Jiu You stood up on the back of the elephant like an acrobatic performer, raising aloft her golden halberd and the weapon shone brilliantly.
“KILL THEM ALL!”
With a wave of the great halberd, Jiu You threw herself off the elephant’s back like an eagle swooping down on its prey to attack the foxes.
“Impudence, Queen Jiu You!”
One of the foxes, a Ninth-grade fox Beast Lord roared and stomped forward to meet Jiu You in battle.
Jiu You shrieked a wordless battle cry and the rest of her horde swarmed in after her.
The magnificent tiger Beast Lord covered hundreds of meters in every leap and bound, reaching her in an instant.
Undaunted, the large foxes thundered shrill screeches and squeals of their own and courageously rushed forward.
Jiu You brandished her halberd. Golden ripples trailed after every swish and slash and it clashed head-on against the Ninth-grade Beast Lord that swung its tail at her.
Bang!
The terrible burst of force spread out from the point of impact, the shock wave crushing all boulders nearby into bits and pieces with its terrifying power.
To the oversized fox mutants, their long and sharp claws and fangs, strong and powerful tails were all part of their offensive gamut.
Swoosh!
The fox Beast Lord’s tail lashed at Jiu You like a steel whip with a deadly whoosh.
Jiu You grunted, activating her magic into her polearm. It shone brilliantly with more golden glitters tailing its tip and the powerful and forceful arc it made slammed the fox’s tail away.
The Ninth-grade fox Beast Lord’s huge girth twisted with unbelievable agility, its iron hook-like claws coming from the other side in a deadly arc.
With a graceful leap, Jiu You soared tens of meters into the air and she found her opening. The halberd twinkled like a star, its tip thrusting straight at the fox.
The fox missed, but it deftly avoided Jiu You’s stroke with a sidestep. Then it swung its huge tail at the descending Jiu You as retaliation.
Bang!
The huge tail hit the halberd but the force launched Jiu You away.
Jiu You’s face turned into stone. With a heavy stomp, she propelled herself and rocketed at the oversized fox with her halberd held before her like an arrow.
The fox quickly jumped sideways to avoid her.
But Jiu You predicted it would jump aside and she swung her halberd furiously into the fox’s midriff.
Bang!
Golden sparkles burst when the halberd tore through the fox in its midsection, eliciting a sharp squeal of pain with the morbid combination of blood and flesh spattering everywhere.
The oversized fox crashed to the ground but on both feet. It glared at Jiu You fiercely and with what remaining of its strength, it threw itself at Jiu You.
Jiu You kicked hard and launched herself at the fox. Right before they collided, she jumped into the air suddenly and somersaulted, using her momentum to add in more weight into a deadly swing of her halberd.
Bang!
Another explosion of golden sparks erupted and the great fox was knocked off its feet with more skin and flesh torn open and blood sprayed everywhere.
Rumble!
The fox careened off and smashed into a thousand-pound-heavy boulder.
“Hmph, puny,” Jiu You jabbed her halberd at the fox smugly.
The oversized fox’s abdomen was a huge pool of blood. That a Ninth-grade Beast Lord was defeated by Jiu You, a mere Eighth-grade, confounded everyone.
A blood-curdling scream tore through the air. Another fox mutant—a Seventh-grade Beast Lord – fell being struck down by the tiger Beast Lord, dismembered into two by its claws and it died on the spot.
Roar!
The golden lion displayed his Lion’s Roar technique to its full efficacy, shaking the rings of summits nearby. His sound wave attacks hit a Seventh-grade fox beast Lord, causing it to wobble unsteadily in its steps and that allowed the golden-maned lion to pounce and rip its head off its neck.
The white elephant made a more terrifying performance. Glowing from top to bottom in a blinding white radiance, the mammoth stomped on another low-tiered fox Beast Lord using its column-thick legs, turning it into minced meat.
The Ninth-grade fox Beast Lord whom Jiu You wounded screamed sharply, “Retreat!”
The remaining fox Beast Lords heeded the call and turned around to scurry back up to Wildfox Ridge.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
Jiu You never intended to let her targets escape alive. Strike when the iron is hot: that was what Chu Xun taught her, and she was not going to start with this wounded Ninth-grade fox Beast Lord.
Hellish activated her polearm again and it shone once more with a dazzling golden luminescence. She darted forward and for one moment, it looked like a golden bolt of light was streaking towards the wounded fox Beast Lord.
The oversized fox quickly turned around, its tails whipping around in a deadly arc aimed towards Jiu You.
Pssttt!
