Chapter 118: Class 5 Cub
Everyone looked at Jian Chen as Deere asked, “Jian Chen, why don’t you make this decision?”
Jian Chen poked at the campfire with a tree branch and said absentmindedly, “Captain Kendall’s decision is the best, I have no disagreements.”
Captain Kendall hesitated for a moment before looking back at everyone else, “Since brother Jian Chen has no disagreements, then tomorrow morning we shall leave the Magical Beast Mountain Range and rest up for a few days in Wake City. Brother Jian Chen had fought Class 3 Magical Beasts continuously, so I am sure even he is tired by now.” For the first time, Captain Kendall’s voice held some hesitation in it. Class 3 Magical Beasts were something the Flame Mercenaries had always wanted to provoke in order to test their own strength. These past few days of following Jian Chen’s lead, they had picked up many Class 3 Magical Beast corpses and strengthened themselves. This type of situation had given the Flame Mercenaries an incomparably matchless amount of happiness. If their conditions allowed it, then everyone would have loved to stay around the Magical Beast Mountain Range for a few more days.
However, they knew in their hearts that while Jian Chen had suffered virtually no injuries after fighting battle after battle against Class 3 Magical Beasts, he had to be exhausted. Jian Chen needed to rest and readjust his body.
“When we return, the very first thing we have to do is to handle the corpses of the Magical Beast. The longer they stay in the Space Belts the faster they’ll go stale which will bring down the price.” Xia Dao poked at his Space Belt as he spoke.
Following Xiao Dao’s action, the others subconsciously reached out to touch their Space Belts as well. Right now, each of them had 1-2, and some even had 3-4 smaller Class 3 Magical Beast carcasses stored within them. In addition, the items originally inside their Space Belts had all been transferred to Captain Kendall. After all, none of their family properties were worth much anyways.
At that moment, a savory scent wafted into the air from the campfire, it was the smell of the pieces of the Magical Beast meat being cooked to a golden color as the tender fat began to drip down slowly due to caramelization. The fat continued to drip down to the floor causing everyone to hear it.
Smelling the dense aroma let loose everyone’s appetites. Some people’s stomachs even began to growl loudly.
Suddenly, Jian Chen’s ears twitched. He abruptly turned around to look behind him. The moment he looked back, he saw that a petite, animal-like body shot toward him from the distance, as fast as lightning. Jian Chen’s vision blurred for a mere second, but that was enough time for the petite figure to approach him.
“Everyone be careful!” Jian Chen cried out. Unable to have enough time to identify what type of magical beast this was. Both of his hands slapped onto the ground as he leapt up from his sitting posture on the floor. Flying in midair, Jian Chen’s Light Wind Sword instantaneously appeared within Jian Chen’s right hand.
The rest of the Flame Mercenaries weren’t slow to react either. As soon as they heard Jian Chen’s cry, all of the people had stood up from their spots, and materialized their Spirit Weapons, cautiously surveying their surroundings.
Jian Chen’s body rolled through the air until he landed 3 meters away on the ground. His eyes stared at the campfire and then at the small beast right next to it.
The little beast looked quite adorable. It had pure gold fur which shone under the fire’s illumination, practically radiating a mist of light. Its eyes were locked onto the barbeque cooking over the fire, which was currently emitting an extremely savory aroma. It continuously licked its lips with its small tongue to wet them, as its front claws eagerly shifted on the ground where it stood. It looked like it was extremely impatient.
Seeing that the small beast in front of him wasn’t even 0.33m long, Jian Chen immediately let loose a breath. Based on the small beast’s appearance, it was evident that it had been enticed by the magical beast meat’s delicious aroma.
“Jian Chen, just what happened exactly?” Kendall’s voice rang out. The moment he had heard Jian Chen’s voice, he had immediately went on guard as he observed what was happening around him, but whatever was happening he didn’t notice.
Jian Chen bitterly smiled, “Nothing really. It was just that, that thing suddenly ran out.” Jian Chen extended his finger to point at the little beast currently standing in front of the fire.
Hearing this, everyone looked at the direction Jian Chen pointed at. It was only at that moment that they realized there was a small beast there.
“That’s....” A few people exchanged surprised glances.
Kendall walked forward a few steps as he investigated the area and then at the small beast there before revealing a thinking expression. “It looks like this is the cub of a Magical Beast. Jian Chen, do you think you can figure out where this cub came from or what type of magical beast it is?’
Jian Chen unhurriedly approached the little beast, and slowly crouched down to survey the little beast. The beast wasn’t the least bit afraid of the strangers surrounding it; it didn’t even bother to glance at them. Its eyes were instead completely locked onto the cooking meat. It might have been because it wasn’t scared of people, or it might’ve been because it was still young, but it did not seem afraid at all.
