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

Under the efforts of the various parties, the commodification and massification of the Magical Beasts was a massive success. Other than Jaboli, the Hunter Alliance had also set up branches in Montson within the Livenza Alliance, as well as the capital of the Rossi Empire Ular, recruiting several exceptional hunters.

However, while Jaboli seemed to be progressing well on the surface, there was turbulence within the shadows.

One-eyed Dragon had gathered a substantial number of pirates to Ajax Island for a meeting, but did not show up, his tracks mysterious. He had only sent a personal guard to issue an order, getting the pirates to be prepared to gather and launch and attack at any time. The Corpse Wizard King who had disguised himself and infiltrated the inner workings of the pirates had come up empty-handed.

The individual battle capabilities of a pirate were not exceptional, but they had the advantage in their numbers as well as how merciless they were. According to the information obtained by the female leader Margaret, the One-eyed Dragon also had a mysterious sea tribe backing him, thus Yang Ling had no choice but to be on guard.

As a precaution, Yang Ling increased the scale of the naval force, boosting the number of soldiers under Ashnamov to over three thousand men. Other than leaving a portion of soldiers to patrol around the Sallero Harbor, most of the forces were stationed in the seas near Jaboli as a precaution against the surprise attacks of the pirates.

The threat that would come from the sea enveloped the hearts of everyone, while the threats from the Amazon Forest was also getting larger as the days went by!

Both the reports from the scouts and feedback from the hunters showed that the Amazon Forest was getting more and more dangerous. There was an increased number of Magical Beasts at the edge of the forest, and they were getting more and more violent. There were also sightings of several strange Magical Beasts that the people had never seen in their lives.

In the past, the hunters could go on their missions while dressed lightly, capturing various low-level Magical Beasts; However, after the pitiful deaths of over a hundred troops and a dozen hunters, the hunters actively formed small teams in fear. However, even so, not many people dared to explore deep into the strange Amazon Forest.

Faced with threats from all fronts, Yang Ling ordered for the building of the city to be hastened, once again mobilizing two thousand Beastmen who were adept in battle from the Magical Beast Territory, appointing Argus as their leader. They set up a series of traps around Jaboli together with Ashnamov, burying a large amount of poison-coated spikes and spider mines that would explode upon being touched.

The poisons Alice came up with were getting more and more potent, some of them odorless and colorless, and would make a person become dizzy when breathed in; Some of them would cause a person’s throat to contract, making it utterly indefensible.

Unlike the spikes coated with poison, the spiders that have been equipped with gunpowder could actively launch attacks. They laid in the ground in ambush on an average day, but could emerge as fast as lightning when an enemy passed by the area, pouncing toward their enemies and perishing together with them just like the Self-destructing Bats could. Its power was even more alarming when a suitable poison was mixed into the gunpowder.

If careless, even a Violent Earth Bear with a thick hide could be killed by a tiny spider!

After all the preparations were complete, Yang Ling closed himself off and trained, silently awaiting the storm!

In order to increase the speed of his training, he set up a Spirit Gathering Spell Formation and Imprisonment Space on the cliff. He absorbed the spiritual energy in the surroundings during the day, while changing to absorb the majestic energy of the stars at night.

He seemed to have reached a bottleneck when it came to the Body Honing Wizard Mantra, his body undergoing no change no matter how much energy he absorbed. He was also unable to discover any new secrets of the Ice-sealing Throne. Thus, Yang Ling decided to examine the vast array of Wizard Techniques recorded on the stele.

There were too many Wizard Techniques recorded on the stele, so much that Yang Ling did not know where to start. Other than Wizard Techniques that allowed him to control souls, there were also branches like Wizard Martial Artists, Poison Wizards and Shadow Wizards.

According to the explanation on the stele, he would be able to learn powerful Wizard Techniques — Wizard Seals — when he reached high-level Divine Wizard. Then, he would be able to do anything with the snap of his fingers, as well as possess powerful techniques to control souls.

He would be able to directly attack the soul of his enemies a hundred miles, or even a thousand miles away, if he had a strand of their hair or a drop of the Blood Essence. After the Soul Seal is trained to a certain level, he would not even require a medium like hair or Blood Essence to directly attack the souls of his enemies.

Other than methods to control the soul, a Wizard could also specialize in the Body Honing Wizard Mantra and become a Wizard Martial Artist with an immense physical body. Not only would they have incredibly speed and sharp attacks, their physical defense would also reach an alarming stage.

Poison Wizards were Wizards that trained in poison techniques, their poison techniques exceptional. When trained to the highest level, they could also kill people from a thousand miles away; Shadow Wizards were the assassins amongst Wizards, adept in WIzard Mantras such as the Wind Evasion, Earth Evasion and Water Evasion techniques and are able to arrive by the side of a person without them noticing…

Furthermore, the stele also recorded methods to train Wizard Servants and Wizard Guards. There were a countless variety of Wizard Mantras. A person might not be able to master everything even if they spent their entire life training.

It looks like I took a detour in the past! Using another logic, segmenting and imparting the various Wizard Techniques might allow me to quickly boost my strength!

