Guo Shier looked up in surprise. A group of trees were shaking in the distance.
“What a coincidence,” he mumbled. "Grandpa Nanshan, kindly check what kind of Marked Beast Variant it is. Be careful and return quickly!”
Qi Nan Shan swiftly went into the forest. He was the strongest, so the most difficult task was assigned to him.
Guo Shier turned to the rest of the group. “We'll retreat to the back of the cliff, we should not stay here."
He knew they had to be careful. He had seen the might of the Earth Dragon Variant before—and he knew not to deal with it casually.
The group immediately retreated and arrived at the low cliff edge.
“Let's hide in the meantime. We'll wait for Grandpa Nan Shan to return," he ordered.
A moment later Qi Nan Shan returned.
“How is it?” Guo Shier asked.
Qi Nan Shan shook his head. "I don’t recognize the Beast Variant. It had a long thing on its head, with two long teeth, long hair, and a huge body. I only saw its head and back."
"It rammed and broke a large tree. It would be hard to deal with," he continued while drawing a simple image of the creature on the ground.
Guo Shier was surprised. “You mean, an elephant?”
Lan Tian Bao nodded. “Yes!"
"Elephant?!?" Luo Jie asked. "This Marked Beast is rare!"
"Strange. Elephants are generally found in the South. You will never see one in the North. No wonder DShan doesn't know."
"The beast's whole body was covered with hair," Qi Nan Shan added.
Guo Shier suddenly realized something. "Could it be a Mammoth?"
Before he could really finish his thoughts, they all heard a sudden cry. A huge Mammoth suddenly walks out of the forest.
"Guo Shier was right! This is a Mammoth Beast Variant! This is Marked Beast Variant is unique to the Wild Beast Secret Dimension!"
"It's too big and it looks weird!" Huo Bao exclaimed.
Guo Shier's heart was thumping out of his chest. He suddenly felt uncertain about dealing with the situation. He silently stared at the Mammoth Beast Variant.
Tan Laoxi, on the other hand, was eager to engage. "Do we attack? Motherfucker, it really is fucking big! Are those two teeth? They are so long—can anyone handle those?"
"That is ivory," Luo Jie said. "Uh yes—it is said that those are the Mammoth's teeth."
"Master, we should wait and see," Guo Shier suggested. "I don't know if we can handle it."
"Does anyone here know what level this Marked Beast Variant is?" Qi Nan Shan asked.
Guo Shier was quick to reply. "It is definitely higher than a level 3 Marked Beast Variant. It should at least be a level 4—maybe even a level 5. I feel like it is a little bit beyond our ability."
Luo Jie smiled and looked at the distant Mammoth Beast, "Although it's weaker than the Earth Dragon, I can feel that this guy is stronger than our strength."
“Hmmm. This Mammoth Beast feels oppressive," added Ying Mo. "I don't think we can handle it."
The group saw the beast easily knock down a big tree using its long nose. It then walked back into the forest gingerly, carrying the tree.
"Shier, are we letting it go?" Tan Laoxi asked. "Why not fight it?"
"Fart!" Qi Nan Shan quipped. "How do you plan to fight without understanding the situation? You are not a kid anymore. Why are you impulsive? Look at Shier—he is better than you."
Qi Nan Shan felt better after he bluntly taught Tan Laoxi a lesson.
Tan Laoxi felt even more depressed—he certainly didn't need scolding.
Guo Shier did not care about Tan Laoxi. He also didn't know that Tan Laoxi had a nasty nickname in the West Rune Sect.
"Master, let's try first if we can handle this Mammoth Beast. If it's not possible, we should hunt for another Marked Beast Variant," Guo Shier decided.
Luo Jie nodded and very much agreed with Guo Shier's caution. As the leader of the team, it was taboo to be impulsive.
"Alright," the master declared. "Let's set up a camp."
"I will feel more comfortable if we back away a little further," Guo Shier suggested. "We are still too close to the Mammoth Beast Variant."
The group withdrew a few miles away and found a hidden place to put up their tents.
Guo Shier, Luo Jie and Qi Nan Shan sat down together to deliberate on how to proceed with the hunt.
It was tempting to hunt the Mammoth Beast Variant but it was certainly not easy to capture. Even if they had nine Grandmasters, they didn't feel they had sufficient strength to defeat the beast.
Tan Laoxi saw the three of them planning. He couldn't help being curious and ran over to them. Ying Mo and the rest of the team also came over and sat around the group.
Guo Shier asked, “So does anyone have any suggestion? Two heads are better than one. Hehe!"
"It's very simple. All we have to do is set up a trap," Tan Laoxi said triumphantly. "Let the Mammoth get in and then fuck it up like before. Haha!"
Guo Shier can't help but roll his eyes.
"You saw the Mammoth Beast Variant. It's huge—at least 10 meters long. It has overpowering strength than can easily break an enormous tree! Mr. Tan, what kind of plan are you planning to set up? With the beast's absolute strength, any kind of trap will prove useless!"
The group was speechless.
"What do you want to do? Dig a 50-meter diameter wide and thirty-meter-deep pit?" Guo Shier continued. "Do you want us to cover it with planks and then lure the Mammoth Beast Variant on top of it? With just us, this task would be impossible to do."
