The Desolate Mountain Range stretched on for thousands of miles. The trees were lush and lush, and the weeds crisscrossed like sickles. Unknown wildflowers bloomed, and their fragrance filled the air, refreshing people's spirits.
Ling Xiao and Lone Eagle followed Fu Ning and Fu Wei as they walked. Occasionally, a few wild beasts would run into them. These beasts were not even at a certain level, so they posed no threat to them. Ling Xiao and Lone Eagle were too lazy to kill these worthless beasts.
They had been walking for more than two hours since their starting point.
Ling Xiao asked somewhat impatiently, "How much longer until we arrive?"
Fu Ning replied, "There's still an hour. That place is a little hidden, and there's only one small path that people rarely use. Last time, we entered it by mistake, and when we finally escaped, there were signs along the way."
After listening to Fu Ning's explanation, Ling Xiao did not say anything else. Instead, he vigilantly observed his surroundings. He felt that the journey had been too peaceful. Didn't they say that there were often spirit beasts in the Desolate Mountain Range? Why hadn't they seen a single one? This was a little strange.
Even Solitary Eagle sensed that something was wrong, and he gave Ling Xiao a look. Only Fu Ning and Fu Wei continued to lead the way, oblivious to what was happening.
After walking for a while, Ling Xiao suddenly shouted, "Something's wrong!"
Everyone was on high alert.
"Roar!" A bestial roar rang out, and a saber-toothed tiger leaped out from the grass.
"And here I was wondering what it was, but it's just a wild beast," Fu Wei said disdainfully, slashing at the saber-toothed tiger with his heavy saber.
Who would have thought that the saber-toothed tiger would not pounce at them? It only turned around and ran, looking extremely pathetic.
"Damn, what a cowardly beast," Fu Wei cursed unhappily.
"Hiss!" Another hiss rang out, and a black shadow pounced at Fu Wei.
"Be careful!" Ling Xiao cried out once again.
At this moment, Solitary Eagle's longsword stabbed out in that direction. Its speed was peerless, and the longsword was still flashing with a fiery light.
"Pfft!"
"Hiss!"
A nearly eight-meter-long snake leapt out from the grass. The snake's entire body was silvery-white, and its skin was densely packed with snake scales. It glowed with a faint silver light, and its bucket-sized body seemed to contain boundless power. It straightened a third of its body and opened its blood-filled mouth to bite Fu Wei. Fortunately, Solitary Eagle acted in time and stabbed the snake with his sword, causing the snake to give up its attack on Fu Wei.
"It's a Silver Python!" Fu Ning of the side cried out and also drew her sword.
The Python Silver Snake was a rank one high level spirit beast, and its strength was comparable to a high level human profound practitioner. However, at the same level, a human martial artist was simply not a match for a spirit beast. After all, a spirit beast had a tough body, and this was something that a human martial artist would never be able to match.
The silver snake was stabbed by the sword, and a bloody hole appeared on its body. Suddenly, its bestial nature erupted. It gave up on Fu Wei and swept its huge snake tail towards Lone Eagle. At the same time, it spat a mouthful of venom towards Fu Ning.
Solitary Eagle was a mid-level mystic cultivator, and his strength was much higher than that of a high-level Silver Python of the first level. He easily blocked the snake's sweep, and the Fire Sword in his hand slashed out dozens of times, and each slash landed on the snake's body like a hot knife through butter.
"Hiss!" The Silver Python was in pain, and kept hissing as its body kept rolling.
"Die!" Solitary Eagle's entire body emitted a murderous aura, and his longsword condensed a powerful mystic force. His body flashed quickly, and the longsword directly slashed across the snake's neck.
The snake's blood splattered everywhere, and an unpleasant smell of blood spread out.
Fu Wei looked at the Silver Python that had been split in half, and wiped away a cold sweat in his heart. He immediately thanked Solitary Eagle.
"Hurry up and go!" Ling Xiao, who did not make a move, urged.
