Lord

The wind whipped across the river's surface, stirring up waves several meters high.

Beneath the water, a massive black shadow flickered in and out of view, accompanied by a low, guttural growl.

Besides the giant hippos, this great river, stretching thousands of miles across the basin, harbored many other terrifying behemoths. No one knew exactly what lurked beneath the surface, and the unknown was always the most potent fuel for fear.

Inside the black, shuttle-like object, three young men paddled desperately. In a short time, they neared the riverbank.

Suddenly, a long wake appeared behind them. Accompanied by a deep roar, the water surface for several meters around them bulged upwards. A monstrous maw opened from below, snapping down fiercely towards the black shuttle.

The three young men cried out in alarm, leaping up and scrambling onto the shallow riverbed, then charging onto the bank in a muddy rush.

With a snap, the black, shuttle-like object was bitten to pieces.

The behemoth beneath the water vanished, its true form unseen by anyone. Only fragments of the shuttle-shaped object remained on the river's surface, floating for a brief moment before being swallowed by the waves and sinking to the riverbed.

On the shore, figures began to emerge from the first black shuttle to reach land. Four Ox Tribe warriors, wielding great axes, along with eight burly Human Race men with sharp, determined faces carrying weapons, formed a protective escort around a young woman in black as they fled rapidly.

Three youths, holding straight swords, their faces grim and cold, steadily pursued the group with the black-clad maiden.

Despite holding a significant numerical advantage, the group with the black-clad maiden was clearly at a disadvantage. They fled quickly towards the depths of the basin, not daring to turn and confront the three youths.

The youth who had shouted earlier roared hoarsely, "I told you, you will all die! You cannot escape!"

Having landed earlier, the group with the black-clad maiden had already fled seven or eight miles. The land here was fertile and soft, covered in moss and creeping vines. Their passage left abundant tracks, allowing the three youths to follow with ease.

What's more, the vegetation here wasn't dense. The clusters of mushrooms and fern thickets were sparse and not particularly lush.

The Ox Tribe warriors stood around two meters tall. The mushroom clusters and fern thickets, only about one and a half to one point six meters high, barely reached their chests, making their robust figures easily visible from miles away.

Miles away, several metallic spiders lay hidden among the mushroom clusters, their crimson eyes glinting with an eerie light as they watched the two groups from afar.

They were only supposed to operate around the Ancient Divine Weapon camp. This location was far beyond their usual range, but that didn't stop them from observing these outsiders.

Ahead of these metallic spiders, Wu Tie, his body wrapped in large fern leaves, lay low and carefully surveyed the scene from within a patch of ferns.

"This armor is great, but the pale white is too easy to spot," Wu Tie muttered, still complaining as he lay on the ground.

The form-fitting armor was excellent, offering strong defense and comfortable wear, like a second skin. However, its stark white color was far too conspicuous, especially its dust-repellent nature, which prevented Wu Tie from even smearing it with mud for camouflage.

He could only resort to the method Old Tie had taught him: wrapping his body in fern branches and leaves for cover.

The two groups, one in front and one behind, drew closer. Gradually, the group with the black-clad maiden was about to pass diagonally in front of Wu Tie. Wu Tie also got a clear look at the maiden's appearance.

She wore an exquisite black gown made of a fabric Wu Tie had never seen before, smooth and lustrous, clearly valuable at first glance.

Adorning her neck and wrists were ornaments made of glowing green gems. The extremely elegant green light made her fair skin appear even more like freshly fallen snow.

Her long, dark, lustrous hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall. The maiden was beautifully formed, her lips painted a pale purple with what looked like some kind of material, exuding an indescribable allure.

Wu Tie inexplicably felt a dryness in his throat. It was the first time he had ever seen such a beautiful member of the opposite sex from his own race.

No... this was the first time Wu Tie had ever seen a true member of the opposite sex from his own race.

For some reason, Wu Tie felt his heart pound faster, his blood flow quicken, his face flush, and cold sweat seep from his palms and soles.

A metallic spider suddenly turned its gaze towards Wu Tie. Thin red beams of light shot from its eyes, falling upon Wu Tie and relaying his current physical state in meticulous detail back to the Ancient Divine Weapon camp.

They ran swiftly. Because of the black-clad maiden, the group in front was moving somewhat slowly. The three youths behind, wielding their straight swords, leaped like the wind, darting through the mushroom clusters and fern thickets like three agile apes.

Several times, venomous insects and snakes tried to strike at the three youths, but with a flash of steel, those venomous spiders, lizards, rats, and snakes were all cleaved in two.

