The Jiao has already felt the aura emanating from the powerful figures engaged in battle, but it didn’t feel like its nose into others’ business. If it can lie down, then it won’t choose to sit up; if it can sit, then it won’t choose to expend the extra effort to stand. Having someone stuff energy stones into its mouth instead of feeding itself - why, that’s the best life a spirit beast can live.
What a shame, the chef from last time managed to escape.
But even if the chef didn’t run away, the Jiao still wouldn’t want to keep eating the low quality stuff. So the Jiao didn’t want to go chase down the chef just yet.
The pekingese next to the Jiao started barking again.
The Jiao was too lazy to deal with the dog. It’s not like it’s the Jiao’s crib that was being ransacked, why the hell does it need to hurry? In fact the Jiao would rather take things slower, maybe wait until they’re done fighting before moving by.
If it hadn’t felt the two powerful figures move away, the Jiao would’ve dallied even more.
As it flew to the place where the hedgehog beast had just fallen, the Jiao paused in surprise. ...There’s...a familiar scent. Its large nose twitched as it looked around. When the pekingese started barking again, the Jiao didn’t even blink before it struck with all its might. If it weren’t for the presence of the few king realms in the forbidden area, the Jiao would’ve already swallowed the damn poodle.
The pekingese was hit, and the pain from having its flesh shredded had it whining in anguish.
The Jiao paid it no heed, and dropped suddenly from its flight, landing heavily on the ground. As soon as it landed, the magic beasts all around all raised their voices in an uproar.
This is the hedgehog beast’s Ridge! they have their own King here! Now that the King has gone to chase down an enemy, this foreign, powerful beast suddenly invading their home in their King’s absence is an offense not to be ignored.
The Jiao’s large eyes betrayed a hint of his impatience. In the next second, the Jiao suddenly gaped its jaws wide, and began violently sucking in great big breaths!
All around the Jiao, countless demonic beasts were pressed to the ground, the vitality and the energy from their prone forms were leaking out relentlessly, and rapidly being sucked into the Jiao’s mouth.
“ROAR!”
The pekingese was completely enraged, and began hoarsely bellowing its anger at the Jiao.
The Hedgehog Beast’s Ridge is the entrance way to the Forbidden Lands. In massacring and feasting on the beasts in the Hedgehog’s Ridge right at the Forbidden Land’s doorsteps, the Golden-Horned Beast King is infringing on the Forbidden Lands！
A murderous glint flashed through the Jiao’s eyes. The last thread of its patience snapped. Time and time again, this newly ascended demonic beast has been testing the Jiao’s patience. From the Jiao’s perspective, the demonic beast is repeatedly interrupting the Jiao while it was eating, as well as repeatedly pushing the Jiao’s head down and forcing the Jiao to pay respects to the Forbidden Lands. To the Jiao, this foolish demonic beast’s actions are nothing short of a challenge to the Jiao.
In the next moment, colossal beams of Heaven and Earth power crashed down with manic rhythm. The Jiao’s huge golden claws swung towards the pekingese with bone-crushing strength. The strikes came one after the other, again and again; until the pekingese, which was too terrified to retaliate, began to howl and scream in anguish
Although the Golden-Horned Beast King has only recently ascended to the Venerable realm, its true strength is not something to be trifled with. If not for the Golden-Horned Beast King’s immense power, the Forbidden Lands would not have been in such a hurry to force the Golden-Horned Beast King to return to pay its respects.
After violently smacking the pekingese around, the Jiao refrained from massacring the other demonic beasts, choosing instead to absorb large amounts of their vitality and energy. The crumpled forms of demonic beast littered the ground, as the Jiao leisurely wandered about. As it reached the long quills left by the hedgehog, the Jiao’s nostrils suddenly flared as it began scenting the quills.
After sniffing for a while, the Jiao paused. A humanistic huge eye
This is the dumb tree’s scent! Why is the dumb tree’s scent here? That dumb tree, rooted as it was in the energy stone mines, would definitely not leave by itself. Why would its scent appear so close to the Forbidden Land?
The Jiao leapt into the air and turned its gazed sharply toward the Thousand Beast Forest. In the next moment, the Jiao’s head whipped around again. A huge golden claw slammed down suddenly.
BOOM!
As if on cue, an anguished roar of pain resounded. The pekinese’s wide eyes betrayed a hint of disbelief. The Golden-Horned Beast King wants to kill it!
How? How is it possible? How dare the Golden-Horned Beast King dare to kill the pekinese?
The Jiao didn’t make a single sound in reply, only ruthless indifference and apathy showed in its huge eyes. Heaven and Earth power aggregated, weblike and tangled on the Jiao’s golden horns, before rushing downwards in a destructive beam.
Blood splattered all over the place as the pekinese’s flesh came off in great chunks.
Just as the pekinese resigned itself to death, the Jiao suddenly stopped its movements.
The Pekinese was so heavily injured that it could no longer move. Its beast core, on the verge of implosion, suddenly stopped its violent fluctuations. All of a sudden, the long quills on the ground flew upwards.
THUNK!
Dozens of quills pierced the pekinese’s body in an instant. Then the quills imploded, scattering their powdery remains in midair.
The surrounding magical beasts were all terrified to the extreme. Their intelligence is limited, and they couldn’t understand anything that was happening. All they know is that the powerful Beast King killed another high ranked demon beast!
And before this, it was that high ranked demon beast that stopped the Jiao from eating them!
Even if their intelligence is limited, their sense of self preservation had them backing away even as they trembled with fear.
A flash of cool anger lit the Jiao's narrowed eyes. A vast amount of spiritual energy was suddenly released, and pressed all of the demon beasts to the ground.
The Jiao opened its large jaws and began to feast in peace.
The Jiao’s meal tasted way better without the pekinese here to interrupt. The Jiao left the pekinese’s body alone, even though the energy from the flesh of the seventh tiered demon beast is better than the meat of all the demon beasts nearby.
A while later, all of the demon beasts were consumed by the Jiao, turning into dried corpses. From the Jiao’s horns, heaven and earth power began to glow and crackle. The power crashed down, swift as lightning, and the corpses of the demon beasts were vaporized in an instant.
