Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Chen Yihan
The approaching group was moving incredibly fast. They had just hidden when the Black Water Kui Ox reached a spot a hundred meters from the shore. It let out a roar, and the entire surface of the lake suddenly seemed to boil. Countless columns of water erupted, shooting toward the sky, as the fourteen Celestial Level Royal Tributors pursuing it launched their attacks.
Dazzling rays of light shot toward the Black Water Kui Ox.
ROAR!
With another furious roar, the erupting columns of water instantly froze into ice and then exploded a moment later with incredible force. The sky for a hundred meters around was suddenly filled with projectiles, as if an army of ten thousand had loosed their arrows at once!
Even for masters who had reached the Celestial Level, they couldn’t help but scramble in a panic, roaring in frustration. Seventeen supreme experts! To be cornered like this by a single monster... three were already injured, leaving only fourteen. Even if no one was there to witness it, they still burned with shame.
The Black Water Kui Ox seized the opportunity, its body suddenly sinking into the water. It was already grievously wounded. If it didn’t want to die here, escape was its only option.
But how could these Celestial Level Martial Artists possibly allow it to escape? Chen Yihan roared, and a blast of Sword Qi shot into the water. A massive wave erupted with a crash, throwing up a sky-full of spray. It surged like a flash flood, slamming against the shore and drenching the people hiding there, who didn’t dare reveal the slightest hint of their presence, like drowned rats.
Chen Yihan’s sword strike instantly forced the Black Water Kui Ox out. What met it were the strongest attacks of twelve Celestial Level Martial Artists!
BOOM!
Another monstrous wave surged upward and crashed onto the shore. The group simply shut their eyes. ’We’ve already been soaked once,’ they thought, ’what’s a second time?’
Had this Black Water Kui Ox reached the power of the Transformation stage, it would have had no problem escaping, even if it couldn’t defeat this crowd of Celestial Level Martial Artists. Unfortunately for it, its strength was merely at the Celestial Level.
But its final, death-throes counterattack was also terrifying. More than a dozen bolts of lightning instantly split the sky, five of which struck five Celestial Level Martial Artists with perfect accuracy. The Protective Gang Qi surrounding them shattered instantly. Smoke billowed from their bodies as their faces twisted in agony. They screamed and plummeted toward the lake.
The might of Heaven and Earth was not to be underestimated!
Spirit Beasts were nature’s favored children, born and nurtured by the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. Creatures like the White Fox and the Black Water Kui Ox were considered innate Spirit Beasts. This meant that not only were they born as Spirit Beasts, but their parents, siblings, and their entire clans were as well. The only difference was that the White Fox clan’s grade was far lower than that of the Black Water Kui Ox clan.
A Black Water Kui Ox is born with the strength of the Earth Level. A White Fox, however, must start its cultivation as a Spirit Beast below even Entry Grade. The difference between them was as vast as heaven and earth! If a Black Water Kui Ox had cultivated for a thousand years like the White Fox Maiden, these seventeen Celestial Level Martial Artists would have been a complete joke. A single bolt of lightning would have obliterated them, leaving not even ashes behind.
On the other hand, creatures like the Iron-armed Ape were Acquired Spirit Beasts. This meant that their parents and siblings weren’t necessarily Spirit Beasts, making their path of cultivation all the more arduous.
The damage from the Black Water Kui Ox’s dying blow sent Chen Yihan and the others into a rage. Several of them immediately dove down, managing to rescue the five stricken Celestial Level Martial Artists just before they hit the water.
"Brother!"
"How are they?"
"Ah, Third Brother is gone! How... Damn it, how could this happen?! We had the upper hand the entire time!" one Martial Artist roared, clutching his comrade as tears streamed down his face. A dignified Celestial Level master, he hadn’t cursed like that in who knows how many years. But at this moment, he could no longer hold back, no different from some common thug on the street.
Even these lofty masters still had human emotions and desires.
