Conversations immediately broke out.

“Greenwood Bat! Of the three Greenwood totems, none are technically stronger than the others. What’s most important is the Cultivator’s connection with the neo-demon. In my opinion, Wu Ali has more potential than anyone else in his generation. It’s said that his Greenwood Bat was raised personally by rank 5 Dragoneer Mo Fang!” [1]

“I’ve got my eye on Wu Ali too. Normal Tribe members can acquire Greenleaf totems, but only the three great bloodlines have access to the special totems, the Greenwood Wolves, Greenwood Bats and Greenwood Snakes! The Greatfather and the Priests can combine all three totems into a totem of the Ancestor Tree. It seems to me that Wu Ali is definitely going to grow up to be a Chosen.”

“There’s no need to even mention Priests. They appear without any sign or indication. Whenever a Priest dies, his consciousness will return to Ancestor Greenwood Tree to be reincarnated. In any case, that Greenwood Bat sure does look extraordinary. Any neo-demon raised by rank 5 Dragoneer Mo Fang will definitely be the most powerful in its level. Probably the only thing that could be most powerful would be something raised by Mo Fang’s father. He’s the most powerful Dragoneer in the Tribe, level seven Grandmaster Mo Zi….” [2. Mo Zi’s name in Chinese is 墨子 mò zǐ. This name is exactly the same as a famous Chinese philosopher]

Hearing all the discussions made Wu Chen feel as if all the blood in his body was rus.h.i.+ng into his head. He took a step forward and was about to say something when Wu Ling suddenly called out.

“Grandmaster Shui Mu, your a.s.sistance is requested!”

Wu Ling truly did not believe Meng Hao to be capable of securing victory. In order to prevent any loss of face, she spoke before Wu Chen could. As soon as she did, all gazes fell upon old man Shui Mu.

Shui Mu gave a dry cough. Actually, this was his first time to engage in a neo-demon duel with someone of the three great bloodlines. Although he talked a big game, inwardly he was very focused on the opportunity present here. He had a chance now to increase his reputation, as well as gain other benefits, especially if he won.

He waved his right hand, causing the Greenwood Snake on his shoulder to fly into the air. It was like a green bolt of lightning that shot out to hover in front of the Greenwood Bat, its forked tongue flicking, its eyes radiating coldness.

The Greenwood Bat’s expression didn’t change at all, although the coldness in its eyes grew more intense.

“I am Shui Mu. Presumably you all are familiar with my name, Fellow Daoists. I have been raising this Greenwood Snake for an entire year. The reason it took so long with this particular neo-demon is that I tested out a special technique on it to bring forth some mutations!” Shui Mu pointed with his right hand, causing the Greenwood Snake to begin to tremble. Suddenly, a horn emerged from the middle of the snake’s flat, glossy forehead.

This instantly caused a small commotion among the surrounding Cultivators, even the High Priest, who did a double take.

Meng Hao’s eyes flashed as he examined the snake. Then, he began to laugh inwardly. Obviously, the horn was no mutation, but rather, a simple transplant. It was hard to say what beast it had been taken from, but it obviously had simply added it onto the snake. There were some people in the audience who realized this and paid the thing little heed. However, most of the onlookers appeared to be very interested in matter.

Seeing the looks of interest caused Shui Mu to get even more excited. It was at this point that the High Priest cleared his throat. “Very well. Let’s begin,” he said.

Immediately, Shui Mu waved his finger, causing the Greenwood Snake to fly at top speed toward the Greenwood Bat.

Wu Ali was feeling a bit nervous. Before, he had never paid the slightest attention to Shui Mu, but considering the man had raised a neo-demon that had a horn, it suddenly made him feel uneasy. Focusing his thoughts, he caused the Greenwood Bat’s eyes to s.h.i.+ne with coldness and then shoot forward.

In the blink of an eye, the two green beams of light slammed into each other. Booming sounds echoed out, along with a sharp shriek. Green-colored ripples spread out in all directions.

