Fan Zhong sighed lightly as he took in the old swordsman leaning leisurely against the front of the small row boat. It seemed like the hopes of his teacher solving everything personally were close to zero. He had expected as much and so immediately all thoughts of complaint or argument left his mind.
Quickly he focused his mental energy, letting it spread evenly over his senses. Blurring movements from the beach slowed to fast-moving objects as the monsters became clear in Fan Zhong’s sight. Currently, there were around eight of the abominations kicking up great clumps of sand as they raced toward the boat.
Other mounds shaking in scattered places all around them gave away that some of them hadn’t awakened yet. Counting those it seemed safe to number the enemies at around two to three dozen at most. Sparing another glance to study the creatures gave some insight into how they might attack.
Serrated claws and spikes lined the numerous limbs that were attached to the shells and they seemed to swing them in wild winding motions while running forward. On the sides of their grafted head’s mouth were wide scissor-like mandibles akin to those normally found on insects. A slight gray luster seemed to surround any sharp bits of anatomy the crab-like horrors had hinting at concentrated Qi of some type.
A quick guess led Fan Zhong to think it was metal Qi that would make those claws and mandibles sharp enough to sheer through mundane steel like butter. Luckily it seemed that no attack phantoms or effect manipulation projections were launched from range meaning most likely this lot could only fight in close combat. Seeing that the creatures had closed within 10 meters during his thoughts, Fan Zhong quickly took a deep breath while pulling his magical treasure from his robes in brick form.
Orders came from Fan Zhong’s lips as he willed mental energy into the rune on the brick to shift it into a staff as he fell into a fighting stance. “Brother Yong, mountain serpent form. Your staff will break easily blocking them so take the striking position. Little White…” Looking down to where his fluffy companion had been resting he suddenly realized the small water wolf was no longer in his lap.
Instead, the mighty beast king was curled in a ball while whimpering while Xing Zheng slowly petted his head.
“I see… Brother Qiang, stay between me and Brother Yong and provide support with your spear. Stay together and move!” Shouting his last words Fan Zhong took two steps to build momentum and jumped onto the shore.
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A small smile crept over Xing Zheng’s face as he felt the small boat rock slightly and listened to the words of his disciple rushing into battle. No prompting or prodding had been needed, he saw a battle with no commander and jumped to fill the spot. For all his talk of being lesser than his late father and brother, Xing Zheng thought that Fan Zhong truly fit the image of a clan leader when it mattered.
Of course, he would have defended his charges had they chosen to stay on their small craft. That, however, would’ve been disappointing. In his almost 1,000 years under the heavens, he had learned that those who lacked the spark to move forward, the will to seize the moment, would invariably fade into history.
Small whimpering from his lap brought Xing Zheng from his musings as he looked down to see an aggravated Little White. Wariness showed in the beast king’s eyes as he glanced between Xing Zheng and the charging youths. Chuckling softly he simply stroked a hand over the beast's back while lifting his head to gaze out of the calm waters of the river.
“Calm down little one. Your master has grown strong in the past year and can stand on his own two feet. Besides, there's someone else here to be your playmate.” Gently he kept his tone smooth and cadence steady, painting the image of an implacable sword sage unmoved by the world.
Appearances were important after all, even for lofty immortals. As if waiting for that exact moment a large circular maw rose from the water. Eight cruel glowing eyes bore down from atop a long neck that loomed a dozen meters over the small rowboat.
“Right on time, have fun you two.” Xing Zheng chuckled lightly as he marshaled his divine sense and Qi to form a hand that promptly threw the small water wolf into the water right in front of the sea monster.
A startled yelp tore through the air covering the hearty laughing of Xing Zheng as the sound turned into a fierce growl. Little White’s body expanded into a wolf twice the size of a horse and half over again as tall as streams of water formed a fitting suit around him and he plunged into the depths of the water. Quickly the monster retreated to chase the wolf and all was calm once more save for the sounds of battle on the shore.
With a slight nod and a smile Xing Zheng once again dipped his head down so his wide-brimmed hat covered his face and spread his divine sense out to watch his charges experience just a small bit of the martial world.
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As Fan Yong quickly followed in the steps of Fan Zhong, Wang Qiang looked dumbstruck at their slightly blurring figures. Taking a sidelong glance at the sleeping old swordsman and Little White he clenched his teeth and reached down to grab his spear which lay on the rowboat’s floor.