The ground under the Jiao began to shake, and a fissure opened under its feet.
The Jiao’s nose twitched. That familiar scent again. Although the scent is very faint, but after encountering it a few times, as well as having consumed quite a bit of vitality, the Jiao still remembered.
It wasn’t in a hurry to catch this chef. The Jiao twisted around to gaze into the far off distance.
The energy fluctuation less than a hundred miles from this spot is most likely from the two powerful beings, still fighting after all this time.
The Jiao looked at the pekinese’s corpse, its expression was contemplative. The Forbidden Land was calling the Jiao, but what if the dumb block of wood actually managed to injure the Jiao? If it went to the City of Demonic Trees, the Forest King is still there, and the dumb tree’s power is also immense, there’s a chance that the Jiao will not come out unscathed. And now that the dumb tree has killed the messenger of the Forbidden Lands, even if the Forbidden Lands suspect something....If the Jiao went to the dumb tree’s territory, there probbably wouldn’t be any demon beasts willing to help the Jiao right?
The Jiao’s massive head swung back and forth, as if deep in thought.
In the next moment, the Jiao suddenly took to the air and dashed towards the direction of the energy fluctuations, releasing a terrible and powerful aura!
……
At the base of the mountain.
FangPing lay immobile, his entire body felt heavy and leaden.
At the moment, FangPing is swearing madly in his mind. WTF?
He actually met the Jiao here? Fuckin’ Hell !
From the first time that he entered the crypt, to the several times that he went after that, FangPing and the Jiao always seemed to run into each other. Maybe those times right outside the City of Hope had been coincidences, but this time, he’s 600 miles away from the City, and he still managed to run into the Jiao here?
Did the Jiao’s territory expand to cover even this place?
FangPing didn’t dare to go underground again, out of fear of being discovered. He hopes that the Jiao is just passing by.
The energy fluctuation in the distance, FangPing felt it too. He’s too lazy to go check it out, who cares what they’re doing outside.
After a while, everything became quiet.
The powerful presence left in an instant, and the entire Hedgehog’s Ridge sunk into a dead silence. Not a single sound was heard in the entire mountain range. The thick silence made FangPing’s heart pound.
What’s happening?
The Hedgehog’s Ridge was so large, that even if all of the high ranked demon beasts just upped and left, there are still plenty of mid-ranked demon beasts to go around. Why is it so quiet?
FangPing didn’t dare to take a peek outside. Forget about taking a look, FangPing didn’t even dare to breathe as the silence dragged on.
Just a little while, he decided, he’ll just wait just a little while longer.
……
Just 60 miles from the Hedgehog’s Ridge.
HuangJing’s pale complexion matched his panicked mood.
He’s going to die!
A mid seventh tier, facing off with a full eighth tier, HuangJing couldn’t even count as an opponent.
At the moment, the golden short sword floated in front of him, its glow had dimmed quite a bit.
“It doesn’t matter if I die, but if I lose Old Wu’s godly weap- oh shit!” Internally, HuangJing was crying bitter tears. He’s finally managed to borrow Wu KuiShan’s godly weapon in order to slay a seventh tier demon beast, and get himself a godly weapon as well. FangPing already said he has such a weapon, and that he was willing to trade to the first that offers him a good price. All he wanted was energy ore.
HuangJing wanted a godly weapon pretty badly.
We KuiShan has information on the godly weapon. There aren’t many people who know this, but HuangJing knew, because he was there when Teacher was killing the eighth tier demon beast.
Afterwards, Teacher crafted the godly weapon, but didn’t keep it for himself, and instead chose to gift it to Wu KuiShan. This made HuangPing quite angry. If Teacher hadn’t been injured while hunting that eighth tier demon beast, then Teacher, who was already at the highest level of eighth tier, wouldn’t have had to sacrifice himself to kill that mere mid-level eighth tier from Heaven Gate City!
And now, HuangJing’s life is really not as important as losing a godly weapon!
This half ninth tier godly weapon was a lot more powerful in Wu KuiShan’s hands than in his. This weapon is the reason why Wu Kui Shan was able to challenge a weak mid-level ninth tier without fearing defeat!
if HuangJing lost this weapon, then the consequences are just too inconceivable!
“Greed begets trouble, I’m such an idiot for not seeing it at this old age!” HuangJing thought as he controlled the golden shortsword with great difficulty.
If not for blind greed, he wouldn’t have gone to borrow the godly weapon at all.
And now, HuangJing is running out of strength to fend off the demon beast’s attack!
The power of an eighth tiered demon beast is already much higher than his own, and after giving it all in killing that seventh tier demon beast, HuangJing’s strength is already sapped. If not for the godly weapon, then he would’ve already been slaughtered.
At the moment, HuangJing has nothing else on his mind other than that he had to being the weapon back!
“Where’s FangPing? Can he bring the weapon back?”
HuangJing was panicking. He had no idea where FangPing is. If he had known, then he would’ve tossed the weapon to FangPing already, and then used up the little strength he has left to keep the demon beast distracted.
As Huang Jing fought, he was considering his retreat towards the Hedgehog’s Ridge, trying to figure out how to make his retreat while fending off the demon beast, as well as trying to figure out how he can find Fang Ping
In the next moments, all of these hopeful thoughts dissipated as Huang Jing’s face morphed into an expression of disbelief and defeat.
Ah, he’s really going to die this time.
A single eighth tier demon beast was more than enough to take his life, and now, another one has just arrived.
The ginormous Hedgehog Beast that had been attacking Huang Jing also paused in surprise, and turned its giant head to look at the golden blur streaking towards their direction, its cold eyes betrayed a hint of confusion.
Was it that demon beast from the golden-horned tribe? Why was it coming here?
