Wooseno transformed into a streak of black light, chasing after Heilu at extreme speed.
"His speed is too fast—this is bad!" Heilu fled toward the southeast at top speed, but his mental power clearly detected Wooseno closing in rapidly. In terms of pure velocity, Heilu was far slower than Wooseno. Heilu knew his own strength all too well.
In truth, Heilu had only recently entered the Saint Realm. It was only because magical beasts possessed far greater natural talent than humans that he could rival a peak human Saint Realm expert. Take the Earth Bear, for example—even just having stepped into the Saint Realm, it could defeat ordinary peak Saint Realm experts. That was the power of innate talent!
Bei Bei was the same way.
Bei Bei had only entered the Saint Realm not long ago, but Bei Bei belonged to an extremely rare and precious bloodline. Even having just entered the Saint Realm, Bei Bei's strength was so great that even the Rocky Sword Saint, Blackstone, couldn't compare. Bei Bei's terrifying talent actually surpassed even that of the Earth Bear.
"Think you can run?" Before long, Wooseno spotted the Black-striped Cloud Leopard fleeing ahead.
Dark flames flickered faintly across Wooseno's body, making him look like a demon god from hell itself. He dove at terrifying speed toward the Black-striped Cloud Leopard below. The Black-striped Cloud Leopard—Heilu—trembled with fear and immediately shrank in size, reducing to the size of a palm in moments.
"Whoosh!"
The mouse-sized Black-striped Cloud Leopard dove straight underground.
"Boom!" A terrifying blast of black fire shot into the ground, instantly vaporizing the rock and soil. A bottomless hole appeared abruptly in the earth's surface. Wooseno landed and peered into the abyss.
"Hmph, you really know how to run!" Wooseno snorted coldly.
Saint Realm magical beasts could grow large or shrink small—once reduced in size, they could burrow through the earth at incredible speed. Human Saint Realm experts had no such ability. Though Wooseno was powerful, when it came to burrowing underground, he was far inferior to Saint Realm magical beasts.
Hundreds of meters underground.
Heilu raced through the earth at breakneck speed, the front of its body naturally forming a sharp current of air that parted the soil as it went.
"Master! Master!"
Heilu was frantic with worry. "Master only said he was heading south when he left—this distance is too great. I can't even reach him through soul communication." Soul communication between a magical beast and its master had range limits. The stronger the master's and beast's mental powers, the greater the distance over which they could communicate.
Currently, Lin Lei and Heilu could communicate via soul within roughly a thousand li.
However, Lin Lei was currently at the southernmost tip of the Chaos Dominion, a full three thousand li away from Heilu. Heilu couldn't reach Lin Lei through soul communication at all and could only vaguely sense the general direction and location Lin Lei was in. Heilu sped through the underground toward Lin Lei's location.
Wooseno turned back, flying above Mort County City, and directly ordered the four-winged angels: "Escort these two Undying Warriors to Sheli County City and lock them up with the other three. I'm going to check on Black Earth City."
Wooseno produced two chains embedded with black jade and tossed them to his angel subordinates.
"Yes, My Lord." The angels responded respectfully.
Wooseno gazed northward. Based on his estimation, Lin Lei should be somewhere in the vicinity of Black Earth City. "That leopard beast of his has probably already relayed the news to him. I wonder whether this Lin Lei will flee or come to fight!"
With that, Wooseno transformed into a streak of black light and flew directly north.
In the southern part of the Chaos Dominion, within the small forest of the mysterious mountain village, a stone house stood at the center with a stone table in front of it. Lin Lei had been drinking with Rein all night. It was now around three or four in the morning. Come dawn, Lin Lei would have to leave.
"In another two or three hours, I'll leave with Bei Bei. Fourth Brother, when you get the chance, go back to the imperial capital for a visit. Your parents must be worried about you constantly." Lin Lei instructed Rein, then glanced at Monica beside him and smiled. "All right, Fourth Brother, get some rest. You haven't slept all night."
Rein and Monica stood side by side.
"Third Brother, thank you for this," Rein said gratefully.
Whether it was being able to be with Monica so easily, or having the privilege of leaving the village once a year, all of it was thanks to Lin Lei. Rein knew... with his own meager abilities, he probably wouldn't even be worth Desly's attention.
Lin Lei's lips curled upward as he playfully scolded, "Third Brother, are you still being polite with me?"
"Hm?"
Lin Lei's expression suddenly changed. Heilu was now less than a thousand li away, and Heilu's voice rang through Lin Lei's mind: "Master, terrible news! The Church of Light's Saint Realm experts have attacked. Buck and his four brothers have all been captured."
This news shocked Lin Lei to the core.
"Rein." Lin Lei's expression turned grave. "I'm sorry, but I have urgent business and must leave immediately."
"What happened?" Rein and Monica were both startled.
Lin Lei shook his head. "Just some personal matters. Don't worry about it, Fourth Brother." Lin Lei forced a smile and punched Rein's chest. "All right, I'm off." Lin Lei's figure blurred as he became an afterimage, arriving in front of Desly's cave mansion. He called out in a clear voice, "Master Desly!"
Around the cave mansion, there were also several stone houses where Hayward and Fuman lived.
"Lin Lei, what's wrong?" Hayward, who had been cultivating, stopped and walked out of his stone house to ask Lin Lei with a puzzled look. Lin Lei wouldn't come rushing over like this unless something was seriously wrong.
A short while later...
Desly and the others came out.
Lin Lei looked at Desly, Hayward, and the others and apologized immediately, "Master Desly, everyone... I have an important matter to attend to and must take my leave." A hint of apology showed on Lin Lei's face.
"What happened? Do you need my help?" Desly asked.
"No need." Lin Lei shook his head.