Iya Continent: Card God

Amidst swirling mists and steep, precipitous cliffs, a few adventurers are searching for traces of the White-headed Two-Spotted Leopard. Each employs their own methods, drawing upon knowledge of terrain, temperature, vegetation, and tracks to deduce where the leopard might appear. Some even resort to magical artifacts, doing their utmost to find it.

Halfway up the mountain cliff, Red-haired Locke calmly led his team to the location.

"This place will do, it's perfect." Locke looked around, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.

Bald and his companions were somewhat confused and bewildered, completely unaware of what Locke was up to. Why wasn't he searching like other adventurers, but instead coming here to this somewhat difficult-to-access mountainside?

"Heh, you guys want to ask me what to do?" Red-haired Locke said with a smirk.

Baldr chuckled, "It's fine if you don't ask. We absolutely trust you, Brother Locke."

"Hmph." Red-haired Locke snorted and took out the bag from his waist.

Everyone looked at Red-haired Locke with suspicion.

Locke opened the bag and took out some plants that resembled mushrooms and grasses. These plants emitted a faint fragrance, which drifted and spread with the mountain breeze.

"What is this, Brother Locke?" Bald asked with a puzzled smile.

“This is Fried Mushroom Grass, good stuff,” Locke said proudly.

Those present remained bewildered, having never heard of this plant before.

The others were unaware of its significance, and Locke wasn't surprised. He had learned about it through a transaction at an underground casino. It was a plant from the distant northern elven forests. It had a unique fragrance that specifically attracted herbivorous monsters.

These kinds of monsters are exactly the prey that the white-headed double-spotted leopard likes to hunt.

“Learn something from this,” Locke said smugly.

Then he took out a glass bottle containing a green liquid medicine.

"Is this a magic potion?" Bald asked, his eyes wide.

"Otherwise what?" Locke chuckled, used the magic potion, and then cast a spell with a bluish glow on the Fried Mushroom Grass.

One of his companions asked, puzzled, "What...are we doing?"

Locke grinned and said, "You'll find out soon enough. Let's go."

With that, he left the place.

Everyone was even more confused. Why did they leave so soon?

Locke then led Bald and the others to a spot a hundred meters away from where the mushrooms had been placed, and hid behind a cliff face.

Shortly after they left, a demonic mountain deer was attracted by the aroma and climbed up the rock.

Then the deer came to the straw mushrooms, sniffed them, and began to devour them voraciously.

"Hey!" Baldr exclaimed excitedly, pretending to stop him.

"Quiet," Locke said sternly, suppressing the pretentious Baldr. He then said to the others, "You can take your time watching."

Everyone stared wide-eyed as the deer ate the Fried mushrooms.

After the straw mushrooms were eaten bare, they grew rapidly again. They were eaten again and again, but they were never completely eaten and kept regenerating.

Locke chuckled, “Wood magic, as long as it can’t be consumed, it will continue to grow until its magic power is exhausted.”

Baldr suddenly realized, "I understand, we'll use this to lure out the white-headed two-spotted leopard."

The adventurers in the party present also understood.

That's an absolutely brilliant idea!

The white-headed two-spotted leopard is an extremely perceptive magical beast, making it quite difficult to find by relying on the slightest clues. Furthermore, any movement during the search will inevitably alert it. The correct approach is to lure it out! However, there's a delicate art to luring it out. Simply using prey to lure it is insufficient. Magical beasts aren't fools; even if their intelligence is inferior to humans, their keen senses can still detect danger. Using mushrooms to lure a mountain deer, and then using the deer to lure the white-headed two-spotted leopard, is a much more natural and effective method.

"As expected of Brother Locke, I never thought of such a method," Bald said flatteringly.

The other adventurers praised it, saying they were not as good as the others.

Red-haired Locke pursed his lips slightly, his consciousness stirring. This brilliant method wasn't his own idea; it was taught to him by that big shot in the underground casino.

There must be no better way in the world, right?

……

Suddenly, a magical "thump!" echoed from a cave at the foot of the mountain.

The magical power absorbed into the world vanished without a trace.

The magician Abirgay, who was standing guard by a fire a few feet inside the cave entrance, stared in disbelief at the outcome.

"Success..."

"Phew..." Linta stood up from the cave floor and patted off the dust that had fallen from the ground.

There's no need to show off; simply breathing in and out is enough to make one feel the magic within their body becoming more abundant.

Bronze Intermediate to Bronze Advanced!

"What's the situation outside?" Linta asked Abirgai directly, getting straight to the point. He didn't find his advancement too incredible. It was simply the natural course of things. He was different from any other magic user on the continent of Iya. Their cultivation might depend on talent, effort, and opportunity. But for him, none of those things mattered. His level of spiritual power determined whether he could break through.

However, Linta also discovered the difficulties and drawbacks that lay in this breakthrough method...

“Nothing’s happening. There’s no sound of a chase or fighting,” Abirgay replied.

He added, "Judging from this, it seems no one has found the white-headed two-spotted leopard. It looks like it's going to be very difficult to find..."

Linta said calmly, "It's hard to find, but it's not like we're the ones looking for it. We'll just wait."

As he spoke, he walked over to the fire and sat down.

Abierge's long, beautiful eyelashes trembled, making it hard to refute Linta's words. Indeed, why should we worry about these things?

“But if there’s really some noise, we won’t be the only ones who hear it, right? It’ll be very chaotic then, what should we do?” Abirgay asked doubtfully.

Linta remained calm and composed, his face as still as water. "Let's take it one step at a time."

……

Inside the sailboat cliffs, amidst the green and gray rocks, a gust of wind whistles past.

No, it wasn't the wind, it was a figure—a robust figure nearly three meters long, incredibly swift, moving like the wind.

"Ow..."

Its ferocious head is covered in white fur, and its gray-white body is marked with black circular patterns. Its four legs are powerful and agile, seemingly surpassing all weapons.

A white-headed leopard, an adult white-headed leopard, has appeared.

It had long sensed that the human adventurers in the mountains intended to harm it.

Knowing is one thing, but it doesn't mean you have to hide forever. You still have to hunt, and the children in the cave are waiting for food.

Food! I see food! A foolish mountain deer is munching on grass.

It's not an ordinary animal; it's a monster, a monster with magic flowing through its body. This is one of its favorite foods.

The white-headed leopard cautiously approached the cliff face dozens of meters away, its eyes fixed coldly on the precipice.

The right opportunity—just one opportunity—is all it takes to kill this mountain deer in one strike.

Unbeknownst to the white-headed leopard, eyes had already spotted it from the shadows.

"Shh." Red-haired Locke gestured for silence, his eyes fixed intently on his prey. It seemed that if anyone ruined his plans, he would tear them apart.

Baldr wisely kept quiet; now was not the time for flattery.

However, this is an adult magical beast. An adult white-headed, two-spotted leopard magical beast is useless; it doesn't have any valuable materials and is exceptionally difficult to kill. Its cubs are the useful ones. And the cubs?