The Hedgehog Beast had felt the golden-horned beast king’s aura during his fight, but as fellow venerable realm demon beasts, there’s unspoken rule not to meddle in each other’s business.The Hedgehog Beast knew also of the Forbidden Land’s call to the Golden-Horned Beast King, and of how the it must hurry forth to answer the summon, and pay its respects to the Forbidden Land. In fact, the Hedgehog Beast had felt the presence of the Golden-Horned Beast King passing by along with the messenger’s more subtle presence. The Hedgehog Beast had assumed then that they were heading to the Forbidden Land, so it was very confusing to see the Golden-Horned Beast King now, fast approaching.
Why did the Golden-Horned Beast King decide to come over here? Although it was confused, the Hedgehog Beast didn’t pause to think too much of it, it’s not like the Golden-Horned Beast King wanted to play vulture to the Hedgehog Beast’s fight.
A pair of giant eyes beheld the Land of Rebirth warrior, the violence and bloodthirst radiating from the Hedgehog Beast’s eyes was almost tangible. This bastard killed its offspring, so the Hedgehog Best must kill him quickly. As for the tiny little sword...the Hedgehog Beast will engulf that as well!
Excited at the prospect, the Hedgehog Beast’s attacks became faster, with each strike landing harder than the last.
Huang Jing tasted the bitter copper on his tongue as blood overflowed from his mouth. The heaven and earth power wrapped around his body became weaker and thinner. He’s almost at his body’s limit, and there’s nowhere to run!
Huang Jing’s Celestial Bridges and the three Sanjiao Gates appeared, floating above his weakening body.
Even if he has to die, Huang Jing will not go down without a fight!
The golden shortsword’s brilliant radiance became even brighter, as if it was pulling all the power from the surrounding air back into its blade. If there’s no way to bring the shortsword out, Huang Ping thought, then might as well make it self-implode!
Just as Huang Jing was about to use up the last of his life in a final strike, preparing to damage this stubborn demon beast even at the cost of sacrificing his life, from afar the golden glint in the horizon flashed ever close, and in the next moment, the golden radiance stopped.
The Hedgehog Beast’s attacks pause, its movements mirrored its confusion. It turned its giant, dappled head towards the Jiao, and began to roar.
“ROAR!” The Jiao opened its jaws wide, and answered in kind, as if it was replying to whatever the Hedgehog Beast had said.
A flash of anger appeared in the Hedgehog Beast’s eyes as it glared at the Jiao. This fucking bastard Jiao, it wanted this sword?
The Hedgehog Beast continued to howl its dismay, and the Jiao answered.
Moments later, both parties achieved some sort of agreement, and the Jiao’s giant eyes turned towards Huang Jing in an instant.
Huang Jing clenched his teeth, his Celestial Bridges began to tremble fiercely.
At this moment, the Jiao suddenly struck, quick as lighting, and lunged towards Huang Jing!
Two eighth tiered demon beasts attacking one seventh tiered human, Huang Jing’s heart was bitter as he prepared to die, is this really how he wanted to go?
Just as his Sanjiao Gates also began to tremble and shake, preparing to explode once the Jiao neared, in the next moment the Jiao did something completely baffling and inconceivable!
That flash of gold hurling towards Huang Jing suddenly swerved, and without warning dashed towards the Hedgehog Beast!
“BOOM!”
Two giant, golden beasts slammed together in an instant.
The Jiao’s sudden attack towards the Hedgehog beast not only surprised Huang Jing, but it also caught the Hedgehog Beast off guard as well.
The Hedgehog Beast had already come to an agreement with the Golden-Horned Beast King, and the other party had already agreed that asides from that tiny sword, they would not plunder anything else. So why did the Golden-Horned Beast King suddenly decide to attack its partner in crime?
Could it be that the Golden-Horned Beast King wants to eliminate witnesses?
“ROAR!” The Hedgehog Beast roared again, as if trying to communicate.
Huang Jing stood in a stupor, everything was happening so fast. He quickly retracted his Sanjiao Gates and Celestial Bridges, and turned to make a run for it.
But before he could do so, an invisible force locked him in place. It was the Jiao.
The Jiao locked eyes with Huang Jing, then looked down at that tiny word, and even as it attacked the Hedgehog Beast, the Jiao was roaring at Huang Jing as if it was trying to communicate with him.
Upon seeing the dumbfounded expression on the warrior’s face, the Jiao felt as if its head would explode with anger!
What an imbecile!
How could the human not understand?
If the Jiao wasn’t caught up in its fight with the Hedgehog Beast, it would be swearing like a sailor. This little man is even worse than that stupid chef!
Eye gestures - read the hints! Can’t you understand???
Use. Your. Sword. To. Kill. This. Hedgehog!
The Jiao’s strength is perfectly matched with that of the Hedgehog Beast, so the Jiao can only use all of its power to suppress the Hedgehog Beast and hinder its movement. But damn the Jiao was wrong to think that the humans from the City of Hope are actually intelligent. But now it appears, that they are not only dumb, they are hopely stupid!
The Jiao is extremely frustrated, it was also extremely angry.
The Jiao killed the messenger from the Forbidden Lands, and now it’s trying to kill the Hedgehog Beast that acts as the Forbidden Land’s doorwatch, all because the Jiao wanted to make it appear as if it was heavily injured by the dumb tree. That way the Jiao could be excused from going to the Forbidden Lands
The Hedgehog Beast knows that the dumb tree didn’t attack the Jiao, so the Jiao must kill the Hedgehog Beast in order to continue the Jiao’s charades.
But the difference between the Jiao’s strength and the Hedgehog Beast’s isn’t large enough, so the Jiao needed this stupid warrior to help it kill the Hedgehog Beast!
But why doesn’t the human understand?
Why!
The Jiao was beyond angry. It looked at the sword, then looked towards the Hedgehog Beast, all the while trying madly to signal with its eyes, internally screaming: use your sword and kill it!
Huang Jing was still confused, but after a while, he felt that he understood a little, but he was still confused.
Demon beasts are sentient, he knows this already.
But...why did it become like this?
This demon beast...it looks like that Jiao from the Jiao King’s Forest. Why was it attacking the demon beast from the Hedgehog’s Ridge?
One confusing question after another bubbled up in Huang Jing’s mind.
But now’s not the time to stop and think!
