Arrancar Infighting? Zhu Mao Gets Beaten Down by Giant Fang!

By the time Lu Ming and Xiao Wu arrived, the other side of the valley was already a complete mess.

Several large trees as thick as bowls had been snapped in half, and deep footprints were scattered across the ground. Giant Fang's mountain-like body was confronting Zhu Mao...

Beneath the ferocious bone mask covering half his face, Giant Fang's single eye blazed with raging fury!

"Zhu Mao! You bastard! How dare you provoke me?"

Giant Fang's voice was filled with anger.

Compared to Giant Fang, Zhu Mao on the other side appeared much calmer...

He still wore that quiet, taciturn expression. However, the four black spider spears behind him had fully extended, glinting with a dangerous sheen as he assumed a combat stance.

Yet completely at odds with his calm demeanor was his chest! A clear fist mark was imprinted on it.

Clearly, Giant Fang had just struck him, and the injury was not light...

"What happened?"

Lu Ming frowned and asked in a low voice.

"Master!"

Feng Qie flashed over and appeared beside Lu Ming, a hint of helplessness on his face.

"I don't know what happened either. Giant Fang was practicing controlling his strength just now, and Zhu Mao suddenly provoked him..."

"And then... you saw the result."

Feng Qie spread his hands in confusion.

Feng Qie and Zhu Mao were on good terms, so he wouldn't be biased... In other words, Zhu Mao had provoked Giant Fang without warning?

Lu Ming's gaze swept over Zhu Mao and Giant Fang. After a moment's thought, he understood the full story.

Is this... a fight for status?

Before Giant Fang and Black Blade joined them, Zhu Mao had been the undisputed strongest fighter in the entire Arrancar team.

He was calm, efficient, and unmatched in assassination!

But now, things were different!

Giant Fang had been transformed from a two-thousand-five-hundred-year Black-Armored Troll. After becoming an Arrancar, his strength had surged to nearly eight thousand years.

Whether in strength, defense, or the depth of his soul power, he had steadily surpassed Zhu Mao!

Zhu Mao, meanwhile, had been transformed from a thousand-year Human-Faced Demon Spider. After becoming an Arrancar, his strength was roughly at the three-thousand-year level.

Before Giant Fang became an Arrancar, Zhu Mao could completely suppress the Black-Armored Troll.

But now that Giant Fang had also become an Arrancar and gained human intelligence and combat instincts, Zhu Mao's advantages had completely vanished...

Even with a sneak attack, Zhu Mao was no match for Giant Fang.

The fist mark on his chest was the best proof!

Zhu Mao felt the threat, so was he trying to defend his position this way?

Lu Ming pondered.

Giant Fang had originally been a vicious, battle-hungry Black-Armored Troll, his bones filled with brutality and a desire to conquer.

He had probably been holding in his anger ever since Zhu Mao toyed with him so badly in Blackwood Forest...

Now that his strength had increased dramatically after becoming an Arrancar, he naturally wanted to get even.

Zhu Mao's "provocation" had given him the perfect excuse to erupt!

As for Black Blade, the brains of the brother duo, he was currently leaning against a tree with his arms crossed. A faint, almost imperceptible smile hung on his handsome yet sinister face.

Faced with this conflict, he had no intention of stopping his brother...

Lu Ming could even tell that Black Blade was quite happy to see his older brother challenge Zhu Mao.

After all, they might have been "newcomers" in terms of time, but in terms of strength, they certainly were not!

If they could suppress the two "veterans," Zhu Mao and Feng Qie, from the start, then their status in the team would naturally rise as well...

Competition is a good thing.

Looking at the scene before him, Lu Ming did not feel much anger.

If a team was nothing but harmony, it could only mean it lacked vitality!

Healthy competition could promote the members' growth and draw out their potential.

What he wanted to build in the future was a massive Arrancar Legion! There could not possibly be no conflicts within it.

And he could not act like a nanny, mediating every single dispute.

What he needed to do was establish rules and authority... so that everyone understood who the team's sole master was!

However, this was not the time to let them fight freely. The team had just been formed, and its members were not yet settled. The rules had to be established first...

"Enough."

Lu Ming's voice clearly reached every person's ears.

Giant Fang, who had been about to attack again, suddenly froze.

He turned around and saw Lu Ming's calm gaze. The savage fury in his heart was like a fire doused with cold water, instantly extinguished by more than half.

It was a reverence that came from the depths of his soul! The absolute suppression of the "creator" over the "created"...

"Mas... Master..."

Giant Fang's imposing aura immediately withered...

On the other side, Zhu Mao silently retracted his spider spears and lowered his head.

"Who allowed you to fight among yourselves here?"

Lu Ming's tone did not change, but his stern expression revealed his current mood.

Xiao Wu stood to the side, barely daring to breathe. It was her first time seeing Lu Ming like this...

Lu Ming could be this serious?

Normally, he was always gentle and smiling, even somewhat carefree, like the boy next door.

But the aura he radiated now made her feel an inexplicable tremor in her heart.

Giant Fang and Zhu Mao both remained silent.

"What? Have you both gone mute?"

Lu Ming's gaze passed over them one by one.

"Giant Fang, you're quite capable, aren't you? You just got a new body, and you already want to lay hands on your companion?"

"I... I didn't..." Giant Fang hurriedly tried to explain. "Zhu Mao provoked me first!"

"He provoked you, so you struck him so heavily? You're still acting on the instincts of a soul beast!" Lu Ming retorted. "Have you forgotten my orders?"

"In this team, there is only one voice: mine!"

"There is only one set of rules: mine!"

"Any fight without my permission is a provocation against me!"

Lu Ming's voice suddenly rose.

"Thud!"

Giant Fang's knees buckled, and he dropped heavily to the ground.

His bone-masked face was filled with fear and panic.

"Master! I was wrong!"

Zhu Mao immediately dropped to one knee as well, burying his head deeply.

"Master, please punish me."

Even Black Blade, who had been watching from the side, had the smile on his face freeze.

Without the slightest hesitation, he followed them to his knees. He could sense that his master was dissatisfied with how little he had restrained his older brother, Giant Fang.

If he did not kneel as well, he felt that he might be implicated too...

Before Lu Ming's absolute authority, every Arrancar could only submit.

The three powerful Arrancar knelt neatly before Lu Ming, not daring even to raise their heads.

Xiao Wu watched the scene before her, utterly shaken...

Th-This was the authority he possessed as a "creator"?

"Remember, there will be no next time!"

Lu Ming coldly left those words behind before turning and walking away.

The spiritual pressure that had blanketed the valley also vanished with him...