The Sacred Ruins

"He who dares to invade the East will be killed no matter how far he runs!"

The tiger’s roar stirred people’s hearts.

If these words were taunted by a true Eastern master, they would carry great weight. These words would frighten the enemy just as much as, if no more than, the deadly pursuit itself. However, in reality, these words came out of the mouth of a shameless traitor, so it made it all the more awkward and cringe-worthy.

In fact, many people from the Western camp were on the edge of bursting out showering abuse on that brazen traitor, but they had learnt their lesson. Minutes ago, someone else had stood up against the tiger, but it didn’t bode well for him. This immoral tiger bashed his head in without demur.

Ahead of them, the White Snake was blocking their exit; behind them, the presence of that savage tiger meant that there was no turning-back for them. The survivors of the Western camp were caught in a fix, held at bay. Their faces turned pale. They were in dire straits.

"Look ahead! Look who that is, Old Black!" the Snow Leopard King whispered to the black yak.

"Such domineering stature. Such white and spotless body. It must be the ‘White Fairy’ because who else could it be? I remember our Old Black used to be a secret admirer of her, am I right? Ha, ha!" another king said.

The black yak became angry out of embarrassment. How he wished that he could teach these two a lesson, but right now, he could only whisper to them, "You cheeky bastards. Don’t say a word unless you want me dead!"

At the same time, he was also fuming at Zhou Yitian for his goddamn "Demon Ox the Great Saint". That movie drove him crazy. In the movie, it was said that the black yak was pining for the White Snake. The popularity of that movie later made this falsehood a "fact" well-known to all.

The black yak fumed with rage every time he was reminded of this; and right now, he was standing face to face, meters away from the White Snake herself. This made him especially uneasy and diffident. "Don’t air my dirty laundry! Or else I’ll bash you up!" The black yak gave the two a vicious look.

The White Snake sat in brooding silence. Her body seemed almost as if it were carved of white jade. Its coiling body formed into a sizeable hill, and the air around her was filled with menace and horror. The snake looked like a flood dragon who was about to take off and soar into the vault of heavens.

Suddenly, the White Snake opened her eyes. She looked over, sweeping this band of stragglers with her menacing eyes. She then landed her gaze on the black yak.

The black yak hastily looked down. He hid himself amongst the crowd; luckily, there were enough people to bury himself out of sight. He had phase shifted into human, so it made it much easier for him to steer clear of trouble.

Then, the self-acclaimed "Manchurian" tiger swaggered over. He walked with measured steps, closing the gap between him and the survivors of the Western camp. He looked at theses routed kings disdainfully out of the corner of his eyes. Contempt was written all over his face.

But soon, a crooked smile appeared on his face. He greeted the White Snake, "I have long been looking forward to meeting you, White Fairy. It’s my great honor to meet you today."

"Oh, really?" The White Snake had a charming voice, but it sounded cold. She gazed at this giant striped tiger.

"Don’t mistake me, White Fairy. We’re friends. I’m on your side. The Mastiff King, the Elder Ape and the sect master of Roaming Jade Temple had all admitted me into your Eastern camp. From now on, I’ll be a loyal member of the Eastern camp. Defending the frontiers of the Eastern territory is an obligation that I can’t shirk!"

The Manchurian Tiger sounded staunchly righteous as if somehow, he was suddenly qualified to be on the moral high ground.

Even those from the Eastern camp were having doubts about the moral integrity of this tiger, let alone those from the Western camp. People from both parties were looking at him with a strange look on their faces.

The Manchurian Tiger continued to push the boundary. He tried to cozy up to the experts with six severed shackles from the Eastern camp, so he kept on going, "I’ve seen the movie, ‘Demon Ox the Great Saint’. Remember? The movie in which you have played a part. Since then, I have always been looking up at you in such great admiration. Your heroism, your courage, your skills! Oh man! I will forever be your greatest admirer!"

Clearly, the tiger was trying to suck up to the snake. "What a bootlicker!" People from both camps cursed under their breath, but no-one dared to speak out. After all, the tiger was a formidable expert with six severed shackles.

"Oh, and by the way. I saw the black yak a few minutes ago. As luck would have it, he is a member of the Kunlun Mountains too. In the movie, he was the dogged admirer wooing our endearing White Fairy. He was quite influential in the movie, too. Do you want me to bring him here?" the Manchurian Tiger said as he looked over his shoulder to glance at the crowd, looking for the black yak.

"F*ck you, tiger!" hidden in the crowd, the black yak whispered. He was resentful. "Goddamn tiger. Don’t you go stirring up trouble for me!"

He was so angry that white smoke began forming around his nose. He buried his head, fearing to look up. Right now, on his mind, the black yak had thought of a million ways to kill then cook this Manchurian Tiger, but the tiger was too strong and powerful for him.

The Manchurian Tiger had a sharp eye; the yak had buried himself deep in the crowd, but the tiger still managed to sniff him out eventually because he had seen the yak phase shifting into his original form when running.

