Chapter 334: To Have the Heart of a Bear, And the Guts of a Panther
Translator: Novel Saga Editor: Novel Saga
"Tian Fa’s power is incomparable! Tian Fa’s power is the fiercest in the entire universe!" Long Crane shouted as he waved his arm. White Lion King and Golden Monkey King stood behind him. They also looked towards the sky and roared as they let-out their thoughts in their own manner.
"Tian Fa won’t invade the lands on the interior since we don’t wish to trouble the common people. This has always been our custom, and we won’t break it. Big Bear — you will command the ground forces with Tiger King, Lion King, Monkey King and Snake King. And, you will attack the resistance in the Southern Heaven City. Long Crane — you will lead the areal forces with Eagle King, and be ready to coordinate at any time. We hit them first; we hit them fast, and we hit them hard. They will be badly hurt. Then, we will decide if we should go ahead with a full scale battle. But, the final decision will always be to allow them come to me! Do you understand?"
"Yes!" the two men replied in unison.
"Fourth Brother, how’s your injury?" the shrouded person inquired.
"It’s fine. It was healed when Eldest Brother transferred his efficacy," Big Bear replied gratefully. "That Elusive Heart and Vein Splitting Sword Attack might have killed me if it weren’t for Eldest Brother."
"Eldest Brother, there’s one more thing… I think that Big Bear has been Li Jue Tian’s main target this entire time," Long Crane spoke-up in a cautionary manner.
"Oh? And, why is that? Li Jue Tian isn’t an unwise man. He must know that brazenly killing the Fourth would tantamount to a never-ending enmity and hatred from this Lord of Tian Fa. Yet, he still dares to?" The shrouded person snorted.
Long Crane replied in a dispirited manner, "Or maybe… it’s because the others don’t know what we do. The world uses the so-called phrase ‘To have the heart of a bear, and the guts of a panther’ to describe the might of a person’s courage. We know that such is not the case… But, maybe Li Jue Tian had brazenly killed the Panther King and taken his core with that mindset…"
"And so… he wants to take Big Bear heart as well?" The shrouded man snorted in rage.
"Yes. A man’s cultivation increases considerably if he takes a Xuan Core. But, one can’t absorb it properly, and Li Jue Tian would have faced this problem as well. But, if he takes Big Bear’s heart along with Panther King’s… he wouldn’t only be able to absorb the Xuan Core… but his Xuan cultivation would also double. And, his strength would double-up again if he were to ingest Big Bear’s core as well. This would lead to four-fold increase in his present efficacy. And, who in this world would be able to rival Li Jue Tian if that were to happen? So, why would he consider the enmity from the Tian Fa in the lure of such strength?"
Long Crane’s face was full of loathing, "Li Jue Tian ignored me throughout the fight. And, he continued to target Big Bear. And, each of his attacks was meant to kill. So, his intention was clearly malicious! This was the main reason why Fourth Brother and I instigated this uprising!"
"Li Jue Tian!" The shrouded person trembled with anger. It seemed like he had forced those words from the space between his teeth. "No wonder he surrendered his pride and issued the supreme summon! No wonder he didn’t hesitate to use that Elusive Heart and Vein Splitting Sword Attack to kill the Fourth! He had intended to kill him with one strike! That man intends to use the strength of the half of the continent’s Xuan experts to achieve his ill-intended and malicious ambitions. But, he has counted his chickens before they’ve hatched by using that attack!"
"You all must leave for now, and prepare for the attacks. Send the beasts of level seven or below to the Tian Fa forest. We won’t use them for now. I will put them on a single-minded training schedule for now." The individual gowned in a black robe continued, "Green Hunter Snake King, your speed is comparatively slower. So, pay attention. Only level five and above Flying Thread Snakes, Golden Centipede and Seven Star snakes shall participate. The others don’t need to get involved for now."
He was talking about Flying Thread, Golden Centipede and Seven Star Snakes. These three were the fastest, the most poisonous, and the most ferocious snakes in all of Tian Fa. In fact, these snakes were so quick that an average person couldn’t even track their shadows.
The green-clad young lady — the Snake King — bowed respectfully, and acknowledged the order.
"Third and Fourth… you had said that that this mysterious man was very strong. That… he might even be more powerful than me. How would you judge his cultivation compared to mine? And, be honest!" the shrouded person’s voice was somewhat hoarse.
"That man’s cultivation is very high. I figure it wouldn’t be less than yours. His cultivation would be more or less at par with you," Long Crane replied in a careful manner after he had considered it for a while.
