Chapter 78 - The Serpent & The Leopard
’It chose to retreat,’ Su Ming thought, retracting his divine sense. ’An ordinary beast would charge in a rage. This Earth Tyrant is indeed intelligent; it knows when to cut its losses.’
With the Demon Lord retreating, the remaining scattered beasts scrambled toward the wall in panic.
"Lin Yao, Wang Tian, Qing Luan," Su Ming called out as he landed back on the battlements. "Take charge and clear the remaining beasts."
"Yes, Master!" Lin Yao and Wang Tian saluted.
"Yes, Elder Su!" Qing Luan confirmed.
Leaping from the wall, the disciples engaged the remaining beasts. Wang Tian moved with absolute precision, his steel blade tracing clean, short arcs that sliced through the iron scales of the charging mud-boars without any excess movement, showing the depth of his training on the White Lotus Peak.
Beside him, Qing Luan directed her wood spells, raising thorn-vines to bind the legs of the beasts, while General Lu’s mortal soldiers managed the leaks, capturing the paralyzed beasts using heavy runic chains and iron cages.
As the battle settled into a controlled mop-up, two beasts near the valley edge caught Su Ming’s attention.
One was a colossal, ten-meter-long extreamly pure blooded Frost Serpent. It lay motionless in a pool of water that was rapidly freezing solid from its sheer body cold, its ice-blue scales reflecting the faint light. Despite the crushing dragon will and the heat of the Yang fire, it did not cower or flee, its dark blue eyes filled with a cold, prideful disdain that matched Lin Yao’s silent temperament.
The other was a Jade Leopard, its sleek body covered in moss-green plates that glowed with wood-element Qi. A single, small silver horn sat nestled between its ears, marking its ancient bloodline. It growled softly, its front claws dug deep into the soil as it struggled against the lingering draconic aura, refusing to bow its head.
Su Ming walked to the battle front, his Essence Sight analyzing their bloodlines.
’A Pure-Blood Frost Serpent with deep frost affinity, and a Jade Leopard possessing a trace of the ancient Mengji bloodline,’ Su Ming thought, a slight smile touching his lips. ’Both have excellent potential and pride.
The serpent’s freezing core will easily anchor Lin Yao’s Nether Flames, while the leopard’s bloodline will amplify Qing Luan’s wood manipulation.’
He turned to Lin Yao and Qing Luan.
"Those two," Su Ming said, pointing toward the valley edge. "The Frost Serpent is a perfect match for Lin Yao’s Cultivation affinity, and the Jade Leopard carries the ancient wood-attribute bloodline that suits Qing Luan’s cultivation. They are proud, but their potential is rare. Go and subdue them."
Lin Yao looked at the giant serpent, her dark Nether flames flaring around her hands. Qing Luan gripped her green whip, her eyes locking onto the snarling Jade Leopard.
"Understood, Peak Master Su," Qing Luan said, her voice filled with gratitude.
The two stepped forward, leaping down from the wall to confront their chosen beasts as the battle in the valley drew to a close.
***
As the smoke in the valley began to clear, replaced by the smell of wet soil and charred pine, the battle below the Qi front wall dissolved into a mop-up. General Lu’s mortal soldiers secured captured beasts in cages with runic chains, while the rest of the disciples rounded up the remaining stragglers under Han Chen’s watch.
Su Ming floated in the air above the valley floor, his white robes drifting in the wind. Beside him, Han Chen remained suspended, wiping the sweat from his brow as he exhaled a long, weary breath.
Below them, Lin Yao and Qing Luan had already engaged their chosen beasts. Looking down at the rows of captured beasts being dragged into cages by the mortal auxiliary soldiers, Su Ming turned to Han Chen. "Elder Han, some of these captured beasts are of decent grade. Do you or the disciples of Green Pine Peak wish to take some of them to form companion or mount pacts?"
Han Chen chuckled softly, shaking his head as he looked at the chained drakes and rock-lizards. "We appreciate the offer, Peak Master Su. But Green Pine Peak already has two high-grade transport mounts for peak business, and that is more than enough. Raising these high-grade beasts is a bottomless pit for cultivation resources. The medicinal feed, the specialized pills, the years of training... unless one is from Spirit Beast Peak, maintaining another mount simply does not make practical sense. It is too expensive for our Green Pine Peak."
Su Ming nodded. ’To ordinary peaks, beasts are just utilities. The upkeep outweighs the benefits.’
His eyes drifted back to the valley edge, where the two disciples were locked in combat. The Pure-Blood Frost Serpent and the Jade Leopard fought with fierce pride, resisting the human cultivators with everything they had.
Su Ming quietly activated his Essence Sight, his vision shifting as the colorful flows of spiritual Qi became visible. He focused on the two beasts, performing a deep analysis of their bloodlines.
’The Frost Serpent’s bloodline has exceptional purity,’ Su Ming noted, observing the clean, pale-blue threads of ice-attribute Qi flowing through its meridians. ’However, this breed lacks any ancient, legendary serpent or draconic lineages. In normal circumstances, its growth would be limited at High Grade Demon Beast level, unable to break the bloodline barrier. But such bottlenecks are not absolute. With the right resources, such as using high-grade pills and bloodline catalysts, we can shatter those barriers, allowing its potential to grow exponentially. Its bloodline purity makes it the perfect candidate for this path.’
He shifted his gaze to the Jade Leopard. A vibrant, deep-green energy rippled beneath its moss-green plates, and near the single silver horn between its ears, a faint, ancient pattern was pulsing.
’The leopard, on the other hand, carries a trace of the ancient, legendary wood-element beast Mengji,’ Su Ming thought, a slight smile touching his lips. ’According to ancient texts, the Mengji could manipulate spiritual wood-flows to create illusions and completely hide its presence from divine sense. Its ancient blood is dormant, waiting to be awakened. If nurtured correctly, its stealth and illusion capabilities will be unmatched.’