Colossal Beast

Within the Ancient Divine Weapon Camp.

The red curtain of light reflected everything.

"How miraculous." Old Tie let out a "haha" laugh, though there was no amusement in it.

Big Iron turned around and stared blankly at Old Tie for a while, then lightly bumped against him.

"When she came, she was still a fledgling..." Old Tie laughed in a strange tone. "But now, this woman who is flirting with our little rookie... can you understand? The transformation from maiden to married woman?"

Big Iron floated motionlessly in the air, the bloody light in his eyes utterly stiff.

"With a fellow like you who hasn't developed intelligence, there really is no common language." Old Tie laughed loudly. "So, a conspiracy... and an egg."

"What an accurate throw!" Old Tie burst into laughter again. The bloody light in his eyes suddenly became incomparably blazing, its crimson glow nearly illuminating half the metal hall. "I mean, this egg was thrown with real precision... What a pack of good little dogs, what a pack of good little dogs... The little rookie needs a tiny lesson!"

Wu Tie awkwardly wiped the thick egg liquid from his face.

The egg liquid was fishy, thick, and astonishingly scalding. It reddened his skin and nearly raised blisters.

"Bastards, what are you doing?" Wu Tie roared. The dark figure that had smashed the egg onto him had already fled over a hundred meters away, racing into the distance without looking back.

The ground shook violently. A high, furious roar rang out, and more than a dozen giant ferns as thick as embracing arms were smashed apart with a thunderous crash. A huge, savage-looking head suddenly burst from behind the shattered fern debris.

At first glance, the enormous head resembled a Gray Rock Lizard by seventy or eighty percent. But it was two or three meters across, several sizes larger even than a Giant Hippopotamus's head.

Seven or eight sharp horns densely covered its head. When it opened its mouth and roared, a scarlet, umbrella-like fin behind its neck abruptly spread open. The semicircular fin was at least five meters in diameter, densely covered in countless purple spots, savage and imposing.

The colossal beast charged over. Behind its enormous head was a gigantic body more than ten meters tall. It resembled a Gray Rock Lizard, but was several times larger than an adult Gray Rock Lizard. Behind its thick body, a pair of degenerated flesh wings only two or three meters long beat violently.

The beast's tiny crimson eyes, flickering with ferocious light, fixed on Wu Tie at once.

The broken eggshell lay at Wu Tie's feet, while his head and face were covered in thick egg liquid.

An Ox Tribe warrior beside Shi Lingqing grabbed her and fled into the distance with her.

Worry covered Shi Lingqing's face as she shouted at Wu Tie, "Young master, be careful... This beast has gone mad!"

In the time it took to say that one short sentence, Shi Lingqing had already been carried more than a hundred meters away by her subordinate. Wu Tie had yet to recover from the string of sudden changes when the colossal beast's neck abruptly swelled, fire flashing beneath its scale-covered skin.

Wu Tie instinctively rolled aside. An invisible force field wrapped around his body, and he almost skimmed along the ground as he glided over ten meters away.

A scarlet pillar of fire as thick as a water vat, viscous as magma, swept past barely grazing his scalp.

Wu Tie's hair burned away with a "sizzle." Thick black smoke billowed up. He smelled the pungent stench of scorched flesh, and the intense heat raised a palm-sized transparent blister on his scalp.

The fire pillar slammed heavily down behind Wu Tie. Amid a thunderous boom, the ground was burned into a large pit several meters across. A shallow pool of magma boiled within it, constantly bubbling with large and small bubbles.

Wu Tie gave a strange cry and slapped the diamond-shaped protrusion on his chest armor. Armor rapidly covered his hands and head. Then he leapt up and fled backward at top speed.

The beast's eyes were blood-red as it threw back its head and gave a crazed roar. It spread its four thick legs, whipping up a gale as it chased after Wu Tie. The beast ran astonishingly fast, even a little faster than Wu Tie. In practically a breath, it had caught up behind him.

The beast suddenly raised its upper body, and its massive forepaw slammed down.

Wu Tie had no time to evade and was struck by the beast. Tremendous force hit him, sending him flying with a strange cry. He tumbled over a hundred meters before crashing headfirst into a protruding stone stalagmite, snapping the arm-thick stalagmite in half at the waist and sending a shower of rocks flying far away.

Even with the armor's protection, the blow made Wu Tie feel as though his internal organs were churning violently. He nearly vomited.

He panted heavily. He no longer dared glide through the air, instead fleeing at full speed across the ground.

