96: Chapter 96 The Holy Maiden of the Meow Clan

Chapter 96: The Saintess of the Meow Clan

When those two Blade-Tail Vipers dared to bypass the battlefield and rush straight at Lin Chen, the Radiant Moon Spirit Cat's consistently calm expression fluctuated violently for the first time.

Only after seeing Lin Chen easily dispatch the two overconfident ambushers did the flames of rage in the Radiant Moon Spirit Cat's eyes subside slightly, but its gaze toward the leader-level Blade-Tail Viper had become chillingly cold.

"Meow!"

It took a step forward, its slender body standing in the night breeze, the moonlight reflecting off its soft fur and those cold eyes.

Yet in this moment, it simply stared quietly at the dying giant snake, without any movement, without roaring, without bristling its fur.

Yet it was this calm gaze that caused a terror stemming from the deepest instincts of life to well up from the very depths of the leader-level Blade-Tail Viper's soul.

Even the Flame-Spine Tyrannosaur not far away felt inexplicably chilled and terrified upon seeing the Radiant Moon Spirit Cat's reaction: "Yagu."

"Hiss—Ha—"

The leader-level Blade-Tail Viper used its last ounce of strength to raise its somewhat twisted and deformed head, its golden vertical pupils fearfully reflecting that sacred figure.

Its thick blade-tail swept unconsciously through the wild grass, making a rustling sound, and its massive body twisted unnaturally from side to side; it wanted to retreat, but could not coordinate due to severe injury and fear.

The next moment, the Radiant Moon Spirit Cat moved.

It elegantly raised its front paw, its movements gentle, and waved it lightly in the direction of the leader-level Blade-Tail Viper.

In an instant, the tip of its paw erupted with a sacred radiance more brilliant than any before!

Light! Brilliant light!

A massive, arc-shaped Light Blade Slash silently shot out from its paw, tearing through the darkness and slashing rapidly toward the leader-level Blade-Tail Viper.

This time, the speed of the Light Blade Slash and the sacred aura contained within it far exceeded any previous attempt.

"Hiss—!!!"

The leader-level Blade-Tail Viper instantly sensed a fatal threat.

At this moment, the instinct to survive overwhelmed everything; it violently opened its blood-stained maw and spat out a large mass of foul, pungent venom, attempting to block the incoming Light Blade Slash.

The venom and the Light Blade Slash collided fiercely! Ssh—!!!

Yet in just an instant, the venom was like boiling water poured on snow in the face of the sacred light blade, evaporating instantly.

The Light Blade Slash did not slow down, and its brilliance did not dim in the slightest, growing larger and larger in the reflection of the leader-level Blade-Tail Viper's despair-widened vertical pupils, until it completely engulfed it—

The light blade swept past. Time seemed to stretch in this moment.

The leader-level Blade-Tail Viper did not feel the expected sharp pain; it only felt its body grow light, its vision inexplicably elevated, as if it had broken free from the shackles of its body at this moment, floating up.

It lowered its head in a daze. It saw its lower body still maintaining a coiled posture, only it had lost the guidance of its head and was twitching unconsciously on the ground.

The cross-section was as smooth as a mirror, shimmering with a faint sacred halo.

Ah—so—so its body had already been split in two.

The instant this thought arose, endless darkness and coldness flooded its last shred of consciousness like a tide.

Those golden vertical pupils completely lost focus, becoming gray and hollow.

[Defeated a Tier 2 pet beast, gained 6 EXP] [Radiant Moon Spirit Cat strength level: Tier 2, Stage 1 (24/42)]

[Ding!] [Gatomon has achieved victory in the first battle, mission completed] [Received rewards: 20 EXP, 2 triple exp cards, Cat Punch move learner, Cats Eye move learner]

The Radiant Moon Spirit Cat cast a faint glance at the severed snake corpse, showing no further interest.

It leaped, its four paws touching the tips of the grass, and quickly returned to Lin Chen's side.

The Radiant Moon Spirit Cat circled Lin Chen, carefully examining him—his hands, his clothes, every part of his body from head to toe.

Lin Chen reached out and gently stroked the Radiant Moon Spirit Cat's soft, cool fur on top of its head, revealing a smile: "It's okay, I'm not hurt."

He truly felt in excellent condition, with so much power surging within him that he could even tear a few more Blade-Tail Vipers apart with his bare hands.

This feeling of defeating a pet beast with one's own strength is truly great. Damn system, why don't you reward me with EXP!

"Meow~" The Radiant Moon Spirit Cat finally set its mind at ease, but its gaze remained glued to Lin Chen, unwilling to leave.

"Yagu?" The Flame-Spine Tyrannosaur narrowed its eyes, looking at the Radiant Moon Spirit Cat that was watching Lin Chen with concern. It belatedly realized something, stomped the ground with a rumble, and hurriedly ran in front of Lin Chen, mimicking the Radiant Moon Spirit Cat's actions by staring at Lin Chen.

