Chapter 85: Solo Expedition to the Magic Beast Mountain Range

After successfully escorting the caravan to Waker City, Jian Chen left the caravan and went directly to the Mercenary Guild to complete the escort mission, earning a certain amount of honor points and a small amount of money.

Waker City, being close to the Magic Beast Mountain Range, has a much larger number of mercenaries staying here compared to other cities. Most mercenaries value the excellent geographical location and stay here long-term to facilitate their entry into the Magic Beast Mountain Range to hunt magic beasts for money.

Although hunting magic beasts is much more dangerous than escorting caravans, it is a way to earn high profits. Despite the fact that many people die to magic beasts every day, the high value of magic cores and the huge demand still make many mercenaries risk their lives to hunt magic beasts.

After all, magic cores are extremely precious in the Tianyuan Continent, almost everyone needs them, and the demand is very high. Once a magic core is obtained, one can directly absorb the energy inside to accelerate their cultivation. Even if one does not use it, the magic core can be exchanged for a considerable amount of money.

The Mercenary Guild was very noisy, and there were many mercenaries inside. The large guild was packed with hundreds of people. Most of them were bare-chested, their strong physiques and well-defined muscles exposed, as if displaying their power.

In the hot weather, the poorly ventilated Mercenary Guild was filled with a pungent smell of sweat, which made Jian Chen, who rarely smelled such odors, frown and cover his nose with one hand.

After leaving the Mercenary Guild, Jian Chen resupplied in the city, bought a map of the Magic Beast Mountain Range, and then left Waker City, heading towards the Magic Beast Mountain Range under the scorching sun.

The Magic Beast Mountain Range is about thirty kilometers from Waker City. Riding a white horse, Jian Chen galloped for an hour and finally reached the edge of the Magic Beast Mountain Range.

The edge of the Magic Beast Mountain Range is a forest, and deep within the forest is a vast mountain range. The mountains not only house a considerable number of magic beasts but also have a very harsh environment. According to the map's description of the Magic Beast Mountain Range, the forest is full of venomous snakes and insects, and swamps are everywhere. A slight misstep could lead to being trapped, and without the help of teammates, it would be difficult to escape from the swamps.

As the saying goes, danger and opportunity coexist. Although the Magic Beast Mountain Range is very dangerous, there are also opportunities. Magic beasts often fight each other for various reasons, and the magic cores of those killed by their peers are usually well-preserved. If one is lucky enough, they might even encounter one or two magic beast corpses still containing magic cores, but the chances of this happening are very small.

Magic cores are not useless to magic beasts, but low-level magic beasts lack intelligence and act purely on instinct, so they do not use magic cores.

Sitting on the horse, Jian Chen looked up at the lush forest ahead and murmured, "For the next period, this forest will be my training ground." With that, he dismounted, gently stroked the horse's head, and said softly, "Go, you are free now. You can go wherever you want." After saying this, Jian Chen turned and walked into the forest.

"Neigh!"

The white horse pawed the ground with its front hoof and let out a long neigh, as if bidding farewell to Jian Chen.

...

After walking for a while, Jian Chen finally entered the forest and continued towards the Magic Beast Mountain Range without stopping.

The forest was filled with tall grass, some even taller than a person, completely obstructing the view. In such an environment, it was easy to lose direction.

Jian Chen would leap onto a tall tree every so often to observe the surroundings, ensuring he did not get lost. In the grass, venomous snakes occasionally appeared, but they were all detected and easily dealt with by the exceptionally powerful Jian Chen.

After two hours of travel, Jian Chen finally reached the depths of the forest, where fierce wild beasts began to appear.

At this moment, a dark green figure leaped out of the grass and rushed towards Jian Chen's back at high speed.

Just as the dark green figure approached Jian Chen, a silver light flashed, and a silver longsword suddenly appeared, piercing the dark green figure with great accuracy and speed.

The longsword withdrew immediately, and Jian Chen's body shifted slightly to the side, moving half a meter away. As he moved, a "bang" sounded, and the dark green figure fell to the ground where Jian Chen had just been standing.

Only then did it become clear that the dark green figure was a leopard-like wild beast, with its neck now covered in blood, a deep wound from which blood was gushing out.

Jian Chen glanced at the leopard-like beast on the ground and continued deeper into the forest. He could tell at a glance that it was just a wild beast, not even a first-stage magic beast, and thus had no magic core to take. Otherwise, it would not have been so easily killed.

"Roar!"

"Growl!"

As Jian Chen continued deeper into the forest, the sounds of magic beasts' roars began to echo from all around, with a variety of strange and eerie sounds, some of which sounded like the howls of ghosts, making one's hair stand on end.

At this moment, Jian Chen's steps paused slightly, and he turned his head, his eyes flashing with a fierce light as he stared at his side. The silver Wind Sword appeared in his hand.

This was the first time Jian Chen had shown such a serious expression since entering the forest.

From the direction of Jian Chen's gaze, a faint "rustling" sound could be heard, and then a sandy yellow scorpion gradually came into view.

The scorpion was very large, with a body about one meter wide and over two meters long. The venomous hook on its tail, hanging over its back, was about five to six meters long. Its head had a pair of green, eerie eyes.

The scorpion moved straight towards Jian Chen and stopped about five meters away. Its eyes, glowing with an eerie light, stared intently at Jian Chen, and it waved its pincers, making a "squeaking" sound.

The silver Wind Sword in Jian Chen's hand was enveloped in a hazy sword glow. He moved first, his body becoming a blur as he shot towards the scorpion, the Wind Sword pointed straight ahead.

He had come to hunt magic beasts, and he would not hold back when he encountered one.

The scorpion's reaction was not slow. As soon as Jian Chen moved, the venomous hook on its tail also turned into a blur, shooting towards Jian Chen at high speed.

"Clang!"

Jian Chen's Wind Sword collided with the scorpion's venomous hook mid-air. With a metallic clang, the strong counterforce from the collision caused both the Wind Sword and the scorpion's venomous hook to retract.

Jian Chen's body swayed slightly, and he retreated several meters, his eyes showing a hint of surprise as he looked at the scorpion's venomous hook. The hardness of the venomous hook was beyond his expectations. He estimated that even some ordinary refined iron would not be as hard as the scorpion's venomous hook. The force transmitted from the venomous hook was also very powerful, and after the hard collision, Jian Chen felt a tingling sensation in his arm.

"The scorpion in front of me should be a second-stage magic beast," Jian Chen thought, his eyes fixed on the scorpion.