Let’s rewind time by about thirty seconds.
After their encounter with the Subterranean Beast Horde, the team of ten was incomparably exhausted. That was a life and death struggle, and their taut nerves finally relaxed. Thanks to Ye Zichen’s timely reinforcements, they could finally relax.
Everyone leisurely joked around, but little did they know that as they relaxed, a silent threat approached.
Then, not long after, Chen Guangfa noticed a shape in the sand behind Xue Mo.
Remember, this was a barren desert wasteland. The sand shouldn’t move all of a sudden. Chen Guangfa’s gaze locked onto the shape, until whatever it was broke through the sand.
“Senior Apprentice Sister!” Chen Guangfa’s pupils widened in unconcealable terror.
Murong Xue and the others were safe, so Xue Mo was in good spirits. She was smiling when she heard Chen Guangfa’s inexplicable shout. She looked at him, only to see him point behind her.
He shouted desperately, “Behind you! Hurry and run!”
He attracted the others’ attention too, but when they looked and saw what was behind Xue Mo, no one made a noise.
Xue Mo looked behind her, but as she did, she discovered that an enormous shadow had enveloped them all.
A massive beast stood in front of her. It was fully ten thousand feet tall and covered in silvery carapace. Its claws glinted with cold light. They were so sharp, they must have been sharpened countless times over. Monstrous purple eyes gazed down on her, and a hint of a smile tugged at the beast’s lips.
“A beast king!” Its body was like a mountain, so large, it blotted out the heavens. It cast a long shadow, shrouding the entire group in darkness.
“What are you trembling for, Li Hu?” Luo Zi stiffly turned to his friend and noticed that although Li Hu still clenched his battleax, his hands were shaking uncontrollably.
“You say I’m trembling? Aren’t you trembling too?” Li Hu forced a smile, then glanced at the Subterranean Beast King and gulped.
A beast king.
In human clans and sects, elders, leaders, and other authority figures were also the strongest members of their respective organizations.
Similarly, for a spiritual beast to become a beast king, they had to be an absolute expert, at least a fourth-stage diviner.
Subterranean Beasts were bottom-of-the-barrel divine beasts. How could one of them possibly become a beast king? Moreover, why hadn’t any of them noticed its approach?
It was as if the entire world had solidified.
“Humans.” The silver-shelled beast king spoke without taking on human form. The humans all looked at it, slack-jawed and wide-eyed. Their pupils constricted in incomparable terror.
The beast raised its head, and scanned the corpses littering the desert sands. “Those were my clansmen. Humans, you’re despicable.” The beast king suddenly snorted, and the hot breath slammed into them like a tidal wave, sending the entire group flying over thirty feet backward.
“Is this the power of a beast king?” Jiang Yong lay sprawled on the ground, his eyes wide with astonishment. He was a half-step diviner! However, nevermind an attack; the beast king had done nothing but exhale, yet that was already more than he could take.
“Retreat! Hurry up and retreat!” After a brief, stunned pause, Jiang Yong cooled his head and made a rational decision.
It looked terrifyingly strong; none of them were strong enough to contend with it. Just its breath alone was enough to send them flying: this made the difference between them and this beast king crystal clear.
If they took advantage of the distance between them, they might have time to board the flying ship…
“Xue Mo is still over there!” Murong Xue frowned. “Besides, even if we put everything we have into piloting the ship, we can’t compete with a fourth-stage diviner’s speed, and that’s the bare minimum threshold for a beast king. Look at its body! I’m afraid it’s at least a seventh-stage diviner. How can we possibly outrun it?”
This was Xue Mo’s first time going face to face with a beast king. She was less than ten meters away from it, and her brain was screaming at her to run away.
However, although she didn’t know why, she’d lost control over her body. She could only stand there in a daze.
“Beast kings are really huge! Just like my dad said! They’re even bigger than his dharma body!”
At a time like this, Xue Mo laughed. She couldn’t control her limbs, much less run. Even if she ran, she couldn’t escape.
So she just stood there, looking up at the giant beast, while the words her father once spoke to her echoed through her mind.
“The God Realm hasn’t been peaceful lately, and the outside world is more dangerous than you imagine. Our family home is safest for you.”
“Why won’t you listen to me? Are the cities around our estates not entertaining enough for you?”
“Are you like your big sister? Will I have to send you off the mountain to train before you can grow up?”
“Forget it. Just go wherever you want; I can’t be bothered with you.”
As a child, she was like a bird in a cage. She longed for the outside world, and the day that she broke free from her cage.
Even now, as an adult, she still felt the same way, so that’s what she did.
She swore that if anything happened, she’d take responsibility. But in the end, no matter what problems arose, her family stepped in to clean up after her. And yet, that wasn’t enough to put an end to her willful, obstinate behavior.
A bounty mission.
Yet another bounty mission.
Anti-Upheaval’s decline began when she stubbornly insisted that they go on a mission. Moreover, it was a mission she chose herself. At the time, their leader was her older cousin. In the end, he used his own body to shield her from an otherwise lethal attack.
She lived, but he died!
In the end, all of Anti-Upheaval perished. She was the only survivor.
This time, it was yet another mission she’d chosen.
So dangerous, they were practically just throwing their lives away.
Everyone had followed her through life-and-death battles. Now, in the face of an inescapable predicament, the only solution she could think of was forcing Ye Zichen to reveal all his trump cards. They’d only just managed to save Murong Xue and the others, but now….
Could she beg Ye Zichen for help?
Even though his subordinates were strong, did that matter in the face of a beast king?
But what else could she do?
Xue Mo asked herself this question, but despite wracking her brains, she couldn’t think of a solution.
She smiled bleakly and muttered to herself, “I really should have listened to my father.”
The next moment, she overcame her bitterness, and her eyes glinted with sharp light. Frost gradually spread from her feet.
“I’ll hold it off! All of you, run!” she let out a piercing cry.
When they heard her shout, everyone sensed that she was prepared to sacrifice herself. Despite himself, Ye Zichen was stunned.
Perhaps, he’d misunderstood Xue Mo’s nature.
Yes, she was troublesome, a star of calamity that caused trouble wherever she went. But when he heard her shout, he revised his impression of her and re-evaluated their relationship.
Who knew? They might actually become friends.
Not just superficially friendly, but true friends, like Little White and the others.
“None of you can escape. But you look so tender and pale that you must be delicious. I can start with you, I suppose.” The Subterranean Beast King raised its sharp claws and swiped at Xue Mo.
A few layers of ice shields immediately appeared above her, but in the face of those massive, sharp claws, they were as fragile as tissue paper.
Despair.
This was just like what happened to Anti-Upheaval last time.
She could only stare blankly ahead in despair, until…
A stalwart figure threw himself in front of her. “Guangfa!”