As he had expected, some spirit beasts were very cunning. They were better at ambushing than humans, and as long as they saw the right opportunity, they would give a fatal blow to a human.
If it wasn't for a frightened saber-toothed tiger running out, Fu Wei would have died in the snake's stomach.
"Why aren't we moving?" Ling Xiao walked two steps, and when he realized that no one was following him, he couldn't help but frown.
"Young Master, we can first collect the materials of this snake. It's worth at least a few hundred gold coins," Solitary Eagle replied.
He was originally an adventurer, and naturally knew that the skin and tendons of a high-level Silver Python of the first level could be sold for a lot of money. There was also the most valuable part, the gallbladder. It was said that eating it had the effect of replenishing blood and strengthening Yang.
Ling Xiao looked at the dead Silver Python, and suddenly thought of a plan. He immediately nodded and said, "The gallbladder belongs to me, and you guys can divide the rest. Oh right, remember to leave a piece of snake meat, I have a use for it."
Fu Ning and Fu Wei were overjoyed, and Fu Ning rubbed her hands and said, "This was killed by Lord Solitary Eagle, so it should belong to Lord Solitary Eagle!"
"I said it's yours, so it's yours. Don't be so long-winded," Ling Xiao said unhappily.
Fu Ning and Fu Wei glanced at Solitary Eagle, and when they saw him nod, they immediately began to divide the Silver Python.
The two of them were very nimble, and it was obvious that they were already very good at this.
The two of them took out the gallbladder and gave it to Ling Xiao, and then carefully packed up the rest. This was a good income for them.
After packing everything, the four of them continued forward, but Fu Ning and Fu Wei now had a piece of bloody snake meat in their hands.
They didn't know why Ling Xiao wanted this piece of snake meat. Could it be that he was going to roast it later?
However, there were many birds and beasts in this mountain range, so why would he want to eat snake meat?
They didn't understand, but they didn't dare to ask Ling Xiao, so they could only follow Ling Xiao's instructions.
After another hour, the four of them passed through a narrow ravine and finally arrived at a quiet and dense forest. In the dense forest, there was a huge quiet pond. The pond water was dark green and clear, and there were all kinds of plants growing around it. The flowers and plants were lush, and there were bees and butterflies flying everywhere. The scenery was extremely beautiful, and it did not seem like a place filled with killing intent.
"Young Master, Lord Solitary Eagle, last time we found the Spectre Leopard not far from here," Fu Ning said timidly as she pointed to a place where there were collapsed trees and weeds.
After hearing Fu Ning's words, Ling Xiao and Solitary Eagle began to be on guard. Their senses were raised to the maximum, and even the slightest movement of grass would not escape their ears.
"Young Master, the Spectre Leopard usually only appears in the evening. Should we wait?" Solitary Eagle suggested.
His adventuring life in the wild was much richer than the others, and he was also very familiar with the habits of ordinary spirit beasts.
"No need, we can just lure it out," Ling Xiao said, shaking his head. He then said to Fu Ning and Fu Wei, "Cut up the snake meat and throw it out."
"Young Master, you want to lure it out?" Solitary Eagle seemed to have thought of Ling Xiao's idea and asked.
"Oh, it's injured, so it can't move easily. It will definitely be inconvenient for it to look for food. As long as it smells the blood, it will come out, and we can just wait at the side," Ling Xiao nodded and admitted.
At this moment, Solitary Eagle couldn't help but look at Ling Xiao with admiration.
Fu Ning and Fu Wei followed Ling Xiao's instructions and brought the snake meat to an empty space. They mashed up the snake meat, and fresh blood flowed out, which could be easily smelled from a few hundred meters away.
The four of them chose a bush not far away to hide, and quietly waited for the Spectre Leopard to appear.
"Later, I will go out and tie up the Spectre Leopard. Solitary Eagle, look for an opportunity to deal a fatal blow to its old wound, and the two of you will prevent it from escaping with serious injuries. You must get rid of it in the shortest time possible," Ling Xiao instructed in a low voice.