The energy an individual possessed is limited, coupled with the difference in natural talent, it was impossible for one to be a master of all the styles. Some might be more suitable for using Wizard Mantras that controlled souls, but unsuitable for cultivating poison techniques; Some might be suited for poison techniques, but not ideal for cultivating the Wizard Mantras needed to control souls. Alice was an example of that.

In the past, Yang Ling had gotten Alice, Yuna and the rest to cultivate Wizard Techniques, but their improvement has been slow, completely unable to tame Magical Beasts with their blood. Now that he is looking at it from another angle, he realized that he had clearly adopted a flawed logic back then, mistakenly assuming that they had to start from the level of Blood Wizard just like he had.

If he thought about it from another angle and got Alice to cultivate the Wizard Mantras and become a Poison Wizard, and got Casey, Orlando and the rest to cultivate the Wizard Mantras associated with Wizard Martial Artists, he might have had another batch of experts by his side by now!

Do I set up a Wizard School at the Magical Beast Territory and choose suitable members from amongst the soldiers, townspeople and hunters, then impart them with various kinds of Wizard Techniques?

Yang Ling had a thought, coming up with an idea for him to quickly increase his strength and nurture a batch of experts. However, just as he was about to further consider the details, he heard the anxious cries of Orlando from outside the restriction. Teleporting out to have a look, Yuna, Sofia, Ashnamov, Goode and the rest had all assembled, all of them incredibly worried, as if something big had happened.

“Sir, something bad has happened. A large group of Magical Beasts had appeared at the edge of the forest, getting closer and closer to Jaboli. In order to find out more about the specific situation, many of our hunters and troops had already met with misfortune. Not only did they not manage to find any specific causes, the terrifying Magical Beasts are increasing in number!” Seeing Yang Ling come out, Goode quickly reported the situation.

Under his explanation, Yang Ling soon realized what was going on.

As it turned out, ever since he sealed himself off to train, more and more Magical Beasts had appeared at the edge of the Amazon Forest. They did not fight when they encountered each other, and were gradually approaching Jaboli. After a few dozen hunters got missing during their missions near the edge of the forest, the people had felt that the situation was off.

After news of this spread out, rumors that Magical Beasts were about to charge out and massacre the city spread like wildfire. Many merchants retreated in a hurry, while many townspeople moved their entire family to the Magical Beast Territory a few thousand nautical miles away in fear. The rich moved using the Magical Teleportation Formation, while the poor took ships, some even forming group and crafting wooden boats, floating away at sea.

With the situation getting worse, some people with misguided intentions took the opportunity to stir trouble, spreading rumors that the Magical Beast Territory was about to recall its army. Some of them even looting the town amidst the chaos. Soon, security on the town quickly worsened. More and more people were leaving Jaboli, while those who stayed were incredibly worried.

In order to prevent the situation from worsening, Anna had decisively consoled the masses and sent someone to capture the person spreading the rumors; At the same time, she sent out an elite team of soldiers into the forest to examine the specific situation, while the Hunter Association put out a relevant mission, getting high-level hunters to investigate the matter.

In the end, not only did the dozens of elite soldiers get exterminated, the ten three-star or higher hunters also did not return. It was only during the second day that two powerful elves whose were in their element within the forest escaped with their bodies covered in blood. They were depressed, frequently pointing into the darkness and shouting ‘scorpion, scorpion’.

At the start, the people had not understood what was going on, but they soon saw a terrifying scene!

After a frazzled elf took a sip of spring water, she suddenly shouted to say that she was feeling itchy and in pain, charging all around the place while hugging her head, no one able to suppress her. Soon, the people fearfully realized that thumb-sized scorpions were digging out of her body amidst her pathetic cries.

A bunch of terrifying, man-eating scorpions!

In her alarm, Sofia had burnt her pitiful follower and the scorpions into ash with fire. Seeing that the other elf was also showing similar signs, she realized that this matter had developed far out of her imagination. Not knowing what else to do, she ordered the soldiers to carry the pitiful elf and head straight to the cliff where Yang Ling was, with Yuna, Ashnamov and the rest following closely behind.

“All of you retreat, no one is to enter without my permission!”

Seeing the female elf struggling incessantly on the stretcher, feeling worse than death, Yang Ling said nothing, ordering the group to retreat far away. He then cautiously sat down on the ground, closely examining the situation within her body.

The clothes on the pitiful elf lady had already been torn to shreds by herself, and Yang Ling could not find any other wounds except from the thumb-sized wound on her arm. However, Yang Ling was immediately taken aback when he examined the inside of her body using mis magnificent mental energy!

Under the skin of the female elf were hidden worms that were twitching continuously, all of them devouring the blood and flesh of the female elf, their bodies expanding little by little. They were only about the size of a grain of rice at the start, but became about the size of a pen not long later, the sections of their body clearly indicative of a scorpion. Their entire bodies were shaped like a pipa, and had a pair of thick, crab-like claws. Their sharp, curved stinger were exceptionally frightening!

Parasites?

Looking at the horde of scorpions tearing through the female elf’s thin layer of skin, fighting to emerge, Yang Ling instantly felt his scalp crawl!