Chapter Ninety-Six: The Pinnacle Manifestation

Page (1/3)

Just as Hu San was about to release the arrow from his hand, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed two monsters standing motionless inside the pavilion. One was the massive purple bear, and the other was a long-tailed peacock covered in blue and red feathers.

After observing the battle more closely, Hu San realized that the small monsters on the field were not very strong. Translated into human martial artist terms, the strongest among them was merely a top-tier advanced warrior, roughly equivalent to an eighth or ninth level cultivator. None had truly surpassed the warrior level to reach the level of a Law Gathering stage cultivator.

Seeing this, Hu San could not help but frown slightly, relaxing the arrow in his hand that was about to be shot. From every angle, these small monsters seemed merely like pawns; the real threat was the two large monsters behind them.

Uncertain about the true capabilities of the two large monsters, and recalling his earlier experience fighting serpent demons, Hu San’s heart trembled slightly, choosing to remain hidden for the moment. With a flick of his arm, unnoticed by others, he replaced the Nine Bulls Bow in his hand with an ordinary strong bow.

“The most worrying thing is whether that yellow ox has arrived yet. If it has, then I won’t be able to leave safely today without revealing the Black Sword. But if I expose the Black Sword and fail to silence these monsters, the danger could be a thousand times worse.”

His eyes roamed the battlefield as his thoughts churned.

“For now, the best plan is to keep waiting. I’ll hide among this group, and when they have exhausted the strength of these monsters, I’ll make my move. When I strike, I must ensure a severe blow to those two big monsters. Otherwise, once they’re alert, it will be impossible to deal with them. I just don’t know how those on the field will respond, whether they can force out the two big monsters and any hidden beasts.”

Hu San gradually made up his mind and slowly retreated into the shadow of a large wagon. From time to time, he shot a few arrows from his ordinary strong bow to disrupt the monsters’ fighting, but always from a hidden spot, thus drawing no attention.

By this time, several battle groups had formed on the field. Ren Tang, cooperating with caravan warriors, was holding off a leopard demon, while the two Purple-Clad Assassins teamed with two caravan warriors to restrain another serpent demon. These two monsters were relatively strong, roughly at the eighth inner energy level.

Besides these, three other eighth-level monsters had broken into the caravan. Two of them were trapped within the Seven-Star Formation by Zitong from Lingfeng Mountain and his subordinates and appeared unable to escape anytime soon. The other was entangled by the Iron Centipede Guild and some scattered warriors.

The remaining monsters, though strong, were only equivalent to second-tier warriors. With the remaining warriors and caravan guards fighting desperately, they posed no immediate threat.

Combined with Hu San’s occasional cold shots—though not using the Nine Bulls Bow or imbuing his shots with energy—with his cultivation level, every strike was precise and effective. As a result, instead of the monsters breaking through and tearing the human lines, they were gradually being suppressed.

Inside the pavilion, the usually calm young man in the brocade robe became slightly unsettled at the sight.

He glanced at the two monsters who showed no intention of joining the fight and bit his lip nervously. Bowing, he said, “Your Majesties, the enemy is now trapped like fish in a barrel. They are on the verge of complete collapse. This is all thanks to you, Your Majesties. I thank you in advance. However, our lord has ordered a swift and decisive battle. May I ask how Your Majesties wish to proceed?”

Though he did not state it outright, his meaning was clear: he was urging the two monsters to enter the fight.

“Heh heh!” The purple giant bear bared its maw filled with sharp teeth and cast a malevolent glance at the dead serpent demons on the ground. With a deep voice, it said, “It’s not that we don’t wish to end this quickly, but there are some strange things here. Brother Ox is not here to hold the formation, so we must be cautious.”

“You wouldn’t understand. Even a powerful monster like the Electric Serpent died unnoticed in Tianluo Village. This mess is not as easy as you think.”

“Do you mean there might be hidden experts here?”

The man in the brocade robe was slightly stunned and then fixed his surprised gaze back on the battlefield.

Page (2/3)

“It’s hard to say if they’re hiding, but although the strongest royal experts like Brother Ox have gone to handle things, we should be relatively safe here. Still, one can never be too careful. Didn’t you see the miserable fate of the small serpents after the Electric Serpent died? Heh heh, though I’m not the sharpest, I know that if our lord falls, the small monsters who followed me will suffer terribly. Even if they don’t become cannon fodder, their fate won’t be better than those serpents.”

The giant bear gritted its teeth and cast a sidelong glance at the silent peacock beside it. “Blue-Red, I suppose you think the same?”

“Hee hee, I don’t have as many dark thoughts as you. Anyway, those top-tier experts won’t last much longer. Since victory is in sight, why complicate things?” The peacock smiled faintly.

