In the northwestern plateau region of Huaxia.
There was a mountain range here, reddish-brown across its entire span.
Normally, high altitudes brought cooler temperatures, especially after the arrival of the New Era, when extreme weather gripped many parts of the world.
Yet here, the heat was blistering, constantly exceeding sixty or seventy degrees Celsius.
More remarkably, the mountain range burned on its own despite having no vegetation whatsoever. Azure flames flickered at its core, testament to its searing heat; not even Awakened dared approach recklessly.
This was the legendary Flaming Mountain. Following the great upheaval of heaven and earth, it had truly become a fiery domain spanning a thousand li.
To make matters worse, a mutated beast king of the Golden Body Realm resided within—known as the Black Bull King.
A thousand li around was its domain, and ordinary Beast Kings dared not draw near.
Yet on this day, as a meteorite crashed from above, the earth shuddered.
Roused by the impact, the Black Bull King charged straight out from the depths of the Flaming Mountain.
Not far away lay an impact crater, within which a beast measuring a hundred meters in length emerged.
It was unlike any known creature: it possessed the head of a bull, the tail of a serpent, and a pair of fleshy wings, its eyes blazing with savage brutality.
"Moo—"
With a ferocious bellow, fissures tore through the ground, and giant boulders shattered to dust.
Rings of mysterious black energy surged around the beast. Anything coming into contact with them was pulverized, whipping up biting gales of astral wind.
"You have intruded into my territory. Leave at once!" The Black Bull King sensed the tremendous power harbored inside the intruder, but standing upon its own domain, it refused to back down and issued a warning.
"Leave?"
The beast's voice rang like striking iron. "From this day forth, I shall rule this place!"
Its speech was clumsy at first, but within moments it became completely fluent. It eyed the Black Bull King with open provocation and warning.
In the next instant, heedless of all else, the beast lunged straight forward.
Black energy erupted from its body, shaking the very world around them.
Startled, the Black Bull King nevertheless braced itself and charged to meet the foe in battle.
Yet with a single sweep of the beast's fleshy wings, a majestic, turbulent aura swept outward.
The Black Bull King, revered as a king of the Golden Body Realm, was sent hurtling away in an instant. Its flesh cracked and bled profusely; it was entirely outmatched and utterly crushed. But that was not the end.
The savage beast closed in once more, crushing down with massive claws and tearing the bull's body to shreds.
In mere moments, the Black Bull King was slain, unable even to resist, its breath entirely snuffed out.
Finally, the beast from the starry deep vaulted to the summit of the Flaming Mountain and unleashed a thunderous roar.
Across a thousand li, mutated beasts fell prostrate to the ground, none daring to resist.
At the same time, in another region.
A beast identical to the one at the Flaming Mountain bounded through a forested mountain, black energy undulating around its frame to obliterate everything in its path.
Ahead of it, a snow-white fox with nine tails fled desperately, its body soaked in blood. It was the Nine-Tailed Fox King.
Atop a cliff elsewhere, fresh blood drenched the earth, which was strewn with gore and shredded flesh in a horrifying spectacle.
Not far off stood a third bull-headed beast, roaring up at the sky. It, too, had slaughtered one of Earth's Beast Kings.
Scenes like this played out ceaselessly across the land.
The authorities had not yet tracked down all of these incidents due to the vast distances involved, but knowing that extraterrestrial entities had descended, they resolved to mobilize more Awakened to investigate and uncover the full picture.
Evidently, this approach proved extremely effective, spurring countless people into action.
Venturing deep into various areas alongside the coordinates provided by the authorities, they swiftly uncovered leads.
"The Black Bull King of Flaming Mountain has been killed! Not even his bones remain!"
"What? That was a mutated beast king who broke beyond the Shackle Realm! How could he die so easily?"
"The Nine-Tailed Fox King has disappeared from her territory too! A lot of blood was found, but we didn't dare go deeper."
"There's a cliff where the ground was soaked in blood! I caught video of an extraterrestrial entity—it's bizarre, completely unlike any creature of Earth."
Tens of thousands of Awakened answered the official call and began observing. Naturally, they took great care to keep their distance, using instruments to record their findings.
To their horror, they discovered that as soon as those extraterrestrial entities landed, they had launched immediately into action.
Numerous mutated beasts had been slaughtered, soaking the earth in blood in a gruesome display.
Videos were even recorded and posted online, sparking fierce debates. Everyone could now clearly see the extraterrestrial entities that had descended.
They looked nothing like any beast on Earth.
Yet they were immensely strong, their power fathomless.
Upon receiving the news, the authorities treated the matter with utmost gravity.
There was more than just one such beast; at least five or six had been detected so far, and they had gone straight on a killing spree.
This forced them to realize that a brutal deep-space race had arrived on this world to hunt and claim territory.
No wonder Lu Yuan had advised pulling back their strength earlier and abandoning certain famous mountains and great rivers. He must have recognized what was coming long before and issued those warnings accordingly.
The situation was critical.
After all, no one knew what these extraterrestrial beings ultimately intended.
The only silver lining was that they had not yet launched attacks against human cities.
"Breaking news! An extraterrestrial beast has entered the Peacock King's territory! A massive clash is about to erupt!"
"What? The Peacock King, the one considered a supreme existence among the world's mutated beasts?"
"Someone nearby has started a livestream! Go check it out!"
Another report swept across the internet: an extraterrestrial beast was about to do battle with the Peacock King.
