Chapter 131: Lin Qi’s Worth

Tixiang’s carriage, surrounded by guards, also retreated dozens of meters. Not only his, but the carriages of most of the other young nobles did the same. Protected by their guards, they watched the spectacle from over a hundred meters away.

Beya’s suddenly frenzied mount turning viciously against its master – this was rare entertainment in the Imperial Capital! These high-rank magical beasts were tamed from infancy. Their loyalty to their master was unquestionable, and their wild nature suppressed to the extreme. Under normal circumstances, such a betrayal was practically impossible.

Yet, that’s exactly what this magical tiger did. Even more shocking, it didn’t hesitate to expend its Primordial Qi to unleash the tremendously powerful ‘White Tiger’s Roaring Bullet’.

Beya’s armor was a fine suit of magic-powered armor equipped with an auto-protect function for its master. If Beya could channel his Combat Qi into the armor, its defensive power could increase at least threefold. But the mount’s betrayal came so swiftly and so savagely. Knocked to the ground, Beya faced relentless attacks from the White Tiger. He simply had no time to channel any Combat Qi.

The defenses automatically activated by the magic armor alone were insufficient to block an innate magic attack from a high-rank magical beast. The Roaring Bullet shattered the Magic Array on the chestplate and cracked the breastplate with over a dozen fissures. This already dropped the suit’s overall defensive power by at least half.

The large silver-white tiger raised its right front paw high. With an enraged roar, it slammed it down with terrible force. Beya was paralyzed by terror; he hadn’t a clue how to counter the blow. The tiger claw struck violently against his chest. Already riddled with cracks, the armor shattered completely. Long claws tore through the metal, plunging deep into Beya’s chest.

The tiger roared. Its right front paw yanked back viciously, ripping open a gaping wound the size of a small basin across Beya’s chest. Jagged gashes of crimson were starkly visible. Beya screamed in agony. Reacting purely on instinct, he mustered all his strength and lashed out desperately with his foot. As luck would have it, his kick struck squarely between the two hind legs of the frenzied tiger.

This was a male tiger. Beya’s strike hit the very spot most vulnerable to all creatures of the male gender.

The tiger, already crazed by the potion, now had its pupils flood completely with blood-red. The silver-white fur took on a bloody tinge. The muscles under its hide surged like waves. Its two front paws suddenly swelled to twice their size. A terrifying blood-red glow erupted from both claws.

Tixiang chuckled in surprise, “Oh ho! This fellow is going all out! Wow, if Beya died… how wonderfully entertaining that would be!”

Tixiang’s eyes darted rapidly. Beya was Duke Beian’s only grandson. If Beya died or was crippled, it would undoubtedly be a fatal blow to Duke North Wind and his entire family. A high Nobility without an heir would surely become prey in the eyes of the big predators of the Imperial Capital. Besides, we mustn’t forget that Duke Beian and his three sons all held positions of great importance in the Imperial military.

Positions many covetous souls desired to seize.

“How deliciously interesting!” Tixiang said to Lin Qi with a laugh. “My dear Lin Qi, Beya was killed by his own mount!”

Lin Qi smiled faintly, crossing his legs nonchalantly as he sipped fragrant tea from his cup. Softly, he observed, “With all these noble gentlemen around to bear witness, it was certainly his mount that killed him. Hmm, though… perhaps he won’t be killed?”

The frenzied tiger raised both front paws, ready to deliver a final, crushing blow to Beya. But Beya’s troop of several dozen Dragoons finally snapped back to awareness. One officer, bearing a silver medal on his chest—clearly the highest-ranked—gave a shocked cry. Leaping from his steed and drawing his sword, he charged towards the maddened tiger.

A fierce burst of green light enveloped the officer. He roared urgently, “Attack! Slay the beast! Protect the Captain!”

His sword surged with radiant energy as it plunged into the tiger’s hindquarters. The blade, nearly a meter long, sank completely into the beast’s body. Yet the tiger’s descending paws never stopped. They came down with crushing force.

When the tiger’s paws were less than a foot from his chest, Beya finally moved. Pushing off the ground with both hands, his body shot backwards several meters. A faint green-tinged glow washed over him—the flicker of defensive Combat Qi. He was only a High-Rank Earth Rider; just barely reaching that level.

A tiger claw crashed down onto Beya’s right leg. His protective Combat Qi shuddered violently, shattering under the blow. His greave disintegrated utterly as the bloody claw raked it. Beya let out a bloodcurdling howl of agony. The bones in his right leg were shattered by the strike.

Luckily, the physique of an Earth Knight was incredibly tough, at least ten times stronger than an average man’s. Beya’s bones were merely broken. For an ordinary person, that would have meant a fragmentation fracture. An ordinary break, treated with a potent Secret Elixir, could fully heal. At least for Beya, it shouldn’t cause any lingering problems.

That courageous Dragoon officer’s lightning-fast thrust drew the tiger’s full attention.

The tiger’s tail snapped out like a whip, slamming brutally across the officer’s waist. With a terrible crash, the tiger spun around and began to viciously tear at the officer who was struggling to keep his balance. White light blossomed in its gaping maw—clearly, it was gathering all it had left for another Roaring Bullet.

At this critical moment, the other dozens of Dragoons surged forward, surrounding the tiger. Patrol Dragoons carried near two-meter-long short Spears. Their Combat Qi, at varying red and orange levels of intensity, flared chaotically. Dozens of Spears stabbed frantically, forcing the maddened tiger into a confined space where it could thrash violently but strike out at nothing further.

“What a shame. Why didn’t he die?” Tixiang sighed softly, leaning out of the carriage window to shout, “Go lend a hand! Such a crazed magical beast is dangerous! Slay it—we are responsible for the safety of the Imperial Capital’s populace! Hmm… try not to ruin that tiger pelt too badly. Such high-rank pelts do have considerable collecting value, after all.”

Eight of Tixiang’s guards rushed out. Seeing that Beya was out of lethal danger, the other young nobles also had their bodyguards charge forward.

Hundreds now encircled the single crazed tiger. Even boosted several times over in its berserk fury, it dealt grievous wounds to dozens of Dragoons and over a dozen guards before finally being overwhelmed and slain outright.

Tixiang paid no further attention to the scene outside. He turned his full focus to Lin Qi, nodding repeatedly, full of interest. “Cousin Yulian was right. Mr. Lin Qi, you are a man full of resources. I think… I can seriously consider gaining one more friend!”

Lin Qi nodded politely back at Tixiang. “One more friend means one more resource. It’s an honor for me to make your acquaintance.”

Tixiang roared with laughter. Lingeringly, he took one last glance towards the entrance of Greenfield Manor. Then he rapped his knuckles sharply against the carriage walls.

“To the Old Rooster Inn! Quickly!”