Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
They were dressed in long, coarse sackcloth dresses, barefooted, and covered in mud like clay monkey dolls, but both girls on the left and right looked exactly the same as if they were cast from the same mold.
They were that lucky pair of twin sisters!
Hester Draper, High-Grade Fire-Elemental affinity!
Monica Draper, High-Grade Water-Elemental affinity!
“High-grade elemental affinity! It’s actually better than mine!”
Jonah was astonished at the results of the test. High-grade elemental affinity was extremely rare. It was uncommon even among the nobility, not to mention the remote and secluded Magical Beast Village.
Yet it had appeared twice at once in this pair of sisters!
One could only say that different people really had different destinies!
“It would be too much of a waste not to study magic when they have such great magic talent!”
Meng Lei looked at the twin sisters with a big smile. “Hester, Monica, from now on, the two of you can learn how to meditate from Big Sister Jonah. Improve your spiritual power first, then enroll in a magic academy next year.”
“Okay!”
The two sisters nodded hard, as though they understood him but not quite, either. Two shallow dimples appeared on each of their muddy little faces, making them look extremely adorable.
Envy filled the other children’s eyes as they looked at the twin sisters. Despite their young age, they understood what having, or lacking, magic talent meant, too!
“Those without magic talent shouldn’t lose heart, either. You guys can learn Battle Aura from Joseph and Andrew. All of you will still have the chance to become someone strong in the future!”
“Okay!”
…
Night fell, and the roars of beasts rang out occasionally in the forest.
Numerous campfires blazed on the flat ground in the village center. Golden-yellow roast meats gave off a meaty aroma that enveloped the village while villagers sat on the ground as they cheered and laughed.
“Meng Lei, thank you for subduing the Iron-Armored Rhinoceros for me. Here’s a toast to you!”
“Meng Lei, thank you for forking out money to support Joseph’s studies!”
“Haha…”
Tonight was destined to be a lively and bustling night. The men played finger-guessing games and drank, the women danced and sang, and the children cheered and laughed. Everyone’s faces brimmed with joy and smiles of happiness.
The campfire banquet lasted all the way till late night before it ended. That night, Meng Lei skipped his daily meditation and had a good sleep instead.
Early in the next morning, he got his things ready and set off.
Morning fog shrouded the forest, and only the surroundings three to four meters around a person was visible. Not only was visibility very low, but the plants in the village had also grown all over the place.
Towering ancient trees and thorny undergrowth!
Draping vines and thick, verdant shrubs!
Speeding up one’s journey was a very difficult task in such a messy and unbearable environment. One could very easily come under attacks. A poisonous snake, a poisonous scorpion, a scourge of poisonous mosquitoes—any of these could take a person’s life!
“The higher a Magical Beast’s level is, the more valuable it is.
“I have to try my best to go as deep into the forest as I can.
“There’s no need to waste any time in the forest’s outer boundary!”
There were only ordinary wild beasts in the forest’s outer boundary. Meng Lei wasn’t the least bit interested in them, so he rode on the magic carpet and headed straight toward the depths of the forest.
Magical Beast Forest was enormous, so much so that it was practically boundless. After flying for a good half a day, Meng Lei finally landed in the forest, ready to hunt some Magical Beasts!
“Earthquake!”
With the spot beneath Meng Lei’s feet as the center, a series of rhythmic tremors quietly spread outward in every direction. It was the Earth-Elemental Spell, Earthquake!
Earthquake was a very simple spell that even First-Grade Magicians could cast. Capable of making the ground shake and sway, the tremors’ scale and frequency depended wholly on the spellcaster’s spiritual power and degree of control in magic power.
In the hands of a high-level Magician, Earthquake could shake the earth, trigger an avalanche, and cause massive destruction. At the same time, it could also produce vibrations in the ground so mild that they were barely discernible.
Meng Lei was currently using Earthquake to search for Magical Beasts in the surroundings. With his current spellcasting standard, he could cover a search range within a radius of over 200 meters with Earthquake!
“There’s a Magical Beast at two o’clock!”
Meng Lei carefully crept over and parted a bunch of bushes. A lizard that was dark green in color throughout, covered head to toe in spikes, and over five-meters-long entered his sight.
