39 Persistent Tracking (2/2)

This situation caused Liu Yan to be stunned. As she attempted to chase after Qin Wentian, abruptly, the sounds of wings flapping rang out as numerous flying beasts began to pursue the direction that Qin Wentian had gone. Not only that, she could see a number of cultivators standing on top of the flying beasts.

Upon seeing that, Liu Yue caught hold of Liu Yan as he stated, “Don’t chase after him, they’re about to face an extremely powerful opponent.”

“Brother.” Liu Yan gazed at Liu Yue, only to hear Liu Yue saying, “That Qin Wentian would rather suffer an attack from the python in order to save you, which means that he has taken a liking to you. However, these pursuers on top of the flying beasts are all extremely powerful. Remember the words of Qin Wentian — he’s a complete stranger to us.”

Just as the sound of his voice faded, a cultivator who was riding atop a 3rd-level demonic beast curved into a turn as he revealed himself. This person was none other than Ye Zhan.

Ye Zhan was full of smiles as he jumped down from his mount, walking towards Liu Yan and Liu Yue, “I’m Ye Zhan from the Royal Academy, and you guys are?”

“My name is Liu Yue, and this is my sister Liu Yan.” Liu Yue cautiously replied. Although Ye Zhan was courteous as he spoke, Liu Yue didn’t dare to be careless.

“That guy from earlier is named Qin Wentian, and is one of the applicants for the Emperor Star Academy. I’m afraid that he won’t be able to leave this Dark Forest alive. How long have you known him?” Ye Zhan nonchalantly asked.

“Not long at all.” Liu Yue smiled as he replied. He didn’t dare to lie in front of Ye Zhan.

“There’s no need to be nervous, we’re only against him, and have no malicious intentions towards the both of you.” Ye Zhan reassured. Only then did Liu Yue heave a sigh of relief, while Liu Yan began to worry for Qin Wentian.

Qin Wentian and Fan Le were madly sprinting, however, how could they hope to outdistance the flying beasts? The distance between the prey and the predators was getting shorter.

“Little Rascal, transform.” Qin Wentian shouted, and abruptly, the body of the snowy puppy flickered as it expanded in size, while Qin Wentian and Fan Le both jumped onto it’s back, albeit a little squished.

“Sit tight. How many are pursuing us, and what’s their cultivation level?” Qin Wentian asked.

“Three people. Orfon and the youth clad in beast skin aren’t a problem, but the last one seems somewhat problematic. My power of thought is unable to see through his cultivation base, therefore I’m afraid that his cultivation level is at least at the 3rd level of the Arterial Circulation Realm, or even higher.” Fan Le’s back was against Qin Wentian’s, and his legs tightened around the body of Little Rascal, as he wielded a bow in his hands, firing three arrows into the air.

The speed of evasion for the flying beasts was extremely quick. In addition to their rapid acceleration, the arrows fired by Fan Le were unable to hit them in spite of him imbuing the power of his will into his arrows.

“How troublesome.” Fan Le sighed depressedly, “luckily, the speed of this Little Rascal is quick enough — on par with the flying beasts. If not for the two of us, this snowy puppy would have no need to use its transformation ability, and could easily evade the pursuit of the flying beasts.”

“Carrying on like this isn’t a solution. Let’s prepare to battle them. As long as we can kill the beast tamer, we will have more methods to control the flying beasts.” Qin Wentian stated.

“Right, let’s wait for a chance.” The two of them began their discussion. Fan Le, to preserve his Astral Energy, stopped the firing of his arrows as the three of them ventured deeper and deeper inside of the Dark Forest.

Haku was somewhat irritated, he hadn’t thought that it would consume so much energy just for them. Not only that, that white dog ran around randomly, as if it had no clear sense of direction in mind. Now even he himself didn’t know where he was, and there was a high probability of encountering dangerous demonic beasts in this part of the Dark Forest.

Suddenly, the presence of sunlight could be seen. There were no more canopies of trees, only a vast, spacious acre of land, and the possibility of moving forward. There was also an entrance into a valley filled with mist and fog.

“Mirage City.” Haku exclaimed, as his pupils narrowed. They’d actually arrived at the boundary of the Mirage City within the Dark Forest.

Qin Wentian and co also halted their steps. Inside of the misty valley, there was a city that was glimmering; it was partially visible one second, and was disappearing the next.

“It’s as though they’re very afraid of this place.” Fatty squinted his eyes, as he looked towards three of their pursuers, who had stopped and were slowly inching their way forward. It seemed like now, Qin Wentian would be unable to escape, even if he’d grown wings.

The two of them dismounted from the back of Little Rascal, as the snowy puppy transformed back into it’s original size.

Qin Wentian locked gazes with Fan Le, and as if they intuitively understood each other’s intentions, as soon as Fan Le took out his bow, he fired nine Astral Arrows into the skies, aiming for Makino.

“Little Rascal.” Qin Wentian hollered, only to see Little Rascal spring into the hands of Qin Wentian, as Qin Wentian flung Little Rascal up into the skies, towards Makino who was inching slowly forward in the air.

Makino’s countenance underwent a drastic change after he saw the nine Astral Arrows aiming for him. Abruptly, the space in which he could dodge, was all sealed off. Makino gathered his strength, as he lunged towards the astral arrows in front of him, attempting to use brute strength to break free.

But in that same instance, a snowy white puppy appeared in front of him, transforming a few sizes bigger, as it’s sharp claws swiped towards his head.

Makino’s expression grew unsightly, as he controlled the black eagle he was on to rise in altitude. His actions caused the sharp claws of Little Rascal, that were originally aimed at him, to slice through the brains of black eagle, in turn causing it to plummet down from the skies. Makino too, lost his balance, and followed the black eagle down.

All of this happened in an instant. The nine Astral Arrows fired earlier were merely meant to be a bait to keep Makino in that position. The real attack was the claw swipe from Little Rascal. And in the instant that he’d paused to break apart the arrows, Makino had already fallen into the trap..

On the boundary of the misty valley, Fatty nocked an arrow and aimed towards Makino, who was falling in mid air, while grinning.