Chapter 10: The Wuling Gorge (Part 2)

The Beast Tamer Tribe was never good at fighting directly; they excelled at commanding spiritual beasts and using them in battles.

Without a word, Ezekiel suddenly teleported beside Maeler, raised his hand, and struck. Crack! How could Maeler avoid such a swift blow? It was as fast as lightning—this single punch sent him crashing to the ground and hurling him into the woods. With Ezekiel’s full force, half of Maeler’s face was shattered; not only was his jawbone broken, but all his rotten teeth were also destroyed.

Painful to the point of being unable to scream, Maeler nearly fainted. He struggled desperately to stay conscious as he tumbled into the dense forest, breaking countless branches along the way. Fortunately, the impact provided some cushioning, preventing him from losing consciousness. As soon as he hit the ground, he ran away.

Ezekiel felt slightly better after delivering that punch. He turned and attacked the giant ape, with the couple launching a joint assault. In an instant, they killed the level-seven spiritual beast. With their combined strength, no ordinary expert could have resisted them.

Ezekiel said, “What Beast Tamer Tribe… daring to lay hands on us? Seeking death!”

Meili agreed, “Exactly! Seeking death! Hehe, this spiritual beast is good—enough for us to last for a while. I’ll store it!” She put the giant ape’s body into her own space.

The two flew to a nearby stream and began to wash themselves. Since living with humans, they had started paying attention to their cleanliness, no longer looking sloppy—something they hadn’t done before.

Both Ezekiel and Meili were straightforward types. They weren’t worried about the Beast Tamer Tribe they had just encountered. In fact, they hoped they would come looking for them. Since they were Beast Tamer Tribe members, their spiritual beasts should make excellent food. After washing up, they didn’t leave right away.

About half an hour later, Ezekiel said with a smile, “They’re coming… quite a few of them. Hmm, I don’t know how many spiritual beasts there are, but maybe we can gather enough food for several years.” Instead of feeling nervous, he was somewhat excited.

Ezekiel and Meili flew into the air and waited. In just a few moments, over a hundred members of the Beast Tamer Tribe gathered around them. Meili said, “Quite a few, hehe. Not bad… not bad. Maybe we’ll get some good food.” Unlike Guo Shier, who was driven by the desire for delicious food, she was motivated purely by the food itself.

Soon, the two saw Meller in the crowd. Half of his face was ruined, with a large indentation, and his entire face was deformed. It was unclear what spiritual medicine he had used, but it was evident that he had been healed—just not corrected. All his rotten teeth had disappeared, and his mouth had sunken in, looking extremely strange. He could be heard shouting wildly, though his voice sounded odd due to air leaking through his missing teeth, with a strong nasal tone: “It’s these two spiritual beasts, the ones that have taken human form… it’s them…” Someone laughed and said, “Meller, even if you catch them, you won’t get a share. Haha, spiritual beasts in human form—what great treasures!” An old man with golden hair said, “Everyone, be careful. These two spiritual beasts are extremely powerful. Don’t let them escape.” Meller said to the old man with golden hair, “Gurdan, you must compensate me with a spiritual beast! My Golden Back Giant Ape is dead.” He didn’t mention killing Aizek and Meili. He knew well that these two spiritual beasts were the most precious treasures to the Beast Tamer clan, and no one would dare kill such beasts. Gurdan turned to Meller and said, “Don’t worry. Lord Hall will arrive soon. You’ve done a great service this time. If Lord Hall is satisfied, you might get an eighth-level spiritual beast.” Aizek and Meili hovered in the air, neither of them taking action because the other side wasn’t attacking, and most importantly, they hadn’t unleashed any spiritual beasts. They had no interest in killing people but were interested in their spiritual beasts. Without seeing those beasts, they had no reason to act. The hundred or so people meant nothing to Aizek and Meili, as they both sensed that their level was similar to Meller’s. Aizek was confident he could kill them all within a few minutes. One by one, the members of the Beast Tamer clan unleashed their spiritual beasts, mostly sixth- and seventh-level ones. In Aizek and Meili’s eyes, these beasts were just food. Together, the beasts of those hundred or so people were quite numerous, with many able to control two or even three spiritual beasts. Soon, the area was filled with the silhouettes of beasts—large and small—surrounding the two, including some that could fly. These beasts weren’t very large, with the longest being no more than 900 meters and the shortest around 500 to 600 meters. To ordinary people, these beasts were terrifying, but to Aizek and Meili, they were utterly insignificant.

Beauty chuckled lightly and said, “Dinner’s ready! Attack!” This time, she didn’t engage in close combat—after all, the size of those spiritual beasts was enormous. Fighting up close would be disadvantageous, with much weaker offensive power, so she reverted to her true form. A monstrously huge beast appeared before them.

With a swish of its tail, it sent over a dozen spiritual beasts flying, and with a fierce collision of its body, seven or eight more were sent flying. At that moment, Ezekiel also revealed his true form. He stomped heavily on the ground and charged into the group of spiritual beasts like a roaring demon.

