The Reversal Ambush

Xiao Chen sped southward, swift as a gale. He was taking a great risk—if he succeeded, he would harvest seven powerful fire seeds; but if he failed, and the aroused Giant King set his sights on him, it would mean utter annihilation.

The Giant King had led ten supreme experts to surround Xiao Chen, but the night before, Xiao Chen had already slain three of them. Now, those seven experts were on their way back to Giant City. Though all were top-tier powerhouses, none could match the speed of the Giant King, the foremost expert of this region, and so they fell behind.

Starlight glimmered, and the moonlight was like water. In the world of the dead, the night was the true waking hour. Most fire-seed creatures preferred to roam under the dark sky.

Looking out across the plains and hills, fires flickered and faded—fire seeds of varying strengths, moving through the night.

The crimson earth exuded an eerie aura beneath the moon, as if to affirm that this was a land of the dead. Wispy strands of baleful energy coiled through the hills and valleys.

After traveling south for over two thousand li, Xiao Chen laid in ambush along the only road leading to Giant City. Half an hour later, his targets finally arrived.

The seven powerful fire-seed creatures blazed like shooting stars, their divine fires bursting across the night sky. They flew no more than a few zhang above the ground to conserve their fire-seed power, darting forward a hundred zhang before lightly touching down to spring up again—a method that gave them great speed while sparing their divine energy.

The hilly region was barren, covered only in bare, reddish-brown rocks. The seven experts sped northward, never dreaming that anyone would dare ambush them here.

But as they crossed this stretch of hills, a brilliant golden rainbow suddenly shot up from a gully, smashing a powerful fire-seed creature that had just leaped over it into fragments.

One strike, instant death!

Xiao Chen had hidden himself well, waiting for the prey to enter his kill zone before striking with the Hand of the Supreme Being. He struck in that single blow.

The expert’s skeletal frame was completely shattered, leaving only its skull intact—which became fodder for another’s gain.

“It’s you…!” “Damnation you!” “How are you here?!”

The remaining six experts cried out in shock and fury. They had never expected that the hunted Xiao Chen would lie in ambush here and assassinate one of their strongest.

“Kill him!” “Attack together!”

The six powerful fire-seed creatures burned with rage. In just one day and night, four of the ten supreme experts had fallen, driving them to the edge of madness.

Xiao Chen did not retreat. He transformed into a beam of golden light and charged forward. He wanted to finish this as quickly as possible, before the Giant King could turn back and reinforce them.

“Weng!”

He opened with his killing move—the Celestial Sound, aimed at a single target. Against the attacks of the others, he used only the Hand of the Supreme Being to shield his vital points and pressed the assault.

The Celestial Sound rumbled like purple thunder from the Nine Heavens, releasing devastating shockwaves. Though it could not contend with multiple experts of the same rank at once, when concentrated on one enemy, its power was terrifying.

That powerful fire-seed creature trembled like a leaf in a gale, frozen in the air, struggling with all its might to resist.

Beside it, the other five experts rained blows upon Xiao Chen—bone broadswords and sharp meteor-iron swords like bolts of lightning, slashing at his skeleton again and again.

Xiao Chen swung his yellow-diamond palms in all directions, pushing the Hand of the Supreme Being to its limits. But even so, facing the desperate attacks of five experts, he took many heavy hits; his golden palms could not block every sword and blade.

Yet throughout it all, the Weng sound never ceased.

The vast resonance of the Celestial Sound shook the entire hilly region, sending great boulders tumbling down from the low peaks.

“Boom!”

The fire-seed creature trapped by the Celestial Sound could endure no longer. Its bones shattered in midair, even its skull cracking apart.

Xiao Chen burst through savagely, his hands flashing to gather the fractured skull and tuck it into his spatial ring.

The five experts’ eye sockets blazed with furious light, utterly maddened. Their fire seeds surged, filling the sky with blinding brilliance, and they began to fight Xiao Chen with abandon, risking their lives.

Desperate men are most terrible. The five experts, fighting with everything on the line, doubled their attack power. Bone broadswords and iron swords carved into Xiao Chen’s skeleton again and again. Any ordinary fire-seed creature of the same rank would have been slain many times over.

But even a Yellow-Diamond bone body could not withstand the repeated strikes of five supreme experts. Xiao Chen felt that if this continued, his arm bones and ribs would soon crack.

If he had not been exhausted from a day and night of battle, he could have killed all five. But the ceaseless running and fighting had drained too much of his strength. Now, even vibrating the Origin Sound was an effort.

There was no time. Xiao Chen too would have to risk it all. He locked onto one expert and launched a fierce assault, while merely defending against the other four. He was determined to kill this one target first.

