Suanni

Within the clouds, the Azure-Scaled Eagle shuddered, terror filling its heart. The Suanni had not died after all, yet they had just been fighting to seize its corpse. How terrifying was that?! Little Dot scratched his head, bewildered. "Eh? How did it come back to life?"

"Roar..."

A heaven-shaking roar rang out from the mountain forest. The Demon Ape bellowed furiously. One of its arms had been torn off alive, the agony driving it mad as blood gushed forth.

It attacked with its remaining arm, smashing a fist toward the beast lord whose golden radiance shot into the heavens. The Suanni showed no sign of age. With a flash, it appeared a hundred meters away in an instant.

With a boom, the Demon Ape's punch shattered the remaining half of the stone mountain, its divine might shaking the wilderness. After missing, it did not linger. With one leap, it rose two hundred meters into the air, about to spread its wings and flee.

Though enraged, it knew it was no match for the old Suanni.

The Suanni's pair of golden pupils were incomparably cold. Clouds and mist surged around its body like a tidal wave, while golden lightning shot upward and struck the Demon Ape's back with a crack.

"Aoo roar..."

The Demon Ape roared, its entire body trembling. Blood sprayed more than ten feet high at once. Just as before, it suffered terribly beneath the Suanni clan's fearsome precious technique. A bloody hole pierced straight through its chest and back.

The supremely powerful Demon Ape immediately crashed down. Opening its blood-filled maw to reveal snow-white fangs, it charged with its lone arm, runes flickering all over its body as it prepared to unleash a powerful precious technique.

On the other side, the Li-Fire Bull Demon was crimson all over like fire, sleek as satin, and it too had gone berserk. Runes flickered across its body. It did not wish to truly fight the Suanni to the death either, and chose to break out and flee at the first opportunity.

Yet the Suanni was too terrifying. Two beams shot from the depths of its golden pupils, striking the Li-Fire Bull Demon's body amid peals of thunder. Its runes scattered, and horrifying bloody gashes appeared across its body.

"Moo..."

The thirty-meter-long crimson bull demon raged, flames soaring over its entire body as Li-Fire burned. It rose onto its hind legs, opened its enormous mouth, and spat out blazing rosy light, melting even the stone peaks into magma as it swept across all directions.

No one knew how many fierce birds and savage beasts were reduced to ashes by that strike, unable even to let out a cry.

The Suanni hissed, and the golden radiance around its body grew even more intense. Its brilliance dazzled the eye, turning the entire mountain range into a golden sea. Clouds and mist surged, blocking the Li-Fire.

Within the distant clouds, Little Dot muttered to himself, "The Suanni was playing dead. It wanted to eliminate its enemies, so it deliberately lured the Demon Ape and the Li-Fire Bull Demon here. It really is an intelligent race—smarter than many people."

Demonic roars, towering Li-Fire, clouds, mist, and lightning interwove as this place boiled over. Three ancient bloodline descendants battled, their clash shaking heaven and earth and startling the Great Wilderness.

Mysterious patterns intertwined across the bodies of the Suanni, the Li-Fire Bull Demon, and the Ape King, densely packed and blazing brightly like electric serpents dancing in the air. Powerful force churned, winds and clouds gathered, and precious techniques were about to emerge!

"Boom!"

Deafening crashes rang out one after another, like immortal thunderbolts falling from the ninth heavens. Rosy radiance soared skyward, clouds and mist spread, lightning and fire intertwined. The three great giants—the Suanni, Demon Ape, and Li-Fire Bull Demon—clashed head-on. The mountains split apart, as though the end of the world had arrived.

"Pfft!"

The Demon Ape was sent flying, falling out from the golden divine radiance that filled the mountains. Its body was covered in blood, and who knew how many bones had been broken, but it had finally escaped the Suanni's cloud-and-mist domain.

With a thud, it stomped the earth apart. Its demonic wings spread, whipping up a hurricane laden with towering black mist as it rushed toward the depths of the mountains.

The Demon Ape had not only lost an arm; even its organs had been shattered, and countless bones were broken. It needed to find a quiet place to hide and heal at once. Otherwise, if several old enemies found it, death would be certain.

"Moo..."

The Li-Fire Bull Demon cried out, its dull roar making the mountains tremble. Covered in blood, it struggled free. Flames dyed the sky red as it smashed through a mountain peak, stepped across magma, and fled toward the depths of the mountain range.

Only the Suanni remained at the scene,

Its golden fur dazzling as it raised its head and let out a long howl. Like a tornado crashing through the land, grass and thorns were ripped from the ground, giant trees snapped, rocks tumbled down, and chaos reigned everywhere. The Suanni's cold gaze swept over the surviving powerful creatures. With a low growl, they finally felt as though they had been pardoned. Wailing miserably, they rushed in every direction and vanished in the blink of an eye.