The Jiao is suppressing the Hedgehog Beast. This newly ascended eighth tier Jiao, with its sneak attack, had managed to subdue its opponent. The two giant beasts didn’t really have a lot of fighting techniques, and their battle was mainly a clash of brute strength as their power collided. Their gargantuan bodies smashed together with great force as they battled. The two beasts scored multiple wounds on eachother, and the spillage of blood was especially gruesome.
Upon seeing the Jiao look in his direction yet again, Huang Jing hesitated. Should he rush in to help, or should he make a run for it.
If he ran...would the two demon beasts continue their fight?
But indecisiveness costs many opportunities. And this infront of him, is something he’s never seen before.
“Screw it! I’ve already killed the small Hedgehog Beast, even if I return to the City of Hope, this larger one will still follow me to take its revenge! I must kill it!”
With this thought, Huang Jing looked towards the fight again and noticed something bizarre. The Jiao’s strikes were purposefully missing the head of the Hedgehog Beast, and all it was doing was suppressing the Hedgehog Beast.
This is...creating an opportunity for me? Huang Jing became even more confused. What the heck, is this Jiao doing?
Many years ago, he already knew of the existence of this Jiao. This Jiao was the strongest demon beast in the City of Hope’s vicinity. It had been at the final stages of the seventh tier for a long time.
The Jiao has never engaged in the major battles between the two cities. All these years, as long as no one entered the Jiao King’s Forest, the Jiao didn’t come out. It was as if the Jiao didn’t exist.
Because of this, after that failed siege, Sky Gate City paid the Jiao no heed.
But recently...the Jiao has been getting quite active…
Although the unsettling sense of confusion is becoming stronger, one thing was certain: the inner workings in the minds of demon beasts are complex and hard to understand, one must always be wary of these sentient demon beasts no matter how friendly they seem to be
Huang Jing backed away carefully, only to stop short when he felt the aura of fury and malice emanating from the Jiao!
Those pair of giant eyes stared at him coldly, as if telling him: if he dares to take one more step back, the Jiao will come after him even if it means letting the Hedgehog Beast will escape
Of course, it’s not letting me leave...The thought floated to the surface of Huang Jing’s mind.
Unbeknownst to him, the Jiao was angry enough to kill the stupid human with a single, giant bite!
Why the hell is the human so dumb? Wasn’t that chef from the City of Hope pretty smart? Why is this one so dumb?
Didn’t it display its intentions pretty clearly? Why was the human still not getting it?
The Jiao felt angry to the extreme.
At this point, Huang Jing ahs finally made his decision. The golden shortsword shot into his hand in an instant, releasing powerful golden rays from its blade.
The Hedgehog beast roared in fury, and the Jiao also fought within an inch of its life. The Jiao’s giant golden horn glowed an even stronger radiance as the two demon beasts crashed into each other with earth shattering force. The earth cracked under their intense battle, and countless small hills were flattened in an instant, disappearing into dust.
Golden blood fell like droplets of rain, smashing craters into the earth.
Huang Jing’s complexion became even more pallid. The surrounding heaven and earth power flowed in torrents into the shortsword, and the original bright gold tone of its glow became even more concentrated.
In the next moment, Huang Jing saw an opening. The Jiao’s giant golden horn pierced into the Hedgehog Beast’s body.
At the same time, the Hedgehog Beast’s quills shot out and stabbed deep into the Jiao, giving the unfortunate serpent a mane quills.
The Hedgehog Beast’s quills are not only its weapon, but also its defense as well. When the quills are used up in an attack, the Hedgehog Beasts’s body becomes vulnerable with its sudden loss of defense.
With a shout, Huang Jing released the shortsword. The sword flew through the air soundlessly, with terrifying speed, and shot towards the Hedgehog Beast’s vulnerable head.
The Hedgehog Beast roared hoarsely, and retreated in panic.
The Jiao suddenly performed a very human-like move - wrapping its two front talons, the Jiao held on to the Hedgehog Beast, not letting go even as the Hedgehog Beast’s attacks opened many gruesome wounds on the Jiao’s body.
After this human warrior makes his kill, the Jiao thought, I will consume this Hedgehog Beast, and become one step closer to the King Stage! (王境) That dumb tree from the City of the Demon Forest - its fate is inevitable, I will consume it as well, and then go onto consume countless energy stones and the Spring of Life (生命之泉), then I’ll finally become a real Beast Emperor! (兽王)*
“ROAR!”
The desperate cry shook the very heavens as it rang out. Far in the distance, the inhabitants of the Hundred Beast Forest (百兽林) also seemed to take notice of the commotion.
On the other side, in the City of Demon Flowers (妖葵城)，a powerful force took to the skies!
But the force was too far off. Even a ninth tier is incapable of covering the distance fast enough.
Motivated by its thoughts, the Jiao gripped the Hedgehog Beast even tighter. Huang Jing turned as white as a sheet, but he managed to stay conscious as the golden shortsword pierced the Hedgehog Beast’s head.
Great slabs of flesh fell with the torrent of blood. The golden skull of the powerful demon beasts was exposed as the shortsword dug deep. The flesh was rapidly healing around the wound, but the shortsword continued forth, drilling into the Hedgehog Beast’s head.
The Jiao suddenly shifted, pulling its giant horn from where it was embedded in the Hedgehog Beast before using the blood-covered horn to pierce the Hedgehog Beast all the way through. A golden substance overflowed from the new wound, spilling forth endlessly.
“ROAR!”
The tragic sounds tore from the Hedgehog’s throat as it cried out in anguish. The Jiao opened its jaws wide and began devouring the golden substance as it flowed out.
Huang Jing fed heaven and earth energy into the shortsword ceaselessly. A mouthful of blood spilled down the front of his robes.
CRACK
A fissure appeared on the Hedgehog Beasts’ skull.
The skull was pierced in an instant after that first crack, causing a massive amount of vital ichor 不灭物质 to spill forth.
The Jiao’s eyes betrayed a hint of greedy desire as it opened its mouth to consume the ichor. The Jiao’s body glowed gold as it suppressed the power emanating from the substance while it feasted.