The Peacock King was renowned throughout human society. A Beast King of the Golden Body Realm, it was immensely powerful, a pinnacle existence.
With it about to clash against an extraterrestrial beast, the public was naturally riveted, and even top brass in the government tuned in to watch the livestream.
At that moment, amidst a vast mountain range, the Peacock King spread its wings. Dazzling light burst around its towering frame as it directly manifested its Golden Body Dharma Idol. Every stride it took set off tremendous booms.
Facing it was the bull-headed, serpent-tailed extraterrestrial beast, roaring as bursts of black energy erupted, shaking the surrounding world.
Both were terrifying entities, and now they clashed head-on.
It had to be said that the Peacock King was exceptionally strong, its plumage glittering with brilliance. Its physical frame was terrifying; vast swathes of mountain forest were obliterated in an instant to a cacophony of booms.
Yet the extraterrestrial beast was even more formidable. Roaring toward the heavens, it slashed with both claws, sending out terrifying arcs of bladed light that sheared an entire knoll in two. Clothed in that black energy, it appeared all the more dreadful.
This fierce battle caused several square kilometers of land to cave in, wiping away everything as if struck by a natural catastrophe.
In the end, the Peacock King was defeated. Its body was ripped open, but relying on its immense vitality, it managed to escape at the critical juncture.
The extraterrestrial beast did not pursue. Letting out a roar that shook the forest, it seemed to sense that it was being observed, and it spoke in human tongue:
"I am of the Nether Bull Clan from the Thunderstrike Star Domain, descended upon the Milky Way Star Sector. Whatever territory we claim in this world, no living being may trespass—violators shall be slain without mercy!"
With that declaration, it roared again, its black power undulating until it completely enveloped the surroundings.
Billowing black mist surged forth, severing all electronic signals and cutting off any further surveillance.
"Heavens, even the Peacock King was defeated and fled wounded!"
"The Thunderstrike Star Domain... the Nether Bull Clan... are they truly this terrifying?"
"Even a king among mutated beasts fell! What will we do if they attack human cities?"
Both Awakened and the general populace fell into panic, thoroughly frightened. According to intelligence gathered over this period, this so-called Nether Bull Clan had already slaughtered dozens of Beast Kings in the Shackle Realm and seized various territories after descending.
Some projected that members of this clan were at least in the Golden Body Realm, and perhaps some had even reached the fifth evolutionary stage, the Sovereign King Realm.
If they set their sights on human cities, what could be done? Conventional weaponry would certainly prove useless.
Yet the people had nowhere to run.
Fortunately, the human side still had the peerless King Lu.
But even King Lu—could he handle extraterrestrial beings?
No one could say for sure.
At the Mount Tai Trial Academy, the leadership held an emergency meeting to address the crisis.
Naturally, they followed the counsel Lu Yuan had given previously: they did not actively provoke those extraterrestrial beasts.
They were simply too strong.
They had slaughtered numerous Beast Kings and seized vast swathes of land. Many estimated that even modern heavy weaponry would have little effect, for some of these entities had already attained the fifth stage of evolution, possessing monstrous might.
Although humanity had built up considerable strength during this period, and many had reached the Shackle Realm, the gulf remained too wide. What was more, some of the extraterrestrial entities that had descended had yet to show themselves.
Their locations remained entirely unknown, filling both Elder Ji and Elder Yun with profound anxiety.
The only thing they could do was bolster defenses around human cities and deploy divisions composed of Awakened.
In addition, the disciples from the Three Immortal Islands counted as a formidable force.
Yet as their meeting progressed, it was abruptly interrupted.
Gu Sang and Asura arrived, bringing critical news.
The wounded Peacock King and Nine-Tailed Fox King had entered the Mount Tai region and seemingly rendezvoused with the Spirit Monkey.
The Spirit Monkey had sent a warning: Mount Tai was likely the Nether Bull Clan's next target, and they needed to prepare.
"They've set their eyes on Mount Tai?" Elder Ji and the others were visibly shaken. Although they had known this day would come, it felt far too soon; the extraterrestrial beings had only just arrived.
"Judging by the situation, those extraterrestrial beings seem focused on claiming famous mountains and great rivers; they shouldn't pose an immediate threat to humans," one person suggested, feeling there was no need to worry overly much for now. But opposing views arose immediately.
Ever since taking control of Mount Tai, the Spirit Monkey had engaged in extensive cooperation with humanity.
Now that the Nether Bull Clan was on its way, battle was inevitable. When that time came, humanity would have to act.
After all, the two sides were allies.
Yet the crux of the problem was the staggering disparity in strength.
Finally, after careful deliberation, Elder Ji spoke up: "Regardless, the Spirit Monkey bears goodwill toward humanity and has allowed us free access to the fortunes on Mount Tai throughout this period. We absolutely cannot sit by and watch.
"Conventional weapons may be largely ineffective, but they still have some use. Once the Nether Bull Clan appears, we must strike as well."
The reasoning was simple: to both humanity and Earth's mutated beasts, the extraterrestrial Nether Bull Clan was the true common enemy.
Under such circumstances, both sides had to unite.
If they chose to do nothing, today it was the beasts, but what about tomorrow? Would it be humanity? No one could guarantee otherwise.
Therefore, no matter what, they had to stand together. Now that things had come to this, there was no hiding from it.
To this, everyone ultimately agreed: they would do their utmost. Even if it proved of little avail, what had to be done had to be done!
Chapter 126