Resolution and Departure

Moo!!

The Raging Bull snorted thick white mist from its nostrils, seemingly mixed with wisps of scalding steam. It raised its head high, violently hooked Li Zhouhai with its horns, and flung him aside.

The Defense Corps members around it hacked at the Raging Bull with Rune-enhanced weapons, yet they could only leave pale marks on its hide. Had they been using ordinary weapons, they might have shattered by now.

Not only did their attacks fail to work, they enraged the Raging Bull even further.

Its hooves struck the ground with a thunderous boom like war drums. Bellowing, the Raging Bull charged at the nearest person.

Lincon rushed forward and rescued the team member at the critical moment, tossing him aside.

Mutated creatures—or rather, the more precise term should have been mutated beasts.

This mutated beast was nearly as strong as a D-rank enhanced ability user, while its explosive power and tough hide were even harder to imagine.

Lincon had only watched from the side for a few seconds, yet he already knew this thing was not to be provoked lightly. Even if he wanted to take it down, it would likely be quite difficult.

What Lincon could not understand, however, was why this bull had such a terrible temper.

"What did you do to it?"

Li Zhouhai ran back while clutching his injured arm. He had just been flung into the bushes behind them. From the looks of it, his arm had fractured, with a large swelling bulging beneath the skin.

He hurriedly explained, "It appeared nearby at first, and we thought it was some unknown dark creature, so we attacked first."

Well then, they had been the ones to provoke it.

Lincon used his mind to communicate with the Demon Ancient Tree and learned about the Raging Bull from it.

This Raging Bull was indeed not a dark creature. Since the Demon Ancient Tree had been born, its unique Luminous Life Domain had not only caused the surrounding plants to mutate, but also attracted some mutated beasts here to drink.

It was not that the swamp water tasted good. Rather, whenever the Luminous Life Domain activated, the accompanying Nightglow Plants nearby would awaken as well. This bull had simply come to drink and eat.

Yet before it could eat, it received a beating first. Forget a bull—even among humans, few could endure such treatment without losing their temper.

But now that things had come to this, there was no other way. They could only subdue the Raging Bull first.

Lincon constantly assessed the Raging Bull.

This mutated bull looked rather ferocious. Its entire body was pitch-black, and strange markings covered its hide. No wonder Li Zhouhai had mistaken it for an unknown dark creature at first.

Sensing Lincon's hostile gaze, the aggressive Raging Bull's aura shifted, and its huge eyes glared at him.

"Snort..."

It lowered its head. Its sharp horns were like the lances of medieval knights mounted on horseback. Its iron hooves struck the ground as it charged fearlessly toward Lincon.

"Everyone, stay back."

Lincon waved Guan Teng and the others away when they tried to come help. He told them to watch for dark creatures nearby while he stepped back and summoned the Ancient Maple Guardian for assistance.

The Ancient Maple Guardian did not fear pain, making it the ideal opponent for the Raging Bull before them.

The two massive figures crashed together with a resounding bang. In a pure contest of strength, the enormous Ancient Maple Guardian was not inferior by much.

At the same time, the Ancient Maple Guardian had its supporting roots. Thick roots burst from beneath the Raging Bull's hooves. Just as they were about to wrap around its body, the Raging Bull suddenly blasted scalding steam from its mouth and nostrils, multiplying its strength severalfold and breaking the roots apart.

It first evaded the Ancient Maple Guardian's obstruction, then twisted its body and actually opened its mouth, biting toward Lincon at a bizarre angle.

Yet just as it was about to make its next move, a pitch-black longsword was already resting against its neck.

"Can you stop moving?" Lincon asked calmly.

There was no unnecessary emotion on the cold blade, only killing intent so pure it reached the extreme.

The Raging Bull froze in place. Its huge mouth was clearly only ten centimeters from Lincon, yet it never managed to bite down.

Animals sensed danger far more keenly than humans, and evolved mutated beasts were even more so.

