Scarlet Nightmare

Nightmare?

Xia Ming froze for a moment, then recalled a type of Magic Beast Anthony had rambled on about when introducing things to him. Its full name was Scarlet Nightmare, an exceedingly rare and uncommon fourth-tier Magic Beast.

But this fourth-tier Magic Beast was not to be underestimated. According to Anthony, there might not even be a few of them on all of Azure Flame Island. Scarlet Nightmare's greatest trait was its ability to use mental attacks—or rather, illusionary disguises!

Scarlet Nightmare was an intelligent Magic Beast with powerful mental strength. It could imitate, disguise itself as, and transform into the appearance of other high-level Magic Beasts. Clearly, this little fellow had transformed into an Earth Giant Lizard to deceive everyone beneath the sky.

"Catch it! This is an adult Scarlet Nightmare! Its eyes and the horn on its head are all high-grade magical materials. If we catch it, we'll strike it rich!" Greed filled Sherlock's eyes. He licked his lips and shouted.

Worthy of being a highly intelligent Magic Beast, the Scarlet Nightmare seemed to understand Sherlock's words. Its body trembled a few times, and fear filled those large, round eyes.

Su Weiwei circulated her battle aura, and a chilling sword gleam burst forth as she too attempted to block Scarlet Nightmare's path!

Yet Scarlet Nightmare beat its wings. Swift as lightning, it left only several afterimages in midair. In an instant, it slipped past Su Weiwei's silver longsword and reached the cave entrance in the blink of an eye.

So fast! Xia Ming's heart tightened. He had never seen any Magic Beast move at such speed. Speed was one thing, but more importantly, it was extraordinarily nimble—like a slick, slippery loach that could never be caught.

Xia Ming and Sherlock immediately chanted two third-tier spells as well. The glow of magic echoed between them as they pincer-attacked from the left and right. Both had cast the second-tier Slow Spell. Once Scarlet Nightmare was struck by the Slow Spell, it would undoubtedly become a lamb awaiting slaughter! Yet Scarlet Nightmare gave a light flick and easily evaded them!

Scarlet Nightmare beat its wings again and flew dozens of meters away in the blink of an eye. Xia Ming and the others simply could not catch up, and could only watch helplessly as Scarlet Nightmare vanished from sight.

"Damn it! My gold coins!" Tang Ge clutched his chest in agony. Watching Scarlet Nightmare escape felt like watching a mountain of gold coins sprout wings and fly away.

Su Weiwei's delicate brows furrowed slightly. In her distinctive voice, she said, "Scarlet Nightmare is as famous for its escape speed as it is for its mental illusions. Unless one is a mage of the seventh tier or above, it is very difficult to catch one."

No wonder that little thing had been so fearless, daring to disguise itself with illusions. Its ability to flee was truly superb. On second thought, Xia Ming found it reasonable. As a rare Magic Beast, Scarlet Nightmare naturally had its own unique means of survival. If it were truly that easy to catch, it would have gone extinct long ago.

Tang Ge and Sherlock were still unable to pull themselves free from their anguish over a heap of gold coins flying away on wings, but Su Weiwei calmly looked at Xia Ming with her starry eyes. An inexplicable meaning seemed to flicker within those eyes, bright as stars, as she asked, "I'm very curious. How did you discover it?"

As soon as she said this, everyone's gaze focused on Xia Ming.

Xia Ming deserved all the credit for seeing through Scarlet Nightmare's disguise this time. Who could have imagined that Xia Ming's eyes would be so sharp? Scarlet Nightmare's mental illusion techniques were practically perfected by fire and pure as gold, yet they still could not escape this fellow's discerning gaze.

Tang Ge asked curiously as well, "That's right, Brother Xia Ming, how did you find out? Scarlet Nightmare's disguise was flawless. Even Miss Weiwei, who possesses both beauty and wisdom, didn't notice anything suspicious..." Even while confused, Tang Ge did not forget to lavish praise upon Su Weiwei.

Sherlock pricked up his ears too, his eyes fixed tightly on Xia Ming as grief and indignation surged through his heart. We're both third-tier mages, so why is the gap this huge? This guy is such a freak...

"Do I really have to say?" Xia Ming shrugged helplessly.

"Of course!" came the firm, unanimous answer of the three curious children.

Xia Ming coughed and said in an even tone, "Actually, it was very simple. Though Scarlet Nightmare's illusionary disguise was practically without a flaw, there were several suspicious aspects to the matter itself."

Xia Ming explained unhurriedly, "First, the Earth Giant Lizard is a seventh-tier Magic Beast, while seventh-tier Magic Beasts have all but disappeared from Green Caterpillar Forest. The Earth Giant Lizard appeared far too suddenly, which was the first and most suspicious point. Of course, it was only a suspicion."

"Second, Earth Giant Lizards are originally extremely savage and ferocious Magic Beasts. Yet when it faced off against us, it did not launch a single proactive attack. Even when we ran, it did not pursue us. That completely failed to match the ferocious nature of a seventh-tier Magic Beast."

"But based on those two points alone, it would still only be a suspicion and couldn't confirm anything. If your judgment had been wrong, the result would have been getting torn to pieces by the Earth Giant Lizard." Su Weiwei did not believe Xia Ming had made his judgment based solely on those two reasons. At most, they could raise suspicion; they were not worth Xia Ming gambling his life on. After all, if his suspicion proved wrong, he would be seeking his own death.

Xia Ming nodded. "There was one more, and it was the most important point. My mental strength differs from that of ordinary people, so Scarlet Nightmare's illusionary disguise could not completely blind me. Once I found a flaw, the rest was simple."

Xia Ming made it sound light and easy, but the truth was shocking.

"You could see the flaw in Scarlet Nightmare's illusionary disguise?"

"Your mental strength..."

Sherlock and Tang Ge both cried out despite themselves.

There was only one explanation for being able to see through Scarlet Nightmare's illusionary disguise—Xia Ming's mental strength had to be extraordinarily formidable and incomparably keen! Even a Magic Beast like Scarlet Nightmare, known for its mental strength, found it difficult to deceive Xia Ming's mental perception!

What terrifying mental strength!

Sherlock dared to say that even a fifth-tier mage might not necessarily be able to see through Scarlet Nightmare's illusionary disguise, yet Xia Ming had discovered it with ease. And this fellow was only a third-tier mage!

Even Su Weiwei revealed an astonished expression. Of course she knew what Xia Ming's terrifying mental strength signified. This guy was practically a monster.

Such mental strength could no longer be described merely as differing from ordinary people. It was simply terrifying!

Seeing Xia Ming's calm expression, as though he had casually done something utterly ordinary, Sherlock felt an overwhelming urge to cry without tears.

Seeing everyone staring at him, Xia Ming frowned. "All right, do you still want that Earth Essence Gold or not?"

Xia Ming's words awakened them from their dream. The half-excavated Earth Essence Gold still lay quietly on the ground, glinting with its distinctive earthy-yellow metallic luster.

"Put some muscle into it and dig out the Earth Essence Gold!" There was a trace of temptation in Xia Ming's tone, because following the veins of the exposed Earth Essence Gold, he had already faintly glimpsed the delicate gleam of the accompanying magical gemstones.

Where are the promised bookmarks and votes?