Chapter 14 Manticore and Griffin

A battle between griffins and manticores? Hearing this news, Li Mingxing's gaze inevitably turned northward. He was not surprised by the presence of griffins out on the sea, as griffins naturally favored coastal cliffs. However, the appearance of manticores on the ocean sparked his considerable interest. Ever since Li Mingxing had entered the Netherworld, this was the first time he had ever heard of this race, which was generally not favored by outsiders.

Regarding this race, Li Mingxing did not quite know what emotional attitude to adopt, nor how to insert himself into the conflict between the two factions. After pondering for a long time, he finally asked, "Why do these two races fight each other?"

"Who knows? It's probably either over territory or food. Battles across these waters almost always come down to these two reasons," the half-demon mermaid replied quite casually.

Li Mingxing merely smiled upon hearing this, though deep down he did not believe it was that simple. In his view, there had to be other underlying causes for the hostility between these two races. If he could uncover the root cause, perhaps he could resolve their grievances and recruit both races into his ranks to fight for him.

However, the most pressing matter right now was to have his subordinates make contact with both tribes. The best approach was to find someone to lead his griffins to the griffin tribe, while he himself led troops to the manticore tribe, sorting out all the issues between the two factions firsthand.

At this thought, Li Mingxing glanced over at Zheng, feeling a wave of hesitation. He knew that assigning this task to Zheng would be the best choice, but would she agree to his plan? Zheng had entered the Netherworld solely to stay by Li Mingxing's side, serving as the sword and shield in his hands; she was unwilling and unlikely to split up and act independently from him.

Ultimately, after weighing the likelihood of Zheng agreeing to take action, Li Mingxing decided to summon Aisha instead. "Aisha, can I trust you?"

Aisha was somewhat surprised by Li Mingxing's question. She blinked at him and replied, "Of course. I am forever your servant, and your will is my command."

"Very well. I now need you to undertake a rather dangerous mission—"

"No problem, I will complete this mission," Aisha interrupted, not letting Li Mingxing finish his sentence.

"Good." Seeing how readily Aisha accepted, Li Mingxing naturally said no more. He outlined his plan to her. Without a word of objection, Aisha stepped away from the dryad legion under her command, selected a few maidens who were developing along the path of raptor druids, transformed into ravens alongside them, took the griffins in tow, and flew off into the distance.

Compared to the flight speed of the griffins, the speed of Li Mingxing's ship was noticeably much slower. After about two days of travel, Li Mingxing and his forces finally arrived at the sea area mentioned by the half-demon mermaid. This maritime region differed somewhat from the waters where the half-demon mermaids resided; instead of numerous reefs scattered across the sea surface, this area featured seven or eight sheer cliffs rising straight out of the ocean. None of these cliffs were particularly large, with the biggest measuring only about five or six square kilometers.

Yet these cliffs were riddled with countless caves. While varying in size, the caves on each cliff shared a uniform architectural style. Some had feathers and branches piled outside their entrances, while others boasted openings polished to a mirror-like smoothness.

As for what lay atop the cliffs, Li Mingxing could not see from below. Nevertheless, he doubted there were any cities or similar structures up there.

When Li Mingxing arrived, it was precisely midday, with the sun hanging directly overhead. At this moment, the shadows cast by the eight cliffs were at their shortest. Bathed in the bright sunlight, Li Mingxing could see a massive school of fish, each over a meter long, swimming around the base of the cliffs.

These fish displayed remarkably vibrant colors, split between brilliant red and yellow. The two colored groups swam intermingled, occasionally squabbling over scraps of food, presenting a rather fascinating sight.

Just as Li Mingxing intended to observe these marine fish a bit longer to relax and rest from days of continuous travel, a piercing shriek echoed from the nearby cliffs, and instantly, griffins and manticores burst forth from their respective caves.

To Li Mingxing's astonishment, the manticores emerged from the caves piled with feathers and branches, while the griffins rushed out from the flawlessly smooth openings.