Suddenly a whisper entered his ears. “Faster now, Junior Qiang, or it will be over before you arrive.” The voice had an amused tone and before he knew it the young merchant's son was blasted from the small craft by what felt like a gust of wind.
Tumbling through the sky he tucked his legs and weapon close to his chest just like in the limited training he had for such situations. In those brief moments, the beating of impacts and sickly crunching of shells sounded in his ears. Miraculously through it all Wang Qiang landed on his feet between his two friends.
Just as he stood; however, a blurring shadow appeared in front of his face. Two staves seemed to teleport into a crossguard in front of him for an instant, catching a sinister clawed arm before twisting in opposing directions. Like a vice, the weapons clamped down on each side of the appendage smashing it to a pulp between them before once again blurring to continue the dance of death around them.
Looking around Wang Qiang realized he could barely read the speed of the figures around them. He was only truly able to see them when they stopped to block or when the crab monsters were approaching from afar in slow lumbering strides. Gripping his spear tightly he let the rope attached to the weighted net on the end rest loosely in his offhand.
Slowly a self-depreciated grimace stretched over his face as he wandered, not for the first time, how exactly he was supposed to ‘provide support’.
Fan Zhong’s eyes widened as Wang Qiang landed between him and Fan Yong. His friend seemed to just be standing there and was oblivious to the monster that had dashed towards him with a piercing hand. Quickly he thrust his staff forward before then sweeping it in a wide arc in front of him, knocking back three of the abominations.
As he did so his hands shifted on the staff as he swept the top of the staff up and then downward. With perfect timing, Fan Yong had read his intent, and their weapons crossed to form a combination receiving palm technique to catch the strike. In that instant movement kicked up from the side of Fan Zhong’s eyes as he turned to help Wang Qiang.
A cloud of sand was just visible in his sight and it seemed to have been kicked up from behind the enemies he had just pushed away. Focusing his mental energy he let his body follow the motion of the staff as his feet arced into the air in a crescent motion while his weight pressed down on the end of his staff. Likewise, Fan Yong pushed upward allowing them to destroy the arm of the creature attacking their slower friend.
At that moment a blurring shadow tore through the three monsters that had been standing in front of Fan Zhong arriving with mandibles outstretched. This creature was thin and long with a more recessed head. The blades on its maw stretched out almost as much as a short sword giving the image that they could easily wrap around and sever a leg or an arm!
However, what met the beast was neither of those but the blurring upward ax kick from Fan Zhong’s heels. Previously he had used most of his saved momentum from his staff to propel his body upward much like he would do to raise his leg high to deliver a descending kick to finish a receiving palm. Sensing the danger, he had thrown the speed into the upward part of the motion allowing his foot to turn the head of the abomination into a pile of mush.
All of this happened in just one movement and as he landed Fan Zhong ducked to allow three shifting palm strikes to pass over his head. During the motion, he took the chance to contact juggle his staff over his shoulders and across his back to build speed before executing a triple Origin Piercing Palm strike. Three crab-like zombies stumbled from the shifting palms to their heads and before they could recover wide fist-sized holes appeared in their abdomens.
This was the teamwork built by those who had trained together for years! Although Fan Zhong and Fan Yong were lacking members to form a true Fan clan battle formation they could still use that training to cover for each other. After spending a year in the Reclusive Sword Mountain Sect constantly training their cooperation had deepened.
Even with most of their time being spent on techniques to face strong opponents in a one-on-one scenario the martial interests of the sect had no lack of group battle training! Now all of that work was paying off as Fan Zhong sprang forth with sweeping shifting palm strikes as he guided their group forward through half a dozen of the crab zombies.
Following him Fan Yong would deliver an origin palm strike or his own shifting palms to break limbs or directly kill. Wang Qiang would then finish off those crippled and disabled foes with his spear allowing both of them to save the time needed to finish off these downed opponents. Like this, the group found a way to incorporate all three of them with the only disappointment being that the merchant’s son could not find a use for his weighted net as he was too slow to make good use of it.
