Chapter 1 Testing and Departure

Under Roman's tutelage, Zhou Jing tested for several days and finally determined Bill's Star Realm Apostle's compatible elements.

They were rock, flowing water, and gale, with wind and earth having the highest compatibility.

After some thought, Zhou Jing ultimately chose gale, focusing on developing this element, as its usage was less conspicuous.

Receiving Zhou Jing's answer, Roman didn't delay. After arranging matters at the base, he took four guards and embarked on the journey to find the Nature Spirit with Zhou Jing.

Despite calling it a search, Roman actually knew the location, leading the team straight there with a clear destination.

The terrain within the Terra Empire was complex, mainly divided into north and south. The northern region was mountainous and forested, while the southern region was mainly plains and basins.

Roman's base was located at the border between north and south. The group headed north, spending more than ten days trekking and venturing deep into the wilderness before arriving at a perilous mountain range, locally known as the Wind Howl Mountains.

Walking through this mountain range, the cold wind was like a knife, and the biting chill seemed to scrape the flesh.

From time to time, howling winds like the wails of ghosts could be heard, with increasing frequency as they approached the peaks.

Everyone wore masks and felt hats to resist the headwind, struggling to walk through the forest.

Little Black No. 1 followed at Zhou Jing's feet, while the Swordtail Eagle stood on Zhou Jing's shoulder. He had brought the eagle and dog on this trip.

"Lord Roman, why are we coming to a place like this?"

The guard captain couldn't help but speak, his face full of difficulty and his tone puzzled.

"Don't ask, just keep moving." Roman waved his hand, showing no intention of answering.

The other three guards exchanged helpless glances.

They didn't know about the matter of the Witches, only following orders. They had no idea what Roman intended, running to this wild mountain forest for no reason. Wasn't this just looking for trouble?

However, Bill, the former chief pharmacist of the Empire who had just joined, had also come. The guards made up their own minds, thinking they were probably going to collect some rare herbs, so they suppressed their inner confusion.

The four were not Roman's most elite shadow guards, but only once-enhanced Blood of the Ancients warriors.

Usually, they wouldn't have the chance to protect Roman, but this time Roman said he didn't want to attract attention, so he brought these guards.

Roman strolled to Zhou Jing's side, asking with concern, "Master Bill, can you still hold on?"

"I'm still fine." Zhou Jing wrapped his clothes tighter, deliberately sniffing.

Although this Star Realm Apostle had no Blood of the Ancients enhancement, the initial physique still surpassed ordinary people by a lot. It was not a big problem to be active in this cold wilderness. But in front of Roman, Zhou Jing didn't want to show it, so he pretended to be freezing.

Although it was noon, the trees blocked the sunlight, and the forest lacked illumination, appearing dim and cold, with low visibility, making people mentally tense.

Zhou Jing looked around and said in a low voice, "Do Nature Spirits only exist in such desolate places?"

"Mostly, yes. Only in more extreme environments can Nature Spirits be born."

Roman spread his hands, paused, and continued to explain in a low voice, "Our destination this time is a cave on a high peak. I've seen Nature Spirits there before. If it hasn't been fused by other Witches, it should still be there now."

"May I ask, how long ago did you discover it?"

"Uh, twenty years?"

"Great."

Zhou Jing was a little speechless.

Could memories from twenty years ago still be reliable?

Roman shrugged. "I wasn't sure before I came, but now I can determine that the Nature Spirit here hasn't been taken away. The Elemental Sight can see the distribution of elements, and the Nature Spirit is a highly concentrated aggregation of elements. It will leave lasting special traces during its movements, so it can be tracked."

"Then I believe you." Zhou Jing nodded.

He wasn't a formal Witch yet and needed the Spirit Paste to open the Elemental Sight. The ritual was cumbersome, so he wasn't in that state at the moment and was just being led by Roman.

The group walked for a while, when suddenly a subtle rustling sound came from the forest, as if a considerable number of creatures were stepping on dead leaves, approaching quickly.

Little Black No. 1 immediately prostrated, baring its teeth and growling.

"My lord, be careful!"

The guard captain hurriedly drew his long sword and shield, along with the other three guards, protecting Roman and Zhou Jing in the center, watching the direction of the sound vigilantly.

Roman's expression remained unchanged.

At this moment, twenty or so calf-sized blue beasts ran out of the forest, surrounding the group and moving around.

They had thick fur, were shaped like tigers and leopards, and had two pairs of long canine teeth that were extremely conspicuous. A pair of crystal-yellow beast eyes revealed ferocity.

"Longtooth Leopards, social creatures. Although they are beasts, their combat power is not much weaker than some ordinary low-level Exotic Beasts... Generally speaking, a normal Longtooth Leopard clan does not exceed ten, but there are twenty or so here. They should be followers of some Exotic Beast..."

