Among leopard-type magic beasts, the most formidable is undoubtedly the Holy Domain "Thunderbolt Lightning Leopard"—the purest of the Lightning System holy beasts. Its speed is far beyond what any other Holy Domain magic beast can match.
But if you're talking about the most mysterious of all leopard-type magic beasts, that would be the ninth-level "Black-Striped Cloud Leopard."
According to books, the last recorded sighting of a Black-Striped Cloud Leopard was over a thousand years ago. Even after all those years, with countless people gathering information, the records about the Black-Striped Cloud Leopard remained extremely sparse.
The Black-Striped Cloud Leopard is a ninth-level magic beast. It's impossibly fast, with a few rare black stripes running across its body, while the fur on its four hooves is snow-white—as though it walks upon clouds. It was because of this appearance that humans named it the "Black-Striped Cloud Leopard."
As for what system the Black-Striped Cloud Leopard belonged to, or what special abilities it possessed—the books had virtually nothing on either.
"Most likely, the experts who ran into the Black-Striped Cloud Leopard throughout history were killed. Even those who truly knew its secrets were probably Holy Domain experts who deliberately kept that information hidden." Lin Lei knew perfectly well how strictly the upper echelons of major powers guarded certain information—even magic of the seventh level or higher was never shared beyond the inner circle. That alone said plenty.
Deep within the dense forests of the central Magic Beast Mountain Range, the Black-Striped Cloud Leopard faced off against Lin Lei, who hovered in midair with his wings spread wide.
"The Black-Striped Cloud Leopard can change its size, and its appearance can shift too. Truly unsettling." Lin Lei didn't dare let his guard down for even a second.
The Black-Striped Cloud Leopard stared coldly at Lin Lei, its dark, icy eyes burning with fury.
Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, the Black-Striped Cloud Leopard crossed nearly fifty meters and was right on top of him—its speed almost half again greater than its first form (normal size, body covered in dense black stripes).
Half again faster.
The sudden jump in speed was so drastic that Lin Lei couldn't dodge in time. Its claw smashed squarely into his chest. Scales shattered on impact. Splurt! Blood spurted out.
Lin Lei frantically beat his wings and shot higher into the air.
"Terrifying speed," Lin Lei thought with a jolt.
The first-form Black-Striped Cloud Leopard had already been slightly faster than Bei Bei. The second form (enlarged body) lost two or three levels of speed, bringing it roughly on par with Lin Lei. As for the third form—the one standing before him now—its speed was a full half again greater than the first.
At this rate, it could cover a hundred meters in what felt like a single blink.
Just terrifying!
"Roarrr~~" The Black-Striped Cloud Leopard raised its head and fixed its gaze on Lin Lei, its eyes brimming with arrogance.
Lin Lei slowly beat his transparent, azure wings, holding his altitude without ascending or descending. He knew full well that if he lowered himself, at the Black-Striped Cloud Leopard's speed, defending himself would be nearly impossible.
"Boss, I'll go!" Bei Bei, who'd been watching from the side, couldn't hold back anymore.
Yeee!
A piercing shriek split the air as Bei Bei transformed into a streak of black shadow and charged straight at the Black-Striped Cloud Leopard. The leopard, which hadn't given Bei Bei the slightest thought until now, suddenly realized the shadow mouse's terrifying speed.
"Rapid!" Lin Lei instantly fired off an auxiliary spell.
The "Rapid" enhancement landed directly on Bei Bei. In the past, Bei Bei had never come across a ninth-level magic beast faster than himself, so Lin Lei had never had reason to cast "Rapid" on him. Now, he finally did.
In truth, such auxiliary spells were typically used by mages to buff the warriors on their team.
Shoom! The "Rapid" boost from an eighth-level mage increased Bei Bei's speed by nearly thirty percent.
Pfft! The Black-Striped Cloud Leopard's claw lashed out toward Bei Bei.
But Bei Bei, with his thirty-percent speed boost, was still a shade slower than the Black-Striped Cloud Leopard—yet the gap was no longer all that significant. More importantly, Bei Bei was tiny and insanely agile.
Bei Bei kept darting and weaving, constantly changing direction.
Yeee!
Bei Bei suddenly launched himself skyward at blinding speed, his body swelling mid-leap, and then he slammed a vicious claw down onto the Black-Striped Cloud Leopard.
The Black-Striped Cloud Leopard coldly met Bei Bei's attack and swiped its own claw at the shadow mouse.
Pfft!
Pfft!
Both beasts struck almost simultaneously. Bei Bei's claw raked across the Black-Striped Cloud Leopard's body, carving out clear scratch marks from which blood spurted. Bei Bei himself was sent tumbling through the air, bounced off the ground, rolled, and popped back to his feet—completely unharmed.
"Huh?" Lin Lei's eyes went wide.
"Bei Bei's attack power is about the same as mine. So how did he wound it so easily?" Lin Lei was stunned. He knew perfectly well that Bei Bei's defenses were absurdly overpowered.
Back when they'd entered Mist Valley, Bei Bei had only just reached the eighth-level magic beast realm, yet he'd survived a dying strike from a Spiny-backed Iron Dragon without a scratch. Now, with Bei Bei at the ninth level, his defensive ability was even more terrifying than Lin Lei's own. That Bei Bei was unharmed—Lin Lei didn't find that strange at all.
What was strange was that the Black-Striped Cloud Leopard's defense had dropped.
"Ah, I get it now."
Lin Lei suddenly grasped the special nature of the Black-Striped Cloud Leopard's three forms. The first form was presumably the most balanced state—attack, defense, and speed all in equilibrium. The second form, with its enlarged body, sacrificed speed for increased offense. And the third form—the current one—brought a dramatic surge in speed at the cost of weakened defense.
The Black-Striped Cloud Leopard now faced Bei Bei, feeling blood trickling down its body. A seed of worry had already taken root in its heart. Because the bizarre shadow mouse standing before it didn't have a single scratch.
"Black-Striped Cloud Leopard." Lin Lei spoke aloud.
The Black-Striped Cloud Leopard turned its gaze to him.
Lin Lei didn't regard the Black-Striped Cloud Leopard as some lesser creature, but as an intelligent being of equal standing. "Black-Striped Cloud Leopard, your current form trades defense for speed, doesn't it? At this rate, you can't even defeat Bei Bei."
"Roarrr~~" The Black-Striped Cloud Leopard let out a disgruntled growl.
The Black-Striped Cloud Leopard then fixed its eyes on Bei Bei and let out a strange, low growl. Bei Bei froze for a moment, then responded with a low growl of his own.
"Boss, this Black-Striped Cloud Leopard speaks the language of rat-type magic beasts!" Bei Bei transmitted telepathically.
Lin Lei knew that Bei Bei was born understanding the language of rat-type magic beasts, but he didn't know any other beast languages. In truth, different beast species had entirely different languages. However, some high-level beasts with long lifespans were adept at multiple species' languages.