shifty eyes cautiously scanning every direction. As for Dilia, who couldn't even cast Wind of Knowing, she could only stay close to Lin Feng. The two of them and one magical beast gradually ventured deeper into the range.

"The Magical Beast Mountain Range stretches for more than ten thousand miles and is generally seven or eight hundred miles wide. The outermost hundred miles are mostly home to low-level magical beasts. If you go more than a hundred miles in, you'll mostly find fifth- and sixth-level magical beasts. Deeper in, there are many seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-level magical beasts, and you might even run into a Saint Realm magical beast."

Doehring Cowart once again explained some of the details about the Magical Beast Mountain Range to Lin Feng. Lin Feng already knew most of it, but Doehring Cowart explained it much more clearly.

"Of course, that's not absolute. A bored ninth-level magical beast might decide to take a stroll around the outskirts," Doehring Cowart said teasingly. "You might also be unlucky enough to run into a large pack of tens of thousands of magical wolves. If that happens, all you can say is that you're out of luck."

Lin Feng couldn't help rolling his eyes at Doehring Cowart's words.

Since Dilia was with him, Lin Feng wasn't in a hurry to go deeper into the Magical Beast Mountain Range. They were currently in the outermost region, where only first- and second-level magical beasts could be found. It was just right for Dilia to build up her combat skills.

"Dilia, dinner's your responsibility tonight. There are three Bubble Rabbits fifty meters ahead. Go kill them."

"Oh!" Dilia nodded obediently and headed in the direction Lin Feng had pointed out. Lin Feng and Beibei followed quietly behind her.

When Dilia spotted the three Bubble Rabbits calmly eating grass, she suddenly turned around and asked Lin Feng, "Lin Feng, they're so cute. Could we not kill them?"

Lin Feng rolled his eyes so hard he nearly fainted. In such a dangerous place as the Magical Beast Mountain Range, she was feeling sorry for magical beasts? She might as well be asking for death.

"Remember, in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, everyone and everything except Beibei and me is an enemy—including all magical beasts and the humans who come here to hunt them," Lin Feng said sternly.

Lin Feng knew that even the slightest lapse in vigilance in the Magical Beast Mountain Range could cost them their lives. He didn't want Dilia's compassion to get them killed one day. It was better to stamp out that softness early.

"Humans? You mean we can't even trust other people in the Magical Beast Mountain Range?" Dilia's eyes widened.

Lin Feng sneered. "The most dangerous things in the Magical Beast Mountain Range aren't the magical beasts. They're the humans who share our species. Magical beasts may be vicious, but they aren't greedy. They attack us at most because they're hungry, and they don't use schemes; they generally attack head-on. By comparison, it's the treacherous, deceitful humans we need to be more wary of."

Dilia nodded as if she understood, then flicked her hand. A small Wind Blade flew toward one of the three Bubble Rabbits.

Although Bubble Rabbits were only first-level magical beasts, they were still much stronger than ordinary beasts. Sensing danger, they immediately fled. The other two, startled, leaped into the weeds and disappeared.

"Boss, if Sis-in-law keeps fighting like that, we'll go hungry tonight," Beibei said dejectedly from Lin Feng's shoulder.

Lin Feng was just as speechless. With Dilia's strength as a second-level mage, she should have been able to kill three first-level Bubble Rabbits with ease. But that tiny Wind Blade of hers had been less an attempt to kill the magical beasts than a way to scare them off.

Seeing that it was getting late, Lin Feng knew that if he didn't step in, they might really go hungry that night.

He cast Wind of Knowing, found a few Bubble Rabbits, and casually killed them. Then he skinned them, put them on a spit, and roasted them.

Lin Feng ate one, Dilia ate half, and Beibei ate the rest. Lin Feng had no idea how Beibei's tiny body could fit several times its own volume in Bubble Rabbit meat.

The next day, Lin Feng and the others still didn't venture deeper into the Magical Beast Mountain Range. They had only one task for the day: to have Dilia kill a Bubble Rabbit with her own hands.

Dilia finally steeled herself and killed a Bubble Rabbit herself.

Killing Bubble Rabbits was no longer much of a challenge for Dilia, so Lin Feng gave her a new task: killing second-level Earth Scorpions.

Although Earth Scorpions were stronger than Bubble Rabbits, they looked so hideous that Dilia couldn't feel any sympathy for them. As a result, she completed the task quickly.

Dilia could kill Earth Scorpions herself, but she was still a long way from meeting Lin Feng's demand that she kill one instantly. So, for the next month, Dilia fought Earth Scorpions every day. As she killed them one after another, her combat skills grew more and more polished, and she became faster at taking them down. At first, she'd struggled to fight even one Earth Scorpion, but before long, she could handle attacks from five at once.

Beibei lay lazily on Lin Feng's shoulder, watching Dilia kill Earth Scorpions while sending Lin Feng a Soul Transmission. "Boss, how long are you planning to have Sis-in-law kill Earth Scorpions? If she keeps this up, I bet every Earth Scorpion within dozens of miles will go extinct."

It was the twenty-ninth day since Lin Feng and the others had entered the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Over the past month, Dilia had killed no fewer than eight hundred Earth Scorpions—perhaps a thousand.

Lin Feng spread his hands. "There's nothing else I can do. You know how soft-hearted Dilia is. If I don't make her train, I'll be putting her in danger in the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Besides, as a second-level mage, she needs an opponent that isn't too fast and doesn't hit too hard. Earth Scorpions are just right."

"I figure Dilia will reach the third-level mage stage in about half a month. Then we can find her a different training partner."

On the forty-seventh day, Dilia casually killed an Earth Scorpion with a Wind Blade. She suddenly felt clear-headed and refreshed. She had leveled up! After fighting Earth Scorpions for more than a month, Dilia had finally advanced from a second-level mage to a third-level mage. The price had been the lives of several thousand Earth Scorpions.

As soon as Dilia realized she had leveled up, she abandoned the Earth Scorpion in front of her and ran over to Lin Feng, excitedly saying, "Lin Feng, I leveled up! I finally leveled up!"

Her excitement was plain to see. Though she had grown sick and tired of fighting Earth Scorpions every day for over a month, none of that mattered now that her strength had improved. Back when she advanced from a first-level mage to a second-level mage, it had taken her a whole year. This time, she had gone from a second-level mage to a third-level mage in less than two months.

Combat really was the best way to break through to a higher level.

"Congratulations, Dilia." It had all been within Lin Feng's expectations. Dilia might not have been as talented as he and Dixie, but she was still a full-fledged student at the Ernst Institute, so her talent was naturally exceptional.

"Wah, Boss! Sis-in-law has already reached the third-level mage stage. Can we stop killing these Earth Scorpions now? I'm so sick of looking at them," Beibei whined, sending Lin Feng a Soul Transmission from his shoulder.

"Haha, stop complaining. Starting tomorrow, we're heading deeper into the Magical Beast Mountain Range!" Lin Feng announced their plan with a hearty laugh.