Zhou Jing muttered in a low voice.

Some powerful Exotic Beasts have special habits and may enslave beasts of the same species, turning them into their followers.

As soon as he finished speaking, the ground trembled slightly.

A black-purple giant leopard more than three meters tall walked out of the grass in front, surprisingly silent. From its neck along its spine, there was an erect black mane, like black flames, and its long tail was covered with scales, like a spiky iron whip.

Its eyes were blood-red, cruel and cold, staring at the group, obviously regarding them as food.

"Well, Black Flame Leopard, high-risk Exotic Beast."

Zhou Jing turned to look at Roman, as if asking with his eyes if he could handle it.

Roman didn't look at him, just patted the guards and said:

"Bad luck, we actually encountered an Exotic Beast. It's up to you to deal with it."

The four guards swallowed secretly, feeling nervous in their hearts.

They were not formal Exotic Beast hunters, and their experience fighting Exotic Beasts was limited.

They could deal with twenty or so beasts, but with an additional high-risk Exotic Beast, their chances of survival were slim.

The guard captain blamed Roman in his heart for bringing them to such a dangerous place, but it was useless now. He gritted his teeth: "Lord Roman, you run away quickly. I'll take my men to cover your retreat!"

"Yes! My lord, hurry!"

The other three guards' palms were sweating.

"We're in the mountains and forests, I'm afraid we can't shake off this group of beasts." Roman said indifferently.

Just then, the Black Flame Leopard roared, as if giving an order, and twenty or so Longtooth Leopards immediately pounced from all directions.

"Kill!"

The four guards roared, waving their weapons and slashing at the pouncing Longtooth Leopards, trying to protect Roman and Zhou Jing behind them as they ran.

One Longtooth Leopard after another crashed against them, and sharp claws and teeth struck the guards' shields, making muffled thuds.

The four Blood of the Ancients warriors defended desperately, constantly stabbing white blades in and red blades out, cutting off the heads and disemboweling many of the pouncing Longtooth Leopards. The area around them was soon covered in blood, and many whimpering and wailing beasts fell.

But the number of beasts was large, and the four could not resist all the attacks. From time to time, they were pounced on by Longtooth Leopards, causing them to stagger and suffer tearing and scratching.

Little Black No. 1 surrounded Zhou Jing, and once a stray fish pounced in, it would rush up and bite and fight with the opponent.

The Black Spotted Hyena's size and combat power were far inferior to the Longtooth Leopard, but Little Black No. 1 had been raised by Zhou Jing for a long time and had taken countless medicines, making its body strong. It could actually fight the Longtooth Leopard to a stalemate. Once it found an opportunity in battle to use its skills of anal assault, it could bite off the enemy's vitals and win with one blow.

The Swordtail Eagle circled in the air, swooping down from time to time, like a repeating arrow. As long as it pecked a Longtooth Leopard, it could leave a bloody hole. A sweep of the sword tail would cut open the flesh of the Longtooth Leopard like a sharp blade. If a pair of eagle claws caught the spine of a Longtooth Leopard, they could even directly break the enemy's bones.

As a low-level Exotic Beast, the Swordtail Eagle's combat power was far higher than the dog.

Although Zhou Jing had a physique higher than ordinary people, he could not cope with so many enemies. He only let his pets help, but Roman did nothing.

Just as the four were fighting fiercely, a black shadow suddenly flashed past, as fast as an illusion.

"Ah!"

A scream was heard, and the guard captain was sent flying by the Black Flame Leopard. Before he could get up, he was pressed under the claws of the Black Flame Leopard, struggling endlessly.

The guard captain gritted his teeth and waved his weapon, trying to stab the Black Flame Leopard's leg, forcing it to move its claws away. But at this moment, he saw the Black Flame Leopard open its bloody mouth to him, and a touch of red light ignited in its mouth.

Whoosh—poof!

The Black Flame Leopard suddenly spewed out a torrent of crimson flames, engulfing the guard captain's head.

The fire continued for a few seconds before stopping, and the guard captain's head had turned into a pile of charcoal, dead beyond recovery.

"Crap!"

Lacking a backbone, the remaining three guards were immediately thrown into chaos.

The Black Flame Leopard swept past again, biting another guard in half at the waist.

The remaining two guards could no longer resist and were bitten all over by the rushing beasts, their struggles growing weaker and weaker.

Zhou Jing turned to look at Roman: "Do you have to wait until all the guards are dead before you act?"

"I don't want to show the power of a Witch in front of outsiders."

Roman didn't care.

This trip was to find the Nature Spirit, which might reveal the power of a Witch. He didn't want to leak it to too many people, so he didn't bring a large team.

