The Might of the Innate

Boom!

With a deafening crash, the spot where Shen Gongbao and the others had just been standing was struck by a fierce, razor-sharp fist imprint. The mountain forest exploded on the spot.

Rocks flew in every direction as clouds of dust billowed through the air!

The terrifying force also shredded the trees, brambles, and wild grass around them, leaving a crater more than ten meters wide in the ground.

After throwing that punch, Huang Feihu drifted down onto the back of the Five-Colored Divine Ox. He gazed toward Lu Chuan and the others' direction, remaining silent for a long while.

"Big Brother, who was that? How dare someone ambush the Chongming Divine Bird, an auspicious omen?"

Seeing what had just happened, Zhou Ji was both shocked and furious. "Did you kill him...?"

"He got away. The other party seems to be a Qi Refiner, but he didn't seem interested in fighting me."

Huang Feihu shook his head, his expression grave. "Before my punch could reach him, he fled on a beam of light."

"A Qi Refiner? Which mountain does he come from?"

Zhou Ji said solemnly, "Someone's deliberately making an enemy of Great Shang!"

"It doesn't matter who it was anymore. Since the Chongming Divine Bird was wounded and fled, the task of killing this Zhu Yan falls to us."

Huang Feihu turned to look at the mountain wreathed in black smoke, its flames still burning, and shouted, "Army, heed my command! Prepare your bows and arrows. I'll lure it down the mountain, and then you'll shoot it dead. Zhou Ji, you and Long Huan stay here and take command."

Boom!

As soon as he finished speaking, he was already leaping from the back of the Five-Colored Divine Ox with his spear in hand, setting off a series of explosive airbursts.

The next moment, his figure crossed the sky high above, leaving a string of afterimages as he flew straight from this mountain to the one where Zhu Yan was.

"What?!"

In the clouds, Lu Chuan saw the scene below—the man crossing from one mountain to another—and his face changed dramatically.

Huang Feihu's punch had already shaken him to the core. Now, seeing him fly across the sky between two mountains, Lu Chuan was so stunned he could hardly speak.

"What do you think?" Shen Gongbao asked with a smile. "Huang Feihu's strength hasn't disappointed you, has it?"

After leaving the mountain just now, he hadn't taken Lu Chuan straight away. Instead, he had stayed in the air, concealing the two of them with magic and waiting for the show to unfold.

Lu Chuan nodded, murmuring, "Innate martial artists really are terrifying. I can only think of four words: terrifying beyond belief, terrifying beyond belief..."

"Beast, prepare to die!"

Below, a furious shout rang out like thunder. In midair, Huang Feihu poured his true power into his spear. The weapon blazed with dazzling light, and a heart-chilling, razor-sharp gleam shone from its tip as he thrust straight at the enormous Zhu Yan.

Zhu Yan had already spotted Huang Feihu approaching.

Though Huang Feihu was to it what an adult was to a three-year-old child, the blindingly sharp gleam at the tip of his spear still made Zhu Yan's heart pound.

"Roar!"

Zhu Yan opened its enormous jaws and bellowed. Its fiery red fur burst into flames along with its roar.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

It slammed its thick, powerful fists into the ground, shaking loose enormous boulders, then swung both hands and struck them one after another.

Each boulder caught fire as it was hit. At last, like a sudden storm of locusts, they came crashing down on Huang Feihu from every direction.

With a mighty shout, Huang Feihu thrust his spear like a dragon. In an instant, countless spear shadows filled the sky. He tapped each flaming boulder once, and they burst apart one after another.

Seeing this, Zhu Yan opened its mouth and blew. At once, the shattered stones converged on Huang Feihu instead, surrounding and swallowing him in the blink of an eye.

Whoosh!

At last, a massive fireball, two or three zhang in diameter, burned fiercely in midair.

"Big Brother!"

Behind them, Long Huan's eyes were bloodshot with rage. He roared and raised his halberd, ready to charge forward.

"Don't be rash. Let's see what happens first!"

Zhou Ji was calmer. He raised a hand to stop him and frowned. "Don't forget, our orders are to stay here, not charge up there..."

High in the air.

"Is Huang Feihu dead?"

Lu Chuan wondered, though he didn't think it was likely. Otherwise, Huang Feihu could hardly go on to become the Martial Accomplishment King.