Tan Laoxi wanted to refute, but this time he thought carefully. This trap was indeed no good so he closed his mouth.
"This trap can easily be removed," Luo Jie said. "Any other ideas?"
The group got into a lively discussion. But soon, everyone discovered that there was no easy way to capture this creature.
Guo Shier reiterated that most schemes would be useless in the face of the Marked Beast's absolute strength.
"If there is a Marked Beast that is similar to the Mammoth Beast Variant and we draw it towards the Mammoth's area, do you think they will fight? Hehe!" he suggested.
The group looked at him with interest.
"If we remain in the sidelines, we may be able to profit from this," Guo Shier continued. "Of course, there has to be another Marked Beast Variant near the vicinity of the Mammoth."
Luo Jie nodded. "Good idea, but this is not easy. There are several prerequisites. First, we have to find a Marked Beast Variant with almost the same strength as the Mammoth Beast. Second, this beast should be near the location of the Mammoth. Third, who’s going to lure it over? Fourth, they should actually fight each other instead of giving way upon their meeting. Fifth, even if the two Marked Beast Variants fight each other, there is just too many variables. It is also unlikely that both Marked Beasts will lose.
Guo Shier can't help but show a bitter smile. Master is right, he thought to himself. There are too many variables in this plan.
Qi Nanshan let out a chuckle. “Haha! Shier, don’t worry. Marked Beast Variants have always been the hardest to hunt. We'll find a way to do this. We still have enough time."
Tan Laoxi was getting anxious. "If… if we don't fight, how will we know that we can't defeat the Marked Beast Variant? We should stop thinking of useless things."
His voice was almost a whisper, but everyone clearly heard what he said.
Guo Shier's was moved when he heard this.
"Uncle Tan, what you said is actually reasonable," he said carefully. "We were overwhelmed by the power exhibited by the Mammoth Beast. But perhaps we can check how powerful it really is. It won't hurt to try. Even if we fail, we can still lure it to another Marked Beast Variant's lair."
Luo Jie's eyes brightened. "Alright! Guo Shier, you command. Let's try it out and check how challenging this guy is. With its size, it shouldn't be fast."
Tan Laoxi was very proud. "Haha! Am I right or am I right?"
Guo Shier stood up. "Master and I, Grandpa Nan Shan, Uncle Ying Mo, Uncle Luo, Uncle Xiao Feng, Uncle Luo Jing and Uncle Tan—all eight of us should go. Elder Sister Lan can stay and guard the camp."
"Grandpa Nan Shan, kindly scout the beast lair," he continued. "The rest of us can take a break first. We'll act tomorrow morning."
"Alright, I'll leave now and scout the lair of the Mammoth Beast," Qi Nan Shan said and then left.
Tan Laoxi went to Guo Shier's side with a smile on his face.
Guo Shier's brow wrinkled. "Uncle Tan, don't even think about it. There is no way I'll let you do it."
Luo Jie was baffled. "Guo Shier, what are you talking about?"
Tan Laoxi suddenly showed a bitter face. "Guo Shier, how did you know?"
"You're an ass! I know what you're trying to pull!" Guo Shier quipped, not bothering to be polite to Tan Laoxi.
"Old Luo, you're apprentice is spouting vulgar language!" claimed Tan Laoxi.
Luo Jie laughed. "That is not vulgar language—that's a compliment! Haha!"
He turned to Guo Shier and whispered, "Hey Shier, what does he want to do?"
"You ask him," Guo Shier answered.
"Old Luo, Old Timer, I feel wronged," complained Tan Laoxi. "I haven't thought of anything yet but Guo Shier already told me no way!"
Guo Shier tried to stop himself from laughing. "Since you're not thinking of anything, then go and prepare. You have a bunch of Marked Snow Wolves. I hope you actually do something this time."
Luo Jie was not stupid and finally figured it out. "No way! Impossible!" he blurted out.
Tan Laoxi was eager to acquire the spirit of the Mammoth Beast. With the spirit, he could attain a powerful Ancient level Glyph.
But if the spirit of the Mammoth Beast were to be sealed within a Glyph, the blood would spoil and become unusable. The blood of the Marked Beast Variant was extremely useful for those of the North Rune Sect. There was no way they were going to allow that.
Lan Tian Bao had been looking at them curiously. "Shier, what are you talking about?"
"Oh, its nothing. We were just discussing about how to deal with the Mammoth Beast," answered Guo Shier.
This confused Lan Tian Bao.
After a short while, she also asked, "Shier, won't I be hunting with you?"
"Elder Sister Lan, the camp is very important," Guo Shier answered. "We must have a Grandmaster guarding it. Otherwise, I would worry. Actually, I also wanted to leave a Marked Warrior Grandmaster here, but the Mammoth Beast is very powerful. So we must pull together all our strength."
Lan Tian Bao nodded.
"Okay, I'll guard the camp"
She knew that Guo Shier was just trying to protect her.
Guo Shier began arranging the defensive formation. He took a few Marked Warrior Masters and started setting traps around the camp.
According to his plan, even if these traps don't kill the enemy, they would at least send alarms throughout the entire camp.
He also specifically sought Lan Tian Bao and discussed guarding methods that she can apply. She placed tyrannical poisonous insects within the trap. With this, Guo Shier was assured of the security of the camp.
Translator: Glasses TangGu
Editor: M