As he finished that set of crab zombies Fan Zhong surveyed the beach. Originally he had led them to the right of their landing point to clear out a section of the creatures. Now most of them had stood up and around 18 remained. Among them, almost all had turned to face the group with only those at the most extreme left of the rowboat shambling towards it slowly.
Looking at the beach itself their group was only a third of the way between the shore and the forest that lay beyond. Making a decision he decided that securing the beach was a priority before they could move forward. Nodding to himself slightly Fan Zhong turned and started heading to the leftmost side from where they had landed.
In this way, he planned to make a sweeping motion to clear out the remaining enemies. As for the safety of the rowboat? With Xing Zheng sitting there, he was more worried about how the island would survive the old man’s wrath than their way home being damaged. Striding forth he was able to get 10 steps worth of momentum by juggling his staff and the four-step distance between him and the next zombie.
Wind rushed by as Fan Zhong expended some speed to move aside suddenly to the right to avoid a slicing claw while his staff swung low catching a claw that was approaching from his right. Lashing out with a foot he crumbled the leg of the zombie in front of him and turned to his torso right while pulling his staff back. With his back to the side that had been his left just a moment ago, he could feel several claws rip slightly into his robes before losing force as the natural treasure material did its job.
In the same moment, he destroyed the head of the creature he had turned to face while sweeping the butt end of his staff low to catch the leg of an approaching creature as he ducked. Two weapons flashed over his back as Wang Qiang finished off the abomination directly in their path and Fan Yong crushed both legs of the creature that had attacked Fan Zhong’s back.
Turning back to his left to continue along the beach, Fan Zhong realized that the crab zombies had reacted faster than before. Now all of them were facing the group and had spread out to surround them. Additionally, other mounds of sand that seemed to have been buried deeper were now shaking with dozens popping up by the second.
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Just as he was surveying the scene a grunt of pain registered behind him. Looking back Fan Zhong saw that Wang Qiang had a large gash on his right side and a few cursory wounds across his body. Meanwhile, Fan Yong had a clawed finger sticking out of his right shoulder and his once resplendent mortal natural treasure robes were streaked with gashes.
Examining himself he found that his attire wasn’t fairing much better and would probably only withstand a few more blows.
“Brother Yong, roam the earth around Brother Qiang!” Fan Zhong’s voice was hoarse as he put his back to the merchant’s son while edging closer to him.
Fan Yong nodded and did likewise, positioning himself on the opposite side of Wang Qiang. This was a form of the battle formation they had used during the war with the Wei ‘Two Eyes Observe the Four Roaming Earths’! While attacking the group would take a V-Shaped formation allowing observers from within the group to lash out while guarded by Fan clan warriors.
However, the formation could also be used defensively where the warriors would form a circular shape with their backs to the center. Usually, this was used when defending or surrounded. Although Fan Zhong and Fan Yong lacked observers to utilize the full strength of the formation they had little choice as this was the best group defensive form they knew!
“Apologies, Brother Qiang, this may get a little chaotic.” Fan Yong’s voice boomed over the snarling noises of the circling zombies who seemed hesitant to attack alert prey.
The slightly bulky and short fan clansman was smiling widely as his tone carried jovialness and an eagerness for battle. Hidden underneath though was a sorrowful note, one that spoke of his sincere regret at being unable to defend his friend better.
“O… Of… Of course, Brother Yong. Surely… everything will be ok with Senior Zhang Zheng here, right?” Wang Qiang tried to keep his tone steady but between his visibly shaking hands and expression of fright, it was obvious that he was terrified.
Fan Zhong gave him credit however as it wasn’t every day that normal people faced such life-or-death circumstances. Although Wang Qiang had trained for a battle like this all his life, as did many of those who lived in the Flowing Grass Valley, it was rare to actually engage in combat. In fact, it was common for many to go their whole lives with sparing and sanctioned duels being the closest they ever got to live fighting.
“Worry not, today two young heroes stand with you. Two men who survived the attacks of bandits and evildoers alike. Who drove back the enemies at the Battle of Forest Depths! Today, Brother Qiang, you’ll see what makes Fan clan warriors so renowned. Not talent nor treasures. Not providence nor heavenly technique. Here and now, I Fan Zhong will show you the spirit of a warrior!” Fan Zhong shouted his words as his eyes narrowed into slits.
