Lord of the Magical Beasts

Yang Ling decisively ordered his Magical Beast army after the horde of Bloodthirsty Ants entered the range of attack.

Under the command of the Evil Eye Tyrant, the Evil Eye army shot concentrated bolts, blasting the Bloodthirsty Ants at the front into pulp. Following that, the Tarantula King ordered the spider army to emerge from under the ground, spewing out fatal poison. The Horned Bee Beasts and bat armies were fast, diving and rising again like the wind.

Yang Ling had really wanted to bide his time and exterminate the numerous Bloodthirsty Ants after luring them out of their hives. He did not expect the battle to take such a dramatic turn.

Each Horned Bee Beast killed an ant with every attack, swallowing the meaty Bloodthirsty Ants. The Red-haired Tarantulas were even more powerful, ensnaring them with sturdy webs and dragging them into their mouths. The Vampire Bats were lightning quick, sucking the blood of the Bloodthirsty Ants as if they were the queen ant.

Yang Ling was surprised to see the Magical Beast army devour the Bloodthirsty Ants so voraciously. He did not expect the troublesome critters to be his Magical Beast Army’s favorite snack.

Chitter…

Faced with the combined attacks of the Horned bee Beasts, spiders and Vampire Bats, the Bloodthirsty Ants that had lorded over the area using their massive numbers in the past knew that the situation was dire for them, and began a flustered retreat. They swarmed, retreating like the tide.

The Bloodthirsty Ants were fast, but the Magical Beast army was faster, and were in hot pursuit. They chased the ants from the empty space in the valley to the lush forest of Arrow Bamboos, devouring all they caught. It was as if the Magical Beasts were hungry ghosts who had not eaten in a decade. To them, the meaty Bloodthirsty Ants were the best delicacies on the entire continent.

Yang Ling’s mind eased as he watched the Magical Beasts pursue the Bloodthirsty Ants. His worry that his army might face an ambush in the forest of Arrow Bamboos, but he realized he had thought too much of the ants’ capabilities. He recalled the Unicorn and the Evil Eyes, and followed his army of Horned Bee Beasts, spiders and Vampire Bats into the forest.

Once they entered the bamboo forest, the Bloodthirsty Ants swarmed chaotically, as almost all of their hives had been destroyed. With all the time they had worked together, the Horned Bee Beasts, spiders and Vampire Bats coordinated their attacks impeccably, forming small teams as they joined forces to attack the hives.

Faced with the spider’s poison, the Horned Bee Beasts’ sharp fangs and fatal stingers, and the indefensible Vampire Bats, the Bloodthirsty Ants retreated into their hives only to be destroyed there.

The Bloodthirsty Ants once ruled the forest of Arrow Bamboos as overlords, and they were able to attain that place due to their sheer numbers. But they lacked advantage against Yang Ling’s Magical Beast army, whose numbers were matched by their well-coordinated attack capabilities.

After ascertaining that there was no way the Bloodthirsty Ants could retaliate, Yang Ling decided to leave the forest of Arrow Bamboos with Yuna, and allow the Magical Beast Army to do their thing.

Just as Yang Ling was sitting down on the ground and preparing to take a rest, Yuna suddenly cried, “Oh, Brother Yang, look, what’s going on?” and pointed at a Horned Bee Beast. Yang Ling followed her direction to see a satiated Horned Bee Beast, its mouth covered in blood, laying silently on a stone. A ring of pale red light was emanating from its body.

Could it be that consuming Bloodthirsty Ants could increase the Magical Beasts’ evolutionary speed?

Yang Ling was excited and surprised. All this while, the Horned Bee Beasts, spiders and Evil Eyes did not get any food within the space of the Wizard’s Pagoda, and merely consumed in large quantities the white fog released by the Wizard’s Pagoda. He had thought that Magical Beasts no longer needed much food after being tamed. He realized that that was not the case!

Following the direction that the Magical Beast had advanced in, the two soon discovered similar scenes. In addition to the Horned Bee Beasts, there were also spiders and Vampire Bats sprawled on the ground, undergoing their own evolution.

Yang Ling watched how the Magical Beasts were evolving. Their transformations were subtle, stopping short of evolving to the next level or physically transforming them. But it was clear they still benefited richly from their gorged meals.

The Horned Bee Beasts’ wings fluttered gently and flexed now and then, and Yang Ling believed that their flying speed would be greatly boosted after the evolution was complete. The spiders’ scales became further mineralized, and their defensive capabilities would be enhanced further. The Vampire Bats seemed to remain the same, but the tubes they used to store the blood they consumed turned from transparent to gray. According to their memories, that would help extend the time they could preserve the blood.

Since the Bloodthirsty Ants were this useful to the Magical Beast army, was it possible to section out a space inside the Wizard’s Pagoda to rear these Bloodthirsty Ants, and allow the Magical Beasts to feed whenever they wished and hasten the speed of their evolution?

He made up his mind and took action at once.