When gliding, he could not change directions in the air as freely as he could on the ground. The colossal beast's paw was too large; it could easily cover every direction in which he might dodge.

Only on the ground, amid rock piles, mushroom groves, fern forests, and all kinds of terrain he could exploit, could he use his smaller body to slow the beast's pursuit.

Wu Tie fled through patch after patch of mushroom groves and fern forests like a panicked rat with nowhere to run. The colossal beast roared madly, periodically spitting pillars of fire as it hunted him down in frenzied pursuit.

As he ran, Wu Tie recalled the knowledge Old Tie had taught him.

Very quickly, he understood—it was Luolin's group who had plotted against him.

Luolin had stepped forward and confirmed that Wu Tie truly was alone here, solitary and friendless, with neither companions nor clansmen, nor any powerful backing. So Luolin's group had sent someone to provoke this colossal beast into dealing with Wu Tie.

That egg had been the beast's offspring, hadn't it?

According to the knowledge Old Tie had imparted, creatures in their breeding and child-rearing periods were insane. Any act that harmed their offspring would enrage them. Even the weakest animal would fight a powerful enemy to the death to protect its young.

Even those little ground rats were like that, much less such a powerful colossal beast.

"Luolin!" Wu Tie roared as he ran. "I'll remember you... You damned bastards, I won't let you off!"

The answer Wu Tie received was the beast's crazed roar. With a booming crash, a boulder several meters wide was slapped into the air by the beast, spinning as it smashed into Wu Tie's back.

Wu Tie cried out as the boulder sent him flying dozens of meters. He rolled miserably across the ground dozens of times. Before he could even rise and continue running, the beast suddenly sprayed a pillar of fire over him.

The temperature on the pale white armor's surface rose rapidly. This was terrifying flame, enough to melt rock in an instant.

Wu Tie felt as if his entire body had been plunged into boiling water. Scalded beyond endurance, he croaked wildly and sprang up, flailing his arms and legs as he ran and hopped toward the great river dozens of miles away.

Since this beast could breathe fire, he would use river water against it.

Wu Tie panted as he ran at full speed for a long distance. Then he suddenly froze before racing back toward where Shi Lingqing's wooden shed stood.

The beast pursued him wildly from behind. Wu Tie ran at full speed, and as he neared Shi Lingqing's wooden shed, he shouted with all his strength, "Shi Lingqing, be careful! They used the colossal beast to hold me back—they want to kill you!"

Within the Ancient Divine Weapon Camp, Old Tie cackled.

"This little rookie—should your grandpa praise him for being kind and righteous? Or should I say... he really is stupid?" Old Tie sneered. "Looks like stupid... What do you think?"

A dim light flickered in Big Iron's eyes as he lightly rotated his huge head.

Wu Tie ran wildly. He suddenly leapt up, cleared a cluster of protruding stalagmites, and looked toward Shi Lingqing's wooden shed.

Boom! The colossal beast charged over, smashing the stalagmites to pieces. Countless bowl-sized stones pelted Wu Tie, producing ceaseless ear-piercing impacts. Sparks flew from his pale white armor as the shattered stones bounced away, unable to leave even the slightest mark upon it.

The wooden shed had already collapsed, and a great deal of blood stained the ground.

A young man wearing tight black clothes lay stiffly on the ground. A straight saber's sheath was bound to his back; he held a straight saber in his right hand and three small throwing knives in his left. His entire body was covered in blood, which continued flowing out from within him and formed a small pool in a muddy hollow over two meters away.

One was dead.

In such a short time, with Wu Tie's round trip taking only a quarter of an hour, one of Luolin's companions had already died.

Wu Tie wanted to investigate the young man's cause of death, but the colossal beast had already charged over. Wu Tie roared and whirled around, fiercely thrusting his spear at the beast's head.

The beast slapped over with one paw. Wu Tie's spear shook violently in his hands and nearly flew free. His body spun through the air as he was swatted away, crashing heavily onto the ground and bouncing two or three times.

Struggling miserably to his feet, Wu Tie panted as he endured the pain of his violently shaking organs and continued fleeing into the distance.

The colossal beast chased after him madly. One foot came down on the dead young man, sending blood and flesh flying everywhere. The young man was instantly crushed beyond recognition.

Wu Tie panted as he fled, fleeing at full speed.

He truly had no way to deal with this huge thing. He could only run with all his might, randomly choosing a direction to flee.

