"Oh?" Lu Sheng was intrigued by this. The bear king had only submitted to him because he did not wish his tribe to suffer great losses. In truth, this individual was an expert of the great feudal lord rank who lived up to his name. He was only one step away from becoming a legend.
His judgement should not be off.
"In other words, this individual was at least a high legendary creature that's at the great fairy rank as well?" Lu Sheng spoke slowly.
"It's extremely possible." The bear king's words were concise and comprehensive.
High legendary…
The tribe leaders exchanged glances. Among them, only the bear king and the three-tailed scorpion could be marginally counted as rivals to ordinary legends, let alone high legends. The three-tailed scorpion was actually at the fairy-rank—in other words, he was a legendary creature. The bear king could take that step at any time. With his natural powerful resistance, he would not be too weak.
As for the other tribe leaders, they were in an awkward situation. The weakest of them was at the level-one feudal lord rank.
Lu Sheng gave it some thought.
"Ashes' army is heading toward us?" he asked the poison dragon again.
"Yes, Your Majesty. We are right on their route," the poison dragon replied reverently.
"Let's go and have a look." Lu Sheng stood up and walked quickly out of the great hall.
The other tribe leaders followed behind him.
The group of monsters followed the poison dragon. After traversing several slopes, they quickly saw the gray mass of the army which was closing in on them quickly on the yellow plains beyond the mountains.
It seemed as if the endless throng of gray could surge into the mountains at any time.
The faces of the other tribe leaders were scrunched up. This was especially true when they saw the dense mass of black stone birds that swirled in the air. Even the three-tailed scorpion king displayed a grim expression.
Although a legendary expert would not be defeated by a tactic of numbers in theory, it actually depended on how powerful the hostile army was, and their opponent seemed to possess terrifying strength.
"These aren't ordinary black stone birds, they're gluttonous birds!" said the three-tailed scorpion king with a slight tension in his voice. "They're the product of the black stone birds' evolution. Every single bird has a constitution close to a feudal lord's rank. They're an extreme pain in the a*ss…"
"Hiss…"
At his words, all the other tribe leaders drew cold breaths. Every bird was close to a feudal lord's rank. When they saw their great numbers—enough to blot out the skies—they could easily guess that there were a hundred of them in their immediate vicinity alone. It was no wonder that the three-tailed scorpion king would find this difficult as well.
"Your Majesty, the enemy's enemy should be our friend. We can send out a messenger to contact Ashes' army. We can work together and attack the Holy Dragon Temple together. This way, we can strike a deal so that they won't attack us." As expected of the poison dragon king, who had slowly taken on the habit of submitting. The first thing he spoke about when he opened his mouth was to submit to the enemy.
If they worked together with Ashes to attack the Holy Dragon Temple, what would come after the annihilation of the holy dragons? Would it even be possible for their tribe to run away under those circumstances? Hence, he eventually made a subtle suggestion for Lu Sheng to submit to Ashes.
The other tribe leaders had similar thoughts. Besides, in the face of such a large army, none of them had the intention to prove anything by fighting back. They had only submitted because of Lu Sheng's domineeringness anyway. They did not have any sense of belonging to begin with. Their lives would still carry on in pretty much the same way even if they switched lords.
Lu Sheng's big and tall body looked at the great army on the grasslands. For a time, he was lost deep in thought.
A peak expert of the great fairy rank had brought such a huge army here. His ambition was definitely not small. As a great fairy, a high legend, he could already sense at least four overpowering auras of beings of the same rank among the great army before him.
The army was not too much of a problem in the eyes of a great fairy. The truly terrifying ones were the experts of the same rank among the enemy.
While Lu Sheng was observing the great army, the King of Ashes and the Sun Chaser had also noticed the immense aura in the mountains.
The King of Ashes' body was concealed in the air. Its high invisibility art enabled it to easily conceal its colossal body.
The Sun Chaser rode a huge black lion, and advanced swiftly on the plains.
Nearby, there was a monster with an upper body of an armored human and a lower body of red flames.
There were also two big and tall humans with red dragon horns, a man and a woman. They were both big and tall, with thick bones. They wielded short and exquisite black staves in their hands, and wore thick, heavy cloaks over their bodies.
The Sun Chaser, the Burner, Devil King Angelith, Bell Ringer Siri—these were the four kings of the Scorching Sun Tribes. If they worked together, they were peak experts and great fairies who would be on par with Ashes.
They were high legends that became well-known for more than a thousand years. Each of them had brilliant and awe-inspiring past.
Any one of these monsters could easily wipe out a city or a country if they appeared in the realm of men. They could be regarded as living catastrophes.
However, these four kings had gathered together without prior agreement. They followed the legendary black holy dragon, Ashes, in an attempt to subjugate the holiest and grandest existence on the entire continent, the Holy Dragon Temple of the Green Plains Mountains.
"That white wolf seems to have many heads. It resembles the Winter Night Wolf of the legends. However, from what I know, the Winter Night Wolf should only have two heads." Devil King Angelith was the big and tall man who had crimson dragon horns. He wore a graceful and calm smile, sizing Lu Sheng up from afar casually.
"Maybe it's a mutant. However, a Winter Night Wolf deserves our attention. After all, it's a legendary creature." Bell Ringer Siri shook the black staff in her hand slowly.
