"The Crazy Lion Mercenary Group and the Magic Mountain Mercenary Group are going to war?"
Mo Yu was stunned upon hearing this news, then he rubbed his chin.
He didn't expect that in just one day, the Crazy Lion Mercenary Group had already caused trouble for the Magic Mountain Mercenary Group. The way mercenary groups resolve issues was indeed much more violent and direct than Family forces.
The strength of these two mercenary groups was similar, so it was likely that in the end, nothing would come of it.
However, this matter had little to do with Mo Yu. He didn't care who won or lost between the Crazy Lion Mercenary Group and the Magic Mountain Mercenary Group.
But the earth core soul fruit was in Mo Yu's hands, and if the Crazy Lion Mercenary Group found any clues, they might suspect him, as many mercenaries had seen him enter the town with Se Xi and others.
"Young Master, you're awake."
Qing Lin had woken up at some point. When she saw Mo Yu sleeping in the chair, a hint of guilt flashed across her delicate, melon-seed shaped face.
"Young Master, you don't have to be so good to Qing Lin. Qing Lin… is just a maid," the little girl stammered, touched.
"Hehe, Qing Lin is of course my maid, my unique maid in my heart, no one can replace her," Mo Yu said with a light chuckle, stroking the little girl's head.
He didn't truly regard Qing Lin as a maid, but since the little girl liked to call him Young Master, Mo Yu simply went along with it.
"Alright, get me a basin of water. I'm going to wash up," Mo Yu deliberately instructed.
Hearing Mo Yu's command, Qing Lin responded happily, her small face beaming with joy.
Everything that had happened along the way made Qing Lin feel useless, believing herself to be a burden and a drag on her Young Master.
However, with Mo Yu's recent comfort and instructions, the little girl's mood immediately improved significantly.
Seeing this, Mo Yu shook his head with a wry smile. Probably no one knew better than him how terrifying Qing Lin was. To grow from a Dou Zhe to a Dou Zun in less than ten years, such an achievement was probably unmatched.
"Oh right… Young Master, last night I seemed to sense… something truly strange deep within the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range," Qing Lin said hesitantly, bringing the washing water.
Upon hearing this, Mo Yu was first startled, then his eyes narrowed slightly, as if he had thought of something. He asked, "What did you sense?"
Under Mo Yu's gaze, a hint of nervousness appeared on Qing Lin's small face as she stammered, "I don't know if my sensing is accurate… but there does seem to be some unusual activity in the northern part of the Magical Beast Mountain Range?"
"Oh, how did you sense it?" Mo Yu asked, wiping his face with a towel.
"I… I don't know. Qing Lin only knows that this aura… is somewhat similar to some Bloodline within me, and in front of that aura, even Purple Fire is much, much weaker," Qing Lin whispered, carefully clinging to Mo Yu.
"As expected." Hearing Qing Lin's words, a look of understanding appeared in Mo Yu's eyes.
What Qing Lin sensed was most likely correct, because residing deep in the northern part of the Magical Beast Mountain Range was the king of the Lizard clan, the Black Lizard Demon Snake King.
The Black Lizard Demon Snake King is a sixth-rank Demonic Beast, possessing the Bloodline of snakes, and Qing Lin also possesses the Bloodline of snake-people. Furthermore, the existence of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils makes it very normal for Qing Lin to sense the Black Lizard Demon Snake King.
Could it be that the Black Lizard Demon Snake King also set its sights on the Heavenly Flame?
Thinking of this, Mo Yu frowned. Heavenly Flames were the bane of cold-attributed Demonic Beasts like lizards and snakes. What would the Black Lizard Demon Snake King need a Heavenly Flame for? He wasn't Medusa; could he really evolve?
Shaking his head, Mo Yu stopped pondering this. For now, it was better to first investigate the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range.
After washing up, the two walked out of the inn together.
"Today, we are entering the northern part of the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range."
In the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range, Demonic Beasts run rampant and dangers abound. Traveling alone is most likely to attract attacks from Demonic Beasts. Therefore, mercenaries who enter the mountains, except for a few who are exceptionally skilled and daring, mostly go in groups.
However, with Mo Yu's current strength, coupled with his Demonic Beast Purple Fire, he no longer needed to be as cautious as when he first left Wutan City and entered the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
The only thing to be careful of was the Lizard clan living in the northern part of the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range.
Stepping out of the town gate, Mo Yu and Qing Lin walked quietly through the silent forest.
Outside the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range, everything was still relatively peaceful. However, not long after Mo Yu and Qing Lin entered the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range, a small-scale Demonic Beast attack was cruelly displayed before Qing Lin.