Seeing the two demon kings speak thus, the young man in the brocade robe opened his mouth but could only give up further persuasion and sat down again. As the peacock had said, with victory near, he didn’t want to fight personally. Most importantly, he had reliable intelligence that the person they sought was among the group. He needed to carefully identify who it was, for if the intel was correct, that thing was most likely with that individual.

The reason he chose this route was precisely for that thing.

The battlefield developed just as the peacock predicted. Although the Iron Centipede and others desperately blocked an eighth-level monster, it was only a delay. Gradually, as time passed, the warriors began to lag behind the monsters due to exhaustion of their internal energy. In contrast, the monsters, relying on their formidable bodies, cared little about this consumption. Slowly, the situation reversed, and the humans were pushed into a disadvantage.

“I didn’t expect Ren Tang to silently break through to a top-tier expert level. Truly admirable. When did he break through? Why do I have no impression of it?” Hu San, while shooting cold arrows to keep the situation from collapsing, focused most of his attention on the front of the caravan, watching with interest Ren Tang and two warriors fighting the monsters together. The energy radiating from Ren Tang showed that this warrior, who Hu San had remembered as only sixth level, had quietly become a top-tier expert.

If he hadn’t been preserving his strength all along, then he must have broken through during the journey. This surprised Hu San greatly.

“Although his energy is condensed, it’s still shallow. He can barely hold his own against the monsters for now, but defeat is clearly imminent. If those two monsters do not act soon, I might have no choice but to intervene. Otherwise, if the entire formation falls, the danger to me will only increase.”

Hu San’s eyes flickered as he noticed the two monsters in the pavilion remaining calm, even sitting down, showing no intention of fighting. Their intention to hold back was obvious.

“Judging by their demeanor, these two must be the strongest on the field. That means the possibility of hidden monsters is very slim.”

His mind racing, Hu San’s longbow suddenly gleamed as he swapped the ordinary strong bow back to the massive Nine Bulls Bow. At this point, it seemed he could no longer hold back.

Except for Zitong of Lingfeng Mountain and a few others who still held two monsters in place, the other experts, including the Iron Centipede Guild and Ren Tang, were all wavering. Especially the Purple-Clad Assassins, whose cultivation levels were below top-tier, were barely managing to restrain an eighth-level monster. Their persistence thus far was nearly miraculous.

Even if all four died in the next moment, Hu San would not be surprised.

Hu San noticed the situation on the field, and so did the two monsters in the pavilion. Moreover, the warriors fighting in the formation were also aware, but aside from anxiety, there was nothing they could do.

At this critical moment, just as Hu San drew the Nine Bulls Bow, fingertips pinching two meteor arrows, suddenly a flash of black light appeared. A black-robed old man, previously crouched behind the Purple-Clad Assassins in the caravan, suddenly dashed out.

Before anyone could react, the old man emitted a fierce red glow, like a blazing sun rising in the dark night.

The unprepared eighth-level wolf monster could only watch helplessly as the fiery light engulfed it.

Page (3/3)

“Crack!”

A grating sound filled the air as the firelight brushed past the wolf monster. When the smoke cleared, the massive body of the wolf monster split slowly in half from the waist, sliding down to the ground.

A heart-wrenching, agonized howl followed. At this moment, since the start of the great battle, the first significant monster had finally fallen.

“Energy fully condensed!”

“An unrivaled expert?”

Witnessing this, the two monsters and the man in the pavilion suddenly stood up. The giant bear rumbled again, saying, “Could this be their ace? In that case, our lord can rest assured.”

“Old Bear, stop talking nonsense. We deal with this one first.”

The peacock’s tail feathers quivered, its eyes blazing a chilling emerald light. Under the moonlit night, the whole mountaintop was enveloped in a cold aura. Wisps of green mist floated, giving a ghostly atmosphere.

At this moment, the black-robed old man struck again, cooperating with the now freed Purple-Clad Assassins and Ren Tang to slay another eighth-level monster.

“Interesting!”

Seeing this swift and deadly scene, Hu San eased his grip slightly and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. The direction of his shot suddenly shifted, aiming at the two monsters trapped in the Seven-Star Formation.

Then his arm tensed sharply, a streak of azure light curling upward into the meteor arrow, dragging a long blue-green trail.

“Ping!”

A subtle sonic boom was heard, followed by the piercing whistle of the Nine Bulls Bow’s string slicing through the air. The meteor arrow resembled a blue-green dragon in the night, trailing a long azure tail as it pierced straight into the Seven-Star Formation.

At this moment, neither the women from Lingfeng Mountain maintaining the formation nor the two trapped eighth-level monsters had yet recovered from the shock of the black-robed old man’s sudden eruption of power.

By the time they regained their senses, the blue-green dragon had already fully descended upon them.