Chen Yihan snatched the Black Water Kui Ox’s corpse before the waves could swallow it. He heaved it up and flung it onto the shore, his expression grim and his heart seething with rage.
This was the first time in his life he had ever seen a Black Water Kui Ox. His knowledge of it was only superficial—for instance, that it was an innate Spirit Beast, and that any over a hundred years old were not to be trifled with. They were born with the ability to commune with the heavens and the earth, adept at borrowing nature’s power.
When this Black Water Kui Ox appeared today, Chen Yihan had been overjoyed. He had discovered its strength was only around the Celestial Level. With seventeen Celestial Level masters on his side, taking it down should have been easy, even on its home turf.
He never imagined that, for the sake of this creature, they would lose so much before even entering the ruins. Three brothers had been injured, and now one was dead and four more were gravely wounded!
This loss... was simply too great!
A rage he hadn’t felt in years churned within Chen Yihan’s heart, threatening to boil over. He desperately needed to vent it.
"The rest of you, head back to the ruins and tend to the wounded," Chen Yihan said in a low voice. "I will collect the Black Water Kui Ox’s Profound Pill and Essence Blood. I was careless this time. Third Brother will not have died in vain. From this day forward, his family is the Cyan Dragon Royal Family’s responsibility!" The others, though grief-stricken, could only obey.
After all, none of them had expected a Celestial Level Spirit Beast to possess such a terrifying counterattack.
Chen Yihan floated to the shore. His cold gaze swept over the spot where Qin Li and his companions were hiding. "Stop hiding," he said lightly. "Did you think I wouldn’t notice you just because you suppressed your auras? Heh. You sorely underestimate the power of a Celestial Level expert. Let alone a few grown people, not even a handful of ants could escape my notice!"
’Damn it, you could have said something sooner! We got soaked for nothing!’ Qin Li grumbled internally. He took the lead and stood up. The others rose as well, Cultivating to dry their clothes as they emerged from their hiding spot. In their hearts, they now had a much more direct understanding of the power a Celestial Level expert possessed.
Chen Yihan had been furious, intending to vent his anger on these oblivious fools. But when he saw them, he froze, completely stunned.
’What... what kind of pathetic group is this?’ Two unattractive girls—one not even at the Profound Level, the other barely there. The big one, hmm, mediocre, around Middle Tier of the Profound Level. This young man in his twenties... ugh... he’s... actually... below Entry Grade? ’What... the... hell!’
Chen Yihan almost gave himself an internal injury from the shock of this discovery. He hadn’t felt this way even when the Black Water Kui Ox’s deathblow had killed one of his comrades just moments ago.
’I’m speechless. Truly, utterly speechless!’
’Killing people like this would just dirty my hands!’
"How... did you get in here?" Chen Yihan found it unbelievable. ’With skills worse than trash, how could they possibly have made it this deep?’
He glanced up at the steep cliffs overhead and shook his head. ’Impossible. Absolutely impossible! Which of the eight main peaks of Phoenix Mountain *doesn’t* have a Celestial Level Spirit Beast guarding it? That’s not even up for debate. For years, countless Adventurers have proven that fact with their blood and tears.’
Then, another possibility occurred to him. ’Could these guys have come in through the main entrance?’ He considered this because his men hadn’t been the first to arrive, and their subsequent sweep of the area hadn’t been particularly thorough. It was normal for a few fish to have slipped through the net.
Chen Yihan immediately decided his second theory was correct. He had no interest in even questioning them. Normally, he wouldn’t deign to give people like this a second glance. He was about to shoo them away, but then he glanced at the Black Water Kui Ox on the ground and hesitated. ’Having a few lackeys might not be so bad,’ he thought. ’In a critical moment, I could even throw them to a Spirit Beast to buy some time!’
So he said, "You few, from this day forward, you will follow me. As long as you’re obedient, I guarantee you future wealth and glory! You don’t know who I am, do you? I am the Royal Family’s chief Great Tributor, Chen Yihan!"
