Wu Chen had the sudden urge to cry out. Moments ago he had been the object of ridicule; a breath later it was the exact opposite. He couldn’t speak, and in fact, tears welled up in his eyes and began to flow down his face. He started to laugh. This laughter was a release of all the pressure that he had felt over the past years.
At the moment, he didn’t even care about the totem medallion. All he cared about was this feeling of finally rising up, the feeling of no longer being below others.
Disbelief filled the eyes of Wu Ling, and her brain felt as if it were being struck by a hundred thousand lightning bolts. What had happened just now didn’t seem possible, and all she could do was stare with wide eyes at Meng Hao.
Her mind was a complete blank; the only thing she could think about was how staunchly Wu Chen had insisted on asking Meng Hao for help.
Slowly, her face grew pale as she thought of all the things she had said. Then she thought about the things she hadn’t spoken out but only thought, and of her plans to kill Meng Hao.
All of these things filled her with complex emotions, as if everything she had said and done up to now was one big joke.
Conversations continued among the audience.
“The strangest thing is that Wu Ling asked for help from Grandmaster Shui Mu when there was a powerful expert like this in the Crow Scout Tribe.”
“Even more strange is how the brother and sister looked so hopeless after Grandmaster Shui Mu was defeated….”
Hearing these conversations caused Wu Ling’s beautiful face to begin to redden. It wasn’t a flush of bashfulness, but rather, deep shame.
She wasn’t sure what she should say. All her words and actions were exactly as Meng Hao had said, childish. There really was no other words that could describe them.
Wu Ali’s face was deathly pale, as if it didn’t contain even a single tiny drop of blood. He had been branded to the neo-demon at the time of its death, and it seemed he had been injured as a result. His Cultivation base was even unstable and on the verge of suffering injury.
The Crow Scout Tribe’s Grand Elder, the middle-aged man, gave a cold harumph. Immediately, other members of his bloodline stepped forward to settle the shaking of Wu Ali’s Cultivation base. All of them looked at Meng Hao with killing intent.
Off to the side, Shui Mu was panting, his eyes filled with disbelief. What had happened just now filled his mind with buzzing. Then he heard what people were saying around him, and it was as if a viper were inside of him biting into his heart. His eyes instantly became bloodshot.
Being defeated by the neo-demon of a rank 5 Dragoneer wasn’t too bad. In fact, it was almost an honor. But the fact that the neo-demon he had raised didn’t measure up at all to Meng Hao’s filled him with intense jealousy and hatred.
“That’s only one of the five neo-demons you've raised!” he said through gritted teeth. “I predicted such extraordinariness when they were young and I was raising them. Although I didn’t know it would mutate, and I could see that it was extraordinary!” His words caused the expressions of the surrounding Crow Scout Tribe members to change.
“Don’t tell me it was all just a coincidence?”
“That would certainly explain why this guy isn’t famous. He really just struck it lucky and got a mutated neo-demon.”
As the discussions continued, Wu Ali glared at Meng Hao. His voice hoa.r.s.e, he said, “I refuse to admit defeat!! If you really have what it takes, then switch to another neo-demon and we’ll have another duel!”
As he spoke, he slapped his chest and then stretched out his hand. Immediately, a black skull appeared in his palm. He threw it out, whereupon it exploded with a boom, transforming into a black bone dust which spread out in all directions. The bone dust emitted a strange and unique aura.
As soon as the aura appeared, a roaring could be heard from further up on the mountain. Next, a black beam descended. It took only the s.p.a.ce of a few breaths for it to arrive in the square. As it did, the black beam of light transformed into a black bat!
The bat was black, but green veins could be seen all over its body. A black aura pulsed off of it, and its eyes were bright red. It emanated a malevolent aura, and emanated the pressure of a level 3 neo-demon.
The appearance of the bat caused quite a commotion among the audience, which immediately buzzed with conversation.
“A level 3 Greenwood Bat!! And it’s mutated! If it weren’t, it wouldn’t be black!”
“I recognize that bat! It’s a venomous Greenwood Bat raised by Grandmaster Mo Fang! It’s actually only level 2, but because it’s mutated, it emanates the pressure of a level 3 neo-demon.”
“I remember some people offering an exorbitant price for that bat a few years ago, but Grandmaster Mo Fang wasn’t willing to give it up….”
The bat floated there in mid-air, gazing around with its crimson eyes, which came to rest on the five Greenwood Wolves next to Meng Hao. The bat opened its mouth to reveal a set of sharp black teeth. It let out a howl, then flickered as it shot toward Meng Hao.
The speed with which it approached seemed comparable to the Greenwood Wolf from moments ago.
“Hairy #4,” said Meng Hao coolly, standing there as if he didn’t even see the incoming black bat. Moments ago, Hairy #4 had been standing there looking bored, but as soon as he heard Meng Hao’s command, he suddenly lifted his head up and howled.
Immediately, ripples spread out in all directions. The instant the ripples touched the bat, it began to tremble. Whereas moments ago it had been speeding forward, it now involuntarily stopped.
