The Final Result

One is the Martial Accomplishment King of Great Shang, a top-tier expert whose cultivation in the Martial Way is renowned throughout the world; the other is an ancient, ferocious beast of ill omen, a symbol of disaster and war.

Lu Chuan was filled with anticipation, wondering what the outcome would be once the two collided.

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

"It is hard to say. The Zhu Yan is an ancient, ferocious beast. If they wish to defeat or even slay it with human strength, Huang Feihu and his three thousand Flying Tiger Army soldiers will have to pay a heavy price today. Few will likely survive to return home."

Shen Gongbao mused, "However, the Zhu Yan fought a great battle against the Chongming Bird earlier, which exhausted much of its strength, and it was caught off guard just now when Huang Feihu pierced it with his spear..."

After listening, Lu Chuan lowered his head to look, seeing Huang Feihu standing atop a massive boulder, his expression grave as he stood in a standoff with the Zhu Yan.

"Roar!"

Suddenly, the Zhu Yan let out a thunderous roar. Sparks emerged from its fur, and then, it began to burn once more.

Boom!

Huang Feihu's expression was indescribably solemn. As he circulated the vast true energy within his body, a majestic, earthy-yellow divine light erupted from his skin with a boom.

Lu Chuan asked, "Master, what is that light on Huang Feihu?"

Shen Gongbao replied, "That is innate true energy. He is releasing it now to protect his body. Even though his physical form is formidable, it still cannot compare to an ancient, ferocious beast like the Zhu Yan."

Rumble!

Just as he spoke, the mountain peak below suddenly shook, and the Zhu Yan and Huang Feihu moved simultaneously.

The Zhu Yan kicked off the ground with its two hind legs, instantly creating two deep, one-foot-wide craters, the stones within them pulverized into powder.

Using that force, its massive figure lunged forward, whipping up a violent, howling gale.

Its hideous face twisted, and it opened its blood-red maw to let out a soul-shaking roar. One of its large hands balled into a fist, igniting with flames, and it smashed down fiercely toward Huang Feihu.

With a loud shout!

At the same moment, Huang Feihu's figure moved in an instant. Carrying the sonic boom of breaking the sound barrier and leaving behind afterimages, he flew forward, his hands forming a fist seal as he struck out.

Boom!

A scorching light erupted from his fist, and the two fists—one large, one small—collided.

Following a deafening roar, eerie red light and pure yellow light exploded in all directions, instantly engulfing both the Zhu Yan and Huang Feihu.

A moment later, the scorching light dissipated. The massive figure stood as immovable as a mountain, while the smaller figure in front of it stumbled backward, retreating a full ten feet.

Two deep furrows were plowed into the rock-strewn ground by his heels.

Huang Feihu looked up at the Zhu Yan, his body suddenly swaying as he let out a muffled groan. A trace of blood slowly trickled from the corner of his mouth, though he quickly wiped it away.

The distance was too great for Lu Chuan to see the blood, but he could tell that Huang Feihu had been forced onto the defensive.

"Awoo!"

After this collision, Lu Chuan suddenly saw the Zhu Yan grin, revealing its hideous fangs as it pounded its chest, letting out a laugh that made one's scalp tingle.

"You beast, you're quite resilient!"

Huang Feihu laughed heartily, leaping into the air to strike the Zhu Yan twice with his palms. Finally, twisting his body in mid-air, he spun around and delivered another palm strike.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

His true energy surged, suddenly manifesting into three golden palm prints, each the size of a man. They whistled through the air like three collapsing mountains, bearing down upon the Zhu Yan.

"Roar!"

The Zhu Yan pounded the ground with its fists once more. After opening its maw to roar, its massive frame ignored the three palm prints and lunged forward violently, the fur on its body dancing in the wind as the flames burned ever more fiercely.

With a thunderous crash, dust and smoke filled the sky.

Whoosh!

Just when it seemed everything had ended, a massive white fist shattered the smoke and smashed down from the air toward where Huang Feihu stood.

Huang Feihu's pupils constricted. He instantly vaulted upward, and as his gaze swept the ground below, he saw that the ten-foot-wide boulder he had been standing on had been reduced to powder under that fist.

But the moment he glanced down, another wave of violent power poured in from the front.

"Not good!"

Huang Feihu immediately realized the danger. With no time to think, he crossed his arms to shield his chest.

The next moment, a fist even larger than his own slammed heavily into his arms. It felt as if a mountain had crashed into him, and Huang Feihu was instantly sent flying backward.

Crack!

He smashed through a swathe of trees, finally falling into a thicket, where he lay motionless.

"Big Brother!"

On another mountain peak, Zhou Ji and Huang Ming were incensed at the sight, their eyes splitting with rage. They gripped their weapons so tightly they longed to lead their men into the fray immediately.

But military orders were as heavy as mountains and could not be defied!

Without Huang Feihu's command, acting on their own was a minor breach of discipline, but ruining Huang Feihu's plan would be a catastrophe.

Boom!

The ground trembled slightly.

Wrapped in flames and radiating terrifying fluctuations along with wisps of dark red Sha Qi, the Zhu Yan walked toward Huang Feihu at a steady, unhurried pace, looking for all the world like a monstrous beast of fire.

The flames upon its body scattered in all directions, causing the ground and trees to ignite instantly, the fire spreading outward.

Against the backdrop of raging infernos and billowing black smoke, the hideous Zhu Yan looked all the more like a terrifying demon.

High in the sky.

"Huang Feihu... is he dead?"

Lu Chuan muttered to himself as he watched the scene below. It was a shocking sight; these fierce beasts were truly terrifying. He honestly wondered how the ancient ancestors of the human race had ever managed to survive.