“Bam!”

A huge bone broadsword struck his skull, shaking his fire seed and causing it to flicker, almost dropping him from the sky. But at that cost, he broke through the enemy’s guard and reached his chosen target.

The Hand of the Supreme Being swept out. A blaze of golden radiance burst forth, and the sound of shattering bones rang out.

“Boom!”

Another strong enemy was slain.

He stowed the skull, rich with a powerful fire seed, into his spatial ring.

“Roar…”

The remaining four experts bellowed in fury, shaking the entire hilly region with their roars.

At that moment, a meteor-iron sword swung silently from behind, aiming for the bones of Xiao Chen’s neck. Under the cover of the howling, there was no fluctuation at all.

But Xiao Chen, as if gifted with foresight, did not turn. The Hand of the Supreme Being reached back, shattering the meteor-iron sword with a clang, and then he kicked backward.

“Bam!”

His foot slammed solidly into the chest of his would-be assassin.

At the same time, having gathered enough strength, he vibrated the Origin Sound again, pouring all its force into this one enemy.

“Crack, crack!”

Though Xiao Chen’s power was nearly spent, focusing the full Origin Sound on a single opponent at close range was still devastating. The enemy’s entire skeleton shattered.

He immediately seized the fire seed from the broken skull—this was his primary goal for the ambush. He could not afford to lose a single one.

Three powerful foes remained. Though Xiao Chen was already deeply exhausted, he gritted his teeth, determined to annihilate all ten.

But at that moment, a heart-stopping, dangerous aura swept down from heaven and earth. A world-shaking, monstrous roar rolled across hundreds of li.

The rolling black clouds surged forward, blotting out the bright moon.

A towering, demonic shadow, wreathed in vast demonic Qi, locked onto Xiao Chen with murderous intent.

The Giant King had arrived. Back in its stronghold, after its initial fury, it had immediately sensed that something was wrong. This opponent was too cunning, too unorthodox. If it had ambushed the straggling seven experts on the road, the consequences would be disastrous.

Better safe than sorry, the Giant King thought, and turned back. Sure enough, the worst had happened—the opponent had dared to stage another reversal ambush.

The Giant King was enraged to the limit. This enemy was too treacherous, launching two bold counterattacks in a row. It was so furious it could vomit blood.

Xiao Chen sensed the immense danger. Without hesitation, he turned and fled, transforming into a rainbow of light that shot toward the distant sky.

When the Giant King arrived, it poured forth a tide of demonic Qi, a supernatural display that shook the soul.

Even Xiao Chen’s heart tightened. Fire-seed creatures generally relied on their indestructible bones as their chief attack method, but the Giant King seemed to have reached a mysterious level of mastery.

It could drive demon clouds to swallow sun, moon, and stars—a dread divine power. If mountains and rivers were enveloped, they would surely shatter. Who knew what other horrendous abilities it possessed?

Xiao Chen had already slain seven of the ten supreme experts. That was a sufficient harvest. Now his priority was to escape with his life.

But that seemed extremely difficult. The Giant King had locked onto him and was pursuing relentlessly.

The maddened Giant King, burning with fury, would not stop until Xiao Chen was dead.

And so, under the moonlit night, the chase began.

Xiao Chen was in no condition to fight. He had to reach a safe zone, refine the fire seeds he had harvested, use the Weng sound to advance to the third tier of Yellow Diamond, and then return to fight—that was his best option.

But the Giant King clearly had no intention of giving him that chance. Its eyes blazed with terrifying light; it wanted Xiao Chen dead now.

“Boom, boom, boom!”

Great swaths of black clouds rolled in, and within them, blood-red lightning bolts split toward Xiao Chen.

“Crack!”

A massive bolt of blood-red lightning struck Xiao Chen, blasting him dozens of zhang away. But even suffering such a heavy blow, he did not stop—he continued his desperate flight.

Then came a suffocating, oppressive fluctuation. As the black clouds swept forward, a colossal white bone claw, as large as several houses, reached down from the sky, grasping for Xiao Chen.

The sight was utterly terrifying!

Stars and moon were blotted out by the black clouds, and from that rolling demonic mist, such a gigantic bone claw thrust out—how could it not disturb the soul?

Xiao Chen was greatly alarmed. His whole body blazed with ten thousand golden rays, his Yellow-Diamond skeleton enveloped in powerful fire-seed energy. The Hand of the Supreme Being struck upward.

“Bam!”

That earth-covering, sky-obscuring bone claw was knocked back a dozen zhang.

“Boom!”

