Chapter 287 Magical Creatures, Traces of the Frost Moose (7000)

"Let me do it."

Cao Xing's voice sounded.

Everyone looked blankly at the young man sitting on the back of the Mammoth.

Originally, Cao Xing didn't want to bother with such matters.

But he thought of the undead girl from Annuo River Village.

These hunters each bore the responsibility of a family behind them.

If not for family and responsibility, who would be willing to risk their lives to hunt in such a place?

And for Cao Xing, saving a Tier 2 hunter was nothing more than lifting a finger.

He directly flipped down from the back of the Mammoth.

Amidst the puzzled gazes of those hunters,

he walked over, took a bottle of Cloud Yak milk from his backpack, and fed it to him.

The next moment, the hunter's complexion recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye, and even his injuries began to improve.

Seeing this scene, the other hunters were immediately astonished.

As Cao Xing pulled out the arrow from his back, two damage numbers of over two hundred floated up.

Then, he directly fed him a bottle of [Improved Life Secret Potion].

At this moment, a vigorous vitality dissolved within his body.

This hunter quickly became energetic.

Everyone watched this scene with shocked expressions.

"Gods above, Ainaji is alive! This lord saved him!"

"Good heavens! The potion this lord fed him is so miraculous that it can actually bring a dying person back to life."

"I seem to have seen this kind of potion before; a single bottle costs several thousand crowns, and the effect isn't even as good as this lord's. This bottle of potion is worth at least tens of thousands of crowns!"

Hearing this number, all the hunters on the field held their breath!

For these hunters, tens of thousands of crowns were almost their total income for one or two years.

Drinking so many crowns in a bottle of secret potion was something they wouldn't even dare to imagine.

At this time, the hunter who had received Cao Xing's treatment also heard the discussion of the other hunters,

and immediately realized how precious the thing he had just drunk was.

He quickly knelt on both knees, pressed his head to the ground, and said with extreme emotion: "Thank you… Thank you, benevolent lord…"

"Lord, please give me an address. I will definitely work hard to save money and repay you for the consumption of this potion as soon as possible."

[Because you rescued the Nice Town hunter: Ainaji, the other party's favorability has increased. Current favorability: Friendly]

Seeing the system prompt, Cao Xing waved his hand and said: "It's nothing, you don't need to repay the money."

After all, tens of thousands of crowns were a huge sum to these hunters, and they might not be able to save that much in several years.

But for Cao Xing, who possessed a Master-level Alchemist, this little consumption was nothing at all.

"Taking advantage of the fact that it's not dark yet, you should hurry back and reunite with your families."

Hearing about their families, the expressions of several hunters gradually softened.

They exchanged glances.

The hunter saved by Cao Xing seemed to have made a certain decision.

"Respected lord, to thank you for your help, let us tell you some news."

Cao Xing asked in confusion: "What news?"

"In this mountain range, there is an extremely rare magical creature, the Frost Moose, haunting about!"

"It is the mysterious creature we have been tracking."

Hearing this, Cao Xing was instantly startled.

Although he didn't know what grade of creature the Frost Moose was, nor had he ever seen what it looked like,

however, his backpack contained a piece of Frost Moose hind leg meat.

And it was even golden-quality meat. Eating just a piece could increase ice-attribute attack power by 5%, which was extremely powerful!

One could imagine how high the value of an entire Frost Moose was.

It even far exceeded the Cloud Yak!

Cao Xing asked: "Where did you get this news?"

The hunter immediately replied: "It's Baron Wondre."

"Word came from the Baron's estate that a Frost Moose was haunting the Taigen Mountains, and hunters from major villages and towns were widely invited to come into the mountains to search for this Frost Moose."

"The Baron promised that as long as someone could find the trace of this moose, he would grant us a house in the city and also reward us with 100,000 crowns!"

"That's why many hunters came to the Taigen Mountains, hoping to try their luck."

Hearing this, a look of sudden realization appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

The hunter continued: "My lord, it is said that this magical moose possesses powerful strength."

"They can breathe extremely lethal frost; with a single breath, they can freeze an entire hundred-man squadron."

"If it can be tamed, it is also a major weapon of mass destruction on the battlefield, which is why the Baron has been racking his brains to find this kind of moose."

Cao Xing nodded and said: "Alright, I understand. Thank you for your news."

Several hunters looked at each other and then said: "My lord, you are too polite. We should be the ones thanking you."

"Then my lord, we are now preparing to rush home, so we won't disturb you any longer."

