Jade Emperor Peak of Mount Tai.
The moonlight shone brightly beneath a canopy of twinkling stars.
The towering forms of ten mutated beast kings lay sprawled upon the ground, radiating a terrifying, suffocating pressure.
Lu Yuan stood before them, his gaze exceptionally calm.
His voice had just trailed off.
True to his nature, there was no empty talk—his words had been concise, domineering, and completely devoid of any room for negotiation.
Beside him, Elder Ji and Elder Yun stiffened upon hearing it.
They turned their heads stiffly, their eyes filled with shock and helplessness.
One had to remember that they had come up here to negotiate. What was a negotiation? It meant lowering one's posture as much as possible, conceding where concessions could be made to satisfy the other party, thereby establishing the foundation to keep talking.
Yet now, in Lu Yuan's mouth, it had turned directly into a unilateral declaration, bearing not the slightest intent to negotiate.
Before them lay ten mutated beast kings, nearly all of them in the Golden Body Realm.
Every single one was extraordinarily powerful.
If unleashed upon a human city, any one of them would bring about a catastrophe of epic proportions.
Yet that statement just now contained neither compromise nor humility.
At this moment, the two elders could already foresee that the beasts were going to fly into a rage.
After all, Lu Yuan's words were simply too blunt, too domineering.
Not far away, the Spirit Monkey found that the spirit peach in its hand had lost its appeal, and it looked up.
It had warned him earlier that these mutated beast kings were all hot-tempered and would never bow easily, making a fight almost inevitable.
The implication had been that if he wanted to reach a consensus and prevent further beast tides, he ought to give ground where needed and compromise where appropriate. Yet Lu Yuan's ultimatum completely shut the door on any further discussion. How were they supposed to talk now?
It seemed that, just as predicted, a battle was truly going to break out.
Sure enough, all ten mutated beast kings fixed their gazes upon Lu Yuan.
Their eyes were cold and hostile, and several among them even radiated naked murderous intent.
The black bull snorted through its nostrils, puffing thick plumes of white mist into the air as the black radiance wrapping its horns grew even deeper and darker.
Beside it, the Nine-Tailed Fox King watched with strikingly human-like eyes, though it made no move to speak, observing in silence.
"Human, you truly have guts!"
In the end, it was the Giant Flood Dragon King that spoke first.
Though its body was merely several dozen meters long, its silver scales gleamed with a crystalline luster under the moonlight, harder than any alloy. The aura rolling off it was exceptionally immense; it had already fully transformed into a flood dragon, surpassing both the White King and the Dragon Blood Flood Dragon.
It glided forward slowly, fixing Lu Yuan with a vicious stare. "But we will never agree to what you said.
"For so long in the old era, humanity took advantage of having a slight head start to slaughter our beast kind without restraint.
"Now that we have gained power and the favor of the world, we can finally turn the tables. Yet at such a moment, you demand that we must not launch beast tides? How could there be such a convenient deal in this world?!"
With that, the Giant Flood Dragon King pressed farther forward, a boundless aura erupting from its body.
Staring intently at Lu Yuan, it continued, "I will never agree to your terms. The blood debts my kind has suffered over thousands of years are debts I will personally reclaim!"
The moment those words rang out, Elder Ji and Elder Yun blanched. They knew that negotiations had broken down, and the pretense of civility had been completely shattered.
Yet beside them, Lu Yuan's expression remained entirely unchanged. He said placidly, "Hmm, what you just said sounds rather familiar. If I recall, the White King of Qinling said something similar."
"That's right!"
Hearing that, the Giant Flood Dragon King let out a furious roar. "The White King of Qinling was my distant kin! I know full well that you were the one who killed him!
"I did not come today to negotiate with you, but to avenge him! Once I kill you, I will return, launch a beast tide, command tens of thousands of beasts to slaughter your cities, and make you humans pay the most agonizing price!"
At the mention of the White King, its fury flared. Dropping all pretenses, it stated its true purpose in coming here.
A terrifying killing intent poured from its form, coalescing so thickly it seemed almost tangible.
Rumble!
Yet the very instant the Giant Flood Dragon King finished speaking, Lu Yuan moved.
He stepped forward, his golden blood and vitality surging outward.
Encircled by crackling lightning, his entire figure transformed into a streak of light, appearing before the Giant Flood Dragon King in a mere fraction of a second.
His expression was stone-cold, without the slightest hesitation. Raising his right hand, he condensed boundless lightning power and slammed his palm down toward the creature's massive head.
Sizzle!
Crack!
Splat!
In an instant, dazzling arcs of lightning shot forth, illuminating the entire peak.
The immense power of lightning reverberated violently, engulfing the Giant Flood Dragon King's entire body.
Its scales, harder than alloy, shattered instantly, and vast torrents of blood erupted from the cracks.
Lightning embodied raw violence and slaughter, possessing unparalleled offensive power.
Moreover, Lu Yuan held nothing back in his strike.
The Giant Flood Dragon King was indeed powerful, but it had only just entered the Golden Body Realm, and its bloodline was inferior to that of the Spirit Monkey. How could it possibly withstand such might?
In scarcely a single breath, its life force drained away at terrifying speed. Before it could even display its prowess, it collapsed heavily to the ground, entirely devoid of breath. Its silvery-white body was scorched black, emitting a faint aroma of roasted meat.
"I did not come here to consult with you either. You either agree or disagree; there is no need for superfluous words."
Having done all this, Lu Yuan returned to his original spot, casually dusted off his hands, and spoke softly.
Then he turned his head and looked at the remaining nine mutated beast kings.
"Where were we just now? Continue."
The Giant Flood Dragon King's threat of launching a beast tide had crossed his bottom line, and he had never taken kindly to threats.