“It’s the Fourth-Grade Magical Beast, Ground-Spike Lizard!”
Meng Lei frowned lightly, his interest in it somewhat a little lackluster. The prices of Fourth-Grade Magical Beasts were so-so, and their magic cores only fetched 2,000 to 3,000 gold coins per core. It didn’t bring in much!
Even so, Meng Lei still cast the Earth-Elemental Spell, Ground-Piercing Lance, anyway, and stabbed the Ground-Spike Lizard dead before the poor lizard even realized what was happening.
“Ding! 1 Ground-Spike Lizard killed, 2,400 gold coins gained!”
“2,400 gold coins? Not bad!”
Meng Lei walked over, fished out a dagger, and gouged out the Ground-Spike Lizard’s magic core. He ignored the blood on it and tossed it straight into the spatial ring.
Another 2,000 gold coins into the bank account!
“That’s double the cash with a single Magical Beast! Marvelous!
“Earthquake!
“Another Magical Beast at 11 o’clock in front!
“A Fourth-Grade Magical Beast?
“Ground-Piercing Lance!”
“Ding! 1 Golden Rhinoceros Beetle killed, 2,200 gold coins gained!”
“Earthquake!
“A Fourth-Grade Magical Beast again? What the f*ck!”
“Ding! 1 Golden-Spotted Silver Ant killed, 2,400 gold coins gained!”
Just like that, Meng Lei hunted as he advanced. In this particular region of Magical Beast Forest, mid-grade Magical Beasts were very common. Just like normal wild beasts in the forest’s outer boundary, they fought and fed on each other and competed against each other for the sake of survival!
“I’ve already killed seven Magical Beasts and earned more than 20,000 gold coins in less than two hours!
“Yeap, not bad, I would say!”
Meng Lei walked up to a Six-Winged Iron Crocodile that had died with grievances. He gouged out its magic core, put it happily into his spatial ring, and then continued on his journey.
“What a shame that there isn’t any way I can carry these Magical Beast carcasses out. Otherwise, I’d be able to earn yet another sum of money!”
Splurt!
Splurt!
“Eh?”
Right at this point, a few peculiar sounds reached his ears. Meng Lei’s footsteps came to a stop. He cocked his ears and looked toward the three o’clock direction. A few more of the peculiar sounds reached his ears again, the sounds crisp, clear, and horrifying!
Meng Lei wasn’t a stranger to the sound—this was the sound of a sharp blade piercing through flesh.
“Is someone fighting over there?
“That doesn’t make sense, though! There aren’t any battling sounds!”
Puzzled, Meng Lei quietly crept over. Then, he was astounded by the scene in front of him!
In the fields in front was a blazing campfire, and propped on top of the fire was a rack of roasted meat. The roast was a golden-yellow color, and a meaty aroma assailed the nostrils, easily stimulating anyone’s appetite.
However, Meng Lei wasn’t in the mood to eat the roasted meat at all because strewn all over the ground around the campfire were five dead bodies!
There were both men and women, and both Warriors and Magicians!
Everyone’s eyes were widened, and all of them were unable to rest in peace after their deaths, however. Their throats had been slit, and blood was gurgling as it flowed out of their wounds. They had died in an extremely tragic manner!
“Who the hell did this? Isn’t this too brutal?” Meng Lei murmured softly, a chill coming over him.
It was evident from the pitiful, horrifying sight of the victims, as well as the signs in the murder scene that they hadn’t even been able to put up any resistance at all during their deaths.
They hadn’t been able to put up even an ounce of resistance, yet the killer had still slit their throats, nonetheless.
How tragic!
“Are you looking for me?”
Unexpectedly, a joking voice suddenly rang out in Meng Lei’s ears right at that moment. Alarm had only just welled up within Meng Lei when he felt a slight chill at his throat.
Danger!!!
That was Meng Lei’s immediate reaction.
His second reaction was to pull back.
Boom!
Meng Lei’s powerful physical body constitution, which was on par with a Seventh-Grade Warrior’s, produced an outburst of strength. The moment he sprung into the air, he went ten-meters-high and leaped forcefully backward. In just a split second, he had already shot over ten meters away!
(⊙o⊙)
The person that had ambushed Meng Lei was astonished!