"May the Mountain God protect you."

Cao Xing nodded.

Having said that, this group of hunters quickly left from another direction.

As for Cao Xing, he returned to Dabai's back and pondered silently for a moment.

The news that Frost Mooses haunted the [Taigen Mountains] was still very important.

Furthermore, according to these hunters, Frost Mooses could be tamed.

If possible, Cao Xing also wanted to capture this legendary creature rather than slaughter it directly.

After all, a living Frost Moose was definitely worth more than a dead one.

However, they currently had no clues.

So many hunters hadn't found it in the mountains; although Cao Xing was relatively confident in his own luck, the [Taigen Mountains] were simply too vast, and the hope of finding it was rather slim.

Moreover, the top priority right now was to rendezvous with Elisa and find that group of Cloud Yaks.

Thus, he directly said: "Let's go, we will continue moving forward."

"Sarah, you go scout ahead."

Sarah slightly nodded, and then vanished on the spot.

Everyone began to move forward again, crossing two more high mountains in succession.

"Crack! Crack!"

The Mammoth's huge elephant hooves stepped across the frozen mountain road, its terrifying weight smashing all the stones and branches on the ground into pieces.

At this time, Cao Xing saw a bird's nest on a branch in the distance.

He had Dabai stop.

Then he used the [Ejection Grappling Hook] to jump up.

In an instant, he saw seven or eight fist-sized bird's eggs quietly placed in the nest!

"Such big bird eggs!"

Cao Xing was startled.

Before he could make a move, a loud, clear screech came from the sky.

"Quack! Quack!"

Two large white birds were circling in the air, continuously making harsh, strange cries.

Appearing both anxious and angry.

Pondering for a moment, Cao Xing did not take these bird eggs away, but instead silently slid down from the tree.

After all, these were just ordinary bird eggs, with each at most equivalent to 5 units of food, holding little value.

After he left, the two large birds quickly returned to the nest and stopped screeching.

Cao Xing said: "Let's go, continue moving forward."

Everyone crossed another mountain peak once again.

Just at this moment, Cao Xing heard various chaotic sounds coming from a valley ahead.

Various shouts echoed in the valley.

Sarah's figure emerged, and then she said: "Lord, there is a situation ahead."

"What situation?"

"It seems that a group of Troglodytes, a group of Molemen, and Snow Barbarians are fighting a war, with a number of around one to two thousand."

Hearing this, Cao Xing was slightly stunned.

"Good heavens, a melee of one or two thousand people, and among three factions at that—this is really chaotic enough."

"Sarah, do you know why they started fighting?"

She shook her head. "I don't know, Lord."

Cao Xing pondered for a moment, then nodded and said: "Never mind those guys, let's go find Elisa first."

"As you command."

Having said that, Cao Xing changed direction and bypassed that place of right and wrong ahead.

Then he walked straight towards Elisa's location.

Next, they didn't encounter any accidents.

They quickly came to the side of a high mountain.

Then they went down the mountain all the way, the terrain dropping sharply.

Dabai carefully carried Cao Xing and Liu Muxue on its back, slowly walking down.

When they all landed, Cao Xing appeared in a valley.

There were falling rocks everywhere here.

In the valley grew towering silver fir trees and some unknown plants.

An unfrozen stream flowed out from the depths of the valley, extending all the way to the foot of the mountain.

Both sides of the stream were overgrown with various white weeds.

In the sky, one or two white large birds whose names could not be called out flew past from time to time.

The scene before their eyes was excessively beautiful.

"As expected, the scenery in the mountains is quite nice."

"If it were on Blue Star, opening a camping base here would definitely be a hit."

Cao Xing thought happily.

At the same time, a system prompt appeared.

[You have discovered a new area: Raider Valley]

(This is a gathering place for a group of raiders. They often rob passing chambers of commerce and hunters. They are powerful, and even noble knighthoods choose to bypass this area.)

…

Seeing the map introduction, Cao Xing secretly muttered: "The map prompt says this is a group of raiders, also a gathering place for mountain bandits?"

"It sounds quite ferocious."

However, he didn't pay it much mind.

With his strength, although he couldn't be called invincible, there were not many creatures in this mountain range that could threaten him.

Moreover, being reduced to running into the mountains to become bandits showed that the other party's strength couldn't be all that strong.

It would be fine if they didn't provoke him, but if they dared to provoke him, Cao Xing wouldn't mind letting them taste a lesson.

Cao Xing turned on the communication device and then asked: "Elisa, we have arrived at Raider Valley. Where is your current location?"