In truth, eighty percent of the fierce birds and savage beasts had died here. Especially during the clash between the Suanni, Li-Fire Bull Demon, and Ape King, the devastation had spread far and wide, and the beasts had suffered an undeserved calamity.

The mountain forest fell silent. The magma cooled, leaving only blood and carnage all over the ground. The old Suanni stood there alone, its enormous body like that of a god, shrouded in divine radiance.

It seemed somewhat desolate. The light in its eyes gradually dimmed, and a thread of blood spilled from its mouth, a shocking sight. At last, light erupted from its entire body. Cracks spread over it, and with a rumble, it collapsed onto the mountain ground.

"Ah, it died again. Is it real this time?" Little Dot widened his eyes from atop the Azure-Scaled Eagle's back. "It was too old in the end. Its life had reached its limit. What a pity—even after setting such a killing trap, it still failed to kill its enemies."

A gleam flashed in the Azure-Scaled Eagle's eyes. It dearly wished to swoop down, yet feared that the Suanni had not truly died. If that were the case, it would be nothing but courting death.

The mountain forest was utterly still. No one dared approach. All savage beasts and fierce birds had been frightened away by the Suanni, and none dared look back. No one knew how many miles away they had fled.

"Aunt Azure-Scaled Eagle, the Suanni should really be dead this time. Let's go take a look," Shi Hao whispered.

The wind howled, and green scales flashed through the clouds. How could this intelligent creature not understand? Yet it remained cautious and careful, circling for a while before diving down.

The mountains were a sea of crimson. Many pools were filled with blood, while chunks of flesh and broken white bones lay everywhere. The stench of blood assailed them.

"Ah, it really is dead." Little Dot and the Azure-Scaled Eagle came close and touched the Suanni. Its body was slowly growing cold, its life force already severed.

The Azure-Scaled Eagle was incomparably thrilled. It beat its iron wings hard, sending sand and stones flying. Soon, it fetched the Demon Ape's severed arm from afar. It too was an ancient bloodline descendant, containing peerless true blood.

Amid crunching sounds, Little Dot carried back the Li-Fire Bull Demon's severed horn, several meters long. He laughed without a care in the world, his large eyes nearly curving into crescents, because this too was a priceless beast treasure.

"Auntie, let's hurry and leave," Little Dot reminded her.

The Azure-Scaled Eagle was unusually excited. Unlike its usual fierce appearance, its eyes were half-closed now, nearly intoxicated.

"Ah, Auntie, what's wrong?" Little Dot cried out.

As the Azure-Scaled Eagle grabbed the Suanni's corpse and tried to flap its wings, it unexpectedly staggered and nearly fell to the ground.

"Ah, Auntie, you've been poisoned. You still haven't purged it completely." Shi Hao's big eyes were filled with worry.

In the battle not long ago, the Azure-Scaled Eagle had been bitten by the Purple-Gold Snake. Though it had decisively cut away a large chunk of flesh, it still had not completely stopped the poison from spreading.

Moreover, it had been ambushed by the Blood Marten and the fearsome Rat King that fed on metal. Its injuries were not light, weakening its body considerably and causing the poison to spread faster, making it difficult to contain.

"Auntie, let's hurry back to Stone Village and have Grandpa Chief detoxify you!" Little Shi Hao shouted anxiously.

The Azure-Scaled Eagle flapped its wings and tried once more to take flight. This time, it finally rose into the air while clutching the enormous Suanni, flying in the direction of Stone Village.

Along the way, it swayed several times and nearly fell from the sky. Its body grew weaker and weaker, and it was almost out of strength. Under normal circumstances, it could easily carry prey twice as heavy as this.

"Crack!"

As it flew past a stone cliff, its iron wing collided with a huge boulder, shattering a large stretch of cliff face, while it itself nearly plunged headfirst to the ground.

Little Dot said worriedly, "Auntie, if you can't manage it, let's leave the Suanni here first, or throw down this Li-Fire Bull horn. We can come back for them later."

The Azure-Scaled Eagle immediately stopped him sternly, making him sit on its back and hold tight to the several-meter-long crimson horn and the Demon Ape's arm, not allowing either to be dropped. Its own claws clutched the Suanni tightly as it swayed all the way, flying close above the mountain forest toward Stone Village.

At last, Stone Village drew near. Little Dot hugged the crimson horn and the Demon Ape's arm, his heart filled with happiness as he smiled brightly.

This time had been extremely dangerous, and they had nearly died several times, but they had truly brought back the Suanni's precious body. On top of that, they had gained the Li-Fire Bull's horn and the Ape King's arm. Their harvest was abundant.

"Grandpa Chief and the uncles have been hiding it from me, worrying over my baptism when I turn five. Actually, I already knew. But now it's all right. With three ancient bloodline descendants, there will definitely be enough true blood."

He was incomparably happy. His little face wore a satisfied smile, sweet and pure, especially radiant beneath the evening glow.