Langling stopped Khan Xieli from killing the Black Ghost Old Demon, hoping his demonic blood could continue devouring its energy.
But it was already too late.
The Centaur Khan’s fighting spirit was at its peak. His blood was boiling, and he paid no attention to Langling’s words. His great sword plunged straight into the Black Ghost Old Demon’s head.
“Ah…”
A world shaking scream echoed through the cave as green blood burst from the Black Ghost Old Demon’s body.
“Hahaha…” Khan Xieli laughed wildly. “So this so called Black Ghost Old Demon is nothing special after all.”
Then magical power erupted from his sword.
Boom.
With a deafening explosion, the Black Ghost Old Demon’s enormous head exploded.
Green blood splattered all over Langling.
“What the hell? That’s disgusting,” Langling thought.
The instant the Black Ghost Old Demon exploded, the son who had been frantically attacking Khan Xieli suddenly stopped.
His eyes became blank for a moment before gradually clearing.
“F… Father…” Xieli II called out with a trembling voice.
Langling had expected a touching reunion.
He thought Khan Xieli would embrace the son who had been missing for a year. After all, when his son had attacked him earlier, he had only dodged desperately, afraid of hurting him.
Instead…
There was no heart warming reunion.
What followed was a brutal fight.
Khan Xieli sneered, threw away both of his swords, raised his huge iron fists, and punched his son with all his might.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
He was beating him for real, almost to death.
Each punch carried more than ten thousand jin of force.
If such a blow landed on an ordinary person, or even a barbarian, they would instantly be smashed into pulp.
Even so, the Khan’s son merely staggered backwards, his enormous body retreating step after step.
“You useless fool. You were actually lured here by a woman.”
“And you even dared attack me just now. I should never have let you be born. I should have strangled you the moment you came into this world.”
“Your mother was an idiot, and you’re an even bigger idiot. I should have killed her with one sword when I married her. Then I wouldn’t have ended up with a fool like you.”
Khan Xieli cursed while continuing to pummel him.
Every punch landed solidly.
Just listening to the blows made Langling’s scalp tingle.
Each impact thundered through the cavern.
After taking the beating for several minutes, Xieli II finally roared.
“And how are you any better? When you were young, weren’t you completely bewitched by a beauty from the Demoness Kingdom? Didn’t you almost run away from home because of her? That’s enough. If you keep hitting me, I’ll fight back.”
“Fight back then. If you don’t, you’re not my son.”
Khan Xieli roared.
Then the two enormous centaurs held an all out boxing match inside the giant cave.
The cave was more than ten metres high and covered several thousand square metres.
Even so, it still wasn’t large enough for their battlefield.
Their fight shook the entire mountain.
Every hoof that struck the ground shattered solid rock.
Every punch cracked the stone walls.
The thunderous crashes echoed endlessly.
Massive rocks flew everywhere, and the cave looked ready to collapse.
Now that he had regained his senses, Xieli II proved to be extraordinarily strong.
At least at first, he matched his father blow for blow.
There was no way Langling could stop this fight.
He could not even get close without risking being beaten to death.
After the Black Ghost Old Demon’s head exploded, Langling’s demonic blood slowly gathered together on the ground.
Eventually it formed into a glowing sphere with a faint golden light.
This was a secret that no one could discover.
Fortunately, the centaur father and son were too busy fighting to notice.
Langling crouched beside the sphere and reached out a finger.
The glowing blood climbed onto his finger before quickly disappearing back into his body.
Whoosh.
The blood, now filled with the Black Ghost Old Demon’s energy, travelled through Langling’s veins towards his heart.
Moments later, it reached it.
Then…
Boom.
An immense burst of energy erupted from his heart, surging through every vein and every bone in his body.
Although the Black Ghost Old Demon specialised in spiritual power, its physical strength had also been extraordinary.
One tentacle alone had been enough to crush Langling.
Now, after his Golden Demonic Blood devoured part of its power and returned to his heart, it began tempering his bones and bloodline.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The bloodline energy deep within his heart continued striking his meridians again and again.
For a brief moment, Langling’s consciousness became completely blank.
His strength continued rising.
Meanwhile, the centaur father and son were still fighting furiously.
At the same time, the energy within Langling’s bloodline continued tempering his body.
By now, even Langling no longer understood exactly how his cultivation advanced.
At first, he had believed drinking blood was enough.
Later, bathing in blood had increased his strength.
Then absorbing the Ghost King’s Eye had advanced his cultivation.
Now things had become even more unbelievable.
His own blood could leave his body, invade an enemy, devour their energy, return to his heart, and strengthen his cultivation.
This…
This was simply unbelievable.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Fifteen minutes.
Twenty minutes later, the energy refinement finally ended.
By then, the battle between father and son had also finished.
The son had been beaten miserably.
