The golden light faded away.
The Suanni lay stretched out like a mountain, utterly motionless.
Its final breath stirred the dust on the ground. Then its chest sank and never rose again.
The terrifying pressure surrounding it withdrew in an instant, as cleanly as the sea at ebb tide.
Was it dead?
Within the beast tide, the red-eyed Fierce Beasts still hesitated.
But the birds of prey overhead could no longer hold back.
"Screee!"
Several Iron-Winged Birds that had been circling for a long time dove first, streaking like bolts of black lightning straight toward the golden corpse.
With someone taking the lead, chaos erupted on the ground.
Roars shook the heavens. Countless Fierce Beasts broke into a mad sprint, the earth rumbling beneath them as dust billowed.
The Green-Scaled Eagle's blue-green scales suddenly bristled.
She beat her wings, enormous currents forming beneath them, ready to join the frenzy for the corpse.
Smack.
A pitch-black hand pressed down on her slender neck.
The force was immense.
It forcibly crushed the momentum the Green-Scaled Eagle had just gathered.
"Don't move."
Shi Hou's voice was low, betraying no emotion.
The Green-Scaled Eagle turned her head in confusion, her golden eyes full of questions.
That was a primordial remnant!
It was the greatest bounty in the Great Wilderness!
If they were late, the other beasts would chew even its bone fragments to pieces.
Shi Hao did not understand either.
He lay beside Shi Hou, his little hands gripping the rim of the black wok, his small face flushed with anxiety. "Skinny Monkey, if we don't grab it now, there'll be nothing left! Those Iron-Winged Birds are about to land on the lion's head!"
"Grab it, my ass."
Shi Hou paid no attention to the crazed beasts.
He stared at the distant golden corpse as though looking at a piece of meat on a chopping board.
"It's not dead."
Shi Hao froze, blinking his large eyes. "But it's stopped breathing, and the light's gone."
"That's a performance for fools."
Shi Hou patted the eagle's back beneath him, signaling for her to retreat.
"I'm a cook."
Shi Hou pointed at his own nose, then at the distant Suanni.
"When it comes to living flesh and dead meat, I know what I'm talking about."
"With truly dead meat, its essence, energy, and spirit disperse. The flesh relaxes, the pores open. That's a release."
"But this old lion..."
Shi Hou gave a cold laugh, his lips spreading to reveal white teeth.
"Its skin is stretched too tight."
"It's like a pressure cooker with all the heat sealed inside. It looks like it's stopped steaming, but inside, it's still boiling away."
"If anyone dares lift the lid now..."
Shi Hou gestured an explosion with his hands.
"The whole thing will blow."
Shi Hao only half understood.
But as he looked at Shi Hou's gleaming black face and utter certainty, the agitation in his heart somehow settled.
Skinny Monkey might be unreliable sometimes, but he had never been wrong about food.
"Auntie, listen to Skinny Monkey."
Shi Hao patted the Green-Scaled Eagle.
"Fall back."
Shi Hou added, "Farther back. Preferably behind that cliff."
Although the Green-Scaled Eagle still coveted the corpse, her trust in these two human children made her reluctantly fold her wings.
Rather than take flight, she skimmed silently along the ground, slipping behind a broken cliff two thousand meters away.
They had only just concealed themselves.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
The ground began to jump rhythmically.
It was not the chaotic trembling of a running beast tide.
Something incredibly heavy was walking.
Each step felt as though it landed on their hearts.
The distant beast tide suddenly fell into disorder.
The Fierce Beasts at the front seemed to slam into an invisible wall. They let out terrified, mournful cries and desperately tried to retreat.
But the beasts behind them were still pushing forward.
A stampede erupted instantly.
"Roar!"
A savage bellow shattered the clouds filling the sky.
Black mist surged.
A black demonic ape taller than a mountain strode out of the depths of the Great Wilderness, wielding a thick black iron staff.
It was enormous.
A single stride carried it hundreds of meters.
Wherever it passed, Pixiu and vicious wolves that normally ruled their territories were crushed into pulp beneath its huge feet.