Wu Tie's pupils contracted sharply. The swordsmanship of these three youths was terrifying!

He instinctively assessed his own current spear skills, believing he wouldn't even be able to withstand a single strike.

Suddenly, the black-clad maiden let out a soft hum. Her foot slipped, landing on a round stone covered in thick moss. From several miles away, Wu Tie could hear the crisp crack of her ankle joint.

Her ankle dislocated, the black-clad maiden fell heavily to the ground. A large patch of small mushrooms was crushed beneath her. Her body was splattered with the luminescent sap from various glowing mushrooms that had burst, leaving her in a disheveled and pathetic state.

The group fleeing ahead stopped abruptly. They made no move to help the black-clad maiden. Instead, at the command of a burly Ox Tribe man with a gold ring in his nose, the twelve individuals quickly formed a small defensive formation, shielding the maiden behind them.

Seeing the black-clad maiden fall, the three youths in pursuit let out excited, sharp whistles. Their speed increased dramatically, each stride easily covering over ten meters, creating three gusts of wind as they rapidly closed in.

The short distance of seven or eight miles was covered in just over a dozen breaths.

The three youths stopped about two hundred meters from the black-clad maiden's group. This rapid pursuit had clearly taken a toll, as they panted heavily, sweat dripping from their chins.

"You will all die!" The youth who had spoken earlier swung his straight sword, which was nearly as tall as he was. The blade spun, slicing three highly venomous, small funnel spiders into pieces as they fell from the air.

The black-clad maiden struggled to rise. Her face contorted as she looked at the messy sap on her clothes, then at the black mud and dirt on her hands. Her slender body trembled slightly as she said sternly, "You have already killed so many people... you..."

The youth raised his straight sword, assuming a peculiar, slanted forward stance. His bloodshot eyes stared intently at the black-clad maiden. "One is still missing. Killing you will complete it... Shi Lingqing, you are the only one left!"

The black-clad maiden, Shi Lingqing, gave a bitter smile. "Do we have such deep-seated hatred? You... and your companions have already slaughtered all my people."

The faces of the three youths remained unmoved. Shi Lingqing said with a heavy voice, "My father, my mother, my brothers and sisters, my kin... and so many servants... were all killed by you. I risked immense danger to escape into the underground river, yet you still won't let me go..."

Wu Tie's heart gave a violent lurch. He instinctively felt a inexplicable disgust and hatred towards the three youths.

They had already killed all of Shi Lingqing's kin!

Damn them.

They had wiped out her entire clan and still pursued her to this place... the dangers of the underground river were obvious, yet they had pursued her into it to finish the job.

What kind of grudge, what kind of hatred?

Wu Tie felt a strong sense of hostility towards the three of them for no discernible reason.

He gripped his spear tightly, and the dozens of fist-sized stones he had deliberately placed nearby gently floated up.

"Enough with the nonsense, die!" the young man roared. His body suddenly split into three afterimages, and all three simultaneously swung their blades, creating a fierce wind as they slashed forward.

Two Ox Tribe warriors let out loud roars. They swung their great axes, stomped forward three steps, and then violently swung their axes down at the three afterimages.

Two of the afterimages vanished. Only the one on the right remained solid. With a flash of his blade, he was instantly at the ribs of one of the Ox Tribe warriors.

A long spear thrust out from behind. A sturdy man beside Shi Lingqing held his spear and thrust it forward. A gleam flashed on the spearhead, and the rapidly spinning tip actually spewed out a ball of flame. The fire blazed forward, extending seven to eight feet.

The young man roared, his body twisting and recoiling as he rapidly retreated diagonally backward.

As soon as his body moved, an arrow shot whistled past his shoulder with a piercing sound.

A sickening crunch of bone and flesh echoed. The Ox Tribe warrior, who had narrowly escaped the blade, grunted. A thumb-thick arrow pierced his right chest. The terrifying force contained within the arrow made him stagger, forcing him to retreat four to five steps involuntarily.

Among the two young men who had remained behind, one planted his long saber into the ground. He tightly gripped a longbow that had been slung across his back, its string still vibrating intensely.

The young man who had lunged earlier returned to his two companions. He raised his straight saber and sneered at Shi Lingqing, "Are you scared? The people by your side are fewer and fewer... I can use one year and five months to assassinate your tribesmen one by one, wiping out all other members of your Shi family. I don't mind taking another year to slowly kill you and those around you!"

Shi Lingqing gritted her teeth. She looked at the young man and asked sharply, "What grudge do you have? What enmity? State your name. Even if I die, I want to know why!"

"Luolin!" the young man stated his name plainly. "Of course, you've definitely never heard of me."

