Chapter Fourteen: The Supernatural Beast

Chapter Fourteen: The Supernatural Beast

Ye Bai didn’t hear Xiao Mo’s answer, and couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. Yet this outcome was expected—after all, tales of commoners and princesses only happen in fairy tales.

The flickering firelight in the dark night painted both their cheeks crimson, while the crackling of dry wood echoed in the air.

At that moment, Xiao Mo handed Ye Bai a piece of food.

“What kind of meat is this? Why have I never seen it in any restaurant in Muyang City?” Ye Bai took the meat from Xiao Mo, skewered it, and set it over the flames, where it sizzled ceaselessly.

Xiao Mo stirred the fire with a branch, her bright eyes glancing at Ye Bai across the flames as she spoke: “This is a family-exclusive delicacy, unavailable outside. The one in your hand is the meat of a Blade Tiger, a peak-entry-level mutated beast. After the family’s processing, it becomes suitable for my constitution, but it’s also highly beneficial for those at the Body Tempering stage.”

Xiao Mo then introduced several other foods Ye Bai had never even heard of, making him marvel at the economic might of noble families—a single meal cost nearly two months’ worth of food for him and his sister.

The Blade Tiger’s meat grew golden over the fire, and the aroma of the peak mutated beast gradually filled the air. “It’s ready,” Ye Bai said, taking the roast from the rack and slicing it into thin strips, with a side of sauce. They ate heartily, especially Xiao Mo, who had never tasted roasted meat before and praised it endlessly.

Indeed, the meat from entry-level mutated beasts was nothing like his usual fare. Ye Bai savored the crispness as he chewed, the flavor reminiscent of wild boar sinew blended with the subtle, bloody tang of a medium-rare steak. In no time, his body felt hot, his blood surging restlessly—if he ate this for a few more days, he could surely break through the Body Tempering stage.

Now, Ye Bai lay prone at the spot where Xiao Mo had discovered him the day before, while Xiao Mo positioned herself not far away, claiming she was worried the battle might spill over and injure him. This stung Ye Bai’s pride—reduced to being protected by a woman—yet he couldn’t deny reality.

Lying motionless, Ye Bai recalled Xiao Mo’s words from last night: when supernatural beasts first appear, they have neither features nor intelligence, resembling mere walking trees. Yet after several days of skirmishes, it had sprouted arms, then a mouth.

The family tutors had explained: natural beasts are born without wisdom or features, but through repeated combat and exposure, they evolve. Today might be my last encounter with it. Over the past few days, it has likely gathered enough information about me; today it may complete its final evolution, and today is also my last chance to seize the crystal.

I must get it. When Xiao Mo spoke those words, the softness on her face was replaced by steely determination.

Because they planned to hunt the supernatural beast today, the two slept after dinner last night to conserve energy for the coming battle. Naturally, Xiao Mo slept in a bed, while Ye Bai took a chair and rested by the fire for warmth.

Early this morning, they lay in ambush, waiting for the evolved form of the supernatural beast to appear.

Ye Bai crouched in the grass, occasionally glancing at the distant Xiao Mo. Because she was prone, her perfect back was exposed. Her gaze was fixed ahead, long and slightly curled lashes fluttering rhythmically, her delicate nose and focused expression lending her an air of heroism.

Ye Bai dared not linger on her, lest his movements disturb the mutated beast they were staking out.

Time slipped away with the sun’s ascent. By noon, the sun blazed as if enraged, the air boiling, and the humid forest grew suffocatingly hot.

Ye Bai and Xiao Mo remained motionless in the grass, sweat coursing down their faces yet too wary to wipe it away. The supernatural beast, attuned to elemental forces, could sense even the smallest movement. When Xiao Mo was alone, her elemental shielding device sufficed, but with Ye Bai, it was stretched thin; since Ye Bai couldn’t fight, they lay at opposite ends of its maximum range.

The clearing ahead remained unchanged, the aftermath of yesterday’s battle still evident. Suddenly, a flicker of green lightning arced across—a branch cleaved in two yesterday seemed to stir.

Then a second, a third—countless green arcs erupted from the ground. Branches, leaves, grasses, even the soil itself began to move.

Ye Bai gaped, a mix of awe and excitement—he hadn’t imagined the supernatural beast’s emergence would look like this.

Not far ahead, the ground continued to shift. The tip of yesterday’s diamond-shaped crystal core appeared, all green lightning emanating from it. Every lifeless object on the ground converged toward the crystal’s tip, slowly exposing the entire diamond core to the air.

Floating arcs of green lightning formed a glowing sphere in the air, crackling as if venting the beast’s pent-up fury from days of defeat. Debris gathered, drawn to the diamond core like magnets, pulled by the green lightning.

Gradually, limbs formed—arms and legs striped green and yellow, moving toward the core. Around the green crystal, a vaguely feminine torso took shape. As the limbs converged, leaves in the sky swirled together, forming a spherical mass overhead.

With the final release of green lightning, the sphere settled onto the torso. The whole body glowed green, and within the branches and earth, arcs occasionally flickered.

Slowly, the sphere began to manifest features—eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, no longer the black voids Ye Bai had seen yesterday, but growing ever more refined. Leaves at the back extended, forming hair, while the thick limbs sprouted fingers and toes.

As the green light faded, the figure before them closed its eyes. From afar, it resembled a magnified, rough-hewn green version of Xiao Mo, though its chest was exaggeratedly prominent.

“Roar…” The green figure suddenly opened its eyes wide and let out a furious bellow.

In that instant, Xiao Mo sprang up, her long sword appearing from nowhere, its blade flashing coldly in the sunlight.

“Hya!” Xiao Mo cried sharply, her sword now enveloped in green elemental power.

The green Xiao Mo opened its pupil-less eyes and stared at the airborne Xiao Mo—though Ye Bai couldn’t tell if it truly saw her, the sight was uncanny. Later, Ye Bai asked Xiao Mo why she didn’t strike while the supernatural beast was still transforming.

She explained that during the beast’s brief thirty-second transformation, its crystal core hovered between reality and the void, untouchable except by sovereigns—a natural safeguard for its progeny. The birth of every supernatural beast was fraught with peril; though their growth was terrifying, most perished in infancy.

Xiao Mo soared forward, sword slashing downward, while the green Xiao Mo glared fiercely at the figure above…