All-Class Anti-Mage - - - - -

Babala directed Lulu to lower their flight altitude so they could see the situation in the Magical Beast Forest more clearly. Yang Zhen had excellent vision and could easily spot things moving through the dense forest. As Lulu flew overhead, many low-tier magical beasts scattered in panic.

They were now at the outskirts of the Beast Language Forest, and no valuable information could be gathered. After circling around several times on the outskirts, Babala instructed Lulu to fly deeper into the forest. However, even after delving nearly halfway in, they had still not encountered any advanced magical beasts, aside from a few low-tier ones.

“Strange, the Beast Language Forest seems unusually quiet today. Where have all the advanced magical beasts gone? I need to see something soon, or I’ll have to hurry back to report!” Babala thought to himself.

Little did he know that he was accompanied by a beast taming grandmaster. The journey had not been easy for Yang Zhen either; he had seen advanced magical beasts from a distance and had immediately sent out his psychic consciousness to hide them before Babala even noticed.

While psychic communication was not physically demanding, it was not exactly relaxing either. After a few kilometers, Yang Zhen began to feel dizzy and decided to use his inner vision.

“Can this really work?” Yang Zhen looked at the sixth halo, which had shimmered a bit more. Aside from standard meditation techniques that didn’t enhance his willpower, all other unconventional methods did contribute, to some extent, to the cultivation of his halo.

However, relying solely on this psychic communication with magical beasts was hardly as effective as just getting beaten up. Just as Yang Zhen had this thought, he caught sight of a peculiar area within the dense trees. When did those branches and vines get so tangled? Not good! Danger!

Almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind, a long giant spear shot out from where they had just passed. Although Lulu reacted quickly, the spear grazed the base of her wing! Lulu let out a desperate cry as the two riders were thrown off balance and fell!

Yang Zhen reacted instantly and wrapped his arms around Lulu’s neck while clinging to Babala’s body with his legs. Lulu tried to ascend higher, but given the injury to her wing, simply staying in the air was a challenge. They were at a dangerously high altitude; if they fell, Yang Zhen, due to his physique, might sustain serious injuries at worst, but Babala would surely not survive!

Yet if they couldn’t fly away, encountering the ballista disguised by the branches and vines from earlier would surely get them shot down. They found themselves in a deadlock, and Lulu desperately flew toward the outskirts of the Beast Language Forest. As fate would have it, the previously quiet forest suddenly erupted with activity; giant spears with metal tips were launched from the trees, aiming directly at the fleeing Lulu!

While heavily injured, Lulu continued to persevere, struggling to dodge one giant spear after another. However, they had ventured too deep into the Beast Language Forest, and it would take several minutes to fly back out-minutes that could cost them their lives! Yang Zhen suddenly realized this was a trap set by the Orcs, clearly targeting the reconnaissance by the Blue Moon Legion’s pterosaurs!

“Drop Babala! If not, Lulu won’t be able to fly!” Babala shouted loudly. If Lulu didn’t have to bear his weight, she might actually be able to take off. But how could Yang Zhen easily abandon him? In the young man’s heart, Babala had already become a true friend!

In this precarious situation, even with Yang Zhen holding multiple roles, his abilities were limited. Jumping down might ensure that communication with the Orcs would remain uninterrupted. However, Babala was different; he was part of the Blue Moon Legion, the Orcs’ archenemy. If he fell, he could easily be shot full of arrows!

“I’ll lift you up, grab Lulu’s foot!” Yang Zhen shouted. With one less person’s weight, Lulu might be able to ascend. But Babala, being straightforward as he was, was no fool. Having undergone intense combat training with the Blue Moon Legion, he quickly guessed Yang Zhen’s intentions.

“Don’t even think about it! Let me go!” Babala began to struggle, trying to pry Yang Zhen’s legs apart with his arms. Clearly, he underestimated Yang Zhen’s strength, as he exerted all his effort but couldn’t break free!

“Hurry! Or we’ll both be done for!” they shouted in unison.

“Listen to me this time! Next time, you can call the shots!” they exclaimed together once again.

Yang Zhen struggled to lift Babala; the barbarian could almost reach Lulu’s foot with his hand, but he remained stubborn, locking horns with Yang Zhen. The clash of Babala’s obstinacy and Yang Zhen’s obsession created a standoff!

Perhaps sensing that Lulu was about to break free from the Beast Language Forest, the Orcs launched their giant spears with increased ferocity. A few almost struck the two of them; had it not been for Lulu’s timely dodging, they would have turned into a skewer of meat long ago! Seeing that Babala wasn’t listening to him, Yang Zhen’s mind began to race rapidly.

“Quick, command Lulu to fly sideways!” Yang Zhen shouted as a brilliant idea struck him. Although Babala didn’t understand why they needed to do this, he chose to trust Yang Zhen.

Lulu was a loyal companion; even when facing life and death, he executed Babala’s commands without hesitation. Almost as soon as Babala had issued the strange command, Lulu immediately changed direction and began to fly sideways. If they continued at this angle, it would take them another ten minutes to escape the Beast Language Forest.

