Bukadaban Peak.
Also known as the Syn Qing Feng, the peak stands 6800 meters above sea level at the northern edge of Mount Kunlun, and constantly covered in snow.
Because of the climate, there were many glaciers around the peak and lakes that formed from melted snow, some of which were steaming—a unique hot springs of the highlands.
Once, many wild animals that faced extinction lived here and it had been a national natural preservation, but it was now a forbidden zone.
The many wild creatures that the government once protected had all evolved into horrifying Ferals, the most frightening of which was the Feral Emperor that lived atop Bukadaban Peak—the Golden Winged Roc!
The most powerful Feral Eagle in the world, and one of the rare few Feral Emperors in this world!
It was said that a colossal golden eagle was once spotted on Bukadaban Peak before the Revival of Qi, and it was suspected that the Golden Wing Roc had already mutated even before the Revival of Qi.
And it was not impossible!
For example, prehistoric species such as Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor, the sovereign of the Pacific had lived for an untold number of centuries. It had already been starting storms hundreds of years ago, but was worshipped as a deity by the ignorant islanders.
And then there was the other sovereign of skull island at the Pacific. Another federation nation had already discovered its presence in the 1930s, with an entire army boarding the island with the intent to kill it, only to be wiped out entirely.
Now, on the silent Bukadaban Peak, a roar suddenly resounded as a gigantic golden eagle with a wingspan of 150 meters flew out of the mountain, circling the skies as it screeched in fury, and its voice was so sharp that the soundwaves alone split steel and rock.
The snow atop the mountain shook from the soundwaves, and soon collapsed in horrific avalanches.
Still, the Golden-Winged Roc’s rage was not ceasing, causing the glaciers and mountains beneath to shake and crumble as well, and it almost appeared as if the world was breaking.
“Human!”
“They had gone too far!”
The golden eagle roared in fury. “How dare they kill my beloved and my unborn children! They really wish to die!”
Swish!
The golden eagle spread its wings and was about to leave in a streak of golden radiance, but even before it could fly over ten kilometers, a white cloud was wafting towards it, blocking its way.
The golden eagle stopped and glared in rage at the white cloud, roaring, “You actually had the guts to come to Mount Golden Roc, Wang Hou?!”
The white clouds floated away as a puff of smoke while Wang Hou’s figure materialized, and he spoke in surprise, “Golden-Winged Roc, when did you rename your mountain into Mount Golden Roc? Wasn’t Bukadaban Peak perfectly fine?”
“This here be this emperor’s domain. I’ll name it however I wish.”
The Golden-Winged Roc laughed coldly as it continued to speak with fury, “Wang Hou, you allowed a human elite to kill my beloved and break our agreement publicly. Do you really want all-out war against our kind?”
Wang Hou chuckled in response. “The one who killed both the Golden-Crowned Black Eagle and the Violet Crowned Golden Eagle is a mere rank-nine. There was nothing mentioned that rank-nine elites are forbidden from killing Feral Kings, are there?”
“Moreover…”
His voice suddenly changed, and his killing intent burst out while he spoke coldly, “If you monsters want a fight, I, Wang Ho, shall be your opponent!”
“What?!”
The massive form of the Golden-Winged Roc actually shuddered at that.
Nonetheless, it was not startled by Wang Hou’s killing-intent and aura, but upon hearing Wang Hou’s words, it was falling apart as it cried a blood-curdling shriek in disbelief, “Violet was killed too?!”
Clearly, the Golden-Winged Roc only knew about the Golden-Crowned Black Eagle’s death, and not the Violet-Crowned Golden Eagle’s.
After all, the Golden-Crowned Black Eagle was already dead by the time the Violet-Crowned Golden Eagle had arrived at Mount Tian. The other Ferals had already fled under Jiang He’s menacing might, so no Feral was within sight to see Jiang He’s slaying of the Violet-Crowned Golden Eagle.
That was why when the Ferals that fled from Mount Tian to the Bukadaban Peak which was less than a thousand miles away, they could only report the death of the Golden-Crowned Black Eagle.
On the other hand, Wang Hou did a double take as well.
What did that mean?
Violet?
Did that refer to the Violet-Crowned Golden Eagle?
You didn’t actually know that the Violet-Crowned Golden Eagle was cut down by Jiang He?
Well, this was awkward.
Wang Hou laughed, and was just about to speak when the Golden-Winged Roc flapped its wings violently, firing golden rays at Wang Hou who in turn deflected them with his fist.
But in that split second, the creature was already darting into the distance.
Clearly, it had sensed the other two auras lurking nearby!
“We’re found out. Attack!”
Wang He darted forward in a flash, calling out to his partners while in pursuit.
