Little Gold 2

Taking advantage of the magical beasts surging toward the outskirts, leaving not a single one nearby, Wharton examined the spatial ring the Golden Giant Tiger had given him. Aside from several thousand gold coins, it contained magic crystal cores: seven Level Nine cores, twelve Level Eight cores, and more than three hundred Level Seven and Level Six cores. There was also a wind-element Saint... The rest were materials and weapons. Three of the weapons were fairly good: a saber, a heavy sword, and a magic staff. Wharton had no use for any of them.

What delighted him most was that he had found the medicinal ingredients he needed. The Golden Giant Tiger's spatial ring contained the Millennium Vermilion Fruit he needed, meaning he could now refine the Foundation-Building Elixir.

"Little Tiger, did your mother ever give you a name?" Wharton asked, looking at the little tiger lying before him.

"No. My mother only told me to follow you in the future. She didn't say anything else," Little Tiger said sadly.

"Then all right. From now on, you'll be called Little Gold. I'll be your big brother from now on," Wharton said after thinking for a moment.

"Mm, Little Gold it is. As long as I can follow you, I don't care what I'm called," Little Gold said in a childish voice.

"It's time to leave the Magical Beast Forest." Looking up at the bright moon in the sky, Wharton spoke calmly.

Early the next morning, Wharton and Little Gold headed toward the outskirts of the Magical Beast Forest. Just as Wharton was about to leave the forest, he suddenly sensed people ahead—and more than one.

Wharton immediately called Little Gold over and cautiously moved closer to take a look. There were nine people in total, all dressed in black, wearing the same clothes as the assassins who had attacked Wharton when he first entered the Magical Beast Forest.

"Since I've run into you, I'll send you to reunite with your companions." Killing intent surged from Wharton as he told Little Gold how to coordinate with him against them.

Wharton was now a Peak Level Six Warrior. After transforming, he was enough to rival a peak Level Eight Warrior. The leader among those men was only a peak Level Seven Warrior. Wharton was confident he could deal with them, as long as he blocked off their escape routes.

"Number One, why hasn't Number Three come yet? Could something have happened to him?" one of the black-clad men asked while Wharton discussed how to cut off their retreat.

"We'll wait one more hour. If Number Three still hasn't come by then, we'll leave. We won't wait for him anymore," said the black-clad man called Number One.

Wharton and Little Gold slowly closed in on the black-clad men from both sides. Then suddenly—

Crack!

Wharton accidentally stepped on a dead branch hidden beneath fallen leaves, and a crisp sound rang out.

"Who is it? Come out!" Number One shouted. All of them drew their daggers and went on guard, their coordination extremely practiced.

Knowing he had been discovered, Wharton stopped hiding. He gripped his battle saber and strode out, radiating killing intent.

"Are you waiting for someone dressed like you? No need to wait. Soon, I'll send you moles to see him," Wharton said.

During nearly a year in the Magical Beast Forest, Wharton had found himself increasingly prone to murderous urges. Sometimes, he could not control them at all, and they had begun to affect his state of mind. He knew it was because he had slaughtered too much recently. Once he returned, he would need to restrain himself properly. But when he discovered these companions of the people who had ambushed him, he could no longer suppress the killing intent in his heart. Since he could not hold it down, he could only let it erupt. Otherwise, it would harm him further.

The moment he finished speaking, he slashed at a black-clad man beside him. The man had been on guard and retreated more than ten meters, but then a blade-shadow flashed past. The black-clad man was already dead.

It was Little Gold, who had been preparing an ambush from the side. Man and beast attacked from both front and rear, and after more than an hour, they finally killed all of the black-clad men.