Not a single part of his body remained uninjured.
His face was bruised and swollen, and all of his previous handsome appearance had vanished.
He lay on the ground, gasping for breath.
Khan Xieli, on the other hand, had not a single wound.
His breathing was merely a little heavier.
Inside, he was overjoyed.
He had finally found his son.
His bloodline would continue.
Yet his face remained cold and stern.
Only when he saw Langling standing did Khan Xieli remember that he was still there.
“Insignificant Near Human, thank you very much. Without you, I would never have found my son.”
He walked over and slapped Langling heavily on the shoulder.
Immediately, half of Langling’s body went numb.
He could no longer feel it.
Forcing a smile, Langling said, “You’re welcome. Just remember your promise.”
“Don’t worry. We centaurs always keep our word.”
“By the way, could you cut me a stone weighing exactly ten thousand jin?”
Khan Xieli nodded.
He picked up his great sword and hacked away at a huge boulder.
After weighing it in his hand, he found it slightly too heavy, so he sliced off another layer.
“Ten thousand jin.”
He casually threw the stone in front of Langling.
Bang.
The ground shook violently.
Even Langling’s internal organs trembled.
Taking a deep breath, Langling did not crouch.
Instead, he simply wrapped both arms around the enormous stone and lifted it.
It required some effort, but he managed it.
“Testing your strength?” Khan Xieli asked.
Langling nodded.
“Yes.”
“Lifting it like that relies too much on your waist. It’s not accurate. My great sword weighs five thousand five hundred jin. Try lifting it.”
He handed the sword over.
Langling set down the stone.
Taking another deep breath, he gripped the sword with his right hand.
His body swayed violently.
But…
He lifted it.
It was incredibly difficult, but he succeeded.
That meant Langling’s arm strength had reached five thousand five hundred jin.
After absorbing the Ghost King’s Eye, it had been only four thousand seven hundred jin.
Now, after his demonic blood absorbed part of the Black Ghost Old Demon’s energy, it had increased by another eight hundred jin.
Previously, he had been a Four Star Great Demon Warrior.
Now, he had advanced to a Seven Star Great Demon Warrior.
It was an enormous breakthrough.
A completely unexpected reward.
What a pity he had not devoured all of the Black Ghost Old Demon’s energy.
Otherwise, his improvement would have been even greater.
“Let’s go back,” Khan Xieli said.
The three of them left the Demon Cave.
After leaving the valley, Langling summoned his Golden Griffon and soared into the sky.
Below, the two centaurs galloped back towards the Xieli Tribe.
Although Xieli II had almost been beaten to death by his father earlier, he was now running with incredible energy once again.
…
When they were about three hundred li away from the Xieli Tribe, Khan Xieli said, “Insignificant Near Human, it wouldn’t be appropriate for you to enter my tribe again. Wait here. I’ll bring your reward.”
Langling replied, “Khan Xieli, please gather the five thousand centaur cavalry quickly and march north with me.”
“What five thousand centaur cavalry? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“We agreed before. If I found your son, you would lend me five thousand centaur riders.”
Khan Xieli sneered.
“That never happened. I only promised you that if you found my son, I’d give you two hundred thousand gold coins.”
Although Langling had expected this, hearing it still left him speechless.
“Khan Xieli, are you really going back on your word? Are you really breaking your promise? How can someone like that call himself a great Khan?”
Khan Xieli laughed coldly.
“Insignificant Near Human, haven’t you heard that a centaur’s promise is worth a thousand pieces of gold? But ninety nine percent of what we say is only casual talk. Yes, I told you I’d lend you five thousand cavalry if you found my son. But in my heart, my real promise was to give you two hundred thousand gold coins. Naturally, I only honour the promise I made to myself.”
“Hehehe…”
Beside him, Xieli II burst into laughter.
That was simply how centaurs were.
Even when they behaved shamelessly, they did so openly.
Then Khan Xieli said coldly, “Either take the two hundred thousand gold coins, or get nothing. If you anger the great Centaur Khan, you might not even leave here alive.”
The mighty Khan had now begun openly threatening Langling’s life.
At that moment, thick smoke suddenly rose in the distance.
It came from the direction of the Xieli Tribe.
“Father, we’re under attack!” Xieli II shouted.
Without another glance at Langling, father and son immediately sprinted towards the tribe.
Langling quickly urged his griffon after them.
…
Less than an hour later, the three arrived at the Centaur Xieli Tribe.
Crackle. Crackle.
The entire settlement was ablaze.
Smoke filled the air.
The sky above was packed with attackers.
The raiders assaulting the Xieli Tribe were another bandit race from the Southern Wilderness, the centaurs’ mortal enemies, the Harpy Tribe.
Harpies were neither true fliers nor members of the Winged Race.
The Winged Race was one of the noblest demon races in the Southern Wilderness.
