Chapter 19 Choosing the Prey

The scarred manticore appeared at the top of the cliff after all the manticores had learned the skill of flight and certain restrictions had been imposed.

Giving Li Mingxing a profound look, it said, "Very well, you have completed the first step. Now comes your mission. According to the rules of the youth trial, you must bring back a certain amount of prey within five days as your score for the trial. However, I must remind you that although this trial selects only the top five, if the strength of the prey does not exceed your own by at least double, it will be deemed a complete failure. Furthermore, only a single prey is allowed; trying to win by quantity is strictly prohibited."

Having said this, the manticore flew back into its original cave. Once it departed, the remaining manticores leaped off the cliff one after another, leaving only Li Mingxing behind to ponder the task at hand.

Li Mingxing did not know whether this condition had been part of the trial from the beginning or if the manticore had deliberately added it. Still, he understood that such a restriction posed a significant hassle for him. Without it, he could have had his subordinates slaughter multiple prey or disrupted the other manticores from completing their tasks. But now, he had no choice but to figure out a way to hunt down a single, formidable target.

In the nearby waters, the strongest creatures were the local griffins, and he figured those manticores would undoubtedly go cause trouble for them. Consequently, the griffins would become much more vigilant during this period. Li Mingxing had no desire to face a flock of griffins alone, nor did he intend to lead his subordinate troops against a group of them.

To this end, Li Mingxing retrieved the map he had obtained from the Dark Alliance and searched it for the habitats of any monsters within a two-day journey from this cliffside sea area. In the blink of an eye, he found one—a deep-sea region just a day's travel away, inhabited by a creature resembling a sea thunder dragon.

The strength of this creature was around the sixth tier, but precisely because of its immense power, there was usually only one such beast per sea area. Naturally, both the manticores and the griffins were aware of the sea thunder dragon's existence. However, neither species frequently left their own waters, and since the sea thunder dragon never came over to cause trouble, there had never been any major conflict between them.

Moreover, even the strongest juvenile manticore was only at the second tier, while Li Mingxing's own strength, by standard calculations, was barely above the first tier. Normal youth trials never involved cooperative attacks, so for many years, neither manticores nor griffins had ever set their sights on this sea thunder dragon.

This time, however, Li Mingxing was the exception. The reason he felt so confident about dealing with the sea thunder dragon, aside from his existing troops, was a much more crucial factor: he possessed a squad of twelve Deity Warriors.

These Deity Warriors were all at the fifth tier, and their combined attack could strip even a sixth-tier powerful creature of any chance of survival. Furthermore, these Deity Warriors were the only troops in Li Mingxing's possession that he did not need to worry about consuming. Even if every single one of them perished, Li Mingxing could easily summon them once more from the Temple of Di Jun.

With these thoughts in mind, Li Mingxing calculated his plan of action and finally leaped slowly from the top of the cliff. Landing in the vast ocean, a new idea seemed to strike him. Instead of taking his ships away, he asked Zheng about the method the manticores had used earlier when departing.

Upon hearing that the manticores had simply swum from the sea to various corners of the cliffside, a flash of shrewdness crossed Li Mingxing's eyes. Although he had not yet fully grasped the manticores' ultimate intentions, it was practically certain that they intended to hunt for prey among the nearby griffins.

What Li Mingxing needed to do now was ensure these fellows remained oblivious to his own plans. After all, even if that scarred manticore had spoken those words, Li Mingxing did not believe for a second that these manticores would refrain from sabotaging his hunting expedition.

Therefore, he pretended to be entirely clueless about the local circumstances, biding his time as he searched for an opportunity. When the sun rose from the ocean horizon the next day, Li Mingxing seized his chance and left the sea area with Zheng.

Before departing, however, he notified Aisha, instructing her to bring a portion of the griffins to Li Mingxing's fleet every day to serve as a cover for his sudden disappearance.

After using up a chance to fly and speeding closely behind a black dragon for nearly half a day, Li Mingxing arrived at the deep sea not far from the cliffside waters. According to the map, this deep sea was a rather special place: an abyss over ten thousand meters deep spanned an area of only five kilometers in diameter, while the rest consisted of shallow waters less than a hundred meters deep.

