73: Kalba's sneak attack failed, and he was knocked away.

"Wow, Lu Fan actually tamed the Horse King! That's incredible!"

"There's hope now. The Horse King's speed will definitely allow Lu Fan to reach An Lan as quickly as possible."

The Huaguo audience cheered with excitement, and the barrage comments scrolled frantically across the screen.

On the other hand, the viewers from the Pretty Country and Japan were completely stunned and speechless by this sudden turn of events.

They had originally been looking forward to seeing Lu Fan in trouble and watching the drama unfold.

They didn't expect Lu Fan to come up with such a brilliant method to successfully tame the Horse King, which completely exceeded their expectations.

"How is this possible? How on earth did he do it?" A viewer from the Pretty Country couldn't believe their eyes, posting questions one after another in the barrage comments, filled with disbelief.

"Hmph, don't underestimate our Chinese contestant. Lu Fan is truly capable; he's not someone you can just look down on!"

In the wilderness, Lu Fan rode Lightning steadily, galloping like the wind.

His eyes were firm and confident, shining like the North Star in a cold night. He had only one resolute conviction in his heart: he must reach An Lan's side as quickly as possible to protect her.

Lightning seemed to deeply sense Lu Fan's determination. Its muscles were taut, every sinew bursting with endless power as its four hooves alternated rapidly on the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.

Although Da Hei was struggling a bit to keep up behind them, its stubborn refusal to lose kept it following closely, unwilling to be left behind by even half a step.

As time passed, Lu Fan got closer and closer to the Shelter.

Riding the majestic Lightning, he galloped all the way through the wilderness.

The rugged and uneven terrain felt like a flat highway beneath Lightning's hooves.

Lightning was born for this wilderness; every muscle and every inch of its skin seemed to have grown specifically for running so freely.

In the livestream room, the audience was also chatting fervently.

"Riding a horse is so fast! A journey that usually takes two or three hours now only takes ten-odd minutes."

"The scene of the horses galloping just now was truly shocking. It immediately reminded me of the scene from 'journey to the west' I watched as a kid, where the Monkey King was herding horses in the Heavenly River."

"Now that you mention it, I remember too! I remember it all! Back then, I was the Marshal Canopy in heaven, and the Monkey King herded horses in the territory I managed."

"Ah... ahhh, I remember too! We were colleagues, person upstairs! I also remember the days when I was licking the Rice Mountain and Flour Mountain in the Heavenly Palace. I really miss it."

"666! You guys are geniuses; your imaginations are absolutely wild!"

After mounting the horse, it took Lu Fan only 20 minutes to reach the vicinity of the Small Pond. He brought the horse to a steady halt and began to carefully observe the surrounding terrain.

Every blade of grass and every tree here could hide danger; Lu Fan didn't dare to be the least bit careless.

Suddenly, the heavenly dao prompt sound popped up without warning.

[Danger approaching, tilt your head to the right to dodge.]

Relying on the agile physical reactions he had developed through long-term training in the wilderness, Lu Fan quickly tilted his head to the right almost the instant he heard the prompt.

A stone axe flew past his face with a whistling sound, narrowly missing him, and slammed heavily into the ground. The blade bit into the earth, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Lu Fan was startled. He turned his head and saw a figure slowly standing up from the tall grass.

Looking closely, it was actually Kalba. How could he be here?

It turned out that Kalba had been running all the way and had finally reached the Small Pond. Exhausted and thirsty, he stopped to drink water.

However, after drinking the water, the ten thousand times rebate was not triggered. He secretly guessed that this was likely the same water source where Lu Fan had triggered the rebate before.

In that case, it meant that Lu Fan's Shelter must be nearby.

Filled with resentment, Kalba panted as he climbed to the top of the hill, wanting to take a breather and observe the terrain.

But the scene before him made his eyes widen in shock—Lu Fan had actually successfully tamed the Horse King!

Jealousy and anger instantly surged into Kalba's heart like a rising tide.

His hands clenched into tight fists, his knuckles turning white from the force, as his mind began frantically calculating how to sabotage Lu Fan's plans.

"This Huaguo kid actually has such capability. I must not let him succeed!" Kalba cursed under his breath, the ferocity and jealousy on his face becoming increasingly apparent.

Thus, Kalba decided to lie in wait here.

Gripping his carefully crafted stone axe, he hid cautiously behind the dense bushes like a lurking wolf, quietly waiting for Lu Fan's arrival.

When Lu Fan appeared in his field of vision riding the Horse King, a glint of ruthlessness and determination flashed in Kalba's eyes, and he threw the stone axe toward Lu Fan with all his might without hesitation.

The stone axe, carrying his full malice, sliced through the air and headed straight for Lu Fan.

Fortunately, Lu Fan reacted quickly and successfully dodged the lethal blow.