The blood-red color in Luolin's eyes intensified. He gritted his teeth, forcing out each word with difficulty between his clenched teeth: "Why? Because you killed my little sister, it's that simple!"

"Little sister?" Shi Lingqing's face turned a little pale. Clearly, she had thought of something.

"Remember now?" Luolin raised his straight saber again.

The guards beside Shi Lingqing nervously gripped their weapons. The Ox Tribe warrior who had been hit by the arrow swayed, struggling to stand upright.

The thick arrow shaft was embedded in his chest, and a thin trickle of blood continuously flowed down the shaft, soon dyeing a large area beneath the Ox Tribe warrior's feet red.

"You've already killed so many people from my family!" Shi Lingqing gritted her teeth, her lips, dyed a light purple, trembling involuntarily. "Isn't that enough?"

Luolin shook his head slightly, his straight saber pointed directly at Shi Lingqing. "The wronged have their accusers, the debts have their debtors. I heard this matter was handled personally by you. Your tribesmen were just collateral. The one I truly want to kill..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Luolin and his companion, who was holding a long saber, both lunged forward simultaneously.

Luolin once again transformed into three afterimages and lunged forward. His companion followed closely behind him. Suddenly, his long saber flashed, and six short blades, each about a foot long, silently slid out in a strange arc, striking at the four Ox Tribe warriors blocking their path.

The four Ox Tribe warriors simultaneously brought their massive battle axes across their chests. The short blades struck their axe surfaces, creating piercing, crashing sounds.

Luolin lunged forward, his long saber gleaming coldly.

A lean man in a long robe beside Shi Lingqing suddenly stepped forward. He waved his right hand, and three slender wooden staffs, each six feet long, flew out from his sleeve and landed on the ground.

Electricity crackled at the tips of the staffs, and a piercing thunderous roar sounded. The three wooden staffs spewed out large amounts of electrical energy, covering an area of over ten meters in front of them.

Silver-white lightning violently leaped and struck each other, filling an area of over ten meters with raging electrical currents swirling and interweaving. The ground was bombarded by the currents, leaving deep scorch marks and continuously emitting wisps of green smoke.

Luolin and his companion retreated rapidly. As soon as the three wooden staffs flew out from the lean man's sleeve, they had already retreated dozens of meters.

The electrical discharge raged but did not hit their bodies.

Luolin burst into laughter, "You knew there was a hidden expert by your side, did you think we would fall for that?"

Amidst his laughter, Shi Lingqing let out a scream of mixed surprise and anger.

The lean man who had attacked stumbled, retreating several steps in a disheveled manner.

While the electrical discharge raged, attracting the attention of most people, the young man with the longbow behind them made his move. Taking advantage of the electrical cover, the arrow shot through the air and hit the lean man.

Unlike the Ox Tribe people, who were heavily armored and had solid flesh and bones, this lean man wore a long robe and was quite frail.

The same arrow had only deeply embedded itself into the Ox Tribe warrior's chest, but this lean man was pierced through his right chest by the arrow. The arrow passed completely through his body, leaving a fist-sized, transparent hole in his chest.

Blood splattered, and a good amount of it sprayed onto Shi Lingqing, who was standing behind the lean man.

Shi Lingqing screamed and hastily pulled out a black stone jar from her sleeve. She poured out some black medicinal liquid and applied it to the lean man's wound, then fed him several mouthfuls of the liquid.

The lean man's wound immediately closed, and not a single drop of blood flowed out.

However, the wound was still severe. He sat on the ground, gasping for breath, no longer having the strength to move or speak.

"You... deserve to die!" Shi Lingqing screamed hoarsely, smashing the empty black stone jar heavily onto the ground.

Luolin brandished his straight saber, its tip pointed at Shi Lingqing. "You're the one who deserves to die! I will chop off your head and use it to offer to my little sister!"

Wu Tie could no longer hold back. He leaped up violently, his body soaring more than ten meters high, then gracefully glided forward as if flying.

The hundred-meter distance was covered in an instant. Wu Tie leaped again, gliding forward once more like a great bird.

Both Shi Lingqing and Luolin were startled by Wu Tie's actions. They simultaneously turned their heads, facing Wu Tie's direction with full alert.

Wu Tie landed on a small hill about a mile away from both sides. He pointed his spear at Luolin and said sternly, "This is my territory... No matter what grievances you have, you are not allowed to fight here!"

"Anyone who makes a move again will be my enemy!"

With a wave of his hand, Wu Tie sent dozens of fist-sized stones shooting out from behind him, pulverizing a patch of ferns dozens of meters away.