Chương 44: A Dragon Emerges

Fang Yuo's team had brought a total of twelve cultivators. Four were at the late stage of the Qi Refining Realm, and the remaining eight were at the mid stage. All four late stage cultivators had just been slaughtered by Zhang Huaijin alone, a chilling display of overwhelming power. Of the eight mid stage cultivators, only three were still breathing. The other five were badly wounded, their bodies covered in cuts and gashes. These men had spent years roaming the Purple Dusk Mountain Range, hunting spirit beasts.

Their combat experience was extensive, their instincts honed by countless life and death skirmishes. But none of that mattered now. The gap between the two sides was simply too vast. Both of the Zhang family's late stage cultivators fought with devastating efficiency. Their spirit artifacts were superior to anything the enemy carried, sharper, faster, deadlier. And Zhang Huaijin... Zhang Huaijin was a nightmare.

At just the eighth level of the Qi Refining Realm, he had cut down four late stage cultivators in less than fifteen minutes. Among them was Fang Yuo himself, a perfect stage Qi Refining Realm cultivator, infamous throughout the region. And Huaijin was so young. A true monster had risen from the Zhang clan, and his potential was terrifying to behold. When Zhang Huaijin threw himself into the heart of the enemy formation, it was a death sentence for the five wounded mid stage cultivators who remained. Pfft!

A casual flick of his wrist sent a wave of blue green sword energy howling through the air. It caught a fifth level cultivator across the neck, shearing through flesh and bone like paper. Blood sprayed. The man crumpled. Dead before he hit the ground. Swish. Swish. Swish. A faint golden light gathered at Zhang Huaijin's fingertips. Three streaks of Metal Finger Art shot forth, each one finding its mark with surgical precision, straight through the foreheads of three fourth level cultivators.

Blood gurgled from the wounds. Their eyes went vacant. Their bodies hit the earth with heavy, final thuds. The last cultivator standing simply... froze. His eyes were hollow. His body trembled uncontrollably. He stared at the blood soaked ground, at the bodies of his comrades scattered like broken dolls, and felt something inside him snap. Is this man even still at the Qi Refining Realm? Even a Foundation Establishment Realm expert would struggle to match this. Pfft!

Zhang Liliang's spirit artifact punched through the man's chest from behind. Blood burst from the wound in a crimson spray. The last of the enemy forces had fallen. The Zhang family cultivators stood frozen for a heartbeat, then another, staring at Zhang Huaijin as if he had descended from the heavens.

"Huaijin's strength..." Zhang Linyi's voice came out hoarse. He could feel the blood qi thrumming through Huaijin's body, and it sent an involuntary chill racing down his spine. He himself was at the eighth level of the Qi Refining Realm, yet he knew, with absolute certainty, that if Huaijin turned his full power against him, he would die. Instantly.

"Don't ask," Zhang Liliang said quietly. His tone was calm.

"Everyone carries secrets." He glanced at Zhang Linyi.

"Have you forgotten? When the elder from the Heavenly Crane Sect came to take Renan away, he also had a private conversation with Huaijin. Alone." Linyi's eyes widened slightly as the memory surfaced. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"There's something extraordinary about that boy," Liliang continued.

"Something the elder recognized." The truth, that Zhang Huaijin possessed a Spirit Body, was known to only two people in the entire Zhang family: Zhang Chongwen and Zhang Lixian.

"With Huaijin here..." Linyi's voice trembled, but not from fear. His cloudy old eyes kindled with a spark of hope.

"Our family will rise. I can feel it." Zhang Lixian now had a real chance of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. And with Huaijin's terrifying potential blazing like a beacon before them... The Zhang family had hope. The old men remembered how hard it had been to establish their clan in the first place.

They remembered the desperate struggles, the narrow escapes, the crushing weight of being nothing, less than nothing, in a world ruled by colossal powers who could crush them without a second thought. In the world of cultivation, a mere Qi Refining Realm family was less than an ant beneath the feets of giants. But now... The younger generation of the Zhang family looked at Huaijin with something close to worship in their eyes.

"Clean up the battlefield," Huaijin ordered, his voice cutting through the reverie.

"There are green apes gathering outside the valley." He turned toward the valley entrance, sword in hand.

"I'll deal with them. The blood has already started attracting spirit beasts from the surrounding area. Work quickly." Zhang Liliang and Zhang Linyi shook off their daze and began directing the clan members to sweep through the carnage, stripping the dead of anything valuable. Outside the valley, more than a dozen green apes had already gathered. Two of them were at the late stage of the Qi Refining Realm. Zhang Huaijin opened his spirit beast pouch.

