Chapter 168. Hunting the Beast Kings, the World Trembles in Panic

The northwestern plateau of Huaxia had a mountain range that looked entirely reddish-brown. At such high altitudes, temperatures were supposed to be lower, and that was even more apparent in the New Era, as extreme weather conditions had become increasingly common these days.

However, the temperatures here were extraordinarily high, at least sixty or seventy degrees Celsius.

The mountain range itself had somehow caught fire despite having no vegetation whatsoever. It was like the flames were burning on their own. Blue flames flickered at its center, a testament to the heat's intensity.

Even an Awakened wouldn't dare to approach it carelessly.

The mountain range was the legendary Huoyan Mountains. The Global Awakening had transformed the Huoyan Mountains into a region of flames spanning a thousand miles.

To make it even more dangerous, a Golden Body Realm mutated beast king dwelled within it, and it was also known as the Black Bull King.

Everything within a thousand miles was its territory, and ordinary beast kings wouldn't dare come too close to its territory.

Today, a meteor crashed down, and the mountain range itself shook violently. Feeling disturbed, the Black Bull King emerged from the depths of the Huoyan Mountains and saw a crater containing a massive beast.

The beast was so massive that its body spanned at least a hundred meters.

It was unlike any creature on Earth. It had a bull's head, a serpent's tail, and a pair of wings made of flesh and blood. Its eyes also emanated incomparable ferocity.

Moooo!

With a single roar, the ground split open and massive boulders shattered. Rings of mysterious black energy revolved around the beast. Everything that touched it was reduced to fine powder as violent gusts of astral wind billowed out of it.

"You've intruded upon my territory," the Black Bull King said. It could sense the tremendous power contained within the other creature's body, but this was still its domain, so it refused to back down. "I suggest you leave

now.

"

"Leave...?" The beast's voice sounded sharp, akin to metal striking metal. "From... now... on... I am... the ruler of this place!"

Its speech sounded unstable at first, but it eventually spoke fluently. Then, it glared at the Black Bull King, seemingly challenging and warning it at the same time.

Then, the beast charged forward without any hesitation. A wave of black energy erupted from it, and the world trembled in the face of it.

The Black Bull King was alarmed, but it steeled itself to face the enemy, determined to fight for its territory.

In response, the beast flapped its flesh wings forward, and a powerful aura erupted from it, sweeping across everything in its path.

The Black Bull King—a Golden Body Realm mutated beast honored as a beast king—was blasted away. Its body cracked open, and it looked as if it had taken a bath with its own blood. It was not the beast's match at all.

However, the unknown beast wasn't done yet. It pressed forward and stomped on the Black Bull King, shattering it into a bloody paste.

In mere moments, the Black Bull King was killed. It couldn't even resist.

Eventually, the beast from outer space flew to the peak of the Huoyan Mountains and roared. Every mutated beast within a thousand miles prostrated on the ground; they dared not resist their new king.

***

In another region somewhere in Huaxia, a beast identical to the one at the Huoyan Mountains was moving through the forests. Black energy rippled out of it, pulverizing everything in its path.

Up ahead, a snow-white fox with nine tails was fleeing desperately. It was none other than the Nine-tailed Fox King, and it was covered in its own blood.

Somewhere else, a scene of devastation was revealed. Right before a cliff, chunks of flesh lay scattered everywhere, and the ground had taken on a crimson hue from all the spilled blood.

A third bull-headed beast was nearby, howling toward the sky.

It had just hunted down one of Earth's beast kings.

Scenes like this played out across the nation, but the officials hadn't been able to keep track of each incident. Unfortunately, they were all happening just about everywhere and at the same time.

Knowing that beings from outer space had already descended, they decided to mobilize more Awakened to investigate these incidents. The approach proved to be highly effective, and many people sprang into action.

They ventured deep into many different places. Using the coordinates provided by the officials, they quickly found clues.

└ The Black Bull King of the Huoyan Mountains is dead. There's nothing left of its body.

└ What? That was a beast king! A Golden Body Realm beast king, and it was killed just like that?

└ The Nine-tailed Fox King also vanished from its territory. We found a lot of blood, but we didn't dare to go any deeper.

└ I found a cliff covered in blood. I also got some footage of the attacker. It looks bizarre, nothing like any creature on Earth.

Tens of thousands of Awakened responded to the official's call and began their investigation.

Of course, the observers took care not to get too close, recording everything with instruments from a distance. In the end, they discovered something shocking.

Upon their descent, the beings from outer space immediately took action, slaughtering numerous mutated beasts, staining the earth with blood to create terrifying scenes.

The videos uploaded to the Internet sparked heated discussion.

Everyone got a clear look at the invaders. They looked nothing like any creature on Earth, but they were truly formidable.

The officials treated the news seriously, as there wasn't just one beast; they had discovered that at least six beasts had already begun their slaughter.

A realization struck them just then.

Members of a foreign race from outer space had arrived in this world, and they hunted down mutated beasts to claim territories. No wonder Lu Yuan had warned them to consolidate their forces and abandon some of their territories.

It seemed as if he knew this would happen all along. The situation was dire, as no one knew what those beings actually wanted. The only silver lining was that they had yet to launch any attacks on human cities.

Breaking news! One of the beasts from outer space has entered the Peacock King's territory. A battle is imminent!

└ What? The Peacock King? The one considered among the absolute pinnacle of all mutated beasts in the world?"

└ Someone's nearby and has started a livestream. Let's watch."