The livestream room instantly exploded with activity.

"My god, that scene just now was so thrilling! It was literally a matter of life and death!"

"It's actually Kalba?! What is he doing here? How despicable!"

"Luckily, Great God Lu Fan dodged it, otherwise it would have been dangerous."

"Damn Pretty Country people, so sinister, actually using such underhanded sneak attack tactics!"

The Pretty Country viewers were still being stubborn, arguing in the barrage comments: "This is called strategy. It's Lu Fan's own lack of ability if he couldn't dodge it, hmph!"

"Pah! You just can't afford to lose. Just you wait and see how our Lu Fan deals with him!" The Huaguo audience immediately retorted tit-for-tat, their words filled with trust and support for Lu Fan.

Kalba stepped out from behind the bushes with a sinister smile on his face and said loudly, "So you're that Lu Fan from Huaguo? Great, I've finally found you."

At this moment, Lu Fan had no intention of paying attention to him. His face was as dark as the sky before a storm.

In his mind, he thought of something even more terrifying: if Kalba had already reached his side, then it was very likely that Meichuan Neiku had also reached An Lan's side.

At this thought, Lu Fan was anxious and burning with worry; he had to seize every second to rush back.

Seeing that Lu Fan ignored him, Kalba thought Lu Fan was afraid and became even more unscrupulous, taunting him, "Huaguo kid, do you dare to come down and fight me one-on-one?"

After saying that, he picked up his stone axe and stared intently at Lu Fan, as if he wanted to swallow him alive.

"What the hell are you gibbering about? I can't understand a word!" Lu Fan was extremely anxious and had no desire to get tangled up with Kalba.

Thus, he clamped his legs hard against the horse's flanks.

"Get the hell out of my way!"

The Horse King, Lightning, shot forward like an arrow from a bow, charging straight at Kalba with an unstoppable momentum.

Its momentum was like a high-speed chariot, striking fear into anyone's heart.

Watching Lightning charge at him like a wild beast, Kalba's face instantly paled, and his arrogance vanished without a trace.

He wanted to dodge, but it was already too late.

The Horse King's impact was immense, sending Kalba flying backward.

Kalba drew an ugly arc in the air and fell into the Small Pond with a loud splash, kicking up a large amount of water as ripples spread across the surface.

"Haha, Kalba, this is what you get!" In the livestream room, the Huaguo audience cheered excitedly upon seeing this. The barrage comments scrolled frantically, filled with mockery for Kalba and praise for Lu Fan.

"This is impossible! How could Kalba be knocked down so easily?" The Pretty Country viewers were full of resentment, frantically posting barrage comments, unwilling to accept such a result.

"The facts are right in front of you; your guy is just no good! Stop being so stubborn!" The Huaguo audience retorted mercilessly, every word striking a nerve with the Pretty Country viewers.

"How can you Huaguo people allow your contestant to hurt others like this?" the Pretty Country viewers were still trying to argue.

"Hey, how strange. It was clearly your bullshit Kalba who launched a sneak attack first, right? Have some shame, will you!"

"So you're allowed to sneak attack, but we're not allowed to fight back? If you're so capable, show some real strength; don't act like a rascal here!"

Lu Fan looked back and saw Kalba floating on the surface of the water, motionless, as a streak of bright red spread through the water.

It looked like he was either dead or permanently disabled.

Then, he urged Lightning forward again, galloping toward his Shelter.

Da Hei also perked up and followed closely behind the Horse King, its vigorous posture seemingly speaking of its loyalty.

The audience in the livestream room burst into laughter at this scene.

"This is your Pretty Country's warrior? He's a complete joke! Knocked down in one hit."

"He's probably dead, right? Hahaha!"

"Now you know how powerful our Great God Lu Fan is! You still dare to look down on us?"

"They can't even beat Great God Lu Fan's pet. They really don't know their own limits!"

However, after Lu Fan left, Kalba crawled out of the water.

Clutching his chest, blood flowed from his mouth as he spat out a few broken teeth, a look of venomous hatred on his face.

It turned out that he had gone to Huaguo to learn Kung Fu in the past and had learned a Force-dissipation technique from an old master.

So, when Lightning hit him, he dissipated the force in time to save his life and then played dead by remaining motionless.

He didn't expect to actually deceive Lu Fan this way.

It was ironic to think about; the Huaguo culture they had always looked down upon had actually saved his life.

Finally, Lu Fan rushed back to his Shelter.

He quickly jumped off Lightning's back and walked into the house with hurried steps, his eyes alertly checking for anything unusual.

The items inside were arranged neatly and didn't appear to have been rummaged through.

Only then did Lu Fan breathe a sigh of relief, his tense nerves relaxing slightly.

But he knew that the danger was not yet fully over; he had to start packing his equipment immediately to prepare for any crisis that might arise at any moment.