The Final Outcome

One was the Martial Accomplishment King of Great Shang, a top-tier martial artist renowned throughout the land. The other was a ferocious ancient beast, infamous for its ill omen and the wars it heralded.

Lu Chuan eagerly wondered how the clash between them would end.

He suddenly asked, "Master, who do you think will win?"

"Hard to say. Zhu Yan is an ancient ferocious beast. To defeat it by human strength, let alone kill it, Huang Feihu and his three thousand Flying Tiger Army will have to pay a tremendous price today. Few will make it back alive."

Shen Gongbao mused, "But Zhu Yan fought a fierce battle with the Chongming Bird earlier, and has lost some strength. Besides, Huang Feihu just caught it off guard and stabbed it with a spear..."

Lu Chuan looked down. Huang Feihu stood atop a huge boulder, facing Zhu Yan with a grave expression.

"Roar!"

Zhu Yan suddenly let out a mighty roar. Sparks appeared in its fur, and then it burst into flames once more.

Boom!

Huang Feihu's expression was equally grave. His immense true power surged through him, and with a boom, a vast, earthy-yellow divine light appeared around his body.

"Master, what's that light around Huang Feihu?"

"Innate true energy. He's released it to protect himself. His body may be strong, but it still can't compare to an ancient ferocious beast like Zhu Yan."

Rumble!

As they spoke, the mountain below suddenly shook. Zhu Yan and Huang Feihu moved at the same time.

Zhu Yan pushed off the ground with its hind legs. Two deep pits appeared beneath its feet, each a foot deep, and the stones inside were crushed to powder.

Riding that force, its enormous body charged forward, bringing with it a fierce, howling gale.

Its ferocious face twisted. It opened its gaping maw and let out a soul-shaking roar, then clenched one huge fist, flames blazing around it, and slammed it down at Huang Feihu.

With a loud shout!

At the same moment, Huang Feihu's figure flashed forward, trailing a sonic boom and afterimages as he broke through the sound barrier. He clenched his fist and struck ahead.

Boom!

Blazing light burst from his fist as the two fists, one large and one small, collided.

With a deafening crash, eerie crimson light and pure golden light erupted in every direction, engulfing Zhu Yan and Huang Feihu alike.

A moment later, the blinding light faded. A gigantic figure stood as immovable as a mountain, while a smaller figure staggered backward before it, retreating ten feet.

The rocky ground was gouged into two deep furrows by his legs.

Huang Feihu looked up at Zhu Yan. Suddenly, his body swayed and he let out a muffled groan. A thin trickle of blood slowly appeared at the corner of his mouth, but he quickly wiped it away.

The distance was too great for Lu Chuan to see the blood, but he could tell Huang Feihu had fallen to the disadvantage.

"Roar!"

After their clash, Lu Chuan suddenly saw Zhu Yan bare its fearsome fangs. It pounded its chest wildly and let out a laugh that made his scalp crawl.

"Beast, not bad!"

Huang Feihu laughed heartily. He sprang into the air and struck twice at Zhu Yan with his palms. Then he twisted in midair, spun around once, and struck again.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

True energy surged, suddenly transforming into three golden palm prints, each the size of a person. They roared through the air like three collapsing mountains, bearing down on Zhu Yan.

"Roar!"

Zhu Yan slammed both fists into the ground again. After opening its mouth and roaring, its huge body charged forward with savage force, ignoring the three palm prints. Its fur whipped in the wind, and the flames around it blazed even more fiercely.

A deafening crash. Dust filled the sky.

Whoosh!

Just as everything seemed to be over, a gigantic white fist shattered through the dust and dropped from the air toward Huang Feihu.

Huang Feihu's pupils contracted. He shot upward at once, glancing down as he rose. The ten-foot boulder where he had been standing had also been reduced to powder beneath that fist.

But in the instant he looked down, another torrent of savage force came crashing at him from ahead.

"Not good!"

Huang Feihu immediately knew things had gone wrong. With no time to think, he crossed his arms in front of himself to guard against the blow.

The next moment, a fist even larger than he was slammed into his crossed arms. It felt like a mountain crashing down, and Huang Feihu was sent flying backward.

Crack, crack, crack!

Trees snapped in a wide swath as he crashed through them, finally tumbling into a thicket. Then he lay motionless.

"Big brother!"

On another mountain, Zhou Ji and Huang Ming watched with bloodshot eyes. They gripped their weapons tightly, wishing they could lead their men into the fray at once.

But military orders were absolute and could not be disobeyed!

Without Huang Feihu's command, acting on their own would be a breach of military discipline; worse, it could ruin his plan.

Boom!

The ground trembled faintly.

Wrapped in flames, Zhu Yan released terrifying waves of power and wisps of dark-red fiendish aura. Like a monster of fire, it walked unhurriedly toward Huang Feihu.

Flames fell from its body and set the ground and trees ablaze. The fire spread outward.

Against the backdrop of burning flames and billowing black smoke, the ferocious Zhu Yan looked more and more like a terrifying demon.

In the sky.

"Is Huang Feihu... dead?"

Lu Chuan murmured as he watched below. The sight was shocking. These ferocious beasts truly were terrifying. He wondered how the ancient ancestors of the Human Race had ever survived.

