24: Chapter 24 A Seventh-Tier Black Iron Beast! Poor Xiao Ling!

The commotion below the cliff grew closer and closer. At first, it was the clattering sound of rolling gravel, immediately followed by a heavy rustling sound.

It was as if some massive creature was rapidly climbing up the rock wall!

Jiang Yun's expression tightened.

He recalled the mention of a guardian Vicious Beast in the Entry Manifestation information earlier.

How could this level of commotion be caused by an ordinary Vicious Beast?

He didn't dare wait any longer, quickly stuffing the spirit gathering flower into his storage ring and grabbing Jiang Yunyun's wrist: "Yunyun, fall back quickly!"

Zhang Qiang and Li Na also reacted, their faces turning pale as they retreated. Just as the four reached a clearing ten meters away, a dark shadow suddenly flipped up from the edge of the cliff.

It was a giant snake entirely covered in dark blue scales. The edges of the scales emitted a faint chill, reflecting a cold light in the mist as if carved from thousand-year-old ice.

Its body was at least twenty meters long, thick enough to require two adults to wrap their arms around it. Its head was larger than a water bucket, and its vertical pupils were a pure ice-blue, devoid of any emotion except for freezing killing intent.

The most terrifying part was its tongue; when it flicked out, it carried a white icy mist, and the grass it touched instantly frosted over. A row of sharp bone spurs stood along its back, with fine ice shards condensed on them that rustled and fell as it moved.

"This... what kind of monster is this..."

Zhang Qiang's voice was trembling. He instinctively pushed the Rock Armor Rat in front of him, but the Rock Armor Rat, which could usually withstand a Black Iron Second Tier Vicious Beast, was now curled into a ball, the patterns on its hard shell shaking uncontrollably.

It didn't even have the courage to squeak.

Li Na's Wind Plume Sparrow hid directly behind her shoulder, its wings pressed tightly against her neck, not even daring to raise its head.

Jiang Yunyun grabbed Jiang Yun's hem, her small face deathly pale, her voice carrying a hint of a sob: "Brother, what is that thing! It's so scary..."

Jiang Yun's heart was also pounding wildly.

He immediately activated Entry Manifestation, and the giant snake's information surfaced clearly. Every word made his heart sink:

【species】: Icefield Snake (ice attribute)

【Realm】: Black Iron Seventh Tier

【Aptitude】: Gold Rank Peak

【Innate Talent Skill】: Icefield Breath · rare (Can spray a large-scale low-temperature ice mist, instantly freezing targets, with absolute suppression effects on Black Iron rank beasts); Entwine · Common (Uses its body to wrap around the target, utilizing the chill on its scales and immense force to crush prey)

【evolution path】: Can evolve 1 time. After evolution, it becomes a Frost Icefield Snake with Amethyst Aptitude. Aptitude increases to Amethyst Low Rank, unlocking the "Ice Prism Piercing" skill.

【Extra Hint】: The Icefield Snake is a solitary Vicious Beast with extremely strong territorial awareness. The growth area of the spirit gathering flower happens to be on the edge of its territory, so it has long regarded the spirit gathering flower as a reserve energy source and does not allow other creatures to approach.

"Black Iron Seventh Tier... Gold Rank Peak Aptitude..."

Jiang Yun took a sharp breath, finally understanding why this Silver Rank spirit gathering flower could remain in the wild for so long.

It wasn't that no one had found it, but that no blind Vicious Beast dared to come and snatch it!

With the strength of this Icefield Snake, let alone a few newcomers like them, even students from the Intermediate class would likely fall here.

Even worse, his Fire Dragon Fish was still in the Beast Taming Space absorbing Spirit Stones. After its Breakthrough to Black Iron Fourth Tier just now, it had fallen into a deep sleep and couldn't be summoned at all.

Yunyun's Sky-Swallowing Rabbit was only at Black Iron First Tier and could only hide in her arms shivering. Zhang Qiang's Rock Armor Rat and Li Na's Wind Plume Sparrow combined wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between the Icefield Snake's teeth.

"We can't fight it head-on!"

Jiang Yun made a split-second decision and shouted to the three of them: "Run in different directions! I took the Spiritual Plant, so its target will definitely be me. You guys send out distress flares as soon as possible!"

"Then what about you?"

Li Na asked urgently. Though she was afraid, she didn't want to abandon Jiang Yun.

"I have a way to stall it! Don't worry about me, go!"

Jiang Yun gave Yunyun a push: "Yunyun, go with Zhang Qiang and Sister Li Na. I'll come find you soon!"

Jiang Yunyun's tears fell.

However, she knew now wasn't the time to be willful. She could only grit her teeth and nod, being pulled by Zhang Qiang to run in the opposite direction. Li Na glanced back at Jiang Yun and hurriedly followed, the Wind Plume Sparrow circling above her head, letting out wary cries from time to time.

If they stayed with Jiang Yun, they probably wouldn't be able to escape at all.

Only this way would there be a glimmer of hope for survival.

Almost the instant they turned, the Icefield Snake's ice-blue vertical pupils locked onto Jiang Yun.

It could smell the scent of the spirit gathering flower on Jiang Yun. Toward this human who had stolen its reserve food, it had no hesitation. Its massive body whipped around, charging toward Jiang Yun with a howling cold wind. The ground was scraped into deep furrows by its scales, and the furrows instantly froze over.

Jiang Yun didn't dare look back, running with all his might toward the forest on the other side of the cliff.