The Purple Spirit Tiger burst out, its purple eyes gleaming with intelligence and not a trace of fear. Its cultivation had already reached the fourth level of the Qi Refining Realm. One man. One tiger. They charged into the pack of green apes without hesitation. —— By the time Zhang Liliang and Zhang Linyi led the family cultivators out of the valley. Zhang Huaijin had already slaughtered every last green ape. Their corpses were stored away in his storage pouch.

All that remained on the ground was churned earth and scattered blood.

"Move. Now." Huaijin's voice was sharp. He could sense more spirit beasts converging on their location from every direction, drawn by the overwhelming scent of fresh blood. The Zhang family cultivators fled, following the familiar path back toward Green Bamboo Mountain. BOOM! A thunderous roar split the air behind them. From the direction of Green Ape Peak, a massive green ape, easily four meters tall, came crashing down the mountainside.

It moved with terrifying speed, barreling straight toward the valley where the battle had taken place. The aura of a Foundation Establishment Realm spirit beast washed over them like a tidal wave. Killing intent radiated from the creature in palpable waves.

"Oh, hell," someone breathed.

"That's a tier 2, low grade green ape!" Zhang Liliang's face went pale.

"A Foundation Establishment Realm spirit beast! We can't fight something like that!"

"Run! Faster!" He shoved the younger cultivators ahead of him, urging them onward. Zhang Huaijin's expression darkened. Green Ape Peak was home to hundreds of green apes. Killing just a dozen or so shouldn't have provoked the Foundation Establishment beast... unless one of the apes he had just killed was its offspring. The Zhang family members pushed themselves to their limits, but the Foundation Establishment Realm green ape was simply too fast. The distance between them shrank with every passing breath.

And Huaijin could feel it, the beast's spiritual energy had locked onto him, and him alone.

"Second Uncle. Uncle Linyi." His voice was calm, almost conversational. As if he hadn't just noticed a Foundation Establishment Realm Spirit Beast bearing down on them.

"This green ape is after me. I'll lead it away."

"What? No""All of you return to the family compound. Help Grandfather defend Green Bamboo Mountain."

"Huaijin, you can't…" What terrible luck, Zhang Huaijin thought grimly.

"Absolutely not!" Zhang Linyi's voice cracked with desperate refusal.

"I'll stay behind. I'll hold it off." He couldn't allow this. Huaijin was the future of the Zhang family. The boy could not be lost. Linyi would sacrifice himself in a heartbeat if it meant Huaijin survived.

"That's right!" Zhang Liliang's eyes had gone bloodshot.

"I'll stay too! You go—" Bam! Before either of them could move, Zhang Huaijin's hands shot out and clamped down on their shoulders. The strength in his arms was monstrous, far beyond what a normal Qi Refining Realm cultivator should possess. He hurled them both through the air. They flew more than ten meters before crashing to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

"Return to the family compound," Huaijin said again, his voice brooking no argument.

"Defend Green Bamboo Mountain." Then he turned, white robes billowing, sword in hand, and ran, not toward safety, but deeper into the Purple Dusk Mountain Range. Just as he had predicted, the green ape changed course. Its eyes stayed locked on Huaijin's retreating form as it thundered after him.

"Go!" Zhang Liliang scrambled to his feet, dirt and debris clinging to his robes. His face was streaked with dust and tears. Zhang Linyi's lips trembled. In his heart, he cursed his own weakness, his own inability to protect the boy who meant more to their family than anything else in the world. —— The Purple Dusk Mountain Range was teeming with rogue cultivators. The conflict between Fang Yuo's team and the Zhang family had gone on long enough that many of them had witnessed at least part of it.

By the time Zhang Liliang and Zhang Linyi led the survivors back to Green Bamboo Mountain, news of the battle had already spread throughout Langya County Town. The Miao and Yang families were left speechless, their minds reeling at the reports of Zhang Huaijin's strength. As for the three Foundation Establishment Realm families, their reactions were varied. The Yan and Gao families offered no comment. They simply watched from the sidelines, waiting to see how events would unfold.

But the Tian family's mood was far from pleasant. Fang Yuo and his men had provided the Tian family with a steady stream of spirit beast resources every year for a long time. Everyone in Langya County knew that Fang Yuo belonged to them, that his kills were, in effect, their kills. Now, Fang Yuo and his entire team had been annihilated. By the Zhang family. And Zhang Huaijin's combat achievements had made the entire county stop and take notice.