Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The Magical Beast Knowledge Guide was important, but Yang Ling could not give up Wissen Town. That was going to be his main base of operations in this foreign world, it was the bridge he was going to use to explore!

After a moment’s hesitation, Yang Ling slipped the Magical Beast Knowledge Guide into his Space Ring without any trace of politeness. He then looked sincerely at Elder Klive and said, “Elder, Wissen Town is still in its beginning stages of development and requires a lot of capital, manpower and merchants. Now is not the most opportune time for you to set up a branch. Why don’t we discuss this problem some time in the future. Of course, as a compensation, I will not restrict your movement within my territory.”

“Hmph, return the Magical Beast Knowledge Guide if you are not going to agree to my deal!” Maryse was furious at Yang Ling’s counter their proposal, even after accepting the ancient book.

Return the Magical Beast Guide? Yang Ling smiled. He would never spit out the fatty meat that he had already consumed!

As their rival, the Church would not allow the Dark Association to act freely, nor would they allow them to gain a following in Wissen Town. So Yang Ling came up with a natural excuse.

“Miss Maryse, in actuality, I am already taking a huge risk by allowing you to act freely in my territory! Many envoys from the Church have arrived in town over the last few months. If they knew that there were a bunch of Dark Knights and Spellcasters moving around in my territory, they would exert much greater pressure on me!”

Klive refrained from comment, and Maryse continued clenching her teeth. Then Klive said, “Yang Ling, are you saying that you cannot guarantee our safety inside Wissen Town?”

“Elder, regrettably, with my current abilities, I am unable to interfere in your conflict with the Church!” Yang Ling pretended to be frustrated, shaking his head. Then he continued, “But I can extend a little help in terms of intelligence. I can also try my best to help if you were to meet with any difficulty.”

“I am preparing to build a Magic Experimentation Tower in my territory, and I can give all of you alternate identities as Spellcasters I have recruited. As long as you are cautious, you should be able to move freely within the territory!”

Yang Ling knew he had to provide some assistance, since he had received benefits from the other party. Since the Dark Alliance wanted to develop a faction in Wissen Town, Yang Ling decided to go along with the plan and use them to his own advantage. He needed experienced Spellcasters if he wanted to build a Magic Experimentation Tower in any kind of reasonable timeframe. He believed that the Dark Association would have many talents in that area.

This way, he could give the other party a reasonable compensation, and at the same time, he could also solve one of his own larger problems. It was two birds with one stone!

Seeing that Yang Ling was trying to push his luck, Maryse became even madder, her face reddening. Fire nearly erupted from her eyes. Every time she caught sight of Yang Ling’s faint smile, her belly filled with fire.

Unfortunately, her attitude toward Yang Ling was one sided!

Even after glaring furiously at Yang Ling for some time, seeing Yang Ling disregard her anger and treat her as non-existent, Maryse nearly lost her mind. Unfortunately for her, her teacher was present, and she did not dare act brazenly before him no matter how angry she was. All she could do was suppress her anger.

Looking at the shrewd Yang Ling, Klive began to consider. Over the years, he had encountered many trials and tribulations. He understood Yang Ling’s intentions without having to think too deeply. But he did not have to be insistent on these little interests. There was no need for him to be too calculative with Yang Ling.

He had not expected to get back the Magical Beast Knowledge Guide since the moment he showed it to Yang Ling. What he cared about was whether he could pull Yang Ling into the camp of the Dark Association and forge an alliance with the family behind him!

Yang Ling had improved greatly over a short period of time, but in Klive’s eyes, he was still not worth mentioning. With Yang Ling’s current abilities, there was no way that he could enter the secret realm to tame powerful dark element Magical Beasts. The hope of building a high level army of Mythical Beasts would need to be entrusted to the elders behind him.

Even though the Magical Beast Knowledge Guide was valuable, it didn’t compare to a powerful army of high level Mythical Beasts. As long as they had an army of high level Mythical Beasts comprised of level nine Magical Beasts or Level Surpassing Magical Beasts, the Dark Association would be able to stabilize their footing under the Church’s attacks. They might even be able to launch a powerful counterattack with some amount of swiftness.

After weighing the pros and cons, Klive accepted Yang Ling’s bargain. He started explaining the various advantages and disadvantages of the different Magic Experimentation Towers. With Yang Ling’s excited questioning, Klive began telling him about the understanding of Magical Elements as well as the methods he could use to cultivate those techniques.

“A sage level fighter sure lives up to expectations. Elder, thank you for your teachings!”

After some time of asking questions, and noting that the black robed elder did not show any traces of impatience, Yang Ling retrieved a bottle of rum from his Space Ring and passed the bottle to the elder.

“Sage level is merely a new beginning. In this regard, the elders in your family should know it even better than me!” Klive took a sip of rum and continued. “Yang Ling, as long as you practice diligently, you could one day surpass me with your family’s help!”