"Bzz… Bzz…"

Soon, Elisa's crisp voice came from his ear.

"Lord, did you see that stream in the valley?"

"I see it."

Hearing this, Elisa said happily: "Then you follow the upstream of this stream all the way forward. After walking to the end, you will see a pool of water, and I am near here."

"You must go slowly when you come over, otherwise you will scare away those yaks."

Cao Xing replied: "Alright, I know."

Hanging up the call, Cao Xing looked at his subordinates and pets behind him.

"Wally, Dabai, you wait for us here first."

"Everyone else, walk over with me."

The two behemoths nodded docilely, then honestly walked to the foot of a silver fir tree and waited silently.

As for Cao Xing, he led the crowd unhurriedly towards the depths of the mountain range.

Since the route was very clear, they only needed to advance along the upstream of that stream.

A dozen minutes later, they had advanced about one or two kilometers.

Ahead, the murmuring sound of running water could be faintly heard.

Although he didn't know why the running water here wasn't frozen,

it sounded like they had already reached the pool of water Elisa mentioned.

However, because a large number of silver fir trees grew nearby, the specific scenery could not be seen.

Cao Xing pressed the communication device on his ear.

"Elisa, we are almost there."

Hearing the sound, something seemed to move a few times on the branches of a silver fir tree not far away.

Then, a figure wearing a blue and white coat appeared.

Like a little raccoon, she hugged the thick tree trunk and slid down.

Then, waving her hand, she walked quickly towards Cao Xing and the others.

This figure was none other than Elisa!

The young girl's face was flushed, carrying an expression of joy.

Cao Xing also led people to approach her.

After meeting up, Little Chuchu walked over first, holding Elisa's hand with extreme excitement.

"Sister Elisa, I finally get to see you. Good thing you're okay!"

She said proudly: "Humph! Captain Elisa is very capable, how could anything happen? Even the lord has to rely on me!"

"Mm-hmm, Captain Elisa is the best!"

Because Elisa often boasted to Tong Chuchu, this little girl admired her greatly.

Cao Xing said with a smile on his face: "Elisa, you've worked hard."

Even Liu Muxue was praising Elisa for her performance this time.

Facing everyone's praises, the little girl lowered her head shyly and smiled foolishly.

Cao Xing continued to ask, "Elisa, where is that group of Cloud Yaks?"

Hearing this, she seemed to snap back to reality.

She quickly pointed at the woods behind them and said softly, "After passing through these woods, you can see that pool of water."

"Lots of Moses Grass grow on the banks, and those Cloud Yaks are all eating grass there."

Hearing this, Cao Xing's eyes lit up.

"There is actually a large amount of Moses Grass? That's fantastic, now the Cloud Yaks' food problem is solved!"

Cao Xing said, "Elisa, lead us over there."

"Okay."

Elisa turned around and warned, "Lord, remember to move lightly."

After speaking, she lowered her body and tiptoed forward.

Everyone also slowly followed behind her.

Then, deep in the valley, everyone saw the pool of water Elisa mentioned.

A small waterfall cascaded down from the top of the mountain like a white silk ribbon, with splashing water droplets stirring up layers of white mist.

This pool of water was not large, with mist floating on the surface, making this place look ethereal, like a scene from a dream.

Cao Xing glanced around.

[Living Pool Water: Pool water contaminated with an unknown aura that is not easily frozen, but seems to have no special effects.]

Seeing that the pool water had no special effects, Cao Xing looked away and continued to look around.

Then, at a glance, he saw a large amount of pink-purple [Moses Grass] growing on the bank.

And a group of blue and white figures were among them.

They were precisely the Cloud Yaks.

A look of wild joy appeared in Cao Xing's heart.

At this moment, they were happily feeding beside the pool, completely unaware of the arrival of Cao Xing and the others.

Cao Xing counted, and it was indeed as Elisa said.

The number of Cloud Yaks here, big and small, reached a full 59!

This was an astonishing figure, directly exceeding three times the number of Cloud Yaks in the territory.

Cao Xing even wanted to rush over on the spot and catch this group of Cloud Yaks in one sweep.

However, before that, there was still a problem.

That was to prevent the herd from escaping.

Last time, Cao Xing and the others missed a large number of Cloud Yaks.

So this time, they needed to think of a foolproof plan before taking action.

Using control skills like [Miles of Ice] definitely wouldn't work.

This group of Cloud Yaks had too low levels, and an attack from Cao Xing and the others might directly kill them in seconds.