Seeing the little beast in such a state, Jian Chen couldn’t help but smile. He reached a hand out to grab one of the meat skewers, and ripped off a piece of the golden, cooked meat. He then waved it in front of the beast’s nose, letting it smell it a bit more.
“Aooo!” “Aooo!””Aooo!”
The little beast’s eyes were now tightly locked onto the piece of meat that Jian Chen had ripped off, and it began to stamp its four hooves impatiently. Finally, its entire body stood up, and it continued to cry out ‘Ao ao!’ as saliva fell from the corners of its mouth.
Seeing how much the little beast wanted to eat the piece of meat. Jian Chen stopped enticing it, and directly placed the meat into its mouth. The little beast immediately extended its two front claws to tightly hug the piece of meat. Then it directly placed it into its mouth to wolf it down, completely unafraid of how hot it was.
Jian Chen extended his hand to turn the cub. At this moment he was sizing it up, and the cub hadn’t yet realized that it was being looked at by a few other people. It continued to stuff the pieces of magical beast meat in its mouth.
Looking at the cub, Jian Chen’s face gradually grew brighter as an excited smile appeared on it.
“Jian Chen, have you figured out what type of magical beast this is or where it’s from?” Chang Ning Feng asked as he watched the reactions on Jian Chen’s face.
Jian Chen slowly put down the cub as he said excitedly, “If I’m not wrong about my information, then this should be the cub of the Class 5 Golden Fur Tiger King.”
“What, the cub of a Class 5 Golden Fur Tiger King? Jian Chen, are you sure you aren’t mistaken?” Kabolds covered his mouth in surprise, his tone unable to hide his astonishment. Everyone else had similar expressions of shock and disbelief as well.
The cub of the Class 5 Golden Fur Tiger King; although it wasn’t too strong, this type of magical beast still had a plethora of superior innate advantages. When it becomes an adult, it would have the strength of aa Earth Saint Master without any obstructions. It could even be said that it was smooth sailing for it while having a large amount of room to improve unlike regular magical beasts. After its adulthood, there was still an endless road of cultivation to be had so it could slowly improve its strength, but whether or not it could cultivate long enough to become a Class 5 Magical Beast, that could not be said for sure.
Jian Chen sized up the little beast that was currently eating with relish, and said, “I shouldn’t be wrong.” Jian Chen had already read quite a few books about magical beasts back at Kargath Academy’s library. Thus, Jian Chen knew majority of the magical beast types in Tian Yun Continent. The most eye-catching thing on a Golden Fur Tiger King was its pure golden fur, as well as the symbol for “King” being imprinted onto it. It was for this reason that Jian Chen could say for sure what type of beast this was.
TL Note: 王 is the symbol for King
The Flame Mercenaries all inhaled sharply. Currently, all of their hearts were uncontrollably racing. Although a Class 5 Magical Beast cub’s strength was far from an actual Class 5, as well as the fact that it would still take quite a while for it to reach adulthood, its value was far more than an adult Class 5 Magical Beast.
This was because an adult Class 5 Magical Beast already possessed basic intelligence, and would rather die than become a human’s pet or mount. That’s why taming an adult magical beast was incomparably difficult. However, a young magical beast was different; because it had yet to mature, taming it was extremely easy. Moreover, it was much easier to foster a relationship with one. If one started taming a Class 5 Magical Beast while it was still a cub, it would not only have the strength of any other Class 5 Magical Beast when it reached adulthood, it would also continue to grow, and could reach Class 6. There was even a possibility that it could become a Class 7 Magical Beast.
The most important thing was that during this time, the bonds between the cub and its tamer would be very deep. This way, there would be no need to expend as much effort to get a strong magical beast that would be extremely loyal to its master and would never betray him. So for that reason, the cub of a Class 5 Magical Beast would be priceless in the market. If the cub of a Class 5 Magical Beast were to appear, then there would be many strong parties that would try to fight over it.
“I hadn’t thought that we’d actually discover a Class 5 Magical Beast cub. Moreover, it was a cub that approached us by itself. Our luck is really amazing.” Xiao Dao said in excitement.
“Haha, if we sell this Class 5 Magical Beast cub, I wonder how much money we can get.” Hu Po said in a tone that was just as excited. He looked at the Golden Fur Tiger King cub as if it were a mountain of glittering gold.
Kabolds’ face grew even more excited for a moment before turning serious. “It doesn’t matter whether or not if we can sell it for a higher price, if we can capture it for sure, then in our future, we won’t ever need to come back to the Magical Beast Mountain Range and hunt for money. Right now, the only problem is that the parents of this cub are somewhere, if we were to come across them somehow, then we would definitely not make it out alive. After all a Class 5 Magical Beast is far beyond our capabilities.” Kabolds’ gaze became more concentrated as he surveyed his surroundings before saying, “The most important question is, how are we are going to transport the cub?”