But Babala found it strange that after a few waves of giant spears, there seemed to be no more attacks. Yang Zhen secretly hoped he was right in his guess: when they first entered the Beast Language Forest, they had already been detected. There was a reason he could so efficiently use his psychic consciousness to fend off magical beasts-it was because the Orcs were quietly setting a trap!

They probably planned to ambush them in a particular area, anticipating that they would try to fly out, which is why there were ballistae laid along their route. If they had flown sideways sooner, they wouldn’t have had to endure so many giant spears chasing after them.

However, just when the two of them thought they had evaded danger, Lulu suddenly let out a mournful cry while flying normally. Then, without warning, he flipped upside down, cushioning the two riders as he fell. They crashed through countless branches with a crackling sound, landing heavily on the ground and sliding for quite a distance before finally stopping against a thick tree.

“Lulu! What’s wrong? Why did you do that?” Babala shouted, rolling over to face his companion. He looked at Lulu, who was gasping for breath, and began to cry like a child. Lulu emitted another mournful sound, a tear rolling down his big eyes before he closed them forever…

Dragons, what kind of race are you? Yang Zhen felt a heavy sorrow in his heart. He knew that Lulu and Babala hadn’t signed a psychic contract; otherwise, Babala would have been able to issue commands mentally just now. Yet, Lulu had chosen to protect both of them even at the cost of his own life.

In fact, Lulu had long been pierced by a giant spear; one had shot directly into his body from his tail. Yang Zhen could almost pinpoint when it had happened-when Lulu had been striving to fly higher. Due to the angle, the two riders below hadn’t seen anything.

From that moment, Lulu must have known he wasn’t going to make it, yet he had pressed on to flee. Once they had managed to fly sideways and evade the pursuit of the giant spears, his spirit relaxed, and in the end, he had still managed to protect both of his companions from injury.

“The Orcs will be surrounding us soon; you must leave quickly!” Yang Zhen urged as he patted Babala, who was still unharmed. If they lingered any longer, even the barbarian would lose his life!

“Babala won’t go! Babala wants to…”

“Get out of here! If you don’t leave now, Lulu’s sacrifice will be in vain. Go!”

Yang Zhen angrily kicked Babala. However, Babala, pushed away by the kick, crawled back and knelt beside Lulu’s body. Just as Yang Zhen was about to lift him up, he heard the barbarian start to chant strange syllables.

“Ba cuo ge o ni gao… gao… la… la ha…” Babala repeated the words several times, his face growing more anxious with each repetition. Finally, he collapsed over Lulu’s corpse, crying loudly, “Babala is useless; I just can’t remember the soul guiding ritual chant!”

“What did you say? That’s the soul guiding ritual chant?” Yang Zhen asked in surprise.

“Yeah, it’s what the legion commander taught us. He said there would definitely come a time when Lulu would die in battle, and that we should chant the soul guiding ritual at that moment. But Babala is too stupid; I can never remember such complicated syllables. The legion commander said that if we couldn’t complete the soul guiding ritual, Lulu’s soul would fall into the abyss and be claimed by the Fallen God, never to return to the embrace of the Dragon God! When we were returning to the village, I didn’t think to bring Lulu because I couldn’t chant the soul guiding ritual. But the legion commander insisted I take Lulu with me to keep me away from other humans, and now I’ve caused Lulu’s death and taken him away from the Dragon God’s embrace!”

Babala said all of this in one breath. It might have been the longest speech he had ever given, showing just how agitated he was in that moment.

“Sigh…” Yang Zhen comfortingly patted his shoulder. Then he gently placed his right hand on Lulu’s head, closed his eyes, and softly began to chant: “Ba cuo ge o ni gao la ha so ha da wa di a…”

Yang Zhen never expected that the ritual chant he often used to help magical beasts achieve soul ascension was the very soul guiding ritual chant that Babala couldn’t remember! The Dragons and the Beasts indeed shared the same soul guiding ritual chant, but did that mean their souls would return to the embrace of the Beast God or the Dragon God?

Babala stopped crying, and under his astonished gaze, as Yang Zhen continued chanting, Lulu’s body gradually transformed into blue glowing sand, soaring into the sky to form a pterosaur.

The only difference in this soul guiding process compared to what Yang Zhen usually did for magical beasts was that, as a beast taming grandmaster, he couldn’t communicate with Lulu’s psychic consciousness. It seemed there was still some distinction between them, yet why use the same soul guiding ritual chant?

Slowly, as Lulu nodded repeatedly, his soul ascended and finally returned to the embrace of the Dragon God!

“Why do you know the soul guiding ritual chant?” Babala asked, his tear-streaked face still wet.

“Sigh, we can talk about that later. Right now, even if you wanted to leave, there’s no way you could.” As Yang Zhen sighed, magical beasts and green-skinned orcs began to surround them from all directions. Fortunately, he understood the orc language, so he felt confident he could communicate with them.