They had been walking inside the Magical Beast Mountain Range for dozens of days.
Linley followed behind him, while Bebe squatted on Linley's shoulder, his little eyes darting around as he vigilantly observed the surroundings.
On this day, they crossed a massive mountain range that spanned hundreds of miles.
At the peak of the mountain, he stood by the cliff's edge and suddenly stopped in his tracks.
A huge canyon appeared ahead. The two banks of the canyon were several hundred meters apart and bottomless, with thick white fog rolling and swirling within the valley, obscuring everything below in a hazy blur.
"What a bizarre canyon." An frowned as he observed it.
He discovered that the closer the cliffs on both sides of the canyon extended toward each other, the narrower the gap between them became.
Linley also walked over, standing beside An to peer downwards. "This canyon is so deep."
An walked along the edge of the canyon cliff while peering downward, attempting to use his naked eyes to discover what exactly lay deep within the Mist Canyon.
As he walked, An's gaze suddenly froze.
"Blue Heart Grass!"
An's heartbeat accelerated abruptly, and it looked like he had not altered the original storyline after all, still managing to find the Mist Canyon from the original book.
He knew the value of the Blue Heart Grass far too well.
The Dragonblood Codex stated it clearly: to rouse the Dragonblood Warrior bloodline within one's body, there were only two methods. First, for the bloodline concentration to reach the minimum threshold; second, to drink Living Dragon Blood. However, Living Dragon Blood was incomparably tyrannical; drinking it was like being burned by raging fire inside one's body, causing blood vessels to rupture and resulting in instant death.
Yet everything in the world had its counterpart.
The Blue Heart Grass was precisely the ultimate spiritual herb for neutralizing the tyranny of Living Dragon Blood. However, everyone knew the Blue Heart Grass was extremely precious, with a single stalk worth tens of thousands of gold coins—and it was priceless, impossible to guarantee a purchase even with money.
"Blue Heart Grass!" Linley also saw the small grass looming indistinctly in the mist, his eyes brightening. "An, it really is Blue Heart Grass!"
An took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement in his heart, and began to silently chant a magic spell.
Level Seven Wind Element magic—Flight Spell.
Cyan wind elements converged around An's body, forming a thin layer of airflow. His feet slowly left the ground, and his entire person suspended in mid-air.
"An, be careful." Linley exhaled a reminder.
An took a deep breath, stepped forward, and hovered suspended over the canyon before slowly beginning to descend.
The wind element supported An's body, and the surrounding airflow wrapped him tightly. An gradually penetrated deeper into the Mist Canyon. Thick white fog surged from all directions, and visibility grew lower and lower. An widened his eyes, struggling to distinguish directions within the fog.
As he went deeper, the cliffs on both sides grew farther apart. An flew closely along one side of the cliff, using the cliff face as a reference point to ensure he would not lose his bearings. By this moment, he had already flown to the location where the Blue Heart Grass grew.
The Blue Heart Grass grew in a crevice of a protruding rock on the cliff face.
An hovered beside the Blue Heart Grass, reaching out to pluck the Blue Heart Grass--
Right at that moment, a terrifying pressure surged upward from the depths of the canyon.
"Not good! It's a level-eight magical beast!"
An did not hesitate in the slightest, fiercely spurring his Wind Element magical power as his entire body flew upward like an arrow leaving a bowstring.
"Roar--"
A low roar traveled from the depths of the canyon, causing An's eardrums to ache and scattering the surrounding white mist into churning waves.
An looked down, scared out of his wits.
A massive python poked its head out from the white fog. That python's body was a full thirty-plus meters long and thicker than a water vat, its entire body covered in scales reflecting a deep blue luster, and its head bore two golden patterns-the mark of the level-eight magical beast, the Golden-Patterned Python.
The Golden-Patterned Python's slit pupils stared coldly at An, much like staring at a dead man.
Its speed was shockingly fast, its massive body slithering rapidly along the cliff face with every spring shooting it dozens of meters upward. The distance between An and it was shortening rapidly.
An drove the Flight Spell to its absolute limit. Cyan radiance circulated across his body surface, transforming his whole person into a streak of light as he sprinted upward with all his might. But the Golden-Patterned Python was even faster, and that terrifying aura drew closer and closer.
"Wind Blade!" An waved a hand, and dozens of wind blades slashed downward.
The wind blades struck the Golden-Patterned Python's scales, producing metallic clashing sounds without leaving even a single white scratch. The defensive power of a level-eight magical beast was simply not something a level-five wind blade could pierce.
The Golden-Patterned Python opened its blood-red maw, and a water arrow spewed forth from its mouth, shooting toward An with a piercing, ear-splitting howl.
An abruptly banked sideways in mid-air, the water arrow grazing past his body to strike the nearby cliff. The hard rock was corroded into a large hole, and shattered stones tumbled down successively.
Cold sweat broke out all over An's back.
Flying upward with all his might, he finally saw the light at the top of the canyon. An fiercely burst through the mist, flying toward the opposite cliff. The Golden-Patterned Python chased to the edge of the canyon, its massive head protruding from the white mist; those cold slit pupils stared at An's distant flying figure, emitted a reluctant low growl, and then slowly retracted back into the mist.
An landed on the cliff, his legs turning to jelly, and nearly dropped to his knees. He panted heavily, his forehead covered entirely in cold sweat.
"An!" Linley ran over, supporting him. "Are you alright?"
Bebe also jumped onto An's shoulder, anxiously patting his face with his paws.
An waved a hand, taking quite a while to catch his breath. "I'm fine... just missed death by a hair."
Linley's expression was grave. "What kind of magical beast was that down below?"
"A Golden-Patterned Python, a level-eight magical beast." An gave a bitter smile. "I had just gone down and hadn't even plucked the Blue Heart Grass yet when it discovered me. If I hadn't run fast, I would have met my end down there today."
Linley drew in a sharp breath. A level-eight magical beast-that was an existence they were completely incapable of contending against right now. Even a Level Seven Mage like An held no chance of winning against a level-eight magical beast, as ordinary instant-cast magic simply could not break a level-eight magical beast's defense, and once it closed in, it meant certain death.
"This canyon is no simple place. With our current strength, going down there is just courting death."
An looked at the churning white mist deep within the canyon, his heart filled with unwillingness. The Blue Heart Grass was right there, within arm's reach, yet impossible to harvest.
Linley patted An's shoulder. "An, don't rush. The Blue Heart Grass is growing right there and isn't going to run off. Once our strength is sufficient, it won't be too late to come back and take it."
An nodded, taking a deep breath and suppressing the unwillingness in his heart.
"Big Brother is right, going down now is just seeking death," An said in a deep voice as he gazed at the canyon. "When I get stronger, I'll come back and take this Blue Heart Grass."
Doehring Cowart nodded in satisfaction. "Knowing when to advance or retreat is the way of the strong. Momentary impulsiveness will only get you killed. Remember, staying alive holds infinite possibilities."
An cast one last glance at the churning white mist in the canyon, then turned and left together with Linley.
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