A thick puff of yellow fumes burst out of its bottom. It was so thick that it blotted out her sight of the sun or the sky as she reeled with disgust and nauseousness.
She inhaled a little of it, but it made her dizzy enough to nearly throw up whatever she ate last night. The stench was unbearably noxious.
The stench was so bad that for one moment, Jiu You thought it was the most terrible thing she had ever smelled before.
The same went for the tiger, the lion, and the rest of the Beast Lords of the horde who suffered the same fate. The rest of the low-tiered foxes quickly did the same to release the same poison fumes and engulfed the horde in a fog of death and stink.
These ferocious beasts squealed and caterwauled as they scrambled around wildly to avoid the fumes.
Jiu You raised a hand and fired a jet of energy to churn enough winds strong enough to dispel the poison fumes.
As for the rest of the Beast Lords, they had been throwing up nonstop that they had become so fatigued that they were about to collapse.
“Wretched foxes! How dare they release their farts!?” the tiger was cursing as he vomited.
“Damn, it’s more dangerous than my Lion’s Roar!” the lion Beast Lord mumbled between his gag reflexes.
“What a bunch of filthy things! We must kill them all!” glowered the elephant. Proud of its white skin, the elephant has always had a thing for cleanliness.
“We charge at once!” Jiu You rallied her horde. That the Ninth-grade fox Beast Lord had managed to escape from her clutches filled her with resentment.
“KILL THOSE FILTHY FOXES!”
Answering the calls of their queen, the Beast Lords all howled gloriously as they assaulted Wildfox Ridge.
Up at the peak of the Ridge, a pair of elderly men stood abreast with their arms held behind their backs. Just a few paces away was the wounded Ninth-grade fox Beast Lord. It stood there quietly, reverently keeping its head low in silence, not wanting to disturb the two old men.
One of them, a sallowed-face elderly with yellow bristly eyebrows and beard, turned to regard it. It furrowed its eyes and said, “Are you hurt?”
“Queen Jiu You might be an Eighth-grade Beast Lord, but she is extremely formidable in battle, Seventh Elder,” said the wounded Beast Lord.
“Useless trash,” said Hu Shi’en, the Seventh Elder of the Canidae race angrily.
The Beast Lord kept its head down, not daring to speak a word.
The other elderly man blinked his eyes to peer at the Beast Lord, its sclera in strange streaking shades of earthen brown that would easily horrify anyone looking at him.
“She’s close with the Devil. It’s hardly a surprise that she has abilities beyond usual comprehension.”
The mention of Chu Xun made Hu Shi’en and the wounded Beast Lord peered at the brown-sclera old man.
“We’ve emerged too late. Is the Devil really as powerful as they say?” asked Hu Shi’en.
The old man lowered his gaze and muttered, “‘Powerful’ is an understatement. The champions of all our races were all single-handedly slain by him, including Huang Sheng, the Eighth Elder of my race, and the Tenth Elder before that too.”
The old man now speaking was Huang Yin, the Seventh Elder of the Mustelids.
Hu Shi’en’s expression shifted. “But wouldn’t this plot to deal with Queen Jiu You anger the Devil then if he finds out later?”
Huang Yin shook his head and sniggered wickedly, “Nevermind the fact that no one knows for sure if the Devil still lives, as long as we deal with this carefully and leave no loose ends, no one will hear about it. There’s nothing to worry about.”
That seemed to have comforted Hu Shi’en a little.
“Relax, Hu. The Sixth Elder of our race has emerged and he hasn’t been idle. He has been persuading the Lost Races for another alliance to deal with the forces of the Chu Mansion.”
Hu Shi’en’s expression turned stiff. Respectfully, he uttered, “The Sixth Elder of your race is an Immortal-level champion. I’m sure many would rise to his call.”
“We’ve known each other for millennia, Hu. The Sixth Elder understands your wish. Help us in this endeavor and avenge the fallen members of the Lost Races, and he shall help to speak on your behalf so that you and your kind here shall be accepted once more as an official part of the Canids,” Huang Yin chuckled.
Hu Shi’en’s face lit up with excitement. He and his subordinates were all a distant subbranch of the actual Canid race which was now being ruled by the Nine-tailed Foxes who were the true heirs to the leadership of the Canid race.
The Canids had too many subbranches like them and all they ever wanted was to be recognized as an official part of the whole family.
Another oversized fox drew near to report quietly, “They are coming, Elder.”
Hu Shi’en and Huang Yin shared a look and grinned.
“At long last,” Huang Yin broke into an evil grin.
