Take Him (It) Down

After Ge Mu led the troll army through the human ranks, the first thing he saw was Zhuang Hong charging toward him from afar. He burst out laughing.

He admired this human's courage.

But there was more mockery than admiration in his laughter, like a weak little chick fearlessly charging at a fierce tiger.

In the tiger's eyes, what this little chick displayed was not wisdom or courage.

It was merely foolishness and ignorance.

The ignorant feared nothing.

Yet when he saw the other party charging toward him, Ge Mu inexplicably felt a trace of disgust.

He hated humans like this. Compared to such ignorant fools who had the courage to charge at them, he preferred humans who turned and fled in cowardice.

Because the more cowards there were, the greater the trolls' hope of rising.

Conversely, if every human possessed that same unwavering courage, then even if he were invincible under heaven, the trolls would have almost no chance of rising.

He stared at Zhuang Hong, his smiling eyes filled with icy coldness.

He decided to use his greatest strength to smash this human to pieces, so that all humans would open their eyes wide and see clearly the consequences of daring to stand in his way.

Not only that, he would kill every human who possessed the same courage as him.

Once all the humans brave enough to step forward were dead, this fertile continent would return to the trolls' embrace.

He could not help raising his warhammer high and roaring at the sky, "For the rise of the trolls!"

His voice rang through heaven and earth.

Hearing the cry of their spiritual leader, the troll army behind him immediately had their blood boiling and their momentum soaring. They raised their weapons and shouted in unison.

"For the trolls!"

Zhuang Hong paid no attention to why the troll army ahead had suddenly become agitated. For now, he had no intention of joining this war.

He had only one goal now: abduct and devour that troll who was his 'Other Self,' completely transforming it into his own power.

As for everything else, that could wait.

His eyes remained fixed on his 'Other Self,' while he ignored all the other trolls.

As that troll drew closer and closer, Zhuang Hong slowly drew the Dragon Tendon Sword from his back. Origin power surged forth and poured into the sword.

With a thought, the Dragon Tendon Sword immediately stretched into a long whip, dancing rhythmically through the air.

Neither side was slow, and they were soon right before each other.

Troll Ge Mu gripped the hammer's handle with both hands, locked onto Zhuang Hong, and swung.

At the instant Ge Mu attacked, he seemed to already see this tiny human being smashed into bloody pulp by his hammer.

"Disappear from this world along with that inexplicable courage of yours!"

"Whoosh!"

The enormous hammer swept across, its head stirring a violent gale that engulfed the human completely, leaving him nowhere to dodge.

Yet in the next instant, Ge Mu's pupils shrank sharply, and an expression of extreme astonishment appeared on his face.

His massive hammer had not transmitted the sensation of striking its target, and he immediately realized what had happened.

"He missed!"

But how could he have missed? No one in this world could evade his attack!

Ge Mu suddenly turned to look behind him. Sure enough, that scrawny human was still completely unharmed, charging straight toward his clansmen.

The long whip in the human's hand also reached forward as though it had come alive.

Ge Mu was baffled. "What just happened?"

"Woof!"

Just as Ge Mu was confused, a crisp bark sounded beside his ear. From the corner of his eye, he saw a little puppy slam headfirst into his huge foot, and then...

Pass through it!

Ge Mu: "???"

As for Zhuang Hong.

After using space to evade Ge Mu's attack, he charged straight at his target.

It was holding a Skull Scepter stained with blood and fragments of flesh, standing at the front of the troll army.

It was the Sangbo Priest, whose status among the trolls was exceptionally high.

As Zhuang Hong approached, the Sangbo Priest also felt an inexplicable palpitation. For some reason, it sensed a strange familiarity from this human, along with a deadly sense of threat.

But the Sangbo Priest was certain that it had never met him before.

The enemy was right before it. It suppressed the doubts in its heart, tightened its grip on the scepter, and fixed its eyes on the human's.

At that instant, their gazes met, and the same voice rose in both their hearts: Take him down!

"Whoosh!"

The moment they neared each other, Zhuang Hong immediately changed direction and ran to the side.