"Who cares what kind of wolf it is? We'll charge in, kill, burn, and pillage!" the Burner roared in its deep voice. It was the big and tall humanoid figure covered in red armor and with flames for its lower body.
"There's no rush…" The King of Ashes voiced out from the shadows. "I didn't sense the holy dragons' spirit light on it. Maybe it's a neutral party, or maybe even an enemy of the Holy Dragon Temple.
"Allow me to make contact…" The King of Ashes was not completely confident in going against the holy dragon queen who had the support of the Eternal Cold Spring. Even though he was already a demigod, he was still feeling uneasy. Hence, he had to try and gather all the available forces to his side.
....
"This aura…" Lu Sheng was about to get closer to observe when his spirit was suddenly roused. It seemed as if something that could threaten his main body was slowly getting close to him.
"Hiss…"
'This world… has a being like this?!'
He had gotten used to smooth sailing. When he suddenly felt a more powerful aura than the other four, and it was actually able to threaten him, he immediately went into high alert.
'From this aura alone, it's completely on par, or maybe slightly more powerful than my main body. It seems to contain the qualities of Devil Qi, but there's also this vague feeling of destruction and death… Looks like my plans before this had underestimated this world too much…'
Lu Sheng knew clearly that anything capable of inducing an instinctual alertness in his main body was definitely a powerful being that could even threaten his main body even after transforming into the most perfect condition.
'But… no, this aura… isn't from the being's own body.' He suddenly realized something. 'It feels like it's coming from something else. Could it be a treasure such as a Divine Weapon?'
The aura that resembled Devil Qi got close to him very quickly.
"I am the King of Ashes, the grand black holy dragon which the entire Green Plains Mountains will remember. You may address me as Saduo. Powerful white wolf king, are you here to block our way or to serve as our meal? State your intentions." A voice that was deep and tactful slowly entered Lu Sheng's mind.
Lu Sheng blinked his eyes. The other entity's strength was a level higher than this body of his. He could not even sense the presence of the other entity.
Since he was not certain that he could defeat it for now, he decided to join forces with it to deal with the Holy Dragon Temple. He would deal with the other problems after this.
"I am Black Bone, king of the cold frost tribe, a Winter Night Wolf with the most ancient bloodline. I am currently resisting the Holy Dragon Temple. Are you sure that you're here to attack the holy dragons?"
A satisfied smile immediately appeared on Saduo's dragon head.
"Of course. Our target is that b*tch, the holy dragon queen."
"You think you stand a chance?" Lu Sheng asked with a straight face. "The Holy Dragon Temple has been around for far too long. With the handful of high legends you have, I don't think it's feasible."
"Of course. Young wolf king, have you heard of the lesser regalia, Blood Stain Dragon Spear? This terrifying devil spear that has killed at least a thousand dragons will feast on the holy dragon queen's fresh blood. It will destroy the so-called holy mountains, and the so-called divine Holy Dragon Temple!" As the King of Ashes spoke, he seemed to be gritting his teeth.
"Lesser regalia…" Lu Sheng immediately guessed where the threat to himself originated from.
The King of Ashes before him was a rank more powerful than the nine-headed Winter Night Wolf. He was more powerful than a high legend, so he had to be the legendary demigod.
If he put the threatening aura aside, the King of Ashes would be on the same rank as his main body.
Lu Sheng did the conversion. In other words, this world's demigod was equivalent to the peak Divine Intellect rank.
"So, powerful white wolf king, what's your answer?"
Lu Sheng muttered something to himself before lifting his head.
"If that's the case, I wish to join you and destroy the Holy Dragon Temple completely!" His nine heads revealed savage smiles at the same time.
"Hahahahaha!" The King of Ashes immediately guffawed.
Lu Sheng stood silently as he laughed. He was calculating the possibilities of him coming into contact with that lesser regalia. A powerful weapon that was steeped in the beliefs, emotions, and karma of countless living spirits would definitely have an immense store of Mental Energy.
.....
The gray great army marched gallantly into the mountains. Wherever they passed, the grass and trees were all reduced to cinders.
Lu Sheng stood between the Burner and the Sun Chaser. He looked on from afar as the sea-like army charged into the mountains.
The King of Ashes did not show himself. Hence, he stood alongside the leaders of the Scorching Sun Tribes.
As he also was a peak expert at the great fairy-rank, the four tribe leaders were neither opposed to nor welcoming of his addition.
The Burner was the only one who displayed slight scornful expressions when he saw the meager number of the poison dragons, bears, and the others under Lu Sheng's charge. The others made no comment.
"Wolf king, what do you think about destroying these mountains?" Devil King Angelith seemed to have asked the question casually.
"Only after it's completely destroyed can it be reborn," Lu Sheng replied drily.
"Oh?" The devil king did not expect such a wonderful answer to come from the peculiar-looking nine-headed wolf.
Lu Sheng looked at the aboriginal tribes in the mountains. These tribes were powerless to fight back against the tide of the great army. This included the hill giants.
"Judging from your looks, you're in it for the Eternal Cold Spring, aren't you?" The devil king chuckled. "After all, that's a holy item that's capable of powering up all ice-type creatures."
Lu Sheng threw him a glance without saying anything.
"However, since we're on the topic, I happen to have an object that's capable of helping ice-type creatures to power up," said the devil king intentionally.