Chapter 26: Fierce Horned Rhinoceros

The next day at dawn.

Duke, carrying a large bag, boarded the Black Beetle Car early.

The car would wait for a while before departing, so he closed his eyes and rested, focusing his inner vision on his Sea of Spirit.

In the brilliant starry ocean, the Nine-Ring Xiaoyi and the One-Ring Desert Eagle were like two dazzling stars, with a faint pool of translucent light blue liquid nearby.

This was spiritual liquid.

There were a total of 348 drops, the result of Xiaoyi's continuous cultivation through practice day and night.

"Master, according to Xiaoyi's calculations, when the spiritual liquid gathers to 360 drops, a quantitative change will cause a qualitative change, condensing into a line and forming the first energy line." With Xiaoyi's computational power, Duke had a good grasp of his Sea of Spirit's condition.

"Well, not bad, not bad. How many more days of practice do you think it will take to condense into a line?"

"At the current rate of practice, it will take about another month."

Duke estimated quietly, "A month... I opened my Sea of Spirit on May 23rd, officially practiced meditation at the end of May, and today is June 21st. In other words, it took me two months to advance from a one-star spiritual apprentice to a two-star spiritual apprentice... This speed is actually not slow."

His talent for Sea of Spirit cultivation was slightly above average, and he had opened it with the help of potions.

To advance one star in two months was comparable to those natural-born Sea of Spirit talents, and it was definitely not worse than the geniuses among them.

There was a record of this in the book "Unlocking Spiritual Magic."

There was a great arcane mage who, on the day he opened his Sea of Spirit as a child, spontaneously comprehended a closed energy route, then solidified it into a spiritual core, and ascended to become a 1-ring arcane mage.

People were different, and it was enough to make one jealous.

Of course.

Duke wasn't resentful. He already had the Nine-Ring Xiaoyi—according to the principles of spiritual magic, arcane mages couldn't control arcane artifacts that were of a higher level than themselves, so he was essentially a 9-ring arcane mage now.

Even though this change was due to his transmigration.

But with Xiaoyi's presence, Duke believed he could reach the unparalleled realm of the 9th ring.

Woo woo woo!

The sound of the steam whistle echoed through the West Station. The Black Beetle Car slowly moved along the gravel road, leaving behind the billowing black smoke of Chenjiao City, and the sky above regained its blue color.

When the journey was halfway, the Black Beetle Car suddenly stopped.

They encountered a spirit beast blocking the way ahead.

Two accompanying knights got off the car, and one of them happened to be Sir Owen, who had given a public lecture at the Arcane Society. They each carried knight swords and knight shields.

"Everyone, stay calm. The creature blocking the route is a 2-ring spirit beast, the Fierce Horned Rhinoceros. We will need to struggle a bit to get through," a conductor came to the carriage to reassure the passengers.

Duke leaned against the window, carefully observing the scene outside.

Although they had encountered spirit beasts blocking their path more than once, every clash between supernatural powers thrilled him, and he wanted to thoroughly explore the origins of these powers.

"Roar!"

A panther's roar sounded, and Sir Owen's contracted spirit beast, a 1-ring spirit beast called the Swift Black Panther, jumped down from the car's roof. It followed Sir Owen into battle.

The other knight's contracted spirit beast, a 1-ring spirit beast called the Long-Horned Antelope, also jumped down from the car's roof.

The two knights mounted their respective steeds, and from the left and right directions, they approached the Fierce Horned Rhinoceros. The rhinoceros resembled a rhino in size, but its body was more slender, and its single horn on its head was spiral-shaped.

There was no need for any communication between words.

The knights attacked fiercely from the left and right. Sword energy burst forth from their knight swords and struck at the neck of the Fierce Horned Rhinoceros.

The Fierce Horned Rhinoceros leaped agilely, and then its spiral horn suddenly burst into flames, resembling agile fish, flying left and right to intercept the two sword energies.

Sizzle.

The sword energy and flames extinguished together.

The Fierce Horned Rhinoceros scraped its front hooves against the ground, and the spiral horn once again gathered flames, slamming towards the left side.

The knight on the left, riding the Long-Horned Antelope, leaped and evaded the fiery attack. However, the next second, the flames changed direction and continued to bombard the knight's back.