The bone claw pressed down again, reaching for him with terrible force. The sight was so grotesque and horrifying that any ordinary mortal would have felt their scalp tingle.

Xiao Chen swung the Hand of the Supreme Being again and again. Forced into this corner, he had to counterattack with everything he had.

After several blows, golden light surged back, rolling back the demon clouds. The mighty bone claw in the sky was finally shattered.

But the consequences were far from over. From the black clouds that covered the heavens, blood-red lightning slashed and danced, and then more than a dozen giant bone claws thrust down, each as large as several houses. They covered the sky and pressed toward the earth.

Xiao Chen fled through the night. This enemy was far beyond his imagination. Before they had even truly exchanged blows, it had already displayed such terrifying means. In his current state, he was certainly no match.

He had been running for most of the night, covering several thousand li, passing countless cities, but he could not shake the formidable and dreadful Giant King.

At dawn, he began to flee westward.

For the next three days and three nights, he fled west without stopping, far from the eastern territories, entering the outermost western regions of the continent.

Here, the Giant King, the Beast King, and the Hundred Battle King held no sway.

The western lands had long been unified, conquered by the master of the Angelic Giant City.

For the eastern powers, this was a dangerous zone, especially for the Giant King, the Beast King, and the Hundred Battle King—they were reluctant to set foot here.

The Angel King was simply too powerful. No longer content with unifying the western region, it might well invade the east.

If the Angel King discovered him in the western lands, the Giant King would have no way to survive. It knew very well how terrifying the Angel King was—a being that should have long since led its army to invade the depths of the continent.

On the fourth day, he had already penetrated several thousand li into the western region. Though the Giant King was furious, it began to harbor thoughts of retreat.

This was too dangerous. If the Angel King found out, it would surely descend in an instant to kill him.

The Giant King was torn—it wanted to kill Xiao Chen, but it also feared risking itself.

By now, Xiao Chen was truly exhausted beyond measure. He was barely holding on. If he stopped, he would be killed instantly. He could only gamble that the Giant King would lose its nerve first.

Finally, gritting his teeth, he turned and ran toward the legendary Angelic Giant City.

“Damn it!” the Giant King roared. This bastard was too despicable—resorting to outside help again, trying to lure it into mortal danger.

“I’ll %@&* you!” The Giant King, who always schemed against others, was now furious, cursing nonstop at Xiao Chen fleeing ahead. Never before had it acted this way; it was always feared and respected. This was sheer rage driving it past all bounds.

Xiao Chen was even more direct. As he fled, he shouted at the top of his voice: “The Giant King is coming! The Giant King is coming… to attack the Angelic City!”

“Kid, you’re ruthless! If you’ve got the guts, never come back to the east…” the Giant King shouted in fury, then turned and fled without looking back, charging toward the east for fear the terrifying Angel King would appear.

“Don’t worry—when I reach the third tier of Yellow Diamond, I will definitely appear before you,” Xiao Chen said. Finally able to stop, he watched the Giant King disappear over the horizon, then collapsed to the ground.

After a day and night of fierce battle and four days and three nights of flight, even a Yellow-Diamond king would fall apart.

He rested only a moment before forcing himself to run again, this time heading for the most desolate border regions. He did not want to become another creature’s prey; he needed to find a secluded place to cultivate to the third tier of Yellow Diamond.

Meanwhile, the eastern lands were in an uproar. Xiao Chen had shattered Giant City, fighting across most of the eastern region, slaying more than ten Yellow-Diamond second-tier experts. All the upper-tier fire-seed creatures had heard the news.

The east was stunned. The Giant King had been thoroughly humiliated.

Everyone sensed that the rise of a Yellow-Diamond king was unstoppable.

The Giant King wished it could boil Xiao Chen alive, but it could only clench its teeth, unable to do a thing. It truly did not dare venture deep into the western territory to seize him. When it heard the rumors spreading everywhere, it felt like tearing its hair out.

In the end, it attacked Broken Army City, intending to slaughter all the fire-seed creatures in the cities Xiao Chen had set up, venting its fury.

But what made the Giant King utterly furious was that Broken Army, Greedy Wolf, and the other cities were completely empty—not a single skeleton remained, not even a white-boned mouse. All the fire-seed creatures had fled cleanly.

The Giant King was so frustrated it wanted to scream!

How could it know that Sha Polang and the yellow-diamond skeleton had long since escaped? Before fleeing, they had ordered all the fire-seed creatures in the cities to retreat and scatter into the wilderness.

The Giant King wept tears of despair, asking heaven: after scheming against everyone day after day, it never expected to be brutally outmaneuvered by a single bastard.

[Author's note: Happy National Day to all friends!]