Chapter 537: Chapter 497: Mountain Guardian Beast

"ROAR!"

A terrifying, savage roar echoed out. Li Qian wasn’t the only one; almost everyone in the entire Third Secret Realm heard it loud and clear.

They all walked out of their research bases to look at the collapsed section of the Central Mountain Range.

The Breeders and base personnel who were unaware of the situation watched the scene with puzzled expressions. Meanwhile, the small number of Breeders who were in the know frowned, a deep sense of worry welling up inside them.

At first, Li Qian was also completely confused, but after connecting it to some information he had, it all clicked.

He had a good idea of what was happening.

Under the watchful eyes of the Breeders and research base staff in the Third Secret Realm, a colossal Pet Beast leaped out from the collapsed part of the Central Mountain Range. It was neither wolf nor tiger, with a single horn on its head and a pair of wings on its back.

"That’s the Mountain Guardian Beast!" Li Qian and Wu You stood on the roof of the research base, unable to keep the shock from their voices as they watched the incredibly imposing beast.

Clearly, this Mountain Guardian Beast had to be the Guardian Beast that had been stationed in the Third Secret Realm all along.

In other words, this was a Legendary Level Pet Beast!

Of course, what truly astonished Li Qian wasn’t the Pet Beast itself, but the frenzied state it was in.

Logically, a beast chosen by Shazhou Beast Taming University to be the Guardian Beast of the Third Secret Realm should be perfectly stable.

But its bizarre state right now was truly strange.

HUM!

After appearing, the Mountain Guardian Beast shot into the air. A translucent ripple suddenly materialized in the sky.

Then, before the confused eyes of everyone in the Third Secret Realm, the Mountain Guardian Beast dove into the translucent ripple without a moment’s hesitation and vanished from sight.

"Let’s go. We’ll follow it and see!"

Li Qian didn’t hesitate either, giving the command at once.

Hearing this, Wu You, who was standing beside him, immediately summoned his Pet Beast, the Flame Dragon Carving.

The two of them leaped onto the Flame Dragon Carving’s back and flew toward the midway point of the Third Secret Realm’s Central Mountain Range.

There, on a flat expanse of land halfway up the Central Mountain Range, stood a Light Gate—the Array exit for the Third Secret Realm.

As the two flew toward the mountainside, figures began to rise into the air above the various research bases in the Secret Realm.

Among these rising figures were Flying Pet Beasts and all sorts of flying vehicles.

Evidently, they had also been startled by the Mountain Guardian Beast’s strange behavior and wanted to follow it to see what was going on.

Li Qian and Wu You were among the first to act. By the time they arrived at the Array entrance on the mountainside, there weren’t many people there yet.

Without any hesitation, the two of them stepped directly into the Array.

With a flash of light, they emerged from the other side of the Array.

They now found themselves back at Shazhou Beast Taming University.

The moment they emerged, they began searching the sky.

Soon, they spotted the Mountain Guardian Beast’s figure in the southern sky.

However, by now it was so far away that it was no bigger than a sesame seed.

If it weren’t for Li Qian’s incredible eyesight, he wouldn’t have been able to make it out at all.

"This is bad! Something might have happened to Elder Ying!" From the direction of the university’s Combat Academy, Dean Pan Bing shot into the air, his voice filled with alarm.

He took action immediately, flying after the Mountain Guardian Beast at top speed.

"We’re following, too!" Li Qian said after a moment’s thought, giving another order to Wu You.

Wu You relayed the command directly to the Flame Dragon Carving.

The Flame Dragon Carving spread its wings once more, carrying the two of them in pursuit of the departing Mountain Guardian Beast.

He had heard Dean Pan Bing’s exclamation just now.

And Li Qian knew of the "Elder Ying" he had mentioned.

He had seen Elder Ying many times in the Third Secret Realm.

He was just a retired old man with nothing to do.

Yes, that’s what Li Qian had thought at first, because the old man always seemed so carefree in the Secret Realm.

Li Qian had suspected Elder Ying’s identity wasn’t simple—after all, an ordinary retiree wouldn’t have the clearance to wander around a Secret Realm. What he never expected, however, was that Elder Ying was the Mountain Guardian Beast’s Beast Master and the Guardian of the Secret Realm.

From Dean Pan Bing’s words, Li Qian had already gathered that something had likely happened to Elder Ying.

The Mountain Guardian Beast must have sensed that Elder Ying was in danger, which was why it had broken free from the Central Mountain Range and left without hesitation.

Li Qian had a pretty good impression of the old man from the Third Secret Realm.

He had seen him several times when entering or leaving the Secret Realm, and each time, the old man would greet him with a cheerful smile.

After Dean Pan Bing left, Li Qian looked in the direction he had gone, and a bad feeling crept into his heart.

Without a doubt, Elder Ying was one of the university’s hidden powerhouses—a Legendary Level Beast Master.

But now, even a hidden powerhouse like him was in peril, so much so that his Pet Beast had to rush to his rescue. That alone was proof of how dangerous the situation was.

"Huh? Isn’t this place..." As they flew, Li Qian noticed something was off.

He was incredibly familiar with the direction the Flame Dragon Carving was flying.

It was the same direction as Zhenxi Town, where he had previously discovered the Rock Giant and the Rock Sword Master.

No, to be more precise, it was the location of the Black Stone Forest.

’When did they build a town here?’ Even before getting close, while still in mid-air, Li Qian noticed the anomaly.

He saw that the Black Stone Forest was completely different from before.

At some point, a town of considerable size had been built on the outskirts of the Black Stone Forest.

And it was clearly different from an ordinary town; this one was surrounded by high, towering walls.

’Modern cities don’t have walls,’ he thought. ’This style is more like a city from a Dimension Plane.’

Before Li Qian could get any closer, while he was still in mid-air, a figure shot up from the town below on a flying hoverboard, blocking his path.

The person blocking Li Qian’s way was a young man in a black uniform, likely an official Beast Master. "Student Li Qian, my apologies, but no one is allowed to enter here for the time being!"

"What exactly happened here?" Li Qian didn’t do anything reckless.

He knew something must have happened in the town below, but he didn’t know what it was.

Besides, he was well aware of his own limitations.

With his current level of strength, if they were dealing with an enemy that even Elder Ying and Dean Pan Bing couldn’t handle, he would just be cannon fodder.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.