The Jiao has already felt the aura emanating from the powerful figures engaged in battle, but it didn’t feel like its nose into others’ business. If it can lie down, then it won’t choose to sit up; if it can sit, then it won’t choose to expend the extra effort to stand. Having someone stuff energy stones into its mouth instead of feeding itself - why, that’s the best life a spirit beast can live.
What a shame, the chef from last time managed to escape.
But even if the chef didn’t run away, the Jiao still wouldn’t want to keep eating the low quality stuff. So the Jiao didn’t want to go chase down the chef just yet.
The pekingese next to the Jiao started barking again.
The Jiao was too lazy to deal with the dog. It’s not like it’s the Jiao’s crib that was being ransacked, why the hell does it need to hurry? In fact the Jiao would rather take things slower, maybe wait until they’re done fighting before moving by.
If it hadn’t felt the two powerful figures move away, the Jiao would’ve dallied even more.
As it flew to the place where the hedgehog beast had just fallen, the Jiao paused in surprise. ...There’s...a familiar scent. Its large nose twitched as it looked around. When the pekingese started barking again, the Jiao didn’t even blink before it struck with all its might. If it weren’t for the presence of the few king realms in the forbidden area, the Jiao would’ve already swallowed the damn poodle.
The pekingese was hit, and the pain from having its flesh shredded had it whining in anguish.
The Jiao paid it no heed, and dropped suddenly from its flight, landing heavily on the ground. As soon as it landed, the magic beasts all around all raised their voices in an uproar.
This is the hedgehog beast’s Ridge! they have their own King here! Now that the King has gone to chase down an enemy, this foreign, powerful beast suddenly invading their home in their King’s absence is an offense not to be ignored.
The Jiao’s large eyes betrayed a hint of his impatience. In the next second, the Jiao suddenly gaped its jaws wide, and began violently sucking in great big breaths!
All around the Jiao, countless demonic beasts were pressed to the ground, the vitality and the energy from their prone forms were leaking out relentlessly, and rapidly being sucked into the Jiao’s mouth.
“ROAR!”
The pekingese was completely enraged, and began hoarsely bellowing its anger at the Jiao.
The Hedgehog Beast’s Ridge is the entrance way to the Forbidden Lands. In massacring and feasting on the beasts in the Hedgehog’s Ridge right at the Forbidden Land’s doorsteps, the Golden-Horned Beast King is infringing on the Forbidden Lands！
A murderous glint flashed through the Jiao’s eyes. The last thread of its patience snapped. Time and time again, this newly ascended demonic beast has been testing the Jiao’s patience. From the Jiao’s perspective, the demonic beast is repeatedly interrupting the Jiao while it was eating, as well as repeatedly pushing the Jiao’s head down and forcing the Jiao to pay respects to the Forbidden Lands. To the Jiao, this foolish demonic beast’s actions are nothing short of a challenge to the Jiao.
In the next moment, colossal beams of Heaven and Earth power crashed down with manic rhythm. The Jiao’s huge golden claws swung towards the pekingese with bone-crushing strength. The strikes came one after the other, again and again; until the pekingese, which was too terrified to retaliate, began to howl and scream in anguish
Although the Golden-Horned Beast King has only recently ascended to the Venerable realm, its true strength is not something to be trifled with. If not for the Golden-Horned Beast King’s immense power, the Forbidden Lands would not have been in such a hurry to force the Golden-Horned Beast King to return to pay its respects.
After violently smacking the pekingese around, the Jiao refrained from massacring the other demonic beasts, choosing instead to absorb large amounts of their vitality and energy. The crumpled forms of demonic beast littered the ground, as the Jiao leisurely wandered about. As it reached the long quills left by the hedgehog, the Jiao’s nostrils suddenly flared as it began scenting the quills.
After sniffing for a while, the Jiao paused. A humanistic huge eye
This is the dumb tree’s scent! Why is the dumb tree’s scent here? That dumb tree, rooted as it was in the energy stone mines, would definitely not leave by itself. Why would its scent appear so close to the Forbidden Land?
The Jiao leapt into the air and turned its gazed sharply toward the Thousand Beast Forest. In the next moment, the Jiao’s head whipped around again. A huge golden claw slammed down suddenly.
BOOM!
As if on cue, an anguished roar of pain resounded. The pekinese’s wide eyes betrayed a hint of disbelief. The Golden-Horned Beast King wants to kill it!
How? How is it possible? How dare the Golden-Horned Beast King dare to kill the pekinese?
The Jiao didn’t make a single sound in reply, only ruthless indifference and apathy showed in its huge eyes. Heaven and Earth power aggregated, weblike and tangled on the Jiao’s golden horns, before rushing downwards in a destructive beam.
Blood splattered all over the place as the pekinese’s flesh came off in great chunks.
Just as the pekinese resigned itself to death, the Jiao suddenly stopped its movements.
The Pekinese was so heavily injured that it could no longer move. Its beast core, on the verge of implosion, suddenly stopped its violent fluctuations. All of a sudden, the long quills on the ground flew upwards.
THUNK!
Dozens of quills pierced the pekinese’s body in an instant. Then the quills imploded, scattering their powdery remains in midair.
The surrounding magical beasts were all terrified to the extreme. Their intelligence is limited, and they couldn’t understand anything that was happening. All they know is that the powerful Beast King killed another high ranked demon beast!
And before this, it was that high ranked demon beast that stopped the Jiao from eating them!
Even if their intelligence is limited, their sense of self preservation had them backing away even as they trembled with fear.
A flash of cool anger lit the Jiao's narrowed eyes. A vast amount of spiritual energy was suddenly released, and pressed all of the demon beasts to the ground.
The Jiao opened its large jaws and began to feast in peace.
The Jiao’s meal tasted way better without the pekinese here to interrupt. The Jiao left the pekinese’s body alone, even though the energy from the flesh of the seventh tiered demon beast is better than the meat of all the demon beasts nearby.
A while later, all of the demon beasts were consumed by the Jiao, turning into dried corpses. From the Jiao’s horns, heaven and earth power began to glow and crackle. The power crashed down, swift as lightning, and the corpses of the demon beasts were vaporized in an instant.