Wu Chen looked up, his face filled with anxiety, and his fists clenched tightly. He had been a bit irritated that his sister cut him off earlier, but now he had little time to consider it. His eyes were fixed on the two green beams of light in mid-air.

Wu Ling stood off to the side, feeling extremely anxious. Although she constantly told Wu Chen to endure the suffering silently, she was actually extremely furious. It was only to keep the both of them safe that she counselled him to show restraint. As for this neo-demon duel, she had fought hard to earn the right to have it. All her hope rested on Grandmaster Shui Mu. Hopefully, a victory here would ensure that the totem medallion stayed safely in their bloodline.

Meng Hao looked up at the Greenwood Snake and its horn. It was currently radiating reddish light that increased its speed. He nodded. “So it is somewhat useful after all.”

It was at this time that a miserable shriek suddenly filled the air as one of the green beams of light suddenly split into two, and a shower of blood filled the air.

The green beam was none other than the Greenwood Snake. Part of its body fell toward the ground, which the Greenwood Bat s.n.a.t.c.hed up and ripped into shreds with its sharp teeth. It then looked back up at the Greenwood Snake in the air above, which currently only had half a body left.

The Greenwood Bat let out a cry as it charged up. The Greenwood Snake tried to avoid it. Unfortunately, even with the aid of the glow emitted by the red horn on its head, it was unable to dodge. In the blink of an eye, the Greenwood Bat was right at its side. It bit into the snake, which let out a miserable shriek. Its body began to wither, and within the s.p.a.ce of a few breaths, had turned into a shrivelled corpse, its essence absorbed by the Greenwood Bat.

Wu Chen’s face fell, and he staggered backward as if the weight of an entire mountain had just slammed into him. He laughed bitterly.

Wu Ling’s eyes filled with grief as she looked around helplessly.

Conversations immediately broke out among the audience.

“This defeat was destined to occur. There wasn’t even a need to have a duel between Wu Chen and Wu Ali!”

“One is useless trash, the other is a Chosen! What’s there to compare!?”

“Wu Ali controlled his neo-demon with as much skill as a Dragoneer, and took the upper hand. You can see from this that Wu Chen doesn’t even have the confidence to control neo-demons.”

Of course, all of these various conversations could be heard by Wu Chen and Wu Ling.

As for Grandmaster Shui Mu, his expression was calm. He shook his head and said, “It seems I still need to work on my Greenwood Snakes,” he said coolly. “However, as you can all see, the changes I made to the snake increased its speed quite a bit. It may have been defeated by the Greenwood Bat, but the main reason would be that the Greenwood Bat was raised personally by rank 5 Dragoneer Mo Fang. How could my Greenwood Snake have possibly defeated it?” He smiled as looked around at the audience, many of whom still had looks of interest on their faces. He had accomplished his goal, and was now certain that it wouldn’t be long before more people began to seek out his services.

Seeing the ashen look on Wu Chen’s face tore at Wu Ling’s heart. She turned toward Shui Mu and angrily said, “Grandmaster Shui Mu, you told me you were eighty percent certain you could achieve victory! If you had told me before what you said just now, then I wouldn’t have gone to the Greatfather to beg for permission to hold this neo-demon duel!”

“So childis.h.!.+” said Shui Mu with an annoyed flick of a sleeve. “Neo-demon duels are filled with countless unpredictability. Even if I said I was ninety percent certain, that’s just my opinion based on my judgement. After all your years practicing Cultivation, do you really not understand something so simple?”

“You!!” she cried, glaring at Shui Mu. However, a bitter smile slowly appeared on her face. Shui Mu was a level 3 Dragoneer, and an official va.s.sal. Despite her being a descendant of the three great bloodlines, she was currently in a very poor position. She knew she had been used, but there was really nothing she could do about the situation except laugh bitterly.