Bang!

After trapping Huang Feihu like that, Zhu Yan relaxed a little.

But the instant it did, the enormous fireball suddenly exploded from within, with a deafening crash.

Pfft!

Amid the blinding blaze that filled the sky, a fierce glint flashed past and pierced Zhu Yan's thick, burning fur. Burning blood spilled out.

But Huang Feihu couldn't feel happy about it.

As his spear pierced Zhu Yan's chest, one of Zhu Yan's thick, powerful arms had seized the weapon in his hands.

Beside Zhu Yan, Huang Feihu's spear was like a chopstick.

"Roar!"

Zhu Yan bellowed and brought its other fist crashing down on Huang Feihu.

With no other choice, Huang Feihu abandoned his spear and spun backward, dodging the blow and landing three zhang away.

"Is Huang Feihu going to lose?" Lu Chuan murmured.

"Lose? Disciple, not necessarily. Innate martial experts are essentially the strongest kind of human, with bodies tough beyond compare."

Shen Gongbao smiled. "Huang Feihu has three thousand Flying Tiger Army soldiers here with him today. It's still hard to say who'll win. The most exciting part is just beginning, so keep your eyes wide open and watch closely."

Lu Chuan fell silent.

"What, are you still sulking over the Chongming Bird?" Shen Gongbao asked with a faint smile.

"No!"

Lu Chuan shook his head. "I just can't quite understand it. Once I figure it out, I'll be fine."

If he had to pick a side in the battle between Zhu Yan and the Chongming Bird, there was no question that he would support the Chongming Bird.

He detested Zhu Yan.

Not only was it an ancient calamity-bringing beast, a symbol of ill omen and great disaster, it had also broken his escape art just now and sent him plummeting from the sky, nearly killing him.

The Chongming Bird, by contrast, had cried out with a pure, righteous call and broken Zhu Yan's terrifying roar. Otherwise, Lu Chuan believed the wave-like force of Zhu Yan's bellow might have shaken him to death in midair.

"The world is about to descend into chaos. Yin Shang's fortune has run its course. How could a single Chongming Bird protect it?"

Shen Gongbao shook his head. "King Zhou is cruel and violent. He dotes on the Yao Fei Daji and allows her to harm his ministers and commoners. Heaven no longer favors him.

"If the realm of Yin Shang were a palace, its court officials and generals would be the beams and pillars holding it up. If it were a ship, its ministers would be the planks, oars, and sails. If King Zhou tears out the beams and pillars and rips up the planks himself, how much longer do you think Yin Shang can last?"

"So that's why you wounded the Chongming Bird?" Lu Chuan asked calmly.

"Cough, cough. Well... I only wanted to drive it away from here. Zhu Yan's appearance foretells disaster; that's inevitable, and the bird can't stop it."

Shen Gongbao coughed awkwardly. "Besides, I never intended to take its life. If I'd wanted to, do you think it would have had a chance to get away?"

"Stop it?"

Lu Chuan's expression eased a little. He added, "Isn't the Chongming Bird supposed to be a divine bird that specializes in subduing demons and monsters? It seemed to me like it came to subdue Zhu Yan, not protect the realm of Yin Shang!"

"Perhaps. But it wasn't Zhu Yan's match. If they kept fighting, it was bound to lose sooner or later. It might even exhaust its divine power and die."

Shen Gongbao declared righteously, "I wounded it while its divine power was still intact and it still had the strength to protect itself, so it would leave. I did it for its own good. You could even say I saved its life!"

Lu Chuan was stunned.

I've never seen anyone so shameless.

Shen Gongbao had wounded the bird and still managed to say, with such righteous conviction, that he'd saved its life.

What utter nonsense!

The Chongming Bird was an ancient divine bird, and Zhu Yan an ancient fierce beast.

No matter how you looked at it, they were evenly matched. Besides, neither had gained the upper hand during their battle just now...

Forget it. I'll just watch the show! Lu Chuan thought.

But since the Chongming Bird's life wasn't in danger, he felt less guilty.

After all, he had egged Shen Gongbao on to attack it, which was how it got hurt. It was just that Shen Gongbao was as wily as a demon and never played by the rules. Lu Chuan simply couldn't figure him out.