Ooom!
That was when a black-and-white Taiji symbol that was several Mu wide abruptly appeared on the horizon, and with a small tremor, the Golden-Winged Roc’s flight was slowed considerably.
Behind the Taiji symbol, Dong Haichuan, the founding master of the Eight Trigrams School arrived, stepping upon thin air.
He was already two-hundred years old but he looked no different from someone in his forties. Wearing a black martial arts tunic and sporting a black beard, his first attack was a towering palm that descended upon the Golden-Winged Roc, ensnaring him.
The bird shrieked at the heavens, a dazzling golden light bursting around its body, shaking off and nullifying the silhouette of the palm.
Even so, Wang Hou had already caught up, encircling the Golden-Winged Roc alongside Dong Haichuan and Taiji School’s Yang Luchan.
The trio fought together, battling the Golden-Winged Roc.
But though they were all Void-tier elites, they only recently reached this level, and also had a hard time taking down the Golden-Winged Roc even when working together.
After all, the Golden-Winged Roc was just too quick…
It had directly turned into a golden flash that circled the trio, and it did not try to fight directly against them even though it would not be a problem for it to take a blow. Not only was it powerful, but its feathers were harder than gold and too strong in defense.
But even if the trio could not take down the Feral, the Golden-Winged Roc still had a hard time trying to flee.
It kept roaring in rage, shrieking, “Wang Hou, your human martial artist killed this emperor’s beloved, and now you would kill this emperor too?”
Wang Hou acted as if he heard none of that and kept pressing his attack.
Nonetheless, there was a helpless look that flashed momentarily upon his face…
The Golden-Winged Roc was too powerful.
Such a Feral that evolved even before the Revival of Qi was just too frightening. The fact that it shares the bloodline of the mythical Golden-Winged Roc notwithstanding, the main problem here was that Wang Hou himself, Dong Haichuan, and Yang Luchan had only recently reached Void-tier.
And that was especially the case for Dong Haichuan and Yang Luchan.
Though the providence they obtained was not as profound as Wang Hou’s, they relied on their own talent and skill to arrive at their current standard. Indeed, their two-hundred-year deft was so rich that they could have fought the Golden-Winged Roc alone in several years instead of encircling it like this.
Still, they could not do that at the moment.
“Die!”
Wang Hou growled as he charged at the Golden-Winged Roc again.
The battle this day was a declaration of the Hua Nation’s hierarchy—even if they could not kill the Golden-Winged Roc, they will beat it up until it felt fear!
For the Hua Nation was a territory of humans!
Boom!
The mountains beneath continue to explode, with waves of boulders rolling down.
Over the skies, the winds and the clouds were shifting!
The battle lasted over a dozen minutes. Wang Hou, Dong Haichuan, and Yang Luchan all were injured, just as there was no telling how many of the Golden-Winged Roc’s feathers were knocked off.
Several peaks were already flattened, the glaciers in between crumbling under the shockwaves.
But in the end, the battle only subsided when the Dragoncroc Emperor of Shenlongjia arrived.
It remained hidden in the clouds, its hundreds-meter-long form vaguely visible from time to time as it spoke, “Are you breaking our agreement, Wang Hou?”
“Your human elites do not outnumber the kings and emperors of our race, for our elders have simply not appeared amongst humans for a long time and isn’t bothered to show up. But if you want war, then humans and beasts shall have war.”
Despite his shock, Wang Hou kept an impassive face and smiled. “When have I broken the agreement? The human elite who slew the Golden-Crowned Black Eagle and the Violet-Crowned Golden Eagle is a rank-nine, and we’re just worried that the Golden-Winged Roc would do something silly in its grief, so we came to hold it here for a bit.”
***
Back at the microworld of the Womb Realm.
After several futile attempts of plucking the moon and the sun, Jiang He gave up on trying to bring them home to plant.
The sky was too tall—to be precise, it seemed to become taller right before his eyes no matter how he flew.
Jiang He had a hunch that it was some array, or the spatial refraction that the method which created the Secret Realm caused.
“How boring…”
Jiang He sighed a few times even as he lay down on the grass. Just as he was musing if he should contact the head monk and let him out ahead of time, his ears twitched just then and he leapt up to his feet.
Nearby, the burly River White Nima was striding towards him, barking angrily, “Jiang He! Why would you hurt the disciples of the Diamond Sect?”
Hurt?
Jiang He frowned.
That word was rather harsh on the ears.
‘All I wanted to do was to get an idea of how powerful or weak my Dragon-Elephant Prajna is compared to the Diamond Sect’s!
‘However, your disciples proved too weak and were crying for mommy and daddy with their swollen faces even before we really fought.
‘What could I do about that?’
