After the salon, Li Cheng颐 did not return to his territory. Instead, at Mina's invitation, he went directly to her family's territory to find a griffin.

To his surprise, he wasn't the only one looking for a griffin. There were two other teams.

One was Babbitt and a small squad of crossbowmen, fresh from their victory in the competition.

The other was the Juvenile Association team composed of Jayne and Mina herself. They also brought more than a dozen people, along with thick nets and tranquilizer dart guns, all to capture a griffin.

Before entering the forest, the three teams went to the town on the edge of the forest to resupply together.

Li Cheng颐 ignored them, taking two accompanying soldiers to carry the supplies and heading directly into the forest.

He heard the whispers from Mina and Jayne's team, and the strange, solemn atmosphere on Babbitt's side.

But none of that concerned him.

He instructed the two soldiers to set up camp on the edge of the forest and wait.

A distance of a hundred meters took him only two seconds with his combined strength and skill.

It was a strange creature with the head of a lion and the body of a giant eagle.

The griffin cried out in pain, sent plummeting to the ground by the immense force, crashing heavily into the snow, unable to struggle for a time.

The powerful mental strength brought with it an enhanced perception of the five senses.

"That's it!" Li Cheng颐 thought with joy, immediately raising his shield and charging forward.

After giving his assessment, he waved his blade and lifted his heavy shield. It wasn't a metal shield, but an ironwood shield covered with thick cowhide, extremely hard, and heavy, but most importantly, non-conductive.

He leaped lightly, landing gently on a tree branch, checked around, and quickly found a new direction, chasing forward.

Before long, a huge creature, black, and over two people tall, appeared before him.

'Such a large eagle couldn't exist nearby… it must be the griffin roaming here.'

He stood up, looked around, and soon found fresh claw marks on a nearby ancient tree branch.

The griffin had only just taken flight two meters off the ground; it hadn't gained much altitude.

"Overall, it's equivalent to a giant electric lion, with decent strength. Its power is about the same as a rhinoceros."

Roar!

It roared angrily like a lion, trying to scare away the enemy below.

Beneath a snow pine in the snowy ground.

His keen sense of smell, combined with the traces in the environment, quickly locked onto the target's approximate direction.

Bang!!

That was from the sword strike he had just delivered.

'The paralysis is a bit troublesome.'

With a thought, Li Cheng颐 used the Flower Language Radiance force field, internally healing the burns with high-temperature healing. As the healing progressed, the paralysis rapidly subsided.

Crack.

And the heavy sword fell once more.

He looked over and saw a huge, deep gash on the side of the griffin's body.

His steps were swift, traversing over ten kilometers of forest terrain in a few moments, like a sprint.

Immense power and the high heat from the electricity exploded on both the man and the beast.

Electric light shot out from the griffin's mouth, striking the figure.

Its eyes were pale yellow amber, dragging a long lion's tail. With its wings spread, it was flapping and moving its wings.

'The intensity is just a normal voltage of three to four hundred volts, and the current isn't strong.' He raised his hand, glancing at the slightly charred muscles on his arm.

Crack!!

Electric light shot out from the griffin's mouth again, blue arcs striking Li Cheng颐, leaving a black pit on his wooden shield.

But alas...

On the white snow, a figure rushed forward at high speed, rose up from the ground, and smashed the heavy sword fiercely towards the side of the griffin.

What was the concept of being more than six times stronger than Milton the knight?

Li Cheng颐's chest was charred black, but fortunately, the leather armor inside blocked a large portion of the current.

The heavy sword in the figure's hand also struck the griffin heavily.

The damage wasn't much to him, at most just superficial wounds.

Such conditions allowed him to quickly detect an unusual scent in the snowy forest.

Poof!

With a dash, he charged once more towards the griffin, whose wings had been damaged.

He held out his hand to compare; the size of the eagle's claws was bigger than both his hands combined.

Once no one was around, Li Cheng颐 immediately picked up speed.

Clearly, the griffin had stopped there before.

Li Cheng颐 suddenly stopped, squatted down, brushed aside the snow, and looked at the eagle's claw marks that had been covered not long ago.

Alone, he entered the woodland with his sword and shield.

Amidst the rustling of the snow, Li Cheng颐 leaped and landed like a bird, rushing lightly towards the depths of the forest.

Swoosh!!

Suddenly, a crossbow bolt shot out from a distance to the side, aiming precisely at the patch of snow where Li Cheng颐 was about to step in the next second.

The sharp arrow, carrying a faint blue glow of poison, plunged into the snow with a soft thud and disappeared.

Li Cheng颐 also forcibly veered off course to avoid the arrow, dodging the griffin and turning to stop.

"Who!? Come out!"

He glared unhappily in the direction of the crossbow bolt.

A team of hooded figures, somewhat familiar, emerged rapidly from the snowy forest there.

Babbitt walked in the front row, flanked by two mysterious people in gray-white cloaks.

"An injured griffin!? And still young! I'm just missing a mount!" one gray-white cloak exclaimed in surprise.

"What about that warrior over there? He must have been the one who injured the griffin," Babbitt asked.

He clearly didn't recognize Li Cheng颐.