The three of them nodded in unison, indicating that they would follow Ling Xiao's instructions.
As time passed, there was still no sign of the leopard.
Fu Ning and Fu Wei's expressions couldn't help but turn ugly. If the Spectre Leopard didn't appear in the end, what would they do?
If this Young Master and Solitary Eagle thought that they were lying to them, they would be in trouble.
An hour had already passed, and Solitary Eagle had already revealed an impatient expression.
Only Ling Xiao was still resting with his eyes closed, as if he had already fallen asleep.
Just as Solitary Eagle was about to speak, Ling Xiao opened his eyes and said, "It's here."
Everyone tensed up, and even held their breaths.
Sure enough, a three-meter-long Netherstripe Leopard slowly emerged from the bushes.
Ling Xiao couldn't help but exclaim, "What a majestic leopard."
The Spectre Leopard slowly walked forward, its eyes revealing a vigilant expression. It bared its fangs, making it look sinister and terrifying. There was an obvious wound on its body that was covered in black and white spots. It was obviously caused by the white ape that Fu Ning had mentioned.
The Spectral-Patterned Leopard walked very slowly. Its eyes constantly scanned its surroundings. Only when it realized that there were no abnormalities did it walk towards the snake meat. It vigilantly sniffed the snake meat before biting it and preparing to leave.
"You want to leave? Not so easy!" Ling Xiao roared and jumped out of the bush with his sword in hand. He waved the Blue Crystal Sword in his hand and attacked the Spectre Leopard.
"Roar!"
The Spectre Leopard suddenly saw a human and its eyes became even more ferocious. It roared and its strong body leaped, instantly dodging Ling Xiao's attack.
"What a fast reaction!" Ling Xiao praised. He turned the Blue Crystal Sword in his hand and slashed towards the leopard's head.
The Spectre Leopard was completely enraged by Ling Xiao. It opened its bloody mouth and a wind blade flew towards Ling Xiao.
"Damn, it even knows how to release energy!" Ling Xiao clearly didn't expect the Spectre Leopard to have such an attack. He couldn't help but shout and quickly used "Cloud Phantom" to dodge.
However, the Spectre Leopard didn't intend to let Ling Xiao go. After roaring, its huge body pounced towards Ling Xiao and its front claws fiercely clawed at him.
If he was caught by those sharp claws, he would probably die on the spot.
"So fast!" Ling Xiao lightly exclaimed and immediately retreated. He didn't dare to face the Spectre Leopard at all.
Fu Ning and Fu Wei, who were hiding in the bushes not far away, couldn't help but be moved by Ling Xiao's courage. If they were to face the Spectre Leopard, their legs would probably turn to jelly. Lone Eagle looked at Ling Xiao who didn't fear death and admired Ling Xiao even more. Such courage wasn't something an ordinary person could have.
"Sword Trace" Ling Xiao was forced into a corner by the Spectre Leopard. He didn't dare to be careless anymore and used his full strength.
Countless sword rays swept towards the Spectre Leopard, cutting down the weeds and trees in the vicinity.
The Spectre Leopard continuously spat out wind blades to neutralize Ling Xiao's sword rays. It was completely enraged by this lowly human. Disregarding its injuries, it pounced with all its strength and bit towards Ling Xiao. It had to eat this damned human in one bite.
"Lone Eagle, what are you waiting for?" Ling Xiao was forced into a corner by the wind ninja, and the Spectre Leopard was already in front of him. Its aura had already locked onto him, and the threat of death made his hair stand on end.
"Die, evil creature!" Lone Eagle, who was not far away, had been waiting for a long time. He circulated all the Xuan energy in his body and became dazzling. With a wave of his long sword, a ray of fire shot towards the Spectre Leopard's old wound like a snake.
The Spectre Leopard seemed to be especially alert. It suddenly gave up on Ling Xiao's attack and turned around. At the same time, it spat out two wind blades towards Lone Eagle's fire snake.
Boom!