The ground under the Jiao began to shake, and a fissure opened under its feet.
The Jiao’s nose twitched. That familiar scent again. Although the scent is very faint, but after encountering it a few times, as well as having consumed quite a bit of vitality, the Jiao still remembered.
It wasn’t in a hurry to catch this chef. The Jiao twisted around to gaze into the far off distance.
The energy fluctuation less than a hundred miles from this spot is most likely from the two powerful beings, still fighting after all this time.
The Jiao looked at the pekinese’s corpse, its expression was contemplative. The Forbidden Land was calling the Jiao, but what if the dumb block of wood actually managed to injure the Jiao? If it went to the City of Demonic Trees, the Forest King is still there, and the dumb tree’s power is also immense, there’s a chance that the Jiao will not come out unscathed. And now that the dumb tree has killed the messenger of the Forbidden Lands, even if the Forbidden Lands suspect something....If the Jiao went to the dumb tree’s territory, there probbably wouldn’t be any demon beasts willing to help the Jiao right?
The Jiao’s massive head swung back and forth, as if deep in thought.
In the next moment, the Jiao suddenly took to the air and dashed towards the direction of the energy fluctuations, releasing a terrible and powerful aura!
……
At the base of the mountain.
FangPing lay immobile, his entire body felt heavy and leaden.
At the moment, FangPing is swearing madly in his mind. WTF?
He actually met the Jiao here? Fuckin’ Hell !
From the first time that he entered the crypt, to the several times that he went after that, FangPing and the Jiao always seemed to run into each other. Maybe those times right outside the City of Hope had been coincidences, but this time, he’s 600 miles away from the City, and he still managed to run into the Jiao here?
Did the Jiao’s territory expand to cover even this place?
FangPing didn’t dare to go underground again, out of fear of being discovered. He hopes that the Jiao is just passing by.
The energy fluctuation in the distance, FangPing felt it too. He’s too lazy to go check it out, who cares what they’re doing outside.
After a while, everything became quiet.
The powerful presence left in an instant, and the entire Hedgehog’s Ridge sunk into a dead silence. Not a single sound was heard in the entire mountain range. The thick silence made FangPing’s heart pound.
What’s happening?
The Hedgehog’s Ridge was so large, that even if all of the high ranked demon beasts just upped and left, there are still plenty of mid-ranked demon beasts to go around. Why is it so quiet?
FangPing didn’t dare to take a peek outside. Forget about taking a look, FangPing didn’t even dare to breathe as the silence dragged on.
Just a little while, he decided, he’ll just wait just a little while longer.
……
Just 60 miles from the Hedgehog’s Ridge.
HuangJing’s pale complexion matched his panicked mood.
He’s going to die!
A mid seventh tier, facing off with a full eighth tier, HuangJing couldn’t even count as an opponent.
At the moment, the golden short sword floated in front of him, its glow had dimmed quite a bit.
“It doesn’t matter if I die, but if I lose Old Wu’s godly weap- oh shit!” Internally, HuangJing was crying bitter tears. He’s finally managed to borrow Wu KuiShan’s godly weapon in order to slay a seventh tier demon beast, and get himself a godly weapon as well. FangPing already said he has such a weapon, and that he was willing to trade to the first that offers him a good price. All he wanted was energy ore.
HuangJing wanted a godly weapon pretty badly.
We KuiShan has information on the godly weapon. There aren’t many people who know this, but HuangJing knew, because he was there when Teacher was killing the eighth tier demon beast.
Afterwards, Teacher crafted the godly weapon, but didn’t keep it for himself, and instead chose to gift it to Wu KuiShan. This made HuangPing quite angry. If Teacher hadn’t been injured while hunting that eighth tier demon beast, then Teacher, who was already at the highest level of eighth tier, wouldn’t have had to sacrifice himself to kill that mere mid-level eighth tier from Heaven Gate City!
And now, HuangJing’s life is really not as important as losing a godly weapon!
This half ninth tier godly weapon was a lot more powerful in Wu KuiShan’s hands than in his. This weapon is the reason why Wu Kui Shan was able to challenge a weak mid-level ninth tier without fearing defeat!
if HuangJing lost this weapon, then the consequences are just too inconceivable!
“Greed begets trouble, I’m such an idiot for not seeing it at this old age!” HuangJing thought as he controlled the golden shortsword with great difficulty.
If not for blind greed, he wouldn’t have gone to borrow the godly weapon at all.
And now, HuangJing is running out of strength to fend off the demon beast’s attack!
The power of an eighth tiered demon beast is already much higher than his own, and after giving it all in killing that seventh tier demon beast, HuangJing’s strength is already sapped. If not for the godly weapon, then he would’ve already been slaughtered.
At the moment, HuangJing has nothing else on his mind other than that he had to being the weapon back!
“Where’s FangPing? Can he bring the weapon back?”
HuangJing was panicking. He had no idea where FangPing is. If he had known, then he would’ve tossed the weapon to FangPing already, and then used up the little strength he has left to keep the demon beast distracted.
As Huang Jing fought, he was considering his retreat towards the Hedgehog’s Ridge, trying to figure out how to make his retreat while fending off the demon beast, as well as trying to figure out how he can find Fang Ping
In the next moments, all of these hopeful thoughts dissipated as Huang Jing’s face morphed into an expression of disbelief and defeat.
Ah, he’s really going to die this time.
A single eighth tier demon beast was more than enough to take his life, and now, another one has just arrived.
The ginormous Hedgehog Beast that had been attacking Huang Jing also paused in surprise, and turned its giant head to look at the golden blur streaking towards their direction, its cold eyes betrayed a hint of confusion.
Was it that demon beast from the golden-horned tribe? Why was it coming here?