"Give him some money and tell him to get lost. This belongs to us," the other gray-white cloak said coldly.

They were attracted by the griffin's roar, but the roar would definitely attract more teams, so taking the griffin away as soon as possible was the key.

Babbitt stepped forward, facing Li Cheng颐. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed, recognizing the family crest on Li Cheng颐's weapons and shield.

"He's a noble knight!" he whispered.

Most nobles weren't short of money, and the other party also possessed the strength to injure the griffin, which meant that simply using money wouldn't solve the problem.

"I'll handle this," one gray-white cloak stepped forward, looking at Li Cheng颐.

"I'm Tigger, a mage from the royal capital. Hand over this griffin to me, and you will gain the goodwill of two mages."

He removed his cloak, revealing a somewhat aged, wrinkled face.

"Are there any other griffins around here?" Li Cheng颐 asked.

"No, you'd have to go to the Dawn Territory, thousands of miles away, to find a small number of griffins," Mage Tigger replied.

"Then, can your goodwill allow me to purchase mage-related books?" Li Cheng颐 asked again.

".That's not allowed, but you can obtain the qualification to have your aptitude checked by a junior," Tigger frowned.

"Then there's no point." Li Cheng颐 raised his sword and walked closer. "Two seconds."

"What?" Tigger was stunned.

Then, he suddenly heard a sharp whistling sound. Li Cheng颐 waved his hand and threw out the wooden shield.

The shield spun at high speed in mid-air, making a loud noise as it smashed towards him.

Ah!!

Babbitt rushed forward from behind, roared, and drew his sword to block it.

Bang!!

Babbitt was sent flying backward, crashing heavily into a tree trunk and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Tigger only reacted now, raising his hand and shooting out a crimson flame.

The fan-shaped flame surged towards Li Cheng颐, but before it could burn him, it was pierced through.

Swish!

The ironwood sword, carrying terrifying force, struck Tigger's shoulder heavily.

His entire body was smashed to the ground, unable to release any more spells.

A sword shadow flashed across his face.

Everything fell into darkness.

Li Cheng颐 flicked his sword, and the ironwood sword spun with a whoosh, smashing into the other gray-white cloak behind him.

A large amount of electricity also flew out from that person's hand, landing on Li Cheng颐.

Bang bang!

Two muffled thuds exchanged.

Li Cheng颐 swayed slightly, his powerful body only slightly paralyzed before recovering.

A charred small pit appeared on his chest armor.

But the other party was miserable.

The gray-white cloak fell backward, his chest torn open, blood gushing out and staining the snow red.

Only now did Li Cheng颐 scan the evil thoughts indicated by the Flower of Evil.

'Murderous intent +3.'

'Murderous intent +2.'

"Very good. Two mages?"

He was worried about not having a place to gather information about mages. Now, he raised his eyes and looked at the four accompanying crossbow soldiers in the remaining team.

The four were stunned, not even realizing that the battle had ended so quickly.

In their eyes, this burly, handsome young warrior was simply a humanoid monster more terrifying than a griffin.

The two mages' spells couldn't even cause him much damage. The electricity struck him as if nothing had happened.

And Babbitt… his strength was already close to that of a regular knight, but he didn't expect that he couldn't even withstand a single blow.

"Someone's coming." Li Cheng颐 suddenly frowned. His figure suddenly accelerated, rushing towards the crossbowmen.

Anyway, as long as he killed everyone, no one would know he did it. The things on the two mages should be enough for him to study for a while.

After a series of screams, only Babbitt was left lying on the ground, barely alive.

His hazy eyes stared at Li Cheng颐. At this moment, he seemed to remember something.

"It's you.!" The young nobleman who had been standing in the corner at the salon, silently drinking!

No matter how he provoked him at the time, the other party remained silent, as if watching a play.

At the time, he thought the other party was timid, but now it seemed...

Poof.

The blade flashed, and everything before Babbitt's eyes fell into darkness.

Li Cheng颐 pulled out his sword, quickly looted the two mages, then rushed rapidly into the snowy forest and disappeared, pursuing the griffin that had just fled in the chaos.

At this moment, the griffin was limping and running wildly in the snow, occasionally looking back in terror.

Bang!

Suddenly, a figure leaped up from behind, heavily smashing an object that hit the griffin's head.

The griffin immediately saw black and lost consciousness.

Li Cheng颐 landed, grabbed the claws of the unconscious young griffin, and dragged it towards the direction of his guarding soldiers.

Suddenly, his footsteps paused, and he turned his head to look at a forest to the side.

"Who's there?"

The surroundings were silent.

There was no sound, and no living thing stirred.

After sensing that no one was there, Li Cheng颐 frowned, feeling the inconvenience of not having mental power scanning.

This kind of thing had to be completely silenced, but at this moment, time was critical, so he dragged the griffin away quickly.

The griffin, weighing over a ton, was like a small box in his hands, easily dragged away.

After he left, a full ten seconds later.

A yellow-skinned woman with pointed ears cautiously crawled out of a dense tree canopy.

She looked at the bloodstains left by the griffin on the snow with horror, then turned and leaped continuously, disappearing quickly into the dense forest on the branches.

(End of chapter)