Between Ice and Fire

Chapter 50: A Storm Was Coming-Have Some Soup First!

Waves of fire surged into the sky.

At the center of the Deadwood Forest, the air warped completely from the heat. The ground had become a crimson pool of lava, belching thick black smoke.

Sss, sss, sss.

Shi Hou held his lunging stance, bracing the wok, his feet sunk half a foot into the lava.

The black wok glowed like a branding iron. Its bottom was frighteningly hot; an ordinary weapon would have melted into a puddle of molten metal long ago.

"Mooo-!"

The Li Fire Bull Demon pressed both forehooves hard against the wok. Golden flames gushed from its broken horn like a high-pressure flamethrower, blasting madly at Shi Hou's face.

Brutality nearly spilled from its eyes.

This was its domain.

No matter how strong this human was, it would roast him alive!

"Huff... huff..."

Shi Hou was drenched in sweat. Each bead evaporated the instant it emerged from his pores, forming a white shroud of steam around him.

Damn, that's hot.

Even with the blood vitality of 1.2 million jin of strength protecting him, the burning sensation traveled straight through the wok handle into his marrow.

Shi Hou grinned, baring stark white teeth, and smiled at the bull's face mere inches away.

"Big red bull, that heat of yours... is barely enough to light your grandpa's cigarette."

Mockery dialed all the way up.

The Li Fire Bull Demon flew into a rage. Two thick pillars of fire erupted from its nostrils, its muscles bulging as it tried to topple this hateful, dark-skinned bug.

At the exact instant its old strength was spent and its new strength had yet to rise-

"Little One! Serve it up!"

Shi Hou roared. His arm muscles suddenly swelled, forcing the wok forward another half inch against the bull.

Locked down!

The bull demon stalled.

"Coming right up!"

A young yet icy voice abruptly sounded above the bull's head.

Shi Hao hung upside down from a dead branch overhead.

He held the Stone Jar, which billowed eerie white vapor.

Whoosh-

The Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Pool Water poured down over its head.

It landed precisely on the Li Fire Bull Demon's broken horn wound, glowing red-hot and still spouting flames!

Time seemed to stand still for an instant.

Extreme heat met extreme cold.

Crk... crack...

A string of fine, brittle cracks sounded.

Then-

Boom!!

A muffled explosion burst atop the bull's head.

White steam mixed with bloody mist, forming a small mushroom cloud.

The Li Fire Bull Demon's crimson skull was as hard as divine iron, something even precious artifacts could barely scratch. After expanding under extreme heat, it suddenly contracted under extreme cold. The laws of physics taught it how to behave.

Its skull exploded.

"Aaargh-!!!"

Its agonized scream pierced the clouds.

The bull demon's massive body convulsed violently, all four hooves flailing. Its once-terrifying field of heat instantly fell into chaos.

Perfect opening!

A vicious gleam flashed in Shi Hou's eyes.

Beating a drowning dog was a required course for any chef.

He abruptly released the pressure and sidestepped.

Off balance, the bull demon stumbled and pitched forward.

Shi Hou seized the wok in one smooth motion and spun a full three hundred and sixty degrees like a top.

Borrow the momentum. Swing it full circle.

"Lie down!"

Clang!!

The black wok slammed into the bull demon's front kneecap.

Shi Hou had used finesse in this blow.

A toss.

Just like tossing food in a wok-four ounces moving a thousand pounds.

With a crisp snap of breaking bone, the massive Li Fire Bull Demon was flipped clean over by the wok, belly upward, and crashed heavily into the lava.

Before the bull demon could struggle upright, a dark figure furtively poked its head out from behind a rock to the side.

Kang.

It had been spectating from the sidelines all along. Seeing a chance to beat a drowning dog, its nasty streak instantly took over.

"Oink!"

It drew a deep breath and aimed its pig snout at the bull demon's completely exposed nether regions.

Pfft, pfft, pfft!

A three-shot burst.

Three highly concentrated blue paralysis pellets struck the softest white flesh of the bull demon's abdomen with perfect accuracy.

Just as it tried to roll over, the bull demon froze, all four legs stretched rigid.

It could only immobilize the beast for an instant.

But to an expert, an instant meant life or death.