"Hey, my brother! Here you are! Quickly, come here! I know you’re a bit shy, but don’t be! Look who this is! Look up! Be confident. Why’re you keeping your head low? Oh, I see. You’re having a guilty conscience, aren’t you?! Come on! Come here and say hi!" the tiger shouted to the yak.

The yak almost fainted in rage when he heard this. How he wished that he could just b*tch slap that tiger’s face with his almighty hooves. No-one is shy! No-one is having any guilty conscience! For f*ck sake, just shut up!

"Oh? The lead actor, Chu Feng, is here too. Come here, my little brother, Chu Feng!" The Manchurian Tiger saw Chu Feng and greeted him.

Chu Feng was cursing under his breath too. "Where is the moral integrity of this tiger? And what does he want? Is he asking to be killed? Why would he call me? For goodness sake, I shot that bloody snake with my Thunderous bow at Taihang Mountain!"

Luckily, the White Snake didn’t make things difficult for the yak or Chu Feng. Her gaze was still on the Manchurian tiger, but the look of her eyes grew a tad colder.

"Congratulations on your success in severing the sixth shackle and becoming a king, White Fairy!"

Chu Feng spoke out at this key moment. He greeted the White Snake politely. The black yak, on the other hand, was still silent. He did not wish for any troubles. He was afraid that the White Snake might suddenly become angry out of embarrassment.

Chu Feng shouted without waiting for the white snake to respond, "Brothers! What are we waiting for?! Time for us to send the ‘Expedition’ to Hell!"

"Kill!"

People from the Eastern camp charged into their enemy.

The Manchurian Tiger grew a little uneasy. He noticed that something wasn’t quite right. "ROAR..." The tiger charged into the Western camp with the rest of the Eastern army.

For those from the Western camp, those who had made it this far to the west were mostly kings and experts. Those who were not as strong or powerful as the kings were lagging behind. They had been either killed or captured. Therefore, as soon as the clashes were ignited, the battleground immediately became a symphony of roars of beasts and clashes of metals. Even the air was filled with horrifying energy.

BOOM!

The White Snake joined the action too. Her giant body simply crushed the Western camp. Having severed her sixth shackle, her power was miles ahead of all the rest.

BANG!

Some of the kings were sent flying, while some had had their bodies torn apart by the snake’s tail.

"Let’s go!"

Chu Feng, Yellow Ox and the black yak silently retreated. They were not needed at this battlefront. The snake and the tiger alone were competent enough to annihilate the entire Western camp.

"Some chose the wise route. They went the long way. They just fled Xinjiang, and right now, they are about to cross the Eurasian continent. Are we going to chase them?"

"Of course. We’ll kill our way to the Western end of this world!"

Some from the Eastern camp decided to go on a "Western Punitive Expedition". This time, their goal was to completely destroy the enemy’s nest.

Two thirds of the kings from the west had died on the Eastern expedition. Meanwhile, their nest was completely empty. It opened up a window for the Eastern camp to look and pillage.

Just like how the west was hankering for the Kunlun Mountains, for the Eastern camp, they also had a few sacred mountains that were situated in the west on their list.

"Let me tell you. There are plenty of goodies on Mount Olympus. We have the advantage of numbers, so this time, we’ll dominate them by sheer force of numbers!" The black yak tried to incite the masses to stand on his side.

He could finally feel at ease again after leaving the White Snake.

"Be careful," Chu Feng reminded, "let’s make sure that we’re not blinded by our victory. Schiller and the black dragon are still out in the wild. We still need to be cautious of them."

The masses nodded in agreement with Chu Feng. Everyone became serious again.

This battle was still far from over. At least, all the experts with six severed shackles were still chasing after their enemy days and nights, deep into the enemy’s territory. They were still far from finish.

"ROAR!" Suddenly, from behind came the roar of a vicious tiger. It was the Manchurian Tiger. He was coming for Chu Feng and the black yak.

"Wait for me, brothers!"

People immediately started to feel the headache. For even the strongest expert, this tiger would prove to be a troublesome matter even if he truly had left the Western camp and crossed over to the Eastern side. He was a beast with six severed shackles after all. It would be very difficult to get along with him.

The tiger could kill someone simply by giving him or her a gentle thump on the head, and that could easily happen to someone who, by the slip of a tongue, said something offensive to the tiger. There would never be peace of mind when one tried to coexist with the tiger.

After the tiger learnt that these people were planning to start a Western punitive expedition, he immediately said, "We’re friends. When you retreat, I’ll cover you; when you attack, I’ll be the vanguard. So, how could I miss out on this expedition with you guys. Let’s go! I’ll guide the way!"

But in reality, the tiger had only one intention in mind, and that was to make sure that the sect masters of Eight Vision Temple, Void Jade Temple and Roaming Jade Temple could end Schiller’s life. Otherwise, he would never be able to set his mind at rest.

Chu Feng thought about it. For him, there seemed to be nothing wrong with the tiger tagging along. It seemed unlikely that the tiger would fall out with them over small things. After all, the number of experts with six severed shackles in the Eastern camp was more than a dozen. The tiger might not fear the black yak or Yellow Ox or even Chu Feng, but at this stage for the tiger, courting troubles with the other members from the Eastern camp was the same as courting death.