As soon as it stopped moving, Hairy #4 shot forward with explosive speed that exceeded that of Hairy #5 by double. In the blink of an eye, it was upon the black bat, whereupon it slashed out with its claws.
A boom filled the air, along with a miserable shriek. Just now, everyone had taken this black bat to be beyond ordinary. It was even mutated! Now, though, it took only a moment for its entire body to explode. Under the claws of Hairy #4, it died in an instant.
The entire fight lasted for only the s.p.a.ce of one breath.
This was another… instant fatality!
Hairy #4 turned into a green blur as he returned to Meng Hao’s side. The surrounding Crow Scout Tribe members were all breathing raggedly, and their eyes were wide. The scene just now left them in complete silence for a moment, after which a great commotion exploded out.
“That one’s also mutated!!”
“He… he has five Greenwood Wolves. Don’t tell me they’re all mutated!?!?”
“The way he’s raising those Greenwood Wolves… just what rank of Dragoneer is he?!?!”
Amidst the commotion, Wu Chen and Wu Ling stared in astonishment. Wu Ali’s face was pale white, and without even thinking about it, he backed up a few paces. These two neo-demon duels far exceeded his capacity for thought; they left his mind a spinning blank.
The Crow Scout Tribe Earth Priest once again gazed thoughtfully at Meng Hao. Next to him, the Grand Elder was frowning as he glared at Meng Hao.
As for old man Shui Mu, his jaw had dropped and he was staring blankly at Meng Hao’s Greenwood Wolves, his mind a complete blank. After a moment of mental struggle, he cried, “So, it wasn’t just one mutated Greenwood Wolf, but two. Just as predicted….” Inwardly he was gnas.h.i.+ng his teeth, but on the surface, he put on a profound and mysterious air.
“You predicted that too?” said Meng Hao, a cold light gleaming in his eyes. He was starting to get annoyed at this old man’s arrogance.
“Hairy #3!” As soon as Hairy #3 heard Meng Hao’s voice, he lifted his head up and emitted an astonis.h.i.+ng howl. As it echoed out, the faces of the Crow Scout Tribe members immediately filled with shock. In addition, all of the Tribe members of the Foundation Establishment stage or lower were shaken.
Beneath the power of Hairy #3’s howl, all Cultivation bases of Foundation Establishment and lower began to involuntarily rotate. The totems tattoos of those Cultivators began to s.h.i.+ne brightly, and they felt an enormous pressure.
The power of the howl shook everything. In the blink of an eye, this scene, coupled with the actions of Hairys #4 and #5 just now, caused an even greater commotion.
“That’s… that’s another mutant!!”
“Three mutants! That guy has a total of three mutant Greenwood Wolves!”
“Each one is more powerful than the one before it! This Greenwood Wolf is even more powerful than the peak of a level 3. It’s almost the same as level 4!!”
As the commotion broke out, Shui Mu’s face flickered with various emotions. He felt as if someone were violently smas.h.i.+ng at his heart with a hammer. He staggered back a few paces.
Before he could say anything, Meng Hao’s voice could be heard. “So, did you predict that too?” he asked coolly. Shui Mu felt his mind reeling. Gnas.h.i.+ng his teeth, he was about to respond that he had, when Meng Hao patted Hairy #2 on the back.
Hairy #2 slowly looked up. He did not fly forward, nor howl. All he did was emit a green glow from his body. The glow turned into a pillar of light that shot up into the sky. Up above, it transformed into an illusory body that lifted its head up to howl….
This howl caused all of the level 3 neo-demons in the Crow Scout Tribe to tremble. They couldn’t stop themselves from prostrating and emitting simultaneous howls of reverence.
The sound caused everyone’s hearts to tremble violently. No one spoke even a single word!
People could accept one mutant. Two was shocking. But three…. It was almost impossible to believe. And four…. The members of the Crow Scout Tribe seemed to have lost their ability to even think. They stared blankly at the four Greenwood Wolves standing next to Meng Hao.
“Rank 3 Dragoneer Grandmaster Shui Mu, was this another thing that you predicted?” asked Meng Hao, his voice cold. His words caused all eyes to s.h.i.+ft onto the old man.
Shui Mu’s face twisted and he coughed up a mouthful of blood. Then, he pitched over and fell unconscious onto the ground. There was nothing else he could do in response to Meng Hao’s incisive words. As shameless as he was, it was impossible for him to actually say that he had predicted that all four of the Greenwood Wolves would be so incredible.
The moment Shui Mu fell onto the ground, a cold voice suddenly drifted down from the lofty position high up on the mountain from which the black bat had flown from.
“Those four Greenwood Wolves will be given to me, Mo Fang.”
———
Note from Er Gen: Today a huge hornet got into the house and my daughter screamed. Apparently she was thinking of a scene from a cartoon, because she immediately put on a Balala Fairy costume, grabbed a magic wand, and dragged me into battle with her. It took about half an hour, but the father-daughter team eventually won the battle against the evil hornet!