The Hedgehog Beast had felt the golden-horned beast king’s aura during his fight, but as fellow venerable realm demon beasts, there’s unspoken rule not to meddle in each other’s business.The Hedgehog Beast knew also of the Forbidden Land’s call to the Golden-Horned Beast King, and of how the it must hurry forth to answer the summon, and pay its respects to the Forbidden Land. In fact, the Hedgehog Beast had felt the presence of the Golden-Horned Beast King passing by along with the messenger’s more subtle presence. The Hedgehog Beast had assumed then that they were heading to the Forbidden Land, so it was very confusing to see the Golden-Horned Beast King now, fast approaching.
Why did the Golden-Horned Beast King decide to come over here? Although it was confused, the Hedgehog Beast didn’t pause to think too much of it, it’s not like the Golden-Horned Beast King wanted to play vulture to the Hedgehog Beast’s fight.
A pair of giant eyes beheld the Land of Rebirth warrior, the violence and bloodthirst radiating from the Hedgehog Beast’s eyes was almost tangible. This bastard killed its offspring, so the Hedgehog Best must kill him quickly. As for the tiny little sword...the Hedgehog Beast will engulf that as well!
Excited at the prospect, the Hedgehog Beast’s attacks became faster, with each strike landing harder than the last.
Huang Jing tasted the bitter copper on his tongue as blood overflowed from his mouth. The heaven and earth power wrapped around his body became weaker and thinner. He’s almost at his body’s limit, and there’s nowhere to run!
Huang Jing’s Celestial Bridges and the three Sanjiao Gates appeared, floating above his weakening body.
Even if he has to die, Huang Jing will not go down without a fight!
The golden shortsword’s brilliant radiance became even brighter, as if it was pulling all the power from the surrounding air back into its blade. If there’s no way to bring the shortsword out, Huang Ping thought, then might as well make it self-implode!
Just as Huang Jing was about to use up the last of his life in a final strike, preparing to damage this stubborn demon beast even at the cost of sacrificing his life, from afar the golden glint in the horizon flashed ever close, and in the next moment, the golden radiance stopped.
The Hedgehog Beast’s attacks pause, its movements mirrored its confusion. It turned its giant, dappled head towards the Jiao, and began to roar.
“ROAR!” The Jiao opened its jaws wide, and answered in kind, as if it was replying to whatever the Hedgehog Beast had said.
A flash of anger appeared in the Hedgehog Beast’s eyes as it glared at the Jiao. This fucking bastard Jiao, it wanted this sword?
The Hedgehog Beast continued to howl its dismay, and the Jiao answered.
Moments later, both parties achieved some sort of agreement, and the Jiao’s giant eyes turned towards Huang Jing in an instant.
Huang Jing clenched his teeth, his Celestial Bridges began to tremble fiercely.
At this moment, the Jiao suddenly struck, quick as lighting, and lunged towards Huang Jing!
Two eighth tiered demon beasts attacking one seventh tiered human, Huang Jing’s heart was bitter as he prepared to die, is this really how he wanted to go?
Just as his Sanjiao Gates also began to tremble and shake, preparing to explode once the Jiao neared, in the next moment the Jiao did something completely baffling and inconceivable!
That flash of gold hurling towards Huang Jing suddenly swerved, and without warning dashed towards the Hedgehog Beast!
“BOOM!”
Two giant, golden beasts slammed together in an instant.
The Jiao’s sudden attack towards the Hedgehog beast not only surprised Huang Jing, but it also caught the Hedgehog Beast off guard as well.
The Hedgehog Beast had already come to an agreement with the Golden-Horned Beast King, and the other party had already agreed that asides from that tiny sword, they would not plunder anything else. So why did the Golden-Horned Beast King suddenly decide to attack its partner in crime?
Could it be that the Golden-Horned Beast King wants to eliminate witnesses?
“ROAR!” The Hedgehog Beast roared again, as if trying to communicate.
Huang Jing stood in a stupor, everything was happening so fast. He quickly retracted his Sanjiao Gates and Celestial Bridges, and turned to make a run for it.
But before he could do so, an invisible force locked him in place. It was the Jiao.
The Jiao locked eyes with Huang Jing, then looked down at that tiny word, and even as it attacked the Hedgehog Beast, the Jiao was roaring at Huang Jing as if it was trying to communicate with him.
Upon seeing the dumbfounded expression on the warrior’s face, the Jiao felt as if its head would explode with anger!
What an imbecile!
How could the human not understand?
If the Jiao wasn’t caught up in its fight with the Hedgehog Beast, it would be swearing like a sailor. This little man is even worse than that stupid chef!
Eye gestures - read the hints! Can’t you understand???
Use. Your. Sword. To. Kill. This. Hedgehog!
The Jiao’s strength is perfectly matched with that of the Hedgehog Beast, so the Jiao can only use all of its power to suppress the Hedgehog Beast and hinder its movement. But damn the Jiao was wrong to think that the humans from the City of Hope are actually intelligent. But now it appears, that they are not only dumb, they are hopely stupid!
The Jiao is extremely frustrated, it was also extremely angry.
The Jiao killed the messenger from the Forbidden Lands, and now it’s trying to kill the Hedgehog Beast that acts as the Forbidden Land’s doorwatch, all because the Jiao wanted to make it appear as if it was heavily injured by the dumb tree. That way the Jiao could be excused from going to the Forbidden Lands
The Hedgehog Beast knows that the dumb tree didn’t attack the Jiao, so the Jiao must kill the Hedgehog Beast in order to continue the Jiao’s charades.
But the difference between the Jiao’s strength and the Hedgehog Beast’s isn’t large enough, so the Jiao needed this stupid warrior to help it kill the Hedgehog Beast!
But why doesn’t the human understand?
Why!
The Jiao was beyond angry. It looked at the sword, then looked towards the Hedgehog Beast, all the while trying madly to signal with its eyes, internally screaming: use your sword and kill it!
Huang Jing was still confused, but after a while, he felt that he understood a little, but he was still confused.
Demon beasts are sentient, he knows this already.
But...why did it become like this?
This demon beast...it looks like that Jiao from the Jiao King’s Forest. Why was it attacking the demon beast from the Hedgehog’s Ridge?
One confusing question after another bubbled up in Huang Jing’s mind.
But now’s not the time to stop and think!
