Chapter 9: The Mountain Cat in Armor

  A small magical creature of unremarkable size was drinking water by a little stream.

  The body of this monster is not particularly large, roughly the same size as a slightly larger dog. Its body is covered with dark scales, and its long tail has several reverse thorns. And its head looks similar to that of a cat.

  The scale-covered mountain cat, said to have a hint of dragon bloodline, although it's already so diluted that it can't even be considered a subspecies of dragon, still causes scales to grow on this magical beast. This makes the originally slightly larger mountain cat extremely defensive and doesn't affect its agility.

  This mountain cat is not a social animal, but at least there will be a family of about ten or so. Next to the Magic Armor Mountain Cat, there are now seven or eight ordinary mountain cats surrounding it.

  Such a small beast, plus the pack of demonic beasts, shouldn't be an obstacle for Lais and others. The problem lies with that striped mountain cat, this thing's hint of dragon bloodline, combined with the mountain cat's own abilities, has undergone an unimaginable transformation.

  Agile as the wind, they will also acquire two to three innate spells. The power of these spells is naturally far inferior to those possessed by the giant dragons, but for a third-tier magical beast, it can double their strength!

  So, don't look at the ugly appearance of the armored cat, but its actual strength is that even a fourth-level professional may not be able to take it down alone. However, since this thing has a giant dragon bloodline, the value of the materials on its body is also relatively high, and adventurers who discover them are unlikely to let them go.

  Now Lays and his men had their sights set on this lynx.

  The mountain cat is extremely vigilant and powerful, if a group of people were to charge over recklessly, it would likely flee immediately... Its strength ranks among the top in third-tier magical beasts, but it has never liked head-on battles. If you provoke it and don't finish it off, you'll be in for a headache afterwards. This guy will definitely look for opportunities to launch sneak attacks on its opponents, causing them endless trouble, and if they're not careful, they might even suffer losses.

  Of course, if the opponent's strength far exceeds its own, it will not send itself to death, and naturally it will find a place to hide far away, and remember the opponent in its heart. Of course, whether it can take revenge in the future is hard to say.

  When dealing with a mountain cat, you must launch a thunderbolt attack to prevent it from escaping. Otherwise, it will be difficult to catch this guy again.

  Lai Si and his party had set a trap for this mountain cat with armor-like fur.

  After drinking enough water, the lynx led other lynxes and started walking towards the forest. Several lynxes surrounded the lynx, protecting it tightly. Because these lynxes all knew that only by protecting the lynx well could their small group live a better life.

  However, today there is a group of humans who plan to hunt down their protective umbrella.

  When the mountain cat passed by a big tree in this group of mountains, the attack was launched without warning.

  Suddenly, a burst of light flashed on the ground, and an icicle emerged from under the feet of the armored mountain cat! The armored mountain cat, known for its agility and quickness, jumped away in an instant, completely avoiding the icicle.

  But this ice cone didn't just emerge for nothing. After one hit, the ice cone shattered with a "pa" sound and transformed into a large area of fog that enveloped all around!

  With a swish, all the mountain cats, including the armored mountain cat, had a layer of frost on their bodies. The frost didn't cause any harm, at most it was just a bit cold, and not to the point where it would freeze people to death. However, with a layer of frost covering their bodies, the speed of the mountain cats all decreased.

  This is the greatest effect of this spell, the combination application of Ice Cone Technique and Frost Ring!

  This is also one of the reasons why Lays and others think highly of Lydia. Although Lydia only received less than a year of magical knowledge from a wandering mage, she can already combine magic on her own and produce extraordinary effects. Such talent would be wasted if she didn't learn magic. Given the opportunity, it's possible that in the future she could become a gold magician above level 7!

  In this world, first to third-rate professionals are called Bronze Rank. Fourth to sixth-rank is Silver Rank. Seventh to ninth-rank is Gold Rank. If one becomes a Gold Rank professional, they would already be among the top-notch powers in this world - in some small countries, they might even become the pillar of national strength!

  It was precisely because they saw Lydia's potential and character that Lais and the others would bring this inexperienced little girl along, helping her earn tuition. Moreover, Lydia's magical abilities were also a significant help to their adventure team, making things much easier for them.

  For example, now this Frost Ring immediately reduced the biggest weapon of that Lynx - speed. And at this time, it's other people's turn to take action.

  With a whoosh, Ban jumped down from the big tree in front of him and slapped his shield forward with one hand, directly blocking the escape route of the armored mountain cat. With the other hand holding a long sword, he swung it at the armored mountain cat's neck!

  At the same time, behind the Armored Mountain Cat, Beck suddenly appeared from a bush and thrust his long spear towards the Armored Mountain Cat's tail. On the other side, Uncle Leis jumped up and swung his giant sword down at the Armored Mountain Cat with both hands!

  The three of them worked together perfectly, sealing off all the escape routes of the mountain cat. The three people formed an equilateral triangle around the mountain cat, cutting off its intention to escape!