The attackers were three first-rank Demonic Beasts called Ice Centipedes. These Demonic Beasts were quite common in the outer areas of the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range. They had an ice attribute and carried a cold poison within their ice. If someone poisoned was not treated within half a day, their blood would be frozen by the cold poison, leading to death.
Three first-rank Demonic Beasts, Red Ice Snakes, hung from tree branches. Taking advantage of a sleeping second-rank Wind Shadow Leopard, they swiftly, like lightning, injected cold poison into the second-rank Demonic Beast. Immediately, the second-rank Demonic Beast went limp, its limbs turning cold.
The poisoned Wind Shadow Leopard, after desperately taking down one Ice Centipede, finally succumbed to the poison's erosion and collapsed, eventually being devoured by the Ice Centipedes as food.
This scene was coincidentally witnessed by Mo Yu and Qing Lin, who were passing by. After devouring the Wind Shadow Leopard, these two Ice Centipedes actually set their sights on Mo Yu and Qing Lin. However, in the next moment, they were directly struck down by a bolt of lightning from the young man.
Seeing this, Qing Lin's small face also tightened considerably, and she carefully followed Mo Yu.
Having followed Mo Yu for quite some time, Qing Lin knew that the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range was fraught with danger, even more so than the Tagore Desert.
After walking less than a few hundred meters, they had already encountered three waves of Demonic Beast attacks. Fortunately, Mo Yu's current strength was extraordinary, and he had slain all the attacking Demonic Beasts.
As they walked to a dense tree, Mo Yu paused, suddenly stopping. To Qing Lin's puzzled expression, he coldly said to the empty space behind him, "Come out. You've been following me for so long; you must be tired."
When the words fell, there was no movement, only the rustling of leaves in the wind continuously reaching their ears.
Seeing this, Mo Yu sneered, "In that case, don't blame me for being impolite!"
As his voice fell, a terrifying scarlet lightning flame instantly appeared in Mo Yu's hand. With the appearance of the Vermillion Bird Sky-Burning Lightning, most of the forest felt its terrifying power.
Just as the young man was about to make a move, several middle-aged mercenary men suddenly emerged from behind a large tree.
Seeing the Crazy Lion emblem on the mercenary uniforms of these burly men, Mo Yu frowned and said, "People from the Crazy Lion Mercenary Group?"
As early as when he left the town, Mo Yu had sensed someone behind him, but at first, he thought it was a mercenary squad going the same way and paid no attention.
However, along the way, this squad had been following him, clearly with the intention of tracking Mo Yu.
So, after casually dealing with a second-rank Demonic Beast, Mo Yu forced the people behind him to show themselves.
When he discovered they were from the Crazy Lion Mercenary Group, Mo Yu was surprised. He hadn't expected them to shift their attention to him so quickly.
"Gentlemen, you've been following me for so long, what can I do for you?" Mo Yu asked, his expression cold, as he looked at the Crazy Lion mercenaries in front of him.
The mercenaries from the Crazy Lion Mercenary Group exchanged glances upon hearing Mo Yu's words. Finally, the leading captain cupped his hands towards Mo Yu and said, "Little brother, our leader invites you to our Crazy Lion Mercenary Group headquarters for a talk."
Yesterday, their Crazy Lion Mercenary Group not only lost three leaders and dozens of brothers, but also lost a treasure. All of this was related to the Magic Mountain Mercenary Group.
And Mo Yu appearing in town with the daughter of the Magic Mountain Mercenary Group's leader last night naturally aroused the suspicion of the Crazy Lion Mercenary Group's higher-ups.
Originally, their order was to forcibly take Mo Yu back for interrogation, but along the way, seeing Mo Yu's lightning-fast methods of slaying Demonic Beasts and that terrifying lightning, they involuntarily felt a bit weaker, so they changed it to an invitation.
As long as Mo Yu was tricked into the headquarters, their mission would be completed.
Upon hearing this, Mo Yu sneered. The Crazy Lion Mercenary Group's 'invitation' was clearly ill-intentioned, especially since the earth core soul fruit was indeed in his hands.
"Thank you for your leader's invitation, but I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave first." Mo Yu directly refused, then led Qing Lin deeper into the mountain range.
Seeing this, the Crazy Lion mercenaries exchanged glances, then their expressions turned ruthless. They immediately drew their weapons and chased after Mo Yu with sinister looks.
The few of them were clearly quite strong to have joined the Crazy Lion Mercenary Group. From the faint bloody scent emanating from their bodies, they were truly hardened fighters who had rolled in the jaws of death.
Even though Mo Yu had just displayed impressive strength, failing the mission would inevitably lead to punishment. It was better to fight to the death; they didn't believe that several people working together couldn't defeat a single young man.
Feeling the killing intent behind him, Mo Yu's lips curled into a cold smile.