A formless pressure seemed to exude from him and Fan Yong as they settled into the Void Gate stance and directed killing intent at the surrounding abominations. Just as both groups prepared to continue their battle a gentle sigh was carried over the entire beach by the wind. Neither loud nor soft the sigh seemed to carry a tiredness that came from the very soul and all other sounds were drowned out by it.
In a blur, the back of a man in an azure appeared in front of Fan Zhong. He had a wide-brimmed bamboo hat and in the crook of his left arm was held an old rusted sword sitting in an ornate sheath. Seeing this caused the young future Fan clan leader’s eyes to brighten, the old swordsman had finally made his move!
“At least you know how to talk, ungrateful disciple. Now… Since my nap was ruined, it seems it's time for a lesson. Watch closely now, all of you.” Xing Zheng’s tone was calm as if he was taking a stroll through his own backyard.
As he spoke, ripples seemed to roll off his body forming a circle around the group with writhing runes forming the boundary. While the barrier formed Xing Zheng gently strode forward, slowly drawing his sword.
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With each step he took Xing Zheng retracted his divine sense and Qi, leaving just the right amount to emulate a first-grade martial artist. After all, a lesson the student couldn’t emulate, at least in theory, was less than useless and could even hurt them in the long run.
“First let's talk about what you did well.” He kept his voice light and calm as his sword lashed out in a circular motion.
In a flash the blade ran across the throat of a beast that had gotten too close, beheading it as Xing Zheng stepped into the monster’s guard. Continuing the strike-through he lashed out with his leg behind him, hooking it around the joint of a spiked limb and cracked it as his body twisted and sunk low to the floor. Using that momentum the circular arc of his sword sped around him like a wave emitting in all directions.
With a dull thud a head and another spike-tipped arm fell to the floor as his sword finally ran its course, clashing with a set of clamping mandibles that had looked to take him by surprise.
Flicking his wrist Xing Zheng’s sword tugged the creature down to his left as he sent another arcing slash in a semi-circle to his right. In just a moment three more followed, giving off the image that flickering waves of silver were arcing outward from his figure as he twisted and turned through the creatures.
Blade and body became one as his sword beheaded a monster a creature while he elbowed a spearing spike-tipped hand off course with his freehand all the while sweeping the legs out from two of the abominations with a kick. Fighting this way brought back old memories that had laid deep within his mind for hundreds of years. When he first arrived at the Azure Rain Sword sect the first Sword style he had mastered had been this, the Rising Wave Sword.
“To start with, your courage was admirable. When faced with enemies and having no clear direction you organized what resources were at hand and took the fight to them. Remember, hesitation is defeat. To be reckless is one thing but to fail to make a decision is an even greater mistake.” His words remained calm even as the increased hissing and roars from the agitated and fearful crab zombies became ever louder. “Securing the beach was a sound plan and bringing the assault to the enemy when outnumbered was the correct choice. There may have been better ways to attack however, the route you chose was passable. Taking the intelligence of the enemy into account was vital as you knew it would take time for them to marshal as a force and that the boat was safe with me there. Overall, these are the areas that I was most pleased with.”
As he spoke Xing Zheng’s movements became slightly faster as he pushed himself from the strength of a middle stage first grade martial artist towards the peak of that realm's power.
“Now, let's address what mistakes were made” This time he emphasized his words with a slight bit of Qi making ‘mistakes’ in particular stand out like a sudden lightning-quick stab.
At the same time from within his defensive array of circular movements Xing Zheng struck forth with explosive speed akin to water rushing through a crack in a dam. The strike carried all his body's momentum and strength for just a moment as his sword drew a straight line through the head of an abomination that had just lost its remaining arm in a bid to strike him from the side. Meanwhile, his left leg kicked outward, smashing the head of another enemy on the other side.
“Firstly you incorrectly assumed that the enemy needed to be targeted. Since when did I imply that our craft would be unsafe for any of you with me present?” Again his voice struck out just like his sword seeming to pierce the air as he injected small bits of energy into it.
During the motion Xing Zheng had kicked off the ground so that he was slightly in the air, narrowly avoiding a pair of creatures that had dove at his legs as they had been forced to crawl from losing their own. His free arm swung downward in a crescent motion catching the joints of the beasts that had attacked him from behind and pulling them inward. As he landed his sword flashed in a tight circle that beheaded five of the creatures.