Therefore, they could only use a damage-free control skill like Hilda's [Soul Scream].

After pondering for a moment, Cao Xing had an idea.

"Renice, you go attack Braum's shield 19 times first."

"Andrew, you're still going to turn into a Treant form like before to soothe the emotions of that group of Cloud Yaks."

"Everyone else, follow me to approach this group of Cloud Yaks from different directions."

Hearing this, everyone on the field successively went into action.

Andrew directly cast [Treant Form].

"Rustle, rustle…"

From his body, an aura of life emanated.

His figure rapidly grew taller, and lush branches and leaves grew on top of his head.

Soon, he turned into an ash tree about three meters tall.

Andrew walked out and slowly approached the Cloud Yaks.

Seeing Andrew turned into a Treant form, the group of Cloud Yaks showed a look of confusion in their eyes.

Among them, those few calves stared with copper-bell-like eyes, looking curiously ahead.

Among them, there was also a Cloud Yak whose size was obviously stronger than the other Cloud Yaks, looking like the leader of the herd.

"Moo… Moo…"

It made a low sound, seemingly warning Andrew not to approach.

A burst of commotion appeared within the herd.

As for Andrew, he stopped in place, constantly soothing them and trying to attract the attention of the herd.

Meanwhile.

Cao Xing, Liu Muxue, and a total of 13 people slowly approached this group of Cloud Yaks from various angles.

At this time, that strong Cloud Yak seemed to sense something.

It quickly tilted its cow head and looked around.

Then, at a glance, it saw the tall Assam, as well as the crowd surrounding them from all directions nearby.

Instantly, the cow eyes widened, and a sense of crisis enveloped its entire body!

This sturdy Cloud Yak let out a loud sound.

"Moo——"

In an instant, a strong commotion broke out among the herd!

They all looked around and also saw the group of humans that had suddenly appeared.

Then without hesitation, they began to gallop on all four hooves!

"Boom! Rumble!"

Messy footsteps resounded frantically in the valley.

The herd began to flee in all directions.

Among them, four or five rushed towards Assam's direction.

Seeing this, Cao Xing quickly ordered, "Assam, use Frost Wolf Sword Qi, be careful not to hurt this group of Cloud Yaks!"

"As you command!"

This knight slashed out a sword qi without hesitation.

"Swish!"

The sword qi swept across, plowing a gully nearly one to two meters deep into the ground ahead!

And it landed on a spruce tree in the distance, directly cutting it in half!

"Boom!"

The spruce tree collapsed on the spot.

Seeing that this knight's lethality was so terrifying, those few Cloud Yaks showed fearful expressions in their cow eyes and decisively gave up breaking through in this direction.

In several other directions, a large herd of Cloud Yaks also rushed over.

Seeing this, Cao Xing quickly gave the order.

"Jonard, Josent, each of you block one direction, use Ice Snow Dragon Spear Break!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the two Dragon Blood Warriors directly raised their long spears and thrust forward fiercely!

"Boom! Boom!"

In an instant!

Two ice pillars, two meters thick and 65 meters long, appeared and blocked two directions!

Now, that group of Cloud Yaks only had one direction left to escape.

And in that direction, it seemed that no one was blocking the road.

The Cloud Yaks had almost no time to think, and all subconsciously sprinted toward this gap.

And right at this moment.

A strong man with a bare upper body and holding a huge shield suddenly jumped out.

Braum raised his great shield and laughed aloud, "Aha! Little cows, look here!"

The herd of Cloud Yaks all stopped and looked in terror at the big guy Braum!

"Swoosh!"

An arrow hit his shield, and he also accumulated 20 attacks.

The next moment, the eye on the [Evil Pupil Great Shield] opened.

An evil, powerful aura suddenly spread across this valley.

All the Cloud Yaks looked as if they had seen something terrifying, freezing in place like they were electrocuted.

All 59 Cloud Yaks were controlled!

This was the mightiness of the [Open Eye] special effect!

A strong joy appeared on Cao Xing's face.

Then he quickly ordered, "Muxue, Chu Chu, use the Pet Contract on this group of Cloud Yaks, quickly!"

As soon as the words fell, three figures turned into afterimages and all rushed out.

They took out Pet Contracts one by one from their backpacks and used them on the Cloud Yaks before them.

[This contract failed, the Primary Contract Scroll has disappeared…]

[This contract failed, the Primary Contract Scroll has disappeared…]

Failing two in a row, Cao Xing was not discouraged at all.

He took out another contract scroll and used it directly.

