The air rang with the tiger's roar, long and ceaseless like a wind's whistle generated when it gusted through the pine forests in the depths of some mountains. It had been a quarter of an hour since Wu Qi first heard it, during which he had stopped exercising the various cultivation techniques, hid all his chaotic energy within his body, concealed all his aura, and strode out of his chamber. But, the roar did not stop; it had been going on for a quarter of an hour, and the ship Wu Qi was on had been trembling during the entire time.
By the time he reached the ship's highest bridge, Huang Liang had ordered all the ships to form a defensive formation centered around the three Dark Turtle flying ships, called the 'Impregnable Turtle Formation'. Tailor-made by Great Yu for Dark Turtle flying ships, the formation could greatly increase the ships' defense and survivability in the battlefield.
The three Dark Turtles were now completely surrounded by sixty large flying ships, and three masses of light, in the shape of turtles, had blanketed the area a hundred miles around them. Countless bronze chains slithered out of the smaller ships to link them up with the three in the center, connecting the energy cores of all the ships. Powerful energy ran back and forth through these chains, turning into a colossal web that had all the ships protected within.
White waves of sound visible to the naked eyes were rushing toward the ships from a distant mountain, but they were all blocked by the three masses of light. Wave after wave of sound slammed the walls of light and then crashed into gusts of wind that blew in all directions, sweeping across the ground and bringing hills up in the air. With that, the ships were no longer trembling. Wu Qi had just entered the bridge when he saw a several miles tall hill uprooted and thrown into the sky by the strong wind through the thick crystal wall in front of the ship.
Who could have imagined that a roar would have such power!
If Huang Liang had not made an accurate response and deployed the formation in time, they would have suffered some losses to those Green-scale Serpents, which could fly incredibly fast but were weak in defense. As someone who was greedy, lewd, despicable, and cared about nothing but saving his own skin, Huang Liang was not a material for a good general. However, often it was because of his fear of death that he made the most correct decision. It was the case when Wu Qi was captured into Ming Li's Buddhism Kingdom, as well as when they were attacked by the tiger roar today.
Looking at Huang Liang, who had cold sweat running down his forehead, Wu Qi gave him a slap on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Well done! Keep up with your good work, and when we make some contribution again, I'll give them your name and get you a title of nobility as well!"
Upon hearing that, Huang Liang, face pale with fright, perked up his head and straightened his back at once. "Understand, Your Excellency! This subject and his comrades will definitely serve Your Excellency wholeheartedly and perform more meritorious deeds!"
Afterward, he turned around and bellowed at the mountain dozens of miles away, his face flushed, "This fleet belongs to Marquis of Dong Hai Province! Who are you, vile demon? Why are you standing in our way? Have you cleaned your neck? Because a moment later, we're going to chop your head off and kick it like a ball!"
Huang Liang did not have a strong cultivation base. But, no matter how bad it was, it was at least in the realm of First Pangu Heaven, which made his bellow loud and full of a threatening air. As soon as it left his mouth, it materialized into a green wave of sound that was visible to the naked eyes, sweeping forward like a shooting star and colliding with the white tiger's roar in midair. A crackling rang out as Huang Liang's roar was shattered by the white wave of sound, causing his voice to become broken and halting. However, as the strong wind was blowing in all directions, his voice somehow managed to travel as far as a hundred miles.
A cold snort could be heard as the mountain ahead suddenly rose into the sky. A gust of strong wind wrapped the mountain about dozens of miles across and brought it slowly toward them. Wu Qi had sharp eyes, and without using any divine ability, he could already see dozens of men and women, all oddly dressed and having strange appearances, standing atop the mountain.
The outfits of these people were quite different from those of Great Yu, and even those of the immortals. Most of the men were tall and broad at the shoulders. With their chests bared, they only covered their lower bodies with short skirts made of a variety of animal skins. Some had a half-breastplate clad over their chests, and almost all of them wore arm guards which were ancient and primitive styled. Most of the arm guards were fashioned after the likenesses of wild animals, and their surfaces were carved with numerous patterns and symbols.
And the women were beautiful, their bodies lean and slim. Some wore short sleeves shirts, some only metal armors similar to that of bikinis, and all were clad in short skirts over tight short pants. In addition, they had shields strapped over one arm, and short spears or swords in the other hand.
One or more strange spirit beasts could be seen crouching beside each of these men and women. At the moment, they were baring their fangs and staring in Wu Qi's direction, their eyes flashing with murderous gleams as they looked ready to strike at any moment.
A silver-haired man, twenty feet tall and muscular, stood in front of the men and women. With arms folded over his chest, he fixed his menacing eyes at Wu Qi and the few military officers through the crystal wall of the ship. The big fellow had a pale-black '王' (king) character on his forehead; several whiskers were growing on his cheeks like steel needles, and four long fangs were poking out of his mouth. No matter how one looked at him, he resembled a tiger who had taken human form.
On top of all that, he had many hairs. A layer of soft and fluffy silver hairs covered his exposed skins, streaked with black. That made him look more like a savage tiger standing on his hind legs than a human being.
A ferocious smile crept upon his face as he stared at Wu Qi. Deep breathing could be constantly heard coming from between his fangs, and white airwaves were blasting out of his mouth like sharp blades, wheeling a few times around him with the sound of metal ripping through the air before quickly plunging back into his body.
