This winter's first snow was very heavy, and many places in the belly of the Magic Beast Mountains were covered with a thick layer of snow. On that snow, you could clearly see all sorts of footprints, both human and those of magic beasts of varying sizes.
"What big snow."
Lin Lei still wore the tattered hemp pants, with only his upper body exposed. Even though the temperature was cold enough to freeze the rapid flowing water into solid ice, Lin Lei didn't flinch in the slightest.
Barefoot, Lin Lei strode forward with big steps.
"Big brother, shouldn't Yulan Festival be over by now?" Beibei guessed.
Having stayed in the Magic Beast Mountain Range for a long time, he had even forgotten about the approximate time, although Lin Lei had a pocket watch, but that pocket watch only had simple time and no date.
"It should be about right." Lin Lei nodded and said.
It's been about two years since entering the Magic Beast Mountain Range. Lin Lei's warrior strength has grown relatively quickly over these two years, reaching the seventh-level peak. However, in terms of heavy swordsmanship, he is now far more skilled than when he first obtained the Black Iron Heavy Sword. Especially after becoming an eighth-level dual-system magician, using magic and warrior abilities simultaneously, his strength has increased significantly.
"Huh?" Lin Lei and Bei Bei both turned their heads to look over.
Not far away, two burly men wearing leather armor and holding weapons were running frantically. Seeing that they were human, Lin Lei continued walking. The Magic Beast Mountains often had many experts coming in to cultivate, and over the past two years, Lin Lei had also encountered many humans. As for the humans in the Magic Beast Mountains, Lin Lei followed the principle of not provoking them.
After all, there were not a few people who had the idea of stealing the magic crystal core from other people's packages. Lin Lei didn't bring any packages because he had a spatial ring, so there were very few people who had the idea of stealing from him.
"Wait, wait." A anxious cry came from behind.
Lin Lei didn't pay attention to them at all and continued walking. The two of them ran very fast and soon caught up, when they did, Lin Lei immediately stopped and turned around.
"What do you want to do?" Lin Lei coldly looked at these two sturdy men.
From Lin Lei's perspective, it can be determined that the two are not weak, but human strength is difficult to discern from appearance. Lin Lei still has a sense of vigilance towards them.
"We?" The two burly men exchanged a glance, but Lin Lei revealed an awkward smile. One of the bald-headed men with a single eye apologized: "We didn't mean anything else, it's just that the central region of the Magic Beast Mountain Range is really very dangerous. My brother and I thought... to walk together with Brother. This way, everyone can help each other, wouldn't it be safer?"
Another bald-headed man hesitated for a moment, then nodded repeatedly: "Right, the central area is too dangerous. Let's go together and help each other out. This way, we can all leave the central area together, and once we're out of the Magic Beast Mountain Range, we can split up again."
"I'm not interested."
Lin Lei furrowed his brow and turned around to continue on his way alone.
Lin Lei was no longer the naive young man he once was, and it was clear to him that these two men were obviously lying. In the Monster Mountain Range, they still needed to help each other? This was simply a joke. These two must have ulterior motives for wanting to follow him. Lin Lei didn't want to stir up trouble, nor did he feel like killing them. Naturally, he didn't want to travel with them either.
The two bald men saw Lin Lei walk away so abruptly, they looked at each other, hesitated for a moment, and then immediately chased after him again.
"Wait a minute, brother, wait a minute." The two bald men chased after him again.
Lin Lei's eyebrows furrowed involuntarily as he turned his head to give a cold glance at the two people chasing after him.
The two of them looked at Lin Lei awkwardly, and the one-eyed man repeatedly apologized, saying: "I'm really sorry, it's just that my brother and I really want to travel with you. Don't worry, as long as we get out of here, my brother and I will definitely thank you properly."
Lin Lei glanced at the two of them.
"If you want to follow, then follow." Lin Lei said indifferently.