They possessed completely human bodies with beautiful wings.
Every member of the Winged Race was graceful and noble.
Harpies, however, were the very embodiment of evil, cruelty, ugliness, and depravity.
Above all else, they were hideously ugly.
Although they had human shaped bodies, they were completely covered in feathers.
Their features resembled those of humans, yet they possessed bird like faces.
Bird faces were narrow.
Human features squeezed onto such pointed faces looked incredibly ugly and sinister.
Like the centaurs, harpies lived by raiding others.
The centaurs raided for the sake of their faith and their sacrifices to the gods.
The harpies raided and slaughtered purely to satisfy their own brutality.
They were also extremely lustful.
Whether barbarian or demon, anyone who fell into their hands, male or female, would be violated to death.
Afterwards, they would be eaten alive.
In short, the harpies were a race that brought nothing but disaster to the wilderness.
They were enemies of everyone.
They were a plague.
Worse still, they were fiercely vindictive.
Anyone who offended them would suffer their most savage revenge.
Two months earlier, the Xieli Tribe and the Harpy Tribe had fought over the same caravan.
The harpies had been defeated and forced to flee.
The Xieli Tribe seized the supplies, several hundred gold coins, several hundred bolts of cloth, and tens of thousands of jin of grain.
No one had expected that, two months later, the harpies would gather several tribes together to seek revenge.
At that moment, harpies filled the skies above the tribe.
They attacked in two ways.
Fire.
And poison.
Their saliva was an extremely powerful acid.
Anyone struck by it would have their body corroded straight through.
Even worse, they could spit it over four to five hundred metres.
The harpies were extremely cunning.
They launched their attack under cover of darkness.
They set fire to the tribe.
The thick smoke blinded the centaur archers, making accurate shooting impossible.
Then they continued raining down their deadly saliva from above.
With Khan Xieli absent, the Xieli Tribe had suffered devastating losses.
…
“Khan, you’ve finally returned. The Young Khan is back as well.”
A centaur general carrying a massive shield rushed over.
“How many harpies? What are our losses?” Khan Xieli demanded angrily.
“Five thousand harpies. We’ve already lost several hundred foals. Those harpies are vicious. They specifically target our children. The smoke is too thick. We can’t see them clearly, and we can’t aim properly.”
The centaurs were unmatched archers.
But the harpies were small, swift, and hidden by smoke.
Hitting them was extremely difficult.
Langling turned to Khan Xieli.
“Your Majesty, how about we have a competition? Let’s see who kills more harpies. If I win, you’ll lend me five thousand cavalry. If I lose, I’ll leave immediately and won’t even ask for the two hundred thousand gold coins.”
Khan Xieli stared at Langling as though he had gone mad.
Then he burst into laughter.
This insignificant Near Human.
This weak little Near Human.
He actually wanted to compete with the great Khan Xieli in killing enemies?
Was there a bigger joke in the world?
One finger was enough for Khan Xieli to crush him.
“What? Your Majesty, are you afraid?” Langling asked.
“Hahaha.”
Khan Xieli laughed loudly.
“Fine. I accept. If you win, I’ll lend you five thousand cavalry. If you lose, you’ll strip naked and crawl out of my tribe. How about that?”
Langling gritted his teeth.
“It’s a deal.”
He stretched out his hand.
Khan Xieli slammed his enormous palm against it.
Clap.
The impact echoed like thunder.
Langling’s entire arm and half his body immediately went numb.
“Insignificant Near Human, now watch my performance.”
Khan Xieli laughed.
He crouched, raised his head towards the harpies flying hundreds of metres overhead, and let out an earth shaking roar.
“Roar.”
An invisible shockwave blasted into the sky.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Every harpy struck by the sonic wave was smashed as though hit by an invisible cannonball.
Blood sprayed everywhere as they fell from the sky.
One after another, harpies rained down like falling stones.
Langling stood there with his mouth hanging open.
That…
That was actually possible?
Khan Xieli’s combat power was simply monstrous.
Not only had he fought the Black Ghost Old Demon and dozens of slaves alone, he could even kill enemies with a roar.
He truly was incredible.
But Langling absolutely could not lose this competition.
If he did, he would have to crawl naked out of the Xieli Tribe.
“Bring me arrows. As many as possible. Hundreds. Thousands.”
“Hahaha.”
Khan Xieli laughed loudly.
The centaurs were the greatest archers in the world.
Yet a Near Human actually intended to defeat the Centaur Khan with archery.
“Give them to him.”
Bundle after bundle of arrows was loaded onto Langling’s griffon.
Taking a deep breath, Langling leapt onto the griffon.
He drew his bow.
Nocked an arrow.
Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.
The savage Fifty Consecutive Arrows.
Langling’s astonishing and breathtaking performance had begun.