World's Best Martial Artist

Ch.437 [PART 2]

As Huang Jing fought, he was considering his retreat towards the Hedgehog’s Ridge, trying to figure out how to make his retreat while fending off the demon beast, as well as trying to figure out how he can find Fang Ping

In the next moments, all of these hopeful thoughts dissipated as Huang Jing’s face morphed into an expression of disbelief and defeat.

Ah, he’s really going to die this time.

A single eighth tier demon beast was more than enough to take his life, and now, another one has just arrived.

The ginormous Hedgehog Beast that had been attacking Huang Jing also paused in surprise, and turned its giant head to look at the golden blur streaking towards their direction, its cold eyes betrayed a hint of confusion.

Was it that demon beast from the golden-horned tribe? Why was it coming here?

The Hedgehog Beast had felt the golden-horned beast king’s aura during his fight, but as fellow venerable realm demon beasts, there’s unspoken rule not to meddle in each other’s business.The Hedgehog Beast knew also of the Forbidden Land’s call to the Golden-Horned Beast King, and of how the it must hurry forth to answer the summon, and pay its respects to the Forbidden Land. In fact, the Hedgehog Beast had felt the presence of the Golden-Horned Beast King passing by along with the messenger’s more subtle presence. The Hedgehog Beast had assumed then that they were heading to the Forbidden Land, so it was very confusing to see the Golden-Horned Beast King now, fast approaching.

Why did the Golden-Horned Beast King decide to come over here? Although it was confused, the Hedgehog Beast didn’t pause to think too much of it, it’s not like the Golden-Horned Beast King wanted to play vulture to the Hedgehog Beast’s fight.

A pair of giant eyes beheld the Land of Rebirth warrior, the violence and bloodthirst radiating from the Hedgehog Beast’s eyes was almost tangible. This bastard killed its offspring, so the Hedgehog Best must kill him quickly. As for the tiny little sword...the Hedgehog Beast will engulf that as well!

Excited at the prospect, the Hedgehog Beast’s attacks became faster, with each strike landing harder than the last.

Huang Jing tasted the bitter copper on his tongue as blood overflowed from his mouth. The heaven and earth power wrapped around his body became weaker and thinner. He’s almost at his body’s limit, and there’s nowhere to run!

Huang Jing’s Celestial Bridges and the three Sanjiao Gates appeared, floating above his weakening body.

Even if he has to die, Huang Jing will not go down without a fight!

The golden shortsword’s brilliant radiance became even brighter, as if it was pulling all the power from the surrounding air back into its blade. If there’s no way to bring the shortsword out, Huang Ping thought, then might as well make it self-implode!

Just as Huang Jing was about to use up the last of his life in a final strike, preparing to damage this stubborn demon beast even at the cost of sacrificing his life, from afar the golden glint in the horizon flashed ever close, and in the next moment, the golden radiance stopped.

The Hedgehog Beast’s attacks pause, its movements mirrored its confusion. It turned its giant, dappled head towards the Jiao, and began to roar.

“ROAR!” The Jiao opened its jaws wide, and answered in kind, as if it was replying to whatever the Hedgehog Beast had said.

A flash of anger appeared in the Hedgehog Beast’s eyes as it glared at the Jiao. This fucking bastard Jiao, it wanted this sword?

The Hedgehog Beast continued to howl its dismay, and the Jiao answered.

Moments later, both parties achieved some sort of agreement, and the Jiao’s giant eyes turned towards Huang Jing in an instant.

Huang Jing clenched his teeth, his Celestial Bridges began to tremble fiercely.

At this moment, the Jiao suddenly struck, quick as lighting, and lunged towards Huang Jing!

Two eighth tiered demon beasts attacking one seventh tiered human, Huang Jing’s heart was bitter as he prepared to die, is this really how he wanted to go?

Just as his Sanjiao Gates also began to tremble and shake, preparing to explode once the Jiao neared, in the next moment the Jiao did something completely baffling and inconceivable!

That flash of gold hurling towards Huang Jing suddenly swerved, and without warning dashed towards the Hedgehog Beast!

“BOOM!”

Two giant, golden beasts slammed together in an instant.

The Jiao’s sudden attack towards the Hedgehog beast not only surprised Huang Jing, but it also caught the Hedgehog Beast off guard as well.

The Hedgehog Beast had already come to an agreement with the Golden-Horned Beast King, and the other party had already agreed that asides from that tiny sword, they would not plunder anything else. So why did the Golden-Horned Beast King suddenly decide to attack its partner in crime?