After so long in the Demon Beast Mountains, Lin Lei had gained a lot of experience. These two people insisted on following him, and he let them follow, having full confidence to deal with these two. Moreover, there was still Beibei on his shoulder.
"Thank you, thank you." The two bald men said gratefully.
The two of them followed closely behind Lin Lei, occasionally glancing around nervously, with a hint of fear in their eyes.
"This brother, we are from the southwest province of the O'Brien Empire. Don't know which place you are from, brother?" The bald-headed one-eyed man tried to get familiar with Lin Lei.
Lin Lei's eyebrows twitched.
O'Brien Empire?
Lin Lei was well aware that if he proceeded directly eastward now, it wouldn't take long for him to enter the territory of the Aubrey Empire.
"What's with all the questions?" Lin Lei glanced at him and said, "If you're going to follow, then follow, don't make a sound."
"Yes, yes." The bald-headed one-eyed man nodded repeatedly.
In their eyes, Lin Lei was indeed an unusual person. It wasn't strange that he only wore a pair of long pants in the middle of winter, but what was strange was that this man could walk so calmly and slowly in the central region of the Magic Beast Mountain Range.
It seems that the most dangerous place is his own backyard.
"Big brother." The bald-headed man behind pulled the bald-headed one-eyed man's armor and said in a low voice, "Big brother, do you think we can keep our lives?"
The bald-headed one-eyed man looked around nervously and said in a low voice, "Don't think too much about it now. Let's just follow this mysterious person for the time being. Following him might give us some hope."
"En." The bald-headed man nodded, but he was still anxious in his heart.
But Lin Lei walked very calmly, and as for the two people whispering behind him, Lin Lei also noticed it, but he had a feeling that these two people shouldn't be the kind of people who would make a move on him.
After walking for a while, Lin Lei stopped.
One day Lin Lei only walked about ten miles, and the rest of the time was spent cultivating. Lin Lei stopped like this, but the two people behind him were really anxious.
"How did you stop?" The bald one-eyed man asked anxiously.
"Hmm?" Lin Lei gave him a dissatisfied cold glance.
His second brother hastily accompanied a smile and said: "Sir, this is still the central area. Shouldn't we leave this dangerous place and rest?"
Lin Lei furrowed his brow and said, "You two, stop bothering me here. If you want to follow, then follow. I'll go when I want to go, and I'll stop when I want to stop. If you two continue making a racket, don't blame me for taking action and killing both of you."
The two bald men exchanged a glance and then awkwardly smiled at each other.
"Sorry, sorry."
The two of them immediately retreated to one side and didn't dare disturb Lin Lei again.
"These two people's behavior is a bit strange." Lin Lei glanced at the two of them, they said they wanted to leave the Magic Beast Mountain Range, but instead insisted on following him. He didn't leave, and these two people didn't leave either.
Why follow yourself?
These two people don't even know themselves.
Lin Lei sat down with his legs crossed, pulled out the black hilted heavy sword and placed it on his thighs. But just at this moment, Lin Lei suddenly felt a palpitation - "Whoosh!"
Lin Lei suddenly turned his head, a black shadow flashed from the front and disappeared.
"Ah, ah……" A cry of fear came from afar, but it only lasted for two or three cries before falling silent. It was only then that Lin Lei noticed that the two bald men were now down to one. Only the one-eyed bald man remained, while his brother had vanished. On the snowy ground beside him lay a pool of fresh blood.
"Ah, ah, no, no." The bald-headed one-eyed man seemed to have received unprecedented stimulation and let out a sharp cry.
Lin Lei stood up solemnly, and Beibei also became alert.
"Boss, that monster is so fast!" Bebe transmitted seriously, "After entering the Magic Beast Mountain Range for so long, this is the fastest one I've discovered. Just now, I didn't even see clearly, don't know if it's human or magic beast."
Lin Lei didn't see clearly either.
That monster was too fast, even faster than Bebe's crawling speed.
"What exactly is it? Beibei has already entered the 9th level of the Magic Beast Gate and has been in the Magic Beast Mountains for so long, encountering many magic beasts. But when it comes to speed, none have exceeded Beibei's." Lin Lei was filled with doubt in his heart.