Landing in a crouch he exploded forward taking five steps towards the water. The first step saw two sets of mandibles approaching from his midsection while a pair of spiked arms speared at his head. Ducking so low to the ground as to touch it Xing Zheng slid forward while guiding his sword in two upward thrusts that whistled in the air.
“Second, you're too reliant on having the best scouts. What gave you the confidence that only the enemies you could see were present? Years spent with a sturdy observer lineage have built false confidence in your abilities to survey and analyze a battlefield even without such support present.”
Gracefully he continued forward for his second step, gliding under the falling forms of the two monsters that had tried to catch him between their mandibles without so much as a scratch. As he rose Xing Zheng carved a rising spiral with his sword taking out the legs of at least four of the abominations. Before he had even risen to his full height his sword had struck out four times.
His next three steps took place in the blink of an eye as he gave up the defensive portions of the Rising Wave Sword and resorted to only dodging. Like a river serpent, Xing Zheng flowed like water between each and every strike while his sword struck out in flashing lines that left dozens of the abominations dead on the spot. This was the second sword style he had learned in his tenure as an outer disciple, Flowing Serpent Sword.
“Lastly, but most importantly, you are weak. Cry to the heavens and rage against fate all you want; however, the fact remains. In this world only the strong prevail, to be weak is a crime against the heavens themselves” Xing Zheng’s tone had turned stern and he let a slight bit of his killing intent leak into the surroundings freezing every living creature present in place “However, today teacher is here, waylay your worries and observe.”
Nearing the end of his words a gentle smile had returned to his face and he pushed a small amount of divine sense out to cover the young men to transmit a feeling of calmness. Looking out across the beach Xing Zheng could see that the beasts had been dealt with for the most part. A few crawled toward him as blood trailed from their cut-off legs and torsos but none presented a threat.
With his divine sense, he could sense something, just a few dozen meters out between him and their small rowboat. Small tremors in the sand also indicated the arrival of something larger but anyone who had enough divine sense to see those would’ve detected the threat in other ways. Although it was rapidly approaching with his senses ready for battle the wait was dreadfully slow.
To pass the time he thought of ways to cap off the lesson. Both of the styles he displayed were the foundation for his unique interpretation of the Azure Rain Sword Style. For every user, it was vital that they learn simpler styles and combine them seamlessly with an unmatched understanding of the fundamentals of swordplay. In essence, what Xing Zheng displayed could be called the foundation of his understanding as a martial artist.
Of course, there was more to it but the core of what he had been trying to teach Fan Zhong was the importance of maximizing even the lowest-level techniques in one's arsenal. Yet… the point was lacking something… personalized. Yes, it was entirely based on his elemental understanding of water and swordplay.
Meanwhile, his disciple focused on Staff and palm techniques that were rooted in earth elemental Qi. Thinking about the subject caused his brows to furrow slightly as memories of Fan Zhong practicing his personal technique the ‘Origin Piercing Palm’ came to mind. Countless moments passed by in his mind each blending into the last as his powerful divine sense analyzed the most minute movements within the technique.
After just the briefest moment the sand started to tremble some distance away from him and at the same time, Xing Zheng felt he had grasped the technique enough to provide some guidance. Glancing at his weapon, however, caused him some consternation. It was the oldest sword he owned, one covered in rust and knicks from countless sparring sessions.
The blade brought back memories, some sad and others happy but he had no time to dwell on them. Currently, the most distressing issue was that the simple one-handed twin edge sword was ill-equipped to perform his modified version of Fan Zhong’s technique. It took another second for him to come up with a solution at which point a large vortex had formed in the sand where the disturbance was coming from around the size of a house.
Casually he formed a blurring set of seals with his free hand gathering ambient Qi of heaven and earth and refining it into earth Qi. Normally this would be faster but his dantian’s cycling technique was ill-suited to accommodate the refining of such energies and it had to be done externally. Next, he willed the Qi into a three-rune array around his sword as he raised it.
Gently his divine sense pulled and guided the purified energy to form the array as large amounts of sand collected. All of it gathered onto his sword that was now floating above the palm of his upraised arm. This trick was something an ‘environmental restoration’ cultivator had once taught him at the sight of a fierce battleground.
