In the darkness, the monstrous beast loomed menacingly.
The Mountain Lord seemed to have descended from legend, immortal and indestructible, transcending the mundane. Neither weapons, bullets, nor shells could harm him. Talisman Seals and everything else were just as useless.
After fighting his way out, Wu Yu had assumed that if those human martial artists could wound the Mountain Lord, so could he.
But reality had doused him with cold water.
The [Bi Fang Sigils] bombarded the Mountain Lord relentlessly, yet not a single new wound appeared on him.
After leaving the Lostway Cave, the Mountain Lord had become even more agile. He lurked in the shadows and lunged out in sudden ambushes, cunning and terrifying, like a nightmare in the dark.
Seeing this, Wu Yu began considering leaving. He could not kill the Mountain Lord, but the Mountain Lord could not do anything to him either.
But something Yu Tiezhu said made Wu Yu spot an opportunity!
"I'll call you Yu Tiezhu for now."
Wu Yu did not look back. He merely smiled faintly.
"If I leave this place, the Mountain Lord won't be able to threaten me."
Yu Tiezhu's expression stiffened. He smiled awkwardly. "Young man... what are you trying to say?"
"The human body is a complete whole, intricate and wondrous."
Wu Yu continued slowly, "An increase in strength must mean the body has become stronger too."
"The muscles, the organs, the blood, the skin..."
"Your [Nine Oxen's Strength] must give you more than just the strength to lift a thousand pounds."
At those words,
Yu Tiezhu clenched his fists and said grimly, "Some of what I said was true, while you haven't spoken a single truthful word!"
"At least... what I just said was true."
Wu Yu spoke slowly.
A chill ran through Yu Tiezhu's heart, but he could not refute him.
With Wu Yu's terrifying ability, reaching the Evacuation Point would be nothing. He might even be able to bomb the Mountain Lord to death!
Thinking of what would happen, Yu Tiezhu felt a fierce unwillingness to accept it.
He wanted to go home. He wanted to see his daughter!
After a moment of silence, Yu Tiezhu took a deep breath and said, "Tell me. What do you want me to do?"
Clang!
A weapon landed on the ground, wreathed in bloody and golden light, with a divine bird emblem engraved on it.
"One chance. If it fails... I'll leave immediately."
Wu Yu spoke slowly.
Yu Tiezhu stared blankly at the [Omen Blood Blade] on the ground. Only after several seconds did he crouch down and take it in his hand.
He hesitated no longer, narrowing his eyes as he looked into the darkness.
Even the night could not conceal the Mountain Lord's massive, hideous body!
"Die!"
Gritting his teeth, he charged straight at the Mountain Lord!
Unlike his earlier pretense, Yu Tiezhu held nothing back this time. Beneath his tattered clothes, his skin looked as though it had been coated in grayish-white paint. His muscles bulged, and his entire body grew three inches taller!
Seeing Yu Tiezhu charge toward him, the Mountain Lord did not recklessly attack. Instead, he abruptly leaped aside and watched Wu Yu warily.
When he saw that Wu Yu was no longer swinging his arm, the Mountain Lord retreated farther!
Among these rocks, that human's strange stones won't be able to reach me!
"Just die!"
Yu Tiezhu screamed wildly, desperately drawing the Mountain Lord's attention as he hacked away with the [Omen Blood Blade].
The Mountain Lord finally turned his savage gaze on him, a hint of mockery flashing in his tiger eyes.
I can't kill that stone-throwing human, but surely I can kill you?
"Roar!"
The Mountain Lord roared and pounced eagerly.
Yu Tiezhu neither dodged nor retreated. With grim resolve, he tightened his grip on the [Omen Blood Blade] and held it close to his upper body!
The Mountain Lord did not understand Yu Tiezhu's actions, but he had eaten countless people and paid no heed to human weapons.
A foul stench struck Yu Tiezhu as the Mountain Lord lunged before him and opened his bloody maw!
In the blink of an eye, the Mountain Lord engulfed Yu Tiezhu's upper body in his mouth.
But... it felt as though he had bitten into a rock. It was so hard that his expression froze.
"ROAR!"
Suddenly, the Mountain Lord howled in agony and flung the "rock" from his mouth.
Blood drenched his jaws, pouring from his throat and making his bloodied teeth look even more hideous.
On a rock nearby,
Wu Yu snapped his fingers.
Boom, boom, boom!!!
Explosions, and more explosions!
But this time, they came not from pebbles, but from several [Bi Fang Sigils] inscribed on the [Omen Blood Blade].
Their combined power unleashed boundless flames inside the Mountain Lord, and an aura of destruction descended without warning.
The Mountain Lord howled, flames spewing from his mouth, his tiger eyes filled with despair and pain.
Crash!
He did not die immediately. His massive body thrashed about as though possessed, crashing into everything around him.
Trees toppled, boulders shattered, and a vicious wind swept through the area amid the tremendous commotion!
The tiger's roars rang through the night, but this time, they were nothing but cries of agony.
In despair, the Mountain Lord abruptly turned to look at Wu Yu.
This monster, who had killed countless people, let out one last mournful cry. With desperate resolve, he lunged at Wu Yu in a frenzy!
But before he could reach him, he collapsed helplessly against a large rock.
His enormous body convulsed, blood spraying from his wounds.
"Grrhh...!"
"Grrhh...!"
Even the Mountain Lord's breathing carried an overwhelming stench of blood. More than ten seconds passed before he finally stopped moving altogether.
The next second,
The enormous beast dissolved into light, leaving several cards scattered on the ground.
"..."
Wu Yu watched calmly and jumped down from the rock, but he did not immediately collect the cards.
Not even though golden light shimmered on them.
He walked over to Yu Tiezhu and found him lying motionless on the ground, covered in blood. One eye had burst, and blood kept flowing from his nostrils, ears, and mouth.
"Did... did we win?"
Yu Tiezhu seemed unable to make out the person before him. He asked shakily, "Wu... Wu Tian?"
"Yes, we won."
Wu Yu nodded.
"We... we won. Good!"
Yu Tiezhu tried to get up, but he had lost all feeling in his lower body.
He could not even lower his head to see whether his lower half had been torn off. The whole world was a blur, and he felt as though he might slip into unconsciousness at any moment.
"I... I still have to go back."
Yu Tiezhu spoke in a trembling voice. "It's my daughter's birthday. I promised her."
"Young man, could... could you do me a favor?"
Before he could finish,
Wu Yu suddenly reached out and flicked a finger!
Whoosh!
A pill flew into Yu Tiezhu's mouth.
He immediately lost the ability to speak and coughed several times.
"Don't spit it out."
Wu Yu turned away and said casually, "A blue pill, the [Three-Treasure Vitality Pill]. You couldn't afford one."
"I don't know what your talent is, but you definitely won't die."
With that,
He went to clean up the battlefield.
The cards dropped by the bandits, and those dropped by the Mountain Lord-he would not leave a single one behind.
Now... it was time to reap the rewards!
A short while later,
Wu Yu sat on a rock with a large pile of cards in his hands.
Under the faint moonlight, the cards' panels appeared one after another.
[Vitality Pill], [Silver Taels], [Beast Meat]...
Wu Yu put a large number of common cards into his Inventory.
There were also quite a few rarer ones, such as [Three-Treasure Vitality Pill], [Hundred Taels of Silver], and [Blood-Replenishing Pill].
But the most important ones... were the two cards glowing with golden light!
One of them was exactly what he had wanted all along.
[Mountain Lord Soul]!
Before you continue