Babe's speed is an advantage.
In the nine-level demon beast, it is difficult to find one that surpasses Bebe in terms of speed.
"What is that monster? Could it be a Sacred Domain Beast?" Lin Lei's heart skipped a beat, the speed of a Sacred Domain Beast was naturally fast, and it was normal for it to be faster than Beibei.
Lin Lei immediately turned his head towards the bald-headed one-eyed man.
At this moment, the bald-headed one-eyed man's eyes were filled with fear, his mouth constantly muttering to himself. From time to time, he would look around in terror, as if afraid of being attacked again.
"Ah." The bald one-eyed man felt himself being suddenly seized and let out a terrified cry.
When he came to himself and looked up, it was Lin Lei who had grabbed his collar.
"Tell me, what's going on?" Lin Lei gazed at him, "Otherwise, I'll leave you here alone and go by myself."
"No, no, don't throw me down." The bald one-eyed man surprisingly knelt down, "I say, I say."
Lin Lei couldn't help but frown at this scene.
He had heard that the O'Brien Empire was the most powerful empire in terms of military strength, and that within the O'Brien Empire, there was an extreme worship of the god of war. Many imperial citizens practiced to become warriors, and strong warriors were often extremely proud. This bald-headed man was able to enter the central region of the Magic Beast Mountain Range, and his strength was not weak either. Even if he wasn't a seventh-level warrior, at the very least he was a sixth-level warrior.
But now, this bald man in front of him actually said that he would kneel down as soon as he was told to, without any backbone at all.
"Sir, you don't know, these days have been a complete nightmare." The bald one-eyed man seemed to be on the verge of tears.
Lin Lei immediately concentrated and listened carefully.
"This time, my brother, my wife, and some other brothers and friends formed a team to enter the Magic Beast Mountain Range for serious training. At the same time, we also prepared to get some magic beast cores. For people like us who have entered the Magic Beast Mountain Range five or six times, this is a very ordinary thing. But unexpectedly..."
The bald one-eyed man's whole body trembled, "On the third day of entering the Magic Beast Mountain Range, we had just entered the intermediate Magic Beast area when we fell into a nightmare."
"I have a team of seven level warriors, six in total, and two level six mages. Hunting in the intermediate monster area isn't very dangerous. But who would have thought... we encountered a terrifying creature."
"Monster?" Lin Lei frowned.
"The first time we encountered this monster, it launched a direct attack, just like what happened earlier, and killed one of my good brothers." The bald-headed man with one eye was trembling all over, "We were very angry at that time because the monster was too fast. We didn't even see its shadow, only heard our friend's scream and knew he had been attacked. And when we saw the blood on the ground, we realized that our friend might have already died."
"At that time, we thought the demon would only launch a sneak attack and didn't even dare to confront us head-on, so its strength wasn't considered strong. In anger, we also wanted to take revenge. However, at that time, we did not find the monster."
The bald, one-eyed man took a deep breath and continued with a calmer tone: "But that evening, when we were having dinner, the creature came again." As he spoke, his eyes widened into circles, clearly showing his tension.
"That monster this time again instantly took away one of our mages. This time, it just dragged the mage to a place tens of meters away and started eating him. Right in front of all of us, that monster ate the mage from our team."
"What does it look like?" Lin Lei asked immediately.
"It looks like a panther with an almost black body." The bald-headed one-eyed man said.
"Entire body pitch black? Eighth-level magic beast Black-striped Leopard?" As he said this, Lin Lei also had some doubts, because an eighth-level magic beast shouldn't be able to reach such an astonishing speed as before. Even among leopard-type magic beasts, which were known for their speed, it was still unbelievable.
"It's not a black-striped leopard, our team members are quite knowledgeable, we all know about the black stripes on a black-striped leopard. But this strange creature has curved black patterns all over its body, and the black patterns are very dense."
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