[Ding! Contract successful, magical creature: Level 18 Cloud Yak has become your pet, territory population +1]

…

"Finally succeeded with the first one!"

Cao Xing was overjoyed.

The eyes of the tamed Cloud Yak instantly regained clarity, and it obediently stood aside.

Meanwhile, Tong Chuchu and Liu Muxue were not to be outdone.

After failing two or three scrolls in a row, they finally succeeded with their first one!

[Ding! Your territory member: Tong Chuchu successfully used the Pet Contract, magical creature: Level 16 Cloud Yak has become your territory creature, territory population +1]

[Ding! Your affiliated lord: Liu Muxue successfully used the Pet Contract, magical creature: Level 19 Cloud Yak has become your territory creature, territory population +1]

…

"Chu Chu, Muxue, well done, keep it up!"

Cao Xing praised.

Joyful smiles also appeared on the faces of the two women.

They also knew that the milk of Cloud Yaks had astonishing value and could bring huge profits to the territory!

Then, they began to use the contracts on this group of Cloud Yaks even more diligently!

Braum's [Open Eye] special effect had a control duration of 1 to 5 seconds. Dealing with these Cloud Yaks with only Tier 2 strength, of course, it was the longest control duration.

During these five seconds, Cao Xing and the others almost didn't stop for a moment, starting to crazily use Pet Contracts.

[Ding! Contract successful…]

[Ding! Contract successful…]

System prompts appeared one after another.

The five-second control duration was about to end.

Added together, the three of them failed 53 times in total and succeeded 16 times!

This meant that they directly caught 16 Cloud Yaks this time!

Cao Xing was very excited in his heart.

You must know that his territory only had a total of 19 Cloud Yaks, and this time it almost doubled!

However, this was not even one-third of the number of Cloud Yaks on the field.

Nor did it come close to Cao Xing's goal!

At this moment, a commotion had appeared in the herd once again.

Those Cloud Yaks were about to break free from the control state.

Cao Xing did not panic in the slightest and instantly ordered, "Hilda, Soul Scream!"

Receiving the command, this beautiful Blood Spider Queen slowly opened her dark purple lips and let out a shrill scream.

"Ah!!!"

Instantly, the red sound wave began to spread like substance.

Those uncontracted Cloud Yaks on the field seemed to have heard a terrifying sound, scared like headless flies, running around frantically!

"Boom! Rumble!"

Cow hooves galloped, crashing wildly.

Cao Xing continued to order, "Everyone, block the gaps, don't let this group of Cloud Yaks run away."

After receiving the command, everyone raised their weapons and guarded their respective positions.

Bo Jie, Sun Chaser held a giant axe, exuding a destructive aura all over!

Victoria's body surged with Nen qi, and the surrounding wind, snow, and fallen leaves spun rapidly around her.

Meanwhile, the Dark Moon power on Sarah's body gave people a sense of fatal danger.

Including Isabelle, Hilda, and others, the auras on their bodies were all extremely terrifying.

This made this group of Cloud Yaks completely dare not approach!

They could only constantly change positions in place and run around everywhere.

Seeing this scene, Cao Xing quickly ordered, "Muxue, Chu Chu, continue going over to use the Pet Contract."

As soon as the words fell, the three of them rushed over directly, and then began to use contracts against the chaotic herd.

[Contract failed…]

[Contract failed…]

[Ding! Contract successful!]

System prompts appeared continuously, and almost one out of every three scrolls succeeded.

Meanwhile, as time passed, Cao Xing's population was constantly increasing.

The control duration of [Soul Scream] was a bit longer, but this group of Cloud Yaks would run around randomly, so the efficiency was not as high as imagined.

After 40 seconds, Cao Xing had already caught 47 of the 59 Cloud Yaks on the field.

Only the last 12 remained, still galloping everywhere!

At this point, the control duration of [Soul Scream] was also about to expire.

Seeing this, Cao Xing did not panic.

After all, his subordinates still had many control skills, and these skills did not come with damage.

Hilda used [Catching Net], Isabelle used [Holy Lock Ring], and there was also Andrew's [Root Entanglement].

Even Cao Xing himself possessed a trump card—Ancient Weapon · Primitive Cube.

Thus, for the first time, he pulled that black Rubik's Cube out of his backpack.

Then he clicked directly to use it.

Instantly, about 50 meters ahead of Cao Xing, which was the center of this group of Cloud Yaks, a small black dot appeared.

The moment this black dot appeared, a powerful suction force emerged!