Chapter Nine: Wu the Fisherman's Summoned Creature

Zhou Li flew back like a kite with its string cut, while the young man riding the tiger pressed his advantage relentlessly, his short spear blooming with silver light. The fierce tiger struck down and rose again, like a starving beast pouncing on its prey, murderous intent surging!

Zhou Li rolled forward on the ground, narrowly dodging an attack. The young man’s short spear followed up with another thrust, silver light flashing as blood splattered in the air.

“You at the Constellation Uniting stage are truly useless,” the tiger-riding youth mocked, looking down from his lofty perch at Zhou Li’s wretched state, his contempt growing heavier.

“Boy, you think these paltry tricks are enough to kill me? Let me show you what real killing arts look like!” The aura of the Constellation Uniting stage surged forth, its power astonishing. At the same time, seals appeared on his hands.

“Killing arts?” the youth sneered. “Let me teach you what killing really means.” The tiger beside him roared in tandem. He released a spell, and his short spear slowly rose into the air.

“Now!” Zhou Li’s seals suddenly dissipated, his figure swelling as he leapt skyward. Both arms folded, he punched down abruptly. “I don’t know any killing arts, but when it comes to killing—boy, just keep up with me!”

All of this transpired in an instant. The tiger-riding youth hesitated, considering whether to interrupt his spell, but Zhou Li was already crashing down. It was a straightforward strike! The youth grabbed his floating spear, thrusting it upward to counter. Interrupting his spell caused obvious backlash, but he chose brute force nonetheless.

Zhou Li’s eyes were full of ridicule, mirroring the youth’s earlier scorn. One had come prepared, the other was caught off guard. Though the youth’s cultivation was slightly superior, he suffered a heavy loss this time.

A muffled thud resounded. The tiger let out a mournful cry, sinking into the earth, but Zhou Li did not pursue his advantage.

“Young man, do you now understand what true killing arts are?” Zhou Li said calmly, his demeanor worlds apart from his earlier distress. In truth, it was always so; how many Constellation Uniting cultivators in the world are mere mediocrities?

“Explode,” Zhou Li whispered. The massive tiger collapsed instantly, its breath extinguished in a blink.

“Seventy-six layers of hidden force—you have fifty-six layers within you. That little tiger endured twenty layers; I wonder how many you can withstand?”

“Hahaha, good, good, good!” The youth stroked the dead tiger’s head, repeating “good” thrice before saying, “I was too arrogant.” As he spoke, he slapped his chest and spat out mouthfuls of blood.

Seeing the youth’s actions, Zhou Li felt a surge of foreboding.

“Kill them all!” the youth declared coldly, disregarding his injuries as he thrust his spear forward.

“Boy, you’re courting death.” Zhou Li hastily swung his palm. He was confident that after enduring fifty-six layers of hidden force, the youth would not survive. Yet seeing him rush headlong into death still shocked him.

Behind them, five others responded to the youth’s command, four of them riding beasts. Their momentum was overwhelming.

“Second Miss, do not hold back!” Zhou Li shouted loudly.

“Form the Seven-Fight-Eight-Star Formation!” Fifteen people stepped forward together, their footsteps flickering, and faint starlight shimmered in the air.

“A bunch of ants, how laughable,” someone said coldly. Immediately, three streaks of light shot toward the caravan, each unstoppable.

As the sound of a zither rang out, the three streaks of light froze in midair, as if trapped in mud and unable to move.

“There’s another Constellation Uniting cultivator inside—kill her first.”

With those words, two men charged at the fifteen, while the other three split up: one rushed at Zhou Li, the remaining two toward the caravan.

“This is bad, Second Miss, everyone here is at the Constellation Uniting stage!” Zhou Li shouted.

“Only now you realize? Isn’t it a bit too late?” the youth riding the tiger sneered.

“I’m willing to stay behind—let them go,” Zhou Li slowed his attack.

“I’ve changed my mind. But as a fellow strong one, I’ll be honest with you.” The youth’s mask suddenly transformed, erupting into red flame patterns, and a jet of fire burst from his mouth. “All of you must die!”

The zither’s melody rang out, urgent as rain falling on banana leaves, transforming into countless soldiers, blocking the two attackers.

“Impressive arts.” One attacker rode a unicorn rhinoceros, the other an iron bull. “If not for the fact that today we cannot unleash our full arts, we’d surely show you what the world is like.”

Light surged from both men as they crashed into the army of soldiers, fighting fiercely with no concern for restraint.

The Second Miss playing the zither was clearly more cautious, afraid of harming those in the caravan. For the moment, she could not subdue the two attackers. Yet she knew that if this stalemate continued, all her people would surely die.

A bitter smile appeared at her lips; she never expected that the struggle for head of the family would end with her dying here.

Two strings had snapped, each representing an all-out strike, but both had failed. The two attackers never unleashed their arts against the defenders, but their cultivation alone was enough to sustain them, and with greater numbers, they even stood a chance to kill.

Bang!

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the ground, followed by a leopard.

“You people are outrageous! As a knight, I am ashamed!”

A man in armor leapt down with domineering force, though his armor already bore several cracks. The battlefield fell silent.

“Sixth Brother!” the youth riding the iron bull cried out, rushing heedlessly to the corpse.

The armored man stood at the center of the field and spoke slowly, “I admire his strength, but I defeated him. He was a warrior, so I return his body to you. I have performed the holy brow ritual for him; now he may rest in peace.”

“No! Sixth Brother’s mask has fallen off!” the iron bull rider shouted.

“I have taken his mask. I am Kyle of the Sky Knights. It is my right as victor,” the armored man said, producing a mask.

“Kill them! Give it everything you’ve got!”

The tiger-riding youth’s short spear danced, its glow flickering like a silver snake. The youth attacking Zhou Li abandoned his weapon, producing a long sword instead, its aura trembling violently.

The situation shifted abruptly; Zhou Li, who had managed to hold his own, was suddenly in mortal peril. His expression changed drastically, saying, “From the Wang Family Sword Tomb—” Before he could finish, the swordsman’s blade shattered into fragments, yet though his hand was empty, he still thrust forward. The short spear danced like a serpent, its speed increasing sharply.

Zhou Li was left barely clinging to life.

Meanwhile, Kyle stood in the center, utterly at a loss, as the iron bull rider charged toward him.

Kyle hesitated, then shouted, “There’s no poison in your food!” Then, utterly lacking in dignity, he yelled, “Lord, act quickly! Save me!”

In the woods.

“Wu Yue, I think I heard Kyle’s voice,” Yu Fu suddenly stopped.

“Hurry. Kyle is just covering our retreat,” Wu Yue said darkly. As his summoned beast, he still had shared vision.

“It’s true,” Zhao Qingzhi added. “He seems to be crying for help.”

Wu Yue ignored them, hastening his pace. “This fisherman is far too desperate…”