“Definitely a bit childish,” said Meng Hao with a light cough.

As soon as his voice rang out, Shui Mu gave a cold harumph. Wu Chen’s pale face suddenly flushed with blood as he looked over at Meng Hao. The look in his eyes was like that of a drowning man who suddenly saw a piece of wood floating in front of him.

Panting, Wu Chen walked forward. Bowing deeply, he said, “Grandmaster, I beg for your a.s.sistance!”

Wu Ling looked over at him, flames of rage dancing in her eyes. One word at a time, she said, “How certain are you that you can win?”

“About eighty,” replied Meng Hao with a smile. He looked over at his Greenwood Wolves and then pointed at Hairy #5.

Hairy #5 suddenly looked up. His eyes radiating a cold glow, he shot forward. He performed no flashy moves, but instead transformed into a green beam of light that sped directly toward the Greenwood Bat.

Wu Ali’s eyes filled with scorn. Of the three great bloodline totems, Greenwood Wolves were the largest and also excelled in speed. However, in his mind, they couldn’t compare to Greenwood Bats at all, and he felt absolutely confident that his Greenwood Bat could sweep across all over level 2 totems. He sent his will out, already able to visualize the desiccated corpse of the wolf.

He laughed coldly. Moments before, he had been a bit nervous facing up against Grandmaster Shui Mu. However, Meng Hao was nothing but a random stranger who he didn’t care a bit about.

As he sent his will out, the Greenwood Bat let out a piercing cry and shot toward Hairy #5.

However, before it could barely even move, Hairy #5 increased his speed. This was not an increase of double or triple, but rather a multiple of ten!

He blurred into something that looked like a ghost, a speed which shouldn’t be possible for level 2 neo-demons. A screaming sound like that of a thunderstorm filled the air. Amidst the roaring, and before the Greenwood Bat could even react, Hairy #5 was directly in front of it. His eyes radiated coldness as he bit down.

A bloodcurdling shriek poured out of the mouth of the Greenwood Bat. The sound only lasted for a moment before suddenly stopped. Hairy #5 swallowed down the hand-sized bat in a single gulp.

There was a green blur, and then Hairy #5 was back at Meng Hao’s side. From the time he had left Meng Hao’s side until the time he returned, only a single breath of time had pa.s.sed!

This was a complete fatality of the same level!!

Everything was deathly silent. The surrounding audience’s eyes were wide, and they looked like they couldn’t even breathe. Their minds spun with unprecedented shock.

Wu Chen stood there in a daze, and Wu Ling’s dainty mouth was wide open. Her expression was one of shock and blankness, as if she were dreaming.

Wu Ali stared blankly. The Greenwood Bat had died too quickly for him to even react.

Wu Hai was also in the crowd. Moments ago when he’d seen Meng Hao getting ready to make a move, he had been worried. Now, however, he was staring wide-eyed, his mind a complete blank.

Wu Ali and the rest of the members of his bloodline stared, stupefied, their minds spinning. Things had happened so quickly they didn’t even have a chance to tremble.

As for the Grand Elder, his eyes instantly filled with an unprecedented glow as he stared at Hairy #5. The Earth Priest took a deep breath and looked over at Meng Hao, his gaze glowing as brightly as the sun.

A long moment pa.s.sed before a buzz filled the air.

“Instant… instant fatality? An instant fatality of the same level!!”

“That’s a mutated Greenwood Wolf! Heavens, that’s a mutated Greenwood Wolf!!”

“It was so fast! Its speed… is even greater than that of a level 3 neo-demon! This wasn’t a neo-demon duel, it was an absolute slaughter!!”

“The only people who can raise neo-demons like this… are high level Dragoneers!!”

It was at this moment during the reactions that all eyes came to rest… on Meng Hao.

This chapter was sponsored by Alexander Gates, Dennis Liu, Sarah Tracy, Kevin Song, Hoang Nguyen, Giovanni Palamara, Brian Nguyen