Could it be that the Golden-Horned Beast King wants to eliminate witnesses?

“ROAR!” The Hedgehog Beast roared again, as if trying to communicate.

Huang Jing stood in a stupor, everything was happening so fast. He quickly retracted his Sanjiao Gates and Celestial Bridges, and turned to make a run for it.

But before he could do so, an invisible force locked him in place. It was the Jiao.

The Jiao locked eyes with Huang Jing, then looked down at that tiny word, and even as it attacked the Hedgehog Beast, the Jiao was roaring at Huang Jing as if it was trying to communicate with him.

Upon seeing the dumbfounded expression on the warrior’s face, the Jiao felt as if its head would explode with anger!

What an imbecile!

How could the human not understand?

If the Jiao wasn’t caught up in its fight with the Hedgehog Beast, it would be swearing like a sailor. This little man is even worse than that stupid chef!

Eye gestures – read the hints! Can’t you understand???

Use. Your. Sword. To. Kill. This. Hedgehog!

The Jiao’s strength is perfectly matched with that of the Hedgehog Beast, so the Jiao can only use all of its power to suppress the Hedgehog Beast and hinder its movement. But damn the Jiao was wrong to think that the humans from the City of Hope are actually intelligent. But now it appears, that they are not only dumb, they are hopely stupid!

The Jiao is extremely frustrated, it was also extremely angry.

The Jiao killed the messenger from the Forbidden Lands, and now it’s trying to kill the Hedgehog Beast that acts as the Forbidden Land’s doorwatch, all because the Jiao wanted to make it appear as if it was heavily injured by the dumb tree. That way the Jiao could be excused from going to the Forbidden Lands

The Hedgehog Beast knows that the dumb tree didn’t attack the Jiao, so the Jiao must kill the Hedgehog Beast in order to continue the Jiao’s charades.

But the difference between the Jiao’s strength and the Hedgehog Beast’s isn’t large enough, so the Jiao needed this stupid warrior to help it kill the Hedgehog Beast!

But why doesn’t the human understand?

Why!

The Jiao was beyond angry. It looked at the sword, then looked towards the Hedgehog Beast, all the while trying madly to signal with its eyes, internally screaming: use your sword and kill it!

Huang Jing was still confused, but after a while, he felt that he understood a little, but he was still confused.

Demon beasts are sentient, he knows this already.

But...why did it become like this?

This demon beast...it looks like that Jiao from the Jiao King’s Forest. Why was it attacking the demon beast from the Hedgehog’s Ridge?

One confusing question after another bubbled up in Huang Jing’s mind.

But now’s not the time to stop and think!

The Jiao is suppressing the Hedgehog Beast. This newly ascended eighth tier Jiao, with its sneak attack, had managed to subdue its opponent. The two giant beasts didn’t really have a lot of fighting techniques, and their battle was mainly a clash of brute strength as their power collided. Their gargantuan bodies smashed together with great force as they battled. The two beasts scored multiple wounds on eachother, and the spillage of blood was especially gruesome.

Upon seeing the Jiao look in his direction yet again, Huang Jing hesitated. Should he rush in to help, or should he make a run for it.

If he ran...would the two demon beasts continue their fight?

But indecisiveness costs many opportunities. And this infront of him, is something he’s never seen before.

“Screw it! I’ve already killed the small Hedgehog Beast, even if I return to the City of Hope, this larger one will still follow me to take its revenge! I must kill it!”

With this thought, Huang Jing looked towards the fight again and noticed something bizarre. The Jiao’s strikes were purposefully missing the head of the Hedgehog Beast, and all it was doing was suppressing the Hedgehog Beast.

This is...creating an opportunity for me? Huang Jing became even more confused. What the heck, is this Jiao doing?

Many years ago, he already knew of the existence of this Jiao. This Jiao was the strongest demon beast in the City of Hope’s vicinity. It had been at the final stages of the seventh tier for a long time.

The Jiao has never engaged in the major battles between the two cities. All these years, as long as no one entered the Jiao King’s Forest, the Jiao didn’t come out. It was as if the Jiao didn’t exist.

Because of this, after that failed siege, Sky Gate City paid the Jiao no heed.

But recently...the Jiao has been getting quite active...