At this moment, as Lu Yuan's words settled, the entirety of Jade Emperor Peak fell into dead silence.
Elder Ji and Elder Yun stared at the corpse of the Giant Flood Dragon King before them, swallowing hard.
He was far too forceful, far too direct—striking without warning at the slightest disagreement.
He had committed slaughter right before the eyes of the remaining mutated beast kings.
Sure enough, King Lu was still the same King Lu.
Bound by no taboos, domineering and straightforward to the extreme.
Yet would doing this only make things far more complicated?
Not far away, the other nine mutated beast kings, led by the Peacock King, revealed shaken expressions in their eyes.
Everything had unfolded too quickly. Before almost any of them could react, the Giant Flood Dragon King was dead.
It had been slain in a single instant, without the slightest chance to resist.
If they had climbed Jade Emperor Peak earlier merely out of respect for the Spirit Monkey, they were now forced to treat Lu Yuan's formidable strength with utmost seriousness.
After all, he was merely in the Shackle Realm, yet he could slay a Golden Body Realm existence—and appeared not to have used his full strength in doing so.
Still, since Lu Yuan had struck down a peer right in front of them, several mutated beast kings recovered from their shock and felt provoked.
The Black Bull King and two or three other beast kings began to take slow, menacing steps forward.
"King of Humanity."
Right then, however, the Peacock King spoke. Halting the Black Bull King and the others, it stepped forward. "What you propose can indeed be discussed. But if humans take the initiative to hunt our beast kind, what then? You cannot expect us to simply sit back and wait for death, can you?"
Its voice sounded like that of a middle-aged man. Because it was the strongest among them, the other mutated beast kings stepped back upon hearing it speak, raising no objection.
Those words indicated that the Peacock King now acknowledged Lu Yuan's strength and intended to have a proper discussion.
As for the Giant Flood Dragon King beside them, it had had no deep connection with the peacock anyway.
If it died, it died.
Among mutated beasts, the law of the jungle—the survival of the fittest—reigned supreme.
The Peacock King could see that Lu Yuan was exceedingly strong and would be hard to deal with.
If a true battle erupted, the outcome would likely not end well for them, which was why it urged the other beast kings to keep their calm.
"Naturally," Lu Yuan replied with a faint smile. "All you need to agree to is not invading human territory or inciting beast tides to attack cities. That will suffice."
His objective was simple: to safeguard the peace and security of the citizens in the major cities. As for Awakened who proactively picked fights, he naturally had no intention of micromanaging them. That would be overly demanding; it came back to the same principle—survival of the fittest.
So long as it did not escalate into an uncontrollable situation, everything else could be overlooked.
"Is that so?" The Peacock King fell into contemplation.
Its plumage radiated radiant light, appearing truly extraordinary.
Within its body churned a terrifying reservoir of power that placed it among the absolute strongest even among all mutated beasts in the world today.
Finally, it glanced toward the Spirit Monkey nearby, then turned back. "Very well. We can agree to these terms."
The moment these words fell, the surrounding mutated beast kings stirred with unrest.
Yet as the Peacock King released a tremor of its imposing aura, they quickly reined themselves in.
Even among mutated beasts, there were figures revered by all, and the Peacock King was one such existence.
"Thank you."
Hearing this, Lu Yuan gave a slight nod, bowing his head marginally in return.
He knew the other party had made a significant concession, so naturally, he could not demand more.
Immediately after, he turned around, exchanged a glance with the Spirit Monkey by way of farewell, and said directly, "Elder Ji, Elder Yun, let us go."
With that, he walked straight down the mountain.
*It's over just like that?*
Elder Ji and Elder Yun were taken aback, their hearts filled with bewilderment.
Yet they said nothing, choosing to follow behind him.
"Peacock King, why did you agree to that human's terms?"
After Lu Yuan left, the Black Bull King walked forward, thoroughly disgruntled.
"The world is still undergoing transformation. If beasts and humans can temporarily cease hostilities, it may not be a bad thing. There is no need for us to fight to the death," the Nine-Tailed Fox King said. Its pure white fur shimmered with crystalline luster, and its voice was delicate and melodious, like that of a young maiden in her prime.
"Indeed. There will be even greater crises in the future. In the end, we are all living beings of the same world."
The Spirit Monkey walked over as well, resting its iron rod over its shoulder, but it was no longer as carefree and casual as before.
It spoke with great gravity, seemingly aware of many profound secrets.
In truth, mutated beasts with powerful bloodlines understood several deep mysteries passed down through ancestral memory.
"Still, I'm not convinced," the Black Bull King grunted, its voice buzzing like deep thunder.
"Naturally, matters will not end so simply. At the very least, we must see what that King of Humanity is truly capable of," the Peacock King said at last. It stared in the direction Lu Yuan had departed, a surge of battle intent swirling in its eyes.
The surrounding mutated beast kings looked at one another in surprise, not entirely understanding what it meant.
Yet the Peacock King offered no explanation, merely instructing the beast kings to remain on Jade Emperor Peak for a few more days.
Meanwhile, Lu Yuan and the other two made their way down Mount Tai.
Elder Ji and Elder Yun felt that this negotiation had concluded far too hastily. Almost nothing had been formally discussed, and all that had happened was the slaying of a Giant Flood Dragon King.
At the very least, shouldn't they have signed some sort of pact or treaty?
Yet Lu Yuan merely smiled without answering, leaving the two old men utterly mystified.
Their hearts remained troubled with worry.
After all, this was a monumental matter concerning the lives and safety of citizens across the nation; it could not be treated carelessly.
Thus, several days flashed by.
During this time, certain instruments at the Mount Tai Trial Academy suddenly detected a tremendous surge of energy fluctuations at the summit of Jade Emperor Peak.
It seemed that... a fierce battle was taking place.
Chapter 98