Two Great Bosses

The hunters knew well that while beads had to be gathered, ground also had to be covered if they wanted to arrive in time for the next feast. Thus, the several dozen hunters were scattered across the wilderness, gathering beads as they traveled southwest. In the Fu Realm, their speed stood no chance against a dust storm. Fortunately, two hours later, they finally caught up to the beast tide before the dust storm overtook them. Captain Zhou fired several command arrows into the sky, signaling everyone to assemble. This time, he had found a piece of high ground flanked by a craggy, rocky hill. The tricky winds of the Fu Realm had carved it full of holes, and drawing near brought the sound of ghostly wails and howling wolves. The rugged, uneven terrain was too narrow for bulky Donao beasts to find footing, making it natural for the hunters to occupy. Climbing atop the high ground, their view widened dramatically, allowing them to gaze out at the beast tide ahead. Each squad took roll call, and He Lingchuan finally regrouped with his teammates. A quick look revealed trouble: Two of them reported that all their cleansing beads had been stolen! "What happened?!" Both explained that while gathering beads between rock crevices, someone had ambushed them from behind, knocking them unconscious and stealing their storage bags. Hanging their heads in shame, they admitted, "Our supplies and our cleansing beads—everything was taken." "Who did it? Did you see their faces?" Both shook their heads. "No." "How many were there?" "N-not sure." He Lingchuan exhaled and had everyone tally the cleansing beads they had on hand. Three hundred and two in total. There were nine people in the squad. Over the next five or six shichen, each person was projected to need over forty beads, which meant they needed at least four hundred in total to keep everyone alive. They were short by more than ninety beads. Aside from the two who had been robbed, the other teammates hadn't gathered a full quota either. Beads were too sparse across the open plains, and most had already been trampled by the beast tide. The situation did not look good. As the hunters gathered, arguments erupted almost immediately. Several squads broke into heated arguments in pairs—someone had struck from behind to rob others of their beads, only to be caught red-handed. Gathering beads oneself was hard; stealing from others was quick and easy. Some had succeeded, while others had failed. Now that the squads were reunited and accusations flew, shoving matches broke out, and blades were about to be drawn. This was no time for civility; running out of cleansing beads meant death. Captain Zhou shouted them down in time: "Stop fighting! The beast tide is breaching the pass!" Beside him, the giant bear let out a thunderous roar as well. Looking ahead, everyone saw wild, rugged mountains several li away. At the foot of the mountains lay a field of jagged boulders crackling with lightning and rumbling with thunder. "The nest of the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth!" someone shouted. "Those monsters driving the Donao beast tide really are aiming to storm the lord thunder beast's lair!" By now, the beast tide had picked up speed, surging forward like a raging flood and shaking the earth with a rumbling roar. A spectacle on that scale could hardly be captured by words like 'breathtaking.' The charge of ten thousand horses and warriors paled in comparison. How could the Thunder-Wielding beasts fail to notice? This was He Lingchuan's first time seeing this type of Donao beast: its body resembled a rhinoceros scaled up three or four times, six-legged, with a massive bone plate resembling a jade tablet jutting straight up from its forehead toward the sky. At least two hundred Thunder-Wielding beasts had massed before the nest, launching attacks at the stampede in an effort to force it to a halt. These creatures were uniquely blessed by nature, crackling all over with lightning and electricity. Coupled with their colossal size, their charges were like runaway locomotives. They could aggressively plow back and forth through the herd, especially when a dozen or more coordinated their charge. Seeing their posture, He Lingchuan understood why human hunters were reluctant to provoke them. The creatures possessed tough hides, hard flesh, and immense vitality—like more agile tanks. Fighting them would be utterly exhausting, and they moved in packs to boot. Bulky though they appeared, they were not slow in the slightest when running. Smaller Donao beasts were either trampled into meat paste on the spot or blasted into charred husks by crackling lightning, dead before they even hit the ground. Yet Captain Zhou and the others murmured among themselves, "It's useless. The Thunder-Wielding beasts can't hold out." Experienced and sharp-eyed, they could read the tide of battle at a glance. Though the Thunder-Wielding beasts' attacks were terrifying, they were severely outnumbered. The beast tide outnumbered them nearly a hundred to one, vast as a boundless ocean. The Donao beasts at the front recoiled in fear and wanted to retreat, but those behind shoved them forward. If they didn't move forward, they would be trampled to death by the ranks behind them. Seeing no hope of retreat, many of the fiercer Donao beasts simply charged ahead. Gradually, the two hundred-odd Thunder-Wielding beasts lost their momentum. Finally, one collapsed—exhausted to the point where its lightning was spent, it was swarmed and torn to pieces. Then a second, a third... six, seven beasts were engulfed by the tide. In fact, on the periphery of the beast tide, other Donao beasts were watching and gathering, but they arrived intermittently without forming cohesive numbers or impact. Captain Zhou pointed at them. "Those are likely subjects of the Behemoth Lord, summoned to lend support, but they can't break into the fray right now." The unidentified monsters drove them back as well. "Now that this massive beast tide has entered the behemoth's territory, if the local lord can survive this, they might accept its rule and obey its commands in the future." At that moment, from the rear of the beast tide, clacking cries echoed across the plains. Someone pointed and yelled, "The big