Seti Mountains

For now, Lei Mo still did not dare face magical beasts above Level Seven directly. As a Saint Realm archmage, he had limited means—only Soul Annihilation.

He still did not know how effective it would be against magical beasts above Level Six!

What he could rely on was still his Bloodhoof Battle Qi and Totem Weapons. By now, Lei Mo's battle qi had accumulated to the peak of Level Seven.

Therefore, Lei Mo set his sights on magical beasts below Level Eight but above Level Six. He deeply understood the way of lying low.

I really am a clever little devil, Lei Mo thought.

If he could not win, he could still escape with his battle qi. As long as he did not fly, no one would know he was in the Saint Realm.

Sorry, I've disgraced the Saint Realm again, though the term Saint Realm has not yet become widespread across the continent.

Half a month had passed, and Lei Mo was still wandering around the outermost edge of the Seti Mountains. He wanted to find a Level Six or Seven magical beast to test Soul Annihilation on, but the strongest magical beast he had encountered at the outskirts was a Purple-Eyed Macaque.

It was only Level Five, and the key was that it looked utterly adorable. He really could not bring himself to attack it. It had not threatened him either; it was simply playing by itself atop a giant tree. Why kill it?

If not for his path to strength, Lei Mo would have wanted to catch the little fellow and give it to Margaret. Damn, another beast-eared girl.

If this were Earth, probably no woman could resist such an adorable pet. It was even a Level Five primate magical beast, with intelligence comparable to an adult's. It would absolutely charm its owner into buying it anything it wanted.

Here, strength came first. For survival, no matter how adorable something was, it could still be killed for meat.

Saint Realm magical beasts, even divine beasts, were ingredients in the Divine Plane.

At that thought, Lei Mo shuddered. Fortunately, fortunately, his bovine traits were not too obvious.

With his thoughts drifting that far, Lei Mo hurriedly removed his tiny nose ring, forcibly adjusted his nose, and slapped a Life Healing spell on it.

"Done. Job finished!" He looked at his reflection in the stream. "Mm! Still this devastatingly handsome!"

Lei Mo lowered his head and looked at his little hooves.

"Mm! Once I make a pair of boots with soles, I'll be able to hide my Tauren identity."

That was right. Tauren boots had no soles. As for the horns on his head, unless someone touched Lei Mo's head, they would not know they were horns.

Who would randomly touch his head anyway? They would only think they were decorations. Probably no one had ever seen such round, tiny horns.

Lei Mo felt that he still needed to venture deeper into the Seti Mountains. He could not be too cowardly.

As he thought this, Lei Mo spread out his spiritual power and slowly advanced deeper into the outer regions of the Seti Mountains, his mind highly alert.

It was not that Lei Mo was cowardly. In a normal battle, he would not have been so cautious, but fighting magical beasts head-on in the Seti Mountains put even a Tauren at a disadvantage.

If the magical beasts of the Seti Mountains did not each fight on their own, constantly killing and devouring one another, no one would dare set foot here.

Still, it was the same everywhere. Different races, different strengths—the weak were prey to the strong. That was nature's way of survival.

Did humans not fight and kill one another as well? Every race and clan on the Chaos Plateau had conflicts, and even within clans there were grudges. Wherever there was intelligence, there was strife.

"I've drifted off again!" Lei Mo's thoughts began to wander as he carried the Purple Totem Pillar on his shoulder and continued deeper into the Seti Mountains.

Suddenly, Lei Mo's spiritual power detected a Level Seven magical beast five thousand meters ahead—an Iron-Veined Lion.

It stood about five meters at the shoulder and was nearly ten meters long including its tail. Its two upper fangs extended all the way to the edges of its lower jaw, making it especially ferocious. It was named for the rust-colored, ripple-like patterns on its back.

"Your bad luck. I'll use you for my experiment."

Lei Mo swiftly rushed toward the Iron-Veined Lion. It did not notice him until he was only a dozen meters away, but by then it was already too late.

An emerald starburst flew from Lei Mo's eyes and shot straight toward the Iron-Veined Lion's head.

The Iron-Veined Lion did not react at all before the starburst instantly entered its skull.

The light faded from the Iron-Veined Lion's eyes, and its enormous body crashed to the ground.

"Haha! Hahaha! I knew it, I knew it! With how strange and powerful the Life Law is, how could its soul attack method possibly be a Level Five spell?"

Lei Mo was a little too excited, but fortunately, he did not lose his mind. After taking the Iron-Veined Lion's magic crystal core, he quickly left the scene. The magical beasts within the Seti Mountains would help Lei Mo erase every trace.

A Level Seven magic crystal core—he wondered how many gold coins it was worth. No matter what, it could not be wasted.

Lei Mo did not have a single coin on him. If only he had a Space Ring. The Iron-Veined Lion's meat alone would have fed me for half a year.

He wondered how Space Rings were made. Did it depend on ability, or on materials?

If it depended on ability, then ordinary gods should be able to make them. Otherwise, they would not be so commonplace. Even Saint Realm experts could possess them. He wondered whether those Saint Realm elders of the Ancestral Court had any.

After leaving the Iron-Veined Lion's territory by several kilometers, Lei Mo retreated once more to the outermost edge of the mountains.

"This place should be safe. Let's take a look at this magic crystal core."

With that thought, Lei Mo casually took out the Iron-Veined Lion's magic crystal core. It was the size of a quail egg, with yellow-brown mist swirling within. Judging from its color, the Iron-Veined Lion should have been an Earth Element magical beast.

After putting away the magic crystal core, Lei Mo carried a beast-hide pack with two Totem Pillars slanted inside it and continued toward human territory along the mountain range.

He traveled during the day, built a treehouse at night, then meditated. His days were just that dull and tedious.

Whenever he felt like it, he would hunt a low-level magical beast, prop up a grill over a bonfire with wood, and start barbecuing with a snap of his fingers.

Other than salt, his only seasoning was a powdered herb that added spiciness. He did not take away what he could not finish, considering it a benefit for the magical beasts along the road.

Time flew, and two months passed. Lei Mo's magic power had also reached the Saint Realm. Unfortunately, he still only knew those few spells. The spells he researched himself remained as arbitrary as ever, without even a proper name.

Lei Mo had nearly finished researching Soul Annihilation. It should be a growth-type spell.

When cast with different levels of spiritual power, it produced different effects. At minimum, it required Level Five spiritual power, yet even using his full Saint Realm spiritual power caused no difficulty.

He really was lucky. Margaret was Lei Mo's lucky star. Soul Annihilation was now Lei Mo's strongest method.

Although his warrior strength had already broken through to Level Eight, it was not worth mentioning compared to the unfathomably strange Soul Annihilation.

Because of the mountains' complex terrain and the winding route, Lei Mo was still wandering through the Seti Mountains.

By his estimate, he had now reached the side of the Seti Mountains closer to human territory.

If he had traveled in a straight line, this much time would have been enough for Lei Mo to make a round trip to the Ancestral Court.

Using meditation as rest, Lei Mo slightly increased his pace after the night passed and headed straight east.

Three days later, while he was still several kilometers away, Lei Mo had already sensed fluctuations from a battle here.

Seven people surrounded a Level Eight magical beast—a Volcano Cloud Leopard. It was named for its habit of making its home in volcanic craters and the Fire Law-colored cloud patterns on its body. The Volcano Cloud Leopard truly was a fire-element magical beast.

The group was quite strong and clearly held the upper hand, yet for some reason, they had not delivered a killing blow.

Were they trying to subdue the Volcano Cloud Leopard? Or did they have some other purpose? Lei Mo prepared to observe and had no intention of making a move yet.