“What are you losing your head over? I’m here! Who is there that would dare to harm my apprentice!?” Gu La was wearing a luxurious robe, and his hair floated in the wind as he flew down from up in the air. His expression was one of pride and aloofness, as if he were the most esteemed person under Heaven.

This was especially true considering he stood atop a thirty-meter long Flood Dragon with violet scales. The Flood Dragon’s fierce eyes were pale white making it so that even though the dragon emitted a strong aura of death, it still looked divine and mighty, anything but ordinary. Its domineering aura was enough to cause anyone to take it very seriously.

Gu La stood there atop the Flood Dragon, emanating billowing aura. Next to him, the other Crow Soldier Tribe Cultivators all had Cultivation bases at the Core Formation stage. Clearly, none were ordinary Tribe members, but rather influential figures.

They cl.u.s.tered around Gu La as he shot down from the sky. Gu La glanced coolly over the situation, his expression one of authority. The first thing he saw, naturally, was the enormous figure of the Wild Giant.

However, because of the angle, he was unable to see Meng Hao standing on the other side of the Wild Giant. All he could see was the Wild Giant’s obedient posture, which seemed a bit odd.

Regardless of anything, however, he was incapable of connecting the Wild Giant’s obedient behaviour to Meng Hao. In his mind, this was the Western Desert, and that inhuman freak had forgotten about him long ago in the Black Lands. There was no way he would reappear.

Half a year ago, he would not have been so firm in his conviction. But after all this time had pa.s.sed in comfort and safety, this way of thinking was deeply rooted in Gu La.

The second thing he noticed was Big Hairy and the Black Bat, as well as the rest of the neo-demon horde which stood beneath the shadow of the Wild Giant.

As for the Crow Scout Tribe members, Gu La completely ignored them.

“Those two neo-demon Kings are extraordinary! Having roamed the Western Desert for years, I can say that such neo-demons are rarely seen.” Gu La smiled, not paying too much attention to his pleading apprentice. Hands clasped behind his back, he stood there looking down at the scene.

As he spoke, Big Hairy looked up at him; cruel and cold killing intent shone in his eyes. Even his white fur seemed to emanate an icy desire to kill.

The Black Bat’s mysterious eyes narrowed. It could sense an intense pressure emanating from Gu La. It stared at him, baring a mouthful of sharp teeth.

As for the rest of the neo-demons, they trembled beneath the mighty pressure emitted by the Flood Dragon which floated above them.

As for Wu Chen and the others from the Crow Scout Tribe, their faces were pale. Seeing the group from the Crow Soldier Tribe arrive, as well as the terrifying Flood Dragon and Gu La, they all began to breathe heavily.

“That’s… that’s rank 7 Dragoneer Grandmaster Gu La from the Crow Soldier Tribe!!” blurted Wu Chen. He looked over at Meng Hao, and, seeing his calm expression, suddenly felt a bit better.

Meanwhile up in mid-air, the other Crow Soldier Tribe members started laughing in response to the words Gu La had just spoken.

“Those two neo-demons really do look extraordinary. Hahaha! Congratulations Grandmaster Gu, you’ve acquired two neo-demon Kings today. You’re going to be even more powerful than before.”

“Great! Your luck is astonis.h.i.+ng, Grandmaster Gu. Those two are definitely rare neo-demons!”

From the pleasant laughter, it was clear that they meant what they said; these neo-demon Kings really were rare. Hearing their words and laughter, Gu La’s face filled with complacency and happiness. He was truly excited after having seen Big Hairy and the Black Bat.

“Apprentice offers greetings to Master!” said the young man down on the ground. Seeing Gu La arrive, he heaved an inward sigh of relief. Suddenly a feeling of arrogance and superiority rose up within him.

“Master,” he continued, backing up even as he shouted, “I accidentally happened upon these two neo-demon Kings. I was just attempting to capture them to give to you as a gift when this guy showed up. He even attacked me and tried to take them away! Master, please take charge of administering justice!” He glared at Meng Hao with venomous hatred the entire time, a cold smile covering his lips.

“I don’t care who you are in the Crow Scout Tribe,” he went on, unable to contain his pompous complacency. “You provoked Young Master and dared to lay in ambush to take the neo-demons Master took a liking to. You’re dead for sure!”

Gu La looked over at the Wild Giant and noted its strange obedience. However, his line of sight was blocked, and still couldn’t see Meng Hao. Then he thought about his status in the Crow Soldier Tribe, and cooly said, “This is a bit improper. Apprentice, these are Fellow Daoists from the Crow Scout Tribe. You really shouldn’t say such evil things about them.”

“I acknowledge my mistake, Master,” said the young man, lowering his head and putting on a victimized appearance. “However, this guy is really strong. If you hadn’t arrived in time, I would definitely have been a corpse already.”

Having heard what was being said, Meng Hao chuckled, then slowly took a step forward, emerging from the cover of the Wild Giant. Now, everyone up above could see him clearly. He looked up toward the proud, dignified Gu La.

Even as Meng Hao began to step out, Gu La heard his apprentice’s words and began to respond, his expression dignified, his jaw lifted up. “Well then, let’s see who exactly it was that would possibly dare to mess with Gu La’s discip… uh? What?! URGHK!!”

