Battle Beasts Descend

Chapter 15: The War Beasts Descend

"Who is it that wants to welsh on a debt to my Stone Village?"

The old village chief, Shi Yunfeng, held a crystalline bone mirror in his hand. His eyes were like lightning, sweeping coldly across the forces of the various great clans, looking for all the world like an enraged old lion.

A mid-stage Spirit Transformation Realm expert? This is going to be troublesome!

Every expert caught in the old chief's gaze, whether from the five great tribes or other major clans, felt a tremor in their hearts and instinctively averted their eyes.

In this vast Great Wilderness, there existed several powerful human marquises and lords, such as the Purple Mountain Marquis, the Thunder Marquis, the Golden Wolf Clan Chief, and even the Lord of Luofu Marsh.

In the Great Wilderness, where ancient kingdoms were scattered like trees in a forest, only those at the Inscription Realm could be enfeoffed as marquises, and those at the Array Formation Realm could be called lords—and that was only provided they had performed peerless military feats and received a decree from a supreme Human Emperor.

True human marquises commanded clouds of generals, governed hundreds of millions of subjects, and held vast, immeasurable territories. Their power was unparalleled; a single thought from them could stir up monstrous waves.

Those like the Purple Mountain Marquis and the Thunder Marquis governed no more than a few million, or at most ten million, subjects. Having performed no peerless feats and lacking any decree from an ancient kingdom's Human Emperor, they had simply usurped titles and divided lands in this remote Great Wilderness, falsely styling themselves as marquises.

In the eyes of true ancient kingdom marquises, they were nothing but a joke. A single powerful general dispatched with a hundred thousand elite troops would be enough to raze their clans to the ground.

The Thunder Marquis and the Golden Wolf Clan Chief were both late-stage Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators.

The Purple Mountain Marquis, who claimed to be the strongest expert within a radius of fifty thousand li, was merely at the peak of the Spirit Transformation Realm, having only faintly touched the threshold of the Inscription Realm.

The Golden Divine Wolf, the ancient Sacrificial Spirit worshipped by the Golden Wolf Tribe for countless years, who also claimed to be the strongest Sacrificial Spirit within fifty thousand li, possessed strength comparable to the Purple Mountain Marquis.

With the Mountain Treasure reappearing in the depths of the Great Wilderness this time, the supreme experts of the major tribes had not moved themselves, but had instead dispatched experts to investigate the truth.

Given that the five great clan chiefs were all late-stage Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators, the Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators within their clans were naturally all treasures, each at least a clan elder holding real power.

The likes of Zishan Shou, uncle to the Purple Mountain Marquis; Jiao Cang, a sect elder of Luofu Marsh; and Batu, the number one warrior of the Golden Wolf Tribe, were all early-stage Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators.

Although Lei Yunkun, the fourth son of the Thunder Marquis, was only a Cave Heaven Realm cultivator, he was accompanied by an old servant at the early stage of the Spirit Transformation Realm. The leaders of the five great tribes were all at this level.

As for the other great clans whose influence was far inferior to the five, their leaders were at most at the late stage of the Cave Heaven Realm—hardly worth a glance.

Scanning the entire field, there was not a single person whose cultivation could suppress the old village chief.

Moreover, the old chief held the Suanni Treasure Mirror, a powerful treasure refined from the brow bone of the old Suanni, which added even more to his imposing aura.

"A mid-stage Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator—not bad at all."

The leaders of the four great tribes exchanged meaningful glances. They realized that the true foundation of this ancient village had finally been revealed, yet they felt a secret sense of relief.

A mid-stage Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator was strong, certainly, but their four tribes were no pushovers. If they joined forces, they could still put up a fight. Furthermore, the old man had to worry about the villagers behind him, so there was still a chance to scheme for the two supreme precious techniques.

"Heh, old village chief, pray, hear me out..."

Zishan Shou, with his benevolent appearance, smiled before he even spoke, waving his feather fan.

"Where did this clown come from? Shut your mouth. I don't even care to look at you properly."

