Flame Crystal Leopard I

In City No. 132, inside an abandoned office building.

"Heng Tiao, is the information true? You actually found traces of a Flame Crystal Leopard in a place like this?"

Five middle-aged men clad in battle armor sat cross-legged throughout the office building. The aura emanating from them made it clear that they were all Warrior General-level experts.

One of them had a thin mustache, but his eyes were as small as mung beans.

It was this man who had just spoken. However, he was not speaking Huaxia's language, but the language of the island nation that had long since been wiped out by the ravages of monsters.

"Kujo, my information can't be wrong!" a somewhat plump, scar-faced man from the island nation said angrily.

"But we've already been searching for an entire day!" Kujo ignored Heng Tiao's anger and continued complaining.

"Do you think an Advanced Beast General, especially a Flame Crystal Leopard that excels at speed, is so easy to find?" Heng Tiao snorted coldly.

"You clearly—"

"Enough, stop arguing!" Seeing that the two were about to start fighting again, a graying-haired man dressed as a samurai, who had been sitting quietly to the side, suddenly interrupted them.

The moment he spoke, a natural air of authority pressed down on everyone present, making them all shut their mouths.

"The information is correct. The Flame Crystal Leopard is definitely in this city!" the graying-haired man in samurai attire said coldly. "Continue searching. Expand the search area!"

"Yes, Lord Matsushima!" The other four immediately lowered their heads and answered loudly.

"Go." Matsushima nodded, and the four quickly left.

"Captain, the area to the front-left has been cleared." Cao Bing meticulously reported his work through the Divine Arrow Squad's earpieces.

After several days of battle, Cao Bing was already fully capable of handling his duties within the squad.

Speed-type Martial Artists like Cao Bing and Guan Yong were not only responsible for skirting the edges of battle or charging in for killing blows.

At times like this, when the entire squad was retreating and had lost Fang Ye and Zheng Ke—the sniper and observer stationed at high ground to watch the surroundings—they had to scout the path ahead and clear out any monsters that got in the way.

Otherwise, even with a planned route, the team could still easily run into migrating monsters. If they happened to encounter an Advanced Beast General, they would have to pay a considerable price in their haste.

After an hour, Cao Bing and the others were nearly at the edge of the city.

We'll be out once we go a little farther.

Looking at the buildings at the city's edge that were almost entirely covered in vegetation, as well as the ruined highway, Cao Bing thought to himself.

Just a little farther. Once I finish scouting, I can wait for the captain and the others.

Cao Bing leaped down from a two-story building, casually taking out an intermediate Beast Soldier python that was resting in a tree to enjoy the shade.

Rumble!

Cao Bing had been speeding across the ground when, without warning, a deafening crash erupted. A five-story residential building to his front-left collapsed with a roar.

"What's going on?" Cao Bing's heart lurched. He hurriedly darted into a building and carefully peered through a window toward the collapsed structure.

"Little Cao, what happened? We heard some commotion from your direction." Captain Yan Ying's anxious voice came through the earpiece.

"Uncle Yan, I don't know either. A building suddenly collapsed. There's too much dust to see clearly." Cao Bing quickly reported his situation.

"Protect yourself. We'll get there as soon as possible." Yan Ying's voice soon came through the earpiece again.

"Guan Yong, get over there at top speed."

"Understood. Cao Bing, report your location," Guan Yong asked.

"I'm at XXXX." Cao Bing swiftly gave everyone his coordinates.

At the same time, he continued peeking from behind the building's cover at the site of the collapse.

At first, Cao Bing could not make out what was happening inside. He could only hear repeated booming sounds and several heavy beast roars coming from within the dust.

It was not difficult to guess that someone was fighting a monster.

After a while, the dust settled somewhat, and Cao Bing gradually made out two figures in the center of the dust, circling a monster the size of a car. Judging by its build, it appeared to be some sort of feline.

Who's fighting so fiercely? Cao Bing wondered, but he did not dare show himself.

When hunting squads encountered situations like this in the wilderness, they generally would not rashly go over to help. For one thing, they did not know whether the other side needed help. What if the other party thought they had come to steal their prey? That could easily cause a conflict between both sides.

For another, if the monster was too strong, he might get dragged into the fight himself. The danger was simply too great.

Third, if the other party had malicious intentions, they might kill the monster and then kill him as well.

Therefore, when encountering such situations, hunting squads generally chose to remain hidden and observe. Only after confirming the basic circumstances would they decide whether to help or retreat.

"Cao Bing, what's the situation now?" Guan Yong swiftly weaved between the buildings. The occasional monsters posed no obstacle to him at all.

"Uncle Guan, Captain, it seems like several people are fighting a monster. From the looks of it, they're all at the War General and Beast General level. The battle won't reach me anytime soon," Cao Bing answered truthfully.

"Good. Stay hidden. I'll be there in two minutes," Guan Yong said.

"Understood." Cao Bing nodded, using his internal energy to conceal all traces of his presence. In some respects, having studied under an immortal cultivator expert like Feng Yuzi for a time made Cao Bing even better at concealing himself than Guan Yong.

After all, compared to Earth's current cultivation system, a world like Qianlong Continent, which had developed immortal cultivation knowledge for who knew how many years, possessed far more varied cultivation techniques. It naturally had one or two methods for concealing one's aura. Their effects might not be particularly strong, but they were more than enough for now.

At the very least, because their cultivation systems were different, Cao Bing dared guarantee that even ordinary God of War experts would not be able to see through him.

Meanwhile, atop the ruins.

A middle-aged man dressed as a samurai slashed with his sword, forcing back a huge leopard covered from head to toe in scales that glimmered with fiery red light.

"Damn it! Heng Tiao, didn't you say this leopard was only an Advanced Beast General? Why is this thing already nearly comparable to an elementary Lord?"

The man cursed loudly. It was clear that this was the group from the island nation that had gathered earlier to hunt the Flame Crystal Leopard.

However, they were in an extremely sorry state now. Matsushima, their leader, was even cursing Heng Tiao, who had investigated the information. As for the island nation man named Kujo, who had been dissatisfied with Heng Tiao all along, he had already been torn into three pieces by the Flame Crystal Leopard's claw. He died with his eyes wide open, his intestines spilling all over the ground.

How was I supposed to know the Flame Crystal Leopard would be this strong? Besides, being close to Lord level still means it's an Advanced Beast General, Heng Tiao muttered inwardly. Of course, he did not dare say it aloud, or Matsushima would split him in half alive.

"Bastards! Heng Tiao, Shino, hold it back with everything you've got! Meichuan, you must hit that thing in the eye with one shot. I'm counting on you!" Matsushima, clad in samurai robes, kept swinging his sword and launching attack after attack at the Flame Crystal Leopard.

"Yes!" Several hundred meters away, atop a tall building, a man from the island nation holding a heavy sniper rifle stared intently through the scope at the three men and one leopard amid the ruins as he answered coldly.