“Unbelievable, right? But it’s true. I saw it myself, and now, you too.” Elder Shu Yu shook his head. “I don’t know what Chu Yue has done to make that adult steel-ridged fiend behave this way. It would rather give up its own child and protect him to the end.”
Elder Bo Yan and Elder Wan Zheng fell silent out of shock.
“Still, even with that steel-ridged fiend around, things might not last long. It usually takes very long to break through to the eighth stage, and I can’t be certain when Chu Yue will break through. But once those fiends band together to attack him, I’m afraid that…” Elder Shu Yu looked up at the sky. Worse still, there’s a chance that Chu Yue’s breakthrough might end in failure.
Elder Bo Yan suddenly said, “If we can lure them away…”
“This method won’t work. With Chu Yue on the verge of breaking through and mobilizing a large amount of Heaven and Earth Force, nothing is more attractive to those fiends.” Having watched over Fiend Park for years, Elder Shu Yu naturally had more experience than the others. And if he was saying this, it meant that that method really wasn’t viable. “Besides, it’s basically impossible for us to get close to that mountain to take him away.”
“It’s obvious that the adult steel-ridged fiend will fight to its death to stop the approaching enemies—us included. Also, if we suddenly break in, we might not be of any help and might even rile those fiends up, forcing them to attack.”
“This won’t work, and that won’t work either! Then, what the hell should we do?!” Elder Wan Zheng couldn’t help lashing out at Elder Bo Yan. “See? I told you not to send him in here! It’s dangerous, but you didn’t listen! If anything happens to my student, you’ll get it from me, Bo Yan!”
Elder Bo Yan didn’t get angry over Elder Wan Zheng’s outburst. He remained as calm as ever. “This is Ling Xiao Academy. I’m responsible for everything here when the director isn’t around. I won’t let anything happen to Chu Yue as long as I’m around!”
His firm tone made Elder Wan Zheng gradually calm down. He closed his eyes. “I’m sorry for losing my temper at you, Bo Yan…”
“Let’s not talk about that now. What we should be doing is find a way to bring Chu Yue out—”
Boom!
Another startling wave of force came out from the cave.
Elder Bo Yan clenched his fists. After much internal conflict, he said with gritted teeth, “Let’s wait for him to break through first!”
…
Meanwhile, the golden-cloud leopard stared coldly at the steel-ridged fiend cub in front of itself.
There was a thick metallic blood scent in the air.
Being a legendary fiend, it was naturally easy for it to deal with a ninth-grade cub. Besides, its only protector was standing guard in front of the cave instead of coming down to protect it.
The golden-cloud leopard looked up and licked its claw provocatively.
…
Ah Qiong could, of course, see everything clearly from where it was. From the way its eyes were all scarlet and filled with rage and hatred, there was no doubt that it would rip the golden-cloud leopard to pieces if it had the chance.
However, it didn’t move. Like a fortress, it stood in front of the cave and carefully protected Chu Liuyue. Its eyes were glued on the golden-cloud leopard though, and it could clearly remember all the wounds the former left on its child’s body. I just have to… I just have to wait until C-Chu Liuyue breaks through, and I can make that golden-cloud leopard pay for what it’s doing to my child!
A hint of satisfaction could be seen on the golden-cloud leopard when it saw the resentment in Ah Qiong’s eyes. It wanted the latter to feel anguish and to watch it kill its own child with its own eyes.
It was extremely difficult for steel-ridged fiends to give birth, with some only giving birth to only one cub in their lifetime. And that was the reason why they were extremely doting on their cubs and why they valued them so much. Some adult steel-ridged fiends would even die of depression because of the loss of their children, so the golden-cloud leopard believed that this particular steel-ridged fiend wouldn’t be an exception.
At the thought of that, the golden-cloud leopard became more arrogant and smug. It tilted its head and looked at the dying cub on the ground.
The cub was actually numb to the pain now, and it didn’t have the strength to even stand up. Using all its might, all it could do was turn its head with much difficulty to look up the mountain.
The mother and child looked at each other from a distance.
The cub’s eyes were filled with longing, desire, and also desperation. It looked like it wanted to cry out, but its voice was no longer working. It could only gasp. After several failed attempts, it finally gave up and slowly closed its eyes with two streams of tears flowing out of them.
The golden-cloud leopard leaped onto the cub’s body and opened its mouth wide to bite the cub’s throat.
That bite would surely kill the cub.
A violent shiver ran through Ah Qiong’s body. It instinctively wanted to close its eyes, but it didn’t. It wanted to see how the leopard was going to kill its child. Although it held back its cries, two streams of tears flowed down its eyes.
The golden-cloud leopard’s sharp fangs glinted coldly as it leaned down to take a bite.
Whoosh!
A sharp air-cutting sound was heard.
Startled, the golden-cloud leopard immediately dodged toward the side, but the cold wind was even faster. Before it could even jump away from the cub’s body, a sharp sword stabbed through its head and pinned it to the ground.
Blood splattered everywhere.
It had died a horrifying death with its body all stiffened, its eyeballs bulging, and its head deformed.
