At the same time that the young man crushed the jade slip….

　　Not too far away in the same mountain chain were two peaks that seemed to wish to climb up into the highest heights of the clouds. They towered over the earth, looking out in all directions, two powerful magical warriors the sight of which would send shock into anyone’s heart.

　　Every day at noon, when the sunlight was densest, these two mountains would shine with a silver light. This light was the type that could split Heaven and Earth. It circulated around in the area, sending off powerful ripples.

　　This was none other than the home of the Crow Soldier Tribe!

　　On the second peak of the Crow Soldier Tribe was a limestone crag upon which sat seven or eight members of the Crow Soldier Tribe, all smiling respectfully. Sitting in their midst was a middle-aged man who joked and laughed with the surrounding Tribe members.

　　He wore a black robe, and was clearly beyond ordinary. His eyes contained the stars, and if you looked at them long enough, you could sense a certain sharpness. All of it made him like the sun; without even trying, he became the center of attention.

　　“… and that is just a fundamental quality of the magic of Dragoneers,” said the man coolly. “If you want your Dao of Dragoneering to live forever, and wish to experience progress, then the only option is to look for the answer within your own flesh and blood and bones. That is where you will find the path you must tread.” He wore a smile on his face, although there was no kindness in it; rather, he emanated a lofty and proud air. If you looked closely, however, you would be able see a bit of an emotional sigh contained within them.

　　The people surrounding him were for the most part outstanding members of the Tribe. All had Cultivation bases at the Core Formation stage; each and every one wore thoughtful expressions.

　　“Grandmaster Gu, you truly deserve to be a rank 7 Dragoneer. Although we’ve never heard anything like this before, after some thought, it really makes sense!”

　　“That’s right! Grandmaster Gu, it seems you’ve truly found your own path as a Dragoneer. You have limitless future potential. I think that in all of the five Tribes of the Crow Divinity, to find someone who could match you in terms of secret Dragoneer arts would be as difficult as finding phoenix feathers or qilin horns.”

　　The proud, middle-aged man engaging in the lively discussion was none other than Gu La, with whom Meng Hao had lost contact during the teleportation to this region. At that time, Meng Hao had rendered Gu La unconscious during his meeting with the other Nascent Soul eccentrics regarding the five Tribes of the Crow Divinity. Therefore, Gu La was completely unaware of any of those matters. All he knew was that when he woke up, he was back in the Western Desert.

　　Most importantly, there was no sign of that terrifying, inhuman person who plagued him with fear during the day and roamed in his nightmares at night. At first, Gu La had stared in shock. Then he had searched around, filled with disbelief. However, the only thing he had found was the unconscious Wild Giant.

　　After repeated searches of the area without finding Meng Hao, his body had begun to tremble, and finally, he lifted his head up and let out a roar.

　　He had thought about all the torment and maltreatment he had endured in the past. He thought about how many times his flesh and blood had been studied. All of it caused tears to stream down Gu La’s face as he roared.

　　These were the tears of happiness seen on the face of someone who survived a great disaster. Strangely, he also found that for some reason, his skills in the Dragoneer arts had increased, and he was now rank 7.

　　In his belief, everything that he had endured had moved the Heavens. Finally, a conscience had appeared in that inhuman being, and the man had decided to let him go. Therefore, he left the mountains with the Wild Giant. Soon, he experienced a vast change in situation as he became a famous Dragoneer of the Crow Soldier Tribe.

　　As the surrounding Crow Soldier Tribe members continued to speak, Gu La laughed proudly and was about to continue speaking when suddenly his expression flickered. He slapped his bag of holding to produce a jade slip. The instant it appeared, cracking sounds could be heard. Everyone’s gaze came to focus on the jade slip as it collapsed into pieces.

　　“Oh?” said Gu La, a cold light shining within his eyes. His voice cool, he continued, “That would be one of my three apprentices. It looks like one of them has run into some trouble on the outside.” He waved his right hand, causing the remnants of the jade slip to transform into fragments. The resulting powder began to glow, and then turned into a faintly discernible image. Within, Big Hairy could be seen charging forward, emanating the elegant bearing of a Wolf King.

　　Seeing the image, the eyes of all the surrounding Crow Soldier Tribe members immediately went wide, as did Gu La’s. He stared fixedly at Big Hairy, then began to laugh loudly.

　　“It seems my Third apprentice really is ingenious. He truly is an outstanding member of the Crow Soldier Tribe. He’s even gone and found a Wolf King for me. Excellent, excellent!” Continuing to laugh, Gu La shot up into the air, followed by the chuckling Crow Soldier Tribe members.

　　“Congratulations, Grandmaster Gu! It looks like you’ve acquired another neo-demon Wolf King!”

　　“However, that particular Wolf King looks like a Greenwood Wolf. Could it possibly have something to do with the Crow Scout Tribe?”

　　“Even if it does, who cares? If Grandmaster Gu takes a fancy to something, even Mo Zi from the Crow Scout Tribe could do nothing but bow his head.”

　　Amidst the chatter and laughter surrounding him, Gu La laughed loudly and tilted his head up with an expression of pride.

　　“I, Gu La, will not blithely take a beast away from someone without paying. Whoever the master of that Wolf King is, I will obviously offer some compensation. In fact, if he’s talented enough, then I might even accept that person as an apprentice.” With that, Gu La, flicked his sleeve and shot off into the air.