Wu Qi's brows pricked. He noticed that the air the burly man breathed had the characteristics that were almost exactly the same as the innate energy of metal; he was obviously not a human being, but a demon from the clan of the white tiger, if one were to judge from his appearance. Also, the color of his hair told Wu Qi that he must be a pure-blooded descendant of the divine beast. Even if he were mix-blooded, the other bloodline was too insignificant to make a difference.
Whether in Great Yu, the Heaven, the Buddhist League, or even among the five Great Emperors who nominally occupied the five corners of Pangu Continent, a pure-blooded descendant of the divine beast was highly valued. Great Yu needed their souls to cultivate stronger warriors, while the Heaven, the Buddhist League, and other powerhouses needed them to strengthen their overall might.
With the burly man's level of cultivation, if he chose to join the Heaven, he could immediately be given the position of Heaven Lord at the least; if he chose to acknowledge some Buddha as his master, he could be made a Lord Protector in charge of numerous outer heavenly realms. When Wu Qi turned his eyes to those men and women behind the burly man, he was surprised to find that their levels of cultivation were no weaker. Each of them had the cultivation base of a Gold Immortal, and a few of them were even as strong as Wu Qi, with their cultivation levels almost approaching the fifth-tier of Gold Immortal.
In other words, there were at least fifty existences who were as strong as Gold Immortals in front of him! Wu Qi sighed; among his ten thousand soldiers, only a few military officers were as strong as Heaven Immortals, and that included Huang Liang. As coward and overcautious as he was, Huang Liang was not a dependable person, even though he had fought bravely against Ming Li in the past. The other soldiers could only deal with ordinary cultivators as well, so they did not matter now.
It would be extremely difficult for Wu Qi to deal with fifty Gold Immortals alone. Although he had all kinds of divine abilities and magic in his bag, and an extraordinary treasure that could manipulate time, he was outnumbered by a group of Gold Immortals who were the descendants of divine beasts, whose actual overall strength could not be determined by their levels of cultivation.
Like those from the Long Bo Kingdom, any descendant of a divine beast possessed an overall strength that could challenge those above their current level of cultivation.
Therefore, although the cultivation base of this white tiger in front was at the peak realm of the sixth-tier Gold Immortal, Wu Qi reckoned that his actual overall strength was equivalent to that of a first-tier Gold Immortal!
He heaved a deep sigh. With a blink of his body, he left the ship, flying toward the group of men and women who appeared to be hostile. After flying a few miles forward on a cloud, he cupped his fist and shouted, "Why are you standing in our way, if I may ask? You should know that this is the territory of Great Yu. Are you trying to start a war with us?"
As he said that, Wu Qi looked over his shoulder. He had ordered Huang Liang to slow down their speed after leaving You Xiong Plain, so they were now only tens of thousands of miles away from its border. With Great Yu's strength, the area billions of miles around You Xiong Plain were under tight surveillance. So, if this group of men and women dared to stir up too big of a commotion, the garrison in You Xiong Plain should be here in no time.
By looking back over his shoulder, Wu Qi was actually giving the group a warning, 'We are now right under the nose of Great Yu's capital city, so you better don't go overboard.'
The white tiger gave Wu Qi a look with his gloomy eyes as he clenched his jaws and said with a cold grin, "Are you Tan Lang, Marquis of Dong Hai Province?"
Wu Qi nodded slowly and said, "Yes, I am. Who are…"
The white tiger interrupted Wu Qi with a wave of his hand. "Then, we have found the right person. Let's cut the crap! I am Bai Zhu, the King of Mountain, and I serve the Western White Emperor. Let me ask you a question, are you the one who constructed the Myriad Poisons Formation and used it to kill the Sovereign of Myriad Immortal Alliance as well as all the immortals he had brought with him?"
Carefully, Wu Qi had his hands locked in an incantation gesture, getting ready to unleash the Dark Yin Celestial Tower. "Yes, I'm the one who did that! In fact, everyone in Great Yu knows about that. Why are you asking about this, King Bai Zhu?"
Bai Zhu let out a furious roar, his body trembling. Pointing at Wu Qi, he growled, "The conflict between your Great Yu and Myriad Immortal Alliance is none of my business! You can kill that Sovereign with whatever formation, but why did you kill my only son too? Damnit, do you know that he was underage? Even if you wanted to peel off his white tiger skin to make clothes, couldn't you have waited until he grew up?"
All of a sudden, Bai Zhu's eyes shot with blood and he howled while charging toward Wu Qi, thrusting his fist toward the latter's face.
"Damnit! I've been waiting here for seven days and seven nights, and you are finally here! Now, give me back my son!"
As soon as Bai Shu struck, the natural energy within a thousand miles around Wu Qi began to experience some weird changes. All of the energy was driven away by a strong metal energy. Heaven and earth were both blotted with the energy of metal, and the void was filled with a silvery-white glare. An immense pressure was rushing from all directions while a vast murderous aura materialized into countless sharp weapons and showered toward Wu Qi.
Meanwhile, the men and women behind Bai Shu were crying 'Give me back my son!' as well, charging toward Wu Qi at the same time.
Wu Qi was completely struck dumb. When did he kill their sons with the Myriad Poisons Formation?