Soon, the chase began. The Eastern kings were like a mob of angry beasts on crack as they charged westwards. In their eyes, those fleeing enemies were like golden crops in a bumper autumn, and they were the harvesters—taking their lives were as easy as breaking up dead woods. One by one, one after another.

The world was shaken by this.

Back when the battle of Kunlun was broadcasted live on televisions, the world had already been boiling over with excitement.

But soon, the Western world was silenced. They had become dumbfounded. Never had they ever thought that there could have been so many kings and experts in the east. They were speechless. They were terrified.

In the end, there was no more live broadcasting on televisions, but updates were still coming out, and the world was shaken by every single one of them.

The so-called invincible Elder Lion King had been subjugated by an old llama; the Arctic King had been killed by a mastiff; and the Hyena King was vaporized by some Eastern fighters ...

The world was at a loss for words, but the world was still attentively watching.

The world burst into an uproar again when the news about the Western Punitive Expedition came around!

"Oh my god! The tide has completely turned! What a bunch of legends!"

"The Western Punitive Expedition has taken the lives of almost ninety percent of all the warriors we have in the west. From now on, we’ll never have the manpower to start another Eastern expedition. There are no more kings in the west. We’re a goner!"

The path of the Western Punitive Expedition had been drenched with the blood of kings!

The kings from the Western camp left their lifeless body on this path. Towards the end, this eastern expedition almost became mundane. Beasts from the East caught up with the beast from the West, then within seconds, the beasts from the West would be brutally murdered. Again, again, and again.

No-one but the very best of the very best could prove to be a match for warriors like Chu Feng and Yellow Ox. With the Manchurian Tiger joining the fight, no beasts from the west could survive.

The Western Punitive Expedition progressed westwards. It went all the way to Turkey, and soon, people from the Eastern camp would knock on the door of Greece. From there, they would officially enter the European continent.

Meanwhile, people were witnessing a fight of the century. It was fought between the very best of the very best.

"The Black Dragon King is still alive! He is just as indestructible as before!" Chu Feng sighed.

The Western Punitive Expedition stopped. They kept their distance from the fight.

Dragon’s blood had stained the sky red. The Black Dragon King was looking miserable and wretched. He was terribly injured, but his opponent, the Golden Roc, was still unscathed. It was clear who had the upper hand.

The Black Dragon King had been using a secret technique to assist him running. The technique used the dragon’s blood as its fuel, draining the dragon of its vital essence. The black dragon had once fled into the ocean, and from there, he was chased to the shore.

He could not hold on any longer.

"The Golden Roc truly deserves its name. What a powerful beast!" Some of the kings sighed.

One didn’t need to be reminded to know that the black dragon was a beast far superior to all the rest. As a descendent of the dragon family, his bloodline alone predestined him to boundless power and terrifying skills. But even so, he was still no match for the roc.

ROAR!

The black dragon angrily roared, but right now, it sounded rather like a screech. As the Golden Roc scratched at the black dragon’s skull with his strong and powerful claws, the black dragon cried out his very last cry. Suddenly, the sky started raining blood. It was the blood of the dragon; it was the blood of a beheaded beast!

The dragon was dead. It then plummeted to its demise.

"The roc has slain the dragon!"

On that day, the news about the black dragon’s death in Turkey astounded the world.

The Western Punitive Expedition continued westwards. Soon, they landed their feet in Greece, and from there, they were officially in Europe.

"Oh my god! They had really made it here! They made it to Europe!"

"These kings from the east are really invincible. Whatever their goal is, I can tell that eventually, they will achieve it no matter what. No-one will be able to stand in their way!"

"What a turn of events! While the Eastern Punitive Expedition perishes, the Western Punitive Expedition rises and flourishes. This is fate!"

The world was shocked. The entire world had now diverted their attention to this legion of kings and experts.

There were no "ordinary" mutants in the Western Punitive Expedition. Even the worst fighters had severed at least a shackle.

Chu Feng’s team took some time to rest and reorganize. Days of endless pursuit wore them out. The entire Eastern Punitive Expedition had been eliminated, so now, there was nothing there for them to rush for.

"Brothers! Let’s head to Mount Olympia! There we will find some of the oldest sacred trees. They will surely make us evolve! But I’m afraid that the pesky Zeus and Apollo may try to stop us. But you know what? There ain’t no-one gonna stop us!" The black yak tried to sweet talk the masses into following his lead.

"I don’t give a sh*t, Old Black! For now, let’s just eat and piss and sleep, then we’ll decide," someone replied.

Soon, the air was filled with the aroma of roasted meat. The meat of the dead kings was the ingredient; after a little bit of seasoning and careful roasting, the crowd seemed extremely joyous as they were munching on those meat.

"It’s time for me to update my list of ‘Gourmet Rankings’," Chu Feng mumbled with mouthful of juicy meat.