　　The surrounding Crow Soldier Tribe members’ faces filled with admiration as they clustered around Gu La and flew away with him in the direction indicated by the jade slip. All of them transformed into prismatic beams that shot off into the distance.

　　Meanwhile, back in the thick mountain forest, even as Meng Hao strode forward, and the White Wolf made its grand entrance, the young man from the Crow Soldier Tribe crushed the jade slip and then ripped open the front of his garment. Immediately, a black stone could be seen hanging around his neck. He grabbed it and threw it out in front of him.

　　“I summon Demon Doyen Flood Dragon!” cried the youth, his eyes filled with madness. At the same time, he bit down on the tip of his tongue, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Simultaneously, his fellow Tribe members next to him also spit up some blood. The blood from the three people was sucked into the black stone, which then exploded, transforming into ripples that spread out in all directions, along with a Heaven-shaking roar.

　　Within the roar, a Flood Dragon emerged. Its body was several dozen meters long, and its appearance caused everything in the surrounding mountainous forest to shake. A massive pressure rolled out, pushing down onto everything.

　　This particular dragon was actually not complete; portions of it were in a state of decay. In fact, bones were visible in quite a few areas. A rotten stench emanated out as it appeared, filling the area.

　　“Demon Doyen, exterminate these things!” The young man’s eyes radiated madness. This Flood Dragon was a life-saving neo-demon gifted to him by his master. It was not level 6, but rather level 7. It was incredibly powerful, and in the eyes of the young man, once this Demon Doyen appeared, he should be able to finish the battle before his Master arrived.

　　“That’s… level 7!”

　　“He actually has a level 7 neo-demon! Impossible!!”

　　The faces of the surrounding Crow Scout Tribe members immediately flickered, filling with disbelief. Even Mo Fang from the Crow Scout Tribe didn’t have a level 7 neo-demon. Such creatures were very difficult to control.

　　“My Master is Grandmaster Gu La. To him, nothing is impossible!” The young man laughed uproariously as the Flood Dragon roared and shot toward Big Hairy.

　　Meng Hao strode through the forest, using his Spiritual Sense to observe what was happening. Seeing everything happening, a strange expression appeared on his face. As soon as the rotting Zombie Wolf had appeared, Meng Hao was astonished at how different Gu La’s neo-demons were from everyone else’s.

　　Then the Flood Dragon appeared. Meng Hao recognized it instantly. It was, in fact, a Flood Dragon that he himself had killed and then given to Gu La as food for the Wild Giant.

　　Even as Meng Hao scanned the area with Spiritual Sense, Big Hairy let out a growling roar. His body flickered and he transformed into a white blur that shot toward the Flood Dragon. At the same time, the surrounding Greenwood Wolves instantly fell upon the putrefying Zombie Wolves, and a vicious, deadly battle erupted.

　　Booms rang out, accompanied by howls and roars as the Greenwood Wolves tangled with the Zombie Wolves. At the same time, Big Hairy and the Flood Dragon fought back and forth fiercely. Because of Big Hairy’s fierceness and incredibly high life force, it didn’t matter that the Flood Dragon was level 7. It couldn’t do anything to even scratch Big Hairy.

　　In fact, it continued to retreat, until finally Big Hairy had had enough. He let out a tremendous roar, and began to shake. In the blink of an eye, his body expanded to a size of over thirty meters. He looked like a small, white mountain. His aura emanated up endlessly so that in an instant, he suddenly exerted tremendous pressure down onto the Flood Dragon.

　　Big Hairy’s aura spread out in all directions, giving rise to a white-colored tempest that rose up to the Heavens. Accompanied by an Earth-shaking roar, Big Hairy charged toward the Flood Dragon, slamming into it and causing it to let out a miserable shriek. Its already damaged body began to collapse and fly about in all directions. Big Hairy’s jaws latched onto the Flood Dragon’s head, and he ripped it off with a howl.

　　Squeals filled the air as the Greenwood Wolves attacked relentlessly. It took only a moment for all of the rotting Zombie Wolves to be torn to pieces.

　　The Crow Scout Tribe members spirits were instantly lifted; Wu Chen clenched his fists, his face filled with excitement.

　　On the other hand, the face of young man from the Crow Soldier Tribe, as well as the faces of his two companions, instantly went deathly pale. Without thinking about it, they backed up, breathing heavily. Complete disbelief filled the eyes of Grandmaster Gu La’s Third apprentice.

　　“That’s… a level 8… level 8 Wolf King!”

　　It was at this exact moment, that a black streak of light appeared from off to the side. It shot toward Big Hairy, and then transformed into the shocking Black Bat, as well as a large group of other Greenwood Bats.

　　A horde of Greenwood Snakes also appeared, hissing loudly as they emerged from the forest.

　　“That’s… that’s a Bat King!!” said the young man, his face filled with dread as he continued to back up. How could he ever have imagined that he would manage to provoke such a horde of neo-demons?

　　“It doesn’t matter if there are two neo-demon Kings! You’ve run into me today, so now your lives belongs to me!” said the young man through clenched teeth. His eyes filled with venomous hatred as he slapped his bag of holding to produce a chunk of black-colored meat.

　　As soon as the meat appeared, a shocking sound rumbled out from the surrounding forest. It was a roar that sounded as if it could shred the Heavens.

　　“Meat….”

　　—–

　　This chapter was sponsored by Alan Tam