A sudden, thunderous roar startled countless birds and insects in this cavernous paradise of the gorge.

Hearing the sound, Qiao Yihong’s face lit up with joy, his pallor immediately regaining a trace of color. He swiftly turned his head, gazing at the single figure and horse slowly approaching behind him, his lips trembling with excitement, unsure of what to say.

“Chirp, chirp, chirp!”

“Squeak, squeak, squeak!”

Right beside Qiao Yihong, atop a large boulder, the two little ones, Wuying and Shandian, stood watching. Seeing Pu Chengen’s miserable state, the two creatures burst into laughter. Especially Wuying, whose laughter was even more exaggerated; he flopped onto the rock, exposing his little white belly, his tiny paws continually beating his stomach.

The one who had sent Pu Chengen tumbling head-over-heels right at the start was none other than Wuying. He had taken the lead all the way in, and upon entering this cavernous paradise, he was the first to spot Pu Chengen ahead.

So Wuying hadn't hesitated for a second, launching himself forward to become a furry punching bag, brutally catching Pu Chengen completely off guard and causing his embarrassing fall.

Zhang Yang had, after all, arrived in time!

Every single word Pu Chengen had spoken fell into Zhang Yang's ears, and a raging inferno burned in Zhang Yang's eyes. Looking back at Pu Chengen now, in Zhang Yang's view, he was no different from a dead man.

“How could you possibly find this place, and how did you get past the gate mechanisms?”

Pu Chengen spat out the dirt clinging to his mouth, ignoring his undignified appearance for a moment, and stared with utter shock at the person and horse walking slowly toward him, completely bewildered!

This person walking toward him was not unfamiliar to Pu Chengen. In fact, before he had even arrived in Huaxia, he had seen countless photographs of him in Korea, having long since etched his face into his mind.

More crucially, this very man was the other primary objective of his trip to Huaxia.

“Zhang Yang!”

Pu Chengen roared, his voice low and bestial. At this moment, the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox abandoned its control over the spirit beast Azure Hawk beneath it and materialized in front of Pu Chengen, shielding him from the threatening pressure emanating from Wuying and Zhuifeng.

Once the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox appeared, Wuying and Shandian stopped their jesting, their demeanor turning serious. The Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox naturally possessed an inherent restraint over spirit beasts like them, but Zhang Yang's presence was what kept Wuying and Shandian from showing any trace of fear toward the fox.

Splat, splat!

Freed from the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox’s grip, the Azure Hawk, which had been caught earlier, immediately struggled on the ground. It flapped its wings a few times, but it couldn't manage to lift itself into the sky.

Even though the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox had released it, it had still injected its venom into the bird's body. It was remarkable that the Azure Hawk still retained enough strength to struggle.

Finally, with no other choice, the Azure Hawk crawled and rolled, opting to move away from Pu Chengen, Zhang Yang, and the others, settling near the group that had emerged from the wooden cabin.

Seeing the hawk in such a condition, the people knew it was injured and immediately converged around it. Simultaneously, the looks they cast toward Pu Chengen and Zhang Yang were filled with hostility!

However, Pu Chengen paid these people no mind. His gaze was fixed solely on the unexpectedly arrived Zhang Yang.

Zhuifeng stood beside Zhang Yang, and just like Wuying and Shandian, the three spirit beasts simultaneously focused their attention on the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox opposite Pu Chengen.

Facing three Tier Four spirit beasts simultaneously, even the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox, reputed to be the nemesis of spirit beasts, seemed uncertain. If it had faced any one of them alone, even if the opponent possessed the same Tier Four strength, it wouldn't have been concerned. But facing three head-on required it to treat the situation with extreme caution.

“Oh?”

Zhang Yang noticed the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox in front of Pu Chengen and couldn't help but be momentarily surprised. This fox was not entirely like the descriptions found in the ancient texts of the Zhang family; it was not entirely snow-white. While its nine tails matched the written characteristics, its completely black body was highly unusual.

“Who are you people, trespassing into the forbidden grounds of my Spirit Beast Gate and daring to harm our Sacred Beast!”

The people emerging from the wooden cabin finally reacted. Among them, an older man stepped forward from the crowd, roaring angrily at Zhang Yang and Pu Chengen.

They viewed both Zhang Yang and Pu Chengen as invaders.

At the same time, the sturdy young men behind the elder grasped their personal weapons and stood menacingly behind him, glaring at Pu Chengen and Zhang Yang and their company.

“Don’t be afraid, we are not enemies, we only came to help you. Only this fellow here intended to hunt your spirit beasts!”

Seeing Zhang Yang arrive, Qiao Yihong finally felt a great weight lift from his heart. But when he saw those people treating Zhang Yang as an enemy, he quickly shouted a response, pointing at Pu Chengen and telling them that only Pu Chengen was malicious, intending to hunt their spirit beast, the Azure Hawk.

But these people did not lower their guard because of Qiao Yihong’s response. Regardless, both Zhang Yang and Qiao Yihong were outsiders, invaders, and they were unlikely to relax their vigilance based on Qiao Yihong’s single statement.

