Mount

The negotiations between girl and pet broke down.

Dongfang Minghui wore a frosty expression. Besides clinging to The Female Lead's powerful coattails, she now had another impossibly difficult task: how to change her magical pet's sex!!!

Neither of them spoke along the way.

They did encounter quite a few Level Three Magical Beasts, which The Female Lead dispatched with ease. The Energy Cores inside the beasts' skulls could help The Female Lead raise her level.

Whenever The Female Lead fought a magical beast, Dongfang Minghui noticed that she struggled using her earth attribute. With her sharp eyes, she spotted a trace of lightning mixed into the earth energy. Remembering the earlier thunderstorm, she realized that The Female Lead must have strengthened her lightning spiritual power considerably.

While Dongfang Wanyu fought the magical beasts, she followed behind and cracked open their skulls. Having been a doctor, she found this exceptionally easy.

"A water Energy Core. I have no use for it, so you can have it."

Dongfang Wanyu took one look and tossed it straight to Dongfang Minghui, who caught it securely. The Level Three water Energy Core radiated gentle, lake-green ripples. Unfortunately, she had no use for it either.

"Thank you, Seventh Sister." She could sell it for money. Dongfang Minghui resolved to collect as many as she could, fantasizing about making a fortune someday.

Dongfang Minghui began dismembering the magical beast, stripping away everything valuable. Just as she was about to take some of its meat, Dongfang Wanyu suddenly stopped her. "There's fighting up ahead. Let's go take a look."

In a clearing not far ahead, three people had surrounded an enormous winged magical beast. A tall man stood on its head, and the beast shook its head wildly, trying to throw him off.

The tall man drove a heavy punch straight into its skull.

"Awooo—!"

The winged magical beast's cry was deafening, making their eardrums ache. The blow must have hurt, for its struggles grew even fiercer.

There were only three of them, all dressed alike. Aside from the man on the beast's head, the other two had binding ropes wrapped tightly around its hind legs, though they looked about to lose their hold.

An elephant-sized head, thick limbs, wings on its back, and a mouth that breathed blazing fire—this was the Level Five Winged Elephant described in the novel.

Dongfang Minghui hid behind a tree and watched them in secret. All three wore the same blue-green clothes and carried swords. They looked like disciples of the Azure Mist Sect.

The man standing on the Winged Elephant's back should have been Mu Qing, the famed foremost personal disciple of an Azure Mist Sect elder. He had come to the Purple Demon Mountains specifically to hunt this Winged Elephant Demon Beast.

Winged Elephant Demon Beasts made excellent mounts. Mu Qing had come to capture one alive and take it back to form a contract. The other two were his junior brother and junior sister. Both admired him greatly, and upon hearing that he was coming to the Purple Demon Mountains, they had tagged along to broaden their horizons.

They had never expected capturing a level-five magical beast to be so harrowing.

True to its level-five rank, the Winged Elephant Demon Beast kicked its hind legs into the air, sending both of them flying with a surprise backward kick. With no one pulling them taut, the binding ropes fell loose.

Once free of its restraints, the Winged Elephant struggled to escape. It knew it was no match for Mu Qing.

It flapped its wings and leaped into the air.

Mu Qing was hardly about to let it escape. Standing on its spine, he tore at the down on its back.

"Roar—!"

A huge fireball erupted from the Winged Elephant's mouth, aimed straight at Mu Qing's junior brother and junior sister. The pain in its back had enraged it.

The two on the ground only escaped being burned by rolling desperately out of the way.

"Roar, roar—!" Stiffening its neck, the Winged Elephant swooped diagonally and sideways through the air, trying every trick it could to shake Mu Qing off its back like a beast gone mad.

Mu Qing clamped tightly onto the flesh behind its neck and lay flat against its back. Again and again, he slammed his fist viciously into its forehead. Unable to throw him off and suffering terribly, the Winged Elephant grew increasingly agitated, occasionally spitting huge fireballs down below.

The two below were the main targets of the Winged Elephant's attacks. As they dodged one assault after another in disarray, their clothes inevitably caught fire.

"Senior Brother, my clothes are on fire!" cried the girl in blue-green.

Her senior brother immediately extinguished the flames with a jet of water, but two more fireballs soon came hurtling toward them.

"Get out of the way!" The fireballs separated them, forcing them to flee in opposite directions.

Before long, the fighting spread outward. Dongfang Minghui, who had been enjoying the spectacle from behind a tree, was caught in its path and nearly swallowed by a fireball.

She came so close to the fireball that she could feel its scorching heat rushing at her face. Had The Female Lead not pulled her aside in time, she might well have gone straight to heaven.

"Seventh Sister, should we leave first?"

Dongfang Minghui looked at the burned hem of her clothes. This place was rather dangerous.

There was no point staying here anyway. Mu Qing of the Azure Mist Sect was currently a Level Three Great Spirit Master. Subduing this Level Five juvenile Winged Elephant was well within his abilities.

Dongfang Wanyu pressed her head lower, her beautiful eyes coldly tracking Mu Qing's every move. "Shut up. Say another word and I'll throw you out there."

"She's got personality. I like her." The wretched Demon Plant in Dongfang Minghui's mind started getting ideas again.

Dongfang Minghui felt an urge to stuff it back into her belly and have it remade from scratch.

