Chapter 126: A Clean Sweep

The wind died down and the rain ceased. Perched upon the back of a fire qilin, Ji Hao watched the Cold Creek Valley, which lay several dozen miles away, with cold, indifferent eyes.

In the few short days that had passed, the situation at Cold Creek Valley had not shifted significantly. The enemy was formidable, yet the valley’s defenses were unexpectedly resilient. The motley collection of mountain spirits and water monsters that Ji Hao had rallied possessed a ferocity that had caught the enemy completely off guard.

From a distance, over a dozen great magi of the Black Water Black Snake tribe had erected an altar. Having rounded up a group of captives from somewhere, they were employing a blood sacrifice ritual to siphon immense shamanic power, funneling it all into a single-horned black snake, which they were using as the vanguard for their siege.

Fortified by this shamanic power, the single-horned snake had temporarily transformed into a jiao-dragon; two horns sprouted from its head, four fleshy tumors bulged beneath its belly, and its head was gradually taking on a draconic appearance. As it moved, wind and clouds gathered around it, and with every twist of its body, vast swathes of ice whistled through the air.

Ji Zhu stood upon the back of his contracted giant crow, wielding a green mulberry spear. He continuously struck out, unleashing torrents of fire to collide with the freezing blasts exhaled by the jiao-dragon.

Ice and fire clashed violently in the air, producing a deafening roar. Red light and blue vapor flickered incessantly, and the resulting shockwaves sent both the jiao-dragon and Ji Zhu swaying unsteadily.

Suddenly, a shaman priest of the Black Water Black Snake tribe, who was presiding over the ritual below, let out a piercing howl. He swung a blade, hacking off his own left hand. The entire hand dissolved into a beam of blood-red light that plunged into the body of the jiao-dragon. The creature’s form abruptly collapsed to a length of just over twenty zhang, and the four fleshy tumors beneath its belly burst open, revealing four sharp, three-toed dragon claws.

With a resonant dragon’s roar, the jiao-dragon spat out a chilling, bone-piercing torrent of water, charging viciously toward Ji Zhu.

Ji Zhu roared back, thrusting his spear hard into the torrent. The water, which he could have shattered with a single blow moments before, now clung to the spear with relentless persistence, pressing down upon him. Within a few breaths, the black-blue water had drenched Ji Zhu.

Shuddering violently, Ji Zhu plummeted to the ground along with his fire crow. His body was coated in thick sheets of ice, and he trembled uncontrollably. Large patches of skin were cracked and sloughed off by the terrifying cold, exposing the raw, bloody muscle beneath.

The jiao-dragon let out a triumphant shriek and dove from the sky, its claws reaching out to shred Ji Zhu.

*Thump! Thump!*

Two massive stone monsters erupted from the earth, swinging their immense fists at the jiao-dragon. However, with a vicious lash of its tail, the creature sent both monsters—their bodies riddled with cracks—crashing heavily back to the ground. These were friends summoned by Old Stone, and their scarred forms bore silent witness to the life-and-death struggle they had endured over the past few days.

Watching the rampaging jiao-dragon, Ji Hao slowly raised his right hand. He pointed a finger at the serpent and uttered two words with cold detachment: "Attack!"

Behind Ji Hao, a molten giant standing ten zhang tall, wreathed in flames and magma, drew a longbow. The bow, five zhang in length and forged from pure metal, hummed with a deep, resonant roar. Then, an arrow as thick as a man’s waist shot forth, trailed by a blinding streak of fire.

This molten giant was the vice-commander of the First Army of the Zhurong Divine Army under Zhurong Tonggong—a peak-level Shaman King.

Ji Hao did not know exactly what a peak-level Shaman King represented in the Southern Wasteland. He only saw the arrow flash and reach the jiao-dragon that had just defeated Ji Zhu. In the next instant, the entire creature vanished.

It had been completely vaporized, leaving not even a scrap of flesh behind.

The giant arrow, its momentum undiminished, streaked silently across the void for three thousand miles before striking a mountain that pierced the clouds; the mountain, too, vanished without a sound. The arrow then drove deep into the earth, carving out a crater one hundred miles deep in the vast wilderness.

"Attack!" The molten giant slung the longbow onto his back, drew a terrifyingly large magma battle-axe, and let out a bellow.

"Attack!" Fifty thousand Zhurong Divine Army warriors burst from the forest. Some rode fire dragons, others stood upon four-wheeled chariots pulled by single-horned fire horses. The army transformed into a burning torrent, charging toward the enemies outside Cold Creek Valley amidst a sky-filling blaze.

The molten giant took long strides, the first to charge into the ranks of the Black Water Black Snake tribe.

He swung his axe but once, and the army of the Black Water Black Snake tribe simply ceased to exist. From the magi-level jiao-dragons to the magi-level priests and warriors, down to the common soldiers—all vanished completely in a flash of fire.

Several mottled water pythons let out low, panicked cries, twisting their massive bodies to flee toward the distant forests. But as they lifted their heads, several colossal dragon heads loomed down from the sky, exhaling gentle puffs of flame.

Rolling flames swept through the woods. The water pythons, some over ten miles long, burned from head to tail. Their thick scales and skin were instantly reduced to ash, and the gargantuan serpents were quickly roasted into fragrant, massive skewers of meat.

"Run!" the remaining magi of the Water Turtle and Water Python tribes screamed in despair.

Tribes wandering the Southern Wasteland could not possibly be ignorant of the terror that was the Zhurong Divine Army. They were the absolute rulers of the south, the supreme power that held the region in its grip. But the Zhurong Divine Army—entities of this stature were bound by ancient covenants; they were not supposed to intervene in the disputes of common tribes!

"Damn you, Black Water Loach! Is this what you meant when you said they would have no reinforcements?" several Water Turtle elders roared in desperation. "This is 'no reinforcements'? The Zhurong Divine Army! What kind of existence have we provoked?"

Before the words could fade, dozens of four-wheeled chariots swooped down from the air. The warriors standing upon them leveled their long spears and swept them horizontally with ease. Several white-haired heads flew high into the air, and soon, their bodies and heads dissolved into wisps of green smoke amidst the flames.

And then, there was nothing left.

The coalition army formed by the three tribes had been completely wiped out. Facing fifty thousand elite Zhurong Divine Army soldiers, the three tribes were like a few snowflakes under the scorching sun—they vanished in a single breath, leaving not even a corpse behind.

Every strike of the Zhurong Divine Army carried the power of devastating fire. From corpses to armor and even weapons, everything was vaporized by the terrifying heat; nothing could remain.

Yet, these warriors possessed near-perfect control over their power. Their wild assault had annihilated the enemy, yet the flowers and grass outside Cold Creek Valley were scarcely touched.

Riding the fire qilin, Ji Hao quickly arrived at the entrance of Cold Creek Valley and shouted aloud:

"Father, Grandfather! Can you still move? We’re going to raze the ancestral temple of the Black Water Black Snake tribe!"

"We’re going to kill that snake ancestor of theirs. Are you coming with us?"