Five Years

"Squelch!"

A sound of flesh being pierced rang out. A pale green, translucent spear protruded from the heart of the dark figure, and the spurting blood instantly stained the Earth Guardian Sacred Armor on Lin Feng.

At the same time, a terrifying shriek echoed. The Shadow Mouse Beibei suddenly appeared beside the dark figure's wrist. Beibei's mouth opened wide enough to swallow a fist, and with a sudden snap of his sharp teeth, he bit down on the figure's wrist. A shrill, miserable scream followed as the dark figure's wrist was completely severed.

Only a limp, broken hand clutching a dagger remained, falling to the ground.

"Ah, ah~" The agony of having a wrist bitten off caused the dark figure to shriek.

"Die!"

Lin Feng curled his fingers into a claw and lunged toward the gaping, bleeding hole in the dark figure's chest.

Black Tiger Steals Heart!

"Squelch!"

The dark figure's heart was instantly ripped out by Lin Feng and held in his hand, the bright red organ still pulsing beat by beat.

The light in the dark figure's eyes gradually faded, his face filled with intense unwillingness.

"Thank goodness, my life is saved." Lin Feng smiled at Beibei; he had nearly been done for this time.

Doehring Cowart appeared at this moment, exclaiming, "This assassin's stealth ability is truly terrifying. We owe this to the Shadow Mouse and your little girlfriend; if not for them, Lin Feng, you would have been in real trouble. As for this old man, I only have my soul left, so I wouldn't have been able to save you."

Lin Feng knew from the original Coiling Dragon novel that the most terrifying things in the Magical Beast Mountain Range were human assassins. However, he had never experienced it firsthand, and in the four years since entering the Magical Beast Mountain Range, he had never encountered an ambush. Over time, Lin Feng had lowered his guard against assassins. He hadn't expected his first encounter to be so perilous. If he hadn't broken through to the level of a seventh-rank mage not long ago, and if his Earth Guardian Sacred Armor hadn't been upgraded to the jade level, he likely would have been finished.

Doehring Cowart continued, "This assassin must have been a sixth-rank warrior, but he cultivated a strange dark-attribute battle qi and must have undergone special training, making him adept at stealth and concealing his aura. A sixth-rank warrior with such specialized training generally has stronger offensive power than an average sixth-rank warrior. Dark-attribute battle qi is quite eerie; he likely used some secret technique to accelerate."

Lin Feng nodded slightly.

He was also a sixth-rank warrior and a seventh-rank wind-attribute mage, yet the attack speed of the dark figure during the ambush had been significantly faster than his own.

Dark-attribute magic or battle qi was forbidden in the Holy Union, though it could be cultivated in the four great empires and the Dark Alliance. It was much like how the Dark Alliance forbade the cultivation of light magic or light-attribute battle qi.

"Boss, come quickly." The voice of the Shadow Mouse Beibei suddenly rang out anxiously in Lin Feng's mind.

"Hm?" Lin Feng turned his head and saw Dilia lying on the ground, her face as pale as paper, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Dilia!" Lin Feng rushed to Dilia's side, pulled her into his arms, and called out to her anxiously.

"Don't worry, she only suffered some magical backlash. It's nothing serious; she will recover after resting for a few days." Doehring Cowart's words allowed Lin Feng to set his heart at ease.

Dilia had used "Levitation" continuously for over ten minutes. While "Levitation" did not place a heavy burden on magical power or spiritual energy, it was still a fifth-rank spell, and Dilia had only just stepped into the rank of a fifth-rank mage. After such consumption, her internal magical power was already low, and most of her spiritual energy was depleted. However, seeing Lin Feng in danger, an anxious Dilia had disregarded her own physical state and forcibly channeled her remaining magical power and spiritual energy to cast the fifth-rank spell "Wind Roar," resulting in magical backlash and causing her to faint.

"Phew!"

Lin Feng let out a sigh of relief. If anything had happened to Dilia, he would never have forgiven himself. After several years together, the bond between Lin Feng and Dilia had grown increasingly deep. If, at first, Lin Feng had only been drawn to Dilia because of her sweet, cute appearance and the influence of the original book, then after these years, Lin Feng truly felt love for her.

Because of Dilia's fainting, Lin Feng lost the interest to collect spoils. He cleaned up the battlefield casually and then left the area with Dilia and Beibei.

Autumn deepened, and the weather grew colder. Suddenly, one day, a pure white snowflake drifted down, signaling that another winter had arrived.

Fenlai City, at the main gate of the Ernst Institute!

"Eh?" Yale, dressed in sable fur, was about to walk into the institute with his two other roommates, George and Reynolds, when he suddenly stopped.

"Uncle Hillman, are you here waiting for Third Brother again?"

Because of Lin Feng, Yale, despite being the young master of one of the three great merchant guilds of Yulan, treated Hillman, who was only a sixth-rank warrior, with great respect.

"Yes, has Lin Feng returned yet?" Hillman's voice trembled slightly, his eyes filled with anticipation.

George stepped forward and sighed, "Uncle Hillman, Lin Feng hasn't come out of the Magical Beast Mountain Range yet. I think he will probably be back next year."

George was also very worried about Lin Feng's safety, but he did not show it in front of Hillman.

"It's the fifth year. Lin Feng has been in the Magical Beast Mountain Range for five years, and I have come here five times." Hillman's eyes held memories and disappointment, but the anticipation was gone. He shook his head despondently and muttered to himself, "Lin Feng went to the Magical Beast Mountain Range at ten; five years have passed, he must be fifteen now!"

Seeing that Hillman's tone was off, Reynolds immediately said, "Uncle Hillman, Third Brother will definitely return safely from the Magical Beast Mountain Range. I believe in him."

Hearing this, Yale and George immediately chimed in, "That's right, Third Brother was already a fifth-rank mage when he entered the Magical Beast Mountain Range, and his cultivation as a warrior is also quite high. Plus, he has his contracted magical beast, Beibei. Third Brother will be fine."

"If that's the case, then why hasn't he returned after so long?" Hillman asked, his emotions stirred.

"Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps Third Brother wants to break through to a seventh-rank mage before returning to apply for graduation!" Reynolds rolled his eyes and said, feeling quite guilty.

Usually, people who went to the Magical Beast Mountain Range for training would not stay longer than three months, or at most half a year, before returning. This was because once winter arrived in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, the trees withered and food became scarce; magical beasts became extremely ferocious and bloodthirsty to fill their stomachs. In other words, the Magical Beast Mountain Range was more dangerous in winter than at any other time. Perhaps, on some level, the fact that Lin Feng hadn't returned after five years meant he might never return.

Hillman realized he had been a bit too emotional and shook his head, saying, "If Lin Feng returns, please tell him to go back to Wushan Town immediately."

After saying this, Hillman did not linger, walking away slowly with heavy footsteps.

Yale watched Hillman's retreating back, his hands clenched so tightly they cracked, and he gritted his teeth, "If Third Brother comes back, I'm definitely going to give him a beating. He's been gone for so long—doesn't he know we'd be worried about him?"

George and Reynolds felt equally low, and they shook their heads before walking into the institute.