Jiu You led more than 20 hulking Beast Lords up to the summit of Wildfox Ridge with the ferocity of a rolling torrent.
“They say the Devil is very protective of his own. Too bad we’d never know if he’ll go mad if he hears about Queen Jiu You being dead,” Hu Shi’en sneered.
“So what if he would? With the might of an Immortal-level champion in our Sixth Elder, this means that the menace of the Devil has come to an end,” hissed Huang Yin coldly.
The Mustelids did not number as many as the rest of the Lost Races and what promising talents they had were scarce even before Chu Xun’s massacre of their entire race on Earth and the rest of the Mustelids who just emerged needed to seek revenge.
It was a well-known folk knowledge that weasels were spiteful animals.
“Tell the others to stand down,” Hu Shi’en ordered.
Anyone below the ranks of Beast Lord could little to stop the invasion save to increase the death toll. The Canids too weren’t a large race and every dead Canid was painful to him.
All Canids below the rank of Beast Lord quickly withdrew into hiding, leaving only the foxes who were to man the defense.
Meanwhile, Hu Shi’en and Huang Yin were both at Great Completion of being Ninth-grade Beast Lords.
The fox Beast Lords at the Ridge numbered to almost thirty.
The ones he sent to guard the path leading to the summit earlier were ordered only to test the strengths of the invaders, but a few of them had perished instead and for that, Hu Shi’en was still grieving for their demise.
Jiu You and her horde quickly reached the summit where they met Hu Shi’en and Huang Yin.
“Welcome, Queen Jiu You, to Wildfox Ridge. I daresay I am flattered that you are gracing us with your presence,” Hu Shi’en faked a smile.
The flattery seemed to hardly work. She thrust her halberd at the mutants and cried, “Vacate this Ridge at once, you old fox, or I’ll slaughter every one of you here!”
“I don’t think the Devil would dare make such a brazen claim, Queen Jiu You. To say nothing that you’re merely an Eighth-grade Beast Lord,” sneered Huang Yin.
Not an average mutant, Jiu You, as a remarkable demonic beast of the highest degree, could feel that Huang Yin was different.
“You don’t smell like a fox. Who are you?”
“Sharp senses. I am Huang Yin, Seventh Elder of the Mustelid race.”
That the Mustelids were conspiring with the Canids stunned Jiu You. It was a rare sight for such thing to happen, although one might suppose it was predictable; both species were known to be animals of cunning and treacherous manner.
That set Jiu You to be wary. She needed to, especially since when she was up against two species known for their cunning and deceit.
“So, a weasel, eh?” Jiu You uttered with contempt apparent on her little face, “Your kinsmen were all butchered by Chu Xun before this. Is that why you’re here now? To join the Canids?”
A hint of malice flashed across Huang Yin’s visage. Sneering, he said, “Sharp tongue for one so young like you. How dare you unleash such impudence in the Devil’s absence!? Do you really think you can do anything by counting on the Devil’s bloody reputation to protect you?!”
Jiu You had never cared about using Chu Xun’s prestige—or rather notoriety—to her advantage, but she was never above it. She jeered, “Try counting out the Devil if you dare. But the way I see it, you’re afraid. You’re frightened. Chu Xun had slaughtered so many of you and yet you made no move of seeking revenge? You’re afraid of him, aren’t you?”
Huang Yin’s face turned as dark as ash although it quickly broke into a hideous grin. “Don’t worry. Revenge we will have, and it shall begin with you.”
Unfazed, Jiu You sneered again, “How many of you had emerged this time? Aren’t you afraid that Chu Xun might exterminate the whole lot of you again?”
“As far as I hear, he’s dead, never mind the fact that he could never hurt us anymore. So if he’s dead, what else is there for us to feel frightened about?” Huang Yin stared at Jiu You carefully, probing for a reaction.
“Bullshit. You can die for all I care but Chu Xun will still live,” Jiu You said angrily.
Huang Yin’s eyes flickered. Jiu You was still too innocent and he had got what he wanted to find from her reaction. He said quietly with suppressed glee, “You don’t know if the Devil is alive, do you?”
“That’s none of your business, and Chu Xun is definitely alive,” Jiu You said angrily.
Huang Yin smiled triumphantly. Jiu You knew nothing about the Devil’s whereabouts, of that he was certain. That would mean that Chu Xun knew nothing about her coming to Wildfox Ridge. They could kill her now and the Devil would be none the wiser.
“Queen Jiu You. The Devil slaughtered my kin, and as reciprocation, you will die today. Consider this as interest from his debt,” Huang Yin said with wicked delight, his aura soaring rapidly.