At the same time, he pulled with one hand.

"Swish!"

Countless fine threads emerged from his fingertips.

The Sangbo Priest's strike with its scepter missed, and it immediately felt a tremendous force coming from all over its body, forcibly yanking it to the ground and dragging it sideways.

Only after falling did it realize that its body was already covered in dense, tightly packed fine threads, nearly wrapping it into a cocoon.

The Sangbo Priest was just about to swing its scepter in resistance.

"Pfft!"

Its entire body shuddered. It suddenly went stiff and lost control, while the power within it rapidly dissipated.

Lowering its head, it discovered that a long whip covered in barbs had tightly wrapped around it, while a bloodstained diamond-shaped spike protruded from its chest.

The Sangbo Priest looked stunned, completely unable to understand how any of this had happened.

But at this point, it had no strength left to resist. It could only allow Zhuang Hong to drag it sideways, rapidly breaking away from the torrent of the troll army.

This all seemed lengthy, but it had actually happened in the blink of an eye.

Troll Ge Mu had only just withdrawn his hammer and stopped to turn toward Zhuang Hong when he saw his most trusted and relied-upon Sangbo Priest lying on the ground, being dragged aside by that human.

Ge Mu's eyes nearly split with rage as he roared furiously, "Sangbo Priest!"

"Ha!!!"

He stomped down hard and chased after Zhuang Hong.

He had to save the Sangbo Priest. He was also confident that he could save it and recover the dignity he had lost to Zhuang Hong.

If he simply allowed that human to take the Sangbo Priest away, where would his dignity as a Heavenly God Warrior remain?

Where would the invincible prestige of this troll army remain?

On the other side of the battlefield, countless eyes were fixed on the lone figure charging toward the troll army.

They wanted to witness this tragic and heroic scene.

Yet just as everyone believed that man was about to be crushed to pieces,

what happened in the next brief moments exceeded everyone's imagination.

That 'man doomed to die' had actually crossed past Heavenly Treasury Warrior troll Ge Mu, then in an instant tied up a troll and ran off to the side.

At that moment, everyone's expressions froze, finally settling into stunned disbelief.

Then question marks popped up on one forehead after another.

The chaotic sounds of the battlefield actually quieted by a degree.

What had just happened? What was happening now?

Then they saw a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

Heavenly Treasury Warrior troll Ge Mu, who had rampaged invincibly across the battlefield and whom no one could stop, actually became so enraged that he stamped his feet before chasing after them in a flustered fury.

"He survived? That man survived? That can't be possible. Did I see wrong? Am I hallucinating..."

"Yes, I'm hallucinating too."

"Who did you say that man was just now?"

"They say he is Hand of God—Zhuang Hong. After subduing the Thousand Shadow White Dragon, which no one had been able to deal with, he became known as the Number One Expert Under Heaven."

"The Number One Expert Under Heaven? Could it be that our human race also has an expert capable of contending with Heavenly Treasury Warrior Ge Mu?"

"Or could Hand of God—Zhuang Hong also be a Heavenly Treasury Warrior?"

"That is the only explanation."

"But even a Heavenly Treasury Warrior absolutely could not accomplish something like this! Remember, he was not only facing Ge Mu, but the troll army behind Ge Mu as well."

"By the way, does anyone know why he tied up that troll? With such strength, why not fight Ge Mu to the death? If he took Ge Mu's head, he could claim the title of number one under heaven."

"Yeah, what did he tie that troll up for?"

"How ridiculous. Even if he cannot take Ge Mu's head, he is still undoubtedly the number one expert among us humans."

"To go through so much on this journey and witness such an unbelievable scene—I am satisfied."

"This journey has left me with no regrets."

"Look, that little dog running so fast is unharmed too!"

For a time, the martial artists discussed the matter excitedly, as though they had personally witnessed a miracle.

Liu Yueling's little mouth had fallen open, and she could not say a word. She merely stared blankly at Zhuang Hong's fleeing figure.

That figure actually looked so dashing.

Clearly, the way things had unfolded had once again exceeded her imagination.