But traveling with only two people was too troublesome as there was no one to order around, so he brought a group of weak, peripheral guards, which was equivalent to finding a few servants to take care of daily life. At the same time, when encountering some minor troubles, he wouldn't have to take action himself, and someone could do it for him.

If everything went smoothly, it wouldn't be necessary to use Witchcraft.

But if he encountered some greater danger and had to take action personally, but didn't want to leak secrets, he would have to sacrifice his subordinates... So bringing some people who weren't of high value made it easier to act.

Now that Bill, the master pharmacist, had improved the Blood of the Ancients potion, the number of once-enhanced Blood of the Ancients warriors would increase greatly in the future, so in Roman's eyes, the once-enhanced Blood of the Ancients warriors were no longer rare, and it was not a pity for them to die in battle.

Seeing that the four guards were almost dead, and confirming that no one could leak secrets, Roman raised his hand, and a small flame popped into existence in his palm.

The next moment, a ring of fire suddenly spread out.

Boom—

A dozen Longtooth Leopards that were pouncing and killing were hit by the ring of fire and were directly ignited halfway.

"Oooooooo—"

The shrill roars and screams of the beasts immediately resounded through the forest.

The ultra-high temperature flames instantly melted the flesh and blood of the dozen Longtooth Leopards, and the skeletons quickly became scorched and brittle in the flames, cracking and breaking.

Bang bang bang—

Suddenly a series of explosions sounded, and all the burning Longtooth Leopards exploded, turning into a pile of charcoal with embers that had not yet been extinguished.

Instant clear-out!

The dog was startled and quickly scurried under Zhou Jing's crotch, shivering.

Seeing this scene, the Black Flame Leopard was wary and terrified. It roared and suddenly opened its mouth to spew out a flame directly at the two.

Roman's expression was calm, and he quickly manipulated the flame that was shot halfway, incorporating the flame into his control.

The next second, the flame poured back, surging back into the Black Flame Leopard's throat along the original path.

The skin on the Black Flame Leopard's throat quickly brightened, revealing bursts of red light. The next moment, it suddenly burned through and exploded.

Thump!

The Black Flame Leopard staggered and fell. Its throat was destroyed, and it couldn't even scream when it opened its mouth.

It struggled to get up, stumbling and staggering as it turned to run away.

Just as Roman was about to finish it off, Zhou Jing suddenly whistled.

"Screech!"

Seeing the opportunity, the Swordtail Eagle swooped down, pecking hard at the Black Flame Leopard's fragile eye. Like an arrow leaving the string, half of its body was inserted into the Black Flame Leopard's eye socket.

The Black Flame Leopard's brain was severely damaged. Its body swayed, stiffly fell to the ground, and stopped moving.

"Good steal!"

Zhou Jing was delighted and quickly stepped forward, pulled the Swordtail Eagle out of the Black Flame Leopard's eye socket, and shook off the blood sticking to its feathers.

After these days of cultivation, he had used the pet function to increase the Swordtail Eagle's skill level a lot and had also honed the toughness of its beak. Although it was a low-level Exotic Beast, its lethality was considerable. As long as it hit the vital points, it could kill even stronger Exotic Beasts.

The current Swordtail Eagle was like an arrow circling around him. It couldn't be used as easily as an arm, but it could barely hit where he pointed.

Being robbed of the kill, Roman didn't mind. Seeing the flames burning fiercely around, about to brew into a forest fire, he manipulated each flame, extinguished them, and retracted his magical power, being very environmentally conscious.

His flame lethality was enough to quickly kill most Exotic Beasts. High-risk Exotic Beasts were just existence that could be instantly killed to him.

Zhou Jing returned to Roman's side, looked at the guards' bodies, and shook his head:

"If you had acted earlier, they could have lived."

"Since they are guards, it is their duty to protect us. It is their proper death to die for this reason, otherwise what do we need guards for... You better be like me in the future, and don't expose your Witch powers in front of unrelated people because of weakness."

Roman waved his hand. He was not a kind person. He deliberately watched them die, not wanting to reveal his abilities in front of the guards.

Zhou Jing shrugged, noncommittal.

It was only because he had value and the equivalent pharmaceutical craftsmanship ability that Roman would trade with him using Witchcraft.

Although Roman was not a good person, he was teaching him Witchcraft, so he had no position to accuse him.

With only two people, an eagle, and a dog left in the team, they had to pick up the luggage from the guards' bodies and continue on.

They encountered several waves of beasts on the road, all easily burned to death by Roman.

Zhou Jing openly observed Roman's battle and found that he was at ease no matter what enemy he faced, making it difficult to judge his strength limit.

As the sun gradually set, the two climbed the mountain range. After many dangers but ultimately safe, they finally arrived at their destination.