"Hmph!"

The knight snorted coldly, raised his shield with his right hand, and turned to block.

Boom!

The flames burst on the knight's circular shield, causing no harm to him.

On the other side, Sir Owen, riding the Swift Black Panther, shot like a shadow towards the Fierce Horned Rhinoceros. His knight sword traced a mysterious angle and stabbed directly at the area beneath the rhinoceros's belly.

The Fierce Horned Rhinoceros twisted its body frantically, but the knight's sword still grazed its belly.

Squelch.

Blood dripped.

"Roar!" The Fierce Horned Rhinoceros growled angrily.

Its massive body started to brutally charge, racing toward Sir Owen. However, the Swift Black Panther beneath Sir Owen seemed like a black lightning bolt, dodging a few times to evade its charge.

Taking advantage of Sir Owen's distraction, the other knight quietly approached the rhinoceros from behind and attacked its anus mercilessly with his sword.

Before the tip of the sword could touch its rear end.

The Fierce Horned Rhinoceros was jolted like it had been electrified. Its massive body leaped high into the air and then stomped heavily on the ground. With a twist of its tail, it was about to collide with the other knight.

The other knight spurred his Long-Horned Antelope, swiftly moving away from the collision.

Then, Sir Owen, riding the Swift Black Panther, quietly approached, delivering a swift sword thrust to the Fierce Horned Rhinoceros. Sword energy surged, leaving a not-too-serious wound on the rhinoceros's back.

After being toyed with by the two knights, the Fierce Horned Rhinoceros, after a fit of helpless rage, finally regained a trace of sobriety.

It turned and ran.

Seeing it move away from the route, the two knights didn't pursue, silently returning to the Black Beetle Car.

After all, 2-ring spirit beasts were powerful. It was difficult to kill them without full preparation, and it was also uncertain whether the Fierce Horned Rhinoceros had any companions nearby. Chasing it away was the best way to handle the situation.

"Although the Seven Pagoda Federation is ruled by arcane mages, they are still few in number. The main combat force of the Federation is still the knight class."

Duke looked forward even more to opening his Sea of Blood.

When the Black Beetle Car stopped at the Snakehead Town station, he couldn't wait any longer and went to a new potion shop. He spent eleven silver dragons to purchase a Blood Boiling Potion.

Returning home.

The door was still locked.

Duke opened it and could hear faint noises coming from above the ceiling.

He quickly opened the ceiling, took out a box, and inside it was a palm-sized young Long-Haired Mongoose. It was already howling from hunger, having finished the prepared bottle of milk long ago.

"It has a huge appetite!"

Duke picked up the little cub and felt that in just a few days, it had grown significantly.

At this moment, the young Long-Haired Mongoose, whose eyes had been closed, suddenly started to flutter its eyelids. In Duke's eager gaze, it slowly opened its eyes.

"Chirp chirp." The little cub called out to Duke.

Its small eyes were filled with bright and clear light, and its gaze was devoid of fear.

It was said that a spirit beast would recognize its master when it opened its eyes, but Duke had recently read many books on spirit beasts and found that it wasn't entirely true. Recognition required long-term domestication and nurturing to form a behavioral pattern.

However, spirit beasts would feel close to the first thing they saw, and this was well-documented.

Of course, spirit beasts came in all shapes and sizes, and generalizations were not always accurate.

He had found records of the Long-Haired Mongoose in books. This 2-ring spirit beast mainly relied on scent to judge.

The reason the little cub was fond of Duke was probably because he had been feeding it every day for the past few days, making it familiar with his scent and regarding Duke as its closest companion.

"Here, have some." Duke brewed a cup of milk powder.

The young cub held the bottle with its front paws, clamped the pacifier in its mouth like a squirrel, and gulped down large mouthfuls. When the bottle was empty, it let out a satisfied burp and found a comfortable corner in the box, stretching lazily before falling asleep again.

Duke shifted his gaze away.

He took out the recently purchased Blood Boiling Potion, took a deep breath, downed the vial of potion in one go, and then rinsed it twice with water before drinking it again to make sure there was no residue left.

Then, he waited.

"Xiaoyi, I'll leave it to you now."