Chapter 2266: Primordial Beast, the Hou!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Everyone, be careful. This place isn’t far from their base.”
Clang! Within the silver barrier, Yeon Gaesomun grabbed several of his black sabers.
While Yeon Gaesomun was weaker than w.a.n.g Chong, he had been born in the complex environment of the Goguryeo Empire, and he had grown up amidst blood and fire.
His entire life consisted of war, scheming, and fighting.
These various experiences had given Yeon Gaesomun a very sharp intuition for danger.
Long before danger had descended, he would sense something. It was this intuition that had allowed him to survive that terrifying explosion in the steel fortress.
When that giant lightning vortex appeared in their vision, Yeon Gaesomun had immediately felt his heart begin to rapidly thump, that familiar sense of danger emerge in his mind.
Moreover, judging by the energy pulses coming from that lightning vortex, this place wasn’t very far from their objective.
Yeon Gaesomun had barely spoken when resounding laughter erupted from the vortex, accompanied by a boom of thunder.
“Hahaha, a pack of reckless ants dares to intrude on the land of G.o.ds and devils!
“Since you seek death, I will fulfill your wis.h.!.+”
The voice was so deafeningly loud that it drowned out the howling winds around them.
Everyone paled.
“We’ve been discovered!”
The Demonic Emperor Old Man’s face sank, his body tensing as he prepared for battle.
This was clearly no weakling. Although they had been extremely secretive on this journey to the north, if their foe was at Genesis Supreme’s level, they would always be found no matter how well they were concealed.
To only be discovered upon reaching the heart of the polar lands was already very good!
“Don’t panic. Their actual body isn’t here. This is just long-distance voice transmission.”
w.a.n.g Chong’s bright eyes peered into the depths of the lightning vortex and saw his foe.
As a Grotto Heaven realm expert, w.a.n.g Chong could peer through s.p.a.ce.
His foe had only left behind a ball of energy in the vortex. His actual body was not present.
“w.a.n.g Chong, it would be one thing if you didn’t come, but since you’re here, don’t think about leaving alive. Do you take me for Genesis Supreme?” That resounding voice spoke once more. It appeared that w.a.n.g Chong’s voice had allowed him to immediately identify w.a.n.g Chong.
“Ignore him. His actual body can’t be far. Let’s hurry and advance.”
w.a.n.g Chong immediately shot forward, advancing with the rest.
But before they could get far, a savage and frightening roar that was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with a desire to kill and brutalize came from the distance.
Roooar!
w.a.n.g Chong’s eyes flew open as he came to a stop.
Boom!
The earth shuddered as the giant snow tornadoes began to converge on the group, seemingly pulled by an invisible force.
Bang!
In a flash of light, an enormous silver being jumped out from a snow tornado and crashed in front of them like a meteor.
This was a bizarre, four-footed creature that was the height of seven or eight adult men. Beneath its thick silver fur, one could see that its body was bursting with muscle.
Its two hindlegs were rather short, but its forelegs were thick and muscular like those of an ape, two pillars rammed into the earth.
Most bizarre of all was that there were two rabbit-like ears, each six feet long, growing from its head.
Despite this, nothing could conceal its vicious and savage nature.
The moment this bizarre creature hit the ground, it crouched down and took on an aggressive posture.
Its crimson maw was covered in sharp and intersecting fangs, and as it growled, saliva rained down from the teeth.
The saliva didn’t even freeze when it touched the ground. On the contrary, there was a soft hiss as holes were dissolved through the thick ice.
It was clear that this creature’s bodily fluids contained a powerful toxin.
“What monster is this?”
Everyone in the silver barrier was alarmed by this monster that had leaped out of the snow tornado.
Each of them could tell that this silver monster was packed with explosive power.
“It’s a Hou!” the Wushang Village Chief suddenly said as he stared at the strange monster.
(TN: The Hou is a mythical beast that is said to live in the far north. It has been described as appearing like a dog and also like a rabbit. It is apparently capable of defeating and eating dragons.)
“Our Wushang Village has ancient texts that describe this monster, but this beast should have gone extinct in ancient times. I did not think that some of them still lived.”
There were many well-preserved ancient records in Wushang Village that were not available in the outside world. The Wushang Village Chief didn’t know where these records had come from, only that they had been pa.s.sed down through the generations, long before he had been born.
This monster was identical to the Hou that had been drawn in one of those ancient books.