It was said that this topography was entirely caused by the destruction wrought by that sea thunder dragon. Accustomed to staying in the deep sea, yet forced by certain circumstances to remain here, the creature spent its time after every meal constantly unleashing the lightning from its body to ravage the ocean floor.

It had kept this up for centuries. Evolving from a second-tier juvenile sea thunder dragon left behind back then into the robust sixth-tier sea thunder dragon of today, it had carved out this ten-thousand-meter-deep abyss.

Though unfamiliar with the specific traits of this sea thunder dragon, Li Mingxing was certain that its daily routine was far from a waste of physical energy. Aside from training its control over lightning, another strong possibility was that the sea thunder dragon was accustomed to fighting in the deep sea. Li Mingxing also knew that with his innate talent, no matter how good his opportunities were, he could not instantly transform into a deep-sea combat organism. Thus, his only real chance of slaying this creature was to lure it up to the surface or into the nearby shallow waters.

Achieving this required more than ordinary wisdom. Looking out at that distant sea area from afar, Li Mingxing activated his newly learned skills for the first time: Level 0 Macro Tactics and Level 0 Equilibrium.

At that moment, the surrounding sea area began to digitize endlessly within Li Mingxing's field of vision. With a mere thought, he could run simulations right inside his mind and calculate the final battle outcome.

Naturally, because Li Mingxing's strength and the levels of these two skills were not very high, he could only sustain them for less than three minutes before he was forced to stop.

Seeing Li Mingxing's somewhat dejected expression, Zheng said with a heartened tone of distress, "Don't push yourself like this. Let's go find some easier prey to deal with instead."

"No, this trial is also a test for myself. If I can't even accomplish this, I can't guarantee what I'll be able to provide for you all in the future," Li Mingxing said, looking straight into Zheng's eyes.

Seeing that Zheng still looked somewhat uncomprehending, Li Mingxing went on to explain, "Don't think that just because I intend to learn the Sacrifice spell, I would ever sacrifice you lot in exchange for greater benefits. The reason I chose this path is to harden my own heart. Only by doing so can we survive in a world like this, and only then can I protect the people around me."

Hearing Li Mingxing's words, Zheng seemed to understand why he had chosen such a combination of skills. It appeared that Li Mingxing's heart was still as pure as when she had first met him; his worldview remained divided into three categories: his own people, ordinary people, and enemies.

Within the circle of his own people, further distinctions were made, such as core family and close friends, intimate friends, regular friends, and utilitarian acquaintances. By learning this Sacrifice spell, Li Mingxing aimed to use ordinary people or individuals from those other categories to safeguard the core family and friends he cared about most.

Although this notion still sent a slight chill through Zheng's heart, a sweeter emotion overwhelmed it. At the very least, Li Mingxing now regarded her as a member of his innermost circle of family and friends. What Li Mingxing intended to do was precisely what she would do: fight to protect the people most precious to her.

After resting for a moment, Li Mingxing did not immediately reuse Level 0 Macro Tactics and Level 0 Equilibrium to analyze the enemy's situation. Instead, he had Zheng place a number of spiritual coins upon the crown of his head. He intended to forcibly upgrade these two skills to Level 1 using two thousand spiritual coins. Perhaps once they reached Level 1, he would receive better assistance from them.

However, Li Mingxing still underestimated the demands of these skills. After injecting a thousand experience points, he still had not reached the upgrade threshold, which only made him even more curious about them.

After pondering for a moment, he had Zheng produce three thousand spiritual coins, preparing to test just how much experience was required to level them up.

As the spiritual coins were converted into experience and poured into him, Li Mingxing grew even more cautious. He continuously sensed this slightly chilling stream of experience flowing through his body, after which all of it poured directly into his mind, making his consciousness smooth as a mirror, capable of reflecting the surrounding landscape.

This sensation lasted merely a flash. An instant later, that mirror completely shattered, and Li Mingxing's upgrade attempt failed once again.

Yet by this point, Li Mingxing had already grasped certain aspects of Macro Tactics. He smiled faintly, had Zheng place another two thousand spiritual coins upon his head, and then took a deep breath as his eyes reflected the surrounding scenery like a mirror once more.