Truly, there's a road to Heaven, but you refuse to take it; there's no gate to Hell, yet you insist on breaking in.
Let alone a few low-level Dou Shi, even if the leader of the Crazy Lion Mercenary Group personally arrived, Mo Yu wouldn't take them seriously.
Mo Yu didn't even turn his head. The scarlet lightning flame in his hand appeared at some point, and under Mo Yu's Soul control, it flashed towards the Crazy Lion mercenaries behind him.
And to those Crazy Lion mercenaries, they saw a scarlet lightning fire suddenly surge from the young man's body, then sweep towards them like a prairie fire.
The scarlet lightning flashed across the sky, and the few of them suddenly felt a tingling sensation on their skin, and a sense of deadly danger immediately surged into their hearts.
In the forest, their sinister expressions suddenly vanished. The Crazy Lion mercenaries were like ducks with their necks cut, mouths agape, desperately breathing. The killing intent on their faces gradually turned into shock, and their gaze towards the young man again was filled with the terror of a demon.
Without pausing, Mo Yu's mind stirred, and several crimson lightning flames shot out, finally landing lightly on the Crazy Lion mercenaries in full view of everyone.
"Boom!"
With a series of soft thuds, under that powerful lightning pressure, the mercenaries instantly turned into a charred black mess, utterly lifeless.
Mo Yu's expression remained calm. After easily dealing with the mercenaries, the Vermillion Bird Sky-Burning Lightning returned to the young man's body.
"Qing Lin, can you pinpoint the exact location of that strange sensation you had last night?"
After taking care of the Crazy Lion Mercenary Group mercenaries, Mo Yu and Qing Lin continued deeper into the mountain range. However, even with the map given by Liu Ye, facing this vast area, Mo Yu was at a loss for a moment, so he asked Qing Lin beside him.
If the Ten Thousand Beast Spirit Fire was truly related to the Black Lizard Demon Snake King, then he would have to plan carefully.
Hearing Mo Yu's question, Qing Lin was startled. After understanding the former's meaning, a solemn expression also appeared on her small face.
"Young Master, I can try." After speaking, Qing Lin carefully recalled her sensation from last night, then pointed towards the western direction and said, "Young Master, it's there."
Upon hearing this, Mo Yu's expression also became solemn. He immediately suppressed his Qi to an extremely low level. According to Qing Lin's sensation, to the west, there was a high possibility of the Black Lizard Demon Snake King, a powerful sixth-rank Demonic Beast no weaker than the Purple Crystal Lion King.
However, since things had come to this, Mo Yu could only brace himself and investigate.
"Let's go, Qing Lin. Stick close to me later," Mo Yu said in a deep voice.
"Okay, Young Master." Qing Lin also understood the gravity of the situation, and a hint of nervousness appeared on her small face. However, she then looked at Mo Yu; the young man's presence gave her an unprecedented sense of security.
With their Qi suppressed to an extremely low level, Mo Yu and Qing Lin slowly walked westward under Qing Lin's guidance.
Unconsciously, it was already nearing afternoon. After walking an unknown number of kilometers, they were getting closer and closer to the place Qing Lin had sensed.
"Young Master, we're here. It's this place," Qing Lin suddenly said after an unknown amount of time walking.
Upon hearing this, Mo Yu was startled, then looked at the flat terrain around them. It didn't look like a place where a Heavenly Flame would be hidden, did it?
"No, that's not right." Just as Mo Yu felt puzzled, his gaze suddenly fell upon the patch of weeds about ten meters in front of him. He vaguely felt that there was something strange there.
Thinking of this, Mo Yu no longer wasted words. He flicked his finger, and a bolt of lightning flame flew out, landing on the weeds.
The lightning fire descended, like dry kindling meeting a fierce blaze, directly incinerating the withered weeds.
At the same time, a pitch-black, enormous underground cave entrance suddenly appeared before Mo Yu and Qing Lin.
Mo Yu and Qing Lin exchanged glances, both showing a hint of surprise. They quickly went forward to inspect, only to see that the cave entrance was about two meters wide, completely dark, and a faint wisp of heat was rising from it.
Seeing this cave entrance, Mo Yu looked at Qing Lin, stroked her small head, and praised, "Little girl, well done!"
Noticing Mo Yu's gaze sweeping over, Qing Lin met his eyes, her small face slightly shy, then she playfully winked at him.
Looking at the little girl's face, which bloomed into a radiant smile because of this, Mo Yu smiled gently.
Slowly approaching the pitch-black cave entrance, he flipped his palm, and a moonstone appeared in his hand.
Looking at the dark cave entrance, Mo Yu said with a solemn expression, "I hope this trip yields a good harvest."