Looking left, looking right, those scarlet eyes were wide open.

Watching the reactions of the two little ones, Lin Chen smiled: "Don't worry, I'm really fine."

"How about I show you my power now?"

Hearing this, the Flame-Spine Tyrannosaur immediately turned its head back. In the past, whenever Lin Chen said this, he would punch himself, calling it tempering his physical strength. It hurts a lot!

With the final fall of the leader-level Blade-Tail Viper, this chaotic battle that had lasted for quite some time finally settled.

Zhou Ming let out a long breath, looked around the battlefield, and gazed at the Flame Eagle circling in the low sky: "The two of us are really amazing."

"Screech~" Even though the strongest opponent was tied up by the Radiant Moon Spirit Cat, and most of the ordinary Blade-Tail Vipers were ravaged by the Flame-Spine Tyrannosaur, he and the Flame Eagle had only defeated a few Blade-Tail Vipers. But they were still amazing.

The few remaining injured Blade-Tail Vipers could no longer care about anything else; dragging their maimed bodies, they scurried in panic through the wild grass, just wanting to escape this nightmare land.

"Meow!" However, at this moment, Shadow-Rift Cats, appearing from who knows where, rushed out. Their eyes flashed with intense excitement as they waved their sharp claws, bared their fangs, and pounced from all directions onto these panic-stricken Blade-Tail Vipers.

The battle began in an instant and ended in an instant. These already injured Blade-Tail Vipers hardly put up any decent resistance before they all perished under the cats' claws.

"Meow~~~" The Shadow-Rift Cats looked around at the corpses of the Blade-Tail Vipers covering the ground, then looked at the leader-level Blade-Tail Viper split in two in the distance. After a brief silence, meowing sounds rose one after another, ringing out loudly in the night sky of the wilderness.

Li Heng realized belatedly: "So these guys didn't stay in their nest honestly at all. They were tailing us and then took the opportunity to retaliate?"

Watching this scene, Zhang Xiaoxiao bit her lip and said softly: "Is it really okay for us to intervene in the fight between two wild pet beast groups? Will it disrupt the ecological balance here?"

Zhou Ming shrugged his shoulders upon hearing this, his face full of disapproval: "You're overthinking it. In this wilderness, the law of the jungle is the greatest ecological balance."

"Besides, we humans are also a part of nature; it's perfectly reasonable to take action to eliminate the evil Blade-Tail Vipers."

He paused and finally added: "And these poison-type pet beasts are pests to begin with!"

Li Heng didn't care about ecological balance either; he trotted to Lin Chen's side, reached out, and squeezed the latter's shoulder muscles, which felt as solid as iron to the touch.

He looked up with an exaggerated expression: "Brother Chen, be honest, are you not planning to be a human anymore?"

Lin Chen was amused by him, gently swatted his hand away, and said in a relaxed tone: "This is just a necessary self-preservation method for a Beast Tamer."

Subsequently, Lin Chen looked around and said loudly: "Alright, the battle is over, now it's time to collect the spoils."

"Oh—!!!"

A long time later, the sky had turned slightly blue; dawn was approaching. The Blade-Tail Viper's habitat was thoroughly searched, and the group found a total of forty desolate star crystals of various sizes.

In addition, several Tier 1 resources and four Tier 2 resources were found. Regrettably, no Tier 3 resources were discovered.

Lin Chen looked at Li Heng and Zhang Xiaoxiao: "You both participated in this operation and contributed. After we go back, we will evaluate the total value of all the loot and then distribute it equally."

"No, no, no! Brother Chen, absolutely not!"

Li Heng immediately shook his head like a rattle-drum upon hearing this, waving his hands repeatedly: "We're just tagging along for experience, just coasting, we rely on you guys at critical moments."

"These spoils are what you deserve. We absolutely cannot take them; you guys can distribute them yourselves!"

"Besides, having experienced such a thrilling adventure with you, we've already gained plenty."

Zhang Xiaoxiao also nodded hurriedly and said softly: "Mm, Li Heng is right."

Zhou Ming poked his head over at this time with a teasing smile: "Thrilling adventure? Where was the thrill?"

Li Heng clenched his fists.

After some refusal, Lin Chen saw that the two were determined, so he nodded: "Fine then."

After discussion, the group finally decided to bring all the loot back first and have it distributed equally among the four members of the team.

They obtained thirty-two desolate star crystals from the Shadow-Rift Cat group, plus the current forty and some scattered ones, totaling eighty.

Packing all these desolate star crystals into the collection bag, the bag instantly became bulging, feeling quite heavy in hand.

"Alright, everything is packed up."

Zhou Ming weighed the heavy collection bag in his hand, his face showing irrepressible excitement. He looked at Lin Chen and asked: "Brother Chen, what do we do now? Should we go straight back or go somewhere else to try our luck?"

Upon hearing this, everyone turned their eyes toward Lin Chen.