one is here!" The oversized monster He Lingchuan had seen earlier spat two massive fireballs the instant it appeared, slamming directly into the rear of the herd. Several Donao beasts slacking off at the rear were blasted into charred carcasses on the spot. The two fireballs were as large as falling meteors and glowed with a sickly green light. The moment they hit the ground, they burst into hundreds of smaller fireballs, splashing everywhere. At the center of the blast, the blackened ground instantly turned into a glassy sheen. Any Donao beast caught by the flames wailed in agony, rolling frantically on the ground unable to extinguish the fire. The green flames clung to them like maggots on bone. "That's the flame of a netherfire beast." Captain Zhou looked bewildered. "How can this monster use a netherfire beast's signature ability?" He Lingchuan had heard of netherfire beasts. They were Donao beasts living in the great southern canyon, adept at breathing fire. Of course, these names were coined by human visitors. The flames of a netherfire beast lord were far more formidable than a cultivator's true fire, capable of incinerating anything—even the hard rocks weathered by the canyon's harsh gales and frost could be burned to ash. Hence, the hunters named it "netherfire." The monster opened its maw and spat several more fireballs in quick succession, booming loudly with an intense display of light and concussive blasts. Terrified by the display, the beast tide surged forward even more madly. "The Donao beasts fear it far more than the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth," Hu Bin remarked from the side. "How bizarre." By now, this monster had demonstrated both camouflage and fire-breathing. Yet all the records He Lingchuan had received stated that Donao beasts only mastered a single innate talent. Was this creature an exception? One hunter suddenly spoke up. "Could this be a 'Wu' beast?" "A what?" "Oh, now that you mention it, that's possible!" Captain Zhou, who had been watching in silence, chimed in. "Fifty or sixty years ago, someone in the Fu Realm saw a monster that wasn't very large and could stand upright. It used cunning tricks to slay Donao beasts far stronger than itself. It possessed a unique ability: it could steal the talents of other Donao beasts!" "What?!" Everyone swore in disbelief. "How have we never heard of this?" Isn't that utterly absurd? "If it devours a type of Donao beast, does it gain that beast's talent? Who in the Fu Realm could possibly rival them?" "Why haven't they become kings yet? That monster doesn't even look like a lord." Their clamoring made Captain Zhou's head buzz. He waved his hand. "I don't know the exact details either, so don't ask me! Why was it named 'Wu'? Because it had never been seen before. In any case, in all my years entering the Fu Realm, today is the only time I've ever laid eyes on one." Why would such a powerful and intelligent monster attack the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth? He Lingchuan pointed down. "The lord has appeared!" A clap of thunder boomed from within the stone field, rocking the heavens and drowning out both the gale and the beasts' roars. Even as far away as they were, He Lingchuan and the others felt their ears ringing. Then, a colossus charged out of the stone labyrinth. Compared to it, the other Thunder-Wielding beasts paled into insignificance. Perhaps unable to bear watching its kin fall so rapidly, the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth could hold back no longer. That earlier thunderclap had been its roar of fury. A lord-level monster was extraordinary the moment it acted. As soon as it appeared, two bolts of lightning fell from the sky, striking directly upon the bone plate on its forehead. In that instant, its majestic might was unmatched. The behemoth lowered its head to touch the ground at just the right moment, sending two arcs of thunderous shockwaves surging forward along the earth. Everywhere they passed, the ground turned into scorched gravel, and living Donao beasts were electrocuted into charred remains without making a sound! The people on the high ground gasped in unison. Truly worthy of a lord-level monster. The two sweeping thunder waves pushed forward for over forty zhang, instantly wiping out more than two hundred Donao beasts. The remaining Donao beasts panicked, turning around in a desperate bid to flee. Yet the companions behind them formed a wall of beasts—a rampart of flesh and blood that forcibly shoved them forward. The monsters at the rear of the tide also pressed their attack, driving them onward. The Thunder-Wielding Behemoth unleashed two more shockwaves of lightning, reaping another harvest. Yet the clearing it carved out was filled in the blink of an eye by fresh Donao beasts. He Lingchuan saw it raise its head to roar into the distance, as if fully aware of who was behind all this. Yet with the vast beast tide separating them, the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth could not force its way through! Just then, someone pointed north and screamed, "The dust storm is here!" The dust storm had followed close behind the beast tide. By now, the storm was less than five li away. Up close, it was a colossal, multicolored wall of sand soaring a hundred li from top to bottom, bridging heaven and earth, its thickness immeasurable. This was the wrath of heaven. Compared to it, any living creature—including the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth ahead—seemed as minuscule as a grain of sand on a wall. Within this wall of sand lurked countless lightning bursts, glowing orbs of explosive energy hiding behind the churning dust with sinister intent. To He Lingchuan, it looked like a colossal, grotesque, terrifying oil painting titled: *Death Has Arrived.* A thought crossed He Lingchuan's mind: *Could those "Wu" beasts down below have sensed the approaching dust storm and deliberately chosen this moment to attack the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth?* If so, then beyond the colossal beast tide before them, this horrific natural catastrophe was likely to become their weapon as well. To factor in and exploit the weather itself—such intellect was on par with the demons of the human realm.