The trees were dense there; perhaps he could use the terrain to temporarily block the Icefield Snake and slow it down.

His speed wasn't slow, but compared to the Icefield Snake, it was still far too lacking. The chill behind him drew closer and closer, to the point where he could feel his hair about to be frozen.

Just as he rushed into the forest, preparing to dodge around tree trunks, an arrogant shout suddenly came from ahead: "Jiang Yun! I've finally cornered you! You can't run! Today, this young master will make you kneel before me and sing 'Conquered'!"

Jiang Yun's heart skipped a beat as he looked up.

It was actually Xiao Ling leading two lackeys, blocking the clearing ahead!

Xiao Ling's face was full of a sinister grin. His two lackeys had already summoned their beasts: a Black Iron Second Tier Fanged Wolf and a Black Iron First Tier Poison Lizard, both staring at him menacingly.

Clearly, Xiao Ling seemed to know Jiang Yun had entered the cliff area from nearby and had specifically brought people to ambush him, wanting to take revenge by ganging up on him while he was alone.

But Jiang Yun had no time to waste with them now.

After all, he was currently being followed by a life-taking Yama... the Icefield Snake behind him had already chased into the forest, trees snapping and cracking as it crashed through them. Icy mist drifted through the gaps between the trunks, making even the air turn bone-chillingly cold.

He could even hear the "hissing" of the Icefield Snake's tongue getting closer and closer.

"Get out of the way!"

Jiang Yun roared at Xiao Ling, his pace never slowing as he charged directly toward the gap between the two of them.

He only wanted to shake off the Icefield Snake as quickly as possible and had no desire to get tangled up with Xiao Ling.

Xiao Ling didn't expect Jiang Yun to actually dare ignore him. His face turned livid with rage as he shouted to his lackeys: "Stop him! Get him! Fanged Wolf, use 'Bite'! Poison Lizard, Spray Poison!"

The Fanged Wolf lunged at Jiang Yun's legs, and the Poison Lizard opened its mouth, spitting a glob of green venom.

Jiang Yun hurriedly dodged to the side; the Fanged Wolf missed, and the venom hit the ground, causing the grass to wither instantly.

But with this delay, the Icefield Snake behind him had already burst forth, its giant head appearing in the woods behind Xiao Ling and the others... "Young... Young Master Xiao! Be... Behind..."

One of the lackeys was the first to notice something was wrong, pointing behind Xiao Ling with a trembling voice.

Xiao Ling was still annoyed that Jiang Yun had dodged the attacks, turning back impatiently: "What are you shouting for? It's just a person running away, what's there to make a fuss about..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he locked eyes with the Icefield Snake's ice-blue vertical pupils.

The massive snake head was less than three meters behind him. The icy mist it exhaled sprayed directly onto his face, making him shiver as his mind went instantly blank.

"Aaaahhh!!"

The screams of the two lackeys rang out simultaneously. They had never seen such a terrifying Vicious Beast before; they were scared out of their wits, turning and running in the opposite direction, not even caring about their own beasts.

The Fanged Wolf and Poison Lizard, having lost their masters' commands, also scurried about in terror, but before they could run far, they were struck by the Icefield Snake's tail.

Thud!

With a dull sound, the two low-rank beasts were instantly smashed into meat paste, blood and bone fragments splattering everywhere.

Only then did Xiao Ling react in horror. His legs went weak with fear; he wanted to run but couldn't move his feet, forced to watch as the Icefield Snake's tail whipped toward him again.

He could even clearly see the ice shards on the snake's scales and feel the chill that could freeze the Soul.

"Nooo!!!"

Xiao Ling let out a desperate scream as his body was brutally struck by the snake's tail, flying out like a ragdoll, tracing an arc in the air before slamming heavily into a large tree.

Crack!

The sound of ribs snapping was clearly audible.

Vomiting blood, he slowly slid to the ground, his consciousness beginning to fade.

In his heart, he felt extremely aggrieved... Why am I so unlucky... Jiang Yun had run dozens of meters away. Hearing the scream behind him, he couldn't help but look back.

He happened to see Xiao Ling being sent flying.

There was no pleasure in his heart, only a moment of complex mourning... "This isn't my fault, he brought it on himself..."

Jiang Yun whispered a sentence and turned his head to continue running. If he were caught by the Icefield Snake...

His end would only be worse... As he expected.

The Icefield Snake had no intention of letting him go.

After dealing with Xiao Ling, it chased after him at high speed once more.

He didn't know how many miles they had chased.

The Icefield Snake still refused to give up.

It seemed determined to kill this thief, Jiang Yun.

However, while weaving through the terrain...

Jiang Yun discovered something.

Although this Icefield Snake was fast and powerful, its body was too massive, making it very inconvenient to turn in the dense forest.

So, he deliberately ran toward the densest parts of the trees, using the trunks to block the Icefield Snake's pursuit.

The Icefield Snake grew increasingly irritable from being teased by this nimble mouse, Jiang Yun. Its massive body constantly collided with the surrounding trees, and one by one, the large trees came crashing down. The space in the forest became more and more open, and Jiang Yun's situation grew increasingly dangerous.

His physical strength was depleting rapidly, his breathing became more and more labored, and the chill behind him almost froze him solid.

"I clearly felt that Little Fire had signs of awakening just now, so why hasn't it woken up yet? If it doesn't wake up to help soon, I'm afraid today will be my end..."