BOOM!

Suddenly, with a thunderous explosion, a figure shot into the sky and landed upon a treetop.

"You beast!"

Huang Feihu gritted his teeth, his eyes wide with rage. His arms hung limply at his sides; although the Zhu Yan's punch hadn't broken his bones, it had left his arms numb and devoid of all strength.

"ROAR!"

Hearing this, the Zhu Yan bellowed, pounding its chest frantically.

It possessed a degree of intelligence and could understand human speech. Naturally, it knew Huang Feihu was cursing it, and, provoked, it charged forward in a blind fury.

Huang Feihu's gaze flickered. Though his arms were numb, his legs were fine. He began to maneuver, sticking to the plan as he headed toward the foot of the mountain.

RUMBLE!

Behind him, the Sha Qi surged violently. The Zhu Yan's eyes were filled with a scorching, murderous light; once provoked, it would not rest until it had killed Huang Feihu.

"A fierce beast is a fierce beast. Even with intelligence, it is still just a beast at heart. To be hooked so easily," Shen Gongbao remarked, watching coldly with a slight shake of his head.

"Strong limbs, simple mind?" Lu Chuan asked.

Shen Gongbao looked at Lu Chuan, stunned, before suddenly bursting into laughter. "Not bad, not bad at all!"

The speed of the man and the beast was immense. Huang Feihu's process of luring the beast into the trap was perilous; several times, he was nearly caught and swatted away by the Zhu Yan behind him.

Soon, they approached the base of the mountain.

"Fire!"

Huang Feihu roared to his subordinates.

At his command, the forest was instantly filled with the dense sound of bowstrings snapping. Thousands of feathered arrows descended like a swarm of locusts or a sudden rainstorm, raining down upon him and the pursuing Zhu Yan.

Clang! Clang!

However, the Zhu Yan's hide was thick and tough. Many arrows could not even pierce its fur, let alone cause injury. Yet, the force behind the arrows was significant, and with the sheer volume of the rain, the Zhu Yan began to howl in pain.

The volley of arrows hindered the Zhu Yan's advance. It stopped, roaring and furiously waving its paws to swat away the incoming projectiles.

By this time, Huang Feihu had regained some sensation in his arms. Seizing the opportunity, he scrambled up the mountain to reach his main force.

"Big Brother, are you alright?"

Zhou Ji and Huang Ming, each holding a longbow, hurried forward to meet him.

"Never mind me!"

Huang Feihu raised a hand, looking back at the Zhu Yan, which was still roaring incessantly at the foot of the mountain. He said firmly, "Today, no matter the cost, we must slay this Zhu Yan here."

The state of Great Shang was currently precarious.

In the north, Yuan Futong had led seventy-two feudal lords in rebellion, while in the east and south, two hundred lords had risen up in each region. These three fronts had known no peace for years.

Once news of the Zhu Yan's emergence spread, there was no telling how many more lords would raise their banners in revolt. At that point, the situation for Great Shang would go from bad to worse.

The emergence of the Zhu Yan was a symbol of impending chaos for the world.

The only course of action now was to slay the Zhu Yan with all their might, suppress the news, and wait for Grand Master Wen to return from quelling the northern rebellion so they could discuss pacifying the south and east.

At the same time, he was deeply grateful for the Chongming Bird, which had helped him delay the Zhu Yan's emergence.

Zhou Ji and Huang Ming nodded, continuing to raise their bows and nock arrows to fire at the Zhu Yan below.

Both were experts in the Martial Way with immense strength, so the arrows they loosed were naturally extraordinary, all of them piercing through the Zhu Yan's hide.

"Big Brother, it's no use!"

However, Zhou Ji soon reported back, "This beast's skin is too thick. The brothers' arrows cannot pierce it. Huang Ming and I can pierce it, but we cannot inflict any significant damage..."

"Let me!"

Huang Feihu stared at the creature below. He suddenly snatched a bow from one of them, nocked an arrow, and drew the bow until it was a full moon. Channeling his true power into the shaft, he aimed at the Zhu Yan below.

Swish!

The next instant, a beam of yellow light shot out like a bolt of lightning, piercing the clouds and tearing through the air, heading straight for one of the Zhu Yan's eyes.

"ROAR!"

Zhu Yan was busy fending off the other rain of arrows when it suddenly felt a premonition and looked up, only to see a streak of lightning flying through the thousands of shafts, aimed directly at its most vulnerable vital point.

It roared and bellowed, trying every possible means to dodge this lethal arrow.

Crack!

With a crisp sound, blood trickled from the corner of Zhu Yan's mouth, turning into flames as it burned.

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

After firing that shot, Huang Feihu's figure swayed, and he let out a muffled groan as he spat out a mouthful of blood.

He had been injured by Zhu Yan's punch earlier; suppressing his wounds just to lure it into the trap had been his limit, and after forcing his true qi to fire that final arrow, he could no longer hold on.

"Roar!"

Glaring hatefully at the mountaintop, Zhu Yan suddenly crouched deep, then its legs sprang upward with immense force, instantly vaulting a hundred meters into the air.

Boom!

The next instant, it landed on the original mountain, out of the arrows' range. It turned back to cast a cold, chilling look at the mountain where Huang Feihu stood, then leaped a few more times, vanishing from everyone's sight in the blink of an eye.

Huang Feihu stared in that direction, remaining silent for a long time.

Finally, he slowly closed his eyes and sighed, "I gave it my all, yet I never expected that I still wouldn't be able to... keep it here."

With those words, he collapsed into unconsciousness.