"I... I..."
Muli hesitated. Although he doubted the other party's strength, wizards were a rational bunch. If it weren't for Xiling, he wouldn't have come to provoke the other party at all.
But now, he was feeling rather uncertain.
If Leilin truly possessed formidable strength, wouldn't rashly provoking him be tantamount to seeking death?
But in the next moment, his jaw dropped: "This... this is..."
At this point, Leilin had already thrown the iceberg he was carrying onto the ground with a tremendous crash.
Inside the iceberg, a slender Ice Jade Scorpion sat motionless like a statue.
"Xiling! Send a few people over to help me move something!" Leilin contacted Xiling through his arcane imprint, and a pleasantly surprised reply came back immediately.
"Oh? Wizard Leilin, you went down before to study the Ice Jade Scorpions, right? Looks like you've had quite the haul! You even caught one, though it's rather small — looks like a juvenile!"
Old Maded stepped forward with a smile to explain.
In its frozen state, the Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor's aura had been suppressed to its lowest, and Old Maded hadn't noticed.
"No! Damn it! That's no juvenile — that's an Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor! A first-level peak Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor!!!" Muli stumbled back several steps, his words already tumbling out in a panic.
"I've seen one before! This is definitely an Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor! Look at the Fear Rune on its back!"
Muli backed all the way to the edge of the clearing, as if afraid the Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor might go berserk at any moment.
"Heavens... it really is!"
Old Maded picked up something resembling a pair of spectacles, placed them over his eyes, and carefully examined the Ice Jade Scorpion inside the iceberg. He then let out a cry of shock and stumbled back several steps.
"W-Wizard Leilin! Did... did you capture this?"
Old Maded's speech had grown stammering as well.
"Of course!" Leilin replied with a smile and a nod.
After overcoming his bloodline emotionality, Leilin had slain all the ordinary Ice Jade Scorpions on the spot and collected their materials. But when it came to this Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor, he simply couldn't bring himself to do the same.
After all, the value of a living specimen far exceeded that of body materials.
He still had many plans he wanted to accomplish through this Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor, and Leilin was also deeply interested in solving the problem of the creature's deterioration once removed from frost radiation.
Thus, he had no choice but to pack up the Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor and bring it out.
Moreover, since spatial leather bags couldn't hold living creatures, Leilin had only stored the ordinary Ice Jade Scorpion materials inside, and had to carry the entire iceberg out himself.
Still, watching the two wizards' expressions shift from disbelief to deep reverence, Leilin found it rather amusing.
He had deliberately made no effort to conceal anything — there was an element of displaying his strength in it.
After all, being a first-level peak wizard wasn't something you could just claim. An Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor whose strength rivaled that of a first-level peak wizard was more than enough to intimidate those around him.
Given his usual low profile, even though Xiling had been promoting him vigorously, he still hadn't gained recognition from the surrounding factions. Some wizards even believed it was all a scam and wanted to cause trouble.
But now, those smaller factions would naturally think twice before coming.
Although he wasn't afraid of trouble, he loathed having to deal with every minor matter himself. Using this Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor to scare them off was a rather effective solution.
Even among those at the first-level peak, combat strength varied. The fact that Leilin could capture alive an Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor at the first-level peak meant that among first-level peak wizards, he was surely among the very top.
Old Maded and Muli exchanged a glance, their gazes toward Leilin now tinged with reverence.
"Lord Leilin! It's wonderful to see you return safe and sound!"
At that moment, Xiling also arrived with the two apprentices from before, her face beaming with joy.
Leilin looked at them and gave a nod. It seemed that after he'd gone down, Xiling had been waiting here with the two apprentices the entire time. That was considerate of her.
"Ice Jade Scorpions are creatures with the strength of formal wizards, and they live in groups. I was worried at first — thank the Mother of the Earth for her protection!"
Xiling patted her heaving chest, still shaken, having worried about Leilin the entire time.
Hearing this, Old Maded and Muli both silently rolled their eyes.
If anyone should be worried, it was the Ice Jade Scorpion swarm. This lord had already captured the Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor — the remaining scorpions could either disperse on the spot or seek refuge with other colonies.
And then, Xiling noticed the iceberg beside Leilin: "Is this the thing you need us to move?"
"Mm! Send two people with me. I need to transport it to the Eastern Domain Capital and find a proper laboratory for research..." Leilin patted the iceberg behind him.
"If all you need is a laboratory, then our Nature Alliance headquarters is right nearby, and the laboratories inside are at your disposal, my lord!"
Xiling's eyes lit up as she made her proposal: "Also, regarding the earlier matter, I'd like to discuss it with you in detail, my lord!"