Old village chief Shi Yunfeng waved his large hand impatiently, completely disregarding the other man's incredibly ugly expression. He patted the crystalline bone mirror at his waist and said bluntly:

"Speak. One sentence: do you want your wealth, or your lives?"

Seeing that the old man was on the verge of killing them all with a single word, the atmosphere on the field instantly chilled.

The experts from the weaker tribes began to quietly retreat. The current situation was not something their small stature could handle; it was better to save their own skins first.

"Old village chief, your words are far too arrogant. It would not be good to slight the four great tribes like this."

Zishan Shou, intent on stirring up trouble, narrowed his eyes, his words laced with threats.

"Heh, slighted your four great tribes? Not only will I slight you today, I'm going to strip a layer of skin off you, too."

Shi Yunfeng gave a cold laugh, as if he had heard nothing, and turned to pat Shi Hao on the shoulder. "Little One, summon the village's war beasts. Let's finish these bastards!"

"Woo—!"

Shi Hao answered readily, pulling a bone flute from his bosom and blowing into it. The sharp, piercing sound of the flute was enough to carry for dozens of miles in an instant.

"War beasts? Could it be that the true foundation of this village isn't this mid-stage Spirit Transformation Realm old chief, but something else—a great terror?"

Jiao Cang, Lei Yunkun, and the others felt a sense of foreboding and instinctively tensed their bodies.

"Screech!"

Just as the experts were on edge, an exceptionally sharp cry erupted from the horizon, shaking those with weaker cultivation until their entire bodies trembled.

Everyone instinctively looked up to see four massive, ancient demonic birds—one large and three small—flapping their broad wings as they dove toward Stone Village with ferocious momentum, covering dozens of yards in an instant.

Those four ancient demonic birds were all magnificent Azure Heaven Rocs, their bodies covered in deep cyan feathers that looked as if they had been cast from bronze, exuding an overwhelming sense of pressure.

The adult was seventy or eighty yards long, and the three smaller ones were also ten or so yards in size. Who else could it be but the Azure Heaven Roc family, returning from their hunt?

Although the three young Azure Heaven Rocs had been born only half a year ago, thanks to their mother's diligent feeding, not only had their size expanded rapidly, but their strength was now comparable to late-stage Blood Moving Realm cultivators, and they were on the verge of stepping into the Cave Heaven Realm.

"An... an ancient remnant, the Azure Heaven Roc!"

Someone in the crowd let out a moan that sounded like a dream.

Ancient remnants were terrifying existences that inherited a portion of the true blood of ancient fierce beasts.

The best among them, upon reaching adulthood, could rival the top human marquises, capable of razing a massive city to the ground in a single night or wiping out a great tribe of hundreds of thousands or even a million people.

The adult Azure Heaven Roc flying in the lead was definitely an existence on par with a true human marquis—not a "watered-down" marquis like the Purple Mountain Marquis or the Thunder Marquis.

With four powerful ancient remnants under its command, Stone Village's foundation was now second to none among the marquises of the ancient kingdoms, truly living up to the reputation of a hidden, super-powerful clan.

Closer, closer, even closer!

Four cold, ghostly roc eyes locked onto the various clansmen on the ground, a dense, primordial demonic avian pressure sweeping down like a tidal wave. While the masters felt their scalps prickle, their mounts fared even worse.

The elite among the Mutated Scaled Horses, the Unicorn, managed to hold its ground, but the ordinary horses let out a collective whinny before their legs gave way, collapsing to the ground and sending many riders sprawling in a chaotic mess of dust and limbs.

"An adult primordial remnant of the Inscription Realm, plus three primordial remnant hatchlings... we've truly kicked a steel plate this time..."

Jiao Peng, Zishan Shou, and the others, who were being specifically targeted by the Azure Heaven Roc, turned deathly pale. Their bodies went limp, trembling like leaves in the wind, their knees sinking inch by inch toward the earth.

They felt bitter inside. If your village had an adult primordial remnant guarding it, why didn't you say so earlier? Are you playing with us?

It's not that we didn't know our place; we never stood a chance!