With that, the black robed elder determined it was time to go. He and his faction of Dark Knights and Spellcasters turned to leave. Maryse shot one final glare at Yang Ling, and then followed the rest, vanishing deep into the forest.

Yang Ling sat and pondered for a long time, long after the black robed elder and his cohort had disappeared into the trees. A sage level fighter had been able to stop his entire Magical Beast army in a single spell, rendering them useless. Yang Ling could not imagine how terrifying a powerhouse above sage level might be!

After calming himself, Yang Ling decided to cancel his plan of hunting space element Magical Beasts in the forest. Since the Dark Association had sent out heavy forces, that would mean that the rumors of the Giant Dragon’s treasures were founded. The rest of the factions on the continent would be swarming the area any day. He needed to get back to Wissen Town to prepare.

Furthermore, the Magical Beast Knowledge Guide contained information about most of the Magical Beasts on the Tailun Continent. Taking some time to study the guide would be beneficial for his future plans. Perhaps he would be able to surround and capture a large number of high level Magical Beasts using his low level Magical Beasts, and form an elite Magical Beast army when the opportunity arose.

Travelling on the speedy Unicorn, Yang Ling successfully arrived back at Wissen Town that very evening. He had just entered Wissen Castle and sat down to catch his breath when the old butler Murbaqi ran in, hurrying.

“Sir, things are bad, the troops have all gone mad. If you do not stop them, I fear that they might even destroy the Shangri-La!”

The old butler was pale as a sheet. Yang Ling remained expressionless, but felt distress within. What kind of incident would make the old butler this flustered, and what could cause such a commotion amongst the troops?

Murbaqi gulped, and began filling Yang Ling in.

It turned out that two teams of troops claimed that each had found the same thirty Violent Earth Bears that had died recently, deep within the forest. None of them were willing to concede the Magical Beast Essence Crystals, worth thousands of crystal coins, could belong to the other group.

They started out looking for an authority to make a fair judgement when they returned to Wissen Town. But because there was so much money on the line, more troops tried to claim a slice of the findings, asserting that each had been the one that had killed the prey. This made the situation even more confusing. In the end, most of the troops that had been living in the Shangri-La had been caught up in the conflict, making the situation increasingly chaotic!

“Hmph, what a bunch of foolish lads. Let’s go!”

Having gained some understanding of the situation, Yang Ling walked outside. Even though Goode had just brought a team of warriors to the Taildon Valley, there were still quite a number of warriors left in the castle. There should be plenty to deal with the troops that were causing trouble.

As he approached Shangri-La, he saw a large cluster of troops and adventurers grouped at the inn’s entrance. He could hear shouts of anger and yelps of pain, suggesting that someone was already fighting.

The group suddenly felt a wave of killing intent wash over them. They turned to see Yang Ling’s Unicorn, and a horde of Magical Beasts baring fang and claw.

The ten-meter-tall Withered Tree Warriors, covered in thorns loomed over the scene. The Evil Eye army was in formation, ready to attack. The Gargoyles and Horned Bee Beasts circled above them, filling the air. The gathered soldiers and explorers stopped in their tracks. A few even slipped away, trying to blend in.

Yang Ling addressed the gathered crowd. “I’ll count to three, and all of you will scatter, otherwise…” Sometimes, violence was the best course of action when dealing with a problem. There was no use wasting his words.

Having seen what kind of trouble the Wind Troops had found themselves, no one doubted that the Magical Beast army before them was purely for decoration. Most of the rioters scattered immediately. The Violent Earth Bears’ Essence Crystals were worth thousands, sure, but it was hard to spend money when one was dead.

As the outer ring of rioters scattered, the battling soldiers within became visible to Yang Ling and the Magical Beast army. A dozen soldiers covered in blood continued fighting each other, seemingly prepared to chop each other to bits. Perhaps they did not believe that Yang Ling would attack. Maybe they were too crazed with adrenaline from the fight. Either way, the fighting raged on.

“Hmph, you’re asking for it!” Yang Ling grunted.

He instructed a team of Horned Bee Beasts to attack and show no mercy. After a concentrated attack of poisonous stingers from above, the troops that were fighting with their lives slumped helplessly to the ground. No one was spared.

The soldiers that saw this merciless attack were dumbfounded at the Magical Beast army’s power. Who would be able to stand up against the combined attacks of all of Yang Ling’s Magical Beasts?

“Orlando, tie all of them up, then drag them back to the castle for interrogation!” After leaving behind three hundred warriors to defend the area, Yang Ling recalled his Magical Beast army, then left without turning his head.

Behind him, Orlando instructed the warriors to tie all of the troops that were slumped helplessly on the ground, in preparation for transport back to the castle for close interrogation.