Beyond this, these creatures differed somewhat from the standard varieties. The smallest of the manticores soaring through the sky was a size larger than Li Mingxing himself. Their bodies were not the purple shade of Li Mingxing's own form, but a remarkably pure, deep blue. A drop or two of blue liquid dripped from their venomous tail stingers. From the effortless way they flapped their wings, it was evident that these manticores possessed a strength far exceeding Li Mingxing's by more than a mere margin.

In contrast, the griffins appeared much more normal. The ones flying in the sky resembled the standard griffins Li Mingxing had always heard of, sporting feathers of yellowish-green that lent them a spirited appearance. This was the fundamental coloration of griffins, and Li Mingxing's own subordinates looked much the same, though subsequent promotions to Royal Griffins would turn the feathers on their heads and shoulders white, while ascending to Bloody Griffins would dye those areas blood-red.

Regardless of their coloration, once these manticores and griffins burst from their caves, they did not immediately engage in aerial combat; instead, they first set about foraging for their daily sustenance.

At that moment, Li Mingxing finally uncovered the root cause of the conflict between these two aerial overlords. It turned out that both manticores and griffins preyed upon the huge fish swimming beneath the cliffs, but their methods of handling the catch differed completely.

Griffins preferred to seize the marine fish and haul them straight up to the cliff tops to consume, their eagle-like talons granting them great convenience for this task.

Manticores, however, were entirely different. All four of a manticore's limbs resembled those of a lion. While they possessed claws, these were suited for striking rather than grasping objects, and their jaws were incapable of biting into a human-sized fish. Consequently, their primary habit was to use their venomous scorpion tails to poison a fish, then drag it down to the sea surface beneath the cliffs to eat.

Ordinarily, these two methods were merely matters of differing habit, but the scorpion venom ultimately became the greatest catalyst for friction between the manticores and the griffins. It should be noted that these marine fish were essentially scavengers, surviving by consuming the leftovers discarded by manticores and griffins.

However, the leftovers of the manticores invariably carried traces of their venom, which inevitably contaminated a portion of the fish. While manticores were immune to this mild poison, griffins despised it entirely, and thus the warfare between the two races began.

Initially, the two factions engaged in minor skirmishes due to their respective strengths—after all, the fish were so abundant that both races could hardly finish them all. But as the fish population split distinctly into red venomous ones and yellow non-venomous ones, the conflict escalated.

From the griffins' perspective, any red fish encountered should simply be slaughtered wholesale. Since manticores used venom every time they hunted anyway, the griffins cared little whether the fish were naturally toxic or not. The manticores, however, argued that fish tainted with their venom tasted far better. Over this trivial disagreement, the two races waged battle after battle.

By now, this had practically become a tradition for both species. Every day at noon, they would fly out from their caves to forage. Once stuffed, the griffins would toss their leftovers into the sea and embark on a massacre of the red fish.

Meanwhile, the manticores would launch counterattacks to protect those red fish. These skirmishes would rage on until dusk. As for whether casualties occurred during the fighting, that was none of these creatures' concern; to beings whose power had already reached a certain tier, life was simply a cycle of waking up, eating, fighting, and dying.

Of course, although Li Mingxing had figured out the cause of the war between the two races, he had not yet reached the depth of understanding required to single-handedly resolve their grievances. Seeing that the twenty-two griffins he had dispatched along with Aisha were not participating in the fray, Li Mingxing halted his advance, parking his ship at a distance to observe the strength of the griffins and manticores.

Naturally, what Li Mingxing observed most closely were the combat techniques of the manticores. After all, as a manticore himself, Li Mingxing's current fighting style still relied on minor tricks learned from combat leopards, completely lacking the proper style a true manticore should exhibit.

These manticores were different. They underwent specialized training and engaged in daily combat practice, allowing them to thoroughly understand their instincts as manticores and unleash their true potential. Watching such battles made Li Mingxing's blood boil. He felt that if he could master the proper combat style of a manticore from these creatures, he would be able to fully unleash the power of his phantom form.

Driven by this thought, Li Mingxing stepped off his ship and directly into the ocean. Mimicking the movements of the manticores in the sky, he swam up and down beneath the waves. Although the water resistance was heavy, he practiced movement after movement, losing all track of time.