Not only did they possess greater intelligence than before, they also understood how to seek fortune and avoid calamity.

It could foresee that if it made any unnecessary movement, its head would be separated from its body.

That sense of danger came not only from the man before it, but also from the black longsword.

In the end, the Raging Bull still followed its biological Sixth Sense. It slowly withdrew its mouth, and its violent temper gradually subsided under the Shadow Sword's suppression.

"Looks like it can communicate."

Lincon's voice softened. He did not want to kill this mutated beast. In his eyes, it was more valuable alive than dead.

The others, however, did not think so. Delight appeared on Guan Teng's face.

"Sir, does this mean we can eat beef next?"

Li Zhouhai slapped Guan Teng on the shoulder and said sternly, "Even if we carved its meat off, would you dare eat it?"

"Uh..." Guan Teng scratched his head and ultimately did not dare continue.

Lincon explained, "This is not a dark creature. It is a mutated beast. Generally speaking, mutated beast meat can be eaten after special treatment."

The moment those words came out, the people around them immediately began to drool.

Meat... they had not eaten it in a very long time.

The Raging Bull paced restlessly in place. Guan Teng and the others' gazes made it deeply uncomfortable, and its temper seemed on the verge of erupting again.

Lincon had people gather some Nightglow Plants from nearby, then personally held them out to the Raging Bull's mouth.

The Raging Bull glanced at the black sword in Lincon's other hand, then silently opened its mouth and began eating.

Seeing this, Lincon was very satisfied and patted the Raging Bull on the head.

Its willingness to accept food meant its habits could be changed through taming.

Of course, that required the suppression of great strength, or it would easily rebel.

After chewing the Nightglow Plants in its mouth, the Raging Bull raised its head and looked around. Its nose twitched, and it suddenly walked over to the Living Water Shrine Lincon had just built. Lowering its head, it began drinking the water purified by the Shrine.

As it drank, the Raging Bull's eyes visibly brightened. It even wanted to step its entire hoof into the water.

But the instant it moved, Lincon pulled it back.

Lincon raised the remaining plants in his hand and said calmly, "I have even tastier food and cleaner water. If you're willing to come with me, we can all live in peace. If not, I haven't tasted beef in a long time either."

Lincon did not care whether the Raging Bull could understand those words. He was merely giving it a reason to choose.

There were about two hours left until dawn. It could either leave with them or become a corpse for them to drag back.

The Raging Bull's fan-like ears twitched. It stared wide-eyed, seemingly unsure what it was thinking.

When the Dark Veil covering the sky dispersed, the glow emitted by the Demon Ancient Tree extinguished like candlelight, returning everything to how it had looked when everyone first arrived yesterday.

The only difference was that three strange Shrines now stood in this swamp.

"Rustle..."

The roots in the swamp suddenly writhed like enormous pythons raising their heads, spitting clumps of black, viscous resin into the bushes along the swamp's edge.

The Demon Ancient Tree had honored its agreement with Lincon, expelling the resin created after devouring Dark Energy into the designated area.

The people around them were all startled. Only Lincon smiled and waved at the Demon Ancient Tree.

"Are... you leaving...?"

A hazy, childlike consciousness echoed in his mind.

Lincon pointed at the Living Water Shrines. "Those three Shrines are my eyes. They represent my connection to this region."

"When my territory can one day cover this place, perhaps even if we are separated by a thousand miles, we will still be able to communicate through our consciousness at any time."

"And I'll come by here often in the future."

The Demon Ancient Tree's branches swayed. Though its appearance was terrifying and bizarre, beneath the blossoming daylight, it revealed a chilling sort of beauty.

"That's... good..."

"Yeah!" Lincon sighed.

This Demon Ancient Tree possessed potential no less than the Seed of Life. How could he possibly give it up?

He slowly withdrew his gaze and looked toward the Raging Bull standing silently nearby. Li Zhouhai, Guan Teng, and the others were staring fixedly at it.

All right, big bull. It was time for it to make its choice.