Originally, he had wanted to return to the Ancient Divine Weapon Camp. But Shi Lingqing and Luolin's group inexplicably came to mind, and instinctively, he ran in the direction away from the Ancient Divine Weapon Camp.

Even though he felt an inexplicable fondness for Shi Lingqing, he did not want the other party to learn of the Ancient Divine Weapon Camp's existence.

The colossal beast roared madly as it leaped and bounded after Wu Tie. Every time its heavy body rose and landed, the ground around it shook violently, while countless shattered rocks sprayed in all directions.

From time to time, it spat a terrifying pillar of fire at Wu Tie. Whenever Wu Tie was struck by one, he would howl wildly from the heat, flailing as he accelerated his escape.

One chased and one fled. They ran for an unknown length of time when clear, terrifying roars suddenly sounded from farther ahead.

The colossal beast that had chased him for so long and was already somewhat out of breath abruptly raised its upper body and gave a sharp, mournful roar.

Wu Tie shuddered all over in fright. He abruptly looked toward where the distant roar had come from, and his scalp immediately went numb—over there, a colossal beast one-third larger than the beast chasing him, at least twenty meters long from head to tail, was rushing over like a gale.

"We're finished!" Wu Tie roared, instinctively quickening his pace again.

He passed through mushroom groves, passed through fern forests, and scrambled miserably through clusters of stalagmites with the colossal beast pursuing him wildly behind. Before long, one colossal beast became two, and the newly arrived beast was larger and faster.

Even more deadly, the fire pillar it breathed was more powerful.

The first beast's fire pillars were merely scarlet, but the second beast's flames carried a trace of cyan-blue. Without doubt, these were more powerful flames. Two pillars as thick as water vats struck the ground, and blazing, viscous fire spread everywhere, melting all the ground within ten meters into magma.

The high-temperature flames raged everywhere. Vast mushroom groves and fern forests were baked dry, then burst into roaring flames.

Fire blazed everywhere Wu Tie passed, illuminating all directions brightly.

Gradually, Wu Tie's strength was nearly exhausted. Even though he had completed the first level of Foundation Establishment and his blood essence had produced powerful Origin Power, physical strength still had its limits.

After running perhaps several hundred miles, Wu Tie was drenched in sweat. His internal organs felt as though they were burning, and his lungs in particular were in unbearable agony, as if someone had stuffed a handful of fine needles inside them. His alveoli seemed ready to burst at any moment.

The Origin Power within his body was completely drained. His legs felt as heavy as though filled with mercury, and his footsteps became far heavier as he ran.

The smaller colossal beast had also slowed drastically. Its body was so huge that chasing Wu Tie at full speed for hundreds of miles had consumed dozens of times more strength than Wu Tie had spent. It was already no easy feat for it to have pursued him this far.

But the larger beast was still full of vigor. It roared loudly and hunted Wu Tie like a mad demon. Several times, it nearly caught him and nearly swallowed him in one bite.

Fortunately, the terrain here was complicated, with stone stalagmites and pillars hundreds of meters high all around.

Wu Tie suddenly looked around, and his heart immediately clenched.

Without realizing it, he had left the safe area Old Tie had mentioned and entered the half of the basin closer to that lava fissure, where the terrain was even more complicated, the vegetation denser, and the biological communities richer and more dangerous.

Gigantic stalagmites and stone pillars densely filled the surroundings, with little space between them. Wu Tie scrambled and crawled into their midst. The colossal beast behind him was caught off guard and struck its head against a huge stone pillar with a thud, forcibly knocking the pillar, over two meters thick and hundreds of meters tall, askew.

The stone pillar let out a terrifying cracking sound, then quickly collapsed.

The pillar crashed heavily into an adjacent one. Amid a huge crash, pillar after pillar fell in succession like dominoes.

Wu Tie let out a sharp cry and abruptly leapt into the air. Pillar after pillar collapsed, and countless boulders fell from above in a chaotic barrage.

Wu Tie stepped on the falling rocks, continuously borrowing force to rise higher. An invisible force field spread around him, wrapping him as he soared into the sky like a bird.

An ear-piercing howl came from the tops of the stone pillars. Waves of foul stench became gales blowing down from high above.

Several dozen points of ghostly pale-green light appeared atop the pillars, accompanied by ceaseless sharp howls.

The colossal beasts reluctantly raised their heads and spat pillars of fire into the sky.

Wu Tie dodged at high speed. Atop the stone pillars, several giant spiders of outrageously enormous size roared madly before plunging down like meteors, spreading their long, sharp legs as they pounced upon the colossal beasts.