Oh? You Want to Tear Down My Home? (Part One)

"You old bastard! Even if you run all the way to the sea, you're dead today!" Ye Chen stood atop the Wood Dragon's head.

Spiritual energy surged through him.

Funny enough, the Wood Dragon couldn't fly...

It could only run on four legs. Still, it was much better than that lumbering Wooden Human!

Ye Chen made a mental note to find a way to make the Wood Dragon fly.

"If I stop running, I'll die even faster! I'm old, not stupid!"

Dong Shizhang pushed his spiritual energy to its limit too. The Westwind Lion King's cave was just ahead.

Dong Shizhang was overjoyed. He could almost see the Lion King tearing Ye Chen to pieces.

"Give up! What good will reaching the sea do you? Do you have enough spiritual energy left to control another wave hundreds of meters high?!"

"Heh. Listen, boy. Turn back to Zanghai City now, and you might still save your life!"

As Dong Shizhang drew closer to the Westwind Lion King's cave, he grew bolder.

Ye Chen smiled. Just wait till I catch you, you bastard. I'll have the Wooden Human kick you a hundred times.

One slap from the Wooden Human had left Nine-Tails dazed.

A hundred kicks would finish this bastard off.

Then Dong Shizhang's eyes lit up. The Westwind Lion King's cave had come into view.

Watching from high above, the Westwind Lion King suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Is that... my home?"

He muttered to himself, then took a closer look.

"No, that is my home?!"

Without another word, Dong Shizhang ran to the cave and dropped to one knee.

"Dong Shizhang begs the Westwind Lion King to save me!"

Ye Chen brought the Wood Dragon to a halt and watched Dong Shizhang warily.

The Westwind Lion King? Didn't Dong Shizhang say the Lion King was in the Bright Moon Realm?!

Ye Chen went pale. I'm done for...

I've really done it this time. I've barely started out, and I've already provoked a Bright Moon Realm powerhouse? That's suicide!

High above, the Westwind Lion King was dumbfounded. He'd been enjoying the show, and now he was part of it?

At least the kid hadn't trampled his cave.

Losing a home wouldn't be so bad. The real problem was the enormous wind-element Spirit Stone inside...

Spirit Stones were expensive enough. An elemental Spirit Stone? One that size?

If it got buried, finding it again would be a nightmare.

The more the Lion King looked at Ye Chen, the more he liked him.

Several breaths passed. The silence grew painfully awkward.

Ye Chen looked puzzled. Where was this Lion King?

"Old bastard, looks like the Lion King isn't home today. You're dead!"

Dong Shizhang's expression changed. "I'm warning you, this is the Lion King's home! Destroy it, and you're dead!"

"Tsk, tsk. I'll kill you, leave your body at his doorstep, and who'll know I tore down the Lion King's home? With my Awakening Realm strength?!" Ye Chen grinned wickedly.

He was about to strike.

"Lion King?!" Dong Shizhang, whose face had gone deathly pale, suddenly brightened.

Ye Chen laughed. "Do you think I'm three? You say 'Lion King,' and I'm supposed to believe you?"

Dong Shizhang gave Ye Chen an odd look. "I mean it... He's right behind you..."

"Behind me? The Wooden Human's behind me." Ye Chen reached back as he spoke.

His hand touched something furry.

Ye Chen froze. Slowly, he turned and looked at the three-meter-tall, humanoid lion behind him.

He swallowed. "Lion King... Good afternoon. Have you eaten?"

The Westwind Lion King's face darkened. "I hear you want to tear down my home?"

Ye Chen nearly burst into tears.

"Of course not! I'd never dare, even if I had ten times the nerve..."

Dong Shizhang roared with laughter. "You little brat, you're dead! Lion King, kill him!"

Ye Chen couldn't get a word out. The aura rolling off the Lion King was terrifying.

He felt that if the Westwind Lion King wanted him dead, he wouldn't even need to lift a finger.

Looks like this is where it ends, Ye Chen thought with a bitter smile.

But the next moment, the Lion King's words stunned both him and Dong Shizhang.

"Why would I kill him?" The Westwind Lion King stroked his chin with one huge hand.

He seemed to be considering whether he had a reason to kill Ye Chen.

Ye Chen's eyes lit up. There might still be a way out.

"Because he wants to tear down your home!" Dong Shizhang shouted.

The Westwind Lion King glared at him. "But he hasn't, has he? Besides, weren't you the one who led him here?!"

"And how many times have you wrecked my home? Whenever you can't win a fight, you send a wave crashing into it! By that logic, shouldn't I kill you ten times over?!"

Ye Chen blinked innocently, looking from the Lion King to Dong Shizhang.

"Love and hate, all tangled up..." Ye Chen murmured.

The Westwind Lion King's face darkened. "Now I have a reason."

Ye Chen clapped a hand over his mouth and shook his head furiously.

"That wasn't me!"

I really need to stop running my mouth...

The Westwind Lion King ignored Ye Chen and turned to Dong Shizhang.

"The Human Race may not be overwhelmingly strong, but it isn't weak either."

"If I kill this kid for you, the Human Race will mark me for death."

"I've held the Lianhai Mountains for years and stayed alive because I don't go looking for trouble."

Dong Shizhang suddenly said, "But you roared today, and countless people in Zanghai City were killed or injured..."

The Westwind Lion King froze. "That's because you provoked me, you old bastard!!!"

"Oh no, oh no. Now I'm in trouble. All I did was let out one roar... The Human Race's Sages and Demigods are going to kill me..."

Ye Chen narrowed his eyes, murderous intent rising within him. So that lion's roar really did come from you.

He kept it hidden.

After all, he couldn't beat the Lion King right now...

"Dong Shizhang! You bastard! I'll kill you!" The Westwind Lion King's eyes turned razor-sharp.

Wind shrieked past Ye Chen's ears.

A scream rang out.

"The Beast God... Cult... won't let you get away with this..."

"You talk too much!"

The Westwind Lion King's massive claw pierced Dong Shizhang's heart like a blade.

Ye Chen watched in alarm. The fight had ended in an instant.

He kept his wary gaze on the Westwind Lion King.

Then, to Ye Chen's astonishment, the Westwind Lion King carried Dong Shizhang's body over to him.

"Kid, this was all a misunderstanding. When you get back, put in a good word for me, will you?"

"I really didn't mean to let out that roar. This fellow egged me on. I've killed him now, so take him back and report it. Ask your superiors to spare me, all right?"

The Westwind Lion King still remembered standing at the edge of a cliff in the Lianhai Mountains when he was young.

A voice had called out, "No-Self!"

The heavens shook, the earth split, and an Octopus in the Bright Moon Realm was killed instantly.

The man had even looked back at him and said he was too weak to be worth fighting.