Felix Xi took a deep breath. "We set out tonight. Keep it under wraps."
"You got it!" Grace replied cheerfully.
That night, they set off for Eastwood Forest.
By dawn the next day, the three of them had reached the depths of the forest.
Here, borders didn’t matter anymore. The spirit beasts were terrifyingly powerful, and most people wouldn’t dare come this far.
"Grace, I’m kind of scared," Rona Yin—usually fearless—flew so close she was practically glued to Grace. "Are we going into the woods?"
"Nope. The Golden Ganoderma grows on the cliffside," Grace said. "Let’s search the cliffs and avoid the beasts in the woods."
"Thank goodness," Rona Yin breathed a sigh of relief. "My eagle is super fast—most flying beasts can’t catch us."
"Can we have a little backbone? We haven’t even started and you’re already thinking about running away!"
"Will backbone save me when things get dangerous?"
Grace thought for a moment. "Probably not."
"But running away can."
Grace was left speechless by her comeback.
The three of them circled the cliffside from above.
Suddenly, a flash of gold reflected into Grace’s eyes.
She lit up instantly, dropped down to mid-mountain, and spotted the Golden Ganoderma.
It looked a bit like orchid grass, speckled with tiny golden dots that sparkled in the sunlight—a clear sign it was no ordinary plant.
This cliff was at least ten thousand feet high.
Halfway up, there was a jutting platform.
At the very back of the platform was a pitch-black cave entrance.
That cluster of Golden Ganoderma grew right at the cave entrance, giving the whole place a mystical, otherworldly vibe.
The three of them hid behind a large boulder not far from the platform, whispering to each other.
"There’s definitely a guardian beast near the Golden Ganoderma," Grace said. "Whatever it is, it’s inside that cave."
"Any idea what it could be?"
"Hey, it’s coming out! It’s coming out!"
......
The three of them stared wide-eyed at the cave, which was nearly ten meters tall.
A massive spirit beast emerged. Standing upright, it was at least fifteen meters tall, covered in dark purple scales. It had a snake’s body, a dragon’s face, spiked back, four wings, and glowing green eyes.
"That’s a Feathered Serpent," Grace gulped. "This is going to be tough!"
"Feathered Serpent?" Rona Yin thought for a moment. "That’s an earth-class spirit beast!"
On the Ten Wilds Continent, people are used to ranking everything into four classes: Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow.
Spirit beasts are no exception.
Those born with noble bloodlines and incredible combat power are classified as Heaven-class and Earth-class spirit beasts.
The more ordinary ones fall into the Mystic and Yellow classes.
This Feathered Serpent was an earth-class spirit beast.
Their defenses are insane, they can fly, have brute strength, and can even breathe fire. If you run into one, your best bet is—run.
A few light brown baby Feathered Serpents followed the adult out of the cave.
The baby Feathered Serpents were way cuter, only as tall as a person and clearly just hatched. They looked adorable—sweet and clever.
But just like people, some are smart and some are... not so much. Apparently, the same goes for Feathered Serpents.
One of the baby Feathered Serpents was much darker than the others—almost pitch black, and honestly, pretty ugly.
Plus, its movements were especially clumsy—stumbling all over the place, barely able to walk straight.
The big Feathered Serpent led them to the edge of the cliff, then suddenly bared its fangs at the clumsy baby, looking fierce.
The clumsy baby Feathered Serpent looked up at its mother with scared eyes, backing away again and again.
The big Feathered Serpent kept getting closer, hissing loudly.
"What’s the big Feathered Serpent doing?" Rona Yin whispered.