Chapter 136 – Fierce Battle

Chapter 136 – Fierce Battle

“Lord, why didn’t you bring that little girl and her father with us?” Liu Xiyue couldn’t help but ask after they had walked some distance.

Cheng Yang replied, “If I had brought them along, it wouldn’t have been saving them but endangering them. The dangers along the way are far greater than around our territory. Bringing two people with no combat ability would be sending them to their deaths.”

Niu Bing and Liu Xiyue both shuddered at this, realizing they needed to reassess the danger level of this journey.

The narrow stone crevice stretched for nearly a kilometer, but since there were no trees or thorns growing within, the trio made faster progress than outside. In just a few minutes, they emerged from the crevice.

As they continued, the strength of the demonized beasts they encountered grew increasingly formidable. While scattered beasts had previously been at most mid-tier first-order, now they occasionally met late-tier first-order beasts.

This was nothing compared to when they encountered a pack led by a peak first-order demonized beast. If Cheng Yang hadn’t noticed them early and had Niu Bing and Liu Xiyue retreat, the two might have been in real danger.

It seemed the mountain fissure they had passed marked a boundary, with the strength of demonized beasts on either side vastly different. After crossing it, the beasts’ power had undergone a qualitative change.

Cheng Yang eventually wiped out the pack led by the peak first-order beast, but Niu Bing and Liu Xiyue were still shaken by the encounter.

“Lord, let’s check if that peak first-order beast was guarding any wild treasures. The white-headed eagle leader we killed before gave us something good,” Liu Xiyue said optimistically, immediately thinking of potential gains.

Cheng Yang shook his head, “That’s unlikely. Near the main city, a peak first-order beast at this stage would definitely be guarding some high-level item. But in remote areas, it’s hard to say. You might even see third or fourth-order beasts without any treasures.”

Though she didn’t refute Cheng Yang’s words, Liu Xiyue still went to check where the demonized beasts had gathered.

Niu Bing asked, “Yang, could there really be third-order demonized beasts here?”

Cheng Yang could hear the deep apprehension in Niu Bing’s voice. Currently, Niu Bing couldn’t even handle a peak first-order beast. If a third-order beast appeared, the three of them probably wouldn’t have a chance to escape.

Cheng Yang said, “The chance of such a beast existing here is almost zero. But in this world now, there are definitely third-order and above demonized beasts.” As he spoke, Cheng Yang thought of the massive flying creature he had seen when first teleported through the random portal. He wondered if it was the dragon from Western legends.

Niu Bing fell silent. It wasn’t that he was scared, but discussing third-order and above demonized beasts was meaningless. If they encountered one, death was certain.

Liu Xiyue returned empty-handed.

After walking another seven or eight kilometers, encountering peak first-order demonized beasts became routine. They had spotted such beasts in at least three packs, avoiding two of them. The last one noticed them as they appeared, leading to another fierce battle.

They were now about fifteen or sixteen kilometers from Yicheng’s urban area, and only twelve or thirteen kilometers from the nearest altar base in Cheng Yang’s memory.

According to patterns summarized in his previous life, within two or three kilometers of the two bases around Yicheng, there shouldn’t be any demonized beasts above first-order. Whether this was a rule or not, the fact was that within a hundred kilometers of the main city, no altar bases had second-order demonized beasts.

But for the next few kilometers, no one knew what monsters might appear.

Cheng Yang grew more cautious as they advanced.

After a while, Cheng Yang suddenly whispered, “Wait!”

Niu Bing and Liu Xiyue immediately stopped. “Yang, what’s wrong?”

Cheng Yang listened carefully for a moment. “There’s a heavy impact sound ahead. It seems like something is fighting.”

“Fighting?” Niu Bing was stunned. “Are there combatants in this area?”

Liu Xiyue said, “Maybe it’s a civil war among demonized beasts.”

Cheng Yang shook his head. “There definitely aren’t any combatants here, and demonized beasts usually don’t fight among themselves.”

