Chapter 263 - 263 The Hunt Begins

263 The Hunt Begins

“It looks like this assessment won’t be easy!”

“Our mission now is to hunt exotic beasts and get crystal coins. We’ll get a crystal coin as a reward for every exotic beast we kill.”

Edward smiled when he heard the participants’ discussion. Obviously, he was quite pleased with how things were going.

The next second, Edward waved his hand and a black hole appeared in the hall.

“Once you enter this black hole, you’ll be in an exotic beast realm. Those who complete the mission successfully within seven days shall have priority in obtaining a beast taming secret manual that I’ve kept for many years.

“Now that you’re all clear on the rules, let the hunt begin!” Edward said.

Everyone immediately jumped into the hole.

……

Near the black hole’s entrance, Aloy stared in surprise and mumbled, “Huh, why don’t I feel any sucking pressure?”

Shen Fei looked around as well; he did not feel any pressure either. However, he knew that this black hole must be quite vast—things were never as simple as they seemed.

Shen Fei said, “Regardless, let’s take a look first!”

Then, Shen Fei and Aloy went inside the black hole. Their visions turned black for a second, and suddenly they emerged in an underground palace.

This was a desolate-looking palace complex. In this area, there was a path paved with stone bricks, and on both sides there were all kinds of houses.

There were some high-grade exotic beasts guarding the houses, pacing back and forth in front of them. Most of the other cultivators who landed in the same area watched these exotic beasts warily. They clearly wanted to hunt them. After all, this was not only their task for the assessment, but it was also the fastest way to increase their strength.

Although these exotic beasts were powerful, their intelligence levels were still lacking. If they strategized well, they might be able to kill a few of these exotic beasts smoothly.

Still, one should not underestimate exotic beasts. Unless they formed a small team and worked together, they might be defeated by the combined forces of these beasts if anything went wrong.

Shen Fei and Aloy wandered about the area, choosing not to make any rash moves. Suddenly, a rumbling sound came to Shen Fei’s ears.

A huge exotic beast appeared in the distant clearing. It was a ferocious tiger with red stripes all over its body. It was about a hundred meters long and most of its body was blood red. Its eyes were like two lanterns, shining brightly with bloodthirst. On top of that, its aura indicated that it was at the peak of the higher Emperor-rank.

Aloy whispered, “That should be a higher-grade Emperor-rank exotic beast, right?”

“Yes.” Shen Fei nodded.

Aloy frowned, “It looks a little strange.”

“How so?” Shen Fei asked as he looked at Aloy with interest.

“There seems to be something missing from this beast,” Aloy said.

“Oh? I couldn’t tell.”

“You didn’t notice? That exotic beast looks really weak, like it’s going to die at any moment.”

“In that case, it shouldn’t be a threat, right?”

Hearing this, Aloy could not help but roll her eyes. “I said it was weak, not dead. Don’t you understand?”

Shen Fei scratched his head. “…I understand.” Then, he asked, “Are we going to kill it?”

“Of course. Although this beast is weak, it’s still worth crystal coins. Moreover, I estimate that it might be worth a bit more than the amount of crystal coins we need.”

At this point, Aloy could not help but gulp; she was drooling over these crystal coins.

After that, Shen Fei took the lead and summoned his Flame Owl. Then, while floating in the air, the Flame Owl’s body grew into the size of a mountain, blocking out the sun.

After that, Shen Fei and Aloy headed for the exotic beast.

The Red-striped Tiger was lying on the grass as if it was sleeping. However, as soon as Shen Fei and Aloy approached, its scarlet eyes snapped open and looked coldly at them.

“Roar!” The Red-striped Tiger roared angrily and pounced at Aloy. Shen Fei quickly grabbed her and dodged aside.

“Flame Owl, Blazing Charge!” he ordered.

The Flame Owl immediately charged at the and sent it careening backwards.

The Red-striped Tiger was in great pain, and immediately let out a shrill cry. Its legs had turned the color of charcoal, and blood was dripping from it. Its injuries were severe.

“Roar!” This time, the Red-striped Tiger was totally enraged. It roared repeatedly with angry eyes. Then, a powerful aura burst out from its body.

This was a berserk aura that swept out in all directions.

“So strong!” Aloy could not help but gasp. The Red-striped Tiger roared and leaped at her again. This time, it did not hold back and used its ultimate move.

Its sharp claws glowed with golden light. It seemed to ring with a metallic clang as it passed through the air and tried to swipe at Aloy.

Seeing this, Shen Fei hurriedly used the Windwalker Steps and dodged the claws with Aloy in tow.

“Hmph!” the Red-striped Tiger snorted, then it swung its tail and slammed it onto the ground. Boulders were smashed apart, and dust filled the air, making it difficult for the humans to open their eyes.

“Dammit!” Shen Fei cursed under his breath. This Red-striped Tiger actually has some intelligence. However, it was only sentient; it still lacked the ability to think, which meant the tiger was only acting on instinct.

“Roar!” The Red-striped Tiger roared again and swept out with its tail once more. The momentum of its swing brought with it a biting cold wind as it came for Shen Fei.

The tiger also opened its mouth and sucked in the air. A strong gust blew up, and all the leaves in the forest were drawn into its mouth. The Red-striped Tiger then condensed the leaves in its mouth and spat them at Shen Fei.

Shen Fei’s heart jumped when he saw the dense ball of leaves. He did not dare to meet the seemingly light attack head-on and retreated instead.

His speed was fast, and in a breath’s time, he managed to cover a distance of several hundred meters. Seeing this, the Red-striped Tiger roared and gave chase.

Shen Fei’s eyes held no emotion. “This one knows how to track its target. Could it be that it also has some kind of magical ability?”

As he thought of this, Shen Fei instinctively became more alert. But an exotic beast was not an exotic beast for nothing; its speed was faster than Shen Fei’s and the man could not shake the pursuing tiger off.

“I have to get rid of it as soon as possible. Otherwise, it’s going to be troublesome later!” Shen Fei muttered to himself.

Suddenly, the Red-striped Tiger stopped chasing Shen Fei. It turned around and looked into the distance. It seemed to have noticed something as it revealed a serious expression.

“What’s going on? Why is it suddenly so quiet?”

Watching the Red-striped Tiger’s strange behavior, Aloy could not help but exchange a look of doubt with Shen Fei.

Shen Fei shrugged his shoulders. “How would I know? It does seem like there may be a huge demon nearby, so it stopped attacking for now.”