“Village Chief, are you certain?” w.a.n.g Chong said without turning his head.
The Wushang Village Chief nodded.
“I’ll deal with it.” The Khitan King pulled out two sabers and immediately began to charge at the monster.
The Khitans hunted for a living and found honor in it. Rather than frightening him, this monster had only succeeded in stimulating the Khitan King’s desire to fight.
If he could kill this monster and bring it back to his tribe, he would be showered with glory and honor.
Moreover, as a Great General expert, the Khitan King was confident that he could kill this monster.
“Wait!”
Just when the Khitan King was about to charge out, w.a.n.g Chong extended his hand and stopped him, a cold glint in his eyes.
Roooar!
More b.e.s.t.i.a.l roars came from the surrounding snow tornadoes.
Thudthudthud!
As the Khitan King stared in shock, a second, third, fourth… more and more Hou jumped out of the surrounding snow tornadoes.
A few moments later, they were surrounded by hundreds of enormous Hou.
“How could there be this many?” the Khitan King couldn’t help but yell, his heart cold. The others were much the same.
The Hou probably weren’t that strong, and each of them could probably take on one. But hundreds of Hou had suddenly appeared, and this was not something that anyone could take on.
Moreover, they had emerged from the snow tornadoes, so one could tell at a glance that these were Ice Element creatures that were adapted to this frigid weather.
This was their home court, and fighting them here placed the humans at a disadvantage.
At this time, that resounding voice came out of the thunderclouds once more. “This is simply the appetizer I’ve prepared for you. Let’s see if you can break through before we talk about the rest!”
Boom! Boom! Boom! More and more Hou jumped out of the snow tornadoes.
These ancient beasts bellowed, their crimson eyes locking onto the group in the silver barrier. Without hesitation, they lunged.
“Go!”
w.a.n.g Chong’s eyes flashed as he led the group in a charge against these primordial beasts.
“Kill!”
All of them knew that their true test in this polar expedition had come.
Ozmish Khagan, Tiechi Bileli, the Khitan King, the Xi Queen, Yeon Gaesomun, the martial artists, and even Zhangchou Jianqiong, w.a.n.g Zhongsi, and Zhang Shougui pulled out their weapons and charged at the monsters together with w.a.n.g Chong.
Plus.h.!.+ Ozmish Khagan led the charge, his saber slas.h.i.+ng into the chest of a Hou. Blood instantly gushed out from the wound, Ozmish Khagan’s attack having managed to get all the way to the bone.
Yeon Gaesomun and the Khitan King jumped out, each slas.h.i.+ng at one of these primordial beasts, their weapons slicing into their flesh.
As for the Xi Queen, the weakest of the four, she created sharp spikes of ice that she plunged into the eyes of one of the monsters.
Anyone who was able to partic.i.p.ate in this expedition was a top-cla.s.s expert of the present era. Whether it was in power, reaction time, agility, or fighting skill, they had reached the apex.
To call them grandmasters of a generation would be doing them a disservice.
The weapons they wielded were all divine weapons, capable of slicing through steel like mud.
While these vicious polar beasts possessed enormous strength and incredible innate talent, they presented little threat to these peak powerhouses of the world.
Swis.h.!.+ Swis.h.!.+
b.l.o.o.d.y light flashed in the air, and wherever the silver barrier went, the ma.s.sive Hou toppled to the ground.
“Come on! Fight quickly and don’t linger,” w.a.n.g Chong sternly said, his mind remaining extremely calm and collected.
Even amidst this fighting, he had not forgotten their objective.
Though these primordial beasts did not present a threat by themselves, their hides were thick and they were extremely powerful. Killing them took significant effort.
Their foe had clearly placed these beasts here to grind away at their strength.
Lingering to fight would just be falling into his trap.
“Hmph, can you really escape?” The resounding voice came from the center of the vortex, seemingly sensing their intentions. Thud! Thud! Thud! Hundreds more Hou jumped out from the snow tornadoes.
But these Hou changed tactics, forming into packs and coordinating with each other as they charged at the group.
Not only that, even more snow tornadoes suddenly changed directions and began to block the path forward.
Zhangchou Jianqiong and the others grimaced at this sight.
At their level of strength, dealing with one or two presented no problem, but if all of these primordial beasts charged up together, along with the snow tornadoes, it would be far beyond their ability to handle.
All of them felt a heavy pressure on their shoulders.