First, as a precaution, he picked a piece of land on the outskirts of the Wizard’s Pagoda. He then commanded a team of Horned Bee Beasts, spiders, Evil Eyes and Vampire Bats to each guard a direction, in case of any accidents that might affect the entire Wizard’s Pagoda.

Second, he needed a grove of Arrow Bamboos if he wanted to rear a great number of Bloodthirsty Ants. He prepared to exhaust his mental energy to transport a few thousand Arrow Bamboos into the Wizard’s Pagoda space.

A thousand Arrow Bamboos was nothing worth mentioning compared to the massive bamboo forest. But to Yang Ling, transporting a thousand Arrow Bamboos wore him out, almost depleting all of his mental energy for a full hour.

Having completed the beginning stages of his preparation, Yang Ling got out of the Bamboo Forest and sat in the empty field to rest. There was still about four hours until daybreak. It was not too late to transport a few Bloodthirsty Ants into the space after he recovered a bit of his mental energy.

Yuna noticed Yang Ling relaxing, and went to stand sentry. She clutched her staff tightly. Though Yang Ling had not yet shared his plans with her, Yuna knew that he would not waste energy on meaningless activities. She knew he would share his plans in time. She would let him rest for the time being.

I wonder how the elf Sofia looks?

Yuna suddenly remembered the elf beauty Sofia that she had not yet met. From the words of Alice and the old butler Murbaqi, she knew that Sofia was the only woman in Yang Ling’s heart. Seeing Yang Ling resting with his eyes closed, she could not help but be jealous of the luck of the elf beauty.

At the beginning, Yuna had felt conflicted around Yang Ling, but through many days interacting with him, she had changed her views. When Yang Ling was excited, she’d find herself smiling. When he was dejected, she would echo that sentiment.

Yuna had long known that she liked being with Yang Ling. His calm smile, his silent, focused concentration during training, and that frequent, unexpected humor sometimes appeared in her dreams.

Roar…

As Yuna was lost in her thoughts, a deafening roar suddenly erupted from the bamboo forest. Looking over, she saw that Yang Ling had already retrieved his sharp dagger and stood up.

“Wait for me here. You are not to enter the bamboo forest!” he barked. Then Yang Ling formed the hand gesture for the Earth Evasion Wizard Mantra and disappeared from where he stood.

He knew that his Magical Beast army had encountered a formidable foe when he heard the roar. He did not have the time to say anything more, given the urgent situation, and had teleported there using his Earth Evasion Technique. Yuna had already reached the level of a Magical Tutor, and Yang Ling believed that she would not be in danger if she did not enter the bamboo forest.

Even though he had prepared himself for this, Yang Ling was still shocked when he arrived at the scene.

There was a massive ant hive in a lush area of Arrow Bamboos, its entrance the size of a truck. A massive object, the size of a thousand-ton water buffalo, was crawling out of the hive, howling. Its body was white, its stomach lined with two rows of bowl-sized teats. From far away, it looked like an ant-shaped dairy cow that was filled to the brim with milk.

Under the command of the massive creature, hordes of Bloodthirsty Ants swarmed out of the cave, attacking the Magical Beast army around them with renewed fervor. Some of the ants had sharp fangs, some a lone horn on their heads, while others had wings… Their appearance was vastly different from that of ordinary Bloodthirsty Ants, and their battle abilities were even more disparate.

Could this be the queen ant?

As he observed the scene, he realized that transporting the slow-moving, squirming queen ant into his Wizard Pagoda space might be more effective at achieving his goal than any other method. The queen ant could produce many eggs, more than the adult ants he could transport there in a week. As long as he planned his next move carefully, he might even be able to provide the Magical Beast army with an endless source of food.

After coming to a decision, he hesitated no longer and instructed his Magical Beast army to launch a strong offensive, to draw the attention of the soldier ants around the queen. He then formed a hand gesture for the Earth Evasion Wizard Mantra and teleported to the queen ant’s side. His mental energy welled out, and the queen ant had no time to react before she was transported into the space of the Wizard’s Pagoda.

Having succeeded in his capture, Yang Ling spent the last of his mental energy to transport himself out of the area, then instructed his Magical Beast army to kill what remained.

Without the queen ant’s command, the Bloodthirsty Ants were lost. Against the combined attacks of the Horned Bee Beasts, spiders and Vampire Bats from both the air and the land, there was no way they could retaliate. Some of them crawled with all their might up the bamboos, some dug into their hives in a fluster, and others dug into the ground like headless flies…

A perfect siege. Yang Ling knew that victory was at hand!

Later, after he had recovered some of his mental energy, all he had to do was transport the ant eggs and young ants from inside the hives to the space of the Wizard’s Pagoda, then transport a few mature worker ants and Arrow Bamboos into the space. He believed that he would be able to set up a true Magical Beast Base near the Wizard’s Pagoda, and provide the Magical Beast army with an endless supply of food.