"Little One, chopping duty!"

Shi Hou roared, pinning the bull's head down with all his strength.

"Got it!"

Riding the momentum of his fall, Shi Hao descended from the air, golden runes spinning madly within his eyes.

He pressed his palms together and raised them high over his head.

Rolling thunder poured forth without restraint.

Suanni Precious Technique-Thunderous Force!

Shi Hao compressed all the lightning into a single point at his fingertips, forming a three-foot golden lightning blade.

"Slash!"

Golden light flashed and vanished.

It plunged without resistance into the fissure blasted open atop the bull demon's head.

Then it conducted straight down the spine.

Sss, sss, sss...

The Li Fire Bull Demon, which had still been struggling, went rigid, its eyes bulging from their sockets.

The smell of scorched flesh spread.

Two breaths later.

The bull's eyes rapidly dimmed. Its immense body went limp and finally lay motionless.

Only its broken horn still bubbled with blood.

Their coordination had been seamless, flowing like clouds and water.

Water to break its defenses, a wok to knock it down, a boar to hold it in place, and finally a lightning blade to finish it off.

That combination would have brought even a Primordial Remnant in its prime to a bitter end, let alone a half-crippled bull.

"Whew..."

Shi Hou plopped down on the ground, panting heavily.

The black wok lay discarded beside him, slowly cooling as bluish smoke rose from it.

His hands were bright red, the webs between his thumbs and forefingers split open-the injuries left from taking the bull demon's charge head-on.

"Skinny Monkey, is it cooked?"

Shi Hao jumped down from the bull's head. His beast-hide clothes were blackened with soot, but his little face remained clean and fair, his eyes fixed unwaveringly on the bull demon's corpse.

"Needs a little more heat."

Shi Hou shook out his hands, took out a handful of healing pills he had swiped from the Purple Mountain Marquis Estate, and stuffed them into his mouth like beans, chewing them up.

"But this bull brain..."

Shi Hou stood and walked over to the bull's head. Looking at the brains the lightning had half-cooked, he swallowed.

"This stuff nourishes the brain. Just what you and the little pig need."

Without standing on ceremony, he reached straight inside and pulled out a steaming clump of golden-red crystal.

It was the True Blood Treasure Crystal-the concentrated essence of the Li Fire Bull Demon's entire body.

There was also a fist-sized heart, crimson as a diamond.

"All the medicinal catalysts are here."

Shi Hou tossed the heart into the black wok, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.

"Job done. Back to the village!"

This outing had not only settled their grudge but also yielded top-grade ingredients from two Primordial Remnants. They had made an absolute killing.

However.

Just as he turned to call the Green-Scaled Eagle-

"Oink... oink!!!"

Kang, which had been lying behind the rock playing dead and had barely stirred even during the bull demon's charge, suddenly went berserk.

It sprang off the ground, every black bristle standing on end.

Its tiny, bean-sized eyes widened into circles, staring fixedly into the deepest reaches of the Great Wilderness.

Its body began trembling violently. Its four short legs shook uncontrollably, its two enormous floppy ears flattened tightly against the back of its head, and shrill, agonized squeals escaped its mouth.

It was an instinctive reaction born of utter terror.

"What's happening?"

Shi Hao's hand stopped halfway through stuffing bull tendons into his clothes. His little face turned solemn in an instant.

He felt it too.

A pressure that made even the soul tremble.

As though an invisible, sky-supporting hand were slowly pressing toward them from the heavens deep within the Great Wilderness.

The wind stopped.

The insects that had been chirping tirelessly fell silent in an instant.

The mountain forests for a hundred miles around sank into deathly stillness.

"Look up."

Shi Hou raised his head, his voice hoarse.

Far away.

In the skies above the deepest reaches of the Great Wilderness.

The once-azure sky suddenly split open.

It was a staff.

A golden iron staff, so thick it could pierce the firmament, wreathed in chaotic energy, emerged from the clouds and smashed brutally into the earth.

Boom-!!!

Even across untold tens of thousands of miles.

That heaven-destroying, earth-annihilating shock wave still reached them.

On the horizon, mountains collapsed like toy blocks. Dust surged tens of thousands of feet into the air, blotting out the sky and sun.