Xiong Meng had vanished before Wutian entered the Primordial World. He had not been hiding, but... fine, he had been hiding. Now, however, he no longer needed to, because Wutian had gone into seclusion.
Damn it, I might not be able to beat Wutian, but surely I can beat the lackeys running his errands!
The time has come for me, Divine Lord Xiong Meng, to win glory for the Heavenly Emperor and make my name resound throughout the Primordial World!
Clang! Xiong Meng immediately swung his arms in excitement, crashing the two great golden gongs in his paws together again. A ringing peal echoed through heaven and earth.
Boom! Black Robe instantly flew backward as though something had slammed into him.
While hurtling backward, he circulated his magic power to steady himself in midair, then sprang forward and swung his Demon Staff at Xiong Meng. Whoosh! A streak of demon light shot toward Xiong Meng.
"Hmph!" Xiong Meng snorted at the incoming demon light, utterly unafraid. He raised his left paw, flecks of golden light flashing in his palm as a banner roughly twenty feet across appeared. At the same time, hundreds of golden lotuses materialized around him.
The Replica Apricot-Yellow Banner of Wu and Ji.
Bang! The demon light struck the golden lotuses surrounding Xiong Meng, causing a tremendous explosion. Dozens of lotuses vanished in an instant, and a vast cloud of filthy smoke spread out, concealing him within it.
Meanwhile, above Beiping City, Xiong Zhan finished gathering the power he had been accumulating since Black Robe first appeared. Swinging both paws, he thrust a massive blue sphere of light toward Black Robe.
Black Robe shifted his gaze away from Xiong Meng to the sphere hurtling toward him. He leaped upward and successfully dodged it, but the sphere seemed