The Jiao is suppressing the Hedgehog Beast. This newly ascended eighth tier Jiao, with its sneak attack, had managed to subdue its opponent. The two giant beasts didn’t really have a lot of fighting techniques, and their battle was mainly a clash of brute strength as their power collided. Their gargantuan bodies smashed together with great force as they battled. The two beasts scored multiple wounds on eachother, and the spillage of blood was especially gruesome.
Upon seeing the Jiao look in his direction yet again, Huang Jing hesitated. Should he rush in to help, or should he make a run for it.
If he ran...would the two demon beasts continue their fight?
But indecisiveness costs many opportunities. And this infront of him, is something he’s never seen before.
“Screw it! I’ve already killed the small Hedgehog Beast, even if I return to the City of Hope, this larger one will still follow me to take its revenge! I must kill it!”
With this thought, Huang Jing looked towards the fight again and noticed something bizarre. The Jiao’s strikes were purposefully missing the head of the Hedgehog Beast, and all it was doing was suppressing the Hedgehog Beast.
This is...creating an opportunity for me? Huang Jing became even more confused. What the heck, is this Jiao doing?
Many years ago, he already knew of the existence of this Jiao. This Jiao was the strongest demon beast in the City of Hope’s vicinity. It had been at the final stages of the seventh tier for a long time.
The Jiao has never engaged in the major battles between the two cities. All these years, as long as no one entered the Jiao King’s Forest, the Jiao didn’t come out. It was as if the Jiao didn’t exist.
Because of this, after that failed siege, Sky Gate City paid the Jiao no heed.
But recently...the Jiao has been getting quite active…
Although the unsettling sense of confusion is becoming stronger, one thing was certain: the inner workings in the minds of demon beasts are complex and hard to understand, one must always be wary of these sentient demon beasts no matter how friendly they seem to be
Huang Jing backed away carefully, only to stop short when he felt the aura of fury and malice emanating from the Jiao!
Those pair of giant eyes stared at him coldly, as if telling him: if he dares to take one more step back, the Jiao will come after him even if it means letting the Hedgehog Beast will escape
Of course, it’s not letting me leave...The thought floated to the surface of Huang Jing’s mind.
Unbeknownst to him, the Jiao was angry enough to kill the stupid human with a single, giant bite!
Why the hell is the human so dumb? Wasn’t that chef from the City of Hope pretty smart? Why is this one so dumb?
Didn’t it display its intentions pretty clearly? Why was the human still not getting it?
The Jiao felt angry to the extreme.
At this point, Huang Jing ahs finally made his decision. The golden shortsword shot into his hand in an instant, releasing powerful golden rays from its blade.
The Hedgehog beast roared in fury, and the Jiao also fought within an inch of its life. The Jiao’s giant golden horn glowed an even stronger radiance as the two demon beasts crashed into each other with earth shattering force. The earth cracked under their intense battle, and countless small hills were flattened in an instant, disappearing into dust.
Golden blood fell like droplets of rain, smashing craters into the earth.
Huang Jing’s complexion became even more pallid. The surrounding heaven and earth power flowed in torrents into the shortsword, and the original bright gold tone of its glow became even more concentrated.
In the next moment, Huang Jing saw an opening. The Jiao’s giant golden horn pierced into the Hedgehog Beast’s body.
At the same time, the Hedgehog Beast’s quills shot out and stabbed deep into the Jiao, giving the unfortunate serpent a mane quills.
The Hedgehog Beast’s quills are not only its weapon, but also its defense as well. When the quills are used up in an attack, the Hedgehog Beasts’s body becomes vulnerable with its sudden loss of defense.
With a shout, Huang Jing released the shortsword. The sword flew through the air soundlessly, with terrifying speed, and shot towards the Hedgehog Beast’s vulnerable head.
The Hedgehog Beast roared hoarsely, and retreated in panic.
The Jiao suddenly performed a very human-like move - wrapping its two front talons, the Jiao held on to the Hedgehog Beast, not letting go even as the Hedgehog Beast’s attacks opened many gruesome wounds on the Jiao’s body.
After this human warrior makes his kill, the Jiao thought, I will consume this Hedgehog Beast, and become one step closer to the King Stage! (王境) That dumb tree from the City of the Demon Forest - its fate is inevitable, I will consume it as well, and then go onto consume countless energy stones and the Spring of Life (生命之泉), then I’ll finally become a real Beast Emperor! (兽王)*
“ROAR!”
The desperate cry shook the very heavens as it rang out. Far in the distance, the inhabitants of the Hundred Beast Forest (百兽林) also seemed to take notice of the commotion.
On the other side, in the City of Demon Flowers (妖葵城)，a powerful force took to the skies!
But the force was too far off. Even a ninth tier is incapable of covering the distance fast enough.
Motivated by its thoughts, the Jiao gripped the Hedgehog Beast even tighter. Huang Jing turned as white as a sheet, but he managed to stay conscious as the golden shortsword pierced the Hedgehog Beast’s head.
Great slabs of flesh fell with the torrent of blood. The golden skull of the powerful demon beasts was exposed as the shortsword dug deep. The flesh was rapidly healing around the wound, but the shortsword continued forth, drilling into the Hedgehog Beast’s head.
The Jiao suddenly shifted, pulling its giant horn from where it was embedded in the Hedgehog Beast before using the blood-covered horn to pierce the Hedgehog Beast all the way through. A golden substance overflowed from the new wound, spilling forth endlessly.
“ROAR!”
The tragic sounds tore from the Hedgehog’s throat as it cried out in anguish. The Jiao opened its jaws wide and began devouring the golden substance as it flowed out.
Huang Jing fed heaven and earth energy into the shortsword ceaselessly. A mouthful of blood spilled down the front of his robes.
CRACK
A fissure appeared on the Hedgehog Beasts’ skull.
The skull was pierced in an instant after that first crack, causing a massive amount of vital ichor 不灭物质 to spill forth.
The Jiao’s eyes betrayed a hint of greedy desire as it opened its mouth to consume the ichor. The Jiao’s body glowed gold as it suppressed the power emanating from the substance while it feasted.