The battle raged overhead while Dongfang Minghui looked around. Knowing the author's usual antics, she refused to believe that a fight like this would simply end without further trouble.

There had to be someone waiting to swoop in and steal the spoils.

Sure enough, beyond the tree where they were hiding, Dongfang Minghui spotted a couple of hems. She lowered her head and tugged at The Female Lead's clothes.

Dongfang Wanyu shot her a vicious glare. Had the circumstances allowed it, she would have kicked Dongfang Minghui out there already.

"People—there." Dongfang Minghui mouthed silently, pointing in several directions.

"They've been lying in ambush for a while, since before you arrived. They're waiting for the Azure Mist Sect disciples to exhaust themselves before coming out and capturing the Winged Elephant in one fell swoop." Qing Mo's voice suddenly rang out. Seeing the Azure Mist Sect disciples had brought back unpleasant memories, which was why the warning had not come sooner. What Qing Mo had not expected was for the Dongfang Family's Ninth Miss to notice first.

The Ninth Miss seemed rather different from the rumors. It appeared that Qing Mo would have to observe her more closely.

Dongfang Wanyu counted the people lying in ambush nearby. There were about six or seven.

"How about I take this opportunity to kill Mu Qing?" That was precisely why she had stayed.

She had always drawn a clear line between gratitude and grudges. Since she had promised Qing Mo revenge, she would naturally keep her word.

Her words made Qing Mo laugh. Countless years had passed since that soul had returned to the Seven-Colored Stone. It was rare for anyone to stand up on Qing Mo's behalf, and it had been so long since Qing Mo had felt such warmth.

Even if their relationship was merely a transaction.

"Never mind that he's a Level Three Great Spirit Master. Even if he were only a Level Three Spirit Master, you still couldn't kill him. If you tried, you would certainly attract the Azure Mist Sect's attention. Once your identity was exposed, it could cost you your life." Qing Mo laid out the risks with perfect clarity.

"Even if I can't kill him, I can at least cause him a little trouble," Dongfang Wanyu said with a cold smile.

While they were talking, Mu Qing had battered the Winged Elephant in midair into a daze. Finally, its wings folded, and it plummeted from the sky with Mu Qing aboard.

Thud!

The Winged Elephant was enormous, and its fall blasted a huge crater into the ground.

Seeing that Mu Qing had completely subdued the Level Five Winged Elephant, the other two Azure Mist Sect disciples hurried forward to congratulate him. "Congratulations on your new mount, Eldest Senior Brother!"

"Congratulations, Eldest Senior Brother!"

A sudden glint flashed into Mu Qing's eyes. He shoved the two aside and rolled across the ground. Several throwing knives struck the spot where they had been standing.

"Who's there?"

Mu Qing rose, surveying his surroundings with a grave expression. "Friends, since you're already here, why not come out and meet us?"

Dongfang Minghui ducked her head even lower, terrified of being discovered.

The people lurking in the shadows exchanged glances, then emerged from their hiding places. There were seven in total, each taking a different position to surround the three disciples.

"Boy, we're taking this beast. Get lost if you know what's good for you," one of them shouted at Mu Qing, a large saber resting on his shoulder.

The seven eyed the three Azure Mist Sect disciples like predators, each looking vicious enough to devour them.

"Eldest Senior Brother, there are seven of them and only three of us. What do we do?" The inexperienced novice, fresh out on his first training journey, lacked confidence after all.

His words naturally reached the seven men, making the gang of brutes roar with laughter.

Mu Qing shot him a fierce glare before smiling. "You dare steal something belonging to the Azure Mist Sect? You've got nerve."

The seven exchanged smiles, utterly unconcerned by his words. "So what if you're from the Azure Mist Sect? It's the Azure Mist Sect's stuff we're here to steal. Since you won't leave, don't blame us for getting rough."

A battle was on the verge of erupting.

Dongfang Minghui trembled where she hid in the grass.

Her sixth sense told her that if she stayed, trouble would certainly find her soon. But if she left and The Female Lead asked why, she could not come up with an excuse.

"What the hell are you scared of? To think my glorious reputation would be ruined by a useless idiot like you." For once, the wretched magical plant in her mind said something intelligible.

As far as Dongfang Minghui was concerned, it would have been better off saying nothing.

"Easy for you to say. If you're so capable, come out and fight them yourself," Dongfang Minghui could not help retorting. She had hardly any fighting ability, not even a weapon to protect herself. It was only natural for her to be a little timid. If she had an advantage as powerful as The Female Lead's, she would charge forward without a second thought too.

"Huh? Where did Seventh Sister go?"

In that brief moment, Dongfang Wanyu had already reached the crowd. While they fought furiously, she secretly sent a bolt of lightning at the winged beast.

"Roar, roar—!"

The level-five magical beast lying in the crater, drawing more breath in than it let out, was struck by lightning. The extraordinary pain stirred its survival instincts. It spat two fireballs into the air, then staggered out of the crater.

"Damned beast!"

Two men were caught by the flames, and the Azure Mist Sect disciples naturally seized the chance to intensify their counterattack.

The level-five magical beast already possessed the intelligence of a small child. It knew it could not defeat these people. With that troublesome human no longer on its back, it flapped its wings, shot into the sky, and fled.

"Damn it." Mu Qing gritted his teeth. His prize had flown away right before his eyes.