“Then what’s happening?” they asked in unison.

Cheng Yang replied, “I don’t know. But if demonized beasts encounter special circumstances, they might fight to the death… You two wait here. I’ll go scout ahead.”

Liu Xiyue and Niu Bing nodded. They knew their strength was too weak against powerful demonized beasts.

Cheng Yang had them find a hidden spot, then he crouched and moved forward slowly.

After about two hundred meters, Cheng Yang stopped. The impact sounds were close now, accompanied by low growls.

Peeking out, Cheng Yang saw two massive creatures locked in fierce combat.

One was a huge black python, about a foot thick, using its massive head and tail as weapons. If it could wrap around its opponent, its entire body would become a deadly weapon.

Fighting the python was a white-furred tiger. If not for its size, one might mistake it for a cute white cat. But now, it looked anything but cute.

The tiger stood about 1.7 to 1.8 meters tall, nearly three meters long. In the pre-apocalypse world, this tiger would have made headlines. But in this post-apocalyptic world, it was silently battling a python.

Cheng Yang couldn’t determine the exact levels of these two behemoths, but he was certain they were at least second-order. As for which tier within second-order, he couldn’t tell.

As Cheng Yang observed, the battle showed no signs of stopping.

The black python whipped its tail towards the tiger’s head. The tiger dodged to the right, avoiding a direct hit, but the tail still struck its side, sending it flying.

However, the tiger’s resilience was astonishing. It sprang back up and pounced on the python’s tail, tearing off a chunk of scales and flesh.

The python, in pain, retracted its tail and lunged at the tiger’s throat.

The tiger seemed to fear the python’s bite and quickly retreated.

But before it could get far, the python spat a large cloud of dark green mist, enveloping the tiger’s head.

If Cheng Yang had detection skills, he would have seen the tiger’s health dropping by 2 points per second. Though the tiger had high vitality, it couldn’t sustain such damage for long.

Cheng Yang knew the tiger was poisoned, but he didn’t know how long the effect would last.

By now, Cheng Yang had surveyed the area thoroughly but still couldn’t figure out why these two were fighting. Normally, demonized beasts only fought over treasures. But here, there wasn’t even a single potion in sight.

Suddenly, Cheng Yang noticed something – the tiger’s eyes.

The key characteristic of demonized beasts was their “demonic” nature. Like beings possessed, they would attack humans on sight, exuding a bloodthirsty aura that made them appear extremely vicious. Their eyes, if they had them, always carried a hint of red, with the intensity increasing with their strength.

But this white tiger’s eyes showed no trace of red. Given its strength, this was abnormal.

A thought struck Cheng Yang – could this be… a mutated beast?

They were only forty kilometers from Xiangcheng’s main city. Could a mutated beast appear here? It was possible, though the chances were extremely low.

The benefits of a mutated beast were obvious. If tamed, it would be a powerful ally. Moreover, mutated beasts were incredibly rare. In his previous life, fewer than a hundred had been encountered.

If this white tiger was indeed a mutated beast, Cheng Yang didn’t want to miss this opportunity. Who knew if this would be the only one he’d encounter in his lifetime?

But taming it came with great risks. Cheng Yang still didn’t know its exact level. If he revealed himself, he might be torn apart by these two creatures.

As Cheng Yang hesitated, the tiger emerged from the green mist, its eyes showing a flash of fear before being replaced by ferocity.

Cheng Yang suddenly felt a surge of powerful energy gathering in the tiger’s mouth. In an instant, a massive milky-white energy sphere formed.

Under the python’s wary gaze, the tiger opened its mouth and launched the sphere at the mutated beast. In a flash, the sphere struck the python.

The python was sent flying, crashing through trees as it went, emitting cold hisses of pain.

After releasing the energy sphere, the tiger collapsed weakly to the ground.

The python, after smashing through several trees, finally came to a stop. Its scales were shattered, a pitiful sight. But as it stared at the fallen tiger, its cold snake eyes held a mocking, almost human-like expression.

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