Zhang Chen looked at the people and horses from Prince Pingbian's Mansion in the distance and couldn't help but take a deep breath. This time, things had escalated greatly; with the confrontation of Yang God experts and the emergence of the Divine Demon corpses and the Tree of Life Coffin, it was bound to attract a host of monsters and demons from all over the world to appear and fight over those two supreme treasures.
"I wonder where the Tree of Life Coffin and the corpse of the Princess have gone." Zhang Chen's heart was heavy with thought.
Whether it was the coffin or the Princess's corpse, Zhang Chen considered them his own possessions. He would not easily allow others to take them away, but he himself was not powerful enough now to seize those two treasures.
"It doesn't concern me for the time being; the most important thing is to ignite the Eight Trigrams Furnace and forge the God-Beating Whip. Once I've crafted the God-Beating Whip, facing those Yang God realm experts won't be entirely without the power to resist." Zhang Chen muttered to himself as he turned and walked down the mountain.
In the desolate mountains, Demon King Zhao Lie fell, transforming into a giant tiger. There was a wound on its chest that bled golden yellow blood, dripping continuously. Before Zhao Lie could even get back up, it seemed the Power of Time was flowing backward on him. In just three breaths, Zhao Lie had reverted back to his just-born state.
"Damn it! I'm doomed this time!" Zhao Lie sensed his newly-born body, his eyes filled with panic, "Even a mere rat might be able to bite me to death! It's over! The Judgement of the Great Victory Dynasty is terrifying beyond belief."
"No, I must hide first!" Zhao Lie struggled desperately to crawl into a crevice, but just as he made this decision, a cry from a Hunting Falcon echoed overhead. A Hunting Falcon had already locked onto him, diving down fiercely.
"I'm doomed! My life is over!" Watching the descending Hunting Falcon, Zhao Lie's eyes were filled with despair. Despite all his struggles, the next moment he was caught by the Hunting Falcon, lifted into the air, soaring into the blue sky and white clouds.
"It's over! Who would have thought that I, the mighty Demon King Zhao Lie, would be pecked to death by an undeveloped beast! Bai Cang, you worthless wretch, where are you? Why aren't you coming to save me! I cannot die, and I definitely can't die so miserably!" In Zhao Lie's heart, there was nothing but a desperate lament.
As for Zhang Chen, he found his way back to his cave dwelling, fearing that the previous battle waves might have startled the big hornet, causing a frenzy in the hornet swarm. He hurried over to calm them down, but upon arrival, he found that his big hornets were completely unaffected, comfortably hiding in their cave.
Zhang Chen nodded in satisfaction, glanced around, and seeing no sign of the Hunting Falcon, decided against searching for the creature. Just as he was about to turn and leave, suddenly a loud cry echoed through the heavens and earth. A Hunting Falcon plunged directly from the sky, and a black and yellow mass of flesh dropped straight down, landing at Zhang Chen's feet, stirring up layers of dust.
"In such a severe drought, you still managed to catch prey?" Zhang Chen looked at the dust cloud, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
Once the dust settled, a delicate roar sounded. Zhang Chen glanced over and was momentarily stunned: It's... a little kitten?
A Little Wild Cat!
A just-born Little Wild Cat!
When the Hunting Falcon had dropped the Little Wild Cat from a great height, surprisingly it had not killed the little creature. Now the little being lay in the dust, let out a fierce yet tender cry at Zhang Chen, seemingly just out of the womb, and unable to walk.
"Where did you, beast, find a wild cat cub?" Zhang Chen examined it closely for a while, then reached out, regardless of the Little Wild Cat's struggling and resistance, and picked it up to examine it in the palm of his hand.
The Little Wild Cat was so small, its fetal fur not yet dry, but it was fiercely wild, showing its teeth and growling at Zhang Chen, demonstrating against him.
"Truly a Little Wild Cat of nature—wild and untamable!" Zhang Chen petted the Little Wild Cat's head, which caused the little creature to resist incessantly, extending its claws in an attempt to grasp Zhang Chen's hand. However, its resistance was too weak to defy Zhang Chen's overpowering grip.
And the Little Wild Cat, looking at Zhang Chen, secretly lamented in its heart—who was it? It was certainly the king amongst the Tiger Race, renowned beyond the Great Wilderness as Demon King Zhao Lie, struck by the Great Victory Dynasty's mysterious Judgement, regressed to its fetal fur state.
What choice did it have?
It had no hope!
"I've long heard of the Great Victory Dynasty's Judgement being terrifyingly mysterious, but to think it was this terrifying. Did you think the Judgement merely harmed the physical body? Wrong; once struck by the Judgement's power, that's when its effect just begins to manifest." Now Zhao Lie's eyes were full of grievance and unwillingness. What could he do about it? He had no hope!
Now reverted to its fetal fur state, even life and death were in others' hands. Without the Hunting Falcon capturing it, it too would be starved to death.
Zhang Chen looked at the fierce Little Wild Cat, a murderous glint flickered in his eyes: "As expected, you're wild and untamable; might as well feed you to the Hunting Falcon."
Zhang Chen saw that even within its fetal fur, the Little Wild Cat was so fierce, wanting to use its claws to scratch him, knitting his brows in disapproval.
Upon hearing Zhang Chen's words, Zhao Lie was aghast, his eyes filled with terror. He was now just an ordinary, common little tiger. If Zhang Chen fed him to the Hunting Falcon, he would be instantly ended.
Watching as Zhang Chen was about to feed him to the Hunting Falcon, Zhao Lie panicked, his mind flashed with countless thoughts, and in the end, he could only choose to surrender, letting out a soft mewling, opening his belly for Zhang Chen's touch. At the same time, he reached out with his paw as if coquettishly clinging to Zhang Chen's finger, then extended his tender tongue to lick Zhang Chen's hand, displaying an affectionate demeanor.