Gordan’s pupils constricted sharply. He never imagined that these two spiritual beasts would be so enormous—so vast as to be utterly hopeless to resist. He immediately shouted, “Retreat! Back away quickly!” By his estimate, these two beasts were at least level 15 or 16—how could they possibly win?

In just a few moments, Beauty killed two spiritual beasts. Ezekiel torn one apart into pieces, as if a bloodstorm had struck, turning the forest below red with blood.

Several spiritual beasts kept spitting blood in panic and retreated hastily, causing chaos in the entire group. Gordan sent out a golden eagle, which kept screaming, forcing the spiritual beasts to launch various attacks, but none of them could penetrate Ezekiel and Beauty’s defenses.

Ezekiel killed several more spiritual beasts, prompting the enemy to flee desperately. A few even retracted their spiritual beasts, which enraged him greatly, as it meant he would lose his food source. Beauty was equally furious—after just a few attacks, the enemy had retreated. She vented her anger on those people, smashing one of them into a pile of flesh with a single swipe of her claw.

Gordan realized it was impossible even to hold off the opponents—these two advanced spiritual beasts were simply too strong. Some in the group were already sending out rescue signals. Meller had fled far away from the start of the battle. Without a spiritual beast to control, his own strength was not enough to fight. Watching the spiritual beasts die one after another, he felt bitterness in his mouth.

Ezekiel killed one spiritual beast and then retracted it, while the enemy fled desperately, making his killing process extremely unsatisfying. Gradually, the battlefield between the two sides grew farther apart. Gordan rode on the golden eagle and fled into the distance.

Meili also gathered the corpses of several spirit beasts. She realized she could no longer find their opponents— a group of people had taken their spirit beasts and fled into the distance. The two exchanged a glance, understanding each other without words, and said at the same time, “Chase them!” Food was not easy to come by, let alone a group of them. With a group of food sources escaping before their eyes, it was impossible not to chase after them. The two immediately set off in pursuit.

The spirit beasts left behind were quickly killed. As for those from the Beast Master tribe, if they hadn’t taken back their spirit beasts and those beasts were killed, the two would stop pursuing them. But those who had taken back their spirit beasts were killed without hesitation by the two. To dare take back their reserved food was simply an act of recklessness.

Soon, that group also discovered this secret and released their spirit beasts again. Killing a spirit beast or killing oneself— the choice was easy, as no one wanted to die.

Excited, Aizek and Meili stopped killing people and focused only on hunting spirit beasts. Guldan’s eyes gleamed with madness as he glanced back at the two enormous spirit beasts, thinking, “Go mad, go mad! Soon you’ll know just how powerful I am!”

Following a river course, that group of Beast Master tribe members fled desperately. In fact, their speed wasn’t slow, but it paled in comparison to Aizek and Meili. After all, a giant creature two kilometers long could take a step covering nearly a kilometer, and just a few steps would span several kilometers. Those spirit beasts were far behind in speed— Aizek’s one step was equivalent to seven or eight of theirs.

Of course, once they caught up with a spirit beast, Aizek would slow down. He had to kill the beast and store it in his body space, giving the opponent a chance to run a long distance.

Aizek and Meili charged in tandem and quickly killed over a dozen spirit beasts. Overjoyed, they never expected there to be so much food here. After tasting the spirit beasts, they both agreed that they were far more delicious than the Abnormal Symbol Beasts— rich in meat and juice, truly delicious. This was why they continued killing even after capturing over a dozen of them.

After chasing them for a whole day, that group of Beast Master tribe members had fled into the mountains, where there were countless towering peaks. They rushed into the mountains in a disheveled state and disappeared in no time. Aizek and Meili followed without hesitation into the mountains. Aizek climbed one of the mountains and reached the summit quickly. Narrowing his eyes, he looked into the distance and faintly saw the silhouettes of spirit beasts in the canyon. Then he led Meili down the mountain to continue their pursuit.

A few days later, Ezek and Beauty chased into a large canyon. From afar, they could see a spirit beast running frantically ahead. Ezek roared excitedly, urging Beauty to speed up. They had only killed two spirit beasts in these few days, which left him highly dissatisfied. The two accelerated their pursuit once again.

Beauty’s speed soared instantly as she rushed ahead of Ezek, taking the lead in the chase. With each step of her claws on the ground, the entire mountain range trembled. The sound produced by her eight claws striking the ground was earth-shattering, and the oppressive aura unique to those abominable beasts made all the wild animals in the mountains tremble in fear.

Howl!

Beauty crashed headfirst into a huge trap. Whether it was naturally formed or man-made, it trapped half of her body. In an instant, countless lights flashed, and Beauty let out a agonized roar. Ezek, who was behind, went wild immediately. He bit onto Beauty’s tail outside the trap and struggled desperately to pull her out.

Suddenly, Ezek saw a giant metal spike embedded in Beauty’s neck, glowing with spiritual light. There were also several large metal spikes on her shoulder blades. In pain, Beauty rolled on the ground. Ezek dragged her back while letting out an angry roar.

A group of people appeared from both sides of the mountain peak. Gurdan stepped forward and said, “Lord Hall, you have fulfilled your mission.”

Book 45: Going Our Separate Ways