Boom!

A sudden explosion rang out. A figure shot into the sky and landed among the treetops.

"Beast!"

Huang Feihu glared furiously through clenched teeth, his arms hanging limp at his sides. Zhu Yan's punch hadn't broken his bones or torn his muscles, but it had left his arms numb and completely powerless.

"Roar!"

At his words, Zhu Yan roared and beat its chest.

It was intelligent and understood human speech, so it knew Huang Feihu was cursing it. Enraged, it charged forward in a furious rush.

Huang Feihu's eyes flashed. Though his arms were numb, his legs were fine. He began moving according to plan, heading down the mountain.

Rumble!

Savage aura raged behind him. Zhu Yan's eyes blazed with murderous light. Enraged, it would not rest until it had killed Huang Feihu.

"Ferocious beasts may be intelligent, but in the end, they're still beasts. He took the bait just like that."

Shen Gongbao watched coldly and shook his head.

"Big muscles, little brains?" Lu Chuan asked.

Shen Gongbao stared at Lu Chuan in surprise, then suddenly burst into laughter. "Exactly, exactly!"

The man and beast moved incredibly fast, and Huang Feihu's plan to lure Zhu Yan into the trap was perilous. Several times, Zhu Yan nearly caught up and slapped him flying.

Soon, they neared the foot of the mountain.

"Loose!"

Huang Feihu shouted to his men.

At his command, the mountain forest filled with the twang of bowstrings. Countless arrows fell like locusts and a sudden downpour, raining down on him and the Zhu Yan behind him.

Clang, clang!

But Zhu Yan's hide was so thick that most arrows couldn't pierce its fur, much less injure it. Still, the arrows packed plenty of force, and with them falling like rain, Zhu Yan howled in pain.

The arrow storm checked Zhu Yan's advance. It stopped, roaring furiously as it swept away the incoming arrows with both hands.

By then, Huang Feihu's arms had slowly regained feeling. Seizing the chance, he hurried up the mountain and reached his army.

"Big brother, are you all right?"

Zhou Ji and Huang Ming each held a longbow. When they saw him arrive, they hurried over to him.

"Don't worry about me!"

Huang Feihu raised a hand and turned to glare down at Zhu Yan, roaring, "No matter what it takes, we must kill Zhu Yan here today!"

Great Shang's realm was in dire straits.

In the north, Yuan Futong had rebelled alongside seventy-two vassal lords. In the east and south, another two hundred vassal lords in each region had rebelled. All three fronts had been in turmoil for years.

When news of Zhu Yan's emergence spread, who knew how many more vassal lords would raise their banners in rebellion? Great Shang's plight would then become even more desperate.

Zhu Yan's emergence was an omen that the world would fall into chaos.

The only thing to do now was to kill Zhu Yan with all their might and suppress the news. Then, they could wait for Grand Master Wen to return from quelling the rebellion in the north and discuss pacifying the east and south.

He was also deeply grateful to the Chongming Bird for delaying Zhu Yan's emergence.

Zhou Ji and Huang Ming nodded, then continued to nock arrows and shoot at Zhu Yan below.

Both were skilled in the Martial Way and possessed great strength. Their arrows were naturally no ordinary shots; every one pierced Zhu Yan's hide.

"Big brother, it's no use!"

Zhou Ji soon reported, "The beast's hide is too thick. Our men's arrows can't pierce it. Huang Ming and I can, but we can't hurt it much..."

"I'll do it!"

Huang Feihu stared down the mountain, then suddenly took the bow from Zhou Ji and nocked an arrow. He drew the bow until it was round as the full moon, poured his true power into the arrow, and aimed at Zhu Yan below.

Whoosh!

The next instant, a streak of yellow light shot out like lightning, piercing the clouds and tearing through the air as it sped straight toward one of Zhu Yan's eyes.

"Roar!"

Zhu Yan had been fending off the arrow storm when it suddenly sensed danger and looked up. Amid the countless arrows, it saw a streak of lightning flying toward the weakest vital spot on its body.

It roared and bellowed, doing everything it could to dodge this deadly arrow.

Crack!

A sharp snap rang out. Blood trickled from the corner of Zhu Yan's mouth, then burst into flames.

The arrow had missed its eye but struck one of its fangs, breaking off the rear half and sending it to the ground.

After loosing that arrow, Huang Feihu swayed and let out a muffled groan before spitting out a mouthful of blood.

He had already been injured by Zhu Yan's punch. Holding back the injury while luring it into the trap had been the limit of his strength. After using his true energy to loose that arrow, he could no longer hold on.

"Roar!"

After glaring resentfully at the mountaintop, Zhu Yan suddenly crouched low. Then its legs powerfully launched it into the air, sending it soaring a hundred meters up.

Rumble!

The next moment, it landed back on the mountain it had started from, beyond the arrows' range. After looking coldly toward Huang Feihu's mountain, it leaped away several times and vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.

Huang Feihu gazed in that direction for a long time without a word.

Finally, he slowly closed his eyes and sighed. "I gave it everything I had. I never thought I'd still fail to... keep it here..."

With that, he fainted.