Another piece of news spread online. A mutated beast from outer space was about to fight the Peacock King.

The Peacock King was a renowned beast king in the world. As a Golden Body Realm beast king, it was an incredibly powerful mutated beast and was considered a top-tier existence on Earth.

Today, it was about to fight a mutated beast from outer space. Naturally, everyone paid attention, and even the nation's top officials were watching the livestream.

Just then, the Peacock King spread its wings. Brilliant light radiated from its body as its Dharma Avatar manifested, looming over the mountain range. The earth shook violently with every step.

A bull-headed, serpent-tailed beast from outer space stood before it. It roared, and waves of black energy billowed out of it, sending tremors across the mountain range.

Both were terrifying creatures, and they were about to fight.

The Peacock King was truly formidable; its feathers shone with radiant light, and its physical body was even more terrifying. Vast swaths of forest were destroyed in an instant as it moved, accompanied by the deafening rumbling of the ground.

However, the beast from outer space was even stronger. It howled toward the sky and slashed out with its claws, creating a terrifying wave of light that shredded a literal mountain. The black energy shrouding it made it appear even more horrifying.

The fierce battle changed the topography of the entire mountain range. In fact, the mountains within several miles all collapsed. Nothing remained, and it was like Mother Nature herself had unleashed her wrath upon this mountain range.

In the end, the Peacock King lost. Relying on its powerful vitality, it managed to escape at the last moment despite suffering grievous injuries.

The beast from outer space didn't chase after it. Instead, it roared at its surroundings. It seemed aware that it was being watched, as it opened its mouth and spoke.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"I am a member of the Nether Bull Clan from the Thunderflash Starfield, and I have descended upon the Milky Way Starfield! Any creature of this world that dares to enter my claimed territory without my permission will be killed without mercy!"

Mooo!

It roared again, and a wave of black energy erupted from it, sweeping across the mountain range. The wave of black energy severed all electronic signals, preventing any further surveillance.

└ Oh my god, even the Peacock King lost! It was forced to flee with severe injuries!

└ The Thunderflash Starfield... the Nether Bull Clan... are they really that powerful?

└ If even the beast kings can't deal with them, what will happen if they attack our cities?

The Awakened and the civilians panicked. They were truly frightened. Based on the information they had gathered so far, the so-called members of the Nether Bull Clan had already slain dozens of Unfettered Realm beast kings since their descent and had claimed territories for themselves.

Some speculated that they were at least at the Golden Body Realm, or perhaps even at the fifth stage of evolution, the Venerable King Realm.

If they set their sights on human cities, what would happen? Conventional weapons definitely couldn't handle them. However, there was nothing that they could do about it, and the people had nowhere to run as well.

Fortunately, humanity still had an unparalleled being—King Lu.

However, could King Lu... really do something against them?

No one could say for sure.

***

At the Mount Tai Trials Academy, the top officials convened a meeting to address the situation. Of course, they followed Lu Yuan's suggestions and didn't take the initiative to provoke those beasts from outer space.

They were too strong. They had hunted down numerous beast kings and had seized many territories. Some even believed that modern weapons were useless against them. After all, some of those creatures had to be at the fifth stage of evolution, which meant their strength was simply beyond imagination.

The government was becoming even stronger by the day, and most of its Awakened had reached the Unfettered Realm, but the gap between them and those beings from outer space was still too vast.

They also had another concern; some of those beings had yet to reveal themselves. Their locations remained unknown even now, making both Elder Ji and Elder Yun feel deeply worried.

In the end, all they could do was strengthen the defenses of the supercities and deploy units of Awakened.

They also deployed those from the Three Immortal Islands, which was a formidable force in its own right.

While they were deep in their meeting, they were interrupted by Gu Sang and Asura bringing news about how the wounded Peacock King and the Nine-tailed Fox King had entered Mount Tai to meet up with the Spirit Monkey.

The Spirit Monkey had also sent a warning. The Nether Bull Clan's next target could be Mount Tai, and they had to be prepared to face them.

"They're targeting Mount Tai?" When Elder Ji and the others heard that, their faces changed. They had known this day would come, but it felt like it had arrived far too quickly. They had only just descended, after all.

"Right now, I think they're busy claiming territory for themselves. I believe they won't attack humans for now," someone said, believing they need not worry too much for now.

However, someone quickly voiced their objection. Ever since the officials took control of Mount Tai, the Spirit Monkey had been working pretty well with them.

Once the members of the Nether Bull Clan were here, a battle was sure to erupt.

They would have to do something by then. After all, the two sides were allies. The problem was that the battle would be extremely difficult, as the gap in strength was simply too great.

After careful consideration, Elder Ji said, "Regardless of anything else, the Spirit Monkey has shown goodwill to us. It has allowed us to freely take resources from Mount Tai. We absolutely cannot stand by and do nothing. We must help it."

"Conventional weapons may not be very effective at this point in time, but they're not completely useless. Once they get here, we must make a move."

Elder Ji's stance was clear. In his eyes, the members of the Nether Bull Clan were common enemies of Earth's mutated beasts and humanity. In other words, both sides had to unite as one.

If they were to refuse to help the Spirit Monkey in its plight...

Today, it was the mutated beasts. Tomorrow, wouldn't it be humanity? No one could say for sure whether humanity would be spared or not. Hence, they had to stand together.

Since the situation had already devolved to this point, they had to face this trial.

In the end, everyone agreed and decided to do everything in their power. Even if they weren't going to be

that

useful, they resolved to do what had to be done for humanity's sake!