The man had been part of a long line of martial artists that made their living as a troupe that traveled the land repairing and nurturing environments that had been damaged by war and catastrophe. Although he had said this array was a quick fix it allowed one to take loose earth and compact it into sturdy rock, forming the foundations for land to be slowly nurtured atop. Modifying the working hadn’t been too difficult and with just a little thinking he combined it with a basic sword refining array in his memories.
In mere moments a giant sword 5 meters in height with a squared-off blade made of condensed sand-colored stone condensed over Xing Zheng’s palm. The refinement wouldn’t last too long but it would protect his old sword and the thicker squared-off blade that was almost three times as wide as his previous weapon would work better with the technique.
Just as he took hold of the behemoth blade an explosion rocked the beach as a gigantic crab-like beast with 16 arms and a large head exploded from the sand vortex. Each of its mandibles was as large as three of their rowboats combined and each of its arms ended in a chitinous spike that glowed an eerie silver color. Only half the monster was visible and it still towered as high as a building.
Following the emergence the beast let out a wail that seemed melodic and sweet instead of bestial. Xing Zheng smiled as a wave of lulling sleep washed over his mental defenses like a ripple from a toddler splashing in the waters.
“Now pay attention disciple, teacher prepared this just for you.” Xing Zheng spoke softly as he pointed the gigantic sword at the creature with a single hand.
Before the mental wave had even touched him the large beast had already spread its spiked arms forward in a barrage of deadly attacks. Slight blurs could be seen at the edge of some of them as what appeared to be hundreds of arms and dozens of sets of mandibles approached him from all sides.
“Some will tell you that earth-aligned attacks are slow. This is true in some sense however, what is speed? Is it the rate of movement? The ability to change direction rapidly? Earth techniques are slow in that they cannot exchange rapidly but they make up for it with explosive power. To harness the earth one must analyze and make judgements with a cool mind. Like the mountain, stay stalwart. Like the landslide, act with overwhelming force.” Xing Zheng’s voice was never louder than when he normally spoke yet it pierced through the overwhelming din and roar of the crab-beast’s attacks as if the sounds existed in different dimensions, another useful trick he had picked up from his master.
As he finished the attacks all around him encroached within a few meters. Casually, and without panic, Xing Zheng pulsed his divine sense into his eyes as he quickly identified which were illusions and what was real. In doing so he made sure each movement was perceptible to Fan Zhong’s limited senses. Finally right before the attacks hit him he cycled the barest trace of earth Qi through his body's energy channels.
The act felt rough, like gravel flowing through his veins but he endured it easily. With deftness, he moved the sword in a circular motion around him with a tilted axis. Again he did so on his other side aligning the movements so that their intersection formed an x-shaped arc in the air both in front and behind himself. Along the way, the large stone blade built momentum from the two revolutions even as it bashed aside the 16 arms and pushed back the large mandibles of the beast.
Instantly the crab beast was left leaning toward him with its arms and head knocked back as if it was displaying its underbelly to him. Continuing the arc of the huge blade forward, Xing Zheng started to rotate it in his singular hand, taking care not to lose any of the built momentum. He brought the sword through a crescent scooping motion, moving upward from behind his right shoulder into a thrust.
Wind swirled around the blade in a vortex and sand was sucked into it from all around him. Finally, as he thrust the blade forward his free hand touched the top of the now longer handle as his right hand pressed forward in a spinning motion from the pommel. During the whole motion, he had only used Qi to start building momentum not to make the attack.
A boom sounded out as a pillar-sized column of force slammed into the beast's underbelly as the spinning square end of Xing Zheng’s great sword made contact with it. For tens of meters, a shallow column appeared in the ground, growing deeper as the angle of the strike sent more of the force into the earth and water. Finally, a large tunnel appeared in the water for at least 50 meters before it collapsed.
Finished with the strike Xing Zhegn leaped up and landed on the now dead crab beast’s head sitting down with his legs dangling over the side as his sword was halfway embedded into its head. As he started to speak a splashing noise was heard from the shore and a transparent figure walked out of the water. Little White’s water cloak slowly dropped, revealing multiple large cuts and blood across his fine coat along with his back left leg showing a limp.
However, there was a fierce pride in the beast king’s eyes as he walked over to Fan Zhong and set a large eye the size of a man’s head right in front of him.