  However, the Lynx is a magical beast with the blood of a giant dragon. In this case, being forced to desperation, it can only bring out its true abilities.

  It suddenly raised its head, and a loud roar burst out of its throat. The roar was not like that of a mountain cat, but somewhat like a dragon's roar, yet much sharper. And in this roar, an intimidating aura instantly spread!

  Three people near the mountain cat paused for a moment because of this angry roar. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the mountain cat found a gap and suddenly rushed out.

  "Damn it, this guy's innate spell actually has Dragon Might! This is still a rare breed, the magic crystal must be even more valuable!" After being stunned for an instant, the three of them immediately came back to their senses. However, at this moment, the Scale Armor Dragon Cat had already escaped, and the three of them found it wasn't easy to chase after it. Beck was so angry that he let out a loud shout, but he was completely helpless against the Scale Armor Dragon Cat.

  At this time, Irene drew her longbow and shot arrow after arrow at the Lynx. To chase after the Lynx's shadow and gain a good view, Irene jumped from tree to tree around her, like a bird. Although the Lynx was agile, it couldn't avoid being forced to constantly turn by these arrows, greatly reducing its escape speed.

  At the same time, Ji Ran moved. He was originally ambushing on the other side to prevent the leopard cat from escaping, but unexpectedly this guy launched a dragon roar that stunned three people and escaped in another direction. Now he can only launch his light skill and chase after the leopard cat.

  Unlike others who frantically ran and jumped to increase their speed, Ji Yan simply focused his mind and stood up straight, taking a step forward.

  And with this step, he directly crossed a vast distance, as if the ground in front of him had shrunk, and was directly surpassed by him!

  In "Jian Xia Wushuang", his home, Cangjian Mountain Villa, the name of the lightness skill is called "Yizhi Tianjia".

  In the words of the disciples of Cangjian Mountain Villa, this inch is the end of the world. I chase you, it's an inch; you chase me, and it's the end of the world.

  This lightness skill has no advantage on long-distance journeys, and is even completely unsuitable for traveling. However, in short-range pursuits, it has an effect that other lightness skills cannot match!

  Although the level of traversal was reset to zero, and the levels of various skills and techniques were recalculated from scratch, even the lowest-level "Chī zhàng tiān yá" still allowed him to traverse a distance of over ten meters in one step.

  Circulating the true energy within his body - it was clear that only true energy could drive lightness skill, and magic power would not work - he continuously activated Chī Zhǐ Tiān Yá for several steps, and soon caught up to the armored mountain cat.

  Four Seasons Swordsmanship Unfolds!

  This set of Four Seasons Swordsmanship is also famous in the game for its elegant swordplay. Each sword move does not have any flashy or showy elements, like a traditional Chinese ink painting. Every action seems slow but is actually fast, and appears extremely clear, but when trying to defend against it, one will find that their reaction cannot keep up!

  This unique flavor is precisely the subtlety of the Four Seasons Swordsmanship.

  Ji Ran's transcendence, the Four Seasons Sword Technique level returned to zero, its power greatly reduced. However, his years of comprehension of the Four Seasons Sword Technique were not in vain, even as a first-level sword technique, it could still be used with considerable might. Moreover, this period of battle had elevated the sword technique to second-level, and his own level had exceeded twenty.

  Under the several swords, the escape route of the mountain cat in armor was completely sealed off, making it impossible to break through the sword net. Of course, if it had the courage to harden against Ji Ran's several swords, it might have been able to escape with injuries, but this demon beast is timid by nature and wouldn't dare to crash into the blade head-on.

  Then, the pangolin was entangled by Ji Ran alone. The sword light danced around its body, and the sword energy surged, directly turning over the mud around it. And the pangolin, in order to avoid Ji Ran's attack, became even more disheveled. When it wanted to escape, a sword would suddenly appear out of nowhere at some inconceivable place, sealing off all its escape routes!

  The second-level Four Seasons Sword Technique can now directly release sword energy, and is no longer limited to just relying on sword skills. As a result, the power of the sword technique has greatly increased. That's why he was able to single-handedly bind the armored dragon cat tightly!

  But the agility of the armored dragon cat was also quite high, otherwise it would not have been able to escape from the encirclement of Lais and the other three. Unfortunately, its dragon aura seemed unable to be used again in a short period of time, or else there might still have been an opportunity to escape...

  For a while, Ji Yan couldn't take down the armored mountain cat. Unless he used his utmost strength and the new sword technique he had just learned. However, accumulating sword energy wasn't that easy, and using sword techniques would greatly consume his true energy. If possible, he'd rather conserve some energy...

  "Hey, are you guys just going to watch from over there? I think I could really use one or more helpers to settle this fight right now..." Ji Ran said, looking at Lais and the others who had already gathered around but hadn't joined in the battle, instead watching from the sidelines.