However, Big Bear’s head was perhaps stuffed with melon seeds. So, he didn’t understand the meaning behind Long Crane’s roundabout reply. And, he opened his big mouth, and spoke, "Third Brother, you need to open your eyes before you speak such blind nonsense. That person’s cultivation was profound mystery. Eldest Brother is indeed very strong, but let’s be honest… he could easily beat-up several people like you to dust… uh… in fact, I think that he could easily destroy two such people with ease… I… uh… damn it… I… uh… damn it… I didn’t mean that uh… I didn’t say that damn it… You’re the strongest there is Eldest Brother… damn it… I didn’t mean that… damn it… I was just saying that the Eldest Brother could easily beat-up ten people like him… damn it…" lung-splitting screams were heard soon after…
He hadn’t finished speaking when his entire body had started to tremble. He had then opened his eyes, and had returned to his senses. But, it was already too late. "Bang!" his entire body was hurled upside-down into the ground under the shrouded person’s leg. Soon, only a faint snapping sound could be heard. And, this was because he had hit a few subterranean tree-roots… and had broken them…
"So, form your words… I can gather that this man’s strength is much stronger than mine? Is that what you mean…? There’s no need to mince your words; speak in a straightforward manner, and don’t waste my time!" the shrouded man sounded somewhat gloomy as he nonchalantly clapped his hands, and moved his leg. One could see the two soles of Big Bear’s legs jutting-out of the spot in the ground where he had been hurled into. And, the fading sounds of Big Bear’s painful groans could also be heard…
"Even the three Holy Lands and those reckless old men outside it can't match my cultivation. So what's the deal with this man? How can he have such high cultivation?" The shrouded man moved his legs to and fro for a while. He was somewhat perplexed. And, a mournful groan was heard every time his steps fell on the ground…
"This man's origin is quite mysterious. And, his strength is profound. But, I can assure you that he’s in no way a mediator from the Three Holy Lands!" Long Crane replied solemnly. His back was as straight as a ramrod, and his expression was also very serious. He had learned from the mistake Big Bear had just made, and had deliberated every word of his speech.
He had done this since he feared that the same thing might happen to him.
"How can you be sure?" The shrouded person continued to move his feet up and down. But, his movements didn't even raise the dust. The power of his feet was being transferred to the ground. But, the pitiful Big Bear wasn't injured or in pain because of this — only his head continued to get pushed deeper into the ground because of this stomping…
Big Bear's skin was rough. So, he wouldn't have gotten hurt anyway. He continued to stomp till his feet stepped on empty space. The shrouded man was satisfied only when the whole of Big Bear's body had gone into the second layer of soil underneath.
"Eldest Brother, you know that those old men from the three Holy Lands have a despicable aura…? And, it’s something which we can easily sense. Well… this man's aura isn’t only despicable, but it's also quite a delight. I don't know why… but it also makes one wish to get friendlier with him..."
"Ahm… so… I clearly understand that this merely your intuition! " The person shrouded in black cut him off with a wave of his hand.
"Intuition…?" Long Crane's expression was unusual as he looked on. Then, he secretly mumbled a few word to himself.
"What are you looking at? What are you thinking? Is my analysis wrong?" the shrouded man asked fiercely as he let his aura loose in anger. He then used his formless aura to bind Long Crane in a tight grip.
"You genuinely deserve to be the Eldest Brother... Eldest Brother is the wisest... haha ack..." Long Crane was extremely scared. He hurriedly spoke those words, and forced a laugh before his throat started to make those chocking noises.
"Long Crane… you're quite skillful, Third Brother," the shrouded man said in a gloomy tone.
"Eldest Brother... spare me..." Long Crane begged for mercy. But, he was flung away. He then landed on the ground, and his crash created a deep trench.
Then, suddenly a little bit of dirt was thrown-up, and a huge whole appeared on the ground beside him. And, Big Bear appeared out of it; he was covered in yellow mud. But, he became extremely cheerful at the sight of Long Crane's misery. He quickly spat out some mud and spoke in a merry tone, "Third Brother Crane, you too got your share, ha ha ha….!"
Long Crane's head was covered in mud. He crawled twenty to twenty-five meters before he snorted and replied, "At least I don't look like someone who was smashed headfirst into the ground… and had then gone over ten meters underground. Your body looks like it is covered in manure and you still look pleased with yourself… Your face is covered with that manure! In fact, you had even spat some of it out a moment ago!"
Big Bear couldn’t speak anymore. He knew that his Third Brother was disgusted with the stench that was coming from his body, but he himself had started to feel nauseated by it now…
"I would like to meet this mysterious man if I have time. Then, we'll see who’s stronger and who's weaker," the shrouded man stated in an ice-cold voice as the other two's quarrel started to die out.
"It's a pity that it's been over a month since we made that agreement. The job wasn't that difficult, but we've crossed the time limit. Humph! That old bastard Li Jue Tian has ruined things!" Big Bear angrily stamped his feet. And, the mud that had stuck onto his body started to come off.
"However, that man had also said that we have to look for Jun Family's Jun Wu Yi after we finish the job." Long Crane suddenly thought and said, "So, we can’t… and mustn’t let him escape since he has said so… So, we’ll find him if we continue to follow our actions. And as far as we know… the Empire has sent him in as the commander of the forces that were dispatched to deal with this uprising. Therefore, he’s inside the Southern Heaven City at the moment…"
"We will plan cautiously, and look for Jun Wu Yi if that’s the case. And, we will use him to get information about this mysterious man in a very discreet manner," the shrouded man’s robe fluttered as the tone of his voice changed a bit.
Long Crane and Big Bear didn’t find anything fishy about it. They were already quite used to strange things.
"Eldest Brother, we must still be careful regarding this matter with Jun Wu Yi. We might anger the mysterious man if we cross a certain line. And, the losses will outweigh the gain in such a case..." Long Crane suggested in a caution manner.