Gu La’s eyes went wide. The first part of the end of his sentence, “uh,” represented shock.

The second part, “what?!” represented disbelief.

The third part “URGHK” … was an enormous gasp

Suddenly, he couldn’t breath. His face instantly twisted as if he had suddenly caught sight of an evil spirit just arisen from the Yellow Springs. As he stared down, his mind filled with a roaring sound, as if thunder boomed about inside of it.

The roaring inside his mind was actually similar to that of ten thousand horses galloping about inside his skull. His consciousness was trampled, shattered, as he suddenly realized why the Wild Giant was acting so obediently.

“d.a.m.n you, Wild Giant,” he thought, weeping inwardly. “I took care of you all this time in vain. You, you, you… you ran into that inhuman jinx first, why the h.e.l.l didn’t you at least tip me off?”

At the same time as this was happening, the surrounding Crow Soldier Tribe members saw Meng Hao. Their expressions were that of indifference as they began to call out.

“Fellow Daoist from the Crow Scout Tribe, your actions are beyond proper. Since Grandmaster Gu La’s apprentice saw these neo-demons first, that means he had the right to capture them. For you to steal them in such a fas.h.i.+on is taking advantage of the Crow Soldier Tribe in an extreme way!”

“It turns out the trifling Crow Scout Tribe is full of bandits! I bet that guy is a Crow Scout Tribe va.s.sal. Piddling va.s.sal, do you really dare to be so aggressive? I’d love to see if you have the gall to try to kill any Crow Soldier Tribe members while we’re around?!”

Of course, the Cultivators who had accompanied Gu La had no idea who Meng Hao was. Although he had caused a stir in the Crow Scout Tribe, the Greatfather and other powerful members of the Tribe had interfered with the spread of news. This enabled Meng Hao’s ident.i.ty to remain a mystery; no outsider knew any of the details.

Even news of his battle with Mo Fang had been suppressed on strict orders from the Tribe. Not a sc.r.a.p of information had leaked out.

Trembling, Gu La suddenly said, “Hahaha! Actually, I’m pretty tired today. Take care everyone, I’ll take my leave.” He immediately began to back up, and was about to turn and transform into a beam of light and flee at top speed when he was blocked by some of the nearby Crow Soldier Tribe members.

“Grandmaster Gu, what’s wrong?”

“Yeah, what’s going on Grandmaster Gu? Those two neo-demon Kings are matchlessly divine and mighty. It’s impossible to be mistaken, completely impossible. They’re definitely neo-demon Kings!”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter,” gushed Gu La, his heart shaking. “I suddenly remembered that I forgot to feed one of my neo-demon hordes. That’s… um, see you….” He shoved off the restraining hands of the Crow Soldier Tribe members and was about to ignore everyone and leave.

However, his young apprentice, seeing Gu La about to leave, suddenly shot into the air to block his way. “Master, this guy didn’t just attack me, when I mentioned your name, he suddenly got all arrogant and bossy. He even insulted YOU, Master. This is intolerable!”

Meng Hao watched all of this with a smileless smile. Patting the Wild Giant next to him, he suddenly realized that this new version of Gu La was much more amusing than before.

Wu Chen and the others from the Crow Scout Tribe were all staring in shock as the scene unfolded. Confused expressions covered their faces. They couldn’t understand why Grandmaster Gu La would arrive in such an impressive, overwhelming fas.h.i.+on, but then act like this. Without even thinking about it, they looked over at Meng Hao.

It wasn’t just them. The group from the Crow Soldier Tribe also could tell that something fishy was going on.

“Screw off!!” roared Gu La. He lifted his hand and was just about to push the young man out of the way when Meng Hao’s voice again could be heard.

“Since you’re here,” Meng Hao said with a laugh, “there’s no need to rush off.”

These words immediately caused Gu La to begin to quiver. He slowly turned, forcing a smile onto his face that made it look almost like he was crying. His body began to shake violently, and his mind roared. A roar of frustration and rage echoed out within his heart.

“How could it be…?” he thought. “This is the Western Desert…. It’s not the Black Lands…. How could he be here…? I, I, I….” Images began to flicker through his mind. That of the first moment he had met Meng Hao, to all the research he had been subjected to, and finally his recent happy days. Now, however, the good times had evaporated into a nightmare that would never go away.

“How could it be…?” Gu La felt grief and indignation, but he had no choice but turn blinking to look at Meng Hao and pretend that he had just noticed him. His expression was one of happiness, although all ability to think or even speak had left him.

Before he had a chance to say anything to Meng Hao, Gu La’s Third apprentice noted the fact that his Master was turning around and then let out an inward sigh of relief. The he turned to glare viciously at Meng Hao.

“You’re dead! You provoked a rank 7 Dragoneer. Even if you are from the Crow Scout Tribe, they won’t protect you now!” The young man was growing even more aggressive. At the moment, he wasn’t paying any attention to the two neo-demons next to Meng Hao. In his mind, few people in the five Tribes of the Crow Divinity would possibly dare to enrage his Master.

Gu La’s expression changed, and his heart began to pound.

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This chapter was sponsored by Davjd Siffert