Although the unsettling sense of confusion is becoming stronger, one thing was certain: the inner workings in the minds of demon beasts are complex and hard to understand, one must always be wary of these sentient demon beasts no matter how friendly they seem to be

Huang Jing backed away carefully, only to stop short when he felt the aura of fury and malice emanating from the Jiao!

Those pair of giant eyes stared at him coldly, as if telling him: if he dares to take one more step back, the Jiao will come after him even if it means letting the Hedgehog Beast will escape

Of course, it’s not letting me leave...The thought floated to the surface of Huang Jing’s mind.

Unbeknownst to him, the Jiao was angry enough to kill the stupid human with a single, giant bite!

Why the hell is the human so dumb? Wasn’t that chef from the City of Hope pretty smart? Why is this one so dumb?

Didn’t it display its intentions pretty clearly? Why was the human still not getting it?

The Jiao felt angry to the extreme.

At this point, Huang Jing ahs finally made his decision. The golden shortsword shot into his hand in an instant, releasing powerful golden rays from its blade.

The Hedgehog beast roared in fury, and the Jiao also fought within an inch of its life. The Jiao’s giant golden horn glowed an even stronger radiance as the two demon beasts crashed into each other with earth shattering force. The earth cracked under their intense battle, and countless small hills were flattened in an instant, disappearing into dust.

Golden blood fell like droplets of rain, smashing craters into the earth.

Huang Jing’s complexion became even more pallid. The surrounding heaven and earth power flowed in torrents into the shortsword, and the original bright gold tone of its glow became even more concentrated.

In the next moment, Huang Jing saw an opening. The Jiao’s giant golden horn pierced into the Hedgehog Beast’s body.

At the same time, the Hedgehog Beast’s quills shot out and stabbed deep into the Jiao, giving the unfortunate serpent a mane quills.

The Hedgehog Beast’s quills are not only its weapon, but also its defense as well. When the quills are used up in an attack, the Hedgehog Beasts’s body becomes vulnerable with its sudden loss of defense.

With a shout, Huang Jing released the shortsword. The sword flew through the air soundlessly, with terrifying speed, and shot towards the Hedgehog Beast’s vulnerable head.

The Hedgehog Beast roared hoarsely, and retreated in panic.

The Jiao suddenly performed a very human-like move – wrapping its two front talons, the Jiao held on to the Hedgehog Beast, not letting go even as the Hedgehog Beast’s attacks opened many gruesome wounds on the Jiao’s body.

After this human warrior makes his kill, the Jiao thought, I will consume this Hedgehog Beast, and become one step closer to the King Stage! (王境) That dumb tree from the City of the Demon Forest – its fate is inevitable, I will consume it as well, and then go onto consume countless energy stones and the Spring of Life (生命之泉), then I’ll finally become a real Beast Emperor! (兽王)*

“ROAR!”

The desperate cry shook the very heavens as it rang out. Far in the distance, the inhabitants of the Hundred Beast Forest (百兽林) also seemed to take notice of the commotion.

On the other side, in the City of Demon Flowers (妖葵城)，a powerful force took to the skies!

But the force was too far off. Even a ninth tier is incapable of covering the distance fast enough.

Motivated by its thoughts, the Jiao gripped the Hedgehog Beast even tighter. Huang Jing turned as white as a sheet, but he managed to stay conscious as the golden shortsword pierced the Hedgehog Beast’s head.

Great slabs of flesh fell with the torrent of blood. The golden skull of the powerful demon beasts was exposed as the shortsword dug deep. The flesh was rapidly healing around the wound, but the shortsword continued forth, drilling into the Hedgehog Beast’s head.

The Jiao suddenly shifted, pulling its giant horn from where it was embedded in the Hedgehog Beast before using the blood-covered horn to pierce the Hedgehog Beast all the way through. A golden substance overflowed from the new wound, spilling forth endlessly.

“ROAR!”

The tragic sounds tore from the Hedgehog’s throat as it cried out in anguish. The Jiao opened its jaws wide and began devouring the golden substance as it flowed out.

Huang Jing fed heaven and earth energy into the shortsword ceaselessly. A mouthful of blood spilled down the front of his robes.

CRACK

A fissure appeared on the Hedgehog Beasts’ skull.

The skull was pierced in an instant after that first crack, causing a massive amount of vital ichor 不灭物质 to spill forth.

The Jiao’s eyes betrayed a hint of greedy desire as it opened its mouth to consume the ichor. The Jiao’s body glowed gold as it suppressed the power emanating from the substance while it feasted.