"That's... a Demon Ape!"
Shi Hao covered his mouth, his large eyes filled with shock.
He had heard the old chief speak of such a monster. It was a true pure-blooded descendant, capable of leveling mountains in its fury.
And that was not all.
In another direction, flames shot into the sky.
A dry riverbed filled with lava in an instant.
A crimson demonic bull, wreathed in blazing flames, came treading through fire.
It had only one leg. It was a mutated offshoot of the One-Legged Kui Ox's bloodline-a Li Fire Bull Demon.
Every time it hopped, the surrounding air ignited.
Two true overlords.
They ignored the tens of thousands of beasts around them, their gazes fixed on the dead Suanni amid the rubble.
"Scram!"
The Demon Ape spoke in a human tongue, sweeping its black iron staff sideways.
Splat, splat, splat.
Hundreds of Fierce Beasts unable to dodge were swatted like flies, exploding directly into clouds of blood.
The Li Fire Bull Demon was even more ruthless.
It opened its mouth and spewed crimson lava like a waterfall, clearing a vast area in an instant. Even the rocks burned into glassy liquid.
The two great monsters faced off before the Suanni's corpse.
Neither made the first move to seize it.
They watched each other warily, probing for weaknesses.
"Fight! Fight!"
Shi Hou lay behind the cliff, exposing only half his black head as he muttered like a man possessed.
Boom!
The Demon Ape moved first.
Its black iron staff smashed down toward the Li Fire Bull Demon's head with crushing force.
The bull demon roared, pushed off with its single leg, and became a streak of fire, slamming toward the demonic ape's chest.
The two overlords fought as though heaven were collapsing and earth were splitting.
The shock waves spilling from their battle sheared the tops off several nearby hills.
Countless Fierce Beasts caught too close suffered disaster. They could not even escape before their internal organs were shattered.
"So strong..."
Shi Hao watched, dazzled and enthralled.
For him as he was now, a battle at this level was like watching a myth unfold.
Just as the two overlords became locked in a fierce struggle, both already wounded.
They seemed to reach an unspoken agreement.
Divide the corpse first, then settle the fight.
The Demon Ape reached out its huge, hairy hand toward the Suanni's head.
Not to be outdone, the Li Fire Bull Demon opened its mouth to bite the Suanni's belly.
At that very instant.
The Suanni, which had been feigning death all along, suddenly opened its tightly shut eyes.
Two golden suns.
"Roar!"
Its bellow rang louder than ever before.
The once-dim golden corpse suddenly erupted with light that put even the sun to shame.
Countless thick bolts of golden lightning poured from every pore of the Suanni's body.
This was its final strike, gathering a lifetime's essence, energy, and spirit.
It was also the certain-death trap it had laid.
They were too close.
The Demon Ape and the Li Fire Bull Demon did not even have time to react.
Rumble!
A golden sea of lightning swallowed everything in an instant.
The Demon Ape's outstretched arm was severed immediately, and the black iron staff flew from its grip.
The Li Fire Bull Demon let out a piercing scream. Half its body was blasted apart by lightning, its crimson flames crushed and extinguished by the golden light.
But that was only the beginning.
Terrifying thunderbolts spread indiscriminately in every direction, with the Suanni at their center.
It was a storm that could annihilate the world.
The beast tide that had gathered around to snatch the scraps never even had time to scream.
Wherever the golden light passed, everything turned to ash.
Behind the cliff.
The Green-Scaled Eagle buried her head beneath her wings, her entire body shaking like chaff in a sieve.
Shi Hao's mouth hung open as he stared blankly at the scene of heaven and earth being destroyed.
If just now...
If they had charged in just now...
There probably would not even be ashes left to find.
He turned his head to look at Shi Hou beside him.
Shi Hou calmly took the black wok off his back and held it over his head, blocking several flying pieces of rubble.
"See?"
Shi Hou shrugged, his tone flat.
"I told you it was undercooked."
"Now that's enough heat to cook it through."
Before you continue