Yet, they did not act rashly either, because having dealt with spirit beasts for years, they recognized that accompanying these three individuals were four spirit beasts!

“So it was you!”

Pu Chengen finally realized he had made a grave mistake. He thought he had Qiao Yihong securely under control, but unexpectedly, the reason Qiao Yihong had been so compliant all along was that he had long since notified Zhang Yang, leaking his whereabouts!

After all, he was a late-stage expert of the Fourth Tier of Internal Energy. Wuying’s collision earlier had only caused him great disarray but hadn't inflicted any major damage. After steadying himself, Pu Chengen glared at Qiao Yihong, his face twisted in fury, showing no mercy whatsoever!

“So what if Zhang Yang is here? You still have to die!”

Qiao Yihong was too close to Pu Chengen, and Zhang Yang was relatively far away. Therefore, Pu Chengen was completely confident that he could kill Qiao Yihong before Zhang Yang could react!

Qiao Yihong was of no further use to him; killing him would serve as an excellent public demonstration of authority!

Pu Chengen let out a great shout and suddenly struck, driving a punch toward Qiao Yihong. This punch was filled with potent Internal Energy. Qiao Yihong, poisoned by the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox, could barely summon much Internal Energy and was powerless to dodge. If this punch landed, death was certain.

Swish!

Thump!

Just as Pu Chengen’s fist was about to strike Qiao Yihong, a streak of white light suddenly appeared. Pu Chengen felt a wave of pure, vast celestial energy wash over him, and then his body, like a kite with a broken string, was struck by that white light and sent flying violently!

Pfft!

Falling to the ground, Pu Chengen immediately spat out a mouthful of blood!

The gap in strength between him and Zhang Yang was simply too vast. Although both were considered mid-stage cultivators of the Fourth Tier of Internal Energy, Zhang Yang had already achieved complete mastery of the Dao of Nature. For him to attempt to kill someone under Zhang Yang’s watch was nothing short of a fool's errand!

Pu Chengen was unaware of this fact. In his mind, no matter how powerful Zhang Yang was, he was merely a mid-stage Fourth Tier cultivator—a young man in his twenties possessing such strength was already remarkable. The thought that Zhang Yang might be a Great Perfection realm cultivator never even crossed his mind.

But after being blasted away by that beam of white light and spitting blood, Pu Chengen was horrified to realize that Zhang Yang was not only already a Great Perfection realm cultivator capable of releasing energy outwardly, but he could also solidify that energy into a tangible form! He had seen that white light perfectly clearly!

Lying on the ground, Pu Chengen felt his limbs grow cold, as if he had fallen into an icy lake in the depths of winter—the chill piercing his bones.

It could be said that with Zhang Yang possessing such power, no cultivator below the Great Perfection realm could cause him the slightest trouble. Understanding this reality, Pu Chengen’s face turned ashen.

“What was that!”

“Look, what was that just now!”

...

Behind Pu Chengen, the people from the Spirit Beast Gate almost simultaneously stepped back a pace. They had witnessed Zhang Yang knock Pu Chengen flying, an event utterly incomprehensible to these mountain dwellers.

“Chirp chirp!”

Seeing Pu Chengen sent flying, the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox immediately spewed a mouthful of toxic mist from its mouth, accompanied by a sharp cry, shooting it toward Zhang Yang!

Unfortunately, before the venomous mist could reach Zhang Yang, Wuying and Shandian leaped up, simultaneously spitting out a breath of Internal Energy and a cloud of toxic mist, respectively.

Wuying’s Internal Energy and Shandian’s venomous mist intercepted the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox’s toxic mist. As the three streams of energy tangled, they cancelled each other out and dispersed!

And beneath the convergence point of these three energies, the flowers and grass on the ground withered instantly!

Hiss!

Zhuifeng, who had been standing quietly beside Zhang Yang, suddenly moved. Its speed had always been the fastest among the spirit beasts. Just as the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox was fully occupied dealing with Wuying and Shandian, it moved like lightning to stand before the fox and slammed its front hoof down ferociously!

“Chirp!”

The Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox let out a mournful cry, tracing an arc just like Pu Chengen, and was sent flying violently!

“Little fellow!”

Seeing the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox kicked away by the combined efforts of the three spirit beasts, Pu Chengen forgot his own injuries and screamed in terror. Then, feeling a sudden surge of chaos in his Internal Energy, he abruptly spat out another mouthful of blood!

“Zhang Yang, you cannot kill me! Have you never considered that you might also be Korean? If you kill me, this is fratricide!”

Pu Chengen finally understood why Ishino Koutarou and Kim Hyun-shin had died silently at the Four Flowers Hotel in Jingyang; with Zhang Yang’s immense power, accomplishing that would have been terrifyingly easy.

He watched Zhang Yang walk toward him step by step, babbling a string of Korean words, his tone completely devoid of the previous arrogance, sounding almost like a plea.

“Speak human language.”

Zhang Yang’s reply consisted of only those three words.