Chapter 065: Alliance

Lin Zhan hadn’t anticipated that shrinking the white bone tower would have such a dramatic effect—it instantly robbed the Nine Nether Barbaric Bull King of its fighting power. He’d thought it would be a grueling battle. All around, the other Nine Nether Barbaric Bulls roared and bellowed with rage, creating a chaotic and deafening uproar.

The Barbaric Bull King let out a grief-stricken howl before the herd finally quieted, hesitating to advance.

“Cough, cough, you shameless youngster, you devious human! Release me at once! Let us fight with honor, openly and fairly!” The king, pinned to the riverbed, still tried to put on a brave face.

Lin Zhan sat cross-legged on the edge of the tower, right above its head.

Hearing the bull king’s words, Lin Zhan chuckled and reached out to pat its head. “Big dummy, weren’t you just trying to kill me? You sent wave after wave of your little dumb bulls at me, so I used a magical treasure. You lost, and now you talk about fighting openly and fairly? Do you take me for a fool like you?”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant… Cough, cough, it hurts so much. Can you at least let me go before we talk?” The bull king’s struggles only made its massive head look even more grotesque.

“Let you go? If you’d caught me, wouldn’t I already be flattened into a pulp?” Lin Zhan replied.

The king fell silent for a moment—Lin Zhan spoke the truth.

But the circumstances were against him, and now that he was the one subdued, if he wanted to survive, he’d have to pay a heavy price. “So—what conditions will make you let me go?”

He no longer dared to call himself ‘king.’

Lin Zhan touched his nose and countered, “What do you think?”

“We…we’ll leave this place at once. You can have this forbidden land…” The king’s heart ached. He’d waited thousands of years for this spiritual vein mine cave, and now, just as it was within reach, a powerful young human had appeared out of nowhere.

Smack!

Lin Zhan slapped the king’s head again. “This cave was never yours. Such treasures go to the fated, not to those who ‘bestow’ them.”

“Then…then I’ll give you a treasure, just please let me go!” The king trembled, realizing escape wouldn’t come easily today.

“We’ll see.”

Indeed, ordinary treasures no longer impressed Lin Zhan.

Suppressing the pain in his nose, the bull king gathered his spiritual energy. As the power surged, a dent in his forehead began to rise, forming, before their eyes, a black bull’s horn. The king’s strength waned as the horn fully emerged.

Lin Zhan watched warily—who knew if the bull king was up to some trick?

When the horn was complete, the king spoke with exhaustion, “Young friend, this is the Nine Nether Battle Horn, condensed from a thousand years of cultivation. Take it.”

The Nine Nether Battle Horn was a wondrous artifact.

Though the bull king was born in the Nine Nether Lands—a name with a grim reputation—his horn was a powerful talisman against evil and poison. Regardless of the affliction, a sip of water from this horn could cure any poison.

Moreover, the word ‘battle’ in its name signified alliance. Legend had it that anyone who owned a Nine Nether Battle Horn would become an ally of the entire tribe, forever immune to their enmity.

The horn detached itself and floated to Lin Zhan.

He caught it in his hand and examined it curiously.

He’d watched it grow from the king’s head, so there was no trickery or counterfeit. The king had truly conceded, offering his life’s treasure—an act that carried the weight of his entire tribe.

“An alliance, is it?” Lin Zhan’s face grew solemn as he considered this carefully.

“Very well, I’ll let you go!”

He released the bone tower’s restraint, freeing the bull king’s long nose.

Clearly, the great brute still feared the white bone tower. Once free, it instantly leapt back thirty feet.

Only after flexing its nose for a long while did it return to normal. Then, it transformed into a middle-aged man with black hair, beard, coat, and pants. He clasped his hands and declared, “Thank you, young friend. May I ask your name? I am Mutu Lei!”

“Ha, Brother Mu, I’m Lin Zhan!” Lin Zhan was drawn to his roguish charm—he made for a rather spirited uncle.

“Good, good, Brother Lin, truly a hero in his youth. Who would’ve thought I, Mutu Lei, would fall into a young man’s hands today—my old face is lost! But Brother Lin, you kept your word. Once more, I swear: from this day forth, the Nine Nether Barbaric Bulls will treat you as an ally and never betray you!”

Mutu Lei raised his hand and swore an oath, repeating it in the language of the barbaric bulls. From the black mass of the bull army, a chorus of “caw, caw…” echoed in response.

Dozens of dark, bright eyes looked upon Lin Zhan with newfound gentleness.

Well, so it would be. For things to turn out this way wasn’t so bad after all.

Just as he had arrived in a thunderous rush, Mutu Lei departed with equal haste.

Lin Zhan pocketed the Nine Nether Battle Horn, turned, and shot upward. Only when he reached the surface of the Flaming Lake did he slow his pace. Surveying his surroundings, he fixed on a direction, gathered his energy, and sped away, disappearing into a white snowy forest…

On the ramparts of Blue Ice Royal City, a tall, burly silhouette stood silently atop the wall, his black cloak snapping fiercely in the wind.

“Oh? It seems he’s received some stroke of destiny. I wonder if things will be different this time?”

Meanwhile, in a secret chamber within a hidden alliance somewhere on the Blue Ice Continent—

“Master, is there a mission? May your disciple finally set out?” A young woman, robed in white as pure as snow, knelt in readiness.

Beside her, a young man also knelt.

“Yes. The Shadowless Pavilion has waited two thousand years. Today, at last, the time has come… He has appeared, and it’s time for you to act…”

The third person in the chamber, an immortal-looking elder with white hair and a childlike face, was the master the girl addressed and the current leader of the mysterious Shadowless Pavilion.

A complex light flickered in his eyes—part melancholy, part relief.

“If I do not kill, millions will die. If the Shadowless Pavilion does not descend into hell, who will? Go now. Find this man. At all costs, by any means, kill him!”

“Disciple Mu Qingyan will not fail the Pavilion’s trust…”

“I, Huangfu Qi, will lead my junior sister and accomplish this mission!”

The young pair knocked their heads to the floor three times in a solemn pledge, then turned and sped away, leaving their secret home for the first time, racing toward the domain of Blue Ice Royal City…