Flame Crystal Leopard II

Amid the ruins, the Flame Crystal Leopard let out a low growl and sent Matsushima flying with a sweep of its tail. It smugly glanced at the two remaining humans, who were too frightened to step forward.

These damned humans actually dared disturb my afternoon nap. Now they know how formidable I am!

The Flame Crystal Leopard proudly raised its head, unable to keep from feeling rather pleased with itself.

Having reached the peak of Advanced Beast General, it had already developed rudimentary intelligence. It was extremely displeased with this group that had dared disturb its rest.

As a Flame Crystal Leopard, it had been one of the rulers of the ruins of City No. 132 ever since its birth. By the time it reached the peak of Advanced Beast General, it had become the absolute ruler of these ruins.

No human or creature had ever dared offend it.

Yet today, just as it had found a comfortable spot to settle down for a good sleep, it had been awakened by people.

And from the looks of it, these people even wanted its life.

How could that not enrage the Flame Crystal Leopard?

A fierce battle had naturally become inevitable.

After fighting back and forth, the group and the leopard had reached the edge of the city, demolishing who knew how many buildings along the way. Only after they brought down another residential building

did the standoff finally form, with the Flame Crystal Leopard having killed one of them and driven back three others.

Roar! The Flame Crystal Leopard roared again. The earlier battle had not left even the slightest wound on it, and not even the dust filling the sky could cling to its scales.

Thus, standing atop the rubble of the collapsed building, the Flame Crystal Leopard still looked awe-inspiring.

"Damn it, Meichuan, aren't you ready yet?!" Matsushima wiped the trace of blood from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. His earlier frontal clash with the Flame Crystal Leopard had inflicted considerable internal injuries on him. His organs felt as though they were burning with pain.

But that was nothing. As a Martial Artist, such pain could not affect him in the slightest. With his physical constitution, these injuries would fully heal in no more than a couple of days.

The most urgent matter now was to kill the Flame Crystal Leopard before them.

The value of a single Flame Crystal Leopard exceeded what they could earn from half a year of hunting. If they obtained this Flame Crystal Leopard's corpse, along with all the savings they had amassed over the years, they might be able to break through to the beginner God of War level.

Matsushima stared fervently at the proud ferocious beast before him, his eyes filled with greed.

God of War level! He dreamed of reaching it, but that threshold was like the Sky Palace to him.

He had reached the High-level Warrior General level ten years ago, yet no matter how hard he worked afterward, he could not cross that barrier. Ten years—no matter how bitterly he cultivated, he had still been unable to advance even a single step.

That feeling was agonizing enough to drive one to despair.

However, he had not gained nothing over those ten years. He had saved a tremendous amount of money, and with the corpse of this Flame Crystal Leopard, it should be enough to buy a portion of "Jade Marrow worth 30 billion."

Yes, Matsushima's goal was Jade Marrow. Though it could not compare to Dragon Blood, it was enough to allow Matsushima to step from the peak of Warrior General level into the God of War level.

So no matter what, the Flame Crystal Leopard before him had to die!

"Lord Matsushima, the Flame Crystal Leopard has far too few weak points. Unless I can put a bullet through its eye, I simply cannot pose a threat to its life. I still need Lord Matsushima to continue creating opportunities for me." The voice in his earpiece made Matsushima's anxious mood even more stifled.

"Listen. Create an opportunity for Meichuan at any cost!" Matsushima swept his cold gaze over his two companions.

The two men felt a chill in their hearts and nodded involuntarily.

"Kill!" Matsushima shouted as he raised his katana once more and charged at the Flame Crystal Leopard.

Heng Tiao and Shino exchanged a glance before following after him.

Roar! The Flame Crystal Leopard had been smugly watching the three humans, but it had not expected these fools to still dare attack it. Instantly, it flew into a rage.

Its streamlined body appeared before Matsushima almost instantly, and its five sharp claws slammed viciously toward Matsushima's head.

Clang!

With a piercing ring, the Flame Crystal Leopard left five clear claw marks on Matsushima's katana. Fortunately, the katana was of decent quality and did not chip or curl.

Then, as Matsushima withstood the Flame Crystal Leopard's attack head-on, the two island Martial Artists, Heng Tiao and Shino, caught up as well. Their two iaido slashes struck the Flame Crystal Leopard's body in quick succession.

Yet they only produced two metallic clangs and could not break through its scales at all.

Then the Flame Crystal Leopard's tail lashed toward them. The tail, as thick as an adult man's thigh and nearly reduced to an afterimage, frightened all three into dodging repeatedly. None of them dared let it touch them.

"Bastard!" The men cursed again and again, but they could not inflict the slightest injury on the Flame Crystal Leopard. At most, they could make it hurt a little and drain some of its strength.

Matsushima tried several times to drive his blade into the Flame Crystal Leopard's eye, but the beast was no fool and gave him no opportunity.

Thus, once the two sides clashed again, the Flame Crystal Leopard completely suppressed the islanders.

At the same time,

"Little Cao!" Guan Yong suddenly appeared at the window behind Cao Bing. Lowering his body, he darted to Cao Bing's side.

"Uncle Guan." Cao Bing nodded at Guan Yong and said quietly, "Look."

"Mm." Guan Yong responded and leaned out to look through the window.

"Islanders?" Guan Yong frowned, his tone carrying undisguised disgust.

"Judging by their attire and weapons, they should be," Cao Bing replied.

"Uncle Guan, what do we do?"

"Inform the captain first. Have Old Fang and Zheng Ke locate the target and the enemy sniper!" Guan Yong said gravely. He had far more experience than Cao Bing when dealing with sudden situations like this.

"There's a sniper?" Cao Bing's heart jolted, and a thin layer of cold sweat appeared on his back.

"There definitely is." Guan Yong nodded with certainty.

"Why?" Cao Bing could not help asking. How could Guan Yong be so sure that the other side had a sniper?

"If they didn't have a sniper, why would they still be tangling with the Flame Crystal Leopard here? They would have fled for their lives long ago!" Guan Yong said with a cold laugh.

"Look at those three islanders. They clearly can't hurt the Flame Crystal Leopard at all, yet they're still attacking it desperately," Guan Yong said.

Cao Bing nodded at this.

Guan Yong continued, "There are only three possible explanations. First, powerful reinforcements are about to arrive. But their leader is already quite strong. Reinforcements stronger than him could only be God of War level. Yet if they truly had a God of War level expert, why would they send a few Warrior General level Martial Artists here to take such risks?

"Second, they're covering the retreat of someone important, and these people are death warriors. But look at their movements—they clearly don't have the resolve to fight to the death, so they aren't death warriors either.

"That leaves only one possibility: they have a fairly capable sniper lying in ambush, waiting for a killing blow!"