So did Hu Shi’en beside him too; his aura burgeoned quickly and he too was smiling sinisterly.
“Great Completion Ninth-grades!” Jiu You gasped, astonished.
That Huang Yin and Hu Shi’en were Ninth-grade Beast Lords who had achieved Great Completion was Jiu You’s biggest miscalculation.
She had killed a huge number of Beast and Avian Lords belonging to the alien races and that had created the impression that the alien races who had emerged were only Ninth-grade at most.
All her Beast Lord subjects—the golden-maned lion, the great tiger, and others—could feel their hair standing on ends like needles as they lurched with shock and disbelief at the true might of the two mutants.
The difference between their powers and the enemies was not something that sheer greater number could make up.
Jiu You might be invincible enough to defeat Ninth-grade Beast Lords, but she could never, ever, defeat anyone Ninth-grade and with Great Completion.
“Retreat!”
Jiu You quickly decided to sound a retreat.
She could not defeat a Ninth-grade Great Completion enemy, let alone two of them.
It was only then when they discovered that their exit had been sealed off by more than thirty fox Beast Lords.
“We need to kill our way out!”
Jiu You swung her halberd furiously and hurled herself into battle. Her golden halberd shone brilliantly with trails of glitters tailing after it and with every blow, the halberd elicited miniature shock waves.
Bang!
One of the high-tiered fox Beast Lords stood in her way, but Jiu You easily took a swipe at him and the halberd’s tip sliced opened its skin while knocking it off its feet.
The golden-maned lion, the tiger, and the white elephant all charged forward after her.
They knew full well that if they could not force away out, all of them would die here and today. That served as adequate motivation for them to unleash every bit of ferocity and malice they could find.
Several fox Beast Lords fell in that one single charge.
“None of you will be leaving alive today,” Hu Shi’en growled insidiously, his eyes gleaming with rancor. He stomped, and the ground sank under him as he propelled himself at Jiu You.
Jiu You felt a chill running up her back and she swung her halberd over to her back without looking and the glinting tip of her polearm pierce straight at Hu Shi’en.
Hu Shi’en smugly swatted the tip of the halberd aside effortlessly.
Clang!
Sparks burst out like a fountain of glitters. Jiu You staggered backward from the impact, her feet leaving cracks whenever she retreated to dissipate the force she just endured.
Hu Shi’en stared at Jiu You with surprise apparent in his look. What should have sent Jiu You hurtling through the air ended up in only her taking a few steps backward.
“Interesting,” Hu Shi’en murmured quietly before he vanished and flitted like a wraith towards Jiu You with blinding speed.
Jiu You drove her feet into the ground and she drove her halberd in a forward pierce at her incoming foe.
Clang!
Hu Shi’en slammed a palm on the face of the halberd’s steel blade, eliciting a deafening ring of steel.
The force pummeled Jiu You backward, causing her feet to plow through the soil and left a pair of gulleys almost ten meters long in the ground and the halberd never stopped tremoring until the end.
Jiu You’s face was a sheet of ice. She waved her halberd around and attacked.
Pssttt!
The halberd found the throat of a low-tiered fox Beast Lord unfortunate to be nearby and smashed through his windpipe. With a simple shake, Jiu You ignominiously tossed the carcass at Hu Shi’en.
The elderly fox mutant roared with anger. He caught the carcass and gently laid it on the ground.
“I’m going to tear you into pieces, Queen Jiu You.”
Jiu You remained wary and alert. Hu Shi’en was angry now, and an angry fox Beast Lord who had achieved Great Completion of the Ninth-grade would be the last thing one should antagonize.
“I’ll delay them, do what you can to force a way out. Then run. The further the better,” barked Jiu You to the golden-maned lion.
“Forget it. None of you are leaving Wildfox Ridge alive today,” Hu Shi’en grinned wickedly. His body glowed with a soft walnut luminescence that only made him look more dangerous as he lunged at Jiu You with a fist ready.
In just the blink of an eye, Hu Shi’en reappeared near Jiu You. His fists bursting with a pulsing glow of copper that carried destructive powers.
Brandishing her halberd like a deadly dance of steel, Jiu You’s lithe form too radiated lights of many hues as she lashed her halberd at Hu Shi’en like a whip.
Bang!
Hu Shi’en punched at the halberd and the impact caused a terrifying burst of light and shock waves that swept in all directions.
Pssttt!
The force knocked Jiu You off her feet and she crashed several hundreds of meters away, spitting out mouthfuls of blood.