Lin Chen looked at the sky; the east was already showing a fish-belly white, and he looked at the slightly tired group. After pondering for a moment, he made a decision: "We've collected enough; there's not much point in staying here any longer. Plus, after this whole night, everyone is tired and needs rest and recovery."

"Let's go back."

Setting off on the return journey, the sky was gradually brightening. That group of Shadow-Rift Cats actually didn't disperse but kept a distance, neither too close nor too far, following closely behind Lin Chen and the others.

Dozens of pairs of Cats Eyes, shining in the morning light, stared unblinkingly at the elegantly moving Radiant Moon Spirit Cat.

No matter if Lin Chen and the others sped up or changed direction, these Shadow-Rift Cats followed like shadows, neither approaching to disturb nor leaving.

"Brother Chen." Zhou Ming leaned toward Lin Chen and lowered his voice: "Nuomi is definitely at the goddess level within the entire Meow Clan."

Lin Chen looked at this scene and smiled helplessly. He really hadn't expected the Radiant Moon Spirit Cat to have such a fatal attraction to this group of Shadow-Rift Cats; it was almost like the Saintess of the Meow Clan.

Actually, Nuomi in its Songsong Dog form was already very cute; he hadn't expected its appearance to skyrocket after evolving. Coupled with the naturally radiating sacred aura, its charm was maxed out.

Lin Chen's eyes flickered, his thoughts churning: "Does that mean in the future, when encountering cat-type pet beasts, I can just send out Nuomi to achieve victory?"

Time passed gradually, and as they approached the gathering point at the edge of the wilderness, the sky brightened significantly. Along the way, they began to encounter some Beast Tamers who had just entered the wilderness.

These people quickly noticed the dozens of Shadow-Rift Cats following Lin Chen and the others in a mighty, orderly fashion, and they were all stunned, their expressions filled with suspicion and confusion, discussing it among themselves.

"Is there a master cat tamer?" "Please teach us the cat taming tutorial, my little kitty always likes to scratch people." "Just starve it for two meals and it'll be fine."

By the time Lin Chen and the others finally returned to the gathering point, a massive crowd of Shadow-Rift Cats was following behind them, a quite spectacular scene.

A staff member at the entrance who was wiping equipment looked up by chance and saw this scene; his hand trembled in fear, and he shouted: "Oh no! A wild pet beast group is attacking!"

His shout immediately alarmed many people in the gathering point. Some off-duty stationed Beast Tamers and bold student Beast Tamers immediately summoned their pet beasts, setting up a formation as if facing a great enemy, aimed at this massive group of Shadow-Rift Cats.

Seeing this, Zhou Ming was amused. He stepped forward a few steps, waved his hands at the nervous Beast Tamers, and laughed: "Don't be nervous, this isn't an attack, just a group of kittens crazy about love."

Everyone: "???"

Lin Chen smiled and signaled to the Radiant Moon Spirit Cat: "Nuomi, let them all disperse."

The Radiant Moon Spirit Cat heard this and walked forward elegantly a few steps, its amethyst-like eyes calmly sweeping over this group of Shadow-Rift Cats that had followed them all the way and were now appearing somewhat restless under the lights of the gathering point and the gaze of the crowd.

It meowed expressionlessly: "Meow."

The cat group instantly quieted down; all the Shadow-Rift Cats raised their heads, staring longingly at the expressionless Radiant Moon Spirit Cat.

A moment later, the leading few Shadow-Rift Cats let out a few whimpers of reluctance, took one last deep look at the Radiant Moon Spirit Cat's figure, and then turned around, leading the cat group to quickly disappear into the twilight of the wilderness, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

"Eh? They just left?" Li Heng looked at the quickly dispersing cat group, curiously leaned over to the Radiant Moon Spirit Cat, and asked: "Nuomi, what did you say to them just now? They just left obediently like that?"

The Radiant Moon Spirit Cat did not answer, but walked with light steps back to Lin Chen's feet, as if nothing had happened.

Everyone was puzzled, but Lin Chen, who shared a telepathic connection with Nuomi, knew the answer. Nuomi told the cat group that it already had a meow it liked.

A small commotion thus subsided, and the group finally entered the interior of the gathering point.

Zhou Ming took the initiative to step forward and placed the collection bag, which was bulging to the point of almost bursting, onto the exchange counter with a "thump," causing the staff member responsible for registration to be stunned.

He opened the collection bag to take a look, his voice dry: "Student, which pet beast group did you plunder?"

Zhou Ming heard this, immediately held his head high and puffed out his chest, cleared his throat, and began to recount vividly: "Hehe, teacher, what are you saying—we are excellent students doing tasks properly, how can it be called plundering?"

"This is clearly called reasonable resource development, while maintaining the ecological balance of the wilderness! You don't know, our experience last night was truly spectacular..."

For a time, the students submitting tasks nearby all cast glances over.