35: Conquer Yunxia Mountain (below)

"Yes, Master."

The Great Strength Demon Ape shed its previous rage, becoming docile.

He squatted obediently behind Xia Fan, mirroring Xia Fan's every step, as if he wasn't very bright.

Xia Fan sighed, conveying his meaning with a low growl, "You don't need to follow me every step."

"Unless I give a command, you are free to move."

"Yes!"

The Great Strength Demon Ape readily agreed, but in the time that followed, he continued to follow closely.

Seeing this, Xia Fan sighed helplessly, then gave an order, "Go, call all the Giant Tigers from your tribe."

"Roar—"

Following a furious roar from the Great Strength Demon Ape, Giant Tigers of all sizes emerged from the forest, surrounding them obediently.

Xia Fan was immediately puzzled.

He clearly remembered that before subduing the Great Strength Demon Ape, there were over three hundred Giant Tigers in the forest. How were there only eighty-plus now? Had the other Giant Tigers run away?

Upon learning of Xia Fan's confusion, the Great Strength Demon Ape immediately explained with a low growl.

"Master, not all tribesmen in the tribe can become Giant Tigers. These eighty-four are all of them."

"The other Giant Tigers you saw earlier were actually tribesmen of similar size but not as strong."

"If Master thinks there are too few, we can speed up and breed more Giant Tigers."

After listening for a while, Xia Fan finally understood why this situation occurred.

Originally, when the blood rain fell, the Great Strength Demon Ape tribe crowded under leaves to avoid the rain, so some of his tribesmen were not exposed to the blood rain and thus did not immediately evolve into fierce beasts.

Later, many were hunted by other evolved fierce beasts.

"Hmm, I understand."

Xia Fan sighed slightly, feeling a bit regretful. If the Giant Tiger tribe had successfully evolved, they would have been natural warriors, each possessing considerable strength.

However, having eighty Giant Tiger fierce beasts at once was still quite good.

He stood on a slightly elevated spot, gazing at the Giant Tigers before him like a king surveying his domain, then noticed that over a dozen of them were already at the first-order mid-stage, while the rest were first-order early-stage fierce beasts.

This force, in the current world, was still quite decent.

"The fierce beast legion has finally taken its initial form."

Xia Fan mused to himself, then looked at the Great Strength Demon Ape and roared, "You will continue to live in this forest, but you must also send some Giant Tigers to the nearby valley."

"I came from that direction, and you can follow my scent to find it."

"Along the way, you might encounter a Giant Wolf, a Giant Tiger, and there's also a Giant Bear occupying the destination."

"But don't worry, you are all my subordinates, just make your intentions clear to them."

"Yes!"

The Great Strength Demon Ape immediately agreed, and after a few strange cries, he summoned over a dozen Giant Tigers to head towards the valley where the seven-colored lotus was located, while the remaining Giant Tigers retreated into the forest.

"Let's go, continue to search for other fierce beasts."

Xia Fan paused for a moment, then led the Magic Cat towards the southern part of the Yunxia Mountain Range.

Soon after, they arrived at a barren mountain filled with scattered rocks.

"Roar!"

Xia Fan's tiger eyes narrowed slightly. After a moment of contemplation, he suddenly let out a roar, filled with intense provocation.

The sound gradually echoed, like a ghostly whisper.

"Screech!"

Suddenly, a massive Golden Giant Eagle descended from the sky, but when it was about a hundred meters from the ground, it began to circle in the air.

Jin Ling's sharp eyes were filled with endless hostility, staring intently at Xia Fan.

Powerful fierce beasts, regardless of their species, all possessed territorial awareness.

This barren mountain was Jin Ling's territory, and it intended to use its cry to drive away Xia Fan, the uninvited guest.

On the ground, Xia Fan looked up slightly. After clearly seeing its appearance, a memory instantly surged forth, "The Golden-Feathered Eagle King, one of the three king-level generals under the Nine-Tailed Fox in my previous life, a sky overlord."

"The Golden-Feathered Eagle King's awakened innate ability is called Golden Cut!"

"[Golden Cut: S-rank innate ability, can launch feathers as indestructible sharp swords, cutting through metal and stone like tofu.]"

"Screech—"

In the sky, the Golden-Feathered Eagle King let out another cry, thick with warning.

The reason it didn't dare to immediately dive and attack was that it sensed Xia Fan's exceptionally powerful strength, and a head-on confrontation would definitely not be a match.

But after careful thought, it suddenly realized that it had absolute air superiority, and even if Xia Fan was very strong, he couldn't harm it.

Thus, the Golden-Feathered Eagle King grew bolder.

With a flap of its wings, a large number of golden feather blades shot towards Xia Fan.

"You're the only one with long-range attacks?"

Seeing this, Xia Fan's eyes flashed with disdain. Then, in his tiger eyes, a profound and noble purple color streaked across like lightning.

Boom—

In an instant, a thick purple energy beam shot out.

This energy beam was incredibly fast, sweeping directly towards the Golden-Feathered Eagle King.

"Caw!"

Moments later, the unprepared Golden-Feathered Eagle King was directly hit by the purple beam, golden feathers fluttering down from the sky amidst cries of agony.

At this moment, he was greatly alarmed, never expecting this Golden Giant Tiger to possess a means of long-range attack.

The Golden-Feathered Eagle King frantically stabilized his body, then sharply ascended, trying to escape Xia Fan's attack range by gaining altitude.

However, from the ground, his movements looked utterly comical, like a land duck falling into water.

"Trying to run?"

Xia Fan saw this scene, and the corner of his mouth curved slightly. Then, purple flashed in his eyes.

Boom!

The purple beam that had terrified the Golden-Feathered Eagle King reappeared, and again, it struck him without fail.

But before he could dodge, a Frost Breath, containing an extremely cold aura, followed, instantly freezing his limbs.

Slightly stunned, the Golden-Feathered Eagle King spiraled and plummeted from the sky.

Frost Breath was not a powerful ability after all; it only restrained the Golden-Feathered Eagle King for a moment before losing its effect.

Seizing this opportunity, the Golden-Feathered Eagle King flapped his wings desperately, trying to escape.

But on the ground, Xia Fan's Frost Breath seemed endless, arriving one after another, until with a bang, he crashed down.

"Little fellow, heal him."

As soon as the Golden-Feathered Eagle King landed, Xia Fan walked up, placed one foot on its chest, and growled at the Magic Cat.

After the Golden-Feathered Eagle King's injuries recovered, he roared repeatedly, "Submit to me, or... I'll beat you half to death again, then heal you."

"Whenever you are willing to submit, I will stop."

"Choose your own path."

"..."

The Golden-Feathered Eagle King wanted to cry but had no tears. In the end, he lowered his proud head and expressed his submission.