“My queen!” The white elephant cried in alarm, rushing over to defend her.
“Hmph, worry about yourself instead,” said Huang Yin. He dashed after the elephant like a bolt of lightning and soared into the air like a bat, his palms imbued with destructive energies and he slapped hard on the elephant’s head.
Bang!
The hulking mass of the elephant tumbled to the ground in a heavy crash that split the earth. The elephant fell in a lifeless heap, one of its three-meter-long tusks snapped into half and a morbid gash on its head so deep that blood poured out like a river.
The elephant howled and struggled, yet still, it could not get up. Huang Yin’s deadly stroke had nearly killed him.
“These tusks would make very good ivory chopsticks,” Huang Yin grinned wickedly, lifting a hand once more to deal the fatal stroke.
The white elephant would never survive another blow.
The tiger roared, but it could hardly come to help; a few fox Beast Lords were doing well in keeping it a bay.
So was the golden-maned lion. Blood trickled down in rivulets all over its back; the handiwork of a formidable fox Beast Lord.
“How dare you!” Jiu You roared with rage. She leaped up suddenly and threw her halberd like a javelin at Huang Yin.
The halberd screamed through the air that not even Huang Yin dared to ignore it. He stopped short from killing the white elephant and redirected his stroke at the incoming polearm instead.
Clang!
Sparks scattered everywhere and the halberd was deflected. Huang Yin darted forward and took the halberd in his grasp.
“Thank you for this gift, Queen Jiu You!” Huang Yin laughed wildly.
Jiu You’s ashen-pale face said not a word and she lunged, eager to first help the golden-maned lion.
“Your opponent is me, Queen Jiu You!” Hu Shi’en rushed and intercepted her.
Rumble!
Another clash saw Jiu You’s petite body taking another blow and she crashed backward again, coughing up more blood.
“As I said, Queen Jiu You. None of you are leaving Wildfox Ridge alive,” Hu Shi’en cracked an evil grin before he turned midway and slashed his claws at a Tibetan Mastiff nearby, firing an energy bolt that resembled his claws at it.
The Tibetan mastiff—an Eighth-grade Beast Lord—roared with fury and mauled furiously at the incoming energy bolt.
Pssttt!
Red-hot fresh blood splattered everywhere. Huang Yin’s attack was so powerful and deadly that it split the mastiff into halves.
The dead mastiff was the third from a brood of five and the rest of the four mastiffs all howled mournfully at the death of their sibling.
Bang!
Huang Yin left the white elephant alone. Perhaps he decided that the elephant needed no coup de grace. It was as powerful as a dormouse at its present state. He darted away and fired an energy blow at the tiger Beast Lord.
It was a blunt and simple stroke, but it bore enough power to blast a huge chunk of flesh off the tiger’s back. Blood poured out of the wound as it crashed into a large boulder thousands of kilograms in weight, smashing it into bits.
The tiger Beast Lord grunted with agony. The impact had broken a great deal of his bones and had severely bruised his tendons. Despite a good many tries, he just couldn’t get up anymore.
“You will see how we execute your subjects one by one, Queen Jiu You. Just like how the Devil had slain every one of my kinsmen,” Huang Yin guffawed wildly.
Rumble!
Just a single blow, the golden-maned lion crumbled to the ground with blood spewing from its mouth. More than half its bones were shattered and it laid on the ground, utterly incapacitated.
Bang!
Another Tibetan Mastiff fell to a deafening bang to the ground, badly banged up and mangled.
Pssttt!
The enormous head of another Beast Lord fell to the ground. it was a gargantuan pangolin, one of the earliest earthly Beast Lords who had pledged its loyalty to Jiu You. The Seventh-grade Beast Lord was killed by Huang Yin with only one stroke.
“I’LL KILL YOU ALL!” Jiu You snarled hatefully, her eyes livid with red veins popping out as she pounced at Huang Yin with reckless abandon.
But Hu Shi’en appeared out of nowhere and swatted her aside like a fly, shattering a few of her ribs. She fell down, coughing up more blood and her face as pale as milk.
The difference in power between them was simply too great. No one could withstand even one blow from Huang Yin.
Bang!
Another Tibetan Mastiff was knocked off its feet with a gaping hole as large as a sewer hole in its stomach and blood gushed out like a spring.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
One after another, the Jiu You’s Beast Lords were either wounded or maimed.
“See with your own